#i liked the themes of this episode and the connection to anasazi

[soufflegirl]

Amor Fati's ending scene was so good and emotionally touching that almost made me forget the rest, but the more I think about the Sixth Extinction Trilogy, the less sense it makes to me and I have so many question. But mostly, what was the whole point of Diana Fowley as a character? I disliked her as much as the next girl, but her off screen death felt like a lazy choice. She had a lot of potential as an antagonist, as someone from Mulder's past who also had a background on the X-Files who chose to betray him to work for CSM. She was a grey, manipulative and mysterious woman, but I feel like she was just used to create some tension between M&S and to slow down their now unavoidable romance. Which, I mean, is fine and all, but it was not very satisfying in the end. I was convinced she would have played a bigger role from the way I heard about her arc. I mean, I absolutely didn't want more Diana screentime because I disliked her very much, but the point is that it was a badly written character in a very confusing arc.

[thanx-files]

Gethsemane Review and Season 4 Wrap-Up

Listen. Listen. These get longer every season, but I can’t help myself. I spent a ridiculous amount of time trying to put my thoughts into comprehensible language after Gethsemane. So please, indulge me, agree with me, start a fight with me in the replies, but whatever you do, just join me in being unwell about season 4 of The X-Files. Spoilers, of course.

Gethsemane

I, a child of the 21st century, am watching this show on a streaming platform. It has long since wrapped, and I know for damn sure that David Duchovny will return as Fox Mulder for many of the seasons to follow. Even so, I am choking on this ending. What the exact and entire fuck do you mean HE DIED?

I cannot imagine watching this, then waiting MONTHS to know what happened. I know those message boards were buzzing. Not only that, but the viewers would not have had the benefit of the Dean Winchester trope thanks to which every time a main character dies you think, “it’s fine honestly don’t even worry about it, they’ll be back in two weeks.” (Even if you’re wrong.)

UGH okay now that I’ve talked about that, it’s time to be a broken record: I love to see Mulder and Scully at odds. The scene as they’re leaving the Smithsonian is ART to me. They’re no longer fighting the same war; they’re on the same battlefield, arguing about who the fuck is shooting at them in the first place.

He doesn’t see that she needs him because of how desperately she doesn’t want to need him. She says she’s out of the game while sliding all her chips into the center of the table. They’re impossible. I’m obsessed with them.

Also we got more Catholic Scully in this ep, and we know I love that, too. I love that no one can touch whatever God is to her — not a priest and not Mulder either. I love that she is unthreatened by the truth, whatever it happens to be.

Also, the dialogue this ep goes hard in general, but Mulder hearing the phrase, “They invented you” is so fucked up. He’s a cog in the very machine he hopes to dismantle. Or is he? Or was he?

This ep had me, who jumped onboard with MSR the second Mulder turned on that slide projector in the pilot, wondering if I had been wrong the whole time. Then they pulled that ending. The last seven seconds of the ep had me so fucked up. Scully getting choked up — the FBI official she’s been explaining it all to trying to keep her from saying the thing out loud. It’s overwhelming.

This has all been a lot of summary and not a lot of reviewing, but what else is new? TL;DR: This ep fucks. Favorite season finale so far, followed by Anasazi.

Season 4

One of the strengths of season 4 is how connected it all feels. With a few notable exceptions, we start up on this rollercoaster hill of autonomy, mortality, power, and the self. I know those are major themes of the whole series, but when you look at them through the lens of the cancer arc, they look kinda different. Suddenly we have foreshadowing. We have the specter of death looking in on us for more than just an episode, a moment. We start to feel like maybe something bad could actually happen to Mulder and Scully —something permanent and paradigm-shifting.

The weakness, for me, of season 4 is that it has no sense of humor. No Clyde Bruckman. No Coprophages. No Jose Chung. The episodes are good, of course, but none of them are fun! I don’t need another sitcom ep, but I do need a breath, for the love of God.

5 favorite eps:

Musings of a Cigarette-Smoking Man: Yes! I am as surprised as you are, seeing as I made a comment last season about how little patience I have for the CSM and his musings, specifically. But I find I did actually want to know who this guy is. And the fact that he’s watching the Gunmen the whole time — that’s the power thing I was talking about before. He says it himself: He could kill them anytime. But not today.

Tunguska & Terma: The first time a 2-part mytharc sequence has made it to my favorites list! I fucking love it when Alex Krycek shows his face around Mulder and Scully because he WILL stab them in the back and it WILL be dramatic as fuck. (I wrote down the phrase “just kiss already” something like 7 times in my notes during these eps, basically any time Mulder and Krycek were on screen.)

Demons: I know we all love to see a pathetic shell of a man abandoning all reason. We also love to see Scully as the deranged, protective one, stopping at nothing to save her partner. Even if said partner made some truly terrible decisions.

Gethsemane: See above.

5 least favorite eps:

The Field Where I Died: Not only was this slow and boring, but by the end, I was ready to crawl into the TV and slap Fox Mulder my own self. This case could’ve been solved and no one had to die. But he wasted their time. (Please feel free to correct me in the replies; I would actually love to be wrong.) Also, the southern accent for the big field monologue made my Carolina girl heart wither.

El Mundo Gira: That’s not even remotely what a chupacabra is. I feel like this was supposed to be our Jose Chung this season. It let me down.

Tempus Fugit & Max: Back to our regularly scheduled programming where I get lost in these two-parters because who is that? Where are they going? Who is chasing them? What? Huh?

Zero Sum: I am confused and I miss Scully. Skinner and Mulder will just do circles around each other and growl at people without her. I know this is a glimpse of the stakes of the cancer arc, but it’s not very good TV, is it?