The X-Files - all things

**½ / ****

While Gillian Anderson’s written/directed Scully episode was quite atypical of The X-Files, I didn’t consider it personally an altogether loss. Did it necessarily impact me as it probably intended to for many of us, considering it focused on this spiritual and emotional journey for Scully? Somewhat, the episode did give me this medical genius going through a crisis of faith and love, encountering a lover from the past that she realizes after a conversation with him that he’s been in Washington, DC, for over ten years hoping to revive their relationship. It was an affair, and Scully decisively ended it for the sake of his family, not realizing that he abandoned them (leading to a resentful daughter, broken marriage, divisive divorce, and shattered hearts).

I guess because Scully was at a place, during a discussion on crop circles by an enthusiastic Mulder, of boredom, picking at her salad while failing to pay attention to him, this was perhaps bothersome to fans. But I actually get why Gillian wrote her character this way. It gave her a freedom to present a character she had played for years in a fresh light because what Scully was going through was of a personal nature instead of scientific. The inclusion of a spiritual crisis and confrontation might be a bit polarizing or unexpected because the lack of science fiction/aliens/monsters/conspiracy, but I think the actors deserved/earned the occasional diversion from the formula. Ultimately, that lovely ending—which I have seen used in clipshows from fans of the The X-Files—where Mulder slides a few strands of hair to the side to see Scully’s face, placing a blanket over her while she sleeps is enough to win me over. But just the genuine emotion of Scully during her encounters with a doctor/professor she fell in love with in the past (and vice versa), enduring a heart problem (he actually dies and must be revived, with help by Scully resurrect a heart beat), and the frustrations of dealing with the attitude (which is understandable) of his daughter really serve Gillian Anderson well. It is definitely an acting showcase. Those tears and resting her head on the recovering ex-lover’s chest as he questions her career decisions and hopes for rekindling their history again really do tug on the heartstrings. I think if you love Scully, as many of us do, it is a performance that resonates.

I could see why Anderson’s use of slow motion (and Moby music) and emphasis on certain characters she comes in contact (the pony-tailed woman in the cap or the spiritualist who offers her a different perspective than what she has often believed, met through a request from Mulder regarding crop circles) might be a bone of contention with certain X-files fans. Scully does visit a Buddhist temple and has visions. Everything slows down and Mulder is almost completely written out, almost a nuisance in Scully’s story. And the story even questions if perhaps Mulder has been a detriment to Scully’s career, considering that her potential has been squandered. The second film does have Scully actually involved in medical work that doesn’t involve the government or FBI…contributing to children, serving as a specialist instead of investigating dead bodies. So there is perhaps truth to all of this. And that indeed is an ongoing question that ping-pongs back and forth between them during times of distress and loss…is the pursuit of the truth worth it? And I guess in this episode Scully is looking for her own truth, needing to address the past in order to sort out what her future truly holds. The directorial touches and Scully’s detour away from the formula just won’t be for everyone, as evidenced by the critical response to all things (and the visions in the temple and internal scan of Waterston which ultimately gives Scully the steps to rescue him from certain death), and the route of using a holistic approach in just an attempt to try something different to save Dr. Waterston (Nicolas Survoy) which appears to work (despite dispute from his attending physician) might just stir up dissent…but Anderson felt this was a path for Scully to take, and who better to determine that than her?