X-Files S2E9: Journey to silicon valley

Sestra Amateur: 

We’re back in Monster of the Week mode. No Skinner, no Cancer Man, no Lone Gunmen. But that doesn’t mean it won’t be a good episode, right? (Sestra Pro note: Wrong.)

Scully is back and ready to jump into a new case, almost literally. Scientists with the California Institute of Technology Cascade Volcano Research Team learn their robot, Firewalker, descended into a volcano. They activate the camera remotely and see the dead body of their chief seismologist. They also see a moving shadow right before someone – something? – disables the camera. But what can withstand the 130-degree temperature? Nothing human, of course. 

Dr. Adam Pierce reaches out to Sculder, showing them a videotaped interview of volcanologist Daniel Trepkos taken before the expedition. Trepkos comes across as dramatic and condescending at the same time. Maybe we’ll get to see an interesting debate between Mulder defending outer space exploration and Trepkos obsessing on the origins of the Earth. Pierce said he left the project six weeks prior because Trepkos was going mad, but Pierce is worried about public perception since the project was funded with $20 million in taxpayers’ money. It’s hard to consider any unit under the FBI umbrella as an unofficial channel, even the X-Files, but we'll see where the day takes us.

The facility in Washington is without power and looks like Mulder’s apartment after covert government agents trashed it. While searching inside the building, Fox gets jumped by robotics engineer Jason Ludwig, who claims he thought Mulder was Trepkos. The rest of the team comes out of hiding. Ludwig refers to Trepkos as a prophet. Doctoral candidate Jesse O’Neil claims he suffered from bipolar disorder. Jesse says Trepkos trashed the site to destroy his own work. But she, Ludwig and systems analyst Peter Tanaka are clearly hiding something. 

Mulder thinks the research team is acting weird, Scully chalks it up to them suffering from post-traumatic distress syndrome after being isolated there for the better part of a year. Fox is probably closer to the truth since Tanaka has this nagging cough -- with The X-Files, that always means something more than a cold. Meanwhile, Trepkos breaks Pierce’s neck. Sculder and the scientists find Pierce’s body and bring it back to the site. 

Mulder thinks the "prophet" found a silicon-based life form in the volcano. Scully argues that all life forms on Earth are carbon-based and claims he's talking about science fiction, not science. Still Mulder holds fast that the idea that silicon is the closest element to carbon and the idea isn't so far-fetched. It sounds like the basis of a book I read years ago called The Hollow Skull. Yeah, I guess that might fall under science fiction. You know, it’s nice the writers were able to get the Sculder rhythm back on track so easily, but their argument is one we’ve heard several times before – episodes "Ice" and "Darkness Falls" come to mind. Scully can still be the skeptic but after everything she has seen, it’s almost unreasonable for her to be so steadfast about it. At some point, her denial is going to make her look like a poor agent and doctor.

O'Neil tells Scully that Trepkos changed after his first descent. That’s when he stopped taking his bipolar medication. Jesse, who clearly loved Daniel, just wants to go home. Meanwhile, Tanaka’s nagging cough has Mulder worried. Scully calls for Search and Rescue to evacuate Tanaka, but Mulder notices something moving around in his throat. Tanaka runs away, but doesn’t get too far. We might have expected the chest burster from Alien, but the creature comes off more as the tequila worm from hell in Poltergeist II. The parasite bursts out of Tanaka’s neck and kills him. 

Scully analyzes the spores from the fungus in the late systems analyst's neck while Ludwig and O’Neil continue to act suspiciously. There’s a sweet Sculder moment when Fox lets Dana know how much he’s counting on her. Ludwig convinces Mulder to take him along while Mulder searches for Trepkos. Those guys were really roughing it up there -- $20-million project and they’re forced to drink Shasta? Sounds like poor budgeting. Dinner probably consisted of Ramen noodles. 

Mulder and Ludwig enter the steam caves. Trepkos promptly shoots Ludwig with a flare gun, setting him on fire. Trepkos disarms Mulder, who realizes one of the parasites was inside in Ludwig. Daniel tells Mulder that Erikson accidentally released the spores when he cut open a porous rock. Trepkos, who was in a manic state at the time and had locked himself away from the group for three days, didn’t know what had happened until it was too late and everyone else was infected. Meanwhile, O'Neil handcuffs herself to Scully just as the parasite is trying to explode out of Jesse’s throat. Dana carries Jesse to the lab and shoves her into a contamination room. They’re still handcuffed together so Scully can’t lock the door, but at least she’s protected from the spores when the creature bursts out of O'Neil. The sweet Sculder moments continue when Mulder gets to Scully with his handcuff key. Trepkos is clearly affected by Jesse’s death. He chooses to stay behind when Sculder get rescued. 

