Sestra Amateur:
This is a momentous occasion, not only because we’ve reached the last episode of Season 5 and will be tackling Fight the Future next. The X-Files is on Amazon Prime, so now I don’t have to watch on Hulu with commercials! (You’d understand my enthusiasm if you knew just how often I rewind each episode to replay scenes for this and how frustrating those pop-up blocks of commercials can be. I almost resorted to checking the DVDs out of the library!) We open this episode in Vancouver’s version of …Vancouver, British Columbia. (That’s a nice twist.) It’s a chess tournament, grown man vs. 12-year-old prodigy. Somewhere in the crowded auditorium, a would-be assassin is loading a rifle. Gibson Praise, the boy, hears garbled voices but can’t pinpoint the location. Boy Wonder declares checkmate and his opponent gets shot in the chest. Not sure which shocked him more, the chess move or the bullet. “The End” indeed.
In Quebec, Canada, Cancer Man, whom you may recall has been living in a mountain cabin, has a couple of guests drop in for a visit. He shoots one and gets chased by another, who turns out to be Alex Krycek. The Syndicate members seem annoyed that he’s still alive, but want his assistance in cleaning up the chess mess. Assistant Director Skinner asks Mulder about his long-term plans, then lets Fox know Special Agent Jeffrey Spender has been given the chess player assassination case. You know, the one that occurred in a foreign country. Seriously, how does that happen, Canadian authorities just handed it over? It wasn’t even an American citizen who was killed. Unfortunately, it appears the apprehended shooter is an American, and even worse, a former government agent ... go figure. I like Skinner when he’s helping Mulder push buttons.
Scully is already listening to Spender’s briefing when Fox and Walter show up. Mulder disproves Jeffrey's theories and gains support from fellow agent Diana Fowley, played by Mimi Rogers, the star of David Duchovny’s 1991 movie The Rapture. Sculder and Fowley head to a psychiatric hospital in Maryland to see Gibson. Diana mentions knowing Fox since 1991. Maybe that was a nod to their movie. If not, nice coincidence. Mulder plays the mean adult by turning off Gibson’s Simpsons cartoons (nice plug, FOX network) and trying to make him play chess, which is clearly the one thing he does not want to do. Turns out, Gibson is a mind reader and he has some fun by putting Fox on the spot with both Dana and Diana. Unfortunately, Scully is back in full denial mode regarding psychic abilities.
Mulder goes to interview the shooter, played by actor Martin Ferrero, best known to me as Gennaro from Jurassic Park, the lawyer who died on the toilet. (“I think this was Gennaro.” “I think this was too.”) Spender blocks his path, but Fox talks his way into the cell and plays good agent to Jeffrey’s bad agent. Mulder plants the seed of cooperation, then eats the shooter’s food. Back in the motel (safe house), Gibson watches The Silver Surfer, a FOX Kids Network TV series (had to do a little research to find that one). Poor Praise had to undergo a battery of tests while feeding the female agents’ green machines.
A little rattled by Gibson’s psychic ability, Scully visits the Lone Gunmen while Cancer Man gets a death threat to the shooter. Dana initially wants information on Gibson, but zeroes in on her real concern -- Mulder’s “chickadee,” Diana, who was with Fox after he finished the FBI academy and when he created the X-Files. Mulder and Fowley discuss their past and Dana’s inflexibility when it comes to the paranormal.
Scully heads to Mulder and Fowley -- Fowder? Mulley? See, they wouldn’t work as a couple because the shipper names don’t flow -- sees them holding hands and leaves quietly. Dana chooses to call Fox from the car outside to arrange a meeting. While leaving, Scully almost backs into Spender’s vehicle. Jeffrey, meanwhile, gets sidetracked by Cancer Man, who offers some pretty self-serving advice. Mulder sees them talking but CSM gets away. Yes, the old, chronic smoker successfully ran away from young, healthy Mulder.
The next morning, Dana reveals her medical findings of Praise's brain to a roomful of agents. She discusses how Gibson is able to access parts of his brain that others cannot. Mulder is more succinct -- the boy may be the key to “all spiritual unexplained paranormal phenomena.” (That still doesn’t explain the existence of aliens, Fox.) The shooter wants immunity in exchange for revealing who wants to kill the boy and why. Spender and Mulder revisit the shooter who describes Gibson as “the missing link.” Well-Manicured Man is not happy about Mulder going to the Justice Department. CSM insists it’s just another part of the chess game. Poor Krycek is relegated to chauffeur duty. That must be driving him nuts.
Gibson is up to King of the Hill episodes now. (Boy, the FOX plugs never end. Maybe that’s the real reason Mulder’s first name is Fox.) An insightful Praise points out how people think one thing but say something different. When Fowley arrives to relieve Scully, Gibson reveals he knows they want to kill him. Scully promises that won’t happen. (I guess that means it is definitely going to happen.) Meanwhile, the shooter gets shot to death. How’s that for irony? Someone also blasts Diana into a coma and kidnaps Gibson (at night).
When Sculder arrive at the hotel (in the daytime, what took them so long??), Skinner shows Mulder the Morley wrapper found in the shooter’s cell. Cancer Man hands Gibson off to the Well-Manicured Man, who refuses to let Krycek shoot CSM. Fox confronts Jeffrey and assaults him with the Morley wrapper. Skinner tries to do damage control, but it’s not looking good for Mulder’s future at the FBI.
Meanwhile, Cancer Man has gotten into the FBI building, into Fox's basement office and into the unlocked file cabinets which contain all of Mulder’s investigation files. (Really, Fox? Your file cabinets are unlocked??? You had way too much faith in your office door lock.) CSM takes the Samantha Mulder file, runs into Spender, reveals he is Jeffrey’s father (in a way less dramatic way than Darth Vader revealed it to Luke Skywalker) and burns down Mulder’s office. Fox stares in shock at the charred remains while Dana tries to comfort him. Now let’s go see what other cartoon programming Gibson could watch on FOX in 1998 while he’s being held against his will: Ooh, Ninja Turtles: The Next Mutation! Toonsylvania! Ned’s Newt! Yep, never heard of any of these. Of course, if The Syndicate keeps him for a year then he can start watching Family Guy!
