The X Files - Never Again

 

After the dissolution of his marriage and the loss of his kids, a stocks analyst/salesman, in a bad drunk and depression, stops past a tattoo parlor during a very rainy night. That tattoo seems to have a certain kind of ink that "speaks" to him.

First off, I just want to say that I did not like Mulder in this episode at all. He's an asshole for a good bit of "Never Again" and I think anyone would consider Scully right in giving herself some her-time. The way he hands off his case to her because the Bureau demanded he take a vacation, ordering her to follow a certain case subject in Philadelphia, calling in later to check on her at a hotel, letting her know how unhappy he is she conducted her findings (the tail is involved in local organized crime such as extortion and thuggery towards small businesses such as stores and tattoo parlors) and gave them to the Philly Bureau; Scully is rightfully fed up with not having her own desk, not even a sign with her name on it, and dissatisfied with having no life seemingly beyond following Mulder around. So while in Philadelphia she meets by chance a killer with a tattoo that speaks to him in his mind and knows what he's thinking. And this tattoo is jealous and wants only his attention devoted to "her". That voice causes him to fly off the handle at his job (one of those sales companies involving stocks), resulting in job loss, and when he believes the tattoo is a woman in an apartment below his, he attacks and kills her. After burning that poor woman's body in the oven in the basement, Ed (Rodney Rowland) goes to the parlor to get the tattoo removed, meeting Scully (who was following her case tail, realizing he was shaking down the artist who owned the store). This sets in motion the remaining episode where the tattoo (voiced by none other than Jodie Foster!!!) torments Ed with Scully obviously threatened by her "presence". 

Okay, so I am annoyed with Mulder, but I realize that I put him on perhaps too high a pedestal sometimes. He's human and will be an ass as well are, man or woman (or however you determine yourself) from time to time. But I think how he treats Scully in this episode is just not cool. Who could blame her for wanting to treat herself to some fun or, at the very least, a date with somebody that doesn't involved X-Files or danger of some sort. When you consider the cancer fear that is there, Scully "taking a walk on the wild side" seems not too out of the realm of possibility. Even someone as richly intelligent and intellectually superior (and just beautiful and put together) as Scully is to a majority of those in her life (or those she meets), too often we weren't treated to her just saying fuck it and impulsively dating some guy she meets in a tattoo parlor while in Philly for a snowy evening.

There is this incredibly cinematic moment that I think could be envied by even the blessed streaming television of today. It looks like it could have been in a dramatic film, a brief but potent dramatic moment that is beyond "scif-fi horror". It isn't about alien conspiracies. It isn't about monsters of the week. It is about a young woman, with cancer, taking assessment of her life. Yes, she narrowly survives being dumped in a basement oven after Ed hurls her against a wall, knocking her out. She has bruises on her face, an Ouroboros tattoo on her lower back (yes, this is one of those episodes where someone who doesn't normally do that sort of thing just goes for it on a suggestion), and disappointment that the man she slept with on impulse and desire had fell prey to a "possessive tattoo" (the ingredients used in the ink Scully believes is responsible for the psychosis and auditory hallucinations) tried to end her life. What she didn't need was Mulder mockingly discussing an NY tattoo on his ass and immediately bringing up another case. When she tells him it isn't just about having her own...it just isn't always about him.

I admit that as a fan of the show I get lost in Mulder's obsession with whatever truths he wants to uncover and bring to public light, but I acknowledge that seeing another side to Scully besides going wherever he does is important. Seeing characters evolve over a series is crucial to a show's survival. Scully conducting autopsies and debating Mulder on how what seems supernatural could be explained down scientifically is fun, but her growth is also a vital part of why I remain so in love with The X-Files. We do get to go on a journey with her for eleven years. I think she's one of the greatest female characters in the annals of television. And "Never Again" allows us to see her wanting more than just traveling city to city, conducting investigation after investigation without addressing what is just as meaningful in her life: finding value in a life worth living. 4.5/5