201 LITTLE GREEN MEN

"Images of broken light which dance before me like a million eyes
They call me on and on
Across the universe
Thoughts meander like the restless wind inside a letter box
They tumble blindly as they make their way
Across the universe."

Lennon/McCartney

SYNOPSIS

WASHINGTON, DC
QUANTICO, VA
CHILMARK, MASS - NOVEMBER 27, 1973
ARECIBO, PUERTO RICO
The X Files are closed. Mulder's working surveillance while Scully's teaching at Quantico. Mulder gets news of an alien encounter at the observatory in Puerto Rico.

SCULLYVISION

What a wonderful beginning to season two where we find the X-Files closed and Dr. Scully teaching Autopsy 101, waxing philosophical about the cadaver only to be called 'spooky' by one of her astute students. Scully has to be the one to salvage a sulking Mulder. She forces a meeting with him even though he ignores her in the halls.

When the parking lot meeting begins she tells Mulder that he looks like "him", Deep Throat. Is she feeling a little guilty about his death or is she referencing the parking lot meetings of All the Presidents Men? Anyway she has to give rude Mulder a pep talk about continuing his quest. Then she kind of rubs his head in a way that seems a little more familiar than mere coworkers, even ex-coworkers. They may not work together officially, but their friendship is solid.

Quick thinking Agent Scully comes up with Mulder's computer password and then is caught rummaging through Mulder's apartment. She comes up with the feeding the fish explanation and manages to slip the computer printout up her sleeve. Later, she outsmarts even more FBI agents when she gives that airport duo the slip.

Agent and friend Scully is at her best when she not only tracks Mulder down but asks him if the aliens were here or "here" pointing to his head. Scully pulls no punches. However, when she finds Mulder she tells him that she was sure he was dead. Did Dr. Scully check his vital signs and find none or what?

In the end, Scully remains a loyal friend sticking by Mulder as he sits listening to a guy conversation about lap dancing. Mulder is moved to admit that he not only trusts Scully, but even though he no longer has the X-Files, he does still have her.

OH COME ON!

If the power in Arecibo doesn't work the light switches, how does all the machinery work?

They never did show Scully actually feeding Mulder's poor fish.

If poor Jorge was with Mulder inside the communications room in Puerto Rico, why was it padlocked from the outside?? Was it punishment?

THINGS LEARNED
or All I Ever Needed to Know I Learned From the X Files

The Palomar Observatory in San Diego was the largest telescope in the world from 1948 until 'recently', according to this episode that aired in 1994.

If an elf climbs in the window and tells you to do something. Do it.

Don't yell at your little sister. You may live to regret it.

If you lose a Bach question on Celebrity Jeopardy, have a line put into your TV show. The fans will get a kick out of it.

The first selection of music on the Voyager space craft is Bach's Brandenburg Concerto #2.

G-Men don't care if fish are over fed.

A Wow Signal is 30 times stronger than galactic background noise, the best evidence of extraterrestrial intelligence.

Satellite transmitters aren't allowed to use 21 centimeter frequency. Whatever that means. But hey, it might be a Jeopardy question one day.

A few names above George Hale on the airline passenger manifest, Charles Grant is listed. He's a writer of X Files novels.

Use your makeup compact mirror to see if anyone's behind you. Barbara Stanwyck did it to great comic effect in a movie, so it's a timeless detective devise. Vendor cart windows also are useful when the reflection is just right.

Guns don't work when fired at an alien.

JOHN'S SAMANTHAVISION

Mulder admits that though he has held on to the quest to find the truth about his sister's abduction and that his whole life has been about the need to find her or what happened to her, he admits that he is beginning to wonder if it ever even happened. Later, however, he dreams of Samantha. The visual image of her floating off into alien unknowns as a helpless young Mulder looks on will undoubtedly stick with us for a very long time. Just before the abduction Mulder and Samantha are arguing and Mulder tragically says to her "get out of my life." Any brother would be tortured by 'survivor guilt' but Mulder has clearly been haunted by his own regrettable words. Then Mulder is either jolted out of his deep reminiscence or actually awaken from sleep. Therefore this may simply have been a dream and not a recollection of the actual event. All of which only further enhances the mystery that surrounds Samantha's disappearance.

