Season Seven Episode Reviews

7X22    Requiem   
Plot: Mulder and Scully return to their first case in Oregon where alien abductions have begun again.

Thank you!  The first honest-to-god mythology episode since "One Son" a year and a half ago!  For the first time since then I am actually interested in what is going on, wondering what we will learn and who we will see!  There's quite an impressive list of recurring characters:  Skinner, Cancer Man, Krychek (his first real appearance this year!), Marita (not seen since "One Son"), The Pilot (last seen two and a half years ago unless you count the "Unnatural" flashback a year ago), The Lone Gunmen (their second appearnce this year), and of course the entire cast of the "Pilot" episode.  Pretty impressive, though the episode itself isn't incredible hot when you hold it against years past but compared against the last year n' a half it's a friggin' classic.  The FBI audit of the X-Files seems competely gratuitous, done just because its a season finale.  For the next three acts I feel like nothing happens aside from tantilizing cameos by The Pilot and his time-cloaked UFO.  But the last act kicks it up a notch and is very impressive.  How cool is it seeing Mulder, Scully, Skinner, The Lone Gunmen, Krychek, AND Martia standing in one room together!!  I never thought I'd see that!  It's interesting to see aliens finally back, Cancer Man inexplicably turning to Krychek for help (why exactly was he imprisoned?!  When last seen in "Amor Fati" he looked to still be following orders), Krychek and Marita turning on Cancer Man and turning to Mulder.  It was very cool seeing Mulder get willingly abducted by aliens before Skinner's eyes- especially when The Pilot stood in next to Mulder.  Krychek 'killing' Cancer Man was extremely lame, I'm quite he has once again miraculously survived- if he really wanted to kill him why not blow his head off?  Scully's sudden pregnancy was quite a shock to me, I was perplexed by her feinting spells.  Judging by her extremely tender scene with Mulder earlier I'd have to say he is the father and she was made fertile again by her exposure to the alien time-cloak.  It's a pretty lame plot devealopment though if you think about it, because as the only remaining main character for the first 4-11 episodes of next year she CAN'T be preggers because she has to be an action hero.  So I predict an early abortion, fetus theft, or quick alien gestation in the first few episodes of next season.  I'm quite glad to see the show FINALLY returnning the mythology after a year of totally screwing it over, I'm hoping next year will continue this trend.

7X21    Je Souhaite  
Plot: A Jenni grants three wishes with deadly effects.

This was a wonderful episode full of funny moments.  Nice to see the X-Files finally doing a Jennie story, and to perfection to.  "Jen" is hilarious in her cynacism and boredom, just the way an immortal really would be.  And those two idiot brothers were quite hilarious, particularly Mad TV's Will Sasso who never thinks to wish for a cure to his paralysis.  Scully dusting an invisable corpse was quite shocking (nice to see that she is admiting these things are real at this point), but she seemed... strangely excited by it, even proceeding to talk to the corpse.  Quite cool FX there too.  Like the last two episodes, Scully gets to act with some humor and it's very nice.  And how hilarious was the ressurected brother just screaming then blowing up the house!  Impressive house detonation too.  And of course the episode gets to do something really important when Mulder gets three wishes and tries to get world peace.  I appreciate Mulder trying to type out an incredibly intricate fool-proof final wish, and I'm just going to desperately hope that it mentioned keeping the Colonist aliens away from Earth, but I doubt it considering how much Carter and company have screwed up the mythology.  Ah well.  Nice to see the final four of the show are so stellar.

7X20    Fight Club  
Plot:  Two identical women spark chaos and violence when together.

