#btvs speaking time

[weirdness-ensued]

i’m only half way thru season 3, but it’s interesting how the two time buffy is either without her powers(episode 12) or has given up the slayer life(episode 1) we see her being sexually harassed by men. like i’m sure she’s faced that kind of harassment even as the slayer at her full power, but idk the fact the show makes a point to show how buffy “losing her abilities” means she is much more prone to being taken advantage of is interesting to me like imagine being one of the strongest ppl in the world and having all of that taken away from u and ur just as vulnerable as ever other girl? never having to worry about men, then suddenly being hyper aware of how dangerous regular ppl actually are/can be?

[evilwickedme]

I'm rewatching Buffy and I just got to Surprise/Innocence and it's got me thinking about the soul canon again, which tbf I'm always thinking about on some level

My theory has always been that the reason why spike is basically the same soul or not while Angel v Angelus is like, Angelus literally has no humanity while Spike does is that, well, when the demon takes presence in the body it depends on how much soul they had in the first place

Liam was nothing, he was pathetic, he had nothing to live for, so Angelus was entirely consumed by the demon. William was a poet, he was close to his mother, he felt deeply and often, so the demon took over but couldn't quite get rid of the William in him. That's why Soulless Spike is capable of loving Drusilla and Buffy so deeply, if selfishly

On the other hand, after living as Angel and falling in love with Buffy, when Angel's soul was taken there was something left over this time, an attachment, which for Angelus turned into a twisted obsession. Idk idk idk that's just how I see it

[liam-summers]

Sorry I just -

They have such a bitchy vibe and I love them.

[cabeswaterdrowned]

this and in sanctuary when angel was like "this isnt about buffy" to faith like these ppl love being wrong in some way..

truly imagine saying that to the woman who’s every action and thought is in some way motivated by Buffy Summers… peak comedy …

[bumblebeebats]

One thing that I really admire in long-form storytelling is when the writers/showrunners/etc. aren't afraid to make Big and Permanent Changes. There are so many series that I've eventually fallen out of love with simply because everything stays the SAME - no one ages, no one dies, no character arcs feel like they're ever really resolved. Sure, maybe shit gets shaken up for an arc or two, but eventually everything returns to the status quo. It feels like being fed the same dish over and over again; you liked this in S1, so surely you want the exact same thing now in S7???

And like, I can SEE where it's coming from. A story is a huge and finely-tuned machine, and it takes guts to just throw a wrench in the works, especially if your audience loved it the way it was to begin with. Any change, even the good kind (going off to college! Getting that job you wanted!) comes with grief. (What about your family - your friends - that old corner store across from your house with the ice cream you loved? That one coworker who you were kind-of-sort-of buddies with, but not enough to properly stay in touch?) But that's just life. And that's why I feel like I connect far more with stories that actually evolve, and show their characters evolving with them. Your mother dies. Your best friend loses their magic. You lose your sword arm. Your home burns down. None of it is coming back. The old times were good - but the new times can be good too, in a different way.

[pzyii]

Y'all ever think about that the like last conversation Buffy and willow had irl in s2 before Buffy ran away was Buffy saying willow was their last hope.

And that the last conversation they had, just the 2 of them, in S5 before Buffy died was Buffy saying willow was her big gun

Yeah.... Me neither (lying)

[jasmancer]

Hello! Chapter 5 of splinter is UP! Buffy enjoyers pspspsps come read my Kendra lives/ chosen three fic!!

[margaritalaux-antille]

hell's bells is such a mixed bag but I think my main take is that i wish it wasn't an evil guy making fake visions that caused his freakout. like I think it was totally understandable for xander—child of two violent alcoholics in a loveless marriage—to have a freakout on his wedding day!! but I wish it was more natural, and caused by seeing so much of his family. maybe a restless style dream sequence would've worked better for me but it all felt so stilted and fake even before the reveal.

[someonefantastic]

So I just rewatched Amends and looking at that episode alongside beige!Angel in ATS s2 is just really interesting. Particularly the idea that the reason why Angel went to Darla in Reprise/Epiphany was to try to feel something other than the cold darkness inside of him. And I think putting that alongside how he was in Amends, how the First kept trying to get him to take Buffy and how part of him still wanted her comfort and didn't care if he lost his soul because of it, is just really really fascinating. Like this idea that Angel tries to use physicality to escape the darkness but how that mere act can send him further into that darkness. 

