The X-Files 3x02: Paper Clip
Jun. 14th, 2019 03:58 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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tori_reviewsThe X-Files 3x02: Paper Clip
I’m pretty sure I liked that one Not only do I like arc episodes in general, but this one was well put together; it had about the right mix of mystery and action, some solid character moments, and was a pretty good conclusion to this arc (if only it wouldn’t take ten episodes to get back to). I’m not sure I have a lot to say about it though, it just sort of is what it is.
I have to say that it contributes to some disconnect between what the show thinks it is and what resonates with me. The show thinks it’s still about Mulder’s search for the truth, and him as the torchbearer to light the truth for the world; but the story it’s telling is Scully’s. Partly because GA is acting circles around DD, and kind of because Mulder’s certainty often makes him look like a jackass (and he no longer has the excuse of being drugged). And because Scully and Skinner are much more rational people who deal with the struggle to find a balance between truth and justice and possibility, while Mulder is often willing to do really stupid things just so he knows the truth without any thought to how he’s going to do any good with that knowledge. Scully actually cares, about a lot of things, from the small and tangible like her family to large abstract ideas like justice.
She also gets more character development in her small moment of concern for Mulder finding out something bad about his father than Mulder has all episode. That moment was so sweet and about the fourth moment I really wanted them to make out or at least hug; and not the last such moment.
On the other hand, I have reached the stage where I think there are some good odds that Skinner is into Scully. Building on the mistrust that I don’t get from last time, she’s still kind of terrible to him in these episodes, and I’m not sure what to make of the fact that the earliest time I seem to feel this way is during an arc where Mulder was absent for the middle chunk of it. Also Skinner is just awesome in the episode (aside from carrying the tape on him, but we’re coming to the tape shenanigans); although he does fail to beat anyone else up on Team X-files’ behalf, he so clearly wanted to be the big hero again. And I’m not quite sure how he doesn’t end up dead after this, he didn’t include his own survival on the stipulations and it would send a message.
I’m not sure I really get what’s revealed here, especially since I have enough memories of later things that cause me to think at least half of what we’re told to believe here is actually more lies. And this time I found the conspiracy meetings funny because everyone is very careful not to call each other anything; I would accept them using code names, but they don’t use any names so the writers don’t have to commit to anything. Also, if my face-blind ass can pick out WMM and Deep Throat in that picture I feel like trained investigators like Mulder and Scully should be able to recognize them...also, also, why does that picture even exist and why did Bill have it?
Also, the window-X has been there for days now; I like to imagine Mr. X has been trying to contact Mulder several times. And I could have sworn this was when he died, but I guess not, must be the next set of arc episodes, and they probably do need to actually show him at a conspiracy meeting before he goes.
And then there’s Krycek; most of this could have been said last time but it slipped my mind. This does settle that he was working for the conspiracy and CSM directly, so that does mean Cancerman was lying when he said he wasn’t involved in Bill’s death. Now, Cancerman lies; in other news, water is known to be wet, but I’m not even sure the point of that lie. Also, I still don’t really get Krycek’s actions back in ‘Ascension’ if he was just running back to the evil league of evil; maybe he just really wanted to get away from Mulder. And then why exactly does CSM try and kill him in the end?
And moreover, I’m not sure if even at this point Cancerman going so hard for Mulder and Scully’s deaths makes total sense; he’s always been very clear that he doesn’t think Mulder’s death serves the cause, and that Scully’s fate is tied in with that (maybe just in keeping Mulder reined in, and if Mulder is dead then there isn’t much point in that anymore). Long term, don’t you guys have plans for Scully so why kill her over this?
Now, the tape. SFdebris got into a long rant about this in his recent review, so I’m probably repeating some things. But, they printed things off in Anasazi, why can’t they print another copy? How about going lower tech and transcribing what you see? I’m also pretty sure the Lone Gunmen could get past some copy protection if Mulder, Scully, or Skinner took them the tape. Why was Skinner even carrying the tape on him when he went to go fight the baddies; I actually thought we were earlier in the episode and he was carrying around a dummy tape. When did Albert have time to read the whole file and have time to pass it along? Did he just pass on what he and Scully had gone through last episode? Why doesn’t he tell Mulder and Scully and the Lone Gunmen everything so they can do something with it and Mulder can get some of his precious truth? And while I would hope the conspiracy has upped its internet security after this breach, the information is still out there for dedicated hackers to get into especially if they actually take some precautions.
Previous status
Like with the last one, I feel like I must have seen this, but I don’t actually remember doing so. I feel more like I saw clips from it in some kind of TXF overview special at some point. I’ve also never forgotten the bit in the Nitpicker’s Guide mocking how the conspiracy just couldn’t be bothered to get a new file folder when they got Samantha instead of Fox.
When are we?
We’re still in the days following Anasazi/TBW, though I don’t have a good feel for how much time is passing and they’re not giving me updates.
Vancouver spotting
I still think that abandoned mine (or whatever it really is) has been used in other things.
The gang that’s here
Skinner, The Lone Gunmen, Smokey, WMM, Krycek, Teena, Maggie, and kind of Melissa
Who’s driving?
