Review of Field Trip by Sue Brody

Twenty-one down, one to go...

To begin: That shower scene in the teaser was *so* PSYCHO, and Angie's
vision in the bathroom was so "Millennium..."

At first, this ep seemed *so* second or third or fourth season, with Mulder
going over his theory and Scully going over hers, and n'er the twain shall
meet. EXCEPT...except that this time, there are a couple of key points in
the office scene. First, Scully's look when Mulder starts explaining his
theory (bemused). Then Mulder looking hurt at Scully's disputing his UFO
theory (she *still* doesn't believe?!) and Mulder responding, "It sounds
like crap when you say it." That had to hurt him.  Then, a very telling
commentary from Mulder: "In 6 years, how often have I been wrong? No
seriously. I mean, every time I bring you a new case (Note: *I* bring you,
not WE WORK ON) we go through this perfunctory dance. You tell me I'm not
being scientifically rigorous and I'm off my nut (reminded me of her
countering him on "the whammy" in PUSHER). And then in the end, who turns
out to be right like 98.9% of the time?" (Could someone look that up and
get back to me on that? Is that accurate?! <g>) I just think I've earned
the benefit of the doubt here." What I suspect is that as M&S hallucinate
their way through this ep, they both play this out, with Mulder beginning
to go Scully's way and Scully going Mulder's way. Maybe the twain *shall*
meet by the end of season seven...

The interesting thing is that in fact Mulder is WRONG in this case and
Scully is right, or eventually she's right, or *more* right (in that it
*isn't* UFOs, it *is* an organic substance, albeit a strangely acting one,
that kills the Schiffs and almost kills M&S).  Anyway, it's odd to think
that Mulder could still be so convinced of UFOs and Scully not
because...well, unless I'm imagining it (not implausible this season),
didn't 2F/1S take place already?! Didn't that prove that there *were* UFOs?
I am lost here...how can Scully still be so skeptical? And yet how can
Mulder be so convinced that *he* is always right? Does the ending of this
ep prove that they both have a ways to go, that they are human and really
do need to work together to get these cases solved, and that *both* of them
need to be more openminded?

Well, he is imagining it all. Or she is. Or they both are (my guess). I had
already read spoilers that indicated that Mulder was hallucinating, and
although I desperately *wanted* the alien to be real (and man, it felt so
JCFOS-ish), it was just too easy. I mean, we have another season to go,
right?! Mulder *can't* be right about everything pertaining to
extraterrestrial life yet, THE UNNATURAL or no (which can be looked at as a
fable, anyway), and the Schiffs were too textbook, just like in JCFOS. It
was still kind of cool when Scully said that Mulder was right about
everything (that was clearly Mulder's hallucination), although I knew that
she wouldn't say that, having found about the bog sludge, which *wasn't*,
something Mulder would know and yet wasn't buying it. And this seemed just
a bit too Kill Switch...in his head, just the way he would imagine it.

As soon as I saw the yellow ooze in the bathroom (again,
Millennium-like--there was an ep in which Frank was having visions in his
bathroom a few weeks ago), I thought, Naah, didn't happen. Same thing with
Scully at Mulder's wake, mostly because we had *seen* Mulder in the cave,
very much alive, and unless it was a conspiracy (which *was* possible, but
doesn't seem to occur much anymore, SR 819 and 2F/1S notwithstanding),
there was no way it could be real (again, JCFOS-like..."This is not
happening, this is not happening..."). Too much rehashing of her theories,
too clean. And when Mulder turns up (knocking on his own door, no less), he
is *not* Mulder, he is other-worldly Mulder, so I knew something was still
up. The scene in Skinner's office with M&S (and Mulder shooting Skinner to
prove that he wasn't real) threw me a bit, though, because at *that* point,
I thought the hallucinations had ended. One of the reasons I like this ep
so much better than HTGSC is because it *didn't* end there, it ended with
them still in the cave, close to death, Skinner rescuing them, and then the
handhold...

Cool special effects when each of the characters appear to melt down, by
the way.

Man, this was one trippydippy ep, eh?! Wow. First Mulder freaks out because
he thinks he finds an alien and proof of the truth and then he disputes
Scully and we find him covered in yellow goo in the cave. Then, even MORE
weirdly, Scully thinks she has found Mulder and discovers that the doctor,
Skinner, and even the LGM--man, what the hell was Frohicke wearing?!
<g>--are all towing the party line and talking about a ritualistic murder,
using the same theory Scully had espoused in the first scene with Mulder
and that he had disputed.  It was touching in that she cried after thinking
Mulder had been killed (but she was just upset enough, wiping away those
two tears, no hysterics in public), and wonderful in that she refused to
accept simple, scientific conclusions (you've come a long way, Scully), but
we *knew* Mulder was in the cave, so we knew something weird was up with
Scully. And I liked the way Skinner defended her, letting us know that she
was much more than just a foil for Mulder's weird theories (Where is Kersh,
btw? Just curious.) at this point. Of course, that could be Scully simply
*wanting* to hear or believe that...where one suspends disbelief in this ep
is a matter of one's interpretation, even more so than in, say, MILAGRO.

Happily, we get SaveTheDay!Skinner...what a refreshing change!!! He even
heard her say "Mushroom" and he answered that yes, they had found it.

Finally, need one say that most shippy moment in the ambulance? Yes, the
handhold. Wow.

So it *seems* as if Scully has become more openminded, but it's hard to say
for certain because this is another ep that didn't really happen (story of
the season). I am not sure what to think now...aside from the fact that M&S
were under the influence of an LSD substance that *would* have killed them
had it not been for Skinner finding them.

I was certainly intrigued by this ep, but I have to admit to being
disappointed in that, once again, it *seems* to me as if 1013 has taken the
easy way out by not having any of this happen, except for Mulder and Scully
ending up in the cave and Skinner rescuing them. I guess you have to look
at it as if this is how Mulder and Scully FEEL about the quest and one
another (as you could do in Kill Switch), but I would love an ep where what
happened really *did* happen and/or was remembered the next day. What was
real? The halluciogen, the deaths of Angie and her husband, and the
near-deaths of Mulder and Scully. The rest? No. Probably not. Too bad. But
we did get some neat things...Mulder defending himself, Scully taking the
less scientific, more "open to extreme possibilities" route, Skinner
defending Mulder *and* Scully and then rescuing them (that's a first,
yes?), and the hand hold...ah...another angst!ridden concluding moment that
worked just fine for me, thanks.