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I'm imaging he's listening to "Fight the Power" by Public Enemy
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In addition to a great story, James Wong's direction of this episode has taken this series to a new level. They say that each X-Files episode is like a mini movie and I think this episode is the best example of that. I loved the many close-ups, the use of black and white, and most of all the sequences where CSM fires and it cuts to a bottle of root beer as well as Deep Throat executing the alien. Mark Snow's music is also top notch.
There are even touches of humor throughout. I liked the reveal at the end that Frohike read this in a magazine, leading you to wonder if the CSM was writing his life story. The publisher told him it was too ridiculous to be true, and really, who would believe that one man was responsible for all of these historical moments. However Morgan and Wong did link it to previous events in the series. Deep Throat executing an alien is the same event he told Mulder about in "E.B.E." CSM was there from the beginning, monitoring Mulder, and also revealing that he was the one who assigned Scully to The X-Files. This proves my theory that CSM is the head of Syndicate security.
Whether these events in CSM's life are true or not, does it really matter?
I have complex feelings about this episode. On the one hand, I hate that it's Mulder-and-Scullyless. On the other hand, I do think that the story is interesting and fun to watch. It just doesn't feel like an X-file to me without our heroes. I don't know. I never rewatch this one, but I do like it. You make an interesting point about the ties to other episodes. I don't think I've noticed that before. Good review!
ReplyDeleteLove,
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I like the fact that its an X-Files episode without a "file." Morgan & Wong ended up doing that a few times on Millennium too, which was a nice change of pace from serial killers all the time.
ReplyDelete"Travelers" and "The Unnatural" were kind of Mulder and Scully-less too. They just set up the story and then it was told through flashbacks.
You never rewatch this??? Maybe you should, just once for me. I actually watched this with my neighbor who used to watch the series when it was originally on tv but I don't think he's ever rewatched it. Because when Young Smokey said, "Mulder", he rewound it, watched that part again and said, "Holy crap! Chris Carter is a genius!" I didn't want to seem extra geeky and tell him that this was Morgan & Wong.
ReplyDeleteI adore this one, the biggest problem I ever had with The X Files was that it never dived into its back story enough. This one, Travellers, The Unnatural, they were great episodes, even though the events of this one are up for debate, I loved seeing an 'origin tale' of sorts for the series' villain.
ReplyDeleteHmmmm, perhaps they were a bit afraid to go back in time because they wanted the audience to find out when Mulder finds out.
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