A great comedic episode, though it's more 'cute' than 'funny'.  The doppleganger concept is played for all that's its worth, and I like the stunt casting of Kathy Griffin, professional wrestlers, and that character actor guy as the angriest man in the world (he was a hoot!).  Particular classic moments are the faux Mulder and Scully proceeding to beat the crap out of each other, and Mulder being sucked into a sewer.  Hah!  Unfortunately the episode does get a tad confusing between the two Kathy Griffins and so on, but I suppose it's supposed to be confusing.  Also this plot is a direct rip-off of Carter's Season Three episode "Syzgzy", particularly the bit about two similar girls causing wierd violence whenever they get near close to each other.  There is also some real stellar comedic Mulder-Scully interaction; I like these episodes when Scully isn't a hardass all the time and gets to smile.  And that final big wrestling match scene was pretty impressive!

7X19    Hollywood A.D.  
Plot: A religious ressuriction plot is made into a Hollywood movie.

A wonderful story full of hilarious comedy and just a bit of deeper meaning.  Unfortuantely the majority of the episode is spent on the case, which though interesting and at some parts hilarious does not have any closure; it feels like the first half of a good episode.  Things just happen helterskelter, most of all the dancing bones (quite an ingenious scene though) and Scully getting to see a walking corpse several times.  The Lazarus Bowl concept was really interesting, and the recorded speech sounded very cool.  I also like the 'American Pope' who has a cellphone and cracks jokes.  I would have appreciated SOME closure here.  And the exec following the pair got very annoying at times, not in a funny way.  If only the entire episode was in Hollywood, because this was some of the funniest stuff in the series' history.  Who can forget the three shot of Mulder, Scully, and Skinner in bubblebaths gossiping about one another?!  And I loved Garry Shandling and Tea Leoni as the pair, we really REALLY should have seen a lot more of them damnit!  Another classic scene: Shandling asks Mulder which way he swings while in the far background Scully runs up and down the stage to show Leoni how to run in high heels.  Hah!  I really wanted to see a lot more of the faux movie too!  But my favorite bits were the genuine friendship between Mulder and Scully, and Skinner's lighter side.  As for that last scene of hundreds of zombies dancing, it was certainly strange but somewhat out of the blue; it seemed a bit gratituitous.

7X18    Brand X  
Plot: Mulder and Scully investigate a deadly conspiracy at the Morley Tobacco company.

This was a really great stand-alone episode, with really interesting bits like a corporate conspiracy, a really really gruesome killer, creepy killer insects, extremely heavy Skinner involvement, and Mulder being on the brink of death.  This strongly reminded me of "F. Emasculata" in a good way; I really wish Cancer Man was in this, I find it highly plausible that he is a heavy stock owner in Morley Tobacco.  The only bad thing about this episode is the killer was just some vagrant; I was hoping it would be bigger in scope.  It was really great to have Skinner involved in the action, even starring more than Mulder or Scully, I wish they did this more often.  I haven't been this interested in an X-Files for a long time.

7X17    All Things  
Plot: Scully waxes spirituality when a chance encounter reunites her with a former teacher/lover.

While the actual plot about Scully's former teacher/lover was a tad uninteresting, the stylistic approach was really spectacular as well as the undercurring theme about religion/fate.  I didn't really believe the whole Scully-Daniel thing from what little we saw of it, but perhaps it makes sense (Cancer Man said in "En Ami" that she is drawn and repulsed by powerful men).  The whole medical situation about curing him was also uninteresting; this isn't "E.R."!  And plus, Daniel's relative who suggests the new age crap was such a lame copy of Scully's dead sister Missy I wish they said something about it.  Then on the other hand, I love everything else about this episode.  I love how throughout the episode we get that one tapping rhythm, how that haunting song plays at music video-like sequences.  I also love this mystical concept of a Buddhist force guiding Scully's actions, from medicine to the FBI, from Daniel to Mulder.  And as for that first/last scene, my god Mulder and Scully had sex!  Sure they could weasel their way out of that one, but it happened!  Wonderful way to do it.  A wonderful Scully episode!

7X16    Chimera  
Plot: Mulder investigates mysterious death connected to ravens and a spirit.

