MEMO: "It has come to my attention that the biological weapons centre located in Pine Bluff, Arkansas is still in operation. I had been under the impression that it was shut down by the government due to lack of funding. Imagine my surprise when I learned that information to be erroneous, and the bioweapons program had continued. I'd like to make use of your facilities immediately, by order of the head of the CIA. Development and testing of said weapons is vital to the future of this country. A silent war is being waged, right here, right now, and we must be certain that American comes out ahead. It's just a shame its citizens will never know..."
What's that I see? Was this a Shiban original? Let me get this straight - you're telling me the same man who wrote such mangled scripts as "Teso Dos Bichos" and "El Mundo Gira" pulled off "The Pine Bluff Variant"? You're kidding! This episode was actually good, a worthy action and paranoia-filled hour. Hmmm...I smell a conspiracy. Could it be that the crew of 'The X-Files' has its own shadow government dealing in misinformation, and that wasn't really Mr. Shiban's work, or has he actually learned something over the past two years? Being the trusting person I am (I know, I know, trust no one...), I'll give him the benefit of the doubt, and congratulate John Shiban on his first truly respectable writing effort. This was probably the best solo script he's ever written. That said, it's still not my favourite episode of his. However, the only reason I like "Elegy" more was because it provided us with lots of character development and excellent acting, two things I love more than even a great plot.
Though its plot was interesting and suspenseful, "The Pine Bluff Variant" wasn't perfect. I found some parts of this episode to be confusing and hard to follow. It didn't really strike me as a true X-File. Though there was much paranoia and conspiracy afoot, there was no paranormality in this episode. That's something usually only lacking from character building episodes like "Musings of a Cigarette Smoking Man" and "Unusual Suspects," not full-fledged Mulder and Scully episodes. "The Pine Bluff Variant" seemed more like a smaller version of "Conspiracy Theory" than an X-File. I can forgive that though - an interesting plot can hide the absence of the paranormal. And though I think most of the quick one-liners that injected the bulk of the humour into this episode came from David Duchovny and not John Shiban, I still have to commend him for this script. This episode was absorbing, suspenseful, and had a plot worth following, something found in few of his other episodes.
"I don't need a car. You can just call me a cab or something - that'd be fine."
For anyone who thinks Mulder can be a jerk at times, this episode seemed to confirm that opinion. I've never seen him more insensitive than in the opening ten minutes of this episode. When Scully demanded the truth from Mulder, something he's so passionate about, she got nothing. By the meeting with the FBI big-wigs, I was really getting worried. Mulder couldn't even look Scully, his best friend and partner of six years, in the eye. When she called out to him, he completely ignored her. All was not well in FBI- ville. But I know Mulder, and couldn't fooled by his cool demeanour. All this was just his way of trying to hide a secret from Scully. Though, seeing how long these two have known each other, and how well they understand each other, it only seems right that Mulder's attempt to lie to Scully was about as convincing as a child telling his mother, "I cleaned my room. Honest!" I had faith in Mulder from the beginning. He is the good guy after all, and everyone who's seen the show more than two times know that there's no way he could be on the terrorist's side. Luckily, that view was confirmed early on in the episode. Thank heavens! The tension was beginning to become unbearable for me. Unfortunately for Mulder, his tension was just about to begin.
"Oh, is this the Pepsi Challenge?"
The finger torture scene in this episode had to be the most intensely painful scenes in the history of "The X-Files". Even if it wasn't agonizing enough for Mulder (and from the look on his face, I can guess at the answer), it certainly was for me. All I could do was cringe and bite my lip as I watched our poor Muldy go through one disturbing "lie detector" test. And I wasn't the only one. It seems like everyone in this episode was concerned about Mulder. After her initial suspicions, Scully spent most of the rest of this episode worrying about him. Even her suspicions can be seen as a form of worry. If she wasn't following Mulder around, or accusing government officials of sending Mulder on a suicide mission, she was waiting in Mulder's apartment, all ready to bandage up his broken finger. If that doesn't constitute as a caring and concerned friend, I don't know what does! Heck, even Skinner was troubled by Mulder's perilous situation. And Mulder thinks he doesn't have any friends...
"What was that about?"
"She's just concerned for her partner."