This is a guy who has been pretty tactile all his life, from what we’ve seen, and then was without touch or love or anything for like a hundred years and was instead tortured with overwhelming guilt, and then when he finally got it that touch along with love (something he arguably never really experienced before), he was able to let go of that guilt for just a moment and actually feel something other than remorse and it cost him everything. He hurt people and killed and maimed and was sent to hell and despite all of that, he still craves the touch and the intimacy and more importantly the ability to lose himself and let go of everything for a moment and I really don’t think he ever stopped wanting that. 

Because he is cursed to suffer and to feel guilt for the rest of his life and even though he knows he deserves it, he still wants to be able to live without it, even for just a moment. ‘Cause he’s not always good! Angel is morally gray at times and I know the shows like to boil it down to soul = good but they’ve also shown us that that isn’t always the case and that the world is more in shades of gray and Angel is a huge representation of that. Yeah, he fights on the side of good and I think he is inherently a good person but he’s also selfish and argumentative and doesn’t listen to people when he thinks he’s right. He’s messy just like anyone else on these shows (or irl) but he is trying and that ultimately is what matters. But despite that, he still does slip up and he still is a demon with darker desires and he is still cursed with constant guilt and sometimes all he wants is to stop feeling bad for what he did and after his time with Buffy, he knows what that feels like to be able to let go and part of him doesn’t care about the consequences. That knowledge is part of what tortured him so much in Amends and also the key reason why he went to Darla in Reprise. Because for just a moment, he wanted to not have to feel the darkness anymore, no matter the cost

[handsomegentlebutch]

Modern day spike and drucilla would be a discord daddy and kitten

[wonderrot]

hi! i don’t know if you write for spike (btvs) but could you maybe write dating spike hcs? sfw & nsfw?

hi my lil crow <3! i do most certainly write for our favorite lil bad boy spike, i hope you enjoy <3!

XOXO, CHESHIRE — depressingly this is shorter than my one with angel but that doesn’t mean that i don’t love him any less! i just literally ran out of headcanons at the moment cause my brain stopped working whoops! i could always expand upon him on a later date like i can with angel.

WRITING WARNINGS: lovely fluff, some hints of angst thrown in because of our beloved troublesome tortured poet and some nsfw content as well!

alright let’s state the obvious about our favorite troublesome poet : he will write tons of poems about you. his favorite topic to write about would be about love, at least i headcanon from his former human life, and so when he finds himself enthralled with you, you become his center focus in his beloved artship.

even if you do not like poetry, still please be supportive of him especially when you learn why he doesn't write his poetry as often as he used to when he was human. you see, in my personal headcanon, william (his human self of course) had been seen as too soft for a man as he liked the more feminine oddities such as : poetry, flowers, jewelry, fashion, and baking. mind you, this is all my personal headcanons as to why he was seen as soft.

so this vamp would adore you so so much more if you were to let him be himself and perhaps show interest in the oddities that he likes. obviously he would be the most supportive of you but if he was super supportive of you and didn't receive any back, i feel like he’d be put off of you despite how he feels towards you.

if you are an artistic soul like he is, spike would proudly marvel over your art — no matter how melancholy it might appear to be. he would goat about how his partner is the best at (insert your craft(s) here) and it would get to the point that the whole scooby gang would in-synchronicity claim "we know!" which would turn him into a blushing stuttering mess as he tries to play it off that he doesn't talk about your craft(s) that much. he contradicts himself sometimes as we all know.

he is the definition of a badass with a good soft heart. y'all get stuck out in the rain? he`s sacrificing his good leather and placing it over your head as he moves the pair of you underneath something where you would be dry and then y'all can watch the rain fall down upon sunnydale in a pretty lil art form. anyone happens to look at you in a wrong or potentially harmful way? spike is throwing hands with his vamp face out to scare them halfway to death before he even touches them. he`s a little protective over you, that`s all.

he’s obsessed with your touch. he’s severely touch deprived even if he doesn’t show it — please show him that he is capable of love, one that doesn’t surround around the madness of the woman who he believed to have been his soulmate before you came into his life. the man would be so touchy with you in private, especially if you did any hobbies of his that he loves — meaning baking of course! he would wrap his arms around your middle and use his hands to help you with anything you need for baking. definitely the type of man to put you on his feet and the pair of you penguin waddle together to put the trays in the oven for whatever you’re baking.