Sestra Professional:
So we've come to the end of The X-Files in Vancouver for the original run, and with that we lose a lot of the atmosphere that was such an integral part of the show. We will gain a lot of bright sunshine and a host of guest stars (no longer will Canadian actors such as Larry Musser play four different parts in the show over several seasons). But much like Mark Snow's music, that setting -- and its seemingly endless options -- proved invaluable in getting the cult favorite to this point.
I still remember the excitement over fans in the region getting to be part of that last episode of the season as extras in the teaser, the chess match at Rogers Arena. Producers expected around 5,000 to attend; 12,000 showed up. David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson took part in a Q&A as the company made a point to thank all of the crew whose tenure on the production was coming to a close with this ep.
But back to the actual meat of "The End." Characters are introduced who won't be part of the movie (Gibson and Diana), but will return for the sixth-season premiere. That's mainly because, as we've documented through Season 5, filming was done the previous summer with post-production occasionally intruding upon the ongoing serial. At least they figured out a fairly clean way to take Fowley out of the mix -- bullet + coma = no problem.
Let's say all is forgiven: We do get the Smoking Man back and how fortuitous that Krycek was the one hanging back on the initial assault on the cabin and not the one moving in right away. It makes for a nice little action sequence in the snow, though. (You reallllly should have taken the shot, Alex. You could have explained it away to The Syndicate like you did all your other screwups.)
Ick to the knowing looks passing between Fox and Diana. Dana doesn't seem to be that aware of the vibes, at least not until she connects the dots on Mulder's FBI timeline. It feels both jarring and stilted to be playing a soapy angle after all Fox and Dana have been through, more personally than professionally. I'm really not interested, and I'm not even a shipper. One point given for Mulder telling her he's done all right without her and that Scully makes him work for everything.
You're insulting me when you should be taking notes: Then there's Spender. We just can't take this guy's side on anything. He not only goes against Mulder's theories, he doesn't even give our hero time and space to make his argument. As Fox aptly put, Jeffrey seems ambitious and arrogant. He spends six hours with the shooter and gets nothing, but still won't accept any help. Mulder smacks him in the face with a cigarette wrapper for something Spender hasn't done and we're still not on his side. This creates a hole in the foundation that won't serve the show as it strives to build up from here.
Having said that, it's good to see Cigarette Smoking Man with a little bit of a weakness, namely that he wants Spender to pick up the game on his side of the board. He's putting his considerable powers on the side of a weakling, who is basically the opposite of an assassin willing to do exactly what he's told. And Sestra Am's right, Alex is just a glorified driver at this point. Albeit one whose instinct to take out the Smoking Man feels a lot truer to The X-Files than anything Jeffrey is doing or saying. The Well-Manicured Man also has lost a lot of the cache he used to have, his increasing dissatisfaction with CSM's methods -- which haven't exactly changed over time -- don't bode well for his future.
How's Little Carnac doing? The kid regrettably advances the course of the personal storyline -- "I know you're thinking about one of the girls you brought. One of them is thinking about you." We didn't need him to tell us Mulder has a dirty mind, we knew that already. Fox is right on target about him winning chess matches because he reads opponents' thoughts, it's a nice little moment later when Dana gets Gibson to admit he also likes the game because it's quiet.
While decrying the psychic ability angle as a parlor magic trick, Dana gets a lot more traction by wondering who would want to kill a kid with that kind of advantage. Why wouldn't that boy be of interest to factions seeking to rule the world? I too have a problem with them whittling down the X-files to just Gibson Praise, although I believe the opposite of Sestra Am. There's something kind of alien about Gibson's brain having activity that was previously unheard of. Maybe the testing that the extraterrestrials do on humans has manifested itself within this boy and he is a missing link. But everything they've been working on for five years? What do Eugene Victor Tooms and Luther Lee Boggs and killer cats and chupacabras have to do with him?
The stage had been set for the movie throughout the season, all that was left in the finale was for the Bureau to officially shut down the X-files. Smoking Man, perhaps not surprisingly a raging pyromaniac, adds the final indignity by setting Mulder's precious files ablaze. The last move in "The End" merely caps off a heavy-handed chess strategy analogy overwhelming this episode beyond the means for working Fowley and Praise into the mix.
Guest star of the week: We have those two new characters factoring heavily into the action, but it's Martin Ferrero as the shooter who surprisingly makes the biggest impression. (In addition to the legal bits and pieces in Jurassic Park, he made a fine legendary director George Cukor in Gods and Monsters.) Arguably, the episode's resonance comes not from Gibson or Diana, but from this nameless shooter's emotions. He's cold and calculating before hesitatingly providing Mulder with the confirmation of his beliefs and ultimately suffering his expected demise.
Sestra Amateur:
Sestra Pro was probably able to translate the title without looking it up since she took French in high school. I didn’t know what “folie” meant and “deux”, of course, means two, which I know because of Hot Shots, Part Deux. According to Google, the literal translation is “madness to two.” I prefer Urban Dictionary’s interpretation, “The two of you share the same delusion.” Side note: I feel I should be thankful for the 1998 movie because it cut this season down to 20 episodes. For one, it wasn’t a great season, but more importantly, we’re that much closer to the way more entertaining (and hopefully just as trashable) Season 6.
Do you need some vinyl siding? Turns out, people who answered their phones to salesmen in 1998 were a lot more patient and polite than they are now. Poor Gary Lambert is just trying to earn a living as a telemarketer in Oak Brook, Illinois, but his spiel keeps getting interrupted by a giant trilling insect. He tries to warn the potential customer, which I think is pretty above and beyond the scope of his job. Sometime later, Assistant Director Skinner sends our intrepid heroes to the call center to investigate because of VinylRight’s monster-laden manifesto, left by Gary for a local radio station so he could warn the public. Mulder thinks it’s a crap assignment because he pissed off Skinner. There’s always a possibility of that being true, and considering how last week’s episode played out, he might be on to something. Bonus points for continuity: Fox's fingers are still healing from that finger-breaking lie detector “test” in Episode 18 ("The Pine Bluff Variant"). Mulder initially heads to Chicago, sans Scully. (The Blackhawks weren’t in the Stanley Cup playoffs in 1998, so Mulder might have to settle for a Cubs game instead.)
