REVIEWED BY: Jennifer J. Chen ON: June 5, 1999
ORIGINAL AIR DATE: September 24, 1993
"I think it's bile."
"Is there any way I can get it off my fingers quickly without betraying my cool exterior?"
If all of Scully's academy friends were like Tom Colton, she was better off getting rid of them for Mulder, anyway. It's amazing to me that this was only the third episode of a new series, yet the characters already seem to have sophisticated characterization, with believable loyalty toward one another.
It of course pained me to see Scully working on a case not with Mulder, but that's of course as a person who has seen all they've been through in the years since this case. And I have to admit that it was a beautiful setup for the defection that Scully makes as the episode progresses—a defection that is more or less permanent, even if she does not realize it at the same. She is making some critical decisions about herself, her career, her life, and it is done in the best possible way—with her gut feelings and her heart, and less with her head. Scully is just starting to realize that she likes being Mrs. Spooky.
Now, about that nickname. I've read a lot of fanfic that suggest Mulder is hurt by that nickname. I have to disagree. In fact, I think he enjoys it. Just as he tried to put off Scully the first time they met, he likes being thought of as weird and bizarre—or at least, different. It is, of course, in part a defense mechanism, but I've also always felt that there was part of Mulder that really didn't care what people thought—that's part of his attractiveness. And it's not like "spooky" is really that harsh a label. Personally, for the most part I think he delights in his uniqueness. That's not to say that at times he isn't hurt by it as well. I find it interesting, though, that on this, their what? third case together, people have already labeled Scully "Mrs. Spooky" when she just barely accepted the assignment to work with him. At the same time, she shows them that the designation is not entirely inaccurate, as she stands by Mulder, no matter how abrasive he is being toward other people.
Already, Mulder is threatened by the possibility that Scully will not see his point. He expects her to side against him. That almost broke my heart. As Scully points out, he deliberately antagonizes the other agents involved in the case, as if wanting to push her into having to side with the others. It is easier for him than to watch her side with them all on her own. But his new partner does the unexpected—she shows that her loyalties remain with him.
Mulder receives one of the harshest set-downs that he will ever have on the show in this episode. He slumps in his chair, looking defeated, broken...but then in the next minute we see that spiritually, he is strong. He doesn't really care what those people think—he has confidence in his beliefs; he knows he is right. But he has already developed a weakness. "Do you think I'm spooky, Scully?" he asks lightly. He is sure of himself enough that he probably would not have been insulted had she responded yes. But she dodges the question
This episode also stands out in my mind because it is one of the few times that we get to see Scully be right about something, and hear Mulder admit it, too. As the brilliant profiler, when he says, "[The killer's] not coming back here," we tend to believe him. And in the more recent episodes, he would be right. But in this case, Scully turns out to be right, and Mulder admits it readily.
As for the X-File, it's a classic. It's hard to view it without the subjective lenses of time. Kudos to Eugene Victor Tooms for being such a unique "monster." They never explain very well how his ability to contort and stretch his body ties in with his needing to eat five livers every thirty years (and if it's just so that he can go back to hibernate, what kind of existence is that—sustenance in order to sleep for another thirty years?), but hey, minor detail.
This episode's got everything—lovely bits of UST everywhere. My favorite moment is, of course, when Scully hesitantly confronts Mulder about being territorial, and he responds by gently restraining her, one finger catching onto the long necklace that she wears, so that his hand is right between her breasts, as he replies softly, "Of course I was." There is a long pause before he goes into why he was being territorial about the case, and even sounds rather patronizing about Scully, but for one delicious, heart-stopping moment, the viewer is teased into believing that he was admitting to being territorial about her, just her, for no other reason than because he already feels like she belongs to him. There are two matters at hand here—the case, certainly, and also Scully. Of course, as a Shipper, I believe that Mulder meant both. He wasn't just being territorial about the case, but being still strangers to each other to an extent, he could hardly have gotten away with being territorial about her, even if he felt it.
Scully's defensiveness of Mulder has already become rather apparent as well—she already sees him as someone that only she has the right to question and argue with. If anyone else dares to insult or degrade him in front of her, her claws are unsheathed. Here starts the intimate but undeniable regard that Scully has for Mulder—he is only hers to use and abuse. Anyone who steps beyond that boundary will face her wrath.
Squeeze even has a Scully's In Trouble! Major Mulder Angst moment. Scully's necklace is then put to good use--*sigh* and here we were hoping that it was just a gratuitous shipper moment—as it is the means by which Mulder realizes who Tooms has chosen to be his next victim.
All in all a highly entertaining episode, chock full of all the elements that make up a good—scratch that--great episode of The X-Files.
"It seems like you were acting very territorial. I don't know...forget it."
Please feel free to
"Of course I was."
Return to Jenu1bruin's Memento X-Files
me at jenu1bruin@centropolis.org
1999 by Jennifer J. Chen