#between duane barry and ascension

[fruitcage]

[xf-cases-solved]

i fucking love how watching xfiles in order gives you such insane emotional whiplash

like for example, s1 you have ice, this amazing "the thing"-esque thriller, immediately followed by space, which is probably top ten least memorable episodes in the world. beyond the sea has so many emotional beats and insane levels of acting skill, immediately followed by fucking gender bender lmfao. the absolute mindfuck of having the duane barry/ascension/one breath trio interrupted by the 14 year old emo kid's vampiric wet dream that is 3??? unparalleled levels of unhinged decision making in that production room

anyway, i just watched colony/end game, and it ends with that poignant scene between mulder and scully in the hospital, after she put on such a demonstration of loyalty and love by ignoring his wishes and going after him and saving his life, and mulder finishes the scene by talking about how he has renewed faith in his search for truth despite his heartbreak, and it's beautiful bc in the end, isn't loyalty, love, and faith what this show is all about? -cue credits-

then "watch next episode" pops up and

it is the one with the invisible gorilla

this shit sure does keep you on your toes, huh?

[thursdayinspace]

So much to say about the Duane Barry episodes and Scully's abduction, but mostly I find it amazing how much relationship development they managed to pack into a handful of episodes that Scully is barely in at all. It's already set up nicely: the hostage negotiation, Mulder being frustrated because first he's asked to help and then has to find out they're withholding information from him. Once again, he's not being taken seriously; he has to turn to Scully again even though they're not even partners anymore. He still relies on her, she's still the only one he can really trust. She comes all the way out there with the information she digs up when she can't reach him. She talks into his ear to help him resolve the situation. Afterwards, when they find that implant in Duane Barry, they try to figure that out together as well. As we've seen throughout all the episodes before, they fall back into their partnership easily, like it's the most natural thing in the world for them. And then she's abducted and everything falls apart. That's where it really picks up and it becomes clear that everything up to this point has been little more than a (very well done and important) prologue.

Mulder's silence at the beginning of "Ascension" is almost frightening. It's certainly intense. Somewhere between withdrawn and hyperfocused, with a good dose of fear mixed in. He tells Scully's mother that she's not in her apartment, and after that we don't hear him speak again until a good way into the conversation in Skinner's office the next morning, a good five minutes into the episode even though he's in every scene before then. And when he barely puts up a fight when Skinner tells him to go home, you know he's going rogue. He does not trust them to find Scully, and he certainly can't sit and wait while she's out there with Duane Barry.

He pushes himself beyond his limits, almost falling asleep at the wheel but refusing to let Krycek drive -- he doesn't give up the tiniest sliver of control. When the tram operator won't let them take the tram up the mountain, Mulder has no problem showing him his gun. He pushes the tram beyond safety limits. Does his acrobatics out in the open who knows how high up in the air -- risking his life -- after Krycek stops the tram.

And holy shit the way he loses it when he spots Scully's blood and hair on Duane Barry's hospital band is truly scary, I don't think we've ever seen him that angry before. But on second thought, maybe angry is the wrong word. He's acting out of fear and panic. I don't think even an angry Mulder would choke anyone. He isn't thinking straight anymore, his responses are almost primal at this point. He hasn't slept, he's running on adrenaline, he's no closer to finding Scully and now he knows she's injured.

Finding out about Krycek, Skinner reopening the x files . . . it all seems almost secondary. Not as important as his meeting with Scully's mother and her telling him to keep the cross necklace. He didn't have anyone this entire time to lean on or to talk to. And he still doesn't, but this is the closest he gets. He and Scully's mom are in similar places. For them, this is personal. I love that they're bonding over this, over their love for Scully and their worry about her. (Whatever meaning you want to read into the word "love" between Mulder and Scully at this point.)

The beginning of "One Breath" is so intense, Mulder running into that room in the hospital to find her lying there unconscious, hooked up to a respirator. Anger fueled by blind panic. "Who brought her here?" "How did she get here?" "Who did this to her?" "Listen, if you’re hiding anything, I swear, I will do anything, whatever it takes, I will find out what they did to her!" I love the scene and I absolutely love the way it's acted, big thumbs up to DD. Getting her back could have been the emotional release of that arc, but she comes back in a coma. It spikes the angst to a whole new level. Before, he didn't know whether she was okay or not, he could hold onto hope. Now he knows she's not okay. Getting her back does not let him finally sit down and take a deep breath and process any of it. Nothing is resolved, the fight is just taken elsewhere.

I just want to take a second to think about the fact that he sigend her living will as her witness. That is. A very intimate thing to do. And that moment needs to get the credit it deserves. Knowing that they have talked about the event of her being unable to decide for herself, knowing she let him in, let him sign it, and the fact that he did it? That is a huge HUGE thing.

What is really intriguing is that Mulder and Melissa clash in the way they do, because you'd expect them to get along. I wonder if they would have gotten along better had they met under different circumstances. But here, Mulder is in a very different place. He tends to go to extremes when the stakes are high, his single-minded focus in this moment doesn't allow for anything but action. He still believes he can do something. He doesn't even go in with them when they decide to pull the plug -- he refuses to accept a reality where she dies. We see that again in the cancer arc, where he tells her as much when she tells him her cancer is untreatable.

If anyone would go to the trouble of putting together a list of the top ten most heartbreaking moments from the entire show, Mulder's visit to CSM and the way his voice breaks when he asks "Why her?" would have to be on it. "Why her and not me?" It's the way he says it, but it's also what's in that question that makes it so heartbreaking. Because that's what it all boils down to. He feels guilty. He asked in the hospital "Who did this to her?" And throughout these episodes, in his head, he has always considered that person to be himself. He did this to her. Something we get to hear again and again all the way into the revival when he tells her he wishes she'd left that basement earlier so she'd have been spared from all the things that happened to her. He feels responsible.

