X-Files S7E15: The 'En Ami' of our en ami is our enemy

Sestra Amateur: 

Google Translate interprets this week’s episode "En Ami" to mean "as friends." Considering the plot of this particular ep, that’s more than a little hard to fathom. After all, it’s against the laws of man and nature. It even sounds like "enemy" when you say it out loud. In Goochland, Virginia -- Yay! An East coast story! -- a married couple cares for their sick son in a way that causes people to protest outside their family home. Sometime during the night, the boy, Jason Peck, wakes to a Spielbergian scene outside his bedroom window. Are they poltergeists? Aliens? Government agents? On this show, anything is possible.

The next morning, Scully sees the miracle cure story in a newspaper, one to which she does not subscribe, on her doorstep. After receiving an anonymous tip, Mulder greets her with the same inspiring tale at their office. Dana is leaning toward spontaneous remission over miracle cure. She travels to the Peck home to interview the family. Jason describes his miracle angels as men who pinched him, then shows Scully the scar on the back of his neck. 

Afterward, Dana encounters the Cigarette Smoking Man in her car. He claims he saved the boy with the same technology that cured Scully, left the newspaper for her and sent Fox the anonymous tip. Cancer Man claims he’s dying and wants to right some wrongs. He’ll pass the cure along to Dana provided she never tells Mulder about it. After giving it some thought, Scully traces CSM’s phone number to an office which employs the only competent security guard in X-Files history. Dana finds CGB Spender, who claims he is dying – no, not from cancer – but from complications caused by brain surgery. He says there are chips containing information for medical cures in a secure location and he needs a few days with her to get them. Scully agrees but leaves a message for Fox and puts on a wire before they go. Road trip! Driver picks the music!

Too bad there’s no music, but Dana wins one battle by getting Cancer Man not to smoke in her car. He reveals his affection for her and Fox, which, coming from him, sounds sinister. Meanwhile, Mulder goes to Scully's apartment and learns she left with CSM, who is playing dime-store shrink by analyzing Dana (somewhat accurately). 

They arrive at the home of Marjorie Butters, an allegedly 118-year-old woman who CGB has saved. Marjorie has the expected scar on the back of her neck and is able to bring out CSM’s human side. Scully (with Cancer Man’s consent) calls Assistant Director Skinner directly to allay his (and Fox's) fears but still doesn’t reveal anything, at least not on the phone. During a gas station restroom break, Dana mails one of her audio tapes to Mulder while Cancer Man pumps the gas. Did I mention they’re being followed? An unknown man retrieves Scully’s letter from the mailbox. It was worth a shot, Dana.

Fox has the Lone Gunmen trying to locate Scully’s digital trail. They find deleted emails related to someone nicknamed Cobra. Mulder realizes someone hacked Dana’s computer and was pretending to be her while corresponding with Cobra. They bring the information to Skinner and claim it was CSM. It’s late when Cancer Man and a sleeping Scully arrive at their destination in Pennsylvania. He carries her into the house and changes her clothes, but luckily it’s all done off screen. The cringe factor is already pretty high without having visuals. 

CGB claims they’ll be meeting their contact for dinner and gives Dana a dress that will not allow her to easily conceal a wire. Scully’s presence is supposed to assure Cobra that his extraterrestrial cure -- one that cures all human disease -- will end up in the right hands. CSM’s revelation and claim of redemption borders on cheesy pickup line and the ick factor still dominates the episode. Cancer Man steps outside and meets with his lackey, the one who’d been following them, to make sure he continues to do his job. At the same time, Dana receives a cryptic note with their next location.

The next morning, CSM sends Scully alone to meet with Cobra in the middle of a lake. He hands her the disk then promptly gets assassinated by CGB's lackey. Cancer Man then saves Dana's life by killing his own employee. She returns to the dock and stupidly hands CSM the disk. He appears to give it back to her and she finally gets the hell out of there. 

The Lone Gunmen analyze the disk in Fox's apartment, and of course, it’s blank. CSM covered all of his tracks and Scully finally realizes she’s been had. Even Mulder seems disappointed in her for believing CGB's tale. But in the end, Cancer Man doesn’t use the cure to save himself or decide who lives and dies. He destroys the disk, which makes it seem like nothing was accomplished, except the elaborate assassination of an anonymous scientist. That and Dana's memory of a music-less road trip with her "enemy."   

