And so we come to the dramatic conclusion of last week’s cliffhanger. Well…kind of. Nothing is actually solved in this episode. In reality, we have to wait until episode 8 for the conclusion of this very specific storyline (Scully’s kidnapping). Orrrrrr, in full truth…we have to wait forever to really get any answers of what happened to Scully during her ordeal.
Really, this storyline is the foundation of the whole mythology of The X-Files. We had a couple alien/government conspiracy episodes in season 1, but shit gets real here, and the search for the truth suddenly becomes even more personal for Scully and Mulder, whose search was already personal because of his sister. We have Gillian Anderson’s surprise (ish) pregnancy to thank for this storyline and honestly, the full foundation of the show.
Now, Scully’s abduction storyline does get very convoluted as the show goes on in later seasons, but disregarding my knowledge of that future, this is a very very strong episode! Full of tension and suspense and plenty of angst; finally moving the show back along after the “X-files” were closed for our first 5 episodes.
I am trying to finish my thoughts on this episode before I attempt to simultaneously watch 2 gymnastics regionals finals and the Purdue-NC State basketball game later this evening, sooooooo let’s get into this. And hope (hahahaha) that I don’t ramble on too much.
Orchestrating Scully’s Abduction
One of the big questions surrounding this whole episode (and the rest of the series, honestly) is: What actually happened to Scully here?
I do still stand by my previous headcanon (still unsure if this is ever confirmed) that Scully scanning that implant at the grocery store somehow “activated” Duane Barry out of his coma and informed him of where he needed to go. And he kidnapped Scully for the same reasons he took his psychiatrist in the previous episode. He was determined that someone else would be taken in his place this time.
So we have that as the basis of how/why Scully was initially kidnapped by Duane Barry. And I stand behind that theory, as Mulder seems to.
Which, definite points to Mulder for apparently being the only one to question how Duane Barry knew where Scully was. No one else at the FBI seems to realize that he shouldn’t have had any reason to know who she was and definitely not where she lived.
But the bigger question comes here: It is clear throughout this episode that “The Syndicate” is orchestrating Scully’s kidnapping, after Krycek told them at the end of “Sleepless” that she was a problem they needed to take care of. And I just have to wonder how exactly they are ensuring she is taken, and how they knew this was going to happen. Or did they know the initial kidnapping was going to happen?
(Brief side note here: I cannot remember when our mysterious government shadow group that includes Krycek and Cigarette Smoking Man is given the name “The Syndicate”. It’s probably not until season 4? But just…that’s what their name is, and it’s easier to call them that even if officially in this rewatch we haven’t been given that name yet. So. Cigarette Smoking Man and his pals = The Syndicate.)
There is a small possibility that the government was indeed involved in all of Duane Barry’s previous abductions, and they were sending “messages” or something through his implants that made him more paranoid. But I still don’t think they could’ve possibly known he would successfully escape that mental institution, hold hostages, and then Mulder would be the one assigned to help that situation.
So it is more likely that the whole Duane Barry scenario and Scully’s initial kidnapping happened completely outside of The Syndicate’s plans, and they merely took advantage of the situation they were presented with here.
Because it doesn’t really seem like The Syndicate knew too much about Duane Barry? At the very least they acted like they didn’t. Krycek had to inform Cigarette Smoking Man about Skyland Mountain and lead them there to ensure Scully was abducted.
Abducted by…the government? The Syndicate? Aliens? All of those working together? Is that question ever fully answered????
In this case, I do feel the answer almost has to be that Scully was abducted at least in some part by The Syndicate, since they were the ones so focused on getting rid of her. Whether they were working with aliens, or using alien technology to complete the abduction…unanswered at the moment.
But for sure, some secret part of the government, and possibly the military, is involved here. Mulder’s paranoia isn’t completely unfounded.
That being said…
Mulder’s Selective Paranoia (again)
Here we go again. Despite what he tells random FBI dude above, Mulder…is way too trusting of random people.
In this episode, that’s mostly Krycek. Mulder has been way too trusting of Krycek since “Sleepless”. And I don’t entirely get why? When he was first partnered with Scully, he immediately knew that she had been sent to spy on him, though she did quickly correct him—that wasn’t her intention, despite what the higher ups wanted. I guess he does fall pretty quickly into trusting Scully as well, and in that case it was the right decision! But…Mulder never seemed to question being assigned Krycek as his partner? Is it because Krycek is apparently “new” and thus couldn’t possibly be up to anything? Is it because Krycek never questions Mulder’s theories and is more open to extreme ideas? (that should make you suspicious on its own, Mulder!!!)
