#davis rewatch

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The X-Files: Roland

Roland contributes to various established and emerging characterizations and themes: The early teasing – “Did you catch the bouquet?” “Maybe.” Mulder’s paranoia and Scully’s tolerance of it – “Is this what you couldn’t tell me over the phone?” How kind they are to seemingly insignificant people that others may have disregarded, like Roland – “You must like stars.” “You must like numbers, too.” And then the subtle differences, how Scully is pure kindness but still kind of underestimates, while Mulder never underestimates, but his kindness is often a means to an end of his theory.

I’ve also noticed how often they communicate with their eyes that they are going to split up and do different tasks, sometimes because it suits their strengths, but other times to cover for the other’s snooping. They do it at the research facility when Mulder wanders off to look at the white board, when talking to Roland and his caretaker, and at the cryo facility when looking at Arthur’s records.

Their savant discussion is a great example of how their reasoning differs– Mulder is more inductive, making general claims about autistic savants, twins, genetics, etc. based on a few specific examples he has read about. Scully is more deductive, relying on a broader base of sound scientific principles to limit how she reaches specific conclusions. But, looking at something from both sides, they often meet in the middle. Mulder gives her a number and even though she questions its source, she types it in as a password anyway. Together, they figure out the birthdate. When getting Roland to shut down the wind tunnel, Mulder speaks to the Arthur that his theories want him to be, but Scully speaks to the Roland that she knows he is. 

But during an episode like this, Mulder approaches Scully’s pure kindness – you can see it in his pained look as he is trying to calm Roland. And Scully approaches Mulder’s way of not underestimating people. So while they each exist as a flawed person, together they are a whole person, the best of humanity.

Previous: Born Again

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The X-Files: Lazarus

I’ve noticed that in the early episodes, Mulder sometimes condescends Scully’s medical knowledge. Okay, she’s young/inexperienced and the writers don’t always write her doctor role (or his psychologist role) well, but the fact is, Scully is a scientist and knows some stuff that Mulder doesn’t. For example, in this episode, when looking at the EKG, Mulder asks Scully what it looks like and she tries to avoid the question. So, he says, “In your MEDICAL opinion, what does it look like?” Yes, it serves the purpose of refocusing her and helps her approach the problem within the realm of science, but it also feels a little manipulative, too, because he doesn’t seem to accept her as a whole doctor, just the parts that support his theories. To be fair, she does the same to him in the beginning and worse, sometimes just completely dismissing a notion before she’s even heard him because of her preconceived scientific stance. Her line in this show is a theme of her questioning of him, “Can’t you accept the possibility that this isn’t an X-File?” 

But I love how this morphs as the show develops. It morphs into a sincere desire for her to believe him honestly and not blindly. And as frustrating as she can be, too, she does keep him honest.

And we get an early glimpse of both of them willing to throw their “position” to the side when the other is in danger. When Scully has been kidnapped and he’s trying to work out a theory, he is asked “This isn’t one of your X-Files theories, is it?” And he says it doesn’t matter. Because Scully is more important than being right.

“Dana, are you okay?” “You lay one hand on Scully and so help me God.”

And when he gets her back, he continues to set aside his desire to be right for the sake of her feelings and coping with Jack’s death. When she asks what the watch stopping means, he gives her the compassionate courtesy of withholding his theory – “It means whatever you want it to mean.”

Previous: Gender Bender

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The X-Files: Born Again

All I could think about in this episode was how when children are afflicted by paranormal phenomena or experimented on by aliens and the government, they find their way to Mulder and Scully’s path. When I was younger, I viewed it more in black and white – there were the good kids and bad ones. The Eves were at the evil end of the spectrum and Emily was at the innocent end. Eventually, it was characters like Michelle that made me realize that even characters like the Eves are technically “innocent” because they were created by evil people to be what they are. Just like Michelle was being controlled by outside forces.