A decent but ultimately forgettable monster episode with a scary looking villain and some nice twists and humor, but nothing special.  All the suburban intrigue wasn't terribly intriguing, but at least it kept the episode jumping with plot twists.  The villain wasn't who I thought it would be!  The spirit woman or whatever looked absolutely terrifying, especially since you never really see her and the way mirrors shatter around her... cool.  If they showed the Blair Witch, this is what she would look like!  Scully on stakeout formed almost a kind of subplot, something the series rarely does, and it was funny and entertaining.  I also liked Mulder briefly enjoying the domestic life while Scully's on stakeout.

7X15    En Ami  
Plot: Cancer Man offers Scully the cure for cancer if she goes on a trip with him.

This is the best mythology episode since "One Son"!  Also for the first time since then we additions to the mythology which don't contradict what came before!  Tons of long ignored continuity references, I am so happy... And plus we got a very interesting story with Scully and Cancer Man which almost suggests a coherent arc to Season Seven; Cancer Man gets the alien tissue in "Amor Fati", he briefly meets Scully and looks sick in "Closure", now this, I'm sure he'll die a lameo death in the would-be May series finale.  Oh well, at least its consistant... Aside from the comically repetetive appearnce of the Syndicate assassin every five minutes, this was a great 'retro' myth ep.  We get Mulder investigating the Syndicate with the help of Skinner and the Lone Gunmen (I love these guys meeting again, they've only met in what the Movie?), we get a Syndicate mole who Cancer Man organized an elaborate operation against, we get a UFO in the Teaser (out of shot, sigh), we get a neat little action finale on boats and with sniper rifles, we get a promised cure for cancer, plus we get the most revealing shots of Scully's cleavage since she showed off her bra to Mulder in the Pilot!  What more could you ask for...  I also love the question of whether or not Cancer Man was being truthful when he promised these things, and why he did destroy the CD (and there's the classic "we've got the proof on THIS disk... oh wait it's not there!".  I miss that...).  Unfortunatly the pace is a tad slow, particularly with the Scully and Cancer Man roadtrip.  Oh and hey, what the hell happened to Krychek!  He was supposed to be in this episode damnit!

7X14    Theef  
Plot:  A successful doctor is tormented by a vodoo redneck who is killing his family.

This was a nice dark and gory episode reminiscent of earlier seasons.  Great to see James Morrison again (McQueen from Space: Above and Beyond).  The vodoo stuff was very cool, particularly the MRI/microwave attack, but the vodoo redneck but just a tad stupid.  I like that the doctor really was innocent, figured it would a cliched dark secret.  Scully going blind was cool, some nice Mulder-Scully interaction.

7X13    First Person Shooter  
Plot: A character in an experimental virtual game is killing its players and threatening the Lone Gunmen's stock options.

Wow, this was a cool budget-busting episode!  This was definitely better than "Kill Switch", Maddox's previous XF episode.  Though I was a tad disappointed that Mulder and Scully never actually defeated Maitreya, and how a dozen Maitreyas shoot at Scully and she never gets hit, it was still awsome.  Those humongous sets, guns blasting away, gigantic living game, good god!  This episode is just an eyefest of visuals (gotta love those 'Matrix'-y battle uniforms!).  The Lone Gunmen FINALLY appear this season and get a meaty role.  I even liked the two programmers.  And how funny was that scene with the stripper?!  It is pretty dumb that Maitreya kills these pro killers but doesn't bother to kill Mulder or Scully, aside from the fact that they're the stars of the series no reason is given, and that hurts.  I also didn't like how the programmer lady ended up such an emotional weakling with hints of lesbian-ism, it seemed a little cliched and repressive, but then again wasn't that the point of the episode?  Man, where did they get those humongous sets!  Sometimes the CGI effects looked a little cheesy, but I think that's okay since is this is supposed to be a digital game and not real life.

7X12    X-Cops  
Plot: A "COPS" camera crew follows Mulder and Scully as they pursue a monster through L.A. at night.

I love this episode!  This is best of the season, and the best since "The Unnatural".  I really love the COPS/Blair Witch film style, it's just so refreshingly different.  And in my mind, this episode is about one of the scariest things they've ever done because of its realism.  The teaser with the cop seeing something then running terrified, and getting his car overturned, then the Blair Witch rip-off final where the cop is trapped in a house with a strange pounding sound and Mulder and Scully can't find him, was particularly spooky.  That loud banging sound creeped the hell out of me.  I got a real kick out of Mulder, Scully, and a bunch of cops running around L.A. at night (and seeing them run a few blocks from crime to crime was also strangely interesting).  Another neat scene was Scully arguing with the mortician's assistant about the Hantavirus, then she dies of it.  It's the kind of realism the show has to ignore to move the episode along, them interacting with bit characters I mean.  Sometimes the humor was a tad forced like the gay couple (which was still good when Mulder and Scully must spend a few hours there consoling them, heh heh), but the Mulder-Scully interaction was in top form here.  The concept of a fear monster, while not original, is original to the series and a great concept.  I also love Scully's hatred of the camera crews and their bleep-cussing.  This was a brilliant idea!

7X11    Closure  (part 2 of 2)  
Plot:  Mulder searches for the truth about Samantha through the "walk-ins".

A strange mixture of utter bull and a few touching moments.  Another horribly pretentious 'poetic' voiceover teaser, no thank you.  Mulder would rather have Samantha dead than still missing?!  What the hell, this is horrible!  Plus it totally invalidates the very drive of the series, Mulder's unending search for his sister.  Then we get this psychic who ends up getting more screentime than Scully, why?!  I don't give a rat's ass about this character who shows up out of the blue with all the answers!  The episode finally gets interesting when Mulder sneaks onto an old AFB base (boy I miss Mulder trespassing on military land, those were the good ole days!) after a ridiculous visitation from Mrs Mulder (well gee there was a body so she can't be a "walk-in"!).  At times this even resembles a mythology ep with word on Cancer Man cancelling the search on Samantha, then Cancer Man having a conversation with Scully for the first time ever (he's sick from his "Amor Fati" operation!).  Then we learn that Samantha grew up with Cancer Man and Jeff Spender on a military base until the walk-ins took/killed her.  This is such utter bull and totally ruins everything about the mythology and series as well.  It contradicts so many things. Cassandra Spender who had all the answers said Samantha was still with the aliens a year ago!  The Pilot said Samantha was alive in Season Two!  The aliens told Mulder she would be returned to him!  Spender never said anything about growing up with Samantha!  In fact Spender had NO MEMORY of Cancer Man his father so he couldn't have grown up with him!  The seance thing was stupid; however Mulder reading Samantha's diary was very touching in spite of my cynicism.  And Mulder seeing Samantha in the dream vision was very touching too.  Even though it's disgusting on a literary level!  This is about the worst possible way to resolve the Samantha storyline, it really is.  She's dead?!  Come on!  And this "walk-in" crap is just total revisionist bull that screws up everything.  No thank you.

7X10    Sein Un Zeit (part 1 of 2)  
Plot:  A mysterious abduction of a young girl may be connected to Samantha which Mulder takes personally.

Ugh, while I'm sure shippers love the hell out of this episode it was a steaming pile for me.  I don't give a rat's ass about whether Mulder and Scully share a tender moment!  I care about the mythology; and it was wholly absent here.  More to the point nothing pisses me off more than one of these jerk-off episodes claiming the mythology is fake and Samantha wasn't abducted by aliens, and Mulder believing this.  How many times does Mulder have to learn that Samantha was abducted by aliens before believing it?!  Well on to the episode!  An extremely uninteresting kidnapping investigation, while the walk-ins concept is almost interesting it just pisses me off how it conflicts with the Samantha-aliens thing.  I am intrigued by the Santas Claus killer however; with all that tech I am dearly hoping he's connected to the mythology.  Pretty lame ass cliffhanger though!  One last ridiculous bit:  the husband watching Harsh Realm and saying to himself how good it was.  How disgusting and self-praising!  Boy, this whole episode pissed me off!  And I almost forgot; Mrs Mulder's suicide.  Maybe it would have shocked me if I hadn't known about it for a few months, but unless there's some real reason for it will be stupid.  The worst episode since several years, yeah you heard me shippers!

7X9    Signs and Wonders  
Plot:  Strange snake-biting deaths are connected to a snake handling church and its charismatic reverend.

For some reason this episode didn't seem that great; I expected a lot more creepiness from the snakes like the cockroaches in "War of Cophporages" but they were just kind of there, for me at least.  Also, that final twist seemed really unnecessary and out there, and extremely confusing.  Add that to the guy having a snake in his throat, it just comes off as silly.  Also, the Reverend O'Conner was really not what I expected; I imagined a powerful Hick but the guy's accent sounded strangely effeminate.  There were a few neat scenes mainly when Scully and Mulder were attacked by snakes; I like Mulder actually getting bitten by the snakes (he doesn't believe in God but Scully does so she didn't get bit!  nice!).  Still, coming off of "Orison" I was a tad sick of 'devil at work' episodes, they could at least have attempted some continuity between the two of them or something.  Give me an intimidating O'Conner who WAS behind the snakes and this would have been great.

7X8    The Amazing Maleeni  
Plot:  An elaborate puzzle of manipulating magicians who twart death and rob banks.

This was easily the most enjoyable episode of the season so far; a great concept (magic!), nice complicated plot, lots of humor, neato effects, and light-hearted villians.  I love those magicians man!  I appreciated that their magic tricks went unexplained and paranormal (the biggest two being Maleeni twisting his head (bad CGI FX by the way!) and creating the illusion of missing legs).  Labonge was quite a smart-ass, but he had everyone wrapped around his finger.  The only real problem with this episode is a lack of a climax; ie Mulder and/or Scully actually fighting the magicians, but what the hell.  I especially liked the final revelation of their master plan.  Maleeni just oozed paranormal ability.

7X7    Orison  
Plot:  A mysterious reverend frees Donnie Pfaster ("Irrestible") from prison thinking he is doing God's work.

While at times this episode was a bit confused and pretentious, it rallied together for a really terrifying final act.  Pfaster (until the last act) seemed to be almost an afterthought to the episode and wasn't used very well.  Orison was an intertesting 'monster' but I found all the God stuff pretty dumb.  Then again it's always nice to see Mulder demonstrate his atheism to Scully's faith.  Pfaster killing Orison in the third act was an unexpected twist (because it happened early) which was nice and plus the episode then got to focus on Scully and Pfaster.  However I hate the whole Pfaster is a Devil!  thing.  Why can't he just be a normal killer?  I mean, this seems totally inconsistant with every thing else, just thrown in for the hell of it.  If he's a Devil, why didn't he free himself from prison and why doesn't he EVER use these demonic powers?!  This was one of those really scary and involving sequences, Scully crawling around on the ground for her gun while that damn eerie song plays.  And then a great ending (which rips off THE PROFESSIONAL) where there's no sound as Mulder bursts in, and Scully coldly walks up to Pfaster and executes him.  Great scene!  Unfortunately we then get another terrible bit where Scully says God worked through me, or was it the Devil.  Please!  It's so unneccessary and pretentious!

7X6    The Goldberg Variation  
Plot:  A man who is impossibly lucky at the cost to others runs into mobsters while trying to save a sick boy.

This was a very enjoyable stand-alone episode!  Just the concept of wierd luck occurances were very cool, especially how in the end it all worked out so perfectly.  Plus, for perhaps the first time the show tangles with mobsters, and it was nice to see.  Sure they were stereotypical, but they were fun!  Nice to see Henry the scumbag super from NYPD Blue as a much nicer super!  Of course the deaths of the mobsters were hilarious, as was Mulder falling through a wet floor and the guy running off with the lotto ticket to get killed.  And what could be more priceless than the look on Mulder's face when he gets a bullet graze!  Even the sick kid subplot was surprizingly bareable, I ususally hate that kind of thing!  Maybe because it was so understated (except for when he turned yellow of course, does that sort of thing really happen?!).  Great ep!

7X5    Rush  
Plot:  Troubled teens can move at great speeds and are using it to murder.

I very disappointed with this episode.  First of all, I despise when this show starts moralizing about puberty and rebellious teenagers ("D.P.O.", "Syzgzy") and this show featured some absolutely horrible Mulder-Scully dialogue to this effect.  The kids get the powers because they're in puberty?!  Ugh!  Second, this episode starred a bunch of stupid teenagers with Mulder and Scully pulling a semi-light appearance.  And they were the typical rebellious kids that just disgust me, especially the leader whose father is the freakin' sheriff come on!  Third of all, Mulder and Scully never actually encountered the kids using the powers or fought them!  Fourth of all, Mulder and Scully were not involved in the ending at all!  Okay, now for what good there is.  I really like the powers the kids had, and that blurring effect of when they move.  There was some very enjoyable Mulder Scully interaction suggesting perhaps they're actually keeping continuity from the last few episodes.  Chuck the paranormal photographer appeared, I like that guy.  Not much positive about this episode!  And who didn't see the two kids turning against the leader?  Oh yeah, and that vortex thing was such a stupid concept and they didn't even TRY to explain it like they usually do!

7X4    Millenium  
Plot:  Mulder recruits Frank Black to stop some Millenium Group zombies from making Armageddon happen.  They kiss!

I shouldn't rate this episode so highly, the whole zombies make Armageddon plot was laughable ridiculous but there were so many cool little moments!  It was really great seeing Frank Black working with Mulder and Scully, seeing Skinner talk about the Millenium Group (it disbanded?!  IT DISBANDED?!), etc.  The zombies were neat in a classic monster kind of way, but the concept that these 4 zombies will create Armageddon was so stupid.  But we got Scully being attacked by a zombie and admitting it (this is a major thing which will be quickly forgotten next episode) and Frank Black saving Mulder from the zombies in the basement, a great scene right out of EVIL DEAD.  Oh, and they kissed.  Who cares?  Not me!  It's such a blatant ratings grab and it means nothing!

7X3    Hungry  
Plot:  A genetic mutant must eat brains but feels guilty about it; he falls under Mulder's suspicion.

This was a great Monster of the Week!  The idea of having the monster being the star was a very fresh concept, and though perhaps the plot was a bit slow (it was essentially about this guy getting counselling about eating problems) it was still very interesting.  The brain-eating monster was a great monster concept, and I LOVE the monster makeup wow!  That Teaser was a truely scary one, someone that is increasingly rare in recent years.  I loved Mulder doing his Columbo impression!  Arguably this episode could have used a bit more action, but it was really a character piece.  I did like the ending; Rob sacrifices him by 'attacking' Mulder so he can't kill ever again.  This episode really make Rob out to be a sympathetic figure and Mulder a villian, great work!  The counselor and the guy who figures out Rob's the murderer was a bit stereotypical but still entertaining characters.  I just love that genetic mutant!

7X2    Amor Fati (part 3 of 3)  
Plot:  A comatose Mulder imagines a what-if life married to Fowley with Cancer Man always at his side.  Mulder's body is stolen and used for a Syndicate experiment; Scully tries to track down Mulder.