speaking of him being obsessed with your touch … time for a lil bit of nsfw 😈

spike is definitely a switch with a bratty sub lean, i mean literally just look at this vampire. he tries to act like a badass who is known for causing trouble over the years and yet if you play your cards just right you can turn him from a brat into your precious boy, but that takes a while. i tend to headcanon that even though drusilla loved him in the way she did, she never got to have him this way, and spike only trusts you to show this side of him. despite the trust, he will indeed make you work for it like i said previously. but you know how to handle your troublesome boy and how to practically turn him into a puddle with your mere touch overtime.

he’s definitely a mean service dom though when he is in a the dominant state of mind. man loves to torture you and deny your orgasms left and right only for a few turns though and then sends you over the edge quite a few times after that. he turns you into a total mess for his own pleasure but the aftercare is spectacular fr!

his version of aftercare is ; cleaning you up with a towel while smothering you with kisses all over as soon as he wipes down each and every spot upon your body, then he goes and gives you a drink (whether water or your favorite soda or alcoholic drink or maybe a blood bag if you’re a vampire like him — y’alls choice!) before he goes off to fill up a bath with the rainbow colored child bubbles that he found at the store the other day, and then he carries you in there once the bath is all filled. then he goes on to wash your body and hair for you while making sure that you’re genuinely alright with whatever occurred during your time together, then he asks you for whatever you want or need — his beloved flower’s wish is his command that he wishes never ends.

[evilwickedme]

Ok so this WAS asked for so keep that in mind cause the thoughts I had while rewatching Anne are a little bit less coherent bc this is my first time having them!

I like this episode for many reasons, but especially the way they build "Anne". The show immediately establishes the ways that Anne is NOT Buffy, and also the ways that she inescapably is. Just because she's tried to make herself into something else, doesn't mean she stops being herself - Buffy, or the Slayer, or both. The prophetic dreams are there to yell at her to PAY ATTENTION, but it's all there anyway; she simply can't be anything but Buffy, the Vampire Slayer, and ofc the entire episode is here to demonstrate that.

I think in btvs there's simultaneously a lot of power behind names and also very little. Different characters are constantly shedding names and putting on new ones like it's a pair of gloves, but they always represent a significant change in some way. Liam becoming Angelus becoming Angel, or William becoming Spike, these are obviously major shifts in their identities since they literally stop being human (or regain a soul). Anyanka as a human becomes Anya. But in these cases it is not the name that causes the change - instead, rather, the change begets a new name.

"Anne" is different - Buffy picks the name as a choice to be someone she isn't. Not that it isn't a transformation, but the transformation isn't innate or even as permanent as becoming a demon or gaining a soul, it's a diminishment of who she really is either way. It fits, then, that Joan/Sister Sunshine/Chanterelle/Lily, who trades identities and names like they're nothing, would take Anne and make it into the transformation it should be - a betterment of herself in the shape of Buffy. I like, especially, that she asks. "Can I be Anne?" She seeks it out, and she succeeds. One of my favorite things in AtS is seeing Anne occasionally return, because it shows the impact of this change was real and permanent. And I also just really like who Anne becomes.

Anyway yeah something btvs name identity etc etc

[natequarter]

just one last timeblr thing and then i swear

0 notes

💣 commiedyke Follow

just watched the president of gallifrey down a bottle of ibuprofen citing 'what's the worst it can do, kill me?' mum come pick me up i'm scared

💣 commiedyke Follow

ok so apparenly time lords are immune to ibuprofen. why did the professor not just tell me this when i asked

#ace speaks #literally he stood in front of me whilst i was watching all of this and said. nothing. #i was thinking romana might DIE and he said NOTHING #duuuude i hate this shitass plsnet

7 notes

👑 fred Follow

watching some 90s earth show with ace let's see how this goes

👑 fred Follow

oh no she's hot

#shut up romana #might have to use that as my next face... #also who thinks buffy and spike should kiss #btvs #<- new tag!

5 notes

💣 commiedyke Follow

hey why did the professor die and turn into a prettyboy

#ace speaks #like wtf not even a warning? #unwarranted #imagine if your dad turned into a cute edwardian one day and then he lost his memory #yeah i know my struggles are unique

2 notes

💣 commiedyke Follow

watching buffy with the lads (<- a couple of loser time lords + leela) let's see how badly this goes lol

💣 commiedyke Follow

UPDATE: romana just said the vampire lady was hot shit (not in those exact words but you get me) and tbh she's not wrong

💣 commiedyke Follow

her exact words were "i'd die to be her" btw

💣 commiedyke Follow

UPDATE 2: she did die to be her

🎻 the--adventurer8 Follow

yeah this has happened before :p

💣 commiedyke Follow

w. what do you mean. before. professor what do you mean before. professor????/

#ace speaks #he can't keep getting away with this

84 notes

⚔️ warqueenextraordinaire Follow

Just regenerated. Thoughts?