But Mulder and Scully reach out to them nonetheless, even though sometimes it comes back to bite them. As I said before in one of my MSR diary posts, it may be wrong for the case to assume a child is innocent until otherwise proven, but it says a lot about the character and compassion of our agents. Even Scully the scientist doesn’t treat children as things or experiments or means to an end.

But Scully does keep Mulder put his theories in perspective. “Let’s just say that, by some small miracle, you manage to convince Michelle’s mother, and the next hypno-regression provides you with everything you could possibly hope for, no grand jury is gonna listen to that kind of testimony. We still will not have an actionable case.” I think it says a lot about how much she respects him that she spends less time trying to debunk him and more time trying to support the case.

Mulder and Scully don’t uncover many “actionable” cases, but they investigate more honestly and openly more than any other agents. That choice may expose them to more danger, but it also makes them more human.

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The X-Files: Gender Bender

There are two images in this episode that stand out for me as representative of their partnership throughout the series. The first is the way that Scully catches the map when Mulder gets frustrated and crumples it up. It’s such a simple gesture, but isn’t that what they do for each other when one of them loses their way and trashes their plan? No rush to judgment about getting lost, just “Here, let me get that for you, don’t give up, let’s try again.”

The other image is the way Scully turns off her lantern to follow Mulder. Her choice to do so helps me resolve a difficulty I have with the scene in which Mulder rescues Scully from Brother Andrew. I know a lot of people have issues with this scene. It’s difficult to champion his arrival when it almost seems as though he is blaming her for what happened. But I think Mulder often has hasty reactions rooted in fear that come out as frustration and anger, but quickly dissipate into concern. When he yells, “What the hell were you doing?” he is really asking why she would put herself in the situation to begin with. It is a bit hypocritical, since he is always running off and putting himself in harm’s way, but perhaps he feels that Scully is especially susceptible, not because she is a woman, but because she isn’t always open to fantastic theories that might serve as a warning of what to expect. When she says she doesn’t know, his compassion kicks back in and he tries to do damage control for his initial reaction, asking her why she should be embarrassed. I think he also feels a little guilt for leading her back into danger. 

However, I see the image of Scully turning off her lantern as an early sign of the choices that she makes, the choices that they both make. That although both partners have made mistakes and hurt the other, they willingly plunge themselves into darkness for each other and for the truth. And there is no one else that they would trust to follow into that darkness.

Previous: Beyond the Sea

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The X-Files: Beyond the Sea

We have seen glimpses into Mulder’s family life but now both we and Mulder get a window into Scully’s. She is not Scully in this episode, but Dana. Dana the little girl who has lost her father. Dana, the woman who Mulder wants to protect. Dana, a young agent trying to find her place and figure out what she believes. 

Mulder is surprised to see her at work and his first thought is “How are you, Dana?” They talk about the case and she appears engrossed in the file, but she is merely avoiding continuous eye contact with the man who can already glimpse into her soul. Mulder is not the believer this time, but remains in his role as a profiler, affected by his grudge on Boggs, unwilling to give him the same willingness to believe. But Scully is already vulnerable because of her father’s death, and a door is open to her belief system, a door through which Boggs attempts to walk and Mulder, for the first time, attempts to shut. It seems as though belief for both of them is tied to hope. Mulder’s hope for his sister’s return fuels his belief. Scully’s hope to finally hear her father telling her he is proud of her fuels hers.

Mulder demonstrates how tender he can be. He tells Scully to take some time, tells her he is sorry, caresses her face. At first she can’t admit to him what she begins to believe about Boggs, can’t be vulnerable. But later, she admits to lied to the police about how she found the lair. Mulder is angry, not because she doesn’t agree with him about Boggs, but because her vulnerable state put her in danger.

He pushes aside his anger and irritation to tell her what he really wants from her as a partner, to only open herself up to extreme possibilities when it’s the truth. Scully expresses the same anger at Boggs when Mulder is shot. Both are slightly blinded by their grudge against Boggs and desire to protect one another. But Scully finally admits to Mulder that even though she is afraid to believe, she can at least see the truth that her father was proud of her. While belief and perspective and science separate them, they are always connected by the truth and the hope that they will find it.

