Review of RUSH by Sue Brody Best line of this episode: Mulder: "I believe Chuck is about to take us on a ride into the paranormal." Well, RUSH wasn't a bad episode. It also wasn't a great episode, but it did tie things together for the most part. It didn't feel particularly engrossing, but again we didn't really get to know the kids too well (more on that below), except that Max was anti-authority. OTOH, Tony *was* a fairly sympathetic figure (unlike Rob in HUNGRY, IMHO, who just seemed whiny), and Mulder and Scully got some good lines off. Sometimes I feel as if this year's eps are either paying homage to or making fun of earlier eps. There is a difference, however. When M&S discuss the cave at the end of the ep, and Mulder wonders if it's b/c they are too old, she says, "Well, it's doubtful, but no more so than any other theory. It's worth checking out." At last she has gained a healthy self-awareness of her skepticism. Very effective opening. Trees (LOVE TREES! LOVE NIGHT!), the paranormal, and a dead deputy. Seems like old times on TXF! :) (No offense to the police...it's just a plot device.) Cutest M&S moment: When Mulder is about to phone Scully, she shows up, and w/ a smile he says, "Oh, there you are." Maybe he was thinking of the kiss...just kidding. :) Notice how she got caught in traffic...slow going?! This is in contrast to the kids, who are able to speed everything up. Then again, they aren't old fogies like Mulder and Scully, and damn fine looking old fogies, might I add. Second cutest M&S moment: After Mulder goes on about poltergeists being attracted to teenagers and the ensuing chaos, Scully says, "Mulder. Rather than spirits, can we at least start w/ Tony's friends? Please? Just for me?" She gives him the cutest smiles and glances during this brief exchange (rather flirtatous, no?) and he doesn't argue. It was also nice to see Scully be right about the stimulants and the "near superhuman strength" they can effect, even if wasn't right about the source of the stimulant. Third cutest M*S moment: After the teacher dies, and the cafeteria is sealed off, Mulder says, "I'll show you my theory if you show me yours." Scully replies, "Based on the eyewitness accounts of the students I spoke to, at this moment I'd have to say that I don't have one." Then she turns and gives a little head nod to Mulder, as if to say, Okay, hot shot, your turn. And Mulder comes through as always. *whew* There were at least a dozen references to age. I kept wondering if Max was actually older than he was (shades of Our Town, where the people who ate the chicken didn't age normally), but no, he just LIVED faster and harder and it wore him down. The age issue begins right after the teaser, when Mulder briefly flirts w/ Chastity and Scully catches him and gives him the look (and he says, "What?" and laughs). Then Tony refers to how old M&S are, and Mulder says, "Bear w/ us, b/c we're old and stupid." It is nice how Tony ties this into them trying to relate to him to get a confession, as the other cops had done. Later, after M&S try to get information from Chastity, Max arrives and says that Scully "Must have been a Betty. Back in the day." I was surprised that Scully didn't remember how she identified w/ Betty (from Detour) or break into "Joy to the World." Although Max and Tony's powers didn't directly tie into the psychokinetic changes that result as a result of adolescence (yes, this is Scully!speak), I liked the way they related to teens wanting a "rush." We've certainly seen this in earlier eps (licking frogs in Quagmire, for example, and homemade labs in War of the Coprophages). And they say today's society is always in such a rush. I don't think this is what they mean. Boy, don't get Max mad (Mad!Max). Just don't go there. Mel Gibson is cuter than this Max, however. Did you see the small smile Scully gave b/f she looked at the back of the officer's neck? It was as if she was saying, Ick, another bizarre thing I have to look at. Well, gotta do it at least once an ep, I might as well do it now. Tony's mom seemed stereotypical to me. What *was* Tony's past? Where is his dad? Did they have to move b/c he had been in w/ the wrong gang or b/c there was no hope for advancement? Where were they living? Why isn't a bit more offered up, esp. at the end, w/ Tony lying in the hospital? Little plot hole there, eh? And I *really* didn't buy Max's wanting Tony to be his friend. In my mind, it was all about Max, and Tony and even Chastity were incidental. Wow, CHUCK is back! Coolness. Imaging software. Coolness. He uses the biggest words, but also says, "I dig a mystery w/ layers." Love it. He reminds me a bit of Agent Pendrell. And you can tell Scully is now as impressed w/ Chuck as Mulder is. Boy, did I feel bad for the teacher when he died in the cafeteria. I think that scene bothered me more than anything else, and was definitely reminiscent of Szygzy when the boy died in the high school gym. Scully looks really good in long jackets. Liked the beige. Why does she now wear white shirts unbuttoned with her black jackets, however? Are we going for the Sexy!Scully look? Um...would Mulder use the word "gunk"? Later "globs of goo." Not very scientific words, Agent, but not corrected by Scully, I noticed. This looks like the cave in Field Trip. Could it be? I am guessing yes. Were you thinking "Let's do the Time Warp again?" when Tony stepped into the swirling light of the vortex? I know I was. After Max collapses, Mulder says he knows that Max knows why, and Max says, "Yeah, too much teen spirit." Then Mulder replies, "You think? Smells like murder to me." Glad Mulder is down w/ his Nirvana. Then we get a Carrie reference. More EW-type references than we usually get, but it kept us in the teen frame of mind, I guess. I think we got a better sense of Max, etal's reasons for acting than we did through the monster (Rob)'s pov in HUNGRY. How convenient that the cave was covered over w/ concrete. Damn, I hate when that happens. It used to be the Syndicate or another govt agency...now it's just regular folks, I guess. That goo looked like the goo in Field Trip, too, and it was drugs again, only this time speed, not hallucinigens. Yay for Tony for bursting in and saving Max's dad! Too bad that Chastity had to die, b/c now Tony is going to be wrecked for life and he has no one to talk to about this. Excellent special effects. I LOVED how the car smashed into the tree, followed by Tony and Max standing outside, looking at it. I also liked Tony being touched (he wasn't exactly sucked in, I guess) by the rushing vortex and the way his body reacted. Also impressive was Max and Tony's stand off in the cave, followed by Max's and finally Chastity's deaths. Max standing with the bullet through his chest and then Chastity having it fly into her own chest to kill herself was all very surreal. I didn't really buy Mulder and Scully's inability to see the vortex b/c they were too old, however (have to go w/ Scully there). I had major shades of Pusher through this ep (Max's medical charts, his psychokinetic changes, his ability to act w/out being seen), as well as DPO (esp. the end, when the teen changes the channels w/out moving like Tony makes the clock hands move backwards). Can M&S *really* believe he'd go back to being a normal kid? Does that make *sense*? So, all the pieces fit, there were some nice lines in the ep, and yet I feel strangely unfulfilled. Why? Was it b/c this just felt too much like too many other eps I've already seen? Oh, well. We'll see how if "you feel lucky" after next week's episode.