Don't you frack with me either.
You know those days when you set your alarm, but don't realize until you wake up that you set it for PM instead of AM? Yeah. Thank goodness for Jaime's automatic feeder. When it went off at 7:30 I was like, WTF???
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I don't often embed vids in my posts, but I hope you'll forgive this one... ahhhhhhhhh!!! 2011 cannot come fast enough. How awesome does GoT look? If they can make the trailers this sweet, I can only hope the show will be even more so. They are only raising my expectations at this point; a dangerous thing!
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Finished Tongues of Serpents. I've finally been able to friend![[profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
naominovik without fear of spoilers, lol. I enjoyed ToS very much, even though not a whole lot happens. I just love this universe.
I also just read My Sister's Keeper, the first Jodi Picoult novel I've ever read. She's one of those prolific authors who I stayed away from because she was so prolific ... quantity usually does not equal quality. However, I was pleasantly surprised by MSK. I'm putting the movie (who knew there even was one?) in my library queue. I really disliked Sara Fitzgerald in the book, so we'll see if Cameron Diaz can make me like her any better. I'm excited about Alec Baldwin playing Campbell Alexander, partly because I think that means they're going to nix the whole romance subplot with him and Julia Romano, which I could not have been less interested in. I skipped all those parts. Otherwise a very engaging story, and I sobbed buckets at the end.
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My Citibank Mastercard account has been closed AGAIN due to fradulent activity. WTF. The first time, they closed it as a precautionary thing -- I guess some place where I used it had their records stolen or something. This time, they contacted me because someone was buying stuff online from another state with my card. HOW did they even get my card number??? I don't use this card to buy things online -- I could easily see how online transactions could open you up to greater potential for fraud. But this card, since my last statement I've only used it to pay for things locally (like at restaurants), and one time, to pay my electric bill. Argh! BTW, there were two fraudulent transactions, totaling about $100, for shoe/clothing stores. SURELY it's easy to catch people like this, since if they're buying merchandise they'd have to supply an address where it needs to be shipped?
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Nearly done with Dr. Who S2... it's kind of sad how I've barely missed Christopher Eccleston, though I did enjoy him in S1. I guess the universe's own mythology (can't think of the right word for it) makes that easy, since we're told that it's really the same guy.
Random comment -- the ep where it was Doctor/Companion-lite guest stars a dude who looked SO familiar to me, so I looked him up and it turns out he played Blythe in that one episode of Band of Brothers. Seriously, other than Ron Livingston, was there ANYONE on that miniseries playing an American soldier who was ACTUALLY AMERICAN? LOL.
Also am rewatching BSG in the background while doing other things. I'm totally enjoying Baltar so much more this time around; he's hilarious! Also -- wouldn't he have known who the final Cylon was that WHOLE TIME, considering he ran the test on Ellen that early in the series??? I mean, sure, he didn't TELL them the truth, everyone passed the test, but he still would have seen the true result (and verbally confirmed as much when Caprica 6 asked him what the result was and he says something like, "I'll never tell."). And we're supposed to assume the test works, right, because it worked on Boomer. So all that angst about who the final Cylon was could have been avoided because Baltar should have known the whole time who it was. I just can't remember now if anyone ever asked him about it, lol, or if it was even really that big a deal to the characters.
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For lunch I am planning to go to The Stone House, my new fave place. I was told the last time I was there, though, that they're going to stop serving lunch after Oct. 15 and only do dinner. :-( Since their dinner items cost like 3x as much as their lunch items, and since I usually leave the office well before dinner time, I don't see a whole lot of opportunity or reason to go there after they make the change. Alas! First El Greco, now this ... why am I not allowed to enjoy a favorite restaurant?!
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A few more X-Files episode 'reviews' to continue my archival project.