(Just a short digression: He is not responsible. I feel like that's a very important thing to remember. Something her brother should have been told in the cancer arc too. Holding Mulder responsible robs Scully of all agency and makes her nothing more than a loyal puppy. But unpacking Bill Jr.'s implicit misogyny, and why the way Mulder feels responisble for everything is not the same thing, that is for another post. If anyone has thoughts on that though, I'd love to hear them.)

A real Mulder moment is him choosing not to take revenge on the men responsible for Scully's abduction, after X pretty much hand-delivers them to him on a silver tray, but rather to go to the hospital after Melissa tells him it might be his last chance, that Scully is dying. He will choose Scully over everything every time. Sitting at her bedside, taking her hand, the way he speaks to her -- it becomes clear how deep the feelings go but also how fragile and undefined it all is between them. They're friends, they're partners, they've flirted, they've told each other some of their deepest secrets, and he has no idea how to be around her now. "I don’t know if my being here . . . will help bring you back. But I’m here." His pause there before "will help bring you back" kills me. He honestly has no idea. He can hope, but he just doesn't know if he'd be a contributing factor in her decision to come back or move on, if she even hears him, if it's even in her control. (I've always wondered when he says in the revival that he invented wishing someone back to life when she was in the hospital, whether he was talking about her cancer or about this moment, or maybe both.)

He gets his breakdown once he comes back home to his destroyed apartment. Sliding down the wall crying -- such a moment. There's no anger in that anymore. No action. He expects to be losing her at that point and all the fight has left him. Until he gets the phone call that she's okay.

Could the episode have benefited from a slightly longer scene at the end? Maybe. It seems a bit anticlimactic, after all he's been through, that he walks into her room, gives her that silly tape (such a Mulder thing to do), hands her the cross necklace back, and that's pretty much it. On the other hand, considering the scene by her bedside before, maybe it fits. He doesn't know where he stands with her, and she's with her family.

I do think the ending is a bit abrupt, but that can easily be forgiven with all that those episodes provided before that. If anyone can see more in that ending than I do, I'd love to hear it because I really don't quite know what to make of it. But they seriously sent Mulder on a journey there, and it worked. And it sets so many things in motion, for the plot and for their relationship.

[endless-formsmostbeautiful]

Squeeze / Ascension

I have a theory that Scully may have left her necklace in Duane Barry's car intentionally during her abduction. I had previously assumed that she lost it unintentionally during a struggle or during the trip, but while I was rewatching I noticed a parallel between this scene in Ascension and another in Squeeze.

In Squeeze, Tooms surreptitiously steals Scully's pendant when Mulder and Scully investigate his lair without either of them noticing his presence. Later, while staking out the lair, Mulder sees the necklace, recognises it, and correctly surmises that Tooms has marked her to be his next victim.

Later, in Duane Barry and Ascension, Scully is abducted by Duane Barry, who transports her to Skyland Mountain in the hopes that she will be abducted in his place. Scully would have known that Mulder would do everything in his power to try to find her, so I think it is reasonable to suppose that Scully may have wanted to leave some talisman behind in Barry's car to signify that he was on the right track. Scully would likely have remembered that Mulder recognised her pendant in Squeeze and would (correctly) assume that he would find her cross necklace in Barry's car and realise that she had been there and that she was still alive.

[carefulfears]

wait are the “send me an episode” asks still open. can you do ascension my best friend ascension. ignore this if you don’t wanna. this is mikey silo1013 btw

HEYYYY you guys can ALWAYS send me an episode lol y’all know i love to talk

this is prob gonna be all over the place this episode makes me feel deranged i'm literally incapable of formulating a coherent thought about it

this is my favorite shot from ascension. mulder on top of the broken cable car, the sun setting behind him. he's so close to making it, and he's running out of time.

ascension is arguably the most poignant and effective portrayal of the show's core themes, and of what drives mulder, as it makes a point of placing him back in the one night that he never truly left.

once again, he's listening as the person closest to him screams his name for help. he's been trying to rewrite this moment, to walk back into this room, every day of his life, and he's not a child unable to respond anymore. he's not frozen in the corner.

he jumps up and rushes to the scene before the message even finishes, and he's still too late.

this is the reigning theme of the episode, as mulder obsessively searches for scully, unrelenting for a moment or a breath.

ascension is heavily visible, driven largely in its symbols, and this theme is referenced continuously in skyland mountain's tagline "ascend to the stars"

alluded to in the testimony that duane barry gave mulder in the previous episode

and hinted at again in the images of mountains behind duane and mulder in the interrogation

and so both mulder and duane keep ascending, racing against the trauma of their respective pasts, both trying to change their fate, to avoid reliving their worst nights over and over.

duane in his attempts to be spared as the person taken, and mulder in his desperation to not be the person left behind.

but in the end, at the very top, there is once again nothing to see but bright lights

i love this moment between mulder and maggie, back on the ground, when all is said and done. when she tells him that she's still having dreams about her daughter being taken away, and how much it scares her. and mulder responds, "it's probably scarier when you stop having the dream, don't you think?"

isn't it worth it, to be haunted, if it keeps someone close?

so the episode concludes with mulder returning to the top of the mountain, walking back into that room, into that loss, over and over. still left behind.

ascension is the mythology as its very best, in that it understood where the real danger lies. the fear in uncertainty.

the real danger lies in the man without a name in the corner, always visible and surrounded by smoke signals, but still impossible to find. shrouded in that same cloud that makes him so identifiable.

it lies in questions without answers, and the easiest explanation not necessarily being the most plausible. did duane barry find scully through the chip, or did someone give him her address? are the lights in the sky alien, