X-Files S2E1: The 'Wow' factor

Sestra Amateur: 

OK, X-Philes, we’re back for Season 2. It’s not surprising to know the truth is still out there … allegedly. We don’t get a lot of answers in this one, and of course, we end up with even more questions. But we do get some interesting Mulder back story, so let’s dive in. 

The episode begins with Mulder’s voice-over explaining the history of Voyager – no, not the Star Trek show. That wouldn’t appear on the UPN channel for another four months. The spacecraft, launched in 1977, contained proof that earthlings weren’t just a bunch of Neanderthals – at least not by our definition. So in this episode, which aired in 1994, the episode’s teases that someone out there may have responded.

Since the X-Files unit was disbanded, our heroes have been assigned to separate divisions. Mulder is listening to wiretap conversations related to white-collar crime – zzzzzzz – and Scully is dissecting bodies at the FBI academy. One of her students says she sounds "spooky." Guess now we’re supposed to see Scully on the same level as Mulder? 

Scully later sees her former partner in the hallway, but he ignores her. What the hell, Spooky? They have a clandestine meeting in the Watergate Hotel parking lot and Mulder said he thinks he’s being watched. But based on history and reputation, isn’t Watergate the worst place to go? Mulder tells Scully about Deep Throat’s funeral – sort of. That should mean Deep Throat’s identity is now known, at least to Sculder, but neither mentions his role in the government war. Neither Assistant Director Skinner or Cigarette Smoking Man mention Deep Throat either. Maybe his identity is an X-File. Mulder is clearly frustrated because he’s seen so much, but still does not have any tangible proof. Hey, Spooky, Scully had tangible proof in the last episode, but she gave it up to save your ass. 

Let’s flash back to November 1973 for a moment. Fox is playing Stratego with his younger sister, Samantha. He’s acting like a typical big brother, which is probably why he feels guilty after it appears she’s abducted by aliens. The scene itself is slightly reminiscent of young Barry’s abduction in Close Encounters of the Third Kind. I’m not sure whether Sestra Pro is going to argue with me on that one since those aliens ended up being benevolent and later returned Barry. But from the perspective of Barry’s mother, Jillian, it was the scariest moment of her life. 

Back in the present, Mulder goes to see Senator Richard Matheson – that one has to be a shoutout to the author. Matheson wrote one of my favorite novels, Bid Time Return, which most people know as the movie, Somewhere in Time. Senator Matheson is clearly a Mulder supporter and he gives Mulder the heads-up to recover information from Voyager before the government arrives and destroys the evidence. 

So Mulder heads to the National Astronomy and Ionosphere Center in Puerto Rico. Funny how the power is off, but the control panel still has working lights. That’s one hell of a battery backup. The next morning Scully learns from Skinner that Mulder is missing. Mulder really should have just burned a sick day so it wouldn’t seem suspicious. But maybe he wanted someone – Scully – to follow him. Being inside Mulder's head can be confusing. 

CSM thinks Scully can locate Mulder, and of course, she takes the bait. Scully is searching Mulder’s apartment for clues. Love the answering-machine message from Mulder’s stood-up date. At least he’s trying – well, he was trying – to have a social life. Scully figures out Mulder’s computer password fairly quickly – not the actual phrase, but how it was entered as a password. Two agents who were watching Mulder’s place arrive, but Scully still leaves with a clue to Mulder’s whereabouts. 

Back in Puerto Rico, a terrified man in the bathroom of the abandoned facility scares the crap out of Mulder. Not literally, I hope. My Spanish may be a little rusty, but Jorge seems to tell a typical tale of alien abduction. Mulder doesn’t really speak Spanish, but Jorge’s simple alien drawing tells Mulder everything he wanted to hear. Scully seeks assistance from expert Dr. Troisky, who analyzes Mulder’s Voyager printout and helps her narrow down the search. Scully realizes she’s being followed so she sends the agents on a wild-goose chase while she heads to Puerto Rico. Good girl. 

