Cassie's "Within" Review
November 6, 2000
3.5/5
All in all, "Within" was a very good episode. Like most episodes of The X-Files, there were ups and downs. For me it's going to take awhile to get used to the all new opening title. In my opinion, they should have kept the old FBI badges of Mulder and Scully. The fetus is inappropriate, but as Kristi pointed out, after we see the fetus, it seems we then see a lunar eclipse as if we were in space... think this is a hint that the baby is an alien? We'd like to think so! And all I can really say about Mulder falling into Gillian Anderson's eye is that it was kinda cheesy... but hey if that's how we get to see Mulder this year, I guess I can live with it.
I hate to be picky with this show, especially when it comes to the musical side of it. I love Mark Snow's score to this episode, it was very nice. Though the music he used for the Scully moments (beginning of Act 1 for example, vocal, aka "Scully's Theme"), was too heavy for the moment and didn't seem right. It was as if they thought they needed the music to show the emotion of the scene. But any fan of Gillian Anderson will tell you, Gillian is quite capable of carrying that out all on her own. I think just silence would have been much more effective... with maybe an almost inaudible sound of human breath, something simple.
It was nice to see Kim Manners experimenting with a new filming style for the show (hand held camera, ala NYPD BLue). I do have to admit though I'm not a fan of this kind of filming (one reason I didn't like last season's "X-Cops" and the "Blair Witch" movie). It did make it interesting, I thought it was most effective when Doggett was informing his task force that they must first find Gibson before they can find Mulder. It worked in that scene. And did anyone else notice how much darker the episode was compared to the past 2 seasons? Thank you very much 1013!
As was expected (by myself), "Within" was pretty slow moving, but what can one expect when they are introducing a new main character? In a way, "Within" was like a second pilot episode for the series, and IMO all pilot episodes are a bit slow moving, so it was ok.
I think it was good that the episode was very Mulder focused. We even got to learn some new things about Mulder, like how he's been taking trips to North Carolina, the Mulder family tombstone, and even the statement Scully makes about how Mulder knew he was dying, and then the question of why Mulder didn't tell Scully or Skinner... all very interesting and makes one wonder if Doggett is right when he said "Like I said... maybe you really didn't know your partner." I can't wait to see how that works out, especially since I'm all for betrayal of either Mulder of Scully or vice versa. :)
As always, it was great to see The Lone Gunmen again!!! It was an interesting change to see Scully explain to them and Skinner that people don't believe in aliens because the aliens go around getting rid of hard proof of their existence. And that they are now after proof which can't be found in any files in either her computer or Mulder's or even in the files that were removed from the FBI, that they are looking for proof in a person... Gibson Praise. One question I have, is that from what I think I understand, the Alien Bounty Hunter used Mulder's passcard to get into the FBI and take Gibson's file (e-mail me if I'm wrong), then later return it to Doggett, so that Doggett can find Gibson too. Why would the Alien Bounty Hunter do that? It just confuses me...
The scene in which Doggett gets his task force together to explain to them that they must first find Gibson Praise before they can find Mulder was very well done. It made me wonder if Kersh had told Doggett what he had told Scully and Skinner ... no mention of aliens, or they will be looking for new jobs. Doggett was fast to explain that Mulder stated in his field report that he believed Gibson has the ability to read minds, and that Mulder even went far enough to say that Gibson had "alien physiology". Let's hope Kersh doesn't find out about that any time soon LOL
My favorite part of the episode was the last section, Doggett in the helicopter going to get Gibson at his school for the deaf. Scully and Skinner driving there to do the same thing. If only Scully knew how close she was to finding Mulder when they stopped at that gas station... she saw the energy field that is the spacecraft, but just didn't even know what caught her eye! The scene leading up to Doggett telling "Mulder" to let Gibson go had great build up to the cliffhanger. The filming, the acting, all of it was perfect! Robert Patrick really impressed me with his acting, for his first episode he did more than I was even expecting (and if you know me, I've been in love with Doggett/Robert Patrick since I first found out about him!) Great job Robert!!! I can't wait until the 2nd part next week!!
~Cassie
"Like I said... maybe you really didn't know your partner." -John Doggett
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