"The End"

The last episode to be filmed in Vancouver and there's another woman in the picture!

On behalf of all the shippers of the world, I think we have officially had it with that plot device.  Unless, of course, it leads to some shippy making up scenes in the future :o).  There's nothing like a twelve-year-old mind reader caught in the evil plots of international governments to stir up some tension, undercurrents and a whole lot of wondering.

I enjoyed the casual bit of foreshadowing we saw in the beginning when Skinner comes down to Mulder's office and begins nosing about.  Did you notice the picture of the two of them looking at a file together?  Very cute.  

This episode was written masterfully; the sort of tip-toeing Diana and Scully did around each other, silently sizing each other up (and probably just dying to be that cute little mind reader, Gibson Praise) was very accurate. It begins subtly as Gibson makes the comment, "I know you're thinking about one of the girls you brought...  Well one of them's thinking about you."  Ever the skeptic, Scully passes it off as the child "goofing on" Mulder, playing to his beliefs.  But as Diana emerges into the hallway and sticks up for Mulder's ideas, you can see something click for Scully.  Suspicion starts to creep into her intuitive subconscious and she knows something is up.  She just doesn't know what yet.

Gibson does a lot in offering us insight into Scully's thoughts as well as Diana's.  "You're wondering, aren't you?" Gibson says, as they walk hand-in-hand in the medical facility.  "About who?  About you?" Scully questions gently, unsuspecting.  "About that other girl," Gibson replies, "She's wondering about you, too."  Ah, a subtle whack over the head with a two-by-four.  It has now been confirmed: Scully and Diana are realizing that they have some, er... similar interests in mind, to say the least.  Or maybe not...you never know with X-Files.

I should take a minute now to offer some advice to the very talented Mimi Rogers, who played Diana Fowley in this episode.  I would stay out of the chat rooms for a while.  As wonderful an actress as she is, it might not be a good thing when you're totally convincing as a sneaky, conniving woman from Mulder's past who is now trying to come between him and his soul mate.  Just a thought.

Although, Scully has always acted a bit strange when there have been other women in the picture (can you say Bambi, Phoebe Green, and Detective White?), we have never seen her take the jealousy factor this far.  Deep down, this jealousy undoubtedly stems from her feelings for Mulder, her worry that those feelings aren't mutual (even after all the evidence to the contrary) and her fear of losing him.  When she, as casually as she can manage, confirms, "So you two know each other," she gets the last answer she would have wanted to hear.  That would be an intentionally mysterious yes on Diana's part.

(Conspiracy Alert!  This would be our most likely candidate for who was on the other end of that wedding ring seen on Mulder's hand in Unusual Suspects and Travellers).  

Scully even goes so far as to consult the Lone Gunmen, restraining obvious anxiety and emotion as they tell her the truth about Diana in bits and pieces.  Even they sympathize as they reluctantly reveal that Mulder and Diana not only knew each other but were an item when he first got out of the academy.  This is no joke.  Scully is really upset by this point, and barely manages to get out a "see what you boys can find" and a goodbye before leaving.  I seemed as if she almost meant Diana when she asked them to see what they could find.  I wonder what the dirt on her is.

So by now you're thinking yah, yah, yah, but where's the other half of this equation here?  What does Mulder feel about all this?  He is obviously surprised to see Diana and their little glances in the mirror at each other weren't very encouraging, but when push came to shove and Diana implied that Scully wasn't much help to him, he put his foot down.  That came about in this little exchange:

Diana: I sense you could have used an ally, though.  Someone who thinks like you...with some background.

Mulder: Oh, you mean Scully.

Diana: She's not what I'd call an open mind on the subject

Mulder: (laughs thinly) She's a scientist.  She just makes me work for everything.

Diana: Yes, but I'm sure there were times when two like minds on a case would have been advantageous.

Mulder: (pauses, and becomes serious) I've done okay without you, Diana.

Diana: (takes Mulder's hand <cringe>) I'm on your side.

Personally by this point I just wanted to drop kick little-miss like-mindedness back to Saudi Arabia to get blown up by those Arab terrorists, but all juvinile impulsions aside: Mulder defended Scully.  The dialogue here was said very meaningfully, either hinting of their background, or of things to come.  But either way, this is the show of subtleties to say the least, and I would keep that little exchange in the back of your mind when watching the premiere.

In a horrible bout of timing and fate, Scully manages to walk by just as Diana is holding Mulder's hand and looking up into his face.  By this point I don't think she would have been capable of putting up that iron guard-rail around her feelings and waltzing in there as if nothing were wrong.  She probably would have just burst into tears.  So instead she goes dejectedly back to her car and sulkily does something so un-Scully I could hardly believe it.  She phones him (which is actually quite smart, if you think about it, since it would interupt any further intimacies that could have gone on between them) and lies, telling him that she's just heading to work and needs to show him something to do with the case.  The angst!  I could hardly stand it.

It only got worse when they were all called to a meeting to discuss what Scully (via the Lone Gunmen) discovered about Gibson's brain scans.  Did you notice how Scully was dressed in white and Diana in black?  Anyhow, Diana manages to make Scully look both silly and like she is being careless about the X-Files at once.  Mulder looks as if he's agreeing with Diana, as Scully characteristically looks to Mulder for support.  This just is not her week. 

I liked the further insight from Gibson into Scully's mindset when he tells her how she doesn't care what anybody thinks of her, except for Diana.  I was hoping that Scully would ask for ten more minutes to talk to Gibson when Diana (with her perfectly horrid timing) showed up.  They could begin to discuss her true feelings for Mulder and his feelings for her.  After all, Vince Gilligan did help to write this episode.  However, something tells me Chris Carter would catch something like that before it reached the air :o).

Diana gets shot through the window of the motel (at which point I shamelessly leaped up off the couch and cheered and danced around), and Gibson is kidnapped by CSM.  Does anyone else vote that the FBI get themselves some better assassins?  Diana survives (barely) but is in critical condition.  Scully stays at Mulder's apartment to watch over him through the night (aww!) and gets the news that they may be split up to different sections.  A very unusual circumstance, I must say.  She usually doesn't just hang out with Mulder too much in her scarce spare time, and certainly not without a good solid reason.  Not that I'm complaining or anything...

And then the worst happens.  All their files go up in smoke at the hands of the cancerman.  The pain that is written all over their faces is so evident, as Scully stands in front of Mulder, perhaps subconsciouly trying to block is view of the carnage before them.  In a moment of pure shock, after the suffering through the week's events and now this, a finale that was going to make me wish summer vacation was over, Scully turns and walks towards Mulder.  He is frozen in place, expressionless.  She reaches out and puts her arms on his shoulders as if she were trying to hold him together, and leans her head down to rest against his chest.  The red-blue of the police lights outside flood through the windows of their ruined office space as they stand there, together, unsure of what is to come.  

Quote of the Week:

Gibson: I know you're thinking about one of the girls you brought.  Well, one of them's thinking about you, too. Diana: Which one? Gibson: (pauses) He doesn't want me to say.

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