Scully might have been worried about Mulder for the last fifty minutes of "The Pine Bluff Variant", but for the first ten, she was mad. As soon as Mulder lied to her about the terrorist getting away in the teaser (another oddity - Mulder and Scully were actually in the teaser!), I could see the seeds of doubt growing in Scully's mind. Obviously, Mulder had let the terrorist escape. But why? The question of trust at once came into play. It persisted through the opening credits as Scully inspected the video tapes that so clearly implicated Mulder, and into the board room meeting where Mulder studiously ignored Scully. Can you really blame her for following him? She's a "secret squirrel" after all, and it seems only fair that she got to play spy as Mulder was playing God... ;-) We've seen her paranoia before in "Wetwired". This was the same thing, only watered down. It did give me quite a chuckle when she went into see the hotel manager trying to find Mulder's room, and he enquired "Are you the wife?" to which she responded, "Not even close." I've never seen her so burned! Good thing it didn't last too long. As I said before, all that tension starts to wear me down after a while.
"It's on the video Mulder. I can't prove it was you, but I know what I saw."
Disregard everything I've said up until now for a moment. I'm going to sound like a total hypocrite, but I have a confession to make. As much as I love the tender moments between Mulder and Scully, I must admit, I also love the tension. It's strange - I like shows such as "Syzygy" and "Fire", full of jealousy and strife almost as much as classic 'bonding' episodes like "Memento Mori" and "Pusher." Maybe anxiety and devotion are just two forms of the same thing. Since this episode had both tension and togetherness, it was quite enjoyable for me. It started out quite nicely, with a worried Scully running after Mulder in the teaser. However, it quickly deteriorated from there. The next section brought with it suspicion and lies as Scully tried to figure out where Mulder's loyalties lay. As soon as the truth was known, though, things were back on track. When Scully learned of Mulder's honourable investigation of the terrorists, her suspicions immediately turned to worry. It seems Mulder did want to tell her after all, but because of the classified nature of his involvement, he was unable to.
Meeting Mulder in his apartment to tell him of her knowledge, Scully was there to see the wounded soldier home. Though this scene probably could have been 'shippier, it was still a nice addition to the show. It was here that Mulder and Scully were pulled back together, partners once more. Of course, we also got to see Scully fussing over Mulder's broken finger in this scene - a cute little touch. By the end, Mulder and Scully were completely reunited, fighting the lies the government was attempting to perpetrate about the money together. More and more it seems it's them against the world, the lone voices of reason in the fight for the future. Luckily for them, they don't have to man the course alone. They're in it together, now and forever.
"You're in pain."
"If you keep pulling it around like that..."
What's that expression? "It's the little things in the life that make it so interesting"? Well, that was certainly the case in "The Pine Bluff Variant." But the small details are what "The X-Files" have always been famous for. The crew did an excellent job with the post-production of this episode. I thought the Capitol building superimposed over Stanley Park in particular was quite well done. I almost forgot they had filmed it in Vancouver for a moment! The inside of Mulder's apartment revealed a few interesting things as well. All those years of calling Deep Throat and Mr. X by means of a masking tape X on his window have left their mark...the X is still there, etched in old sticky tape residue. I was also surprised to see he actually had fish in his aquarium, something that has been missing from other episodes (look really closely at "End Game"). This episode also let Mulder pretend it was Halloween for a day. He and the terrorists got to dress up in costumes of the ghosts and goblins that Mulder and Scully chase every week. Mulder looked kind of funny in that Dracula mask, but I doubt he minded. When you've actually seen real vampires not once, but twice in your life, the rubber version probably seems a bit dull. :-)
What does the future hold? Well, I'm no Clyde Bruckman, but I do know that important things are about happen. We only have two episodes left before the end of this season, and if "The Pine Bluff Variant" is any indication of the future, things are about to heat up. Paranoia is running amuck, and Scully and Mulder are less trusting of the government than ever. Scully's angry tirade at the conclusion of this episode echoed the underlying message this show always carries - trust no one. I guess that even includes a writer no one had faith in, yet still managed to write this interesting, provocative episode. However, as long as evil government men still conspire to thwart the American public, and Mulder and Scully are still there to stop them, there will be plot ideas a plenty for the writers of "The X-Files"...and plenty of fans out there to watch them unfold.
"I want people to know the truth."