As Skinner enlists the help of Michael Kritschgau to help Mulder interact with the rest of the world again, Scully makes some discoveries about the apparently alien ship she has found.
Yes, it’s back, and I have to admit I still look forward to each episode. Let’s bear in mind that I really wasn’t impressed with the first part of this story, Biogenesis. Now, I do think this is better. I just don’t believe it’s a lot better. And one of the things about still being a fan of The X-Files is that I’m also a pretty tough critic of it.
The biggest problem with it is the Scully storyline; starting off with the trademark Chris Carter season opener monologue (about which more later), Dana spends most of her time trying to piece together fragments of text that needs translating and finding all manner of different things: religious texts, scientific information, a human genome map. What isn’t clear is where the craft came from, why any of this is significant and what should be done about it all. Yes, it’s proof of alien life (or is it?), and it could be proof that Man originated in the stars, but we need some hard facts. When she visits Mulder later on, she says she’s discovered hundreds of exciting things, yet refuses to say what. Oh, and going back to that opening monologue, Mulder has a “beautiful mind,” does he? She’s changed her tune a bit since last season…
Anyway, enough of that. The Mulder plot is much more interesting. Despite it being made common knowledge via the Internet last season, it’s only now that we’re told he has developed the ability to read minds, and being kept on his current medication could kill him. His ability to tell what everyone is thinking should come in useful this season: after all, when you know the truth, it’s much easier to find, surely? Skinner’s help comes as a surprise and relief, assisting despite Krycek’s blackmail, which Mulder now knows about, something which could also open up some good plots. Fowley also has some good scenes with Fox, as he no doubt knows what she’s hiding too. Just imagine if he meets Cancer Man: no more conspiracy!
Bringing back Kritschgau, one of the few good aspects of season five’s Redux, is a good idea, but the biggest failing of this episode is in the way it takes a long time to go anywhere. Kritschgau doesn’t do much other than inject Mulder, Fowley provides the non-revelation that she loves Mulder and the whole episode smacks of only revealing things we already know. I know it’s only part two out of three, but there should be a lot more explanation than we’re getting here. Roll on next week…
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