REVIEWED BY: Jennifer J. Chen ON: April 12, 1999
ORIGINAL AIR DATE: April 11, 1999
"Dear Diary, today my heart leapt when Agent Scully suggested
'spontaneous human combustion.' "
I have to admit that I went into this episode really only looking forward to the end, where I could see the scenes for next week's Milagro. Oh, and to hear Mulder say "Scully" in that I-want-to-take-you-to-bed voice. So I was pleasantly surprised when the teaser was somewhat decent, if a little predictable. And Mulder and Scully's first scene was definitely one that my Shipper heart enjoyed. But it all went downhill after that.
Predictability was the nail in the coffin for an already-struggling episode. I struggled with the X-File--I've been asked to really suspend reality before, and I've been able to do so with ease. Mostly because I am given credit for possessing some intelligence by the episode. But this one insulted me--as if I am simply supposed to believe the things they were saying just because I am an X-Phile. Even Mulder was on the point of getting on my nerves. After his first two minutes with Scully, I had a sense of deja vu--hadn't he said these lines before, in various other episodes?
Perhaps if they had tried to reason over the phenomenon that gave Pinker Rawls his power, instead of saying, "There was a tornado and it gave him these powers. Go with it." Why the hell should I? And we've seen Mulder-leaping logic before, but at least it's always been after a couple of crime scenes and some eye-witness accounts. In this one, Mulder already seemed to know what he was looking for, even though all the evidence they had was a charred body. So he sees this burned body and immediately thinks, "Hey, this guy can walk through walls." That's quite a leap, even for Mulder.
Then there was Rawls' motivation. They were trying to surprise us, I'll give them that. Having June spout that trite and yes, predictable, story about how Rawls followed some guy 65 miles after getting cut off to bash his head in was obviously a convenient plot device to help ease the dilemma over Rawls' motives--oh, he's just like that. It's not about the money, he is just the type of person that bears an enormous grudge. When I found out that what he was really looking for was his son, I don't know about you, but I immediately went back to the mention sometime in Act One about June's sister having a son. Look, I'm not the best detective in the world, but it took Mulder and Scully two more acts to make the connection? These aren't the agents I love and respect.
And why didn't Mulder's rubber bullets work? You can see Rawls at the end, as uninjured as if Mulder had never shot him, with bullets that were supposed to be able to harm. I just felt sorry for the kid--he barely got to say one line.
The other beef I have is that there were so many characters, and they wanted us to be sympathetic to them all, yet without giving enough material to make that happen. There were too many unresolved questions that granted, didn't have much to do with pushing the plot along, but just general things that I would have liked to have known. For instance, was that June's husband/fiancee/boyfriend? Then I know how much sympathy to invest in him. The parts of her life that she neglected to inform him of is a much deeper betrayal if she was his wife than if he were simply her boyfriend. It's implied that she's his possible fiancee (since she was waving the "Brides" magazine in his face), but we don't know how long they've been together--months? years? And why was June's sister raising Trevor? Sure, I can give some pretty reasonable guesses, but I didn't know if I should have felt more sympathetic toward June or her sister. Without these answers, it was impossible to feel invested in the characters--I didn't feel sorry for any of them. In fact, I felt most sympathetic toward Rawls--who, granted, I would not want as my next door neighbor, but his motivation I can respect. I definitely didn't like June, who not only took money she knew to be stolen, then ruined her significant other's life (with a pretty big secret), and then didn't give Rawls enough credit that it might not have been the money he was looking for, but his son. I really liked how June's selfish rationalization came back to slap her in the face, that's she's not the only one who may have wanted a second chance.
I hope Rawls' message (rather inappropriately mysterious for a man with his background and personality, don't you think?) "I want what's mine," wasn't supposed to be horror-inspiring, because it certainly wasn't. In fact, it served as nothing but another plot device--Mulder and Scully figure out what Rawls can't get through. But again, not that the rubber bullets did anything.
As for the Mulder/Scully dynamic, it was as if they were an old married couple. Which is fine, but boring. Except for the first two minutes, the gratuitous sunglass-wear by Mulder, and their eye connection when they both realize that Trevor must be June's sister's son, it was pretty much ho-hum for me. This is not to say that I am losing my Shipper desires--I believe Mulder and Scully are fully capable of being involved without losing that interesting UST, as long as they have capable writers penning their characters. Trevor for the most part was entirely forgettable.
"Mulder, shut up."
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1999 by Jennifer J. Chen