💣 commiedyke Follow

WHAT THE FUCK DUDE

⚔️ warqueenextraordinaire Follow

I'll take that as a no then

#Harsh

69 notes

🪨 vislorturlough Follow

guys i solved it. it's maff boy

✈️ donewiththisshit573 Follow

Can you fucking STOP

#he'll never know if he was right and you keep MOCKING HIM???

8 notes

💣 commiedyke Follow

leela just told me she doesn't have periods????? never mind 'other mammals don't do this' apparently other HUMANS don't do this? we can evolve that shit out??? brb killing myself

#ace speaks #more like ace SCREAMS amirite lads

5 notes

🚬 fitz-crier Follow

ineed hium ttothrow me intotthe hesrrt of acnucelar reactor. ansd causeeworld war rthee.

0 notes

⚔️ warqueenextraordinaire Follow

Does anyone else on this website ship Scully and Mulder or is it just me

💣 commiedyke Follow

i regret getting you into 90s scifi so much

#you have no idea

30 notes

🐧 coordinatorsupreme Follow

What is "Friends"?

💣 commiedyke Follow

posts that are funnier without context

57 notes

[cabeswaterdrowned]

rewatching some early s3 Buffy for the first time in way too long and Buffy x Willow isn’t one of my top ships / I prefer a lot of other Buffyverse femslash, but Willow commenting on that “little half smile thing that boys like” Buffy does really is gay

[pinesorneedles]

once more with feeling is such a devastatingly good episode preceded by such perfect setup, and just the perfect emotional release.

as a musical theatre composer i kinda hate the refrain of "when you can't speak, sing" because i think it's extremely oversimplifying, but i do think the art of the musical allows for glimpses into the confessional and the internal that a lot of performance art just doesn't. and while btvs is usually really good at doing that through the metaphorical, season 6 as a whole focuses on the internal world of the group so strongly, while also having the "big bads" of the season be human. it's a really massive tonal shift, obviously, but it also pushes each of the characters further inside themselves.

so at that point in season 6 where everyone is in a weird repressed emotional state, where communication is at an all-time low and conflict is at an all-time high, completely unaffected by some mystical big-bad, it feels like something needs to come out. and like, literal genius to have it come out during a musical.

also, just structurally it works so well. starting off with going through the motions, about buffy's isolation and depression, leading straight into i've got a theory where the group asserts that there's "nothing we can't do if we're together" immediately introduces a sort of dissonance to the assertion that everyone's together, and the fractures continue throughout the episode. like, the stuff introduced at the top gets properly addressed at the end of the episode (when buffy confesses to having been in heaven, and no one in the group knows what to do with it, followed by buffy getting with spike, taking some control over what she's going through). and similarly, under your spell at the top, and then tara's realization of what willow's done to her. i can't go through every single thing, but it's just such a tight episode that's so strong on it's own while also perfectly tying into stuff that's been set up. (it's also like,,,,, the only proper externalization of xander/anya's relationship worries until hell's bells)

it's also just completely delightful, like it's fun as hell!!! it's funny in all the ways that buffy is, it's heartbreaking in all the ways the show is. it's fun as hell all the way through while also confronting the splintering of that's marked the season. the songs are fun and varied, it's just perfect.

it's a perfect episode of television to me <3 i love it. that's all folks.

[azure-firecracker]

The X-Files Season 1 Review (First-Time Watcher)

(Any fans-please come talk to me about the show and send me asks-I’m obsessed!)

It did not take long for me to realize that this was going to become my newest hyperfixation show. It has everything I love in my shows-a strong focus on its main characters, campy sci-fi monsters mixed with some genuine creepiness, slow burn romance, banter. In short, it’s the perfect show for me. I was basically hooked right away.

Like all first seasons, it was pretty clear that the show was still finding its footing. There were some clunky bits to iron out and the show definitely found its vibe more and more as it went along. I would say it began getting overall more consistent around episode 10 (with individual exceptions before and after that).

In terms of episodes, I enjoyed almost all the episodes of this season even though I would only call a couple stellar. Most episodes were fun or at least had fun moments, and the banter between Mulder and Scully (what’s their ship name?) is enough to keep me going through even the clunkiest and cringiest plots.