On the recorded manifesto, Lambert tries to call everyone to action to locate and stop the monster. VinylRight’s boss, Greg Pincus, isn’t sure who created the message, but he’s conducting his own investigation. I’m sure that’ll end well. Fox decides he needs Dana's help after all and asks her to research a phrase in the manifesto -- “hiding in the light.” He’s heard it somewhere before. Pincus calls Gary’s coworker, Nancy Aaronson, into his office. Lambert warns her not to go, but seriously, what else could she do? Gary now sees Pincus as the insect and hears Nancy’s scream, but he gets sent back to his work station by the floor manager. Poor zombified Nancy returns to her desk and goes back to work while the boss calls in his next victim, Mark Backus. Unfortunately, it’s all in Lambert's head. Aaronson looks normal to us, but Gary begins loading a rifle and preparing to take out the monsters in his office.
Scully calls Mulder with news about a man named Resnick from 1992 who used the same phrase about his church parishioners in Lakeland, Florida, before gunning them down and committing suicide. After confirming she told him so, Dana heads to Chicago to assist Fox, who returns to the call center a little too late. Lambert is armed and ready to fire. Scully arrives in record time and meets with Agent-in-Charge Rice, played by Continuum and Dark Matter’s Roger Cross, an actor making his fourth appearance on The X-Files in four years. Poor guy never got to play the same character twice on this show. At least give viewers a throwaway line about how he looks familiar.
Everyone is still alive in the call center, but Gary’s observations haven’t changed. Agent Rice gets impatient and calls Mulder’s cell phone. Too bad you didn’t keep it on silent, Fox. It’s also too bad the call didn’t go to voice mail after a dozen cricket-sounding rings. Lambert sees Mulder’s concealed handgun, disarms him then shoots “zombie” Mark Backus. Gary really does sound crazy when he tries to justify the shooting. (He’s technically right. Some jobs do figuratively try to turn their employees into “mindless drones." Lambert just sees it literally.) He requests a cameraman and Agent Rice complies … sort of. Mulder gets in between Pincus and the rifle. The lights go out and the insect trills. Fox turns and sees the insect, but then the FBI’s armored transport crashes through the wall and takes out Gary. Now Mulder doesn’t know what to believe. Still time to catch a game before you head home, Fox.
Mulder learns Pincus visited Lakeland, and in 1994, worked in Kansas City, where another shooting incident occurred. Back in D.C., Fox begins mapping 10 years’ worth of similar claims that revolve around Pincus and end with the last incident at the call center on May 10, 1998. (The Cubbies did have a home game against the San Francisco Giants on that date. Unfortunately, May 10, 1998 was a Sunday so the call center should have been closed in the first place.) Scully claims Lambert was mentally ill; Mulder admits he saw the creature too and claims it is definitely not folie a deux. Fox also denies he is suffering from Helsinki Syndrome, which I had to look up because I’m only familiar with Stockholm Syndrome. Turns out it’s not a real thing, just a running joke regarding people who get their Nordic countries confused.
Mulder and Agent Rice go to Gary’s house in Illinois. Fox sees zombie Nancy outside, but she leaves with Pincus before Fox can stop her (and, more importantly, before Rice can see she’s a zombie). Skinner asks Scully why Mulder returned to Illinois. She says she’ll head that way until Walter tells her she has an autopsy to do: Dead employee/potential zombie Mark Backus, whose time of death is a day or two before Fox witnessed it. Mulder continues chasing the insect, but all he finds is another female zombie, VinylRight employee Gretchen Starns. Too bad the human version of her files a complaint against Fox for breaking into her house. A fed-up Skinner arrives to take Mulder home. Pincus plays the good guy and agrees not to press charges against the “hero,” who thinks the boss from hell is about to attack Skinner. Fox tries to stop Pincus … with his gun. That little move lands Mulder in the psych ward. Luckily, Dana shows up with her autopsy findings, but she still doesn’t believe Fox. Of course, he needs her to believe or else she’ll never see the monster. Back at Quantico, Scully looks for a mark on Backus' neck, and because we’re in the last quarter of the episode, she finds it.
It’s time for bed, but Mulder thinks the creature climbed three floors to get at him through the window. The marked nurse makes things worse by opening his window and double-checking his restraints. Frankly, why does this creature feel the need to change Fox? It’s been more productive letting people think Mulder is crazy. Oh yeah, it’s that last quarter of the episode thing. Dana makes it back to the hospital and momentarily gets stopped by the nurse … until she finally believes and sees Nursey as a zombie. Scully runs into Fox’s room and shoots the insect. During the epilogue, Dana offers a watered-down version of the truth, claiming the actions were the result of an unknown toxin found in Mark Backus and the VinylRight “zombies” have disappeared. Greg Pincus is also missing, but don’t worry, he found new employment at a call center in Missouri. By the way, Scully’s translation of folie a deux is “a madness shared by two.” It was way, way, way more than two, Scully.
Sestra Professional:
Oooh, busting on Season 5. I don't usually hear a lot of that. I do concede Season 6 is more entertaining. In fact, it's my go-to season for random rewatches and my second favorite for the whole series run. And I'll also admit this season suffered a lot from the need for preparation for the big blockbuster. Quite a few times someone involved in production wasn't working on the series because of Fight the Future. And there was some testing of the waters with outside-of-the-box storytellers (and fan boys) Stephen King ("Chinga," Episode 10) and William Gibson ("Kill Switch," E11). Still, with the likes of "Bad Blood" (E12), "Mind's Eye" (E16) and "The Pine Bluff Variant" as well as the crackling Mulder-Krycek scene in "The Red and the Black" (E14), though, I like to have it around.
But we're not quite there yet, so back to Episode 19, and although obviously not as strong as "Bad Blood," "Folie a Deux" is a nice piece of work from writer Vince Gilligan with a strong performance by David Duchovny. There wasn't really a lot of study of folie (madness/delusion) in my high-school French, though. I had the deux part down cold, however.
Monsters, I'm your boy: As Sestra Am mentioned, there are a couple nice callbacks to the previous episode. (Pretty cool considering that in that blog, Sestra was not so happy about how the show wasn't playing off -- and thus paying off -- on what had previously happened.) So having Mulder's hand still bandaged up and questioning whether Skinner has given him a crap assignment because of his actions on the previous case make for spectacular continuity.
The joy of Gilligan's work is the ability to enjoy characters beyond whoever is the main focus of the episode. So Scully gets to get some shots in as well, such as when she reminds Fox that he's not the only one who Walter asked to do what Mulder considers dirty work. "You're saying I a lot. I heard we" is about as gentle a reminder of that as possible. On top of that, Gilligan also gives the guest actors some great material to work with. In other hands, Cynthia Preston's part as Nancy Aaronson would be an afterthought. But she gets to quip snazzy dialogue like, "Uh oh, now I'm dead," before going into the boss' office to be zombified.
