"Sein Und Zeit"

"I've been looking for my sister in the wrong place. That's...what my mother was trying to tell me."
Originally Aired 2/6/99

I'm not entirely certain how I feel about this episode yet. For being a serious tale about a child abduction which takes a page out of the JonBenet Ramsey case from the mid-90's, it starts out on a bizarre "meta" note and took me out of the episode. Mark Ralston (famous for roles in 80's action sequels Aliens, RoboCop 2, and Lethal Weapon 2) is seated on a couch and is watching a Chris Carter television series within another Chris Carter television series. I wondered why an actor with some credibility like that would mostly be featured in a scene where he says he enjoyed a TV program, when it dawned on me that he was actually in an episode of that other Chris Carter series, Harsh Realm. Maybe they signed him for a two-for-one special. The other weird meta reference is that the man hired to be his lawyer is named Harry Bring, which in real life is actually the name of a producer of The X-Files. Maybe not nearly as witty and as self-referential as "Jose Chung's 'From Outer Space'" or an episode of Buffy The Vampire Slayer, but it's still strange to throw in multiple references within a dramatic episode of the mythology (which will be revealed later.) Scully even paraphrases a line from Dr. Zaius in the Planet Of The Apes, when she says "don't go looking for something you don't want to find" to increase the number of references.

I do like how this doesn't appear to be a typical hour of the series' mythology. In fact, it's more like Season 4's "Paper Hearts", when Mulder was investigating a child abductor and personalizing the case. Mulder begged Skinner to be on the case and travels across the country to California, to which he has to report back to Skinner by noon, and seems like a really short time frame to accomplish all of that traveling, investigating, and reporting. An even bigger mystery is how he discovered this case so quickly without assistance from Deep Throat or another informant sliding files underneath his door. Not only does he travel quickly from one side of the country to the other, he also makes a pit-stop to a women's prison in Idaho. I guess this was also back in a pre-9/11 world when air travel was easier. I had a similar thought when traveling by train for the first time in December, as the whole experience was very light on security as opposed to the security check points and regulations when flying on a plane.

What makes this episode more than just a typical standalone investigation is a brief appearance from Mrs. Mulder, who I believe was last seen in Season 4. I don't think she even appeared at all during Season 6's "One Son", not even in the flashback sequence that featured Bill Mulder. This proves that Mulder wasn't grasping at straws when linking the case to his sister because his mom was doing the same thing. Whatever the connection may be is not known, yet it was great enough for her to burn photographs and commit suicide. I dug the scene where Mulder comes to the conclusion that his mom was killed by the remaining members of the Syndicate, since he's lost so many loved ones that he can't bear to lose her too. His mom always appeared so cold and even slapped him during one of her appearances, yet it's still his own mother. I think his mom even appeared in that Season 4 episode, "Paper Hearts", just like she does in this episode. If this week's episode is referencing the tone of "Paper Hearts" (there's even a photo the Cigarette Smoking Man had in Season 5!), last week's episode felt like one from Season Two, and "The Sixth Extinction II: Amor Fati" felt a little like a reversal on "One Breath" with Mulder in a hospital instead of Scully, then they might as well draw from the best of the early years if they're going to be borrowing past storylines. Maybe I'm just drawing my own conclusions and believing there are connections like Mulder does on this case, and I could be wrong, but I want to believe it's that Chris Carter is trying to bring the story of Samantha full-circle. But if so, I'd prefer they went the route that could've been taken in Season 5- that Samantha is still alive and held prisoner by the Syndicate. Maybe not a "prisoner" in that she's in a jail cell or a salt mine, but similar to the Stockholm (Helsinki") Syndrome and she was brain-washed by the Smoking Man. It's just my personal preference though, since storyline-wise it makes no sense, because Smokey's "end game" was using Spender as an inside man against Mulder. If he had Samantha all along, he could've went that route instead and had easily won the battle over Mulder long ago.

As for the episode itself, the common thread that Mulder discovers is a line in a ransom note that read, "No one shoots at Santa Claus." It's revelation that some guy is using his Santa's Village disguise to videotape, and then later abduct, children is uber creepy. Even worse than Donnie Pfaster in his underwear in "Orison." After watching this episode again and completing this review, I've come to the conclusion that not only do I enjoy this episode, but it's the most solid effort of the first half of Season 7. I'd place "Sixth Extinction" and "Hungry" just behind it. The best thing of the entire episode might the name given to a character which is called "World-Weary Dad"; where the heck does Chris Carter come up with these names?! I'm looking forward to the conclusion of this two-parter in next week's "Closure" and also the rest of February. All four episodes this month are "new" to me, and not only that, but "X-Cops" is one I must watch with my grandma since she's mentioned it a few times over the years that I've been watching the series in order. Following February, only four more new episodes will remain this season.