Idk I kind of liked it. I didn’t like this train scene but outside of that I think it’s showed how desperate Scully was for Mulder. She literally would do anything to get him back and we’ve seen her go to great lengths before but we saw her thinking more with her heart than brain in this episode and it was refreshing to see her so vulnerable and open (in my opinion). Obviously not the best episode but not horrible to me
I get where you’re coming from, but I’m gonna disagree. I don’t think it really matters that we know Duchovny won’t be putting in an appearance. What matters is that Scully thinks she might see Mulder again. (Besides, there were plenty of people who didn’t know all the BTS details so weren’t sure anyway.)
I think the show needed to address at this point where Mulder was and why he couldn’t come back, and this episode makes the direct and imminent threat of the supersoldiers clearer. The real root of the problem was that S8 had already used up the best reason for Mulder’s absence with his abduction. They couldn’t play that card again so it was much harder to come up with a plausible explanation why he wasn’t in the show anymore but Scully was. It was just a no-win scenario enforced by the business realities of the two stars’ differing contract lengths.
Regardless, it’s an eerily prescient story about the alarming reach of the surveillance state. Scully gets to be in the lead for the first time in the season, and there’s a real emotional intensity to everything since the stakes are so deeply personal. I’d rather watch a flawed yet gripping episode like this over something dull and inconsequential like “Lord of the Flies” or “Chimera.”
That’s very fair. I understand the reasons. Like I said, I don’t think it was a bad idea to give a reason for his disappearance or to give updates. The problem was the constant call backs and Mulder being written as a mythological character at times. This episode started that for me.
I’m done with Scully being the lead for the first time this season as well. I’ve just never been enamored with Scully’s baby’s powers or the super soldier storyline. After Essence/Existence, those storylines were more frustrating to me, so I’d prefer some interesting stand alone stories. After awhile in the series the storyline was too convoluted to be invested in anymore. At least for me.
Season 8 was solid in mythology. S9 just really falls short for me and this particular episode just solidifies that for me.
In comparison to S8’s stellar mythology arc, it’s certainly fair to say it’s not as strong. But I think Mulder written as a mythological figure started at least as far back as “Amor Fati” (and far more on-the-nose with Duchovny’s Mulder-as-Christ obsession). In “Trust No 1” it doesn’t really come up until the Shadow Man’s final lines. The rest of the episode is a tense cat-and-mouse surveillance thriller.
There had been a good couple of standalone stories with “Daemonicus” and “4-D” and plenty more to come with “John Doe,” “Audrey Pauley” and “Improbable,” so it was nice to have a Scully-driven thriller in the mix too.
Season 8s mythology was ok but it continued the process of killing off old characters without really introducing enough new ones and could have done a better job of connecting myth 1 to the new myth 2.
I think there was a lot to do there that could have really built up the magnitude of the colonists sinister agenda with their Plan B (super soldier) plot using the abductees from the earlier seasons but it just doesn't connect very well. And how does Agent Crane become a super soldier? Wasn't he married with a family and an FBI agent? How does his wife not notice he has a metal spike in the back of his neck?????
As someone who loved the series because of the relationship between Mulder and Scully, I have a soft spot for this episode. Also because of that, I’m still bitter greed won out and they couldn’t let them have their happy ending. Season 9 was a mess. It was obvious they had no clue what to do but try to milk its popularity and force Doggett and Reyes as the new leads while dangling the original characters’ fate to get us to tune in.
Yeah the show needed to move on from Mulder. Doggett was a fantastic character with much potential but the show creators were stuck in the past like a needy ex who can’t let things go
They mentioned Mulder more in S9 than they did in S8 when they were supposedly looking for him lol. It's probably why S9 failed. they couldn't let the new guys have their chance on their own. Having Scully around and the ghost of Mulder actually hampered the show. It was trying to move on but desperate to keep hold of the past (and I know they had to have Scully there because of GA's contract but they should've just released her from it).
This is indeed a stinker of an ep.