I dunno, it just feels very weird to me. Mulder didn’t really need to involve Krycek in the search for Scully, and if he hadn’t involved Krycek…Mulder possibly could have saved her in time! There might be some reasons why Mulder did involve Krycek that I’ll get into shortly, but really…why, why Mulder?
You say you trust no one, and you’re paranoid that the government is tracking you and was responsible for Scully’s abduction, yet you trust this random new FBI agent that need I remind you, you don’t know anything about?! Like, he didn’t even ask Skinner what he knew about Krycek or who he was until the end of this episode! For as much as you fight against FBI bureaucracy, Mulder, I would think you’d question your “new partner”, even if you didn’t expect to get actual answers.
The apparent complete trust of Krycek makes up the bulk of Mulder’s selective paranoia here, but I was also surprised that he still seemed to place trust in both Senator Matheson and the mysterious “X”. Granted, he never gets to actually speak to Matheson, and Matheson hasn’t done anything to deserve mistrust exactly, but Jesus Christ Mulder.
I’ll give him some credit for at least questioning “X” and his intentions and what he knows…though again, he still seems to take what “X” tells him without question.
Get it together Mulder.
Trust no one, remember?
Krycek’s car????
OK, now that we’ve discussed Mulder’s weird trust in Krycek, let me get into the weird need to involve Krycek in the search for Scully here.
The key question being, why the fuck does Mulder keep needing to use Krycek’s car????
At first I thought, wait, does Mulder not have his own car? But no…he definitely uses his own car to drive over to Scully’s apartment at the start of the episode.
Now, maybe Mulder had enough self-awareness that first day, realizing he had not slept and should likely not be driving his car to the FBI. Maybe? Although, I had that thought, that Mulder was basically just using Krycek as his chauffeur…but then immediately we see that Mulder is driving Krycek’s car (and falling asleep at the wheel…). So. Perhaps not that much self-awareness.
So perhaps, even if he did drive his own car to work that day, he thought there might be a chance that Skinner or others would track his car (not too farfetched a thought honestly), but still expected Krycek to the rule-abiding FBI agent, so wouldn’t think to track his car. And, of course, Mulder couldn’t ask the FBI to requisition one of their cars because they would definitely track that.
Now, the reality of all this weirdness is probably this: the writers needed Krycek at Skyland Mountain to stop the tram and finish the orchestration of Scully’s abduction. I really doubt they put too much more thought into why Krycek’s car needed to be used.
Still, I think this could’ve been done differently. Mulder could have driven his own car, or stolen Krycek’s keys and not let him drive up with him at all. Because you know…Mulder “finds it hard to trust anyone” (except Krycek???) Then, Krycek still could’ve easily followed Mulder in a different vehicle (or a helicopter or something). And he still easily could have attacked the tram operator, stopped the tram, and ensured Scully’s abduction happened before Mulder could get up to the top.
Now, I can more easily accept Krycek coming along on this car ride. It still feels a bit dumb and wayyyyyyy too trusting on Mulder’s part, but I will admit that Krycek has so far been nothing but helpful. He didn’t force Mulder go to home, though he was ordered to. On the surface, Krycek did seem to care about finding Scully alive—maybe not as much as Mulder, but certainly was putting in more effort than it seemed anyone else at the FBI was. Perhaps Mulder really did feel that he was going to need back-up whenever they got to Skyland Mountain in order to subdue Duane Barry. Maybe he did want driving help, being somewhat self-aware about his sleep deprivation.
Where the “Krycek’s car” issue gets even weirder is when Mulder later asks to use it to drive to the Capitol building.
Because this happens after Duane Barry mysteriously dies after Krycek was the last person to be alone with him. And Mulder is the one who thinks it is likely that someone poisoned Duane Barry. Who else would it be if not Krycek? Hmm, Mulder? Hmmmm????
I will grant that OK, Krycek did supposedly back up Mulder’s story, that Barry was alive when Mulder left the room, so at that exact moment, it’s possible Mulder is at least a tiny bit grateful to Krycek for not just throwing him to the wolves when he easily could have.
And yet. At the very moment he should be suspicious that Krycek likely killed Duane Barry…he again asks Krycek if he can borrow his car keys 🤦♀️ In an even more blatant “this was inserted by the writers just to make the show interesting” because OH MY GOD, Mulder could have very easily walked or taken the fucking metro to the Capitol!!!! Fresh air probably would have been good for him!
