Sigh. Thus begins two seasons of OOC Scully weeping all the time. Although this episode isn't so terrible (if you're prepared for worse)...at least Scully throwing the glass of water in Doggett's face is pretty awesome.
But I'm with you: there's no way Mulder had a brain disorder throughout all of season seven and was secretly dying. No way. If he was, why in the world would he consent to father Scully's child? It just doesn't make any sense, and it's never addressed again. Pointless.
Honestly, after the roller coaster ending of Season 7, I felt letdown by the premier of Season 8. I loves my T-1000, but it wasn't until Reyes showed up that I ever really could warm up to him. I think the show should have taken notes from Law & Order when it comes to replacing actors in an "investigative partnership" format; they've done it so many times, the format is similar, and they usually do it seamlessly and with moderate success. Except for Dennis Farina. He's the Doggett of Law & Order: Original Flavor.
This rewatch - watching every episode in chronological order for the first time ever, plus the chaos of XF2 this summer - has affected me more than I realized. I literally almost cried when I heard the "Scully's Theme" music at the beginning, when Scully was standing in front of the mirror and then walking through the halls of the FBI. I know she's a fictional character and it's silly to feel this upset over a TV show, but... my Scully. :( In light of the, ahem, status of hers and Mulder's relationship in XF2, it's just so heartbreaking all over again that she had to go through all this heartache.
Scully and Doggett's first encounter is classic. I love that she throws a cup of water in his face! Did he really expect her to believe that Mulder "confides" in other women at the FBI?
Who was tapping Scully's phone and standing outside her window? The Alien Bounty Hunter? Why?
Scully's voice mail message to her mom is SO SAD. :(
Scully going to Mulder's apartment and curling up and falling asleep clutching his dress shirt is EVEN SADDER
( ... )
This rewatch - watching every episode in chronological order for the first time ever, plus the chaos of XF2 this summer - has affected me more than I realized.
I know what you mean. It's been really emotional for me, too. Following the schedule of watching an ep every two days, plus writing up all the back stories, plus going to Vancouver for a week, plus preparing for IWTB ... it's been an amazing (and draining) XF summer. This rewatch has become a huge part of my life, and like I indicated in my post below, I don't even know if I'd be able to make it through Seasons 8 & 9 were it not for this comm. It really is a support group for addicts. :)
I feel the same way about this comm and the last two seasons. I dragged my feet a *lot* to even watch Within; I was several weeks ahead of the group until yesterday, and even though I didn't want to start Season 8, I did it so I wouldn't be behind here, ha ha. If you think about it, this comm has been an almost daily part of our lives for nearly a year now - that's pretty amazing! I'd hate to get this close to watching the entire series in chronological order and quit now (if I quit now, they win?), so I'm glad you guys are here to help me through the bad times, lol.
Scully's voice mail message to her mom is SO SAD. :( Oh dear, yeah. GA kills me in that short scene. Poor Scully, she really doesn't have any friends, no one to talk to but her mom (and Mulder).
For the simple fact that they try and make us believe throughout season seven, Mulder was dying and planning for his death by getting the Mulder family tombstone engraved. This is when I have to put my RAGE goggles on. Because I honestly can't see things through any other light any more, at least not these particular things. RAGE. Okay.
One last note: I will never buy the brain disease as canon. Never. Why? Because by the time The Gift rolls around, apparently we're supposed to believe that there are 5+ weekends in the single month of May. Sorry, no way in hell, guys. Especially when you don't even TRY to make it make any sense.
I really wish I had more to say, but... I don't. There's just so much going on that annoys the hell out of me that it's very hard to appreciate anything else. Thanks for wasting an entire episode worth of DD on torture by power tools, Chris. Much appreciated.
I don't think Doggett's entrance was quite right, but I appreciate that they didn't try to sugar him up for us... I don't have much of a problem with him in the first two episodes. The biggest mistake I think they made with him was not giving him an expertise. He has a great service record, but I doesn't have Mulder's deep insights or Scully's medical background. As a result, he has no grounds to argue against something besides "because it's stupid, stupid-pants!" and no grounds to argue for something besides "but I totally SAW IT, duh!"
I also like Scully and Skinner teaming up to find Mulder. These episodes almost make me think that this season might be about the search for Mulder. I had such high, high hopes for this season. I really thought Scully would get a chance to shine.
The brain disease... What? WHAT?! Fail.