Mulder’s voiceover discusses their month of required decontamination. We see the biohazard crew removing everything from the research team’s lab and the camera lingers long enough on one of the uniform patches to let us know it’s something important. Mark Snow even throws in a musical cue. Cool epilogue fact: Mulder listed the dates of the investigation as being 11/11/94 – 11/13/94. I watched this episode on 11/11, wrote the blog on 11/12 and will link it to my friends on 11/13. Conspiracy? Nah, just a nice coincidence. Unless Sestra Pro planned this all along...

Sestra Professional:

This is the polar opposite of the Season 1 episode "Ice" in every possible way, not just the obvious one. Everything that was done right in the first truly great show of the series is done wrong here. 

As my Dr. Who Pro saunters by during this episode, he mentions how similar it seems to the 1970 episode "Inferno." The symmetry would go a long way to alleviating the heavy-handedness this one displays in every milli-second. In the official X-Files episode guide, writer Howard Gordon (working without usual partner Alex Ganza) said he was inspired articles he'd read about Project Dante, the NASA-funded robotic explorer sent into a volcano. Still seems like overcooked "Ice" to me.

But I'll give props to Gillian Anderson, particularly strong in Dana's resolve to get back to work after her ordeal. She later recounted in The Complete X-Files, "It was still just a week after a C-section and I had a fight scene, which I just kinda laughed at and said 'Guys, this isn't gonna happen. Better get some pretty good stunt doubles in here, I can't lift my leg that high.'"

He saw things ... we only dream about and then forget when we wake up: The rest of it is all ca-ca. The dialogue isn't working. The genius Trepkos is characterized as a guy whose dreams, ambition and great luck converged, until his luck ran out. Pierce describes himself as always playing Salieri to Trepkos' Mozart. We can understand that analogy. Then we're introduced to a guy named Jason Ludwig -- OK already with the classical music references. Even Mark Snow gets in on the repeat action, seemingly recycling his score from "Ice." 

Sculder moments that seem promising also fizzle out. Fox is still understandably concerned about her in the wake of all that has happened, but Dana holds her ground. From there, they get into a trademark discussion in which Fox is looking for one of science's holy grails -- a silicon-based organism. Dana isn't really wrong when she describes the heightened level of emotional distress the isolated crew has been under. (Obviously Jesse is suffering some kind of stress if she keeps giving herself the most unflattering hair style ever -- inch-long bangs?) But Mulder and Scully getting into a prolonged argument over carbon isn't going to set too many fans' toes tingling.

Then they're back in the possible contagion arena with the airborne microbe and a desire not to risk infecting the population. Scully determines that if the spores aren't ingested or inhaled immediately upon release, they become harmless. But Mulder's prognosis isn't all wrong either, all the death and disorder has been caused by a parasite existing in those conditions that lives to find a host. 

Then there was the biggest eye-roller of them all. Mulder telling Trepkos that he's going to have to shoot him because he's leaving the steam caves to help Scully might not be the right thing to say to a guy who has not only killed other people but has descended into madness. Like he's going to think twice about taking him out. Just another false note in an episode full of them.

But we do get something new at the end, no, not the patch signifying conspiracy involvement. Since Trepkos wasn't infected and clearly can't rejoin society, Mulder doesn't mind leaving him behind and shading his investigation report to reflect that. Now you're getting into the spirit of the mythology, Fox.

Guest star of the week: Bradley Whitford actually does fine work in the face of Trepkos' madness. Is he an oracle or just a prophet of doom? Whitford's work gets progressively more impressive and effective when contrasted with the cringe-worthy performance delivered by Shawnee Smith. Was kinda glad the organism took Jesse out and even intrigued at the idea of outcast Trepkos surviving in the steam caves.

