"One Son"

"I ordered them, yes, but it was never my intention to harm you. It was to save you...and Jeffrey."
Originally Aired 2/14/99

Last week I had proclaimed I was at the zenith of The X-Files before I sat down to watch "Two Fathers." I said that because Season 5 was the most watched season of the series, ranking 11th overall that year, but also because it was a very creative period. While there were several hilarious comedies and tense thrillers in past seasons, this time they were going above and beyond with concepts like a Frankenstein monster, an episode filmed in black and white, and even an episode based solely on an occasionally-seen trio of secondary characters. The current season has taken even greater risks by removing Mulder and Scully from the X-Files office, presenting new ways to investigate the paranormal through anonymous tips and TV newscasts.

While I knew the series will suffer a slight decline in the coming seasons, I did not expect to enjoy "One Son" less than "Two Fathers." I wouldn't say "One Son" failed to live up to expectations, because I knew many details just as I did with "Two Fathers." I feel like parts of this episode were unnecessary and even rushed, also too much reliance on running up and down corridors and back and forth between two military bases. One of the plot threads running throughout this hour is the return of an item from the first season's finale, "The Erlenmeyer Flask", which is an alien frozen in a lab at Fort Marlene. It's origin is finally revealed, which is that it was offered by the aliens as part of their collaboration with the Syndicate. That group of men each offered up a member of his own family and in return the aliens handed over this alien fetus. While I love references to past episodes, especially when events come around full-circle, I think Chris Carter failed to remember his own ending to "The Erlenmeyer Flask." The alien fetus wasn't returned to Fort Marlene, instead it was taken by the Cigarette-Smoking Man to that vault within the Pentagon. Perhaps there is more than one alien fetus since that one in the Pentagon likely thawed out and spoiled.

The use of the fetus from Season One adds more dramatic weight, or possibly confusion, to Deep Throat's actions in "The Erlenmeyer Flask." In that episode, Mulder was taken prisoner by men in black, likely operatives working for the Smoking Man, and Deep Throat instructed Scully to trade the object for Mulder's life. It cost him his own life when they exchanged this fetus for Mulder. Deep Throat had to know just how valuable this fetus is since it's tissue has been used in experiments dating back to the early 1970's. It was never realized exactly what his role in the conspiracy was, although now it seems like he had turned his back on the Syndicate and possibly aided Mulder to atone for his part in their dastardly deeds. But he had to know his punishment would be death for stealing from the bad guys, just to give their science experiment back to them as bait. Seems to me that Deep Throat willingly gave his life for Fox Mulder.

Another revelation with "One Son" is the role that Bill Mulder played. As this episode seeks to come full circle with Season One's finale, it actually does a better job at doing the same with the Season Two finale, "Anasazi." It shocked me to learn so early in the series that Bill Mulder knew the Smoking Man, but before we could learn anything about their history, Krycek shot him dead in his bathroom. All that was said was a cryptic warning from father to son that he would come to learn things. I always thought it would make more sense that Fox, rather than Samantha, would have been offered as a test in these experiments since he is not Bill's biological child. Here we learn that Samantha was the fateful child because Fox being spared meant that Bill's legacy could continue with Fox carrying the torch and seeking the truth. Bill Mulder dying meant that another had to be sacrificed for Fox Mulder's quest.

Jeffrey Spender is a character I liked the from the start, though it was more out of amusement from his lines like "flying motherwheel" when insulting Mulder's belief in aliens and U.F.O.'s. "Two Fathers" was a turning point because he came to realize how he was being manipulated by his father and added another dimension to his character when he wanted to undo the damage he has caused. Though he had a much larger role in "Two Fathers", he still has a presence in this week's episode. I hate the character met a tragic end just as he was on the verge of becoming a crucial ally to Mulder's crusade, in fact it even feels like somewhat of a cop out because Carter can't go one mythology arc without killing someone. Bill Mulder, Melissa Scully, X, Agent Pendrell, The Smoking Man (although he returned), The Well-Manicured Man, and now Jeffrey Spender is among them. Although Spender's death does fit the story being told here, which tells of the legacy of Bill Mulder and the Cigarette Smoking Man. Bill's legacy lives on in his son and he was sacrificed to ensure it continues, while CSM has valued his legacy more than he valued family, so he sacrificed them. Whether he assassinated political figures or not, he does have an extremely high opinion of himself, so it doesn't seem out of the realm of possibility to add more deaths to his already high body count. I just want to know how many have to die for Mulder's quest.

The centerpiece that this whole hour revives around, and I feel this episode lives or dies on it, is a confrontation between Fox Mulder and the man we now know as C.G.B. Spender. Mulder held a gun to the Smoking Man before in Season Two, possibly another reference to the past, but this time feels like a mistake by the writers. They were trying to create the illusion that Mulder could be lead astray by the Smoking Man, finally deceived into joining his cause and preserving his legacy. I feel this is the wrong time to tease a new wrinkle, not just because it had been done before (in Season Five's "Redux II"), but because everything is rushing towards the confrontation between the Syndicate and aliens. This occupies a large portion of the episode, leaving the remaining characters of Krycek, Spender, and Marita Covarrubious to rush around the previously mentioned corridors. I feel like this confrontation should have been saved for the next mythology installment with Mulder vowing to make CSM pay for his sins that resulted in the deaths of men, women, and children. Then CSM can plead his case, in an attempt to deceive Mulder and guilt him into joining his cause, which would have been a great cliffhanger to end the season. Instead, the writers take a detour mid-episode and tried to tear Mulder and Scully apart, when they should have been closer than ever at this point in the series. Many previous episodes this season have flirted with a possible relationship, such as their "kiss" in "Triangle." If the writers are going to tease dividing Mulder and Scully, with Mulder joining the Cigarette-Smoking Man, it should have been given a full episode or more devoted to it, rather than being a subplot. It could have even made more sense here had they planted a few seeds in "Two Fathers".

Perhaps the best part of this entire episode is a scene near the end. We've known for years that the Smoking Man is only working for this own interests, which actually makes him more like Krycek than he would like to believe, so it's almost comedic when he sneaks away as the Syndicate is about to become toasty bar-be-que. Forget the "almost" part! It *is* funny how they sneak away with a slow tip toe, then it turns to a mad dash towards their car. It's strange how we never see Mulder and Scully arrive at the Air Force base where the Syndicate depart the series for good; they're too late to the party. It would have made for a funny deleted scene had Mulder and Scully passed CSM and Diana Fowley on the highway as they were sneaking away from the base. Actually, scratch that deleted scene idea, that's how it should have went down since the writers included CSM's attempt to dupe Mulder into joining him. That would have been a chilling way for Mulder to realize he nearly had the wool pulled over his eyes by CSM and Fowley.

As for the other characters, I was glad that Jeffrey Spender went out as somewhat of a hero, with his attempt to save Marita from Fort Marlene, whom we haven't seen since the middle of Season Five. Although I wish that Krycek had actually snuck away with the fetus since it seemed like he still had his own agenda while working alongside the Syndicate. In summary, "One Son" is a fitting ending for the Syndicate, though its a somewhat flawed episode as a whole.