#ghouli

[dunhamhairograpy]

Ghouli Cut Scene: Scully & Mulder Grieve William

And in cut dialogue from the morgue scene, Scully can't face William's funeral

[randomfoggytiger]

The X-Files Revival: Mulder's Fatherhood (Doesn't Matter) Is Neglected

One aspect that struck me about the latter end of The X-Files was the subtle undermining and conclusive erasure of Mulder's fatherhood.

While not intentionally malicious, it-- like the Revival's rewrite of William-Jackson's legacy and Scully's final declaration-- was poorly handled. And not solely, as one might assume, by the fandom's favorite boogieman.

January 31, 2018:

[Interviewer]: So much of the episode [Ghoulie] is Scully’s roller coaster of near-misses and grief. His biological paternity may be in question, but William is still a young man that Mulder considers to be his son. How did you go about demonstrating Mulder’s grief in the episode?

[James Wong]: Well, I really do believe that, in the case of William, Scully’s character took the brunt of the emotional journey and baggage. She was the one who had to do everything by herself, really, and she made decisions for him by herself.

To me, Mulder’s emotional journey is really through Scully. I felt like he was trying to support her; he could only connect to it through her. And that’s how I approached it. 

Through her. Mulder "could only connect to it" through her.

Not "our son" that left "us both" with "an emptiness that can't be filled," ala I Want to Believe. Not "my son" and "his mother", ala The Truth. Not "That doesn't make him any less of a miracle though, does it?", ala Existence.

Mulder is mainly granted snippets of fatherly recognition via his role as an auxiliary attache to Scully's arc. Although Maggie mentions Mulder's son on her deathbed, Home Again focuses primarily on Scully's loss. Regardless, My Struggle III casts doubt on Jackson's paternity soon thereafter. Even when Ghouli attempts to patch up a few holes-- e.g. Wong crafting a scene to underscore internalized pain and shame:

The moment it felt like Mulder was able to express his grief was when he and Skinner were talking on the boat. The moment I really love is Skinner is warning him to stay away, and Mulder is like, ‘Thanks for the warning, but you’re too late.’ The moment he turns around, we saw him not saying that to Skinner, but saying that to himself. The whole thing was too late for him. So that’s the moment I liked.

--Mulder is still left outside the sacred circle (i.e. a scene explicitly exploring his parental grief), bearing witness to Scully's loss in the morgue without being able to express his own. My Struggle IV then knocks away any future examination by doubling down on My Struggle III's revelation, severing the Mulder men's connection entirely. He's allowed one smothering hug before Jackson distances himself and fakes his death, before Scully tells her partner to write off the child he's loved as his own for nearly eighteen years.

Because William-Jackson doesn't consider him a father.

Because Mulder's just there to support Scully.

As tempered as I attempt to be concerning the Revival, My Struggle IV's insistence on creating more mystery rather than answering old questions added (likely unintended) insult to injury--

March 21, 2018:

[Interviewer]: If the show returns and if Gillian returns as Scully, will Scully still be able to sense that William is alive? Or has that connection somehow been severed? [Chris Carter]: Because he’s still alive, there is that connection. I imagine right now, that’s what she sensed at the end of the dock at the sugar factory: William might in fact not be dead.

If that be the case, canon would be justifying Scully's lie by omission: that she'd directly or indirectly deceive her partner of twenty-five years in order to nudge him to "let go" of Jackson (which would, in effect, taint her characterization.) Why?

Because the William arc isn't really about Mulder, you see-- he's an accessory to Scully's bond with William. The shoulder to cry on, the unfailingly supportive-- but passive-- man who lets her adopt William out and lives with her through the pain and waits for her after she leaves and reopens the files after she brings a case to his doorstep and agrees when she insists they find William before the world ends and caves when she asserts they stop looking-- and give Jackson up-- because their son, their baby boy, is "an experiment."

Because Mulder "can only connect" to his personal journey of fatherhood "through her."

According to the show writers, anyway.

[aloysiavirgata]

Prompt? Prompt: Scully refers to Mulder’s mom as her mother-in-law in conversation to someone sometime in the Revival-ish era..

She picks up on the ghostly rhotics when the barista asks if she wants sugah in her cah-fee.

“Massachusetts ?” she asks, pulling up Apple Pay on her phone.

The girl blushes, grins weakly. “Rhode Island.”

Scully grins back. “My mother in law had a house on the Vineyard and in Quonochontaug. Fell in love with New England myself.”

A broad smile in reply. “I’m here for school. Crabcakes are good, but they’re not lobster rolls.”

Scully lets herself forget Annapolis for a moment, forget Baltimore lunches at Faidley's in Lexington Market after a day with OCME. Imagines, even after all these years, Samantha in college with long braids and earnest eyes, longing for lobster rolls in a strange land.

“Maine or Connecticut style?” Scully asks.

Bright, laughing eyes. “Connecticut!” A scandalized giggle.

“Good girl,” Scully says, pressing a ten into the girl’s palm. “Don’t put it in the tip jar. That’s yours.”

Wide-eyed, solemn nod. “Thank you, ma’am.”

Ma’am. Scully at 54, Scully beautiful still and aware of it, but….54.

A son this girl’s age, a daughter older and-

“Ma’am?”

Scully looks up. “Mmm?”

The girl nudges the coffee cup over. “All set.” Her expression is sweet and shy. “Your husband, Maine or Connecticut?”

“Connecticut,” Scully replies fondly, taking the cup. Remember her first lobster roll with him outside of Comity, New Hampshire in 1996. They’d given one another uncertain sidelong glances and shared a few cigarettes.

“Have a nice day, ma’am” the girl says, turning back to the hulking espresso machine.

Scully leaves with her coffee, heads back to her car in the gas station parking lot.

The windmill turns and turns and turns.

[x-files-polls]

What's the better X-Files tagline?

Accuse Your Enemies of That Which You are Guilty

You See What I Want You to See

Voting ended onJan 20

Accuse Your Enemies of That Which You are Guilty is from S11E2 "This"

You See What I Want You to See is from S11 E5 "Ghouli"

[x-files-scripts]

The X-Files - “Ghouli”

Written by James Wong

August 4, 2017 (WHITE)

In this early draft, Scully tries to deal with the loss of her child...

...rather than indulge in extreme possibilities or false hope:

[carefulfears]

:(

[cutemothman]

"you seem like a nice person. i wish i could know you better" actually makes me cry scream throw up