Review of Amor Fati by Sue Brody

They can change your name, but they can't change the things you love...

The End and The Beginning. It's not over til it's over, and it's *never*
over where The X-Files are concerned. If I'm a bit incoherent, please
excuse me. I am trying to put this all in order and perspective as I think
and write about it.

WOW. Just wow. Mindboggling. I am overwhelmed by this episode's power. I am
still trying to wrap my mind around it. *This* is the ep I was waiting to
see. I didn't need Biogenesis and Sixth Extinction (except as setups). I
needed *this* ep. I am awed by all that occurred in 52 minutes of network
television. Congratulations to CC&Co, b/c I *knew* they still had in in
them. This was as solid an ep as Redux II or The End (the last really fine
mytharc, IMHO). DD needs to write or co-write every ep from now on. That is
all. First The Unnatural, now this. You go, DD.

First off, what a powerful beginning! Lordy. Mulder looked fantastic on the
beach (marvelous lighting, btw). Somehow, I preferred him on the beach to
Scully in the previous two eps; he just seemed more at ease, more natural
there. As to the boy on the beach...was that Mulder? Maybe it was innocent
Mulder, and at the end of the ep, adult Mulder was able to reconcile who he
is with whom he wants to be and feels as if he should be. Yes, he does
believe in aliens. Yes, he does want to save the world. Speaking of Mulder,
didn't he look beautiful sitting on the beach? Even w/ short hair, those
looks could kill...and probably will.

For once, I didn't hate Teena Mulder (misspelled in the close captioning as
Tena Mulder, btw). I liked the way she put down the doctor ("You're turning
him into a zombie") and the way Mulder responded, albeit in his thoughts
(there was finally affection between the two of them). The voiceovers were
really interesting in this case, b/c they were internal monologues that
weren't answered by Mrs. Mulder and Mulder, and yet showed the bond they
had, and then were followed up by CSM and Mulder, and *were* connected. As
hard as CSM tries to get Mulder to love him, to trust him--ain't ever going
to happen. The business about the Navajo writings and all that--secondary
to the characterization in this ep, as far as I'm concerned.

I do wonder why Mulder's mom let CSM take her son. Is it because he was
really Mulder's father? Is it b/c she was told this was the only way Mulder
could survive?

I was happy to see the Amor Fati tag line.


This ep was so full of information that it is hard to even describe what I
saw. There were references to Duane Barry, Erlenmeyer Flask, Anasazi/Paper
Clip/Blessing Way, Tunguska/Terma, and The End/The Beginning.  How could
you have even watched this ep w/out knowing the history of TXF?

I got major flashbacks of Arcadia (though w/out as much of the *ick* factor
for me) in this ep (along w/ Rain King and maybe Dreamland I and II). We
see a beautiful neighborhood, w/ everything perfect (perfectly gross,
actually, esp. when Fowley, cleavage and all, stroked Mulder). Thus you
know it *couldn't* be real (or you hoped and prayed as much). Fortunately,
this was later offset by the *sincere* Scully stroking Mulder. Mark Snow's
music was perfect here, little bits of tinkling w/ the ahhhs thrown in.
Commitment turns out *not* to be childish in the end, thank God, despite
what Fowley says, and that is why Mulder can ultimately return to the beach
(in his dreams, the place that he always goes back to, as CSM says) and can
*see* what the child has created (or has found). It's actually what MULDER
has sought ("It's *your* spaceship and *you're* destroying it.") and is
about to give up on, but thankfully does not.

CSM allows that Mulder *is* an extraordinary man. What he doesn't
understand (again) is that Mulder cannot be satisfied w/ ordinary things.
No, for Mulder, the quest will always win. CSM never really doubts that
Mulder will return to the world of The X-Files (he says as much in the car
on the way to Pleasantville...er, Perfectville <g>). What CSM *doesn't*
realize is that Mulder *can* do this, but only with Scully's help (though
you'd think CSM would include her in the equation by now), and this time,
to our shock, with the assistance of Fowley (who'd a thunked it???).

Nonetheless, with Scully, as opposed to Fowley, it's not about sexuality,
it was about love, sincere, passionate, unabiding love. Meanwhile,
Perfectville is more like a scene from the Stepford Wives. Or Night of the
Living Dead. Deep Throat returns. Samantha and family are there. Duane
Barry seems to be alive. Who else lives in the neighborhood? Would you be,
could you be, won't you be my neighbor, Agent Pendrell, Bill Mulder, X,
Max, Agent Spender, Senator Matheson, Melissa Scully, Robert "Pusher"
Modell, and every other character who has ever died (or possibly died) on
the show?

