"My life is sh*t because I'm a test-tube baby." ~ Dave Foley

    or

"Now the important thing was that I had an onion tied to my belt, which was the style at the time. Anyway, I was going to Shelbyville to get a new heal for my shoe. Back then they only cost a nickel and nickels had pictures of bees on 'em. 'Gimme five bees for a quarter' you'd say..." ~ Grandpa Simpson

I was determined to like this one, but thankfully, I didn't need TOO much determination, only a little bit.

It actually kept my interest the second time around, which, for season eight, is pretty damn good. My pulse even rose during the forth act!

Now, don't misunderstand, I didn't love this one. I'm still not sure whether I really like it or not, but I can tolerate it and am looking forward to watching it again, which, for season eight, is also pretty damn good. The first oh, say, 45 minutes were tedious at best. While I like to see Mulder, Skinner, Doggett, and Krycek having a testosterone contest and I love to see Monica Reyes' dynamite investigative and protective abilities, I kept wanting to say "get on with it," but in typical TV style, the thing that most people were looking forward to/dreading (the birth) didn't happen until the very end and the rest was, um, filler. We didn't learn too much about what this baby is (not that I expected to) and it seems that no one really knows, not even Mulder and Scully. Rohrer (sp?) says that its the first organic version of what Billy Miles is, a "super soldier," but if this is true, why are Billy and the others trying to kill it? He also says that the chip in Scully's neck is what made her pregnant... um, what? I didn't think a computer chip could MAKE someone PREGNANT! Of course, this same chip may be keeping her cancer at bay and may be tracking her movements, so I don't know why causing pregnancy is so far- fetched...

Other than that, the only concrete explanation we're given is that Scully and Mulder created this child through completely natural, old-fashioned means although I personally see nothing that disproves the IVF theory or the theory that CSM did something to Scully during "En Ami," but that's probably just the stubborn NoRomo talking and not good sense. I didn't expect CC to come right out and tell us exactly what this child is, and in my opinion, he didn't confirm or deny anything. We're still just as ambiguous about it as we were in "Requiem" or "Per Manum" or any of those other episodes dealing with this. I have my beliefs, and you have yours, and CC doesn't care about either of them, so why beat our heads against the wall?

One thing I really did like about this one was Doggett asking Mulder how long he was willing to let this go on, how long before another Billy Miles pops up and demands satisfaction. Mulder replies that he doesn't know and somehow that's very comforting to me. Its good to know that even though Mulder -may- be a father now, his heart is still in his X-Files and the truth.

But why did Krycek want Skinner to kill Mulder? "One bullet and I can give you 1,000 lives... shoot Mulder." Anyone care to take a stab at explaining that one to me?

Now, getting back to earlier this season when CC was still sprinkling hints about this baby in between Jesus slugs and metal men and such, I remember Krycek telling Skinner that Scully couldn't come to term, I remember alien babies, and a mysterious pregnant women warning Scully that her baby was in danger, and this same women had an alien baby herself, I remember Scully being thrown against a wall with no ill effect on her baby, and I know for a fact that CC & Spotzy have screwed up this timeline and Scully was AT LEAST 12 months pregnant when she gave birth. These are not normal occurrences and they point to something less that normal developing, so I guess I feel that CC chickened out in the end by making it normal.

Assuming it is normal... we don't know... he could have the same anemia that Emily had, or something...

Now: the last scene I didn't care for. Maybe it was a fitting end for the episode but for the series, I don't think so. I had always hoped that the show would end with Mulder and Scully in their basement office investigating X-Files just like always, but with them riding off into the sunset and Doggett and Reyes taking over, I feel, um, sad.

But I don't know why this surprises me. CC is so far away from his original conception of his show, it shouldn't even be considered the same show, or even the same characters. Mulder and Scully are unrecognizable now. Its almost like someone stole -my- show, shifted its focus, and replaced Mulder and Scully with new characters, also played by DD and GA, who just happened to be named Mulder and Scully. Am I alone in this thought? Am I just holding onto a hope that I will never see come true?

Suddenly I want to cry. -My- show isn't supposed to end this way, and I think that in the style of "SUZ" and "Closure," "Existence" will be erased from -my- X-Files universe. I'll just come up with my own ending that suits -my- perception of the show and how it should end. I think that after all I've been through these past eight years, I deserve to be happy just like the Shippers. Maybe you would like to come up with a different ending to, that just suits you.

I'm glad that the Shippers are happy... really I am.

To summarize: "Existence" is a good episode in an of itself, but as an ending to eight years (or nine, depending on the date stamp in the pilot) I feel that this was a huge let down to the show, the characters, and to the Philes, especially the NoRomos.

Rating: 1 lounge chair out of 5

"And in the end the love you take is equal to the love you make."