Sestra Professional: 

Once upon a time ... meaning before the revival's finale ... "En Ami" was one of the best episodes of Season 7 for moi. After "My Struggle IV," it's kind of difficult to see it as much more than gross. "Ick, ick, icky ick!" is the way Sestra Am put it when submitting her portion of the festivities. I'm going to try my hardest to review this one on its own merits, though. 

This episode was the brainchild of William B. Davis. Those in the fandom who have watched even one panel with Davis on it at a pop-culture convention will recall that he considers the Cigarette-Smoking Man to be the hero of The X-Files. So using that particular mind-set -- one probably not shared by legions of viewers -- he crafted a quiet personal story between CGB Spender and Dana Scully. Davis and, by extension, Cancer Man -- the show kinda stopped using that particular derogatory name, hasn't it? -- deigned to have the practical doctor understand him a little bit better. He probably didn't mind so much that Scully's easy on the eyes either. (Uh oh, I'm veering into ick territory.) 

I just gotta know whether it's Roma Downey or Della Reese: So first ol' CGB has to get her away from his son/sworn enemy. Yep, claiming there's technology that will eliminate cancer, and in fact, all disease is the way to do it. First, she sees the little boy who was instantaneously cured and the familiar mark on the back of his neck is enough to get her involved in more than just an investigative way. It's not that Dana didn't realize she's doing a deal with the devil, she knows he has access to a treatment and wants to see how it plays out.

Being the shrewd operator he is, CSM claims 1. he's dying and 2. he will rescind offer if she contacts Mulder. He acts like he has some semblance of conscience by admitting that most of what he built is in ruins and he has no real legacy. There's no reason for Scully to believe a word he's saying, but as a human being, she's got to at least hope some of it's true. For his part, you can fathom that she's someone CGB really would like to have in his inner circle.  

It's time I quit: The scenes between Davis and Anderson are powerful, they know their characters so well that their slightest reactions to what the other is saying feel genuine to what they've created over lo these many years. When he says he has always had a particular affection for her, it does ring true, especially when he references saving her life in "Redux II" (Season 5, Episode 2). He brings up an interesting point. He did hold her life in his hands, and one can almost visualize what that sensation might feel like to someone who enjoys wielding that kind of power. Critical to buying into this concept is his statement that no sacrifice is purely altruistic. He'll always have an ulterior motive.

Try as I might, it's impossible to get past the scene of Dana waking up in the hotel room and finding out that she's been undressed. That always had a repellent quality. Even the idea of him buying her a killer dress is rather gross. Now I'm thinking about him deciding between different options before settling on the one that really is absolutely perfect for her. It's very Pretty Woman.

Since CGB wasn't in "How the Ghosts Stole Christmas" (S6E6), he doesn't know that his attempt at pop psychology is crap, for however much he is correct about her. But I agreed with something along the lines of what he states outright -- Scully would die for Mulder but wouldn't allow herself to love him. I kind of think that's how show creator Chris Carter played it. That might change in the near future, but it does hold water at this point.

CSM plays two cards a lot in this episode -- the death card and "this must be why you became a doctor." When he offers her a Life Saver, it's more than just a cigarette replacement, it's a clear sign that he's one of those guys who has to remind a person that at some point he was of assistance. 

Where this dude works even shadows have shadows: There's not much for Fox to do except fret over Dana. There's something to be gained from him knowing something is up even when she's claiming that she's fine. They really should have some kind of secret code that would confirm that for him. 

The secret of success to the perfectly executed con is the fact that Cancer Man's motives have never been black or white. There's grey all over this one. He does want to have Scully's approval on some level, something he could never have. But he has one mission objective and it is decidedly not to give Dana the cure for all human disease. He gets the extra benefit of casting some doubt in Mulder's eyes. It shouldn't be overlooked that, yes, CSM saves Scully's life once again. And what, he didn't even quit smoking? Sheesh. What a liar.

Meta murphies: This marked Rob Bowman's last episode for the show. The director with the second-most credits on the show after Kim Manners, Bowman was essential to creating the look and feel of the show and even was tasked with bringing that to the big screen for the show's first feature film. ... In the official episode guide, Davis admitted there was a lot of William Shakespeare's Richard III in the proceedings. But most of all, he wanted more to do with Anderson. "I've always said, if they're not going to give me one scene with Gillian, I'll just have to write one myself," he said in the guide. 

Guest star of the week: Veteran actress Louise Latham, who many will remember from the original version of The Philadelphia Experiment. There is something very engaging about 118-year-old Marjorie Butters. So don't feel too bad, Dana, I bought her message as well, thanks to Latham.