Wow! I think this episode was definitely the trigger for relationshipper views. If I'm not mistaken, this episode had more 'shippy moments than the whole of season one and two put together. Okay, so maybe I'm exaggerating, but you get my point. Every 'shipper knows this episode inside out, and you don't need me to tell you which scenes, but alas...I will!

I think M & S act well together throughout the whole episode, with a lot of silent communication going on. Of course, there is also the fantastic not-so-silent communication:

Scully: Why would he cause an accident when he himself was in the car?

Mulder: Maybe he really didn't want to go to jail

The first notably shippy scene is in the car at 3am, with Scully sleeping on Mulder's shoulder. As if that wasn't enough, he wakes her with a gentle touch to the cheek and a little smile...ahhh, l'amour!

Mulder: I think you drooled on me

And, let's face it, wouldn't we all....but I digress. 'Shipper values of an episode are always heightened when someone else remarks on the M & S relationship:

Pusher: You and your pretty partner look awful close. Do you work well together?

Between this and the final climatic 'shippy ending, there are small titbits that should be noted:

1) Scully staring at Mulder the whole time he is talking to Pusher outside the courtroom

2) Mulder stuttering when he tries to explain his theory to Scully (Note also: 'Please explain to me the scientific nature of the whammy')

3) Scully telling Skinner that Mulder's theory is right and Mulder looking at Scully in astonishment

The best part of the episode begins in the trailer before Mulder goes into the hospital to face Modell. Scully is not happy at the thought:

Mulder: I think we should give him what he wants

Scully: You

Before Mulder leaves Scully he crouches down in front of her and looks up, giving her his gun. He tells her he wouldn't want to point it at anyone but Modell and Scully covers his hands with hers as though lending him her strength. Points to note: Welcome back to the White T-Shirt!! How we've missed you! Mulder's ability to joke in the face of danger ('Think I get the Playboy channel?'), but then we knew that he did that anyway....but I digress (again!).

When Mulder is in the hospital, (Note Scully's 'I'm with you Mulder') Scully tries to run in unarmed at one point when they lose Mulder on the video camera. She desperately tries to persuade him to leave when they realise Modell is dying, and then makes a strangled sound when she sees Modell with a gun to Mulder's head. I've also read somewhere that before Mulder turns to Modell he mumbles something, and if you read his lips, apparently he can be seen saying 'I love you'. True? Maybe you should see for yourself.

Anyway, Scully finds the room with Modell and Mulder and joins them for the 'Russian roulette' scene. Not many scenes in the X-files have left me as tense and breathless as this one, and it is hard to describe why. Perhaps the simplest explanation is the fact that Mulder could easily pull a trigger to his own head, but not to Scully's. His desperate 'Run Scully' whispered intently at her, was probably the moment that I realised he loved her. Of course, there had been previous moments, but none as strong as this one.

The final scene is also heartbreaking. Mulder being unable to look Scully in the eye, almost as if he is ashamed to look at her. She holds his eye contact steadily, grasping his hand in reassurance and perhaps to anchor herself.