The story progresses into an unexpectedly tense hostage situation. We don't get a lot of that in the series. It reminds me of "Duane Barry" (S2E5) -- watch out, Scully! -- but really does show that Mulder's got aptitude for other parts of his job than just spotting the supernatural. And it gives the show's most prolific director, Kim Manners, a chance to do his best work as well. Save maybe Rob Bowman, no other director on the show can keep the tension ratcheted up while looking visually on point. Your episode calls for bulldozing through an office building? I'd want Manners too.
What a fantastically quick way to end the hostage siege and move on to the next part of the story. Mulder now believes Gary, so no need to take that poor sod much further, unless the show needed Scully abducted again. This also gives us something we've been lacking for large portions of Season 5 -- true Sculder interaction in which one of their viewpoints carries as much weight as the other. Duchovny and Gillian Anderson feast upon that here.
Five years together, you must have seen this coming: We've had our fair share of Mulder madness over the series, but he makes an excellent point about Gary (and himself, in the process). Did he go all buggy because he was disturbed, or was he disturbed because he saw the big bug? Extending the analogy to a mantis clouding the minds of victims and hypnotizing its prey may seem like a stretch, but the idea of bosses controlling us and co-workers spying on us to do his dirty work like mindless drones certainly doesn't.
Skinner's blowing in the wind a little bit in this episode. We haven't seen a tremendous amount of Mitch Pileggi in the fifth season. After working pretty well with Scully last episode, Walter seems to have reverted to a buttoned-down version of himself for "Folie a Deux." I do appreciate that when given the exact same choice as Mulder, Skinner won't look back at the monster. A sharp piece of symmetry, even if we kind of expect -- or at least hope -- that at this point in their relationship, Walter will give Fox the benefit of the doubt and take a peek over that shoulder.
You're my one in five billion: The money line. It's an exquisite sentence with no boundaries. Could it be the most seminal quote in the history of the series? Possibly. The shippers still cling to it. And the no-romos don't mind it either, because when it comes down to it, they know that no one else is going to fill Scully's space in Mulder's heart and soul. Where the two factions depart is the need to see that expressed physically. I can live with the idea of them being soulmates, I don't need their tongues to tell the tale. I'd rather watch them battle gargantuan arthropods. We know they have the ultimate folie a deux, a madness shared between just them.
Meta mothballs: Cross tended to play law enforcement or military on the show. He was an officer in "E.B.E." (S1E17), a private in "Fresh Bones" (S2E15) and the SWAT lieutenant in "Pusher" (S3E17). He'll be back in Season 11 ... as a police officer. ... When arguing with Mulder, Scully says she doesn't want to give credence to a mad man. Brian Markinson (Gary Lambert) played Dr. Arnold Rosen on Mad Men 15 years later. Coincidence? Uh, probably. ... In the official guide, Markinson perfectly captured Manners' reaction to the stuntwoman wearing a 70-pound bug suit on the set. "I thought, 'This is what's driving me crazy?' ... Then I looked up and I saw Kim Manners. He had absolutely lost it. He just kept saying, 'Oh, my God! My career -- it's over!'" ... In The Complete X-Files, Gilligan explained how the effects weren't done until the day the show originally aired. But he was quite happy with the finished product. "(Visual effects supervisor Laurie Kallsen-George) took the footage with the monster in it, erased the monster completely, took the monster to a different screen or whatever, animated it, and added speed blur. ... You never really see it closely, but that's OK. ... The truth is, your imagination can be much more effective than real life," Gilligan said in the guide. ... And if you're keeping track, the scribe's penchant for adding partner Holly Rice's name to his episode is fulfilled by Agent Rice.
Guest star of the week: What a dynamic and typically unheralded performance by Markinson (who also was Tony Fiore in "Born Again" (S1E22). Gary really has to be over the edge, believing what he's seeing, but we need to ... and do ... have empathy for him. Markinson is only in about half the episode, but he makes the stakes clear and high. His dialogue surely makes Gary sound crazy, and while we can't abide him taking up arms and hostages, we believe him. It bugs me that people don't usually bring him up when discussing best guest stars.
Sestra Amateur:
There are times when the episodes feel like they are out of order because there is zero reference to the previous ones. This is one of those times. I seem to prefer weekly dramas that have at least a throwaway reference to what happened before so they can show continuity and character growth. No such luck here. Maybe this was supposed to air at a different time. Sestra Pro may have the answer but for now, all of the emotion racked up last week is just non-existent here.
Fox Mulder is demonstrating healthy lifestyle choices by jogging through a D.C. park. Whoops, scratch that, he’s actually on a stakeout for Jacob Steven Haley (aka Alpha), who just disembarked from a metro bus for a clandestine meeting with an unknown male (aka Beta). Haley is played by character actor Daniel von Bargen, best known to me as Chief Grady in Super Troopers. (Fun fact: The title of von Bargen’s episode of Ally McBeal was "The Ex-Files.") Everyone waits for Assistant Director Skinner to give the signal while Beta looks inside an envelope handed to him by Haley. Suddenly, Beta collapses and Alpha bolts. Agents checks on Beta, whose flesh is disintegrating right before their eyes. Mulder chases after Jacob, not listening to (or able to hear) Scully’s warnings about a possible biohazard. But it doesn’t matter anyway, Fox blows it and Alpha gets away.
Back in Mulder’s office, Scully reviews the surveillance footage and believes Fox intentionally let Haley escape. Mulder blows her off until the agencies’ debriefing about the incident. Turns out it was a joint FBI/CIA effort to capture the murderer/terrorist. He also got away with $50,000 of taxpayers’ money. The task force is led by Leamus from the U.S. Attorney’s Office and played by character actor Sam Anderson, who has a credit in almost every TV show I’ve ever watched. Their new target: August Bremer, played by character actor (I’m sensing a theme) Michael MacRae, who has over 80 IMDb acting credits but I can’t place him in a single movie or TV show. Jeez, I didn’t even remember him from his previous X-Files ep "The Jersey Devil "(Season 1, Episode 5). However, I managed to remember it was the fifth episode of the first season without looking it up, so I’d call that progress. Bremer and Haley are apparently vying for control of their domestic terrorist organization. Leamus wants to expose that factoid and capture both men.
