The X-Files 3x23: WetWired
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tori_reviewsThe X-Files 3x23: WetWired
Even if I didn’t know this was the penultimate episode of the season, I’d kind of suspect it from the rather random inclusion of so much of the supporting cast. It’s not exclusive to TXF that this happens, remembering at very predictable times that they have a supporting cast, with a vibe towards advertising the finale as something like ‘one of these people will die/leave/be revealed as a traitor.’
And while I feel pretty confident in saying it has to be X at this point, if I didn’t have foreknowledge I think my guess would actually be Skinner. You’re not just going to kill one of Gunmen nor remove all of them at this point (when facing cancellation though...); they’re not going to kill Maggie the same season they killed Melissa; Cancerman is functionally unkillable at this point (or apparently basically any point). Which leaves Skinner and X; and with this action X has basically outlived his usefulness but it means losing him also doesn’t have that much dramatic impact left, while Skinner is still an ally. And since we saw Skinner’s home life a bit, he is set up as having the most to lose and therefore the harshest death they could show. With what I know, I’m not in a position to worry about Skin-man, but if I didn’t know things I’d probably be worried.
Judging the quality of this episode is fairly difficult. I appreciate episodes that at least brush up against the greater plots and schemes, they should do more of that more often, and this seems to be doing more than just brushing. There is a reason to not always go there as it would put the conspiracy behind everything that happens which makes them too big and fighting against that would be a different sort of show; so in a way I get it. Though as I’ve sort of poked at a few times, with all these unconnected mutants and powers and anomalies, one then wonders why they don’t come into play when you do get to the alien stuff, so it’s a bit of damned if you do damned if you don’t kind of thing. This is why you need an actual plan when approaching this kind of story (and not a BSG telling us there’s a plan but there is no plan sort of ‘plan’).
The construction of this episode isn’t bad, though it has some of the same issues I’ve been commenting throughout the season. It’s adverse to acknowledging continuity, but it needs continuity for what it does to have meaning. This is basically a successor to ‘Blood,’ an episode that even included the Gunmen, but there’s no acknowledging the similarities. It evokes ‘EBE’ in places, with Scully now tearing things apart the way Mulder did back then (only she’s been whammied to get there) and Mulder is trusting a source who doesn’t necessarily have his best interests at heart and ends up largely getting played. All the things Scully references as things she imagines Mulder is responsible for matter since we know they happened, and if DD was a stronger actor I wouldn’t have to imagine that it hits him hard because he blames himself for all those things already.
I have no structured rating system for these reviews, I generally dislike trying because I find it hard to compare episodes that are technically good but don’t resonate with me, with ones that are disappointing because they -just- miss the mark, with ones that are ridiculous but fun, with any number of ways that aren’t a linear relation of semi-objective quality to my opinion of a story. So I just kind of go with my gut rating stamp, and in this case it’s ‘good enough.’ I think it’s fairly well written, but it hangs so much on DD’s really weak performance here that I’m having a hard time being sure how I feel.
A braver choice would have been to play this from Scully’s perspective, the way it initially seemed like they were doing. It could have done with not being so obvious so early that the TV signals were being messed with, and maybe it could have come on a little slower, but we could have had her encounters with a lot of people that her altered brain starts seeing in different lights. It might have been effecting Mulder too, just slower (so we don’t need to invent him being red-green color blind for this episode and never reference it again like his fear of fire) for some invented reason it isn’t my job to come up with. And if they did go that way, maybe let Skinner save them, it would be good balance for all they did in ‘Avatar.’ Or let them kind of see X save them but can’t be sure if it was part of their imaginations or not. This episode just could have been better.
On the other hand, it’s not actually bad; the version we get is perfectly watchable. This isn’t ‘Grotesque’ where I was retreating into my head-version just to get through it, because the version we saw didn’t work. This mostly works, I’m just saying it could have been better. Then again, I’m not sure this is a case of it being one pass at the script away from being that better episode, because one pass at the script would probably leave a lot of the focus on Mulder, and Mulder/DD is my main problem with what we have. So the rating is basically stuck at good enough I guess.
Previous status
Never seen before
When are we?
Story spans April 27-May 10 1996. There were murders starting before that it seems, but that’s the dates.
The gang that’s here
Skinner, Maggie, Cancerman, TLG, X (who I apparently don’t recognize in the credits, that was not a real thing that was true). Pendrell gets referenced but isn’t seen.
Who’s driving?
Mulder is driving. Again, why does this seem more consistent after the rant on the subject that it was before?
What’s the FBI’s travel budget?
Would the FBI spring for hotel rooms in what seems to be reasonable driving distance from DC? They might, it could be a reasonable policy or it might be farther out that initially hinted, but I thought it was a bit odd.
Can DD act?
No. I want to say he’s trying, but I’m not even sure I can give him that. This is not a good showing for him.
People allowed to call Mulder Fox
Maggie still is
Is that continuity?
Less of it than I think should be, but a lot of events do get referenced, especially in Scully’s breakdown. Also, the script doesn’t draw much attention to Mulder calling Maggie about Scully being missing and how much PTSD they probably both have on that subject; but I did kind of feel it.
Mulder’s guilt complex check in
I can clearly imagine how much Scully’s accusations must have hurt Mulder, things he already blames himself for and imagines that she does or should too, but I don’t see it on the screen. Same goes for the fact that she’s in this position, including might have died, because of him getting them onto this case on sketchy references. The Mulder I imagine is a much deeper and better fleshed out character (or maybe just better acted).
Are we saying it’s aliens?
TV-activated mind-control, though with the conspiracy involved it would seem to have implications for the alien plot.
Scully’s convenient miss of the week
The only thing I could count is her not being there at the end for Mulder and X’s showdown (they did get one more before X dies), but wasn’t so much convenient as unavoidable at that point. And she definitely doesn’t miss that much of what was going on.
Does GA deserve an Emmy?
I want to say yes, but I’m not sure I agree with that part of my reaction. Maybe.
How crazy does Mulder sound?
Scully being mind-whammied to act exactly the same way Mulder has acted without mind-whammy in the past makes him look crazy in comparison. Also, bad move on the investigation taking what he finds to the Gunmen rather than Pendrell, now it doesn’t count as evidence. I’m sure it still would have been disappeared in the end,
Is that a cautionary tale I see?
Considering Mulder is the character we see fall asleep in front of the TV more often, maybe he should be more careful; though he is red-green colorblind (actually that might explain why he likes so many black and white shows/movies; but then, does he think Scully has grey hair?).
Are they in love?
I should have come out of this episode absolutely convinced that they are. It should have been heartbreaking to watch her doubt him and accuse him of all the bad things in her life. I should have been sobbing when Mulder had to face the prospect of her death from this. I should be grinning about him and Maggie’s continued relationship because I like that idea so much. This episode should have been a slam dunk on this question. But it’s not. The emotional beats just don’t work because the focus in on Mulder and he’s not giving me anything to work with. So maybe they are in love, the version in my head would make it so; but I’m not feeling it here.
Though of note, when he gets up leave her room and Scully asks where he’s going, I definitely had the thought that she was asking why he wasn’t sleeping there. It was probably the early stages of paranoia checking where he was off to, but that wasn’t my first thought.
And this really gives me nothing on the Scully/Skinner front. But there’s also no evidence Skinner wasn’t out there looking for her while Mulder sat in his apartment and brooded as a tape X.
Wow that’s uncomfortable in hindsight
Watching Scully’s paranoia reveal that her one of her big fears is Cancerman’s presence in her life...that hurt. Remind me why people thought Scully’s reaction to the truth about William was out of character?
Even if I didn’t know this was the penultimate episode of the season, I’d kind of suspect it from the rather random inclusion of so much of the supporting cast. It’s not exclusive to TXF that this happens, remembering at very predictable times that they have a supporting cast, with a vibe towards advertising the finale as something like ‘one of these people will die/leave/be revealed as a traitor.’
And while I feel pretty confident in saying it has to be X at this point, if I didn’t have foreknowledge I think my guess would actually be Skinner. You’re not just going to kill one of Gunmen nor remove all of them at this point (when facing cancellation though...); they’re not going to kill Maggie the same season they killed Melissa; Cancerman is functionally unkillable at this point (or apparently basically any point). Which leaves Skinner and X; and with this action X has basically outlived his usefulness but it means losing him also doesn’t have that much dramatic impact left, while Skinner is still an ally. And since we saw Skinner’s home life a bit, he is set up as having the most to lose and therefore the harshest death they could show. With what I know, I’m not in a position to worry about Skin-man, but if I didn’t know things I’d probably be worried.
Judging the quality of this episode is fairly difficult. I appreciate episodes that at least brush up against the greater plots and schemes, they should do more of that more often, and this seems to be doing more than just brushing. There is a reason to not always go there as it would put the conspiracy behind everything that happens which makes them too big and fighting against that would be a different sort of show; so in a way I get it. Though as I’ve sort of poked at a few times, with all these unconnected mutants and powers and anomalies, one then wonders why they don’t come into play when you do get to the alien stuff, so it’s a bit of damned if you do damned if you don’t kind of thing. This is why you need an actual plan when approaching this kind of story (and not a BSG telling us there’s a plan but there is no plan sort of ‘plan’).
The construction of this episode isn’t bad, though it has some of the same issues I’ve been commenting throughout the season. It’s adverse to acknowledging continuity, but it needs continuity for what it does to have meaning. This is basically a successor to ‘Blood,’ an episode that even included the Gunmen, but there’s no acknowledging the similarities. It evokes ‘EBE’ in places, with Scully now tearing things apart the way Mulder did back then (only she’s been whammied to get there) and Mulder is trusting a source who doesn’t necessarily have his best interests at heart and ends up largely getting played. All the things Scully references as things she imagines Mulder is responsible for matter since we know they happened, and if DD was a stronger actor I wouldn’t have to imagine that it hits him hard because he blames himself for all those things already.
I have no structured rating system for these reviews, I generally dislike trying because I find it hard to compare episodes that are technically good but don’t resonate with me, with ones that are disappointing because they -just- miss the mark, with ones that are ridiculous but fun, with any number of ways that aren’t a linear relation of semi-objective quality to my opinion of a story. So I just kind of go with my gut rating stamp, and in this case it’s ‘good enough.’ I think it’s fairly well written, but it hangs so much on DD’s really weak performance here that I’m having a hard time being sure how I feel.
A braver choice would have been to play this from Scully’s perspective, the way it initially seemed like they were doing. It could have done with not being so obvious so early that the TV signals were being messed with, and maybe it could have come on a little slower, but we could have had her encounters with a lot of people that her altered brain starts seeing in different lights. It might have been effecting Mulder too, just slower (so we don’t need to invent him being red-green color blind for this episode and never reference it again like his fear of fire) for some invented reason it isn’t my job to come up with. And if they did go that way, maybe let Skinner save them, it would be good balance for all they did in ‘Avatar.’ Or let them kind of see X save them but can’t be sure if it was part of their imaginations or not. This episode just could have been better.
On the other hand, it’s not actually bad; the version we get is perfectly watchable. This isn’t ‘Grotesque’ where I was retreating into my head-version just to get through it, because the version we saw didn’t work. This mostly works, I’m just saying it could have been better. Then again, I’m not sure this is a case of it being one pass at the script away from being that better episode, because one pass at the script would probably leave a lot of the focus on Mulder, and Mulder/DD is my main problem with what we have. So the rating is basically stuck at good enough I guess.
Previous status
Never seen before
When are we?
Story spans April 27-May 10 1996. There were murders starting before that it seems, but that’s the dates.
The gang that’s here
Skinner, Maggie, Cancerman, TLG, X (who I apparently don’t recognize in the credits, that was not a real thing that was true). Pendrell gets referenced but isn’t seen.
Who’s driving?
Mulder is driving. Again, why does this seem more consistent after the rant on the subject that it was before?
What’s the FBI’s travel budget?
Would the FBI spring for hotel rooms in what seems to be reasonable driving distance from DC? They might, it could be a reasonable policy or it might be farther out that initially hinted, but I thought it was a bit odd.
Can DD act?
No. I want to say he’s trying, but I’m not even sure I can give him that. This is not a good showing for him.
People allowed to call Mulder Fox
Maggie still is
Is that continuity?
Less of it than I think should be, but a lot of events do get referenced, especially in Scully’s breakdown. Also, the script doesn’t draw much attention to Mulder calling Maggie about Scully being missing and how much PTSD they probably both have on that subject; but I did kind of feel it.
Mulder’s guilt complex check in
I can clearly imagine how much Scully’s accusations must have hurt Mulder, things he already blames himself for and imagines that she does or should too, but I don’t see it on the screen. Same goes for the fact that she’s in this position, including might have died, because of him getting them onto this case on sketchy references. The Mulder I imagine is a much deeper and better fleshed out character (or maybe just better acted).
Are we saying it’s aliens?
TV-activated mind-control, though with the conspiracy involved it would seem to have implications for the alien plot.
Scully’s convenient miss of the week
The only thing I could count is her not being there at the end for Mulder and X’s showdown (they did get one more before X dies), but wasn’t so much convenient as unavoidable at that point. And she definitely doesn’t miss that much of what was going on.
Does GA deserve an Emmy?
I want to say yes, but I’m not sure I agree with that part of my reaction. Maybe.
How crazy does Mulder sound?
Scully being mind-whammied to act exactly the same way Mulder has acted without mind-whammy in the past makes him look crazy in comparison. Also, bad move on the investigation taking what he finds to the Gunmen rather than Pendrell, now it doesn’t count as evidence. I’m sure it still would have been disappeared in the end,
Is that a cautionary tale I see?
Considering Mulder is the character we see fall asleep in front of the TV more often, maybe he should be more careful; though he is red-green colorblind (actually that might explain why he likes so many black and white shows/movies; but then, does he think Scully has grey hair?).
Are they in love?
I should have come out of this episode absolutely convinced that they are. It should have been heartbreaking to watch her doubt him and accuse him of all the bad things in her life. I should have been sobbing when Mulder had to face the prospect of her death from this. I should be grinning about him and Maggie’s continued relationship because I like that idea so much. This episode should have been a slam dunk on this question. But it’s not. The emotional beats just don’t work because the focus in on Mulder and he’s not giving me anything to work with. So maybe they are in love, the version in my head would make it so; but I’m not feeling it here.
Though of note, when he gets up leave her room and Scully asks where he’s going, I definitely had the thought that she was asking why he wasn’t sleeping there. It was probably the early stages of paranoia checking where he was off to, but that wasn’t my first thought.
And this really gives me nothing on the Scully/Skinner front. But there’s also no evidence Skinner wasn’t out there looking for her while Mulder sat in his apartment and brooded as a tape X.
Wow that’s uncomfortable in hindsight
Watching Scully’s paranoia reveal that her one of her big fears is Cancerman’s presence in her life...that hurt. Remind me why people thought Scully’s reaction to the truth about William was out of character?