Speaking of Mulder and Scully, it’s rare that a show can make me love two characters so equally but I really do. Although Scully is much more in line with my usual favorite characters (she is my special girl and I will do anything for her), I also have a special place in my heart for Mulder’s neurodivergent traumatized puppy energy. Of course they really go together so it’s natural that I love them both.

The only weighty criticism I have for this season is that I feel Mulder gets more spotlight moments than Scully. Not egregiously, but it feels like he’s usually the one in the final fight, seeing the aliens, figuring it out, etc. I do know that they were trying to break gender roles by making Scully the skeptic, but given that the aliens are so real…here at least she often came off as oblivious and she sometimes felt like she was tagging along on Mulder’s quests. Which SUCKS! Because I LOVE HER and she could be SO USEFUL if the writers LET HER. This is why I really loved the moments where she got to step up. Veteran viewers…want to tell me if this gets better?

That criticism aside, I could watch these two fight monsters for days, and I know the S2-S5/6 stretch is considered the show’s best, so I’m looking forward to that.

Individual episode reviews under the cut.

Pilot: Fantastic introduction! It did a great job establishing the characters and their dynamic pretty seamlessly, as well as introducing the alien lore in a way that we could digest. It wasn’t perfect and the story was a bit clunky at times, but it got me hooked and did its job well. I also liked Scully being the audience surrogate here. 8/10

Deep Throat: This episode really solidified the dynamic introduced in the pilot, and is packed with great character moments. It gets a HUGE boost from Scully exchanging the guard to rescue Mulder at the end. I mentioned living for the moments when Scully gets to step up, but I think it was necessary to put this moment so early. Because Scully is new to the X-Files and also clearly wrong about aliens, it was necessary to show us that she had a lot to bring to the table and that Mulder needs her. Also a special shoutout to Seth Green as a stoner. 9.5/10

Squeeze: A very fun monster of the week episode, slightly reminiscent of BtVS. Decently creepy with that 90s horror/sci-fi vibe we all love. Plus lots of great Mulder/Scully moments. (Also, despite my complaints about Scully being underutilized, I enjoyed Mulder saving Scully at the end. Rescuing one another from mortal peril is actually my favorite trope, as long as it’s balanced. In that regard, this season has been). 8/10

Conduit: Honestly this episode was a little slow for me, I felt like the pacing could have been better. I had a hard time staying interested. Also it was hilarious that this was supposed to be Iowa because Iowa does not have mountains like that. It gets a boost from the ending scene which in itself is a 100/10. 6/10

The Jersey Devil: Now this is campier and goofier than suits the show, and I feel like they realized that soon after this. The Mulder/Scully banter still made this a good time, but it wasn’t great. Also not helped by the fact that everything happened during the day (the only time in this show where the lighting was too bright) and the Jersey Devil looked like a normal person with some dust on her. 6/10

Shadows: I found the mystery of this one quite engaging. Back with those 90s horror vibes we love, and it kept me guessing right up until the agents figured it out. Negative points for the lack of Mulder/Scully banter though. 7/10

Ghost in the Machine: Was this cheesy? Yes. Was it objectively good? No. Did I enjoy it anyway? Yes. Who doesn’t love a killer computer? Also Scully crawling out of the vents was badass af. Objectively like a 6/10 but 7/10 for my personal enjoyment.

Ice: Now THIS was the stuff. An objectively great episode of television. The tension, the paranoia, the fallout, seeing what our leads do under that kind of stress…brilliant. (Although my dad the geologist couldn’t help but point out that there is no ice sheet in Alaska). Very tempted to write an alternate version where Mulder actually is infected and Scully has to find a cure before the others kill him. That would’ve been interesting. Anyway 10/10

Space: Apparently people don’t like this episode but I enjoyed it. It had a ticking time bomb feel that I quite enjoyed. Also Mulder’s space nerdiness was adorable. 8/10

Fallen Angel: Similar to Conduit, this episode felt rather slow to me despite the fact that there was a lot happening. It just sort of failed to hook me, which is a rarity for this show. 6/10

Eve: This was FUN! I love when we get to unravel the mystery along with the agents and the plot twists definitely kept me guessing. Props to the child actors who did a great job. I did get thrown off by the many parallels to Stranger Things-even though this obviously came out first. 8/10

Fire: Once I got over my anger at sharing a name with Mulder’s horrendous ex, I liked this one. Both Mulder and Scully got good character moments here, with Mulder trying to shield Scully from all his drama and also showing one of his flaws-he’s susceptible to manipulation. Scully, conversely, was really the MVP of this episode and carried the investigation on her back. Also props to our bad guy of the week-great job being creepy! 7.5/10