Mulder, and I’m not sure whose car that is. Then Skinner, and I’m not sure what happened to the former car. It would make some sense if they had to ditch it at the mine, but then how did they get to the diner three states away?
Are we saying it’s aliens?
I’m not sure how else to interpret what was going down at the mine, but it does feel a little deliberately obfuscated. And not just so Scully doesn’t see anything, but so they can say it’s something else later if they decide that fits better.
Scully’s convenient miss of the week
Speaking of, ‘Scully, stay inside, if you went with Mulder you might see something that would change your character. So stay here and have no idea what creepy critters are scurrying around.’ Also, why are they doing that?
Pretentious voiceovers
Albert gets some more
Who’s your daddy?
There’s no real hint to anything besides Bill, and it does kind of cheapen Scully’s sweet moment here (a bit) for it to be anyone but Bill. But if we say Smokey is Mulder’s dad, he’s pretty terrible through this.
People allowed to call Mulder Fox
I think Teena uses it, certainly would have if she called him anything.
Does Chris Carter hate love?
Even if you don’t want it to be romantic, why the hell don’t they hug when Mulder comes back from the dead? As much as I may want to assume that there was some lovin’ it up in the elevator, that doesn’t really work. They have no sense of personal space and there were plenty of times in the episode where I went ‘KISS DAMNIT’ (at least give me a damn forehead kiss for that) but they don’t actually touch that much and it’s borderline weird. Not helped by the fact that Mulder is pretty much an asshole through this.
How crazy does Mulder sound?
How to answer this? Because he isn’t going around spouting the kind of nonsense I usually call him on. But he does sound like a person with some serious problems. He doesn’t seem that rational on a large scale level; it’s not just that he believes in all the crazy stuff, it’s that he pursues it with no thought to course or destination. Also he sounds like a douchebag though most of it. Who wakes their mother up in the middle of the night to ask if she loved him or his sister more?
Does GA deserve an Emmy?
Probably, she has a lot of really good scenes that are probably mostly good because of her.
Can DD act?
Sometimes in the reflected glow of GA’s performance, and when he doesn’t come off like an asshole and I suspect he’s not supposed to. He’s really not very good here.
Forehead kisses
I think the last scene was mostly just a hug, but it’s the closest they got to anything.
Wow that’s uncomfortable in hindsight
I don’t know about uncomfortable, but I feel like they should have also checked to see if Mulder had a file. As many files as are in that facility, I think it’s more than just abductees (and he may well have been abducted at some point too). And why not steal a few to go over later and see if there’s any other information to go on? Also, I kind of had the thought that the reason the alien critters don’t attack Scully may have been because she’s alien enough to seem like one of them or something.
I’m pretty sure I liked that one Not only do I like arc episodes in general, but this one was well put together; it had about the right mix of mystery and action, some solid character moments, and was a pretty good conclusion to this arc (if only it wouldn’t take ten episodes to get back to). I’m not sure I have a lot to say about it though, it just sort of is what it is.
I have to say that it contributes to some disconnect between what the show thinks it is and what resonates with me. The show thinks it’s still about Mulder’s search for the truth, and him as the torchbearer to light the truth for the world; but the story it’s telling is Scully’s. Partly because GA is acting circles around DD, and kind of because Mulder’s certainty often makes him look like a jackass (and he no longer has the excuse of being drugged). And because Scully and Skinner are much more rational people who deal with the struggle to find a balance between truth and justice and possibility, while Mulder is often willing to do really stupid things just so he knows the truth without any thought to how he’s going to do any good with that knowledge. Scully actually cares, about a lot of things, from the small and tangible like her family to large abstract ideas like justice.
She also gets more character development in her small moment of concern for Mulder finding out something bad about his father than Mulder has all episode. That moment was so sweet and about the fourth moment I really wanted them to make out or at least hug; and not the last such moment.
On the other hand, I have reached the stage where I think there are some good odds that Skinner is into Scully. Building on the mistrust that I don’t get from last time, she’s still kind of terrible to him in these episodes, and I’m not sure what to make of the fact that the earliest time I seem to feel this way is during an arc where Mulder was absent for the middle chunk of it. Also Skinner is just awesome in the episode (aside from carrying the tape on him, but we’re coming to the tape shenanigans); although he does fail to beat anyone else up on Team X-files’ behalf, he so clearly wanted to be the big hero again. And I’m not quite sure how he doesn’t end up dead after this, he didn’t include his own survival on the stipulations and it would send a message.
I’m not sure I really get what’s revealed here, especially since I have enough memories of later things that cause me to think at least half of what we’re told to believe here is actually more lies. And this time I found the conspiracy meetings funny because everyone is very careful not to call each other anything; I would accept them using code names, but they don’t use any names so the writers don’t have to commit to anything. Also, if my face-blind ass can pick out WMM and Deep Throat in that picture I feel like trained investigators like Mulder and Scully should be able to recognize them...also, also, why does that picture even exist and why did Bill have it?
Also, the window-X has been there for days now; I like to imagine Mr. X has been trying to contact Mulder several times. And I could have sworn this was when he died, but I guess not, must be the next set of arc episodes, and they probably do need to actually show him at a conspiracy meeting before he goes.