In Gables Corner, Ohio, Die Hard with a Vengeance is playing at a local theater. Either it’s a retrospective or the town is just that far out of touch with timely flicks because DHWAV came out in 1995 and this episode takes place three years later. Bremer is about to do something awful to the poor usherette/cashier/popcorn girl at the concession stand. He’s making her make a whole new batch of popcorn, even though there’s clearly some left. By the way, the soon-to-be-victim's portrayer has quite the nepotistic last name, so I’ll let Sestra Pro cover that one if she chooses to let you in on it. Outside the theater, another angle of the movie marquee reveals they’re also showing Titanic. Considering how long that was in theaters, I’ll concede they show recent and retro movies. But that really doesn’t matter now -- the moviegoers and employees are dead, victims of that darn bio toxin but that’s “Summer in the City,” peeps ... OK, spring in the Midwest.
Somewhere in Delaware, Mulder is on the phone with Haley, who claims Fox set him up. Mulder clearly is supposed to sound like he’s gone to the dark side, but we can’t take it seriously. Meanwhile, Dana has followed Fox to the motor inn and goes to confront “Mr. Kaplan” (Fox’s alias – is that a North by Northwest reference, Sestra Pro?) but he gets picked up by unknown men in a sedan. Scully follows them until she gets cornered by two vehicles filled with way too many government agents. In a scene very reminiscent of Princess Leia being escorted to Darth Vader in the first few minutes of Star Wars, she’s flanked by numerous Stormtroopers – I mean agents – to the office of the Dark Lord of the Sith – I mean Leamus. Skinner is there too, so maybe … that’s a good thing? Skeamus confirm Mulder is under deep, deep cover so The New Spartans – Haley and Bremer’s group – would try to recruit him for their own means. I still can’t tell whether Scully is more annoyed that she wasn’t let in on the secret or because the “good guys” tried to run her off the road. Don’t be so overly dramatic, Dana. You were the one driving on a dark road with your lights out. Another agent breaks the news about the movie theater situation.
Mulder gets hand delivered to Haley, whose “truth serum” involves breaking Fox's finger and threatening to spray him in the face with the bio toxin. Mulder claims Haley was set up by one of his own. Skilly arrive at the crime scene and Skinner notes that 14 people died. Dana is convinced it’s not an airborne contagion, all of the victims must have touched an infected item. She waits for Fox in his apartment and treats his broken finger. They talk about Bremer while August listens through a bug. Mulder meets with Skeamus and reveals Haley wants funding for his militia group. Leamus conveniently has more of our tax dollars available for Fox's sting operation, along with the requested information on Federal Reserve schedules.
Scully is hanging out at the Center for Disease Control to learn more about the bio toxin. The analyzing scientist seems almost impressed with the contagion. And he has ruled out the Russians because it’s too sophisticated. Dana calls Walter, who is still with Leamus. Scully tries to tell only Skinner that the bio toxin may have been made domestically, but Walter reveals enough information to pique Leamus’s interest. By the way, the episode’s title "The Pine Bluff Variant" is a reference to an arsenal in Arkansas that used to store chemical weapons.
With Haley, Bremer and Mulder all together, August recruits Fox for their next heist. Dana realizes the money was the infected item and bolts from Mulder's motel room. The thieves arrive at the Federal Reserve in an armored car and masks to commit armed robbery. Everyone is extremely compliant except for one teller who really wants to hit the panic button. He gets shot but Fox refuses to finish the job (the murder, not the robbery), so Haley does it for him. Bremer contaminates unstolen (no, it’s not a real word but that is what it is) money with the bio toxin. After they escape, August burns the stolen money and Mulder realizes the terrorists’ goal was just to infect cash that will be distributed to the public. Bremer is about to shoot Mulder when Jacob steps in between them. August reveals his Sculder recording which really irks Haley.
Scully finally finds Skeamus to tell them the money is infected. See, this is one of those episodes where a cell phone call would have really simplified matters. The Feds are investigating 27 bank robberies that day, but Dana's able to pick out the masked Mulder from surveillance video so they can decontaminate the right bank. Bremer spares Haley’s life, but kicks him out of the club. Fox is looking at assassination, but August takes out another member instead! Turns out, he’s there to save Mulder, not kill him. So Bremer is deep, deep, deep under cover. Mulder catches up to Scully at the bank and learns he was set up by his own government from the get go. The agents realize Leamus really is Darth Vader after all. Skinner is annoying speechless, he may as well be Governor Tarkin in this one. On the upside, Haley doesn’t get far. The car keys were contaminated so he becomes a fleshless mess on the side of the road. Not even the best car detailing shop in the world can get out those stains. And according to IMDb credits, even though their story is left wide open, Leamus and Bremer never return, so feel free to forget everything you saw and read here today.
Sestra Professional:
It's funny that Sestra Am references the placement of "The Pine Bluff Variant," because I've always maintained that it would have factored better into fifth season earlier when Mulder was disillusioned with his work and not on the same page with Scully. The idea of Fox going to the dark side might have carried more weight during that time. But having said that, it still ranks as one of the highlights of the season for me.
Is this the Pepsi Challenge? Mark Snow's variation on a '70s suspense theme puts us immediately into the right mind-set for this episode. And thinking back on it, while Mulder's previous actions this season did seem to provide fodder for renegade elements to turn him against the government, maybe I should just allow for the fact that it takes time for those machinations to happen. It probably does take some time to pinpoint a potential turncoat and bring him into the fold.
Haley echoes some concerns we heard four episodes ago from Krycek in a pivotal scene in "The Red and the Black" about how a war is raging and Fox must decide whether he's going to be on the right side or the wrong side. Aliens aren't even on Jacob's radar, but that seems to back up a larger point about how all of us everywhere continue to be in peril in a myriad of different ways. And sitting by meekly while the world is torn asunder doesn't seem like the best option.
We've learned to be grateful for any episode that gets Skinner out from behind his desk. It's a fresh take to have Walter and Dana working the case together, and by extension, Mitch Pileggi and Gillian Anderson get a little jolt from departing from the regular routine. For more on that front, take a peek at the gag reel -- the duo repeatedly dissolves into giggles while investigating the corpses in the theater. Gillian possesses one of the most infectious laughs, something we don't really get to witness during the normal course of X-Files operations.