X-Files S2E8: The strength of their beliefs

Sestra Amateur: 

Glen Morgan and James Wong do their best to atone for the atrocity of the previous episode. In fact, they provide the best argument that “3” was mostly Chris Ruppenthal’s mess since he’s not one of the “One Breath” writers. Gillian Anderson is back from maternity leave, and even unconscious, Scully makes quite the impression on those around her. 

The episode begins with Scully’s mother telling Mulder a story about when Dana and her brothers were kids. The three children were taking the first steps on the path to becoming serial killers by shooting at a snake they found in the woods and laughing about it. Luckily, young Dana experienced remorse at causing the reptile’s death and changed her path. Not so sure whether the brothers learned the same lesson, but probably did eventually since there was never an episode involving a Scully sibling serial killer. The guest-star list alone tells you it’s going to be a pivotal episode: Skinner, Mr. X, Cigarette-Smoking Man. We even get The Lone Gunmen but they’re on the back end of the credits so we don’t know that straight off. 

Good news: Scully shows up alive in a hospital. Bad news: She’s in a coma. Mulder understandably goes off the rails. Worse news: Dana had a living will, and if she gets her way, will be taken off life support because she never wanted to live in that state. So everything seems hopeless for our heroine. Mulder meets Dana’s spiritual sister, Melissa “I’ve been told not to call you Fox” Scully. Melissa claims she can contact her sister through her soul. She’s clearly less of a skeptic than Dana. But they only see Scully lying unconscious on the bed, hooked up to machines that keep her alive. Dana’s perspective shows her tethered to a boat on a lake with everyone unable to reach her because they are stuck on the dock. Fox returns home and tries to contact Mr. X through their bat signal -- the X taped on Mulder’s window.

Frohike shows up at the hospital with flowers for Scully. Aw. He also smuggles out her chart so the Lone Gunmen can analyze it. Double aw. They learn someone experimented on Scully, but they can’t give Mulder any hope that she will recover. Nurse Owens talks to Scully and tries to convince her to stick around a little longer. Nurse Wilkins draws a vial of Dana’s blood, which gets stolen during an unrelated medical emergency. 

Mulder chases the blood thief – please don't let this turn into “3” all over again – and they end up in the parking garage. Mr. X intervenes, cryptically telling Mulder he used to be just like him. Mulder continues his chase and the blood thief gets the drop on Mulder, but X intervenes and shoots the guy in the head. On the upside, the hands-on informant tells Mulder he’ll deal with the cleanup. Meanwhile, Scully’s metaphorical rope/lifeline snaps and she begins to drift away from the dock. 

Back at FBI headquarters, Cancer Man meets with Skinner to complain about the assistant director's lack of control over Mulder. Skinner amusingly tries to convince CSM not to smoke in the office, but of course he marks his territory anyway. CSM leaves just before Mulder enters through another door. Mulder plays the denial game regarding what happened in the parking garage. He’s not as good at it as the other players are, but Fox is still learning. Anyway, Skinner doesn’t give Mulder any answers. 

Nurse Owens continues talking to Scully and Dana appears to be hearing the words from her father. But how does Nurse Owens know their nicknames, Ahab and Starbuck? Maybe she watched the episode, "Beyond the Sea." Back at the hospital, Mulder gets a clue in a pack of Morleys -- I wonder whether Marlboro ever sued for some type of likeness infringement. 

The address leads Mulder directly to Cancer Man, who is sitting alone in a featureless apartment. Fox is so irate he actually smacks a cigarette out of CSM’s mouth. Cancer Man points out how pathetic his own life is, but insists he does what he does because it’s the right thing to do. Of course, he tells Mulder that he will never learn “the truth” if he kills Cancer Man. It really is the only card he has left to play at this point. 

Mulder, who has really made no progress, chooses to quit the FBI, but Skinner refuses to accept his letter of resignation. The assistant director gives Mulder one hell of a pep talk and Mulder realizes Skinner is the one who led him to Cancer Man. Mr. X later helps Mulder set a trap for the men responsible for Scully’s abduction, but Fox ends up going to the hospital to try and reach Dana by talking to her. Unsuccessful, Mulder returns home to his now ransacked apartment and breaks down – pretty sure he’s not crying about the apartment. 

