"...then I get on my knees and pray we don't get fooled again." ~ The Who

I'll be honest-- I was so nervous about this episode, I almost made myself sick last night.  CC and Spotzy had the opportunity in this episode to resurrect many Philes' love of this show and to reaffirm our faith as devout and unwavering fanatics.  They also had the all be it small chance to create an episode that was as good as "One Breath," but then again, its hard to compete with perfection.  They also had the chance to totally alienate Philes with lackadaisical storytelling, too much mythology that went in all the wrong directions, and uncharacteristic dialog and actions from such important people as Scully and Skinner.

Anyone want to guess what CC and Spotnitz did? Try the latter.

Now, last night, I actually enjoyed this one.  But I was DETERMINED to like it, even if the mythology was pointless, the simple, common sense events of the episode were overlooked, and if we had an incredibly shippy scene.  I guess my determination got the better of me, and while the shippiness wasn't too bad (it was actually, um, good) today during my second and third viewings, I couldn't understand what I liked about it last night.  Why?  Glad you asked:

-  Where was Agent Monica "not very FBI of me" Reyes?

-  Um, I didn't know that Mulder had a religion-- I thought he was agnostic...

-  I hate to tell whoever was in charge of the set this, but it doesn't snow like THAT in the south... well that one time in `93, but...

-  Just what did Scully mean when she said that Mulder was the last?  Did she forget about her pregnancy or was she assuming that it IS an alien?

-  What the hell did Doggett do to warrant a promotion?

-  Oh, and three months later, here's Ludicrious!Scully sporting her long, black, maternity dress... I mean, she's only (at least) eleven months now, its about time she started showing...

-  Um, how did Mulder breathe in that SEALED casket?  And didn't they embalm him?  And didn't Scully maybe want an autopsy?

-  So Kersh has been in this office just over six months huh?  That would put this episode in late November/early December... so everything after "Invocation" hasn't happened yet, cause "Redrum" dated itself as early December, so...

-  Mulder knew of this be all-end all vaccine huh?  His dad developed it huh?  When, 1958???  Although that vaccine Krycek had did look like Purity Control from "The Erlenmeyer Flask..."

-  Just how many different alien viruses are there?

-  If Billy Miles shed his skin and became an alien, why did he bleed?

-  <said in satirical Homer Simpson voice> "Oh, they're here to save us!"  That's very neighborly of them...

-  How does Scully know that Billy Miles isn't the same person after he shed his skin?  Lucky guess?

-  Could Gary come back to life too?  I'm sure Ace, er, uh, Richie would appreciate that knowledge.

-  If Absalom knew about these people returning from the dead, why didn't he say something in "This Is Not Happening?"

-  Just why the hell can't Scully have her baby, Krycek?

-  Why did Skinner make Doggett go fetch the vaccine?

-  Oh, hey we're almost out of time... um, yeah, Skinner "saved" Mulder when he pulled all them tubes out of him... hahahaha... haha... <sigh>

-  "Anybody miss me?"  You don't want an answer to that...

Yeah, just exactly why did I enjoy this last night?  The teaser was good, and I'm glad we didn't piss around here for 48 minutes and then decide to have something happen in the last five.  This one actually went at a good pace though almost too fast at times, and its always good to see TLG and MaScully, and the last scene wasn't too bad, although Mulder's joke was really kinda cruel...

Rating: 1 lounge chair out of 5

"Get out while you can, Agent Doggett, or you may never get out at all."