Exactly what agency are you guys from? (Silence.) Obviously not the Office of Information: I also appreciate the questioning nature of the case, namely that it can't be quickly solved. How in fact was the pathogen dispersed? (It's a little much to say there are no hot zones in the movie house, just so Scully can touch things in the theater without using gloves.) But first Dana determines the toxin had to be on something everybody touched. OK, it's not the ticket stub. It takes a little while to determine that dermal contact activates the contagion and how it was applied, then even longer to come up with the bioweapons angle. But I'll say this much, ever since I first saw this episode, I've made a point of washing my hands after handling money.
The bank heist is a fabulous set piece with great eye acting (is that a thing?) from David Duchovny under his Dracula mask. It's a master stroke that Fox's finger splint tips his partner off to which "criminal" is him. The fact that the robbery wasn't really a robbery at all is another unique touch in the change-of-pace episode.
Lies within lies: So what are we to ultimately make of Leamus? I'm not so sure he's a baddie, even if he knows more than his charges. In fact, writer John Shiban used that particular name as a nod to the John le Carre novel-turned-1965 movie The Spy Who Came in From the Cold. In the book/film, Alec Leamas defects to East Germany to try to uncover a mole inside the British intelligence agency. In the official episode guide, Shiban revealed he's a big fan of both the book and the movie. Even though Mulder is fulfilling the role Richard played in the film, I don't think Shiban would tag a supporting player with that name thoughtlessly.
Anyway, it's my turn to tell where I know the character actors sprinkled throughout the episode best! For Sam Anderson, it's definitely WKRP in Cincinnati. He plays a disc jockey a couple of times, but really sparkles as an oblivious immigration officer in "The Americanization of Ivan." Daniel von Bargen was the recurring character Kruger on Seinfeld who really seems familiar despite non-descript roles in Silence of the Lambs, the previously mentioned well-monikered Ally McBeal episode and O Brother, Where Art Thou. Beyond his role as a ranger in "The Jersey Devil," Michael MacRae stands out to me as a police lieutenant in the Moonlighting episode "Witness for the Execution" (that's the one in which Dave and Maddie kiss for the first time).
Monetary meta: That surname Sestra Am alluded to earlier in regards to the movie theater usher belongs to Kate Braidwood. Yep, she's the daughter of the show's first assistant director (aka Frohike), Tom Braidwood. ... Shiban got much positive feedback on this episode after it aired. "People told me it was very scary because it sounded real," he said in the episode guide. "Personally, I can't believe we would do that. ... But it just seems since so much of that has gone on in the past that has been kept from our eyes, that you have to wonder." ... And the guide backs up that Sestra Am was right on target with the idea of the Mr. Kaplan alias serving as an homage to North by Northwest. George Kaplan was the name utilized by the CIA for the imaginary secret agent throughout that 1959 Alfred Hitchcock flick. ... Should we also read something into the use of Die Hard with a Vengeance, which mirrors the use of the Federal Reserve Bank as a target? And by the way, nice "Summer in the City" reference. Sestra -- also hearkening back to the opening of DHWAV.
Guest star of the week: With so many options to pick from, I decided to go with Sam Anderson on the strength of his final scene. While Leamus may or may not have been involved in the government testing on his own people and the coverup of such, he justly points out to Mulder that the devout truth seeker ultimately will have to battle laws both against factions like Bremer's and those protecting them.
Sestra Amateur:
A priest arrives at a family home in the dark of night. No, it’s not a scene from The Exorcist. Well, I guess it could be a similar situation, but let’s keep an open mind. Turns out, it’s a baptism for a 16-year-old wheelchair-bound girl named Dara Kernof. Later that night, lightning flashes! The grandfather clock chimes! And Dara walks … down the street … in the pouring rain. It’s a miracle! Her father chases after her as Dara approaches a shadowy man. He disappears in the flash of lightning and poor Dara dies a quick, horrible death. Oh good, I was wondering when we were going to have another feel-good episode.
Scully enters a church in Alexandria, Virginia, holding a picture of Emily. You remember Emily, don’t you? It’s the “daughter” the writers bring out whenever they want to give Dana a “very special episode.” Scully goes to confession and discloses a kinship between her personal loss and Dara’s parents. Flash back to Easter Sunday when the non-Exorcist priest Father McCue asks for Dana's help, not because she is an FBI agent assigned to the X-Files because, well, that would just make sense now, wouldn’t it? (And why are local police investigating her death? How has Mulder not even heard about this one?)
Scully meets with Dara’s parents and learns about the medical history that should have prevented the girl from getting out of the wheelchair, let alone walking out of the house. Dana learns the cause of death was probably lightning, which could account for her burned-out eyes. Dara also “rigor mortised” (is that a thing?) into a kneeling position and the crime-scene photographs of her death pose are pretty creepy. Physical scars indicate Dara once had extra fingers and toes.
Meanwhile at a psychiatric hospital in Lebanon, Virginia, social worker Aaron Starkey arrives with some red-tape issues for patient Paula Koklos, who looks just like Dara. It’s probably important to note Starkey’s rearview mirror has an inverted cross hanging from it. Probably better than a dreamcatcher. I’ve always wondered why car owners hang dreamcatchers from their rearview mirrors. They’re supposed to give people good dreams while they sleep, so why would a driver ever need that kind of protection?! But I digress.
Father Gregory is not happy about the mix-up because now he cannot take Paula with him. Mulder pops up 14 minutes into the episode, agrees to help Dana, then “tails a suspect” into an adult movie theater. At the same time, Paula gets a visit from the shadowy man and things get all glowy. Let’s see them try and write her indoor death off as a lightning strike too.
Fox joins Scully at the crime scene (where there is an inverted cross above Paula’s bed – I doubt she was able to put it there herself). He reveals Dara and Paula are part of a set of quadruplets. Mulder thinks they have a religious serial killer on their hands. Starkey arrives and claims not to know who put up the cross. He does, however, disclose that Paula’s adoption involved Father Gregory and the Church of St. Peter the Sinner. Gregory claims he wanted to protect Paula, but clearly he knows about Dara’s death. He also won’t divulge their mother’s identity and refers to the girls as messengers. Fox thinks they’ve found Scully’s suspect. I hate when Mulder is the rational one. That only seems to be the case when it involves Dana's family or her faith.
