"One Son" Review
Rebecca Bateman, rebeccaxf@washington-dc.crosswinds.net
http://come.to/the.x-files


Some thoughts on "One Son" (or "How To Succeed In World Domination Without Really Trying").

Did I like it? Yes. 
Was it sufficiently dark? Yes. :-P I'm really liking the turn of events since "SR 819".
Did I think it was shippy at all? Not really. But, I'll try to convince
myself otherwise.

Initial thoughts:
-Why can't I ever understand what Mulder is saying in those darned opening
monologues? Mulderese again. The man should have majored in English at
Oxford, methinks. :P
-No tag line change, yet again. 
-Hmmm... they aired the "Last time...." bit *after* the commercial.
Interesting.

Alright. A little more coherence. How do I begin? Let me say the MythArc
stuff is still as confusing as ever. What is the Rebels' place in all this?
What do they want from Cassandra? Why did the Rebels kill all those people
in the hangar? Why do they need the alien fetus? And with the Syndicate
gone, what's to become of their plans? Yes, they revealed a hell of a lot
in terms of the Syndicate's motivation and goals, but most of the rest they
said had already been speculated by fans. I think the "Full Disclosure"
gimmick was supposed to mean all the conspiracy was going to be revealed
like, "Here it is in a nutshell. We're tying all the pieces together in a
nice little bow, but it's nothing you didn't know already if you had been
paying attention." Though, it did shed new light on Mulder's quest. By the
end, I became sort of like him to a degree, thinking everything he'd been
doing since 1993 had been a waste. I mean, the Syndicate's motives weren't
*entirely* selfish. Maybe they were doing the right thing. I'm having a
hard time disliking them now, despite their evil methods. Perhaps the ends
don't justify the means, but maybe there was no other way.

Still, I really hate Apathetic!Mulder. He's always been the mover, the
shaker, the get-up-and-go-guy. With everything he knows, it disturbs me no
end to see him just sit on his butt and shrug his shoulders.

And Spender. Poor, poor Spender. I must admit, I *knew* it would be he who
bites the dust. Yet, just when I was starting to actually *like* the guy,
he gets a bullet to the heart. I mean, he turned good and everything! Isn't
there like a literary term for that? When a character finally changes for
the better, sees the light, and dies soon thereafter? I can buy that since
we didn't actually witness his death, it may not have occured. Like father,
like son, right? <g>

Speaking of liking previously hated characters, I felt immense sympathy for
Marita tonight. She looked postively awful! Those hideous bloodshot eyes,
the desperation and fear in her voice. Similar tests were probably run on
Scully, though with far less severity. It was really sad the way she clung
to Mulder and Spender, her only life lines to escape the hell she was in.

And a final character- Diana Fowley. I think I'm the only one in the entire
X-Files fan universe who *doesn't* mistrust her. I'm not convinced she's
evil, even with Scully's discovery. I just don't understand her motivations
at all. What does she want? Why does she care about all this? What does she
want from Mulder? And what is her relationship with the CSM? I'm open to
suggestions here. I want to believe she's a bad guy, but I can't be certain
just yet.

A final topic- the shippiness quota. I don't quite know what to make of the
M/S interaction in this eppie. The Fowley/Mulder/Scully dynamic was quite
different tonight than it ever was in "The Beginning". Mulder and Scully
were acting nothing like the true friends I know they are. They appeared
more like simple FBI partners tonight: the way Mulder tried to calm Scully
down in the decon room, the way Mulder trusted his old girlfriend rather
than his best friend. I mean, Mulder barely even peeked at Naked!Scully in
the shower, and she didn't even return that small favor! It seems whenever
Di Fowley comes into the picture, they pull away from each other, choosing
rather to bicker and butt heads than work together. 

Despite my misgivings as to Diana's immorality, I don't think I liked how
Mulder wouldn't listen to Scully at the LGM's office. So, you knew Diana
before, Mulder. People change. Listen to Scully. Hear her out, as you have
asked of her so many times past. I'll admit though that Scully's evidence
wasn't all that compelling, and at least he trusted her enough to rummage
through Diana's very ritzy Watergate apartment. (Watergate - hmmmmm.....) 