Well, to end this on a positive note, I’m going to choose this reality: I want to believe that at that moment, maybe even subconsciously, Mulder was looking for something on Krycek. His mind was moving too fast and too full of “must save Scully” for him to really understand who he should be questioning or suspicious of…but some part of him did know that Krycek was the last one with Duane Barry. And maybe that part of his mind borrowed Krycek’s car so he could find what that was.
A mysterious cigarette. Krycek doesn’t smoke, does he…?
Krycek’s Motivations
I’ll admit here that I don’t fully remember all of Krycek’s story throughout the whole series. (Yes, minor spoiler, Krycek remains a big “bad guy” for the next 7 seasons)
But at this moment, I do have some questions about Krycek’s motivations and how he got involved with The Syndicate in the first place.
Let’s start with this question: Did Krycek find The Syndicate before he apparently joined the FBI, or after? If it was the former, did The Syndicate force Krycek to complete FBI training so that he could infiltrate? If it’s the latter, what was it about Krycek during his training that led Cigarette Smoking Man or some other Syndicate member to approach him and think they could trust him? And, once again, if it’s the former…how did Krycek learn about The Syndicate?
And, what exactly are his motivations?
CIGARETTE-SMOKING MAN: We tell you only what you need to know.
KRYCEK: I think I have a right to know.
CIGARETTE-SMOKING MAN: You have no rights, only orders to be carried out. If you have a problem with that, we'll make other arrangements.
It was interesting that Krycek kept questioning Cigarette Smoking Man, though seemingly only after he carried out his orders to ensure Scully’s abduction. It doesn’t seem like Krycek fully trusts the people he works for either. And yet…he is happy to carry out orders to take down Mulder’s investigations of the government.
Some of these questions about Krycek may get answered later, but even still, Krycek is a very interesting character. He mysteriously appears, disappears, and then reappears (spoiler) at the end of this season. For sure, his motivations don’t seem to be the exact same as the rest of The Syndicate. Maybe he’s just working for money.
But he’s a curious character, and as evil as Rat Boy later becomes, I am glad the writers choose to keep Krycek around for as long as they do.
Mulder’s Self-Awareness and Guilt
Just a couple notes here on Mulder throughout the episode.
I want to highlight first why I think Mulder is so completely distraught and full of guilt throughout the episode.
He thinks Scully’s kidnapping is 100% his fault. Because there was no need for Scully to get involved in the Duane Barry case. She was working on teaching at Quantico, and they weren’t partners anymore. It was Mulder who reached out to her, asking her to help him (because as I said…no one else was actually doing their job of investigating who TF Duane Barry was), and later bringing her that implant/metal fragment. Though, I will point out he did not directly ask her to investigate that; she did that all by herself.
I think it is in Mulder’s character to feel guilty no matter what when anything happens to Scully or anyone close to him. That goes all the way back to not being able to stop his sister’s abduction when he was a kid. Mulder is constantly running and looking behind his back and scared of who is after him (though again…sometimes he isn’t paranoid enough).
But I do think the guilt Mulder feels is particularly heightened in this case because really, Scully didn’t need to be involved at all. They were both off the “X-files” assignment and working separately. Mulder had Krycek as a new partner; in theory he could have asked Krycek to do that digging into Duane Barry, and he could have brought that mysterious metal fragment to a lab by himself.
Going deeper, he probably feels that he could’ve done a better job of distancing himself from Scully for the past few months. She could have moved on and had a very safe job just teaching at the FBI Academy and working on “normal” cases when her expertise was called for.
I understand Mulder’s guilt, but I firmly believe Scully’s kidnapping/abduction was not his fault. Lest we forget that at the start of this season, Mulder was completely ready to give up on his search for the truth, but it was Scully who told him not to give up. Scully also could have, and definitely would have if she wanted to, distanced herself from Mulder. But she didn’t want to. She loved the work she did with Mulder, even if his theories sometimes drove her crazy. Scully loves investigating and using her science to solve weird puzzles no one else seemingly wants to bother with. She wants to look for the truth, too. Scully never would have given up. I firmly believe she was in it for the long haul from the moment she stepped into that basement office.
Which also wasn’t Mulder’s fault. Scully was assigned to work with him by others at the FBI. So if he’s going to go deep and find anyone to blame, blame those people, Mulder, for introducing her to the dangerous world you work in.