CARTERVISION

There is a Congressman who has information about the search for ETs who is helping Mulder in his search. Skinner can order the Cigarette Smoking Man out of his office. The Voyager is still out there waiting for someone to find it. The aliens come in a blaze of bright, white light and can either levitate an abductee or scare him to death.

JOHN'S NOT NAUGHTY MULDER

Attention all "Mulder Loves Porn" People. On his little surveillance mission, Mulder has to listen to two guys talking about lap dances. If he were the naughty voyeur that some might think he is, he would be interested in this discussion. Is he? No. Does he care in the least? No. Is he much more interested in listening again to his blank tape. You bet. Case closed. For now, anyway.

MULDERVISION

It was decided at the beginning of doing Lyceum that we were going to focus on Ms. Scully. Other sites and books and interviews with the movers and shakers of the series have concentrated on Mulder to great effect and doing so here would only be redundant and counter to our purpose. Deal is, this episode is a watershed mark for the character of Mulder. It's also a tour de force of David Duchovny's acting skills. We've heard about Mulder's pain and loss and quest, but this episode shows it to us in a lyrical fashion. He's depressed that the rug's been pulled out from under him. He no longer has the X Files or Scully, who has turned into Mulder's most powerful friend and ally. He mourns the death of an informant, a father figure, his means to gain access to the truth. He dreams of Samantha's abduction that had shattered his soul and with dogged determination, puts himself in the path of what could very well have been an abduction scenario in Puerto Rico. How did he react to it? He was damn scared. Being that close to what could possibly have happened to Samantha all those years ago, that he wanted to find the truth of, that he wanted to experience, reduces him to shooting his gun and yelling no. Mulder is a full bodied character by the end of this episode. He's run through the mill and by the end, his determination, with a healthy dose of reality, will drive him to continue on his quest. We also find out that Mulder does have a love life, it he would only meet his dates so they don't leave messages on his machine telling him that he's a pig.

SFX

The teaser was perfectly nostalgic, sweeping and informative. Mulder's voice over added to the intensity. Samantha's slow glide out the window is probably one of the most memorable visions to have happened in the show and is beautifully eerie and scary. The 'alien' in the doorway was visually satisfying, done by having a wide doorway and a regular sized man standing in front of bright light, then they shrunk the width of the frame to make the doorway appear normal sized and the 'alien' appear... well... alien. (From the DVD extra features)

The sound effects during Mulder's encounter was first rate.

RECURRING CHARACTERS

Skinner, Senator Matheson, Cigarette Smoking Man

WRITERS
Glen Morgan/James Wong

This all important episode after the death of Deep Throat and the shutting down of the X Files is a masterpiece. Mulder and Scully are both going through their personal disappointments, agitation and depression in different, but still united, ways. Mulder's second guessing himself. The stress that each agent is going through is evident, although Mulder and Scully each try to lighten things with humor. It's a good mix.

Adding to the Ben Kenobi-Luke Skywalker line from Erlenmeyer Flask, Morgan/Wong has Scully mention that when she saw Mulder in the dark garage at a distance, he looked like Deep Throat. Her pain of watching Deep Throat die and Mulder's loss of a father figure are portrayed in this episode well.

Mulder's friend in Congress that Skinner mentioned in Tooms is introduced here and is played by a wonderful character actor. Matheson and Mulder's scene crackles.

We're finally treated to a vision of what happened the night Samantha was abducted. In true X Files form, it's portrayed as Mulder's dream, so we haven't seen the 'truth', just another possibility that's been thrown into the mythology mix. Their argument Fox and Sam had just before she was taken adds so much depth and flawed character to Mulder, it's literature. No wonder the man is living his life to find out what happened to what he considered his pesky little sister. That short scene added so much dynamic to Mulder's demons that he has to live with on a day to day basis for 20 years by the time this episode aired. As a nice bridge from the last scene in the Watergate parking garage, at the beginning of the flashback, Fox and Samantha are listening to the Watergate hearings on TV. Symbolism abounds that they are playing Stratego. Of all the board games that were around in 1973, the mind boggles to wonder why Stratego was chosen as their game of choice. Good job!

DIRECTOR
David Nutter

This trio of writer/director worked on my favorites from season one, Ice, Beyond the Sea and Tooms. Nutter takes Morgan/Wong's words and situations and breaths such life and vitality to them that we're in for a wonderful treat. Since the agents are meeting and working outside of Bureau mainstream, there's a tension that's in every scene they appear together. All the President's Men has nothing over the garage scene. There was even a starting car in the background that caught Mulder's attention and the scene ends with a close up of the Watergate parking garage sign!

Samantha's abduction is handled by a master. It's spooky, scary. We feel sorry for the little girl that we've only met through Mulder's memories of her as he would mention her in the first season and from a little snippet of Mulder and Samantha's interaction just before the event.

One irritation that was apparent in this episode. When people are typing and it shows on the screen, please, please, please, have the sound effects of keys being hit match the letters that appear on screen! The scratches that Jorge did on the bathroom wall didn't match what he drew either.

RUNNING TALLIES
Flashlights
Guns
Sunflower Seeds - lots and lots of sunflower seeds. Poor Mulder
Mulder Breaks a Law - breaks into the Observatory in Puerto Rico
Scully wears glasses
Scully does an autopsy - seems to start one for her class anyway
Mulder does an autopsy! - well, makes observations of Jorge's body into the tape recorder
Mulder types out a report - uses micro cassette to leave notes for Scully
Raining
Necklace
Bathroom
Scully feeds Mulder's fish

POINT/COUNTERPOINT

SCULLY: You know Mulder, my friend Rob mentioned to me that you advised him that remaining aloof was the way to a woman's heart is that right?

MULDER: Rob? Did you go out with him again?

SCULLY: Never mind that. My point is that in my quest to find you I happened to hear a message on your answer machine that clearly indicated that you were not following your own advice. In fact, the woman claimed that you literally begged her to go to lunch with you.

MULDER: She must have had me confused with my twin brother, that pesky little devil. Is Rod remaining aloof?

SCULLY: How the hell am I supposed to know? I haven't seen him in months.

ATHENAEUM

Mulder, fresh from his escape in Puerto Rico, returned to his apartment to find an old parchment scroll on the floor. He wasn't in the mood for Laurel and Hardy, his back was killing him. He could use a shower. He needed to sleep. He unrolled the parchment to see the name 'Senator Richard Matheson' on it before it disintegrated in his hand.

As Mulder descended the Athenaeum stairs, he saw Senator Matheson awaited him, Bach blaring in the background. "Well Senator, what else was sent out on the Voyager?"

"Quite a bit Fox. You see, this was in essence the first time that mankind got the chance to literally put a message in a bottle and send it off in the vast ocean of the universe. Great care was taken in just what that message should say. In fact, a panel was assembled by NASA to choose exactly what would be sent. The panel was chaired by Carl Sagan of Cornell University who authored the book Contact.

"The panel decided to include greetings in fifty-four different languages. Well, fifty-five if you count the vocalizations by the humpback whale. Dr. Sagan and his associates also assembled 115 images and a variety of natural sounds, like surf, wind, thunder, animals, etc. To this they added musical selections from different cultures and eras, along with greetings from Earth-people in fifty-five languages, printed messages from President Carter and U.N. Secretary General Waldheim. The Voyager message is on a 12-inch gold-plated copper phonograph record."

"Phonograph record. That technology will certainly wow the aliens," joked Mulder. The Curator as the Senator remained stoic. He asked, "What music was chosen?" He knew the answer to one!

"There is an eclectic 90-minute selection of music, including both Eastern and Western classics and a variety of ethnic music. There's Bach--."

Mulder raised his hand, "I knew that!"

The Curator patted his head. Mulder enjoyed Scully's pat better. The Curator said, "There's Bach, Pygmy girls, Aborigine songs, Johnny B. Goode."

"Is that a warning?"

The Curator ignored him while he was on his roll, "Mozart. Who could ever exclude Mozart? Louis Armstrong, bagpipers, panpipers, Stravinsky's 'Rite of Spring', Navajo Indians Night Chant, a wedding song from Peru, Beethoven. The best that this planet has to offer."