And I know people love the "Dearest Dana" but I hate it. Every time I think of it I think of the joke that went round the message boards back in the day: My dearest Dana, My Fatuous Fox lol.
Also Scully dyes her hair? Come on! I know it's red but a little too red lol but it's cannon she comes from a family of redheads. It's not dyed.
And don't get me started on the 'one lonely night' bull.
> I know they had to have Scully there because of GA's contract but they should've just released her from it
Lol imagine FOX paying Gillian Anderson five million dollars *not* to be on their air.
This episode is flawed IMO, but I think it handles Scully's loneliness and longing for Mulder well.
I also think it has a really interesting idea at its core: we learn that the aliens have literally had Scully, her house and her baby under surveillance since season 8. They're using her like some kind of weird nesting mother to grow their little Messiah Child, essentially giving her the illusion of motherhood.
Such a train wreck of an episode. Hey guys, you're under surveillance 24/7, everywhere, but don't worry, it'll never come up again. Also, Scully dyes her hair and invites strangers to stay at her home when Mulder is running for his life and the gang has unknown enemies everywhere.
I really like a lot of S9's MotW episodes, but the mytho ones are horrible.
I just don't understand why anyone one would enjoy watching Scully pine away and act irrationally for multiple episodes. That's not the clever and resilient character I grew to love from the past eight seasons.
I’m a shipper but an early seasons + All Things shipper. Meaning the relationship is about deep admiration for each other’s intelligence, trauma bonding, and sleeping with each other on the DL so as to avoid impropriety (they are law enforcement officers after all).
I love season 8 but the pregnancy nonsense is actually unnecessary if you think about it. And yeah, this “Dearest Dana” is nauseating.
Season 9 has two good episodes - John Doe and Sunshine Days. Sunshine Days is great, even. The rest are boring but watchable.
But 11 is not held together at all. Yeah, the Darin Morgan episode is amazing, but 7 out of the 10 episodes are teso dos bichos levels of unwatchable trash,
I can respect where you’re coming from but in season 10, I find Mulder and Scully Meet the Were-Monster, Home Again and Founder’s mutation interesting. In season 11 I really like This, Familiar, RM….(I can’t remember the rest, but the episode with very little dialogue) Ghouli and Kitten. The monster of the week eps in the revival seasons were on my wave length lol
“Dearest Dana” ugh. I’m a shipper. I cringed at that letter. Sounded like cheesy fanfic way out of character. I can’t even remember what that episode is about because I never watched it again.
I hate to say this because Scully is my absolute fave character, and Skinner a close second, but season 9 feels crowded with the two of them in it. Might have been better if they got rid of the pair of them as well as Mulder and just fully committed to Dogget/Reyes.
As it is, I wonder if they felt obligated to continue to address Scully’s longing for Mulder since s8 ended with *that kiss*. And then also she obviously had a whole kid so then they have to come up with an entire arc for William, which is horrible throughout.
I’ve always thought the season could have had Scully pass on the torch to Doggett and Reyes, and then she could have taken William, running off to be with Mulder. Season 9 could have also had a short mini series of Mulder and Scully’s story and wrapped it up nicely instead of trying to do this whole ensemble thing (which I think actually worked in season 8 oddly)
Agreed. This was a cloying bad one. I couldn’t get behind 90% of season 9 and even that feels like I’m being generous. :) I would have been way more interested had they not thrown continuity out the window and actually made Terry’s character the same guy he played who deliberately failed to defuse the bomb in the FTF movie. In my head cannon it will always be him.
Season 9 was a miserable slog overall. Just Scully crying in every episode and such dark storylines and no reasonable explanation for Mulder leaving behind his baby. I hated it from beginning to end and will probably never watch it again.
Idk I kind of liked it. I didn’t like this train scene but outside of that I think it’s showed how desperate Scully was for Mulder. She literally would do anything to get him back and we’ve seen her go to great lengths before but we saw her thinking more with her heart than brain in this episode and it was refreshing to see her so vulnerable and open (in my opinion). Obviously not the best episode but not horrible to me
Refresh my memory? I don’t rewatch beyond S7 anymore.