The Jersey Devil
Lately, watching Season One episodes is enjoyable because of mainly one factor -- I get to compare them with the more recent episodes. Not that Season One episodes aren’t enjoyable in their own right; after all, many important developmental events occurred during that season, not the least that it piqued the interest of some who would one day become many and made the show the success story that it now is. However, as watchers, we grow with the show, and are incapable of retrieving the exact same mindset that we had when we first watched these episodes. After all, we are six years removed, and the show and its characters have changed, as would be expected. Perhaps some people’s favorite episodes are still from Season One; I’m sure you’re out there. But I for one seem to like each succeeding season more than the previous. Maybe I am just one of those X-Philes that are sneered at by others, that I like everything that the show puts out, good or not. And I have to say that, yes, that is true to a certain extent. Because I love the show so much, I am probably a lot more forgiving of its bad moments than I would be for another show. I give it my full benefit of the doubt when it is needed. But that all comes in my loyalty as an X-Phile; that the potential of the show and the many moments of greatness that it has produced is worth the scorn of these X-Phile purists, if it means that I will enjoy myself week after week.
With that long introduction, let me finally get into my review of The Jersey Devil. X-file-wise, it was pretty nondescript. If I had seen an episode like it coming from Season Six, I would have reamed it like I did Terms of Endearment and Agua Mala. But I enjoyed it, because I got to see Mulder and Scully getting to know each other. Especially knowing how they are now and accepting them as they are, it is difficult to imagine that they were not always as comfortable with each other or a time when they did not know each other well.
First of all, Scully has a life outside of Mulder. I don’t recall when that stopped, it was such a gradual happenstance (and why Never Again was so believable and crucial), but Scully at this point was still Dana to other people and to herself. Instead of pursuing an X-file with Mulder, who seems surprised that she wouldn’t want to, she has another commitment -- her godson’s birthday party. Before learning of this, Mulder asks, “What? You have a date?” and it reminds me of another time he said something similar about Ed Jerse, only then he was almost sneering. Mulder at this point is incredulous too, but only because he can’t imagine any date worth giving up this case. But the main detail here is still: Scully has a godson? What ever happened to that kid? And what ever happened to the kid’s mother, who was supposedly such good friends with Scully that she would ask Scully to be her son's godmother? We also find out that Scully had told this friend that she thought Mulder was cute, but "obsessed with his work." Scully also goes on a date in this episode. She didn’t seem to enjoy herself much, but she went. It was cute when Scully told Mulder about the date and his oblivious nerve to ask, “Well, can’t you cancel?” At this point in the series, it wasn’t Mulder being callous -- if it were S6 Mulder, it’d be selfish mixed in with some possessiveness, but S1 Mulder is the work-driven, nothing-else-matters-to-him eccentric that we still remember and love. In this case, he innocently and truly believes that Scully should rather be with him pursuing this fascinating case than want to do something as mundane as going on a date. Watching him shove food into his mouth and talking to Scully with his mouth full like an excited little boy made me remember what endeared Mulder to me in the first place. Scully’s conversation with her friend about how she would like to have a life was pretty ironic -- compared to Scully in later years, S1 Scully was a party animal. If she could see herself six years down the line, on a purely superficial basis, she would be severely disappointed.
Scully is still very much the fresh-faced young agent, a little wet behind the ears. She is fascinated by her partner, and you can tell that she admires him and is attracted to him -- but Mulder is completely and innocently oblivious. It’s a good thing, too, because that Mulder wouldn’t have known how to handle such a development (not that Mulder is presently oh-so-sophisticated, but undoubtedly much more self actualized), Scully would have been mortified, things between them would have become strained, and their partnership would have collapsed. Luckily, even from the beginning, Scully was Mulder’s perfect complement. He didn’t see, and she didn’t tell. But I think the most telling moment is near the end of her date when she gets paged by Mulder. She wasn’t having a great time in the first place, but when she calls Mulder and he apologizes, she answers, almost embarrassingly quickly, “No, no, it’s okay,” and has a slight smile on her face.
Scully also smiles a lot more and is a lot more forgiving of encroachments of her personal time. If S6 Mulder interrupted S6 Scully in the middle of a date (which is a big hypothetical leap, since their lives revolve around each other), she'd no doubt be none too pleased. But that’s because now, Scully knows not to expect anything from him but work, or else what Mulder is inflicted with, the you-don’t-want-me-but-you-don’t-want-anyone-else-to-have-me-either syndrome.