Previous: Fire

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The X-Files: Fire

As I was watching Mulder and Scully walk to the car, I thought about how I miss the early jokes and easy camaraderie between them. It’s not as though they didn’t joke later on, but those jokes always seemed tinged with the darkness that dogged their trail. But I had a thought today about how their evolving dynamic is similar to real life. Early in relationships, we don’t always let people below the surface emotions, so innocent camaraderie happens between people who have not shared in deep struggles. The more they open up to each other, the more they shine a light on darkness and acknowledge that it exists. 

When Phoebe appears, there is a  tinge of jealousy in Scully, but less because Phoebe is a romantic interest and more because Mulder has shared more with her. They even have a private Sherlock joke. The beautiful thing here is that Scully soon makes a casual reference to it – “So Sherlock, is the game afoot.” And by simply calling her Watson in return, Mulder demonstrates that Scully is more important to him than Phoebe. Years with Green, but months with Scully and she is already his Watson. He also shares his fear of fire with Scully and how Phoebe has played mind games with him. He tries to keep Scully out of the case partly for himself, because he doesn’t trust himself not to be weak around Phoebe, but also for Scully, because he doesn’t want her to be manipulated. 

Scully manages to step up and be a good partner despite this, staying involved in the case, her science and profiling providing some clues in the case. Later, Mulder tells Phoebe that he’s not used to someone so quick to agree with him, but he doesn’t sound very happy about it. After Mulder’s first brush with the fire. Phoebe flocks to the fake alpha male “hero” and ignores Mulder. Scully caresses him without judgment and when he wakes up, tells him that when he froze, “It could have happened to anyone.” He gets out of bed and is not ashamed to be vulnerable in front of her. And that is why Scully “wins” - she is not fooled by fake bravado, and sees Mulder’s value in his willingness to be vulnerable that often leads him to truth.

Previous: Eve

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Sitting at a NOLA cafe. Have a bunch of MSR Diary drafts saved. Bout to post a few a day to catch up. 

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The X-Files: Eve

The theme of children again emerges and in this case, both Mulder and Scully's willingness to believe that children are innocent may be a mistake for this case, but it is not an error. Scully's way with children is tenderness and Mulder's way is humor. Even though Scullly has not yet become a mother, she acts like the mother to the children she does not have. Mulder acts more like the big brother to the sister he cannot find. They are deceived by their own innocence.

There were some light-hearted moments that show how Mulder and Scully are learning to tolerate and even poke fun at one another's eccentricities. Scully suggests someone and Mulder jokingly (and seriously) suggests...someone or something. Scully just sighs and continues with her theory. Mulder, indicating skyward, says maybe they weren't looking in the right direction. Scully just pauses, and continues. When Scully tries to reconcile the identical nature of the crimes with science, Mulder says he'd like the odds on that in Vegas and Scully rolls her eyes at herself. When Mulder suggests a girl was abducted, Scully says kidnapped. Mulder jokes, "Potatoh, Patahto." And that joke is the essence of their relationship, calling the same thing by a different name.

Scully says she was beginning to suspect the girls, but looks relieved when Mulder offers an alternate theory. I wonder if Mulder's judgment would have been so clouded had Tina and Cindy not been brown-haired 8-year-olds.

Especially in light of what happens later in the series, it is bittersweet to watch Mulder and Scully playing parents to children that were created to be something that never should have been. To hear one of the twins tell the waitress that her "dad" will pay for the drinks. And when he does, for Mulder to let her pay, just like a dad would. And he knows both of these girls have lost their father. Then, to see that they have been played? When I first watched Eve as a child, I saw evil children. When I watch again as an adult, I see evil adults who, as Eve 6 said, made them who they are and they suffer for it. 

Previous: Fallen Angel