Beyond the Sea: Immaculate. Probably my favorite episode of the season. Scully burying her grief in work and Mulder being gentler with her than he’s ever been. Scully’s family lore reveal. Both of them going toe to toe with this killer (forgot his name) and not knowing what to believe. Mulder getting shot and Scully getting FURIOUS. Scully’s complicated relationship forming with this killer while she also thinks about her father (rather reminiscent of Silence of the Lambs). Cinema. 10/10

Genderbender: So we have gender switching aliens who kill people…I’ll give the show overall a pass since it’s 1994 but I will not be revisiting this one. Extra points for Mulder yelling GET OFF OF HER at the guy who’s working his weird magic on Scully. Minus points for him blaming her for it after. 2.5/10

Lazarus: So we got panicked Scully 2 episodes ago and now we get panicked Mulder and it is GLORIOUS. I also found all 3 side characters-Scully’s ex as well as both criminals, interesting, especially as Scully’s ex began to mix with the bad guy. Minus points for not shooting the bank robber until after he started shooting up a room full of civilians, extra points for Mulder being great this entire episode. 9/10

Young at Heart: Episodes with creepy killers are always my favorite, and I loved seeing Mulder get toyed with. Reverse aging science…eh it’s not the main point. Minus points for the worst plan ever (let’s invite the killer into a crowded area and let him shoot at Scully even though apparently her bulletproof vest barely saved her), but extra points for Mulder angst. This man has so much guilt. 9/10

E.B.E: Honestly the plot of this one wasn’t super interesting but that’s not what we’re here for is it? Every Mulder and Deep Throat interaction? Perfect. Scully’s little « the truth is out there, but so are lies » speech? Immaculate. The ending where Deep Throat reveals his backstory and Mulder says « I’m trying to decide which lie to believe? » Cinema. 9.5/10

Miracle Man: A bit of a letdown after such a strong streak, but still solid. Pretty good! And I admired that they had the guts to kill the kid too. 6.5/10

Shapes: Another fun 90s horror episode, HEAVY on the BtVS vibes. And it actually dealt with all of the Native American issues better than I thought it would! Not necessarily well in every aspect, but I was expecting much worse considering Genderbender. 7.5/10

Darkness Falls: Y’all this was GOOD! I loved the sense of impending doom that was just present the whole time, and the melancholic feel of the entire thing. Minus points for the anti-environmentalist sentiments and for the blatant plot armor at the end (they really should have died…but then there wouldn’t be a show). 9/10

Tooms: While Tooms being let out on parole was a bit of a stretch, I enjoyed seeing Mulder stretched to his limit. He’s a good character to do that with. Tooms was an even better villain here than in Squeeze imo, because his craftiness really got to shine through. Huge bonus points for the scene in the car. « Mulder, I wouldn’t put myself on the line for anybody but you. » I’M DEAD. 8.5/10

Born Again: The most memorable parts of this episode for me were the thick fake New York accents and the fact that the kid was named Michelle so I kept quoting Derry Girls in my terrible fake Derry accent the whole time. 5/10

Roland: This was the only episode I hated. I could barely get through any Roland scenes-I thought the autism portrayal was clunky and unnecessary and I just don’t want to watch autistic people suffer. It pained me. There wasn’t even any Mulder/Scully banter to salvage it. In fact, it seemed they were barely in the episode at all. It gets half a point because Scully looked really pretty this episode. 0.5/10

The Erlenmeyer Flask: Now this was GOOD STUFF. I feel like since we know the aliens are there and there’s less mystery, alien-focused episodes so far have been slower and I’ve liked them less but THIS kept the pace up and the mystery going throughout. I was fully hooked. I was also WORRIED for Mulder at the end-I thought we were getting a season cliffhanger! And those chemical burns looked BAD. And I DID NOT expect Deep Throat to die OR for them to get shut down. Where the heck are they gonna go from here? I love it. My favorite thing about this episode was really getting back into Scully’s headspace for the last 10 minutes or so. With some exceptions, I feel like a lot of the season has been shown through Mulder’s eyes (part of my gripe from earlier), but the pilot was 100% Scully and circling back to her here felt right. I also liked that she had to do another hostage exchange-a parallel to the first time she really showed why Mulder needs her. So much to love here. 10/10

Idk how many txf fans I have here aside from my one post that made the rounds, but if you’re here congratulations for making it through my essay! Let me know if you’d like any more thoughts/analyses, and if you’d like shorter, episodic posts when it comes time for Season 2:)