Review of Biogenesis by Sue Brody First, I liked the name of the ep--another pun, just like Field Trip (which took me a while to get, I might add). I was hoping for a cool tag line, though...maybe in November... The teaser seemed very Mulder-like (okay, CC-like, as filtered through Mulder), but this time w/ Scully at the helm. Makes sense, as this was a Scullycentric ep, but also strange. Guess this truly has become Scully's quest, too, although when Scully questions why Mulder is still searching when he has discovered all he has about the Syndicate and uncovered their plans, he says he is still searching for his sister (which I thought has already been resolved in the movie...well, in the video version, anyway). Guess not, and then that brings us full circle, as season ep concentrated heavily on Samantha. I sense we won't find out definitively about Samantha until the *end* of season seven, but just a guess...At any rate, there has been more Scully this season, it seems, and she was certainly prominant in *this* ep...now let's see them both working TOGETHER on serious cases NEXT season. I felt as if I was watching Millennium at times during this ep, w/ its religious overtones. Hell, MM has been very good this year...and CC and Frank wrote one of MM's best eps...but The X-Files *isn't* MM, and vice versa, so I prefer to keep religion *out* of TXF whenever possible. Were the apes supposed to represent homo sapiens? Man, were they hyper! And then at the end, Mulder acts almost animal-like in the padded "cage". Coincidence? Why *did* the two pieces of the artifact forge together? Why did they spin? *Was* it magic?! Mulder and Scully *do* seem much more comfortable together in their banter in this ep, both in Skinner's office (Mulder giving Scully the *look* when she speaks about scientific theories and plausibility) and in the elevator, b/f Mulder loses it. I am surprised Mulder is still looking for his sister, frankly. I kind of thought at this point he figured she was either dead or far, far away (since he knew she had been made a hybrid, at least acc'd to WMM). S: You're late. M: I'm sorry, I thought this was *my* office. ARGH! PLEASE! Either Scully *does* have an office somewhere else (and if so, could we see it, por favor?!) or that is just the greatest of arrogance on Mulder's behalf. When did we last see Chuck? What ep was he in? I think I remember him from another ep...grrr...which one?! "Wow. That blows me away." LOL, Chuck! :) Scully's concern for Mulder ("Go to bed") seemed so Anasazi, which is no coincidence, IMO, since we have Alfred Holsteen back again...well, sort of. Speaking of Alfred, I think he was *really* wasted in this ep. Come to think of it, so was CSM. Big time. I thought it was very effective in the second scene in Skinner's office when Mulder was unable to say much, due to the cacophony in his head. Too bad he didn't attack Skinner here, the way he had in Anasazi. And *this* time he had just cause. Was it really necessary for Skinner to be duplicitous in this ep? I mean, do you really believe he would be working for Krycek (b/c he had to, due to Krycek's palm controller) and not TELL anyone? That is to say, Skinner used to work for CSM b/c he thought ultimately it would serve the greater good. Then he did it to save Scully. But what about now? Is there NO ONE he could tell, to try to save his life? I believed he really bought into Mulder and Scully's quest...now, I don't know, and I'm not buying that Skinner can only continue on the show if he is a good guy/bad guy. That's Krycek's job. I really hate CSM being reduced to a black and white bad guy who only smokes and looks threatening, the way he did in the beginning of season one. Feh. KILL DIE FOWLEY already and give CSM his job back. Hell, bring back Marita, just get rid of Fowley. ::shudder:: Speaking of Fowley, I cannot believe that Mulder called her (I seem to remember a little ep called One Son...surely, Mulder remembers what happened in that series of events as well). I hope it was Krycek, pretending to be Mulder, though I guess that's unlikely. Alas. She didn't find him in the hallway, Krycek did (though she lies about this to Scully), so I'm confused as to what happened. Maybe Mulder *thought* he called her b/c he was out of it so Die told him that she had after Krycek told her to come get Mulder (this is what I would *like* to believe, anyway). I also can't believe Mulder didn't tell Scully who answered the phone (though she *does* find out), and even more significantly that Scully didn't pursue that at the time. I mean, who did she honestly think was there w/ him? A nurse? His mother? Yeesh. God help us all if Fowley had sex w/ Mulder, but her undressing was completely gratuitous and unnecessary. Thanks for the bust shot as well, 1013. Really made our night. Not. I cringed when Krycek walks by WrithinginPain!Mulder in the stairwell (very Krycek-like). I kind of expected him to beat him up, but clearly he called either CSM or Fowley or both instead. And I loved Scully running through the hospital after the professor...in the past, that would have been Mulder. Weird cinematography at times, both in the teaser and when Scully is in the hospital, as Holsteen is being taken away. And again, what w/ the Genesis section? Has to do w/ the origins of life, I guess. More Mulder in v-neck sweater and jeans, please. :) And please, DD, do NOT cut your hair this summer. It finally looks good again! Why *can't* Scully believe that the artifact is in fact extraterrestrial in nature? WHY THE HELL NOT?! I guess it's not surprising, however, that Scully would turn to the Bible, while Mulder would turn to the paranormal. I really think it's time to end the voiceovers. Lord. Enough already. It was interesting that: There is a healing ceremony for Holsteen, as there had been for Mulder. Scully says, "They've done everything they can for him." Sound familiar, eh? Redux II redux . How can Skinner call Scully DANA and hold her hand when he has caused this to happen to Mulder?! And if Mulder was indeed asking for Scully, I just can't believe that Scully wouldn't try to go to him, despite the doctor saying "he's extremely violent." She says, "He's not a danger to me," so WHY NOT GO IN AND SEE HIM. I was really taken by Mulder on the screen. It was painful to see. I LOVE when Scully says, "You're a liar. You're both liars" to Skinner and to Scully. Still, I cannot figure out why Scully leaves, PARTICULARLY w/ the two of them (Skinner and Fowley) there. And I can only help that Scully can convince MULDER of this in the second part next season (which hopefully will have a new teaser to go w/ it), so Die can go away and maybe we'll figure out what Krycek is doing. Did Mulder possibly get sick from the surveillance, or is it indeed just from the artifact engraving? God, can Krycek get around. I can't believe he killed Dr. Sandoz, too. Amazing. I loved Scully's final outfit, but it didn't quite fit on the beach, did it? She looks like she is about to go to a reception, or is on a cruise, rather than investigate the artifact. Well...I wouldn't put this ep in the category of Anasazi/Blessing Way/Paper Clip, but it did have its moments. I didn't feel as manipulated as Cassandra did, and I think a second viewing of Biogenesis helped. I mean, God knows it was nice to see an ep that happened, and that had moments of the old X-Files look and feel, but I did feel as if this was somewhat skeletal at times. I mean, I just think there were moments that were kind of boring and others that could have been richer. OTOH, it was nice to see Scully doing most of the work (had to, I guess, since Mulder was comotose), and I guess next season Scully will *have* to be less skeptical. But please, 1013, get rid of Die and bring CSM back into the picture, and have Mulder and Scully work more together. And no more StarORama next season, either! Oh, and leave the comic eps to Vince Gilligan, please!