At the end of the episode, we see Scully in the first of many times, choose Mulder over having “a life.” So perhaps she should have seen her future coming. A man calls Scully, in the office, and Mulder just hands it to her then goes to requisition a car. I have no doubt that present day Mulder would have hovered and eavesdropped, or gave her a hard time. But Scully makes a pretty significant choice when she refuses the date in order to follow Mulder; he seems indifferent to whether she wants to tag along with him or not. He even has the gall to deride, “Scully, don’t you have a life?” But what is truly wonderful about this scene is that we have a more recent occurrence to compare it to, and to really see the differences between their relationship then and their relationship now. This Mulder would not have been surprised if Scully had decided to go on another date; he even questions her decision, whereas in S6's How the Ghosts Stole Christmas, he expects her to want to be with him.
As for the Jersey Devil, Mulder was fascinated by what she represented. He seems to need to look after “helpless” women, victims of circumstance -- this Neanderthal woman, Lucy Householder, Kristen Kilar, Melissa Riedel -- all going back to Samantha, whom he wasn’t able to save. Relationship-wise, until Scully shows up, Mulder seems prone to manipulative, intelligent but crafty, beautiful but only skin-deep, bitch-women. His relationship with Scully helps him to move on from such destructive behavior (though obviously still very much a part of him); in S3 he becomes attracted to a woman who's actually more like Scully than Phoebe Green (though still to Scully’s annoyance): Bambi Berenbaum. Bambi is smart, sexy, attractive, and utterly oblivious to Mulder in a sexual way (okay, that may not describe Scully). Still, it is quite nice to compare the very much work-driven Mulder from S1 to the Mulder six years later, with work no longer as his focal point; it has instead, been replaced by a higher quest for The Truth, and of course, Scully herself.
Ice
I find it exceedingly difficult to be objective about Ice. It was my favorite episode for a long, long time, so there is some sentimental value to be had there. Now that I've given that disclaimer, I will contend that no other episode contains quite the same level of sexual tension that Ice does. Yes, that is up to and including S6. The idea that the eighth episode to air for a series with more than a hundred episodes, all fueled by the same dynamic between its male and female leads, contains the most sexual tension is a big claim to make. But it's precisely because it comes so early in the series that makes it a huge deal.
This is not to say that Mulder and Scully's relationship has not progressed since Ice -- nor is it to suggest that they have "cooled off" since their escapade in the Arctic. Their relationship over the years has deepened, grown more intense, emotionally and spiritually. During the time period of Ice, their relationship was still very new -- trust was still being earned. The scene where Mulder and Scully pull their guns on each other is fraught with explosive tension and violence because we really do not know if one will actually shoot the other. Such a scenario would be hard to pull off in recent times; the things they have gone through and borne with each other since Ice would make it hard to believe they'd behave that way.
Of course, when this episode first aired, The X-Files was in its infancy; the viewers were learning about the characters as much as the characters were getting to know themselves and each other. It was a critical step in showing us how this dynamic was going to function; how we could expect these agents to behave in hostile situations in the future. It told us, essentially, how this relationship was going to proceed. At such an early stage in characterization, there were many avenues that the writers could have taken. Granted, Chris Carter already had an idea in his mind of who and what they were, but it's all the little details that count. For instance, Mulder could have gotten even more pissed than he already was at the perceived defection and betrayal of his partner, and in his anger refused to see Scully's reasoning. Such an action and indication of his personality would have caused a deep rift between the two. Scully could have believed Mulder because of the simple fact that she knows him, and it would have been the easy thing to do. But we learn, that's not who she is. Mulder is intelligent and reasonable enough to see why Scully would be concerned enough to pull a gun on him, and Scully possesses the will and emotional detachment necessary to keep all involved alive -- she has the arguable gift of objectivity. Perhaps this give and take can be summed up by a single exchange: Mulder shouts, "Scully! For God sakes, it's me!" to which she replies, "Mulder, you may not be who you are." It is at this point that Mulder lowers his gun.
That's a lot of tension. Stemming from sexual lust for one another? That's debatable, and I won't go into it. The scene I'm thinking of when it comes to explosive sexual tension is in the lock up when our two heroes are checking each other for the worm. Scully is torn between what she wants to do (she would rather risk a violent episode by Mulder and gain irrefutable proof that he is infected rather than infect him) and what she knows is the right thing to do (with two other lives at stake, she cannot be sentimental).
Mulder is understandably upset at the thought of being given one worm. I still love David Duchovny's intonation of "You give me one worm, you'll infect me." His performance in this episode is second only to Ascension, in my opinion (at least in the early days). Scully desperately wants to believe him. She knows she cannot live with the consequences if she is wrong. Not only would that certainly spell doom for everyone involved, but even worse, it would be a result of her lack of trust in her partner.
From the start, the scene was loaded with sexual tension. The moment Scully steps into the confinement alone, the air is extremely intimate. Secondly, David Duchovny's Mulder ups the intimacy a hundred-fold when he steps as close to Scully as possible without touching her, stooping down to speak right to her face, rasping out his words in a low voice. Soon after, Mulder, without a word, turns his back, giving her permission to do what she will. He trusts her, and more importantly, he wants her to know that he trusts her. He understands her need for the physical proof. I thought she should have been more thorough and had him take his shirt off -- I mean, if you're going to check you might as well do a good job, right? She allows herself the luxury of rubbing his neck for a few moments before she's satisfied...that he's not infected. Then we have a classic Mulder move when he pulls her back toward him to do his own check. The kind where if he were anybody else it'd be obvious that it's sexual. But Mulder is the king of the pseudo-sensual move. This entire scene is charged with sexual tension...and I believe that no other episode quite matches up to it in that respect. It is because they are just getting to know each other; they are in the stages when they don't know quite what to expect from their relationship or what the other wants. The open possibilities are glaring, deliciously so.
That is not to say that the cadence of Mulder and Scully's relationship is no longer worthy of such distinction. In fact, it's quite the opposite. The level of intimacy and understanding they have achieved is much more worthy of envy and notice than these early stages of UST. As with any long-term relationship, the tension wears off because the newness, the sense of the unexpected is worn away, as well as the mystery. But what is gained is worth a thousand times what is lost. As early as the second season, when Scully is abducted then returned, the dynamic of their relationship changes, from one of strangers who find themselves attracted to one another, to that of two people who love and trust each other with no qualifications.
Young at Heart
Perhaps not only one of the most unshippiest episodes ever, but also an episode that is callous in regard to even the natural affection found between partners. This episode has no real redeeming qualities whatsoever, but the worst thing about it has got to be Mulder’s unnatural manner. He is quite out of character.
In this episode, not only does Mulder ask Scully to be a target for a man known for his lack of conscience and has already killed several people that he believes are Mulder’s friends, but when she actually does get shot, he barely spares her a glance; he only yells for someone to check on her. What if she had been shot in the head? In the arm? In the leg? Anywhere that her bullet-proof vest wasn’t covering? Mulder didn’t spare even that cursory a glance -- I highly doubt that he could have told anyone whether she was really hurt or not. This incredibly callous behavior is just not like him. Sure, he’s self-centered and single-minded, but he’s not completely lacking in human emotion.
Then, at the end, instead of being by Scully’s side, making sure she’s okay, he’s witnessing the hospital’s attempt to save Barnett’s life. Okay, so he has a right to fear for his life, since Barnett is out to get him and is completely conscienceless, but when has preservation of his own life ever been Mulder’s primary motivation? I believe this is the one and only example of that in the entire history of the show. When Scully shows up to keep him company, he barely spares her a cursory glance, and says, with incredible indifference, “That bullet went through eight layers of kevlar. You’re lucky to be alive.” He offers no apology, nor does he show regret at being the one to place her in danger in the first place. S6 Mulder -- and I contend, every Mulder in every other episode, would never have allowed Scully to be deliberately put in harm’s way, much less be the one to suggest it. Or if for some reason she were shot, he would make absolutely sure that she was all right before pursuing the suspect, because nothing is worth more than Scully’s well-being. Or if she were in a hospital, he would be there to apologize and be full of remorse for his part in it, whether it was directly or indirectly. It amazes me that such an episode as “Ice,” an episode that, in my opinion, portrays the perfect blend of sexual tension, partnership in its purest form, the meaning of trust, along with a great X-file, that makes The X-Files such a joy to watch, was one of the show’s first episodes. It should have been one of the last of S1's, because it made all the later episodes that weren’t as good, Young At Heart definitely amongst them, pale considerably in comparison.
