"This is not a soapbox, Ms. Scully." ~ Chairman of a Senate Committee

I was pretty good about following the mythology up until this point. I paid attention, tried to put the pieces together and make some sense out of them, and thought that I understood pretty well where it was all going and how it was gonna get there.

Until this point.

These episodes are so gratuitous it's funny. Its obvious that 1013 was so desperate for an award of some sort that they pulled out all the stops to make a action packed sweeps thriller that Philes couldn't care less about. And that's the problem: Philes couldn't care about it, so who the Hell else will?

No one.

What was the point of this? How did it advance the mythology in any practical and/or believable manner?

Answer: it didn't. So the Russians are experimenting with this "black cancer" trying to find a cure for it. So Krycek is now all of the sudden helping Mulder for some unknown reason. So these doctors in America aren't supposed to be involved in this research to overtake the Russians in vaccine making without anyone (especially the alien overlords) knowing about it. So Mulder gets his ass kicked and nearly dies AGAIN. So what?

So what?

So the black cancer attaches itself to the pineal gland; what does that do?

One positive thing: Scully's determination is put to the test. She originally told Mulder that she couldn't follow him (anybody know why?) and ends up in jail for a night because she's protecting him. Scully in jail. Now THAT'S entertainment!

Rating: 1.5 lounge chairs out of 5

"Why is this so hard to believe?"