Things have never looked bleaker for our hero. But now that Mulder’s hit rock bottom, it’s time to let Scully wake up. And just like that, she’s conscious – and coherent. For the first time in a very long time, we see a genuine Fox Mulder smile when he hears about it. Scully seems to have heard Mulder in her comatose state, so he reached her after all. Fox returns to Dana's gold cross necklace to her. Scully later asks Nurse Wilkins about Nurse Owens, but finds out Nurse Owens doesn’t exist. Her first case back should be opening a Nurse Owens X-File.

Sestra Professional:

Too bad her first case back wasn't Nurse Owens. You'll see why next week. And by the way, thank God you're back, Scully. You'll never believe what Mulder got up to while you were away.

The voiceover teaser. These consistently wind up being my least favorite part of The X-Files. I've always found them to be quite heavy-handed and pretentious. But the end of the tag when Dana's mother sees her daughter's would-be headstone, that gets me right where I live. 

While Scully's choosing whether to remain or move on, we get lots of nice character beats from those around her. Mulder needs as many answers about the sudden reappearance as he wanted from the initial disappearance, and he's not exactly taking the even-tempered approach. Her mother is just grateful her daughter's alive. Her sister's working her trademark crystals. Even Frohike's decked out to the nines and bearing flowers.

Every life, every day is in danger. That's life: So the quiet beats are nice and a bit shippy for all the Sculder fans who need more from the show than just plot progression, but the real driving force of the episode comes from the other end of the spectrum. Skinner gets the biggest laugh with his "Thank you for not smoking" sign, unheeded though it went, and he also provides the most poignant moment during a couple of horrific stories about serving in Vietnam designed to prevent Mulder's resignation from the FBI.

Good thing the tension's there, because meta threatens to overwhelm me at almost every turn in this episode. "We're all hopping on the internet to nitpick the scientific inaccuracies of Earth 2," Langly proclaims, in a very pointed reference to how sci-fi fans tended to dissect every single aspect of shows in chat rooms the second the end credits rolled.

Thank goodness we have the Lone Gunmen to serve as our medical experts, telling us all about branched DNA now apparently inactive inside Dana. Her immune system has been compromised by experimentation -- remember the use of Gillian Anderson's full belly in our last conspiracy episode?

Gotcha: But I think you're being a little naive, Sestra Am. There's a suspicious guy in the shadows and then a convenient medical emergency? I don't think it's unrelated. Those conspiracy types are rough, inducing a code red just to steal some blood. So there's the heightened tension of Mulder trying to catch up to him and ... it's over a lot sooner if you watch the blooper reel.

Sestra Am gets a point back, I never made a connection between Nurse Owens' words and Scully's dad. Probably because I was pondering his words about life seeming to have passed by in the length of one breath, one heartbeat. Or perhaps I was thinking about exhausted Gillian reportedly falling asleep while filming comatose scenes in her quick return after giving birth. 

And maybe X is more like Mulder than we suspected, because this guy is pretty tightly wound -- shoving his high-capacity compact SIG Sauer .40-caliber weapon in Fox's face in his attempt to prevent him from going what he deems to be the wrong way with his investigation.

Don't try to threaten me, Mulder. I've watched presidents die: William B. Davis has always maintained that the real hero of The X-Files is his character, and I kind of see his point in this episode. "Who are you to decide what's right?" Mulder asks with the business end of his gun." "Who are you?" newly monikered Cancer Man responds. He respects Mulder for threatening him, but like Sestra Am says, CSM's got a more powerful secret weapon -- if Mulder kills him, he'll never learn the truth about any of it.

Even Scully's hippie-trippy sister gets good at laying the guilt trip on Fox. He derides her "harmonic convergence crap," but Melissa's the one who points out maybe sitting at Scully's bedside and speaking his peace -- about his guilt, about his feelings -- would be better than running around with his gun half-cocked. And I find myself kind of buying into the fact that her beliefs aren't silly or trite just because they are positive and good.

Guest star of the week: We're mostly running with regulars this week, but I'm going to take a moment to show some appreciation for Melinda McGraw, which I think I've never done before. Melissa Scully comes in under the worst circumstances, obviously, and she's full-on with attempts at crystal blue persuasion. But Melinda's got a couple of real nifty scenes with David Duchovny. I can see why, at the time, the shippers were getting all up in arms at the possibility of the show putting those two together. Not something anyone ever needed to see, just respect for a show newcomer shining some light. Right on, Melinda!