In Puerto Rico, there’s a storm raging outside the facility. Jorge panics and runs away. Mulder finds his body. It looks like Jorge was scared to death, cue sinister dun dun duuuuuun music here. There’s an interesting dynamic to this episode. While Scully is running around acting like Mulder (rightly paranoid and overly cautious), he is starting to act like her as he tries to determine the cause of Jorge’s death in true pathologist fashion. It’s very interesting to see Mulder’s heartfelt evolution of trust toward Scully while he’s talking into his tape recorder. Too bad Scully isn’t there to witness it. 

But let’s put a pin in that for now. Something is happening at the facility – bright lights, ground shaking, distorted recordings. Have the aliens arrived? Mulder seems to think so, but he loses consciousness. Scully wakes Mulder the next morning – the rainstorm is clearly over and it’s a beautiful day. Mulder tries to convince her “they” made contact. But the government is there to destroy the evidence, so he grabs what he can. Sculder take off, but the soldiers shoot at them. Of course, they miss. 

Back at FBI headquarters, Mulder’s getting dressed down by Skinner, but then, for some reason, CSM opens his big cigarette-smelling mouth and starts gloating to Mulder. Guess Skinner didn’t like that, because not only does he not fire Mulder, but he kicks Cancer Man out of his office. He’s not just a yes man after all! Go, Skinner! Of course, Skinner puts Mulder back on wiretaps, but his agent had that coming. Sculder find time later to review the tape Mulder took from the facility in Puerto Rico, but it’s blank. Maybe next time, Mulder. I’m sure you’ll get tangible proof any episode now...


Sestra Professional:

That's my idea of a hiatus between seasons -- one week. And now we get a glorious grand-scale opener. We've got our first real look at a living alien, a car chase, fleshing out of Skinner's character as well as individual and collective looks at how much the bond has strengthened since Scully first walked into Mulder's basement office the prior year.

This episode is sooooo Contact, which probably explains why I like that Jodie Foster movie. But in The Complete X-Files, co-writer Glen Morgan explained he had previously written a script on his own about a man's journey to a telescope in Chile called Little Green Men that he and writing partner "cannabilized" for the season opener of the same name.

I love the Wow Signal story, in both content and as a real-life occurrence that carries so much weight in terms of our ongoing plot. As the guest expert explains in the show, in August 1977, an astronomer at Ohio State got so excited about an extraterrestrial signal that he wrote "Wow!" in the margin of his computer printout. It's also great to tap another source besides the tried-and-true mention of Roswell.

They closed Sculder's eyes at the end of the first season. And as the second one starts, we see they've opened Mulder's ears. Really, I'm not sure what his problem is, listening to a strip-club story as part of his FBI duties. That kind of thing will seem to be right up his alley in the not-too-distant future.

Now we're actually meeting in the Watergate Hotel? So All the President's Men, minus Deep Throat, of course. I can buy Samantha's abduction as Close Encounters-esque. The suspension in mid-air part is new, thought, and very well done. Sometimes we might forget we're watching a TV show made in a mere week's time. On the other hand, I just can't stand when a password is figured that easily. They couldn't spare the two seconds for Scully to try "TRUSTNOONE" before "TRUSTNO1"? By the way, was that a recent password change for Mulder? He definitely seems the type to change it on a regular basis.
 
Noho on the rojo: In the early days, X-Philes ran around saying "noho on the rojo," referring to how Mulder tried to keep non-English-speaking Jorge from touching the red button at the observatory. That should have had its own T-shirt. But back to the plot. That Jorge guy could never be Roy Neary from Close Encounters. He's really, really afraid of the aliens. (How did this man get his job with that kind of debilitating fear?) He's also terrified of lightning, and therefore, of alien lightning. He'd probably still be alive had he not run out into the storm.

It's hard ... suspecting everyone ... everything. It wears you down. I agree wholeheartedly on how powerful it was to hear Mulder pouring out his heart while trying to work out things in his head on the tape recorder. What he says really helps set the stage for Season 2, particularly with Sculder -- as Sestra Am pointed out -- in role reversal for this episode.

Among the crucial plot points Mulder discusses was the need to find out what happened to his sister and to see the entities that took her from him. "What would I do if they really came?" he asks, and he gets a quick answer to that previously rhetorical question. Mulder tries to block the door, he takes out his gun, he tries to fire -- he's reacting similarly to the way young Fox did on the night his sister was taken.  

And the coup de grace in the final scene as Mulder tells Scully, "I may not have the X-Files, Scully, but I still have my work. And I still have you ... and I still have myself." The look Gillian Anderson gives him in the pregnant pause -- hee hee -- after the bond is referred to might be her finest moment since Season 1 episode "Beyond the Sea." So much lodged into a second in which she doesn't respond with dialogue, and made me mentally write "Wow" in the margin.

We're loaded with meta in this episode. Raymond Barry plays Senator Richard Matheson very well, but executive producer Chris Carter wanted Darren McGavin for the role. McGavin played the lead role in Kolchak: The Night Stalker, the 1974 series that probably was the biggest of all the show's various influences. But don't fret, he eventually will become a tangible part of X-Files lure. 

Good thing it wasn't a Double Jeopardy question: Another of the really great meta moments -- "Brandenburg Concerto No. 2" referred to an answer David Duchovny got wrong when he appeared on Jeopardy. Here's another nice one: The passenger manifest Scully peruses looking for Mulder contained names of a lot of online fans as well as Charles Grant, who wrote some of the show's novels.

Richard Matheson definitely was a shoutout to the sci-fi/horror writer. The literary legend also wrote some of the best Twilight Zone episodes -- including "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet," "The Invaders" and the adaptation of "Third from the Sun." Between that and the other pop-culture references from this ep, maybe we got a peek at the show's suggested summer watch/reading list.

But on an even greater front, Anderson's pregnancy starts to impact the show in ways both great and small. As Carter has acknowledged repeatedly, that provided the biggest impetus for advancement of the conspiracy/mythology element. Right now, she's got the glorious glow and she's being filmed in the time-honored tradition of closeups and shielding behind furniture and other objects. There will be more to explore on this in upcoming eps.

X-Files S1E24: Trust that the truth is out there

Sestra Amateur: 

Funny how a simple title like "The Erlenmeyer Flask" can transport you back to 11th-grade chemistry class. But I’m pretty sure this episode will contain more deadly experiments than anyone ever experienced in a high-school classroom. Now let’s see how it relates to the season finale.

Somewhere in Maryland, patrol cops are in hot pursuit of a suspect. The terrified driver leaves his car and tries to run on foot, but the cops surround him. The suspect takes one of their batons and starts beating the police officers. Exhibiting unusual strength, he overpowers the cops. Another one arrives and tries to stun the suspect with a Tazer, but the suspect just pulls the probes out of his chest. I don’t know if any of you have ever used a Tazer-like device on a human being, but the “oh, shit” look on the cop’s face when it clearly had no effect is pretty accurate. Luckily for this cop, the suspect chooses to run away instead of continuing the attack. The cop shoots at the man who jumps into the river. It looks like the guy was hit, but instead of seeing blood there are puddles of green goo on the dock. Looks like he's on the right show.

Deep Throat calls Mulder and wakes him up. Sestra Pro, what movie was on Mulder’s television? One actor sounded like James Mason, but it wasn’t a film I’ve seen before. Also, does it have some related meaning/foreshadowing with this episode or was it picked randomly? DT tells Mulder to watch the news, so he records the coverage of the chase and reviews the tape ad nauseum. He cannot identify one spectator who I’m going to refer to as Unknown Man. Mulder learns the incident began with a moving violation. See how quickly situations can escalate? 

Sculder go to the crime scene, which 18 hours after the incident, still looks very active. The police captain out-thinks Mulder while Scully looks bored. They check out the suspect’s car and learned someone secretly replaced the original one with Folgers. I mean someone stole a rental car and replaced it with the one the suspect originally took, which belonged to Dr. Berube of the Emgen Corporation molecular research laboratory. 

Berube is very carefully handling substances in an Erlenmeyer flask. While questioning the doc, one of his monkeys tries to bite Scully. Berube then gives Sculder the move-along. Scully refuses to continue the investigation because she thinks DT is yanking Mulder’s chain – her words, not mine. So when Mulder meets with his informant, he gives him a piece of his mind. Scully would have been proud -- but Mulder stays on DT’s hook and continues the investigation. 

Back at the lab, Unknown Man arrives looking for Dr. Secare, the moving violator. He kills Berube as Secare emerges from the river. Guess Secare can breathe underwater. The next morning, Sculder are back at Berube’s lab investigating his “suicide." They learn Berube was working on the Human Genome Project, the mapping of human genes. With his bare hands, Mulder picks up the flask labeled “purity control” that Berube handled so cautiously. He convinces Scully to test the contents. Scully takes the flask from him and I have to keep reminding myself they weren’t using latex gloves very often 22 years ago. 

Scully takes the flask to Georgetown University. Dr. Carpenter, the hooker from Arthur, analyzes the contents and tells the agent it contained a bacteria and virus that Berube was cloning for gene therapy. Scully also learns that the bacteria predates homo sapiens and the DNA contains an “extraterrestrial” base panel. Guess she's back on board. 

Mulder illegally enters Berube’s home and finds keys for a storage facility. Secare calls Berube, but Mulder answers the phone while the Unknown Man is eavesdropping. Secare is unable to say where he is because of his injuries. A Good Samaritan calls for an ambulance. The paramedics try to treat Secare, but he releases a toxic gas that overpowers the EMTs and their driver. How come we see the green goo and blood here, but no blood at the original crime scene? I’m calling the continuity police. 

Mulder goes to the storage facility and opens locker #1056. Hey Sestra Pro, shouldn’t it be #1013? Inside, he finds adult human bodies that appear to be asleep in tanks of murky water. Mulder is chased by Unknown Man and his cronies. Surprisingly, Mulder walks all the way home instead of ... oh, I don’t know, doubling back to see what the men are doing or calling Scully from any other phone in the state of Maryland. This is one of those times when a great story can get marred by a contrived, senseless plot point. 

So Scully goes to Mulder’s apartment to pick him up and they arrive back at the storage facility the next morning. A great scene in which Scully finally admits to Mulder that, after 24 episodes, she doesn’t know what to believe is ruined by the knowledge that the storage unit will be empty when they finally go inside. That’s what they get for taking too long to get back there. At least DT is there to provide some more exposition. Turns out the bodies were terminally ill patients who voluntarily submitted to gene therapy. Secare survived his treatments, but the government couldn’t risk having him live a normal life as a human/alien hybrid. It’s hard to disagree with DT since we saw what happened to those poor paramedics who tried to treat Secare. 

Scully returns to Georgetown and learns Dr. Carpenter was killed in a car crash with her family. Mulder returns to Berube’s house and finds Secare hiding in the attic. Right when Mulder says he’ll protect the guy, the Unknown Man shoots Secare. Toxic gas escapes from the new hole in Secare’s body and blinds Mulder. The unknown but live one, who is wearing a gas mask, subdues our intrepid hero. The gas causes visible burns to Mulder’s nose and mouth. Unknown Man further tortures Mulder by leaving a ringing cell phone just out of his reach and refusing to answer it. In addition to having no name, that guy truly has no scruples. 

Scully and DT team up to try and save Mulder. Scully obtains the original alien tissue sample from a secured laboratory. It looks like a frozen alien baby. Scully somehow smuggles out the embryocicle and gives it to DT, who meets with Mr. Unknown to exchange it for Mulder. I find it hard to believe DT would support the theory of the needs of one outweighing the needs of many, but since David Duchovny is under contract, I guess it will play out this way. So Unknown Man takes the package, shoots DT, dumps Mulder from the van and leaves the scene. DT, who was not wearing a bullet-proof vest, tells Scully to “trust … no one ...” then dies. And no, we do not learn anything more about his identity. 