This episode was also a waste of DD. What a missed opportunity not to have Scully flashback to the two of them in his apartment or something. :(
LOL your criticisms of Doggett (who I actually like, overall) are totally correct. The same reasons apply to why Reyes, as a character, really doesn't work at all well, either. She has no expertise; she just has "feelings." Doggett may have been a great cop, but he just comes across as unnecessarily stubborn. At least Scully has science to back her up.
This episode was also a waste of DD. No kidding. When they're not cutting him up with power tools (UGH), he's not even himself; he's the bounty hunter. Nice.
Doggett may have been a great cop, but he just comes across as unnecessarily stubborn.Doggett's character was introduced in this ep to serve as a challenge to Scully. She clearly despises him at first, and his way of fighting back against her hostility is to drop a few nuggetts of gossip and see how she reacts. He knows she doesn't want his sympathy or friendship. She wants answers, but in order to get those answers she needs to learn to trust Doggett. During the course of the episode he forces her to question her beliefs in Mulder, in herself, in their relationship, and in the existence of paranormal phenomena. This constant challenging of Scully's belief systems sets the stage for that trust to develop. Doggett doesn't tell her what she wants to hear - he tells her what she needs to know. Eventually she will recognize this honesty as a virtue instead of a threat. CC&Co needed to introduce a character not as a replacement for Mulder, but someone who could be a match for Scully's strength and determination. Someone to keep her on her
( ... )
I'm not just talking about this episode anymore, though; I'm talking about Doggett as a character, on the whole. Having rewatched S8 and S9 pretty recently, I'm sorry to say that, though I do like him, his character really makes no narrative progress in two years. Even by the time The Truth rolls around, he's still playing the baseless skeptic, and it's become tiresome at that point.
As for expertise, I think being a "great cop" is an expertise on its own (ie. gathering evidence, working with firearms and not constantly losing his gun, developing criminal profiles, etc.). I have to seriously part company with you here, as someone with experience in that actual field. They are not even remotely close to the same thing, I'm sorry to tell you, and they especially weren't at this point (1999/2000). Gathering evidence, maybe. "Working with firearms and not constantly losing his gun" (is that a shot at Mulder? okay), sure. Developing criminal profiles? Absolutely, a hundred times NO. That's a profiler's job, if not a detective's job, and
( ... )
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But I'm with you: there's no way Mulder had a brain disorder throughout all of season seven and was secretly dying. No way. If he was, why in the world would he consent to father Scully's child? It just doesn't make any sense, and it's never addressed again. Pointless.
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I know what you mean. It's been really emotional for me, too. Following the schedule of watching an ep every two days, plus writing up all the back stories, plus going to Vancouver for a week, plus preparing for IWTB ... it's been an amazing (and draining) XF summer. This rewatch has become a huge part of my life, and like I indicated in my post below, I don't even know if I'd be able to make it through Seasons 8 & 9 were it not for this comm. It really is a support group for addicts. :)
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Oh dear, yeah. GA kills me in that short scene. Poor Scully, she really doesn't have any friends, no one to talk to but her mom (and Mulder).
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This is when I have to put my RAGE goggles on. Because I honestly can't see things through any other light any more, at least not these particular things. RAGE. Okay.
One last note: I will never buy the brain disease as canon. Never. Why? Because by the time The Gift rolls around, apparently we're supposed to believe that there are 5+ weekends in the single month of May. Sorry, no way in hell, guys. Especially when you don't even TRY to make it make any sense.
I really wish I had more to say, but... I don't. There's just so much going on that annoys the hell out of me that it's very hard to appreciate anything else. Thanks for wasting an entire episode worth of DD on torture by power tools, Chris. Much appreciated.
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I also like Scully and Skinner teaming up to find Mulder. These episodes almost make me think that this season might be about the search for Mulder. I had such high, high hopes for this season. I really thought Scully would get a chance to shine.
The brain disease... What? WHAT?! Fail.
This episode was also a waste of DD. What a missed opportunity not to have Scully flashback to the two of them in his apartment or something. :(
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This episode was also a waste of DD.
No kidding. When they're not cutting him up with power tools (UGH), he's not even himself; he's the bounty hunter. Nice.
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As for expertise, I think being a "great cop" is an expertise on its own (ie. gathering evidence, working with firearms and not constantly losing his gun, developing criminal profiles, etc.). I have to seriously part company with you here, as someone with experience in that actual field. They are not even remotely close to the same thing, I'm sorry to tell you, and they especially weren't at this point (1999/2000). Gathering evidence, maybe. "Working with firearms and not constantly losing his gun" (is that a shot at Mulder? okay), sure. Developing criminal profiles? Absolutely, a hundred times NO. That's a profiler's job, if not a detective's job, and ( ... )
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