I have to say that the dream sequences were a little uncomfortable for me,
although I suppose they were meant to be. Maybe it was b/c, as happy as I
was to see Jerry Hardin return, I didn't buy Deep Throat being Mr. Folksy,
the guy w/ the cute family and the tennis elbow. Thank GOD this was just a
dream (or hallucination). Of course, the real point of this was for CSM
(through Mulder) to try to break Mulder, for Mulder *not* to believe that
he is the hub of the universe. Or maybe it was Mulder trying to convince
himself that he wasn't the hub of the universe, so that he could finally
rest. Note that CC&Co made us wait until the first full commercial break to
ascertain that this *was* just a dream (nightmare, really). Why the heck
was Mulder dreaming of sleeping w/ Diana, though? Why not w/ Scully, say?
(And why did he say *once*? Had they not been sleeping together back in the
old, pre-Scully days, esp. if they were married? WERE they married?) Okay,
'nuff said. Didn't matter in the long run, anyway. As we know, it was
*Scully* who was there for Mulder in  his dreams and it *is* Scully who
will ultimately be there for him and vice versa. More Shippy!notes to come.
<G>

Mulder's nameplate is still on M&S's office, btw. Just had to note it. And
has Scully's kitchen gotten much larger? The scenes between Holsteen and
Scully were touching, and interesting in that they presumably did not
occur. Yet even Mulder is willing to allow that what is true and what not
is now blurred.

I loved the way the comotose Mulder scenes were interspersed w/ the dreams
of Mulder in wonderland that were interspersed w/ the scenes of Scully
fighting for Mulder's survival (not to mention briefly arguing w/ Diana).
And the scene of the apocalypse outside of Mulder's window, a combination
of a nuclear holocaust and Hell, w/ shades of "The End" thrown in (as the
book burns, thanks to Krycek, we miss you!), was quite powerful.

Shippers are now in heaven. I thought last week's bedside scene was as
powerful as they come, but it was *nothing* compared to Scully in the lab,
followed by Scully at Mulder's door a week later. First, the  "No one can
do it but you Mulder...Mulder, help me...please, Mulder," accompanied by
the teardrop. GA is *fabulous* at crying. DD should take lessons. (JMHO, of
course.) Mulder then says, "You...help...me," and together they continue to
fight the fight (and the future). Finally, we have Scully at Mulder's door.
After some puns ("Tie goes to the runner," ouch) and some more conversation
about what can and cannot be possible (You wait: Scully will become a
believer by the end of this season), we get a conversation about 'the
truth' (what's a good mytharc w/out a conversation about the truth and
trust, eh?), followed by the climax (no pun intended, and notice that this
music is that which was used in Memento Mori). "You were my friend and you
told me the truth. Even when the world was falling apart, you were my
constant and my touchstone."  Scully then replies, "And you were mine," and
what you heard afterwards was the sound of thousands of Shippers sighing
blissfully.  This is followed by the hug, the kiss on the foreward *this*
close to the lips (should have been on the lips, I contend), then Scully
stroking Mulder's lips. This had 1,013 times more power than Diana's
stroking of Mulder, and that is the point, I am sure. I think we know where
*this* relationship is headed. When did Scully have time to get her hair
cut, however? <eg>

BTW, Diana's death just seemed too easy to me. As usual, the death occured
off camera (think Spender, w/out the gunshot). Did she *really* die? Do we
know this for sure? I think not. Meanwhile, where is CSM, and for that
matter, where is Krycek? As hard as I am trying, I am having trouble seeing
TFFW as a good guy, esp. b/c all indications in previous eps indicated
otherwise. To me, she'll always be a traitor who did NOT have Mulder's best
interests in mind. She conspired w/ CSM and nearly got Mulder killed on
more than one occasion. However, Scully seems to have forgiven her, so I
guess I'll have to as well.

A short aside: Red Sox fans throughout the world are cringing at the sight
of Mulder wearing a Yankees cap. It's okay if he's a Knicks fan, but a
Yankees fan, too? That's just wrong. Boo. It's all bad. But Mulder looked
damn cute underneath that cap, even w/ his bandages.

It's interesting that CSM says that Mulder isn't Christ, Prince Hamlet, or
even Ralph Nader <snicker>, but in the end, he takes the high road, thanks
to his partnership w/ Scully. He makes the choice NOT to die, not to take
the easy way out, to be the hero, the savior, and not to live the easy
life. In his dream, when he is old and CSM is trying to get him to close
his eyes and die (and notice that Mulder is not quaking...I was happy about
that, though I still don't think DD cries very well), he asks for Scully
and she comes. Wonderful parallel between what the world *could* be and
what it is.

So that's about it. Looks like next week, Mulder is fully recovered and
back to fighting MOTWs, punning all the way.

What a ride it was. I'm tired. Maybe not as tired as Mulder, but tired
enough. <G>

Sigh. It's good to have The X-Files back,

Sue (file under X)

"If I could get up, I'd kick your ass."
Mulder to CSM in Amor Fati