"Terma"

Aired 12/1/96 (Part 2)

"You had WHAT in your nose?"

Like most second halves of these X-Files mythology events, we start with a scene that seems unrelated. An old lady is having an assisted suicide performed when the black cancer wiggles out of her nose. Also like every mythology episode, we have people zipping off to faraway places with such speed that would make Guinness Record holders blush. I always watch episodes I haven't seen before once through, then again while I'm writing my review. This gives me more time to really absorb everything. However I actually kept up with this the first time through, despite some silly nit-picking.

I think "Tunguska/Terma" feels like a leaner, and meaner, installment of the conspiracy. All of the players of the conspiracy are present (Mulder, Scully, Skinner, Well-Manicured Man, Smokey, and the returning Krycek), it adds new elements, beefs up the action, but still has a lot of the usual runaround. Is this a bad thing? No. I liked the increased paced and action. "Talitha Cumi/Herrenvolk" was a bit too heavy and left me feeling empty. I felt like this one did a much better job at answering the new questions that were presented. This time Chris Carter brings back the oil, which at first seemed just like a body-jumping version of E.T. The oozing thing just wanted to phone home. Awwwwww, how sweet. Here we got a new version of the oil (I'll say its the decaffeinated version), but also the purpose is explained. The Syndicate and Russians are racing to find a vaccine for it and I like how they keep tying this stuff to real-life events. The scientists in Operation Paper Clip and 731 are factual, as are "foo fighters", code talkers in "Anasazi", now we have the Cold War and the Gulf War being referenced.

Now I said I was able to keep up with the pace and followed along well enough, yet that doesn't mean parts didn't feel "funky." So Russians that were used as black oil test subjects were cutting their arms off as a way to prevent the spread of it, yet Mulder just had that stuff dumped into his mouth. It can still find a way into your body...or way out. I'll chalk it up to being typical X-Files style- cool visuals, like Krycek's arm being amputated. Chris Carter, you're forgiven.

Speaking of Krycek, he was played before in the past- almost blowed up in a car, then left for dead in a silo in Season 3. Now its his turn to have the upper-hand. He played Mulder so he could intercept a package for him. Krycek has a bull's eye on his back from both sides, so he had to earn Mulder's trust in order to use him to intercept that package. Then his back-up plan was using that retired Russian spy who could slip in undetected. Its still a bit fishy how he escaped the silo, but I can forgive that too since it was damn compelling television. I almost questioned how he could set up this whole game, then I remembered what he was doing in "Piper Maru." He was selling off Syndicate secrets to the French, so it appears he sold stuff to the Russians too.

One more thought- if all those guys at the gulag took off on horseback after Mulder, then who's left to guard the prisoners? JAIL BREAK!

And what about those damn bees??