And that finishes off the 'reviews' I had for S1.
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I don't often embed vids in my posts, but I hope you'll forgive this one... ahhhhhhhhh!!! 2011 cannot come fast enough. How awesome does GoT look? If they can make the trailers this sweet, I can only hope the show will be even more so. They are only raising my expectations at this point; a dangerous thing!
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Finished Tongues of Serpents. I've finally been able to friend
naominovik without fear of spoilers, lol. I enjoyed ToS very much, even though not a whole lot happens. I just love this universe.I also just read My Sister's Keeper, the first Jodi Picoult novel I've ever read. She's one of those prolific authors who I stayed away from because she was so prolific ... quantity usually does not equal quality. However, I was pleasantly surprised by MSK. I'm putting the movie (who knew there even was one?) in my library queue. I really disliked Sara Fitzgerald in the book, so we'll see if Cameron Diaz can make me like her any better. I'm excited about Alec Baldwin playing Campbell Alexander, partly because I think that means they're going to nix the whole romance subplot with him and Julia Romano, which I could not have been less interested in. I skipped all those parts. Otherwise a very engaging story, and I sobbed buckets at the end.
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My Citibank Mastercard account has been closed AGAIN due to fradulent activity. WTF. The first time, they closed it as a precautionary thing -- I guess some place where I used it had their records stolen or something. This time, they contacted me because someone was buying stuff online from another state with my card. HOW did they even get my card number??? I don't use this card to buy things online -- I could easily see how online transactions could open you up to greater potential for fraud. But this card, since my last statement I've only used it to pay for things locally (like at restaurants), and one time, to pay my electric bill. Argh! BTW, there were two fraudulent transactions, totaling about $100, for shoe/clothing stores. SURELY it's easy to catch people like this, since if they're buying merchandise they'd have to supply an address where it needs to be shipped?
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Nearly done with Dr. Who S2... it's kind of sad how I've barely missed Christopher Eccleston, though I did enjoy him in S1. I guess the universe's own mythology (can't think of the right word for it) makes that easy, since we're told that it's really the same guy.
Random comment -- the ep where it was Doctor/Companion-lite guest stars a dude who looked SO familiar to me, so I looked him up and it turns out he played Blythe in that one episode of Band of Brothers. Seriously, other than Ron Livingston, was there ANYONE on that miniseries playing an American soldier who was ACTUALLY AMERICAN? LOL.
Also am rewatching BSG in the background while doing other things. I'm totally enjoying Baltar so much more this time around; he's hilarious! Also -- wouldn't he have known who the final Cylon was that WHOLE TIME, considering he ran the test on Ellen that early in the series??? I mean, sure, he didn't TELL them the truth, everyone passed the test, but he still would have seen the true result (and verbally confirmed as much when Caprica 6 asked him what the result was and he says something like, "I'll never tell."). And we're supposed to assume the test works, right, because it worked on Boomer. So all that angst about who the final Cylon was could have been avoided because Baltar should have known the whole time who it was. I just can't remember now if anyone ever asked him about it, lol, or if it was even really that big a deal to the characters.
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For lunch I am planning to go to The Stone House, my new fave place. I was told the last time I was there, though, that they're going to stop serving lunch after Oct. 15 and only do dinner. :-( Since their dinner items cost like 3x as much as their lunch items, and since I usually leave the office well before dinner time, I don't see a whole lot of opportunity or reason to go there after they make the change. Alas! First El Greco, now this ... why am I not allowed to enjoy a favorite restaurant?!
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A few more X-Files episode 'reviews' to continue my archival project.
The Jersey Devil
Lately, watching Season One episodes is enjoyable because of mainly one factor -- I get to compare them with the more recent episodes. Not that Season One episodes aren’t enjoyable in their own right; after all, many important developmental events occurred during that season, not the least that it piqued the interest of some who would one day become many and made the show the success story that it now is. However, as watchers, we grow with the show, and are incapable of retrieving the exact same mindset that we had when we first watched these episodes. After all, we are six years removed, and the show and its characters have changed, as would be expected. Perhaps some people’s favorite episodes are still from Season One; I’m sure you’re out there. But I for one seem to like each succeeding season more than the previous. Maybe I am just one of those X-Philes that are sneered at by others, that I like everything that the show puts out, good or not. And I have to say that, yes, that is true to a certain extent. Because I love the show so much, I am probably a lot more forgiving of its bad moments than I would be for another show. I give it my full benefit of the doubt when it is needed. But that all comes in my loyalty as an X-Phile; that the potential of the show and the many moments of greatness that it has produced is worth the scorn of these X-Phile purists, if it means that I will enjoy myself week after week.