Mulder humphed, "What, no Led Zeppelin? No Grand Funk Railroad? You remember them, don't you, Senator?"

"Of course. I live for Grand Funk," was the Curator's reply.

QUOTES

MULDER We wanted... to believe. We wanted to call out. On August 20th and September 5th, 1977, two spacecraft were launched from the Kennedy Space Flight Center, Florida. They were called Voyager. Each one carries a message.

BOY ON MESSAGE Hello from the children of planet Earth.

MULDER We wanted to listen. On October 12th, 1992, NASA initiated the high-resolution microwave survey.

MULDER I wanted to believe but the tools have been taken away. The X-Files have been shut down. They closed our eyes. Our voices have been silenced... our ears now deaf to the realms of extreme possibilities.

SCULLY It is advantageous to begin an autopsy with removal of the cranium.

FEMALE STUDENT Are you okay, Agent Scully? You kind of sounded a... little spooky.

MULDER It's dangerous for us just to have a little chat, Scully. We must assume we're being watched.

SCULLY The X-Files have been terminated, Mulder. We have been reassigned. I mean, what makes you think they care about us anymore anyway?

SCULLY And you're worried that all your life, you've been seeing elves?
MULDER In my case... little green men.

MULDER Seeing is not enough, I should have something to hold onto. Some solid evidence. I learned that from you.
SCULLY Your sister's abduction, you've held onto that.
MULDER I'm beginning to wonder if... if that ever even happened.
SCULLY Mulder, even if George Hale only saw elves in his mind, the telescope still got built. Don't give up.

SAMANTHA Do we have to watch this, Fox?
MULDER Leave it, I'm watching "The Magician" at nine.
SAMANTHA Mom and Dad said I could watch the movie, buttmunch.
MULDER They're next door at the Galbrands and they said I'm in charge.
Samantha turns the channel.
MULDER Hey! Get out of my life!

SAMANTHA Fox!

MULDER Samantha! Samantha! No!

RICHARD MATHESON Do you know this, Fox?
MULDER It's Bach. "Brandenburg Concerto Number Three."
RICHARD MATHESON Two.
MULDER Good thing it wasn't a Double Jeopardy question.

RICHARD MATHESON This is the first selection of music on the Voyager spacecraft. The first.

RICHARD MATHESON Four and a half billion years from now, when the sun exhausts its fuel and swells to engulf the earth, this expression will still be out there, traveling four and a half billion years. That is, if it's not intercepted first. Imagine, Fox. If another civilization out there were to hear this, they would think what a wonderful place the earth must be.

RICHARD MATHESON Do you like Bach, Mulder?
MULDER I live for Bach.

MULDER What am I looking for?
RICHARD MATHESON Contact.

SKINNER I don't smoke.

SCULLY I feed his fish.

TROISKY Looks like the "wow" signal.

TROISKY The "Wow" signal is the best evidence of extraterrestrial intelligence. But this... this is better.

MULDER No, Jorge! Don't touch that red button. No-ho on the Ro-jo.

KURT WALDHEIM ON MACHINE I send greetings on behalf of the people of our planet.

MULDER My God, Scully. It's as if he's been frightened to death. Again, Scully, nothing but evidence... and again, no evidence at all.

MULDER Deep Throat said "Trust no one." And that's hard, Scully... suspecting everyone, everything. It wears you down. You even begin to doubt what you know is the truth. Before, I could only trust myself. Now, I can only trust you... and they've taken you away from me. My life up to this point has been about the need to see her again. To see them. But what would I do if they really came?

MULDER They came, Scully... the ones that took her. They were here.
SCULLY Here?
She puts her hand on his forehead.
SCULLY Or here?

SCULLY Mulder, we have to go. Evidence is worthless if you're dead!

CIGARETTE SMOKING MAN (to Mulder) Your time is over... and you leave with nothing.
SKINNER (To Cigarette Smoking Man) Get out.

SCULLY You still have nothing.
MULDER I may not have the X-Files, Scully, but I still have my work. And I've still got you.