Ms. Smarty Pants Know It All

This is the fifth episode in my rewatch of the eight X-Files episodes that Chris Carter and Frank Spotnitz have called essential viewing for the movie: the Pilot, Beyond the Sea, The Host, Clyde Bruckman’s Final Repose, Memento Mori, Post Modern Prometheus, Bad Blood, and Milagro.

Of all the episodes listed here, “Memento Mori” and the “Pilot” are the only mytharc ones. Of course you can get through the “Pilot” without any prior knowledge, but I have no idea how this episode would play to new viewers who will have only seen one episode from the previous three seasons, according to this boxed set.

I tried to find a transcript of the Chris Carter and Frank Spotnitz introductions from The X-Files: Revelations boxed set, but I can’t. Oh, how the mighty have fallen. People used to transcribe entire episodes and interviews. If you know where such a transcript can be found, please leave me a comment. I’m very curious about the details they wanted to set up for this episode.

I watched this episode once through, and then I ran through it again with Frank Spotnitz’s commentary from the Season 4 dvd set. For all you new XF watchers out there, listening to Chris Carter and Frank Spotnitz talk is almost always going to be a mistake. Don’t go to them for additional information. They’ll only make you mad.

The plot set-up: Scully finds out she has cancer. Mulder thinks it is related to her abduction of season 2. Scully has never been sure what happened to her and does not want to confront it.

Teaser: Wow, I totally forgot about the purple prose prowess of Chris Carter until the voiceover started. As we see Scully’s x-ray, it looks very reminiscent of the ones in the “Pilot” where nasal implants played important roles.

I’m rather at a loss about what to say about this episode. The upcoming X-Files movie is not supposed to be mytharc connected. It’s going to be more of a monster stand-alone.

So while I have pages and pages of notes, I’ll just skip to the possible movie connections:

• Scully’s motherhood arc basically goes like this—
  • She’s abducted in Season 2 and has her ova harvested, but she doesn’t know this. The audience and Mulder find out about this within this episode. Scully does not. Later on (season 8?), Mulder tells Scully about her eggs and how he’s been investigating them. Somehow, Mulder and Scully end up with a son, William, who was a superbaby until something else happened, and they made him human. (Really, I gave up on the mytharc if you couldn’t tell.) They gave him up for adoption because a lot of people wanted to steal him. William would always be in danger if he stayed with his parents.
  • But also, Scully may be the natural mother of the Kurt Crawford(s), the red-headed clones/genetic hybrids in this episode.
  • Scully is the biological mother of Emily, another experimental hybrid (season 5).
  • Along the way, there have been many surrogate son/daughter figures.
• During the abduction, Scully also had a chip implanted in the back of her neck. When she took the chip out, the cancer kicked in. Later on, she puts the chip back and the cancer went away. (I think.)
• All through the episode, Mulder refuses to accept/believe in Scully’s insistence of her eventual end. His belief in her gives her the strength to believe and fight.
• Scully decides to go back to the X-Files for herself. It is no longer just Mulder’s work and Mulder’s quest. She has work to do. She has things to prove.

Notables:

• For my money, the height of Scully professional chic is season 4.
• I would talk about The Lone Gunmen except they’re dead.
• I would talk about Skinner’s deal with the Cigarette Smoking Man except the CSM is also dead.
• I singled out John Bartley’s work in my write up for “The Host.” Now I want to point out Mark Snow’s amazing contribution to the success of the series. His music set the tones right from the very start. Within this episode, there were so many scenes that were just made by his musical backing. In a story about life and death, he brought out so many moments, from the most quiet and reflective to the most active and brutal.
• Say “the hallway scene” to any Phile, and he/she will know exactly what you are talking about. It’s one of the most magical scenes in the series. The story of Memento Mori is so intertwined for Mulder and Scully, but they spend a huge part of the episode apart. Then at the end, when they finally come back together, she’s in hospital white and he’s in spy black, they reaffirm their relationship standing in the middle of the hospital hallway. Director Rob Bowman’s composition, Mark Snow’s music, the story of the four writers, and David and Gillian’s acting just mesh so beautifully for these couple of minutes.
• And without an apple box, she tucks so perfectly underneath his chin.

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