With that long introduction, let me finally get into my review of The Jersey Devil. X-file-wise, it was pretty nondescript. If I had seen an episode like it coming from Season Six, I would have reamed it like I did Terms of Endearment and Agua Mala. But I enjoyed it, because I got to see Mulder and Scully getting to know each other. Especially knowing how they are now and accepting them as they are, it is difficult to imagine that they were not always as comfortable with each other or a time when they did not know each other well.
First of all, Scully has a life outside of Mulder. I don’t recall when that stopped, it was such a gradual happenstance (and why Never Again was so believable and crucial), but Scully at this point was still Dana to other people and to herself. Instead of pursuing an X-file with Mulder, who seems surprised that she wouldn’t want to, she has another commitment -- her godson’s birthday party. Before learning of this, Mulder asks, “What? You have a date?” and it reminds me of another time he said something similar about Ed Jerse, only then he was almost sneering. Mulder at this point is incredulous too, but only because he can’t imagine any date worth giving up this case. But the main detail here is still: Scully has a godson? What ever happened to that kid? And what ever happened to the kid’s mother, who was supposedly such good friends with Scully that she would ask Scully to be her son's godmother? We also find out that Scully had told this friend that she thought Mulder was cute, but "obsessed with his work." Scully also goes on a date in this episode. She didn’t seem to enjoy herself much, but she went. It was cute when Scully told Mulder about the date and his oblivious nerve to ask, “Well, can’t you cancel?” At this point in the series, it wasn’t Mulder being callous -- if it were S6 Mulder, it’d be selfish mixed in with some possessiveness, but S1 Mulder is the work-driven, nothing-else-matters-to-him eccentric that we still remember and love. In this case, he innocently and truly believes that Scully should rather be with him pursuing this fascinating case than want to do something as mundane as going on a date. Watching him shove food into his mouth and talking to Scully with his mouth full like an excited little boy made me remember what endeared Mulder to me in the first place. Scully’s conversation with her friend about how she would like to have a life was pretty ironic -- compared to Scully in later years, S1 Scully was a party animal. If she could see herself six years down the line, on a purely superficial basis, she would be severely disappointed.
Scully is still very much the fresh-faced young agent, a little wet behind the ears. She is fascinated by her partner, and you can tell that she admires him and is attracted to him -- but Mulder is completely and innocently oblivious. It’s a good thing, too, because that Mulder wouldn’t have known how to handle such a development (not that Mulder is presently oh-so-sophisticated, but undoubtedly much more self actualized), Scully would have been mortified, things between them would have become strained, and their partnership would have collapsed. Luckily, even from the beginning, Scully was Mulder’s perfect complement. He didn’t see, and she didn’t tell. But I think the most telling moment is near the end of her date when she gets paged by Mulder. She wasn’t having a great time in the first place, but when she calls Mulder and he apologizes, she answers, almost embarrassingly quickly, “No, no, it’s okay,” and has a slight smile on her face.
Scully also smiles a lot more and is a lot more forgiving of encroachments of her personal time. If S6 Mulder interrupted S6 Scully in the middle of a date (which is a big hypothetical leap, since their lives revolve around each other), she'd no doubt be none too pleased. But that’s because now, Scully knows not to expect anything from him but work, or else what Mulder is inflicted with, the you-don’t-want-me-but-you-don’t-want-anyone-else-to-have-me-either syndrome.