Mulder's looking a lot better 13 days later and he calls Scully to tell her the X-Files have been shut down. Of course, he is very determined not to give up his search for the truth because it’s, well, out there. Meanwhile, in the Pentagon, we see a rare Cancer Man moment in which he is not smoking a cigarette. He’s securing the alien embryo in an evidence room that is reminiscent of the final scene in Raiders of the Lost Ark when the government hides the ark in a maze of bureaucracy. Guess Cancer Man is one of the “top men,” but we already knew that. See you next season. 

Sestra Professional:

So long, Deep Throat. We hardly knew ya. And by that, as Sestra Am said, we really don't know who you were or high up the Washington food chain you climbed. But here's one of my favorite meta bits ever. When Deep Throat's portrayer Jerry Hardin received his copy of the script, it had a note from executive producer Chris Carter on it that read, "No one really dies on The X-Files. 

That was a particularly nice thing for the show runner to do since that demise was so shocking when it aired. However, it did provide the sense of jeopardy and imminent threat that the show needed to stay vital. As well as hammering home the first two really distinctive catch phrases -- "Trust no one" and "The truth is out there."

So many Sestra Am questions, so little time. The James Mason movie was Journey to the Center of the Earth. So there's that tangential connection to what's going on around our parts. Plus the added bonus of the final bit of dialogue used before Mulder changes channels -- "Science is not a guessing game." Mason is soooo Scully. 1056 was a variation on Carter's 1013 birthday theme, as he was born in the year 1956. And perhaps Secare starts bleeding in addition to gooing at his end because he's still part human and is actually dying that time?

But in regards to that green goo and all the permutations which emanate from it, that has always been one of the least cohesive elements of the conspiracy episodes. And that's saying something since there was never a "show bible" kept for such purposes. But that's discussion for another season, other than the obvious -- maybe it's a conspiracy.

You work so hard and you still don't see it: The early mythology episodes did more to advance the character of Mulder, but this season-ending one really gives Scully a boost. Sure, he gets to see the hybrids before they (and he) disappear, but she gets to do the heavy lifting and save him in the process. Although saving him at the expense of the best proof anyone's ever had does seem like a little much.

Scully understandably starts off annoyed by the cryptic Deep Throat phone call that really did not give the pair much to go on. But then she sees the gene-therapy evidence first-hand and comprehends the bacteria containing a virus to be both millions of years old and extraterrestrial by definition. After somehow coming up with the containment facility's project password "Purity Control" when it could have been everything from "monkey pee" to CSM's favorite brand of cigarettes, she finally holds that confirmation of alien life in her own two hands. The kind she can't deny because she's been out of the room all season when Mulder ran across it.

Maybe this time we can just cut out the Obi-Wan Kenobi crap: Sestra Am, you made no mention of Mulder's Star Wars reference. I'm opening my own X-File on that one. Mulder was right on target declaring Deep Throat had become too dependent on him. And Sculder's real lucky that Berube "did a Greg Louganis out the window" or they never would have gotten anywhere on the case. 

What's always been particularly terrifying about the show are its assertions about groups within groups conducting covert activities unknown at the highest levels of power that make you think about what might be going on in the real world. Dozens and dozens of Unknown Men putting Alien Pops in Pentagon evidence rooms (without refrigeration yet) and the like. Meanwhile, the show also gives us smart throwaway lines like Deep Throat's claim Roswell was a smoke screen, as the government had half-a-dozen better alien salvage operations.

So they're shutting the X-Files down? Guess that's the end of our blog. It was fun while it lasted. But one last wee bit of meta: Count Sestra Am's recap paragraphs and then count these. We can do it too, sort of.

Guest Star of the Week: She's a hooker? I forgot all about it! Talk about not getting typecast. Anne De Salvo, also well known to the Sestras as a wife with absolutely no redeeming qualities in D.C. Cab, did a fine a job delivering the scientific gobbledygook here as she did holding her own against Dudley Moore's drunken sod.