Besides, if Scully hadn’t been abducted now, The Syndicate was clearly working on other plans. Nothing Mulder did or was going to do could stop them.
I also want to note here briefly that I did appreciate Mulder’s self-awareness throughout this episode, but particularly when he was alone with Duane Barry. Mulder never should’ve been left alone with him in the first place, though I don’t know that any of the local cops that appeared to be first at the scene + Krycek could’ve stopped him from questioning Barry by himself. Even though he was clearly out of his mind with grief and rage. It was nice to see Mulder stop himself from killing Duane Barry—coming to the realization on his own that he needed him alive if he was going to have any hope of finding answers to who might have taken Scully. To see Mulder stop himself, calm himself down, and then leave the room when he knew he was losing control…was just very neat to see. We don’t see that too often—usually in similar scenarios on TV, another person has to come in and stop the attack on a suspect. Nice to see Mulder get ahold of himself.
Mulder + The Syndicate
Just a brief note here that I don’t entirely agree with Cigarette Smoking Man’s statement above.
I do understand why The Syndicate keeps Mulder around. It’s easier to lie to him or feed him tiny little bits of truth, keeping him away from finding the “real” truth. It’s easier to hide the big truths behind small lies, or even small truths.
But…in some cases, it definitely would be easier to kill Mulder. Like, I don’t know exactly what “crusade” CSM thinks is going to rise up after Mulder’s death. Sure, we learned from Max Fenig last season that there are others who follow Mulder’s investigations, and Mulder also has The Lone Gunmen who certainly would write about Mulder’s death/execution. But…those are regular citizens…regular citizens who most of the population think are crazy, so it’s not like a bunch of them rising up would have all that much power. Especially because none of them have direct access to government files, though The Lone Gunmen can hack into some.
Mulder’s death would leave Scully behind, and I am sure she would go absolutely crazy, but still not to the extent that Mulder does with his investigations.
Now, we will learn later on the big reason I think CSM is against just directly killing Mulder. But, for now, I think the reality is that The Syndicate would rather watch Mulder suffer than just kill him directly. They would rather he kill himself, or destroy himself in some other way. That way their hands are mostly clean. And so they take Scully away from him. To torture him, essentially.
Although, I do think that The Syndicate underestimated exactly how insane Mulder would go over Scully’s abduction. I mean, he walks on top of a tram dangling likely hundreds of feet in the air in a desperate attempt to reach Scully before anything happens to her. He keeps asking questions this episode, leading to him discovering Krycek’s duplicity.
But, over the next couple of episodes, seemingly losing Scully does drive Mulder completely crazy and almost forces him to completely give up. So, The Syndicate definitely knows more about how close Mulder and Scully are than they seem to recognize at this moment.
Aliens…or the government?
I’ve already mentioned this a couple of times, so I won’t drag it out too much more.
But I do want to say that it is very interesting that in this specific case, Mulder actually quite firmly does not believe Scully was abducted by aliens. He thinks the government is behind this, and the military is covering up the death of Duane Barry. Further, he seems to think all of Duane Barry’s “abductions” were also orchestrated by the government.
He’s not wrong, or at least not entirely wrong. But it’s just interesting that Mr. Alien Abductions Are Real is so adamant in this case that it’s the government trying to stop him and Scully from discovering any truth.
Scully’s faith
MULDER: (about Scully’s cross necklace) It's something I... I never considered about her. If she was... if she was such a skeptic, why did she wear that?
Including Scully’s mother in this episode, and Scully’s cross necklace as the sign left behind for Mulder, were both very good choices by the writers.
To me, both Mrs. Scully’s prophetic dreams, and the discussion about Scully’s necklace, really get to the core of Scully’s character and why she is more of a believer than Mulder seems to realize. And why Mulder and Scully are actually perfect for each other—they are both looking for the truth, just in different ways. And they will find it together.
I don’t feel that Scully is a true “skeptic” in the way many think she is. Yes, her character is to be the foil to Mulder and constantly question his wild theories, but she never completely discounts his ideas. The difference between Mulder and Scully is that she wants to use science to find the truth, and she has a hard time accepting anything that she can’t explain with science. But she is willing to look—she is excited to investigate and find answers, even.
And as I stated in my review of “Miracle Man” I do think Scully still believes in God, but she doesn’t necessarily believe he performs miracles on his own. Science and faith are not completely incompatible. I think Scully is of the mindset that God gives people the power to solve their problems and find answers, but God won’t, or can’t just call all the shots and perform miracles on his own.