During Paula’s autopsy, Scully notes the extra digits and the possibility of wing buds on the shoulder blades. No offense to the actress, but the director should have chosen a freeze-frame shot of the actress instead of holding the camera on the “dead body” for several seconds. It was clearly impossible for the poor girl to keep from trembling while posed in such an awkward position. On the upside, it actually made the scene a little creepier, more so than Dana hallucinating Emily on the table instead of Paula. Fox calls with a lead on the third sister. He and Starkey track her to an abandoned building, but the shadowy man gets there first and the poor girl assumes the fatal position. Mulder finds Father Gregory and holds him at gunpoint. He finds the girl’s posed-in-prayer corpse and arrests Gregory. You’ve got the wrong man, Fox.
During the interrogation, Mulder learns about St. Peter, who only would be crucified upside down. He leaves to find the fourth girl, Roberta Dyer, while Father Gregory hints that Scully actually knows what’s going on. Dana admits she saw a vision of Emily, and while disguised as a tender moment of support, Fox makes the most hypocritical statement I’ve ever heard on this show: “I think you should step away. Personal issues are making you lose your objectivity, clouding your judgment.” Scully gives her partner the move-along. Starkey, alone with Father Gregory, tortures him for information. Aaron does make one interesting comment -- He didn’t kill the girls, they were taken from him.
Mulder and local police storm the home of the fourth sister. Her father isn’t very cooperative, probably because he only cared about her disability checks. Turns out, Gregory has been hiding her and keeping her safe. Mulder calls Scully who seems just plain annoyed that the Father died – in police custody! Talk about your unsung heroes. I hope she tries to make it up to his parishioners. The glowy guy drops in on Dana and changes form before her very eyes. It’s not exactly one of their better special effects, but maybe that was the intention. Too bad we don’t get to see how their meeting plays out.
The next day, Scully meets with Father McCue and recounts what she saw. How come Dana is only willing to admit to something supernatural when it’s related to religion? And it’s not even all religion, just her own personal beliefs. The priest shows her the Seraphim -- an angel with four faces -- and his children with a mortal woman, the Nephilim. Soooo … cause of death -- smoting. Amusingly, McCue thinks Scully is seeing things.
Starkey tracks down Dana and offers to take her to Mulder’s location. Sure, that’s where he’s taking you. Aaron waits outside, probably because he is physically unable to enter the church. Scully sees Starkey’s shadow which reveals his true nature: Dude’s got horns! Dana finds Roberta hiding under the stairs and tries to get her away but the Seraphim finds them instead. Scully lets the girl – and her vision of Emily – go and Roberta’s soul is saved (at the expense of her body). Aaron unceremoniously gets away. It’s an abrupt Mulder-less ending to the story. Maybe Scully will be a little more open-minded from now on, but I seriously doubt it.
Sestra Professional:
"All Souls" might be the saddest episode of the entire run for me. I'm kind of glad that the show at least made reference to Emily, the self-titled episode -- the seventh of the season -- was one of the more somber offerings. Maybe it's because this one starts with an apparent miracle -- the wheelchair-bound teenager walking -- that's taken away before we get to the opening credits. Or maybe it's because it reminds us that Scully had so much to be sad about, finding out she had a daughter only to have her quickly taken away.
Mommy, let me go: That brings us back to midseason. Even though a wide array of things have transpired in the lives of our leads, we kind of needed some genuflecting from Dana. Utilizing Emily as a way to make Scully buy into the sentiment ultimately feels like kind of a cheap way to get her involved in the crisis and then able to move on from it. Still, it's effective.
That's in no small part due to Gillian Anderson, who rocks "All Souls" with the usual effort she's given to the personal episodes. I genuinely feel for her during the ongoing battle between Scully the scientist and Dana the faithful. I'm not quite sure why she's in the confessional blaming herself for helping Roberta Dyer's soul get to heaven when the case that's built over the course of the show doesn't really back that up.
It's interesting to note that none of this comes out of the blue. Scully's been thinking about Emily and attending Mass in her off hours. That's definitely more interesting than what Fox has been doing in his down time, namely tailing suspects into a theater showing the likes of A Decade of Dirty Delinquents. As Sestra Am mentioned, we do tend to see a more grounded version of Mulder during episodes in which Dana's suppositions swing the other way. Maybe the show felt like one of them always needed to have his/her head on straight when the other leans toward the supernatural, but I don't think that was particularly necessary. At least not every time. Mix it up a bit, we won't mind.
They say when you talk to God, it's prayer, but when God talks to you, it's schizophrenia: Because Fox has come to the conclusion that religion masquerades as the supernatural, he sees the deaths of the girls in the plainest possible terms. He doesn't know why or what the justification is for the burning of the eyes, just that whoever is killing them "thinks he's doing God's laundry." There's no moment in which Mulder questions that possibility. The man who will question anything and everything when religion is not involved doesn't even offer that as a possibility. Oh, and he's found someone he considers more paranoid than himself in Father Gregory.
We haven't a lot of strong Sculder interaction the past couple of episodes. In this one, we get a glimpse at what we've missed. There's no way Fox believes what the Father's putting forth. But when he hears Dana had a vision of Emily, he softens. He doesn't alter his stance, in fact, he tries to dissuade Scully after deeming her -- as Sestra Am properly described -- as delusional. But there's a change in his manner and it's both palpable and welcome.
I appreciate how "All Souls" takes us in different directions. At first, Father Gregory seems to be the baddie or at the very least, as Mulder refers to him, a "bona fide super crazy religious wacko." But then, it turns out to be the social worker who is being more than anti-social. In fact, he's the devil ... or at the very least, one of the hellion's minions. That made me wonder whether story editors Billy Brown and/or Dan Angel had more to say on the subject in their original story. Frank Spotnitz and John Shiban then adapted their concept of angels into the final product. So a lot of hands were involved in bringing this script to the screen.
Most of the images in the episode are very striking -- particularly when it comes to the corpses of the unfortunate quadruplets. The makeup department did a truly amazing job. Some might say too amazing, cause it kind of shakes you to the core. I agree that Paula's slight movements during the autopsy heighten the tension. So intentional or not, it works for me.
I get a little sketchy on why the struggle between good and evil for all souls comes down to those four girls at that very time, but I think that this episode provides a reasonable litmus test for the viewer's own beliefs and faith. At least until the Seraphim shows its four faces as man, lion, eagle and bull. If the acceptance holds beyond that, it's due entirely to Anderson's performance. I believe she sees something that I myself wasn't able to grasp. All I behold is the cheesiest shape shifter yet.
Mortal meta: According to the official episode guide, the CGI for the Seraphim wasn't completed until hours before airtime. ... "All Souls" was directed by Allen Coulter. While it marked his only X-Files credit, he also did three episodes of Millennium during the second season as well as the pilot for Jackie and 11 Boardwalk Empire shows. By the way, that's not the same person as Alan Kalter, who served as announcer on The Late Show with David Letterman for over 20 years. ... The confessional scene was a late addition after principal photography wrapped, according to the official episode guide. After 2 1/2 pages became 5 1/2 the night before they were to shoot, Anderson convinced the show to give her an extra day to work on the emotional scene. "I'm glad that we did it that way, because I was pleased with the outcome," she said.
Guest star of the week: Emily Perkins doesn't have much dialogue, but invests all four of the severely impaired girls with heart and soul. It's not difficult to understand why Scully becomes so invested in trying to stop what's happening to them. Nor why Mulder wants to get to the truth of the deaths. Those images with smoke coming out of her/their eyes are among the macabre the show has delivered thus far as a result.
This is a momentous occasion, not only because we’ve reached the last episode of Season 5 and will be tackling Fight the Future next. The X-Files is on Amazon Prime, so now I don’t have to watch on Hulu with commercials! (You’d understand my enthusiasm if you knew just how often I rewind each episode to replay scenes for this and how frustrating those pop-up blocks of commercials can be. I almost resorted to checking the DVDs out of the library!) We open this episode in Vancouver’s version of …Vancouver, British Columbia. (That’s a nice twist.) It’s a chess tournament, grown man vs. 12-year-old prodigy. Somewhere in the crowded auditorium, a would-be assassin is loading a rifle. Gibson Praise, the boy, hears garbled voices but can’t pinpoint the location. Boy Wonder declares checkmate and his opponent gets shot in the chest. Not sure which shocked him more, the chess move or the bullet. “The End” indeed. 
In Quebec, Canada, Cancer Man, whom you may recall has been living in a mountain cabin, has a couple of guests drop in for a visit. He shoots one and gets chased by another, who turns out to be Alex Krycek. The Syndicate members seem annoyed that he’s still alive, but want his assistance in cleaning up the chess mess. Assistant Director Skinner asks Mulder about his long-term plans, then lets Fox know Special Agent Jeffrey Spender has been given the chess player assassination case. You know, the one that occurred in a foreign country. Seriously, how does that happen, Canadian authorities just handed it over? It wasn’t even an American citizen who was killed. Unfortunately, it appears the apprehended shooter is an American, and even worse, a former government agent ... go figure. I like Skinner when he’s helping Mulder push buttons. 
Mulder goes to interview the shooter, played by actor Martin Ferrero, best known to me as Gennaro from Jurassic Park, the lawyer who died on the toilet. (“I think this was Gennaro.” “I think this was too.”) Spender blocks his path, but Fox talks his way into the cell and plays good agent to Jeffrey’s bad agent. Mulder plants the seed of cooperation, then eats the shooter’s food. Back in the motel (safe house), Gibson watches The Silver Surfer, a FOX Kids Network TV series (had to do a little research to find that one). Poor Praise had to undergo a battery of tests while feeding the female agents’ green machines. 
The next morning, Dana reveals her medical findings of Praise's brain to a roomful of agents. She discusses how Gibson is able to access parts of his brain that others cannot. Mulder is more succinct -- the boy may be the key to “all spiritual unexplained paranormal phenomena.” (That still doesn’t explain the existence of aliens, Fox.) The shooter wants immunity in exchange for revealing who wants to kill the boy and why. Spender and Mulder revisit the shooter who describes Gibson as “the missing link.” Well-Manicured Man is not happy about Mulder going to the Justice Department. CSM insists it’s just another part of the chess game. Poor Krycek is relegated to chauffeur duty. That must be driving him nuts.
When Sculder arrive at the hotel (in the daytime, what took them so long??), Skinner shows Mulder the Morley wrapper found in the shooter’s cell. Cancer Man hands Gibson off to the Well-Manicured Man, who refuses to let Krycek shoot CSM. Fox confronts Jeffrey and assaults him with the Morley wrapper. Skinner tries to do damage control, but it’s not looking good for Mulder’s future at the FBI. 
So we've come to the end of The X-Files in Vancouver for the original run, and with that we lose a lot of the atmosphere that was such an integral part of the show. We will gain a lot of bright sunshine and a host of guest stars (no longer will Canadian actors such as Larry Musser play four different parts in the show over several seasons). But much like Mark Snow's music, that setting -- and its seemingly endless options -- proved invaluable in getting the cult favorite to this point.
Let's say all is forgiven: We do get the Smoking Man back and how fortuitous that Krycek was the one hanging back on the initial assault on the cabin and not the one moving in right away. It makes for a nice little action sequence in the snow, though. (You reallllly should have taken the shot, Alex. You could have explained it away to The Syndicate like you did all your other screwups.)
You're insulting me when you should be taking notes: Then there's Spender. We just can't take this guy's side on anything. He not only goes against Mulder's theories, he doesn't even give our hero time and space to make his argument. As Fox aptly put, Jeffrey seems ambitious and arrogant. He spends six hours with the shooter and gets nothing, but still won't accept any help. Mulder smacks him in the face with a cigarette wrapper for something Spender hasn't done and we're still not on his side. This creates a hole in the foundation that won't serve the show as it strives to build up from here.
How's Little Carnac doing? The kid regrettably advances the course of the personal storyline -- "I know you're thinking about one of the girls you brought. One of them is thinking about you." We didn't need him to tell us Mulder has a dirty mind, we knew that already. Fox is right on target about him winning chess matches because he reads opponents' thoughts, it's a nice little moment later when Dana gets Gibson to admit he also likes the game because it's quiet.
Guest star of the week: We have those two new characters factoring heavily into the action, but it's Martin Ferrero as the shooter who surprisingly makes the biggest impression. (In addition to the legal bits and pieces in Jurassic Park, he made a fine legendary director George Cukor in Gods and Monsters.) Arguably, the episode's resonance comes not from Gibson or Diana, but from this nameless shooter's emotions. He's cold and calculating before hesitatingly providing Mulder with the confirmation of his beliefs and ultimately suffering his expected demise.