I'm not much one for tearful Mulder-Scully crap, so this episode didn't do very well for me.  Probably the weakest chapter in this trilogy, it balances some really stupid 'what if' crap with some vaguely interesting 'reality' stuff.  The most interesting thing for me was the little tidbits of Mythology we were given; Cancer Man having something removed from Mulder and put in him.  Krychek makes a nice appearance, though why he didn't do more to Skinner perplexes me.  The Scully plot was practically non-existant but nice, Albert makes a very appearance (but who DIDN'T think he was dead and visitng Scully in a vision!).  Fowley gets her second best appearance yet (after "Sixth Extinction") where we see her displaying her affection for Mulder even (supposedly!) sacrificing her life for him.  Plus we see her playing wife to Mulder (but I hated that part).  I refuse to believe they killed Fowley, especially considering we didn't get a body OR a death scene.  Just when the character was getting good they better not have killed her, just like they did with Spender.  Oh, and the Christ paralells to Mulder got really annoying, especially when he's on a friggin' cross in the Syndicate hospital!  Nice to see Teena Mulder again, and working with Cancer Man too, too bad we didn't see more of her.  As for Mulder's dream-life, it was generally stupid though it was nice to see Deep Throat and Samantha.  I did like Cancer Man always being with him (never aging!) even while everyone else dies around him, but the 'let go of your guilt' crap was not subtle at all.  And the aging makeup on Mulder was horrible, and those beach scenes with the kid were just dumb.  The best thing about the dream-life was the shot of the alien invasion; UFOs coasting through the city as it burns.  Kewl!  As for the ending, it was a total cop-out.  I'll just assume that Cancer Man let Scully break in and steal Mulder... because if one ID card can get Scully in and out of a Syndicate stronghold it'll just be ridiculous.

7X1    The Sixth Extinction (part 2 of 3)  
Plot:  Scully continues to examine the Craft in Africa but faces inexplicable occurances.  Skinner enlists the aid of Kritschgau to aid the hospitalized and motionless Mulder.

Not really a classic but better than the already decent "Biogenesis", perhaps the best Season Premiere aside from "Herrenvolk".  The Scully in Africa plot was pretty cool, especially for the beautiful location shooting on a (Los Angeles) beach.  Their discovers of the Craft are very intriguing; it describes the human genome as well as all the major religious texts.  Better still are these strange 'miracles' of nature; the Vanishing Man, a sea of blood, a sea of acid, locust swarms, the dead being ressurected, etc.  Wow!  Best of all, Scully finally is faced with the absolute truth (so is Skinner for that matter) and she admits Mulder's illness is from aliens.  We better get some goddamn continuity about this!  The major weak link about this plot is crazy Dr. Barnes, what horrible overacting.  What was the point of this?  He goes crazy and starts threatening them all, come on!  He says aliens are God, and Scully says he's crazy, yeah right.  We get introduced the fascination concept that aliens created life there is no God (which must be controversial), then in this episode to totally comprimise that statement is the fact that the only one saying it is a crazy guy horribly overacting.  Way to go guys.  And where the hell was Scully's GUN during Barnes' machete theats?!  Back in America, we get a decent Skinner starring plot where he tries to help Mulder, which in turn leads to Kritschgau.  Huh?!  What is Kritschgau doing alive after "Redux II"?!  And how conveinent a) that he knows about what's affecting Mulder, and b) that Mulder KNEW he knew.  No it's not from telepathic powers, it's from pre-knowledge.  This wasn't refered to in the Redux trilogy!  Mulder demonstrating his telepathic powers was great, but I really wish he wasn't stuck in a hospital and was instead going around running into Cancer Man, etc.  Oh well, it made for a reasonable dilemma for Skinner, who seems to have forgotten about Krychek's nanotech blackmail for the moment, good thing for Mulder.  And plus, we get Fowley in a good way, her scene where she confesses her duplicity and love to Mulder was truely touching, aside from "The Beginning" it is the first time I gave a rat's ass about her.  We get a nice Scully monologue to Mulder where he is on the verge of tears, normally I despise this stuff but it worked well here because it was minimalist.  For a little cliffhanger, we find that the Craft has disapeered!  Who didn't see THAT one coming huh?  Here's my predicition:  Mulder will be cured by being taken to the site of the Craft, where like the man that Barnes killed he will be ressuricted from the (near) dead.