I don't know how to interpret Mulder's actions in Fowley's apartment,
either. He was sitting there, waiting for her to return. Didn't he used to
do that kind of brooding while waiting for Scully? Though, his conversation
with Diana didn't seem very.... I don't know... It didn't seem like he was
very emotionally invested in her. It felt more like what it was- a
confused, lonely man going to an ex-lover/friend/partner for guidance. I
think Mulder felt Diana was the only one who would understand his feelings,
the only one who would understand him and his devotion to the X-Files. He
figured she was there when he opened them, and only she would know and
believe the extent of the truth contained within. Even though he didn't
even give Scully a *chance* to understand, I don't believe he spoke with
Diana merely because she was convenient. Yet, why did he tell *her* first
about his change in beliefs? If he truly believed going to that Air Force
Base was the only way to survive, I'm upset he didn't call Scully
immediately.

I'm also intrigued by Diana's reaction to Mulder's statement about coming
to her place to look for evidence against her. He must have seen some sort
of fear or apprehension in her eyes that caused him to reassure her that he
didn't find anything. That alone should clue me in to her deceit, shouldn't
it? Mulder's always been good at reading people.

The Mulder/Fowley kiss was all it was cracked up to be, I suppose. I'm
still not quite following Diana's reasons for kissing him, but I'm really
glad he didn't bother to kiss her back. God knows that if Scully had been
the one kissing him, he wouldn't have just sat there like a bump on a log.
(BTW, why is it that whenever two major XF characters kiss, the lighting is
always so gosh-darned *dark*?)

In defense of the ship, I think Mulder does understand that Scully's a
little jealous. "You're making this personal." And he did trust his partner
in the end. It saved his life, too.

Though, the lack of shippiness didn't really detract all that much from my
enjoyment of the ep. As you can see, it's inspired me to think a whole lot
more. Yes, I would have liked a little more interaction, but I'll live. It
doesn't bother me as it apparently bothers some of the rest of you. I'll
live with it and keep hoping for improvement later on. It should be
interesting to see how it progresses, what with Mulder and Scully reaching
some common ground in regards to their beliefs of the conspiracy. TRATB/PX
had some foreshadowing of this, but I honestly think these two eps have
advanced their characters in this way more than ever before. Scully is
going out of her way to believe in and expose what she knows of The Project
while Mulder is depending more and more on proof in both his professional
and personal life. This ep has, for me, brought M&S to a common ground. Now
that everyone (Kersh) seems to want to know what Mulder has known for a
long time, Scully is right there to back him up, believing in most of it
already. I saw that final scene in Kersh's office as a coming together. To
me, M&S felt more united in their beliefs and desires (other than for each
other) than they ever have before.

And, now for some random thoughts:

-Episode names. "Two Fathers" was sort of explained in the opening of
tonight's ep, but what is the significance of "One Son". Maybe it refers to
Mulder? As in both Bill Mulder and the CSM are his fathers in a way... am I
reaching?

-Wasn't that photo of Mr. Mulder and the CSM burned at the beginning of the
ep? How was it back at the end?

-M&S chasing trains in a white car.... looked vaguely familiar. ;) BTW,
parking on train tracks and trying to shoot the train down? Yeah. That's
smart, guys. Uh-huh. And y'all went to college?

-Krycek looked mighty tasty tonight. And he become good friends with
Spender, it seemed. I loved the expression on Krycek's face when he saw Marita,
though. What was that? Suprise? Love? Affection? I especially liked the 
way he looked at her when he was explaining Spender's naivete. "You 
know *exactly* what I'm talking about, Marita."

-The Lone Gunmen obviously believe Scully over Mulder. That's a first, huh?
(I thought it was wonderful, personally.) And it's the second time she's
gone to them for help in researching Diana.

-Nancy on XFR said:
"CC has given himself an escape hatch.  He's taken the whole convoluted
plot and ended it somewhat without answering many things.  In other words,
he's painted himself out of the corner he was in by pushing the bright red
reset button.  'It's all changed, folks.  What was planned is no more. 
All bets are off.'"
Oooh. Good one. "All bets are off." Does this give us the possibility for a
whole new MythArc plot to take shape?

-Give the Files back to Mulder and Scully? You mean, they get the office
back and everything?!?!? Waa-hoo! Oh yeah, bay-beeeee! So there, "Just
Shoot Me" Lady.

-Next week: worms below the skin? A rehash of "Ice"? As much as I adore
"Ice", I would hope they could be a little more original.

Guess that's it. I'm enjoying the ride right now. I think about it, and I
can't believe this is our second to last season. I've never had so much fun
discussing a show, and I don't want it to end. "One Son" felt like a
wind-down of sorts, like I should be preparing for the end. Well,
resistance may be futile, but I don't give a darn. Resist or serve, my
foot. 

I'm looking forward to next week and wondering how I managed such a
long-winded review....