|
[nothing important happened
today 9x1]
Season 9 of The X-Files opens in a strange place. There are familiar faces, familiar words, but things are just not the same. It's too early to judge the entire season, especially on a mediocre episode that carries the burden of being the middle episode of a multi-episode mytharc, which all fans know are generally less than riveting; and this episode also serves as a pilot of sorts for the "new" post-Mulder X-files, introducing new characters, establishing new relationships and laying the groundwork for the season to come. I guess what I'm saying is, well, it was just weird. Not necessarily bad, just weird. I can't figure out what the title means, first off. I can usually wriggle some sort of significance out of an episode title, but this one is a stumper. The best that I can come up with is that they are being ironic. Quite a lot does happen in the episode, but it takes place over the course of a couple of days, not one. Oh well, I'm not going to hurt myself trying to figure this one out. Instead, I'll just jump to some random thoughts, presented to you in a list because I don't have the clarity of mind to present them in a coherent prose form. 1. We have new opening credits, which I think is appropriate to start off what is essentially a new show. The design of the opening hasn't fundementally changed, with the exception of the much deserved addition of Mitch Pileggi to the regular cast credits. 2. The baby. He's a cute little bugger, but I have to say, he looks just like Bill Scully, Sr.! Bald head and everything. So, the little guy is special, or at least it seems that way. At the very least, he posesses the ability to telepathically spin mobiles. And this activity also seems to upset him very much, considering how hard he was crying while it was happening. Little William's origins and "specialness" are to be the focus of the show's mythology this season, so we can only expect a morsel here and there. 3. Scully didn't have all that much to do in this episode, what with the ever expanding ensemble cast and her maternal duties. She seemed stricken - with the loss of Mulder, with fear, with denial. She gives us what amounts to an explanation for Mulder's departure - "It makes sense in its own way." It will be interesting to see how 1013 will eventually reveal his reasons for leaving. Her scenes with Doggett were well done. She likes him, even though she asks him to leave and not come back. She's terrified that he will push things to the point where either Mulder or the baby will get killed. And he seems to know her pretty well, depsite the fact that she has tried to keep him at a distance from the beginning. He asks her how long she thinks she can hide from "it", and from the expression on her face you can tell he hit a nerve. And Hallelujah, they are calling each other John and Dana. 4. Doggett. Doggett Doggett Doggett. What can I say about him that I haven't already said? Not much, so I won't gush. Did we learn anything new about him? Well, we discovered that he starts his day off with a bachelor's breakfast - instant coffee and a pop tart (frosted brown sugar cinnamon, is my guess - and my favorite). He's a mass of confusion in this episode as Scully and (hopefully) Skinner insist on keeping him in the dark. He looked so wounded when Scully told him to leave her apartment and never come back. All he wants to do is help, that's all he's ever wanted to do, and now she's pushing him away. His investigation of "one of his own", Deputy Director Kersh, has made him a Mulder-like pariah among his former pals in the FBI. Speaking of Kersh, the look that Doggett gave him when he exited the elevator was priceless. I wonder if Kersh felt the hole that Doggett was burning into the back of his head? 5. Monica Reyes, Doggett's new partner, was thankfully registering very low on the Flake-o-Meter. What she ever saw in that dorky Brat Follmer is beyond me. I liked her "Post-Its on my ass" and "piss in the corners" remarks to Follmer. She seems to have adopted the "trust no one" motto right off the bat. She knows that Doggett is a good man and aligns herself with him in defiance of Skinner. She has a good chemistry with, of all people, the Lone Gunmen. I don't know, she just seemed to get a big kick out of them. She played Follmer like a pro when she asked him to meet her at that bar. I wonder if she's quit smoking yet. 6. Please tell me there was a reason for Skinner's pathetic behavior in this episode. I half-expected him to mess himself in the scene with Doggett and Reyes in his office, he was so scared. Why is he backing down all of a sudden? Is he putting on a show for Doggett's benefit, with the hope of scaring him into dropping the investigation? Or is he really that scared himself? When I told my sister that I was surprised to see him accompany Doggett to the water reclamation plant, she said he probably went because he was afraid to be alone. 7. The Kersh character has been brought back down to earth, thank God. No scenery-chewing for him this go round, which was nice. He's much better at quiet intensity. I don't think he has very much respect for Brad Follmer, who was quick to run and tell on a colleague. I would like to see Kersh emerge as one of the good guys, or at least as someone caught in the middle, like the Skinner of yore. 8. The new guy. Dorky Brad Follmer. So far, I don't like him. I'm not sure that he's in on it, though, whatever "it" is. He's too easily played by the people around him. For now, he's just a weaselly ladder-climber who plays dirty pool. 9. The ever-evolving Mythology has now become sentient and is running wild. I guess I gave up a while ago trying to tie all the strands together. The fun now lies in coming up with questions that we will probably never find an answer to: What is being added to our water supply and why? Why was McFarland making a shore-to-ship call to the USS Valor Victory? Who planted the Wormus obit for Reyes to find? Is William in fact a cloned "super-soldier"? What is the purpose of these super-soldiers? Will they act as the USMC does, and lead the invasion? Will 1013 ever be able to replace CSM or Krycek? 10. Lucy Lawless joins the show as Shannon McMahon, and I think makes a nice addition. Just exactly what Shannon is is not quite clear at this point, but she is certainly not completely human. She can breathe underwater, has tremendous strength and she looks way too good in a suit. We do know that she is an old Marine buddy of Doggett's; is she friend, or foe? Why did she kill Wormus and McFarland? On the surface, I would say to prevent them from revealing the conspiracy behind the chloramine in the water. But could there be more to it than that? And where is she getting her information from? She was everywhere in this episode - the bar, the water reclamation plant, strolling the halls of the FBI, the Quantico morgue, Scully's apartment building and then back at the plant. I'm sure she took the body from the morgue - but why? Was it to destroy the evidence that he was murdered? Or was it to prevent Follmer from finding it? I'm looking forward to finding out more about her in the next episode. Not a bad start, but not a great one, either, for the reasons I mentioned in the beginning. Hopefully next week's episode will pick up the pace of the show and get it back into a groove. |
|
