"Redux I"

"The line between science and science fiction doesn't exist anymore."
Originally Aired 11/2/97

I’ve finally reached Season Five after 6 long months and it opened with a bang; literally! Well, not really since the bang happened at least 5 minutes into the episode, but that’s just a minor detail. Last season’s cliffhanger ending attempted to top that of Season Two, in which Mulder was “blowed up” in a train car, as this time he took his own life. I like how the teaser still leaves the audience hanging since Mulder confronts the man who was spying on him, there’s a gun shot, then finally a door closes before the opening credits roll.

Season Four’s ending left me feeling a little flat because the episode lacked the normal conspiracy figures that I am used to seeing, while I was also excited to see how they would explain Mulder’s suicide. The answer from Chris Carter was awesome and is one of the best resolutions I’ve seen on any tv show. Mulder and Scully have been played for so long by their superiors in the FBI and others involved in a shadowy conspiracy, in fact it’s even cost them loved ones. So Mulder’s decision to flip the bird to the FBI and create his own lie wasn’t just a stroke of genius, it’s pretty much the only resolution. That may have felt like a cop out to some viewers at the time, but to Mulder and Scully, the last four years of their lives have become a “lie”. They would be fools to just sit back and accept it. Even the Cigarette-Smoking Man was fooled as there’s a scene where he enters Mulder’s apartment and appears nostalgic after spotting a picture of a younger Mulder and his sister Samantha, then it turns to sorrow when he looks down at the blood-stained carpet, before finally looking up and doing one of those cartoonish “big gulps” when he sees the hole in the ceiling used to spy on Mulder.

To me, this episode is everything “Gethsemane” was not. It’s briskly paced from start to finish, the conspiracy members are present like CSM and Skinner, and Carter even threw in the typical conspiracy moments where if you think too much, you’ll get a headache. For example, everybody in the FBI believes Mulder is dead after Scully makes a positive identification, but couldn’t they have just checked the guy’s fingerprints? I suppose you only have fingerprints on file if you have a prior criminal record, which Mulder nor the FBI guy should have one; thank you Law & Order for giving me that knowledge. Though I do like “Redux 1” much more than “Gethsemane”, I understand it was a necessary episode to get to this point. “Redux 1” is not just a good season opener, it also feels like it’s a culmination of nearly everything we’ve seen on this series. We’re about to see the resolution of Scully’s cancer, which actually started when she was abducted nearly 3 years ago in Season Two. Along with CSM and Skinner making appearances, there’s the new character named Michael Kritschgau, as well as Section Chief Blevins from Season One, and even Holly from Season Three’s “Pusher”, to give it an even grander feel. Even Skinner being revealed as the man who ordered them to be spied on is an awesome touch, because as the viewer we know what lengths Skinner has reached to protect his agents, yet Mulder and Scully never saw the deal he made with CSM nor the time Skinner told him to kiss his ass!

Other awesome touches would be the footage shown while Kritschgau and Mulder are walking and talking, which would be ridiculously boring if the scene was just that; cutting to the newsreel footage kept it interesting. Also, Season Five is now in spectacular widescreen and with it we have the definite “looks” for Mulder and Scully; her cropped but vivid red hair and his droopy but parted hair. Even the Indiana Jones’ Raiders of the Lost Ark-like warehouse where CSM deposited evidence is revisited as well as a new set piece which is a massive room of manufactured alien bodies; awesome stuff. The only downside to this episode is the constant narration from both Mulder and Scully. It’s really unnecessary because we can see what’s going on, we don’t need to hear them recite it as well. I think David and Gillian are more than capable of emoting. Perhaps tv viewers in 1997 wouldn’t have been used to an entire 7-minute act of a tv series being without dialogue, so Carter added the narration to keep people tuned in; tv still wasn’t an art form then as it is now.

The bang I mentioned at the beginning of this review wasn’t the “bang” from a gun; it was the entire hour of “Redux 1.” I just hope “Redux 2” can sustain the same level of excitement and intrigue. If it can’t, at least I know there are other great episodes to look forward to, as this is the last season of the show where I haven’t watched a majority of the episodes already. Thumbs way up for “Redux 1”!