At the end of the episode, we see Scully in the first of many times, choose Mulder over having “a life.” So perhaps she should have seen her future coming. A man calls Scully, in the office, and Mulder just hands it to her then goes to requisition a car. I have no doubt that present day Mulder would have hovered and eavesdropped, or gave her a hard time. But Scully makes a pretty significant choice when she refuses the date in order to follow Mulder; he seems indifferent to whether she wants to tag along with him or not. He even has the gall to deride, “Scully, don’t you have a life?” But what is truly wonderful about this scene is that we have a more recent occurrence to compare it to, and to really see the differences between their relationship then and their relationship now. This Mulder would not have been surprised if Scully had decided to go on another date; he even questions her decision, whereas in S6's How the Ghosts Stole Christmas, he expects her to want to be with him.
As for the Jersey Devil, Mulder was fascinated by what she represented. He seems to need to look after “helpless” women, victims of circumstance -- this Neanderthal woman, Lucy Householder, Kristen Kilar, Melissa Riedel -- all going back to Samantha, whom he wasn’t able to save. Relationship-wise, until Scully shows up, Mulder seems prone to manipulative, intelligent but crafty, beautiful but only skin-deep, bitch-women. His relationship with Scully helps him to move on from such destructive behavior (though obviously still very much a part of him); in S3 he becomes attracted to a woman who's actually more like Scully than Phoebe Green (though still to Scully’s annoyance): Bambi Berenbaum. Bambi is smart, sexy, attractive, and utterly oblivious to Mulder in a sexual way (okay, that may not describe Scully). Still, it is quite nice to compare the very much work-driven Mulder from S1 to the Mulder six years later, with work no longer as his focal point; it has instead, been replaced by a higher quest for The Truth, and of course, Scully herself.
Ice
I find it exceedingly difficult to be objective about Ice. It was my favorite episode for a long, long time, so there is some sentimental value to be had there. Now that I've given that disclaimer, I will contend that no other episode contains quite the same level of sexual tension that Ice does. Yes, that is up to and including S6. The idea that the eighth episode to air for a series with more than a hundred episodes, all fueled by the same dynamic between its male and female leads, contains the most sexual tension is a big claim to make. But it's precisely because it comes so early in the series that makes it a huge deal.
This is not to say that Mulder and Scully's relationship has not progressed since Ice -- nor is it to suggest that they have "cooled off" since their escapade in the Arctic. Their relationship over the years has deepened, grown more intense, emotionally and spiritually. During the time period of Ice, their relationship was still very new -- trust was still being earned. The scene where Mulder and Scully pull their guns on each other is fraught with explosive tension and violence because we really do not know if one will actually shoot the other. Such a scenario would be hard to pull off in recent times; the things they have gone through and borne with each other since Ice would make it hard to believe they'd behave that way.
Of course, when this episode first aired, The X-Files was in its infancy; the viewers were learning about the characters as much as the characters were getting to know themselves and each other. It was a critical step in showing us how this dynamic was going to function; how we could expect these agents to behave in hostile situations in the future. It told us, essentially, how this relationship was going to proceed. At such an early stage in characterization, there were many avenues that the writers could have taken. Granted, Chris Carter already had an idea in his mind of who and what they were, but it's all the little details that count. For instance, Mulder could have gotten even more pissed than he already was at the perceived defection and betrayal of his partner, and in his anger refused to see Scully's reasoning. Such an action and indication of his personality would have caused a deep rift between the two. Scully could have believed Mulder because of the simple fact that she knows him, and it would have been the easy thing to do. But we learn, that's not who she is. Mulder is intelligent and reasonable enough to see why Scully would be concerned enough to pull a gun on him, and Scully possesses the will and emotional detachment necessary to keep all involved alive -- she has the arguable gift of objectivity. Perhaps this give and take can be summed up by a single exchange: Mulder shouts, "Scully! For God sakes, it's me!" to which she replies, "Mulder, you may not be who you are." It is at this point that Mulder lowers his gun.
That's a lot of tension. Stemming from sexual lust for one another? That's debatable, and I won't go into it. The scene I'm thinking of when it comes to explosive sexual tension is in the lock up when our two heroes are checking each other for the worm. Scully is torn between what she wants to do (she would rather risk a violent episode by Mulder and gain irrefutable proof that he is infected rather than infect him) and what she knows is the right thing to do (with two other lives at stake, she cannot be sentimental).
Mulder is understandably upset at the thought of being given one worm. I still love David Duchovny's intonation of "You give me one worm, you'll infect me." His performance in this episode is second only to Ascension, in my opinion (at least in the early days). Scully desperately wants to believe him. She knows she cannot live with the consequences if she is wrong. Not only would that certainly spell doom for everyone involved, but even worse, it would be a result of her lack of trust in her partner.
From the start, the scene was loaded with sexual tension. The moment Scully steps into the confinement alone, the air is extremely intimate. Secondly, David Duchovny's Mulder ups the intimacy a hundred-fold when he steps as close to Scully as possible without touching her, stooping down to speak right to her face, rasping out his words in a low voice. Soon after, Mulder, without a word, turns his back, giving her permission to do what she will. He trusts her, and more importantly, he wants her to know that he trusts her. He understands her need for the physical proof. I thought she should have been more thorough and had him take his shirt off -- I mean, if you're going to check you might as well do a good job, right? She allows herself the luxury of rubbing his neck for a few moments before she's satisfied...that he's not infected. Then we have a classic Mulder move when he pulls her back toward him to do his own check. The kind where if he were anybody else it'd be obvious that it's sexual. But Mulder is the king of the pseudo-sensual move. This entire scene is charged with sexual tension...and I believe that no other episode quite matches up to it in that respect. It is because they are just getting to know each other; they are in the stages when they don't know quite what to expect from their relationship or what the other wants. The open possibilities are glaring, deliciously so.
That is not to say that the cadence of Mulder and Scully's relationship is no longer worthy of such distinction. In fact, it's quite the opposite. The level of intimacy and understanding they have achieved is much more worthy of envy and notice than these early stages of UST. As with any long-term relationship, the tension wears off because the newness, the sense of the unexpected is worn away, as well as the mystery. But what is gained is worth a thousand times what is lost. As early as the second season, when Scully is abducted then returned, the dynamic of their relationship changes, from one of strangers who find themselves attracted to one another, to that of two people who love and trust each other with no qualifications.
Young at Heart
Perhaps not only one of the most unshippiest episodes ever, but also an episode that is callous in regard to even the natural affection found between partners. This episode has no real redeeming qualities whatsoever, but the worst thing about it has got to be Mulder’s unnatural manner. He is quite out of character.
In this episode, not only does Mulder ask Scully to be a target for a man known for his lack of conscience and has already killed several people that he believes are Mulder’s friends, but when she actually does get shot, he barely spares her a glance; he only yells for someone to check on her. What if she had been shot in the head? In the arm? In the leg? Anywhere that her bullet-proof vest wasn’t covering? Mulder didn’t spare even that cursory a glance -- I highly doubt that he could have told anyone whether she was really hurt or not. This incredibly callous behavior is just not like him. Sure, he’s self-centered and single-minded, but he’s not completely lacking in human emotion.
Then, at the end, instead of being by Scully’s side, making sure she’s okay, he’s witnessing the hospital’s attempt to save Barnett’s life. Okay, so he has a right to fear for his life, since Barnett is out to get him and is completely conscienceless, but when has preservation of his own life ever been Mulder’s primary motivation? I believe this is the one and only example of that in the entire history of the show. When Scully shows up to keep him company, he barely spares her a cursory glance, and says, with incredible indifference, “That bullet went through eight layers of kevlar. You’re lucky to be alive.” He offers no apology, nor does he show regret at being the one to place her in danger in the first place. S6 Mulder -- and I contend, every Mulder in every other episode, would never have allowed Scully to be deliberately put in harm’s way, much less be the one to suggest it. Or if for some reason she were shot, he would make absolutely sure that she was all right before pursuing the suspect, because nothing is worth more than Scully’s well-being. Or if she were in a hospital, he would be there to apologize and be full of remorse for his part in it, whether it was directly or indirectly. It amazes me that such an episode as “Ice,” an episode that, in my opinion, portrays the perfect blend of sexual tension, partnership in its purest form, the meaning of trust, along with a great X-file, that makes The X-Files such a joy to watch, was one of the show’s first episodes. It should have been one of the last of S1's, because it made all the later episodes that weren’t as good, Young At Heart definitely amongst them, pale considerably in comparison.
And that finishes off the 'reviews' I had for S1.