Anyway, I do appreciate that Mulder is questioning what he knows about Scully. And I love that he makes the effort to reach out to her mom and comfort her when he himself is clearly in the depths of grief.
Reopening The “X-Files” unit
The “X-files” has been reopened! Skinner finally seems to realize he doesn’t have to follow the orders of that mysterious man who hangs out in his office smoking cigarettes!
Unfortunately, Mulder is still too distraught to find much comfort in this. But we do officially have our unit back…just with one key agent missing. ☹☹
The X-Files is a comedy
This is obviously a very serious and very sad episode. And because of that, I feel inclined to include this hilarious (to me) exchange between Krycek and Mulder.
Our “Completely Platonic Coworkers”
Well since poor Scully is kidnapped, we don’t get any actual interaction between Mulder and Scully in this episode. Sadly.
To replace that, have some classic extremely broody Mulder, guilty because he feels responsible for what happened to Scully. He drove all the way back up that mountain at night just to stare at the stars and wish that he could find her:
The 90s™
There isn’t too much classic 90s in this episode either, though I did chuckle that Mulder found Skyland mountain a phone book, which apparently the FBI kept for their agents to peruse? I wonder if they’re still around and being used as paper weights…
Goofs/Bloopers/Fun Facts
If it’s unsafe to go on that tram past 15 mph, why is there even a setting to increase its speed beyond that?!
Maybe it’s safe to go faster when there’s no passengers on board and they want to bring it up or down quickly?
Still seems weird. Just stop the operator from being able to increase the speed beyond what’s apparently unsafe
Accidental Vancouver skyline when they’re in the wilderness of Southern Virginia
The sun seems to set awfully fast as Mulder ascends in that tram. When they first park, the sun is high and the sky is a clear blue. The sun doesn’t seem to be close to setting. But, it does set as Mulder goes up in the tram, and then by the time he gets to the top it is completely dark.
The cable car is only supposed to take 14 minutes, and Mulder was very close to the top. Full daylight to complete darkness doesn’t seem likely to happen in 14 minutes.
Maybe the aliens are messing with time? 😉
How come no one really seems to question the apparent death of the tram operator? I mean, for one I have a hard time believing that Krycek knocking him out with his gun was enough to kill him, though it is possible if he hit the right part of his head. But like…no one else was down there? Who else could’ve killed the tram operator other than Krycek? Why was that not looked at until Mulder questioned Krycek’s loyalties????
Fun fact: David Duchovny did all of those terrifying stunts on the cable car!
I’ve mentioned Gillian Anderson’s pregnancy already several times, but just another note: the scene on the “ship” or whatever isn’t altered at all—that’s Gillian’s own very pregnant stomach being “inflated”
We have our second changed tagline after the opening credits: “Deny Everything”
Overall Thoughts/Summary
Episode rating: 9.5/10. For all the questioning/minor complaining I did about Krycek and Mulder’s paranoia and the abduction, I actually love this episode! It’s not one of the best, but it is right up there with my favourites. The acting from everyone is stellar, and the directing and filming was done perfectly to keep the suspense up. And while the episode is left still somewhat open-ended, I appreciate that! Let the audience keep questioning whether it is aliens or the government, or if the government is working with aliens! Let Mulder keep questioning that!
X-files cases “solved” to date: Very very sadly, Mulder did not solve this case. Not yet. I mean, he came so close to getting to Scully before she was taken on the top of that mountain. He figured out where Duane Barry was taking her and almost made it up there in time! And then later he did semi-solve who is likely behind Scully’s abduction/kidnapping, once he came to his senses and realized Krycek is not to be trusted. But, overall, the case given in this episode was solving Scully’s abduction and bringing her home safely. And poor Mulder has not done that yet.
For now we are at 4/6 cases solved for the season, 24/30 total.
Now, while this was an excellent episode, and these first 6 episodes have had a very strong average rating of 8.4/10…the next episode, “3” is…uh…not good, from my memory. I don’t have many memories of it actually because on most rewatches I just skip it entirely to get back into the abduction arc. And because it’s…bad. I have a vague memory of vampires being somehow involved in the episode?
Well, I guess we’ll discover how actually good or bad that episode is. And then another week until we are reunited with Scully.
Until next week! I have 15 minutes now until my first gymnastics regional starts! Good timing by me, even though I rambled on again for over 4000 words…