And then there’s Krycek; most of this could have been said last time but it slipped my mind. This does settle that he was working for the conspiracy and CSM directly, so that does mean Cancerman was lying when he said he wasn’t involved in Bill’s death. Now, Cancerman lies; in other news, water is known to be wet, but I’m not even sure the point of that lie. Also, I still don’t really get Krycek’s actions back in ‘Ascension’ if he was just running back to the evil league of evil; maybe he just really wanted to get away from Mulder. And then why exactly does CSM try and kill him in the end?
And moreover, I’m not sure if even at this point Cancerman going so hard for Mulder and Scully’s deaths makes total sense; he’s always been very clear that he doesn’t think Mulder’s death serves the cause, and that Scully’s fate is tied in with that (maybe just in keeping Mulder reined in, and if Mulder is dead then there isn’t much point in that anymore). Long term, don’t you guys have plans for Scully so why kill her over this?
Now, the tape. SFdebris got into a long rant about this in his recent review, so I’m probably repeating some things. But, they printed things off in Anasazi, why can’t they print another copy? How about going lower tech and transcribing what you see? I’m also pretty sure the Lone Gunmen could get past some copy protection if Mulder, Scully, or Skinner took them the tape. Why was Skinner even carrying the tape on him when he went to go fight the baddies; I actually thought we were earlier in the episode and he was carrying around a dummy tape. When did Albert have time to read the whole file and have time to pass it along? Did he just pass on what he and Scully had gone through last episode? Why doesn’t he tell Mulder and Scully and the Lone Gunmen everything so they can do something with it and Mulder can get some of his precious truth? And while I would hope the conspiracy has upped its internet security after this breach, the information is still out there for dedicated hackers to get into especially if they actually take some precautions.
Previous status
Like with the last one, I feel like I must have seen this, but I don’t actually remember doing so. I feel more like I saw clips from it in some kind of TXF overview special at some point. I’ve also never forgotten the bit in the Nitpicker’s Guide mocking how the conspiracy just couldn’t be bothered to get a new file folder when they got Samantha instead of Fox.
When are we?
We’re still in the days following Anasazi/TBW, though I don’t have a good feel for how much time is passing and they’re not giving me updates.
Vancouver spotting
I still think that abandoned mine (or whatever it really is) has been used in other things.
The gang that’s here
Skinner, The Lone Gunmen, Smokey, WMM, Krycek, Teena, Maggie, and kind of Melissa
Who’s driving?
Mulder, and I’m not sure whose car that is. Then Skinner, and I’m not sure what happened to the former car. It would make some sense if they had to ditch it at the mine, but then how did they get to the diner three states away?
Are we saying it’s aliens?
I’m not sure how else to interpret what was going down at the mine, but it does feel a little deliberately obfuscated. And not just so Scully doesn’t see anything, but so they can say it’s something else later if they decide that fits better.
Scully’s convenient miss of the week
Speaking of, ‘Scully, stay inside, if you went with Mulder you might see something that would change your character. So stay here and have no idea what creepy critters are scurrying around.’ Also, why are they doing that?
Pretentious voiceovers
Albert gets some more
Who’s your daddy?
There’s no real hint to anything besides Bill, and it does kind of cheapen Scully’s sweet moment here (a bit) for it to be anyone but Bill. But if we say Smokey is Mulder’s dad, he’s pretty terrible through this.
People allowed to call Mulder Fox
I think Teena uses it, certainly would have if she called him anything.
Does Chris Carter hate love?
Even if you don’t want it to be romantic, why the hell don’t they hug when Mulder comes back from the dead? As much as I may want to assume that there was some lovin’ it up in the elevator, that doesn’t really work. They have no sense of personal space and there were plenty of times in the episode where I went ‘KISS DAMNIT’ (at least give me a damn forehead kiss for that) but they don’t actually touch that much and it’s borderline weird. Not helped by the fact that Mulder is pretty much an asshole through this.
How crazy does Mulder sound?
How to answer this? Because he isn’t going around spouting the kind of nonsense I usually call him on. But he does sound like a person with some serious problems. He doesn’t seem that rational on a large scale level; it’s not just that he believes in all the crazy stuff, it’s that he pursues it with no thought to course or destination. Also he sounds like a douchebag though most of it. Who wakes their mother up in the middle of the night to ask if she loved him or his sister more?
Does GA deserve an Emmy?
Probably, she has a lot of really good scenes that are probably mostly good because of her.
Can DD act?
Sometimes in the reflected glow of GA’s performance, and when he doesn’t come off like an asshole and I suspect he’s not supposed to. He’s really not very good here.
Forehead kisses
I think the last scene was mostly just a hug, but it’s the closest they got to anything.
Wow that’s uncomfortable in hindsight
I don’t know about uncomfortable, but I feel like they should have also checked to see if Mulder had a file. As many files as are in that facility, I think it’s more than just abductees (and he may well have been abducted at some point too). And why not steal a few to go over later and see if there’s any other information to go on? Also, I kind of had the thought that the reason the alien critters don’t attack Scully may have been because she’s alien enough to seem like one of them or something.
