"all things"

"And I'm not wearing any pants right now."
Originally Aired 4/9/00

I read a brief quote from Vince Gilligan where he said they took the most risks during their seventh season, or something to that effect. I initially wrote it off as the same statement a musician makes when the current album being released is their best work, and also maybe he took personal risks with his COPS "crossover" episode. However, after watching "all things", I've realized his statement is true. While every season of the series up to this point has taken risks, like series star David Duchovny writing and directing an episode in the sixth season and director Bob Goodwin writing "Demons" in the fourth season, this year has taken the most collectively. In addition to the COPS episode, David Duchovny wrote and directed another episode, William B. Davis wrote "En Ami", Vince Gilligan also directed his first episode, the series crossed over with Millennium and included Lance Henriksen's "Frank Black" character, the Samantha Mulder story was concluded, and now Gillian Anderson has an episode in which she both wrote and directed.

I really wanted to like "all things" since I liked "The Field Where I Died" which was also a controversial episode, but I'm still struggling to fully express if I liked it or not. I appreciate the effort from Gillian and the fact that the show attempted many different styles of storytelling, so chance encounters and "what if's" sounded like an interesting concept to explore. I've always wondered, probably too much wondering, if things I had done would be different if I'd only taken another action instead. Although if I had, it would've resulted in a different 'Andy' who is currently writing this review. Perhaps I may not have even become an X-Files fan in the first place.

The 'holistic' healing is a little weird though, with a lady telling Scully that she recovered from cancer when she cleared her mind. That's also following something else I failed to mention in my review for "En Ami", that a religious family believed God would cure their son only if it was his will, so they shunned medical treatment. That reminded me of the present day scenario with families opting to not vaccinate their children. I think your mental health does affect your physical health, such as when people worry themselves to a sickened state, but I don't think it works backwards with diseases going into remission when you clear your mind. I think maybe this woman had a chance encounter with the Smoking Man's cure for all diseases from a few episodes back. She also said accidents happen when we're not paying attention- yeah, it's called not watching the road, lady.

The episode failed to grab me the first time through, in fact it's the first time I've fallen asleep multiple times since Season 4's "Kaddish." Perhaps I was hypnotized by all of the water droplets, pencil tappings, and ticking noises throughout the episode. There really didn't seem to be much of an "X-File" to be investigated, although several last season weren't traditional cases either. It also seemed odd that Scully had another 'mid-life crisis' moment of not wanting investigate with Mulder... didn't she learn from what happened the last time when she hooked up with that guy with a talking tattoo?? Well this time it's a chance encounter with a man she loved before joining the FBI and The X-Files, a doctor from her time in medical school. It's already been established she liked older men, when it was revealed she had a relationship with her instructor at the FBI in the first season. Maybe it's not the fact that Scully feels she's longing for a past relationship that didn't work out and wondering how things would be if she hadn't joined the FBI, it's the line where she says, "I want everything I should want at this time in my life." I guess it must be that she 'sexed' Mulder, and is actually having doubts....and BOOM! I'm a shipper. I guess I really am a 'shipper' after all since I'm wondering about her feelings for Mulder and when she came to that realization. 'Shipper' has always been a dirty word for me since many fans seem to take their enjoyment for the Mulder-Scully relationship to the extreme. I just like the fact that they have something deeper than just a friendship, but an understanding and an admiration for each other. It's not just the act of sex, but this relationship seems finally confirmed within this episode. She now seems to be a believer in other possibilities, and I think that led to her choice to to stay with Mulder and not continue with the doctor. Perhaps this is also foreshadowing her pregnancy as well. Season 7 must be the year of subtlety.

Just like last week's episode, the "B" plot of the story is weak, as Mulder is off investigating crop circles in England. Really? Crop circles? I think aliens have better things to do than burn images into fields, like burning faces with their cattle prods. Although I do like the clever hat that Mulder is wearing, which reads "Stonehenge Rocks", but I highly doubt he'd ever wear an ugly tan coat like that. Ugh... now I really am a "shipper."