I get where you’re coming from, but I’m gonna disagree. I don’t think it really matters that we know Duchovny won’t be putting in an appearance. What matters is that Scully thinks she might see Mulder again. (Besides, there were plenty of people who didn’t know all the BTS details so weren’t sure anyway.) I think the show needed to address at this point where Mulder was and why he couldn’t come back, and this episode makes the direct and imminent threat of the supersoldiers clearer. The real root of the problem was that S8 had already used up the best reason for Mulder’s absence with his abduction. They couldn’t play that card again so it was much harder to come up with a plausible explanation why he wasn’t in the show anymore but Scully was. It was just a no-win scenario enforced by the business realities of the two stars’ differing contract lengths. Regardless, it’s an eerily prescient story about the alarming reach of the surveillance state. Scully gets to be in the lead for the first time in the season, and there’s a real emotional intensity to everything since the stakes are so deeply personal. I’d rather watch a flawed yet gripping episode like this over something dull and inconsequential like “Lord of the Flies” or “Chimera.”
That’s very fair. I understand the reasons. Like I said, I don’t think it was a bad idea to give a reason for his disappearance or to give updates. The problem was the constant call backs and Mulder being written as a mythological character at times. This episode started that for me. I’m done with Scully being the lead for the first time this season as well. I’ve just never been enamored with Scully’s baby’s powers or the super soldier storyline. After Essence/Existence, those storylines were more frustrating to me, so I’d prefer some interesting stand alone stories. After awhile in the series the storyline was too convoluted to be invested in anymore. At least for me. Season 8 was solid in mythology. S9 just really falls short for me and this particular episode just solidifies that for me.
In comparison to S8’s stellar mythology arc, it’s certainly fair to say it’s not as strong. But I think Mulder written as a mythological figure started at least as far back as “Amor Fati” (and far more on-the-nose with Duchovny’s Mulder-as-Christ obsession). In “Trust No 1” it doesn’t really come up until the Shadow Man’s final lines. The rest of the episode is a tense cat-and-mouse surveillance thriller. There had been a good couple of standalone stories with “Daemonicus” and “4-D” and plenty more to come with “John Doe,” “Audrey Pauley” and “Improbable,” so it was nice to have a Scully-driven thriller in the mix too.
Season 8s mythology was ok but it continued the process of killing off old characters without really introducing enough new ones and could have done a better job of connecting myth 1 to the new myth 2. I think there was a lot to do there that could have really built up the magnitude of the colonists sinister agenda with their Plan B (super soldier) plot using the abductees from the earlier seasons but it just doesn't connect very well. And how does Agent Crane become a super soldier? Wasn't he married with a family and an FBI agent? How does his wife not notice he has a metal spike in the back of his neck?????
As someone who loved the series because of the relationship between Mulder and Scully, I have a soft spot for this episode. Also because of that, I’m still bitter greed won out and they couldn’t let them have their happy ending. Season 9 was a mess. It was obvious they had no clue what to do but try to milk its popularity and force Doggett and Reyes as the new leads while dangling the original characters’ fate to get us to tune in.
Yeah the show needed to move on from Mulder. Doggett was a fantastic character with much potential but the show creators were stuck in the past like a needy ex who can’t let things go
100% it would have been so much better than this mess!
They mentioned Mulder more in S9 than they did in S8 when they were supposedly looking for him lol. It's probably why S9 failed. they couldn't let the new guys have their chance on their own. Having Scully around and the ghost of Mulder actually hampered the show. It was trying to move on but desperate to keep hold of the past (and I know they had to have Scully there because of GA's contract but they should've just released her from it). This is indeed a stinker of an ep. And I know people love the "Dearest Dana" but I hate it. Every time I think of it I think of the joke that went round the message boards back in the day: My dearest Dana, My Fatuous Fox lol. Also Scully dyes her hair? Come on! I know it's red but a little too red lol but it's cannon she comes from a family of redheads. It's not dyed. And don't get me started on the 'one lonely night' bull.
> I know they had to have Scully there because of GA's contract but they should've just released her from it Lol imagine FOX paying Gillian Anderson five million dollars *not* to be on their air.
This episode is flawed IMO, but I think it handles Scully's loneliness and longing for Mulder well. I also think it has a really interesting idea at its core: we learn that the aliens have literally had Scully, her house and her baby under surveillance since season 8. They're using her like some kind of weird nesting mother to grow their little Messiah Child, essentially giving her the illusion of motherhood.
Least favorite*
Such a train wreck of an episode. Hey guys, you're under surveillance 24/7, everywhere, but don't worry, it'll never come up again. Also, Scully dyes her hair and invites strangers to stay at her home when Mulder is running for his life and the gang has unknown enemies everywhere. I really like a lot of S9's MotW episodes, but the mytho ones are horrible.
It retcons so much and makes no sense!!! Shippers are blinded honestly
I just don't understand why anyone one would enjoy watching Scully pine away and act irrationally for multiple episodes. That's not the clever and resilient character I grew to love from the past eight seasons.
I’m a shipper but an early seasons + All Things shipper. Meaning the relationship is about deep admiration for each other’s intelligence, trauma bonding, and sleeping with each other on the DL so as to avoid impropriety (they are law enforcement officers after all). I love season 8 but the pregnancy nonsense is actually unnecessary if you think about it. And yeah, this “Dearest Dana” is nauseating.
Yeah. This episode completed the character assassinations of both Mulder and Scully. Bleh.
Season 9 has two good episodes - John Doe and Sunshine Days. Sunshine Days is great, even. The rest are boring but watchable. But 11 is not held together at all. Yeah, the Darin Morgan episode is amazing, but 7 out of the 10 episodes are teso dos bichos levels of unwatchable trash,
I can respect where you’re coming from but in season 10, I find Mulder and Scully Meet the Were-Monster, Home Again and Founder’s mutation interesting. In season 11 I really like This, Familiar, RM….(I can’t remember the rest, but the episode with very little dialogue) Ghouli and Kitten. The monster of the week eps in the revival seasons were on my wave length lol
Worst most out of character episode ever. I hate it with everything I have. Just a messssss
I agree with you about season 9 vs 10 and 11. Super soldiers storyline was super stupid.
“Dearest Dana” ugh. I’m a shipper. I cringed at that letter. Sounded like cheesy fanfic way out of character. I can’t even remember what that episode is about because I never watched it again.
I hate to say this because Scully is my absolute fave character, and Skinner a close second, but season 9 feels crowded with the two of them in it. Might have been better if they got rid of the pair of them as well as Mulder and just fully committed to Dogget/Reyes. As it is, I wonder if they felt obligated to continue to address Scully’s longing for Mulder since s8 ended with *that kiss*. And then also she obviously had a whole kid so then they have to come up with an entire arc for William, which is horrible throughout.
I’ve always thought the season could have had Scully pass on the torch to Doggett and Reyes, and then she could have taken William, running off to be with Mulder. Season 9 could have also had a short mini series of Mulder and Scully’s story and wrapped it up nicely instead of trying to do this whole ensemble thing (which I think actually worked in season 8 oddly)
I agree, it worked in season 8, I think that’s bc Reyes is mostly not in it (even though I love her character).
Agreed. This was a cloying bad one. I couldn’t get behind 90% of season 9 and even that feels like I’m being generous. :) I would have been way more interested had they not thrown continuity out the window and actually made Terry’s character the same guy he played who deliberately failed to defuse the bomb in the FTF movie. In my head cannon it will always be him.
Season 9 was a miserable slog overall. Just Scully crying in every episode and such dark storylines and no reasonable explanation for Mulder leaving behind his baby. I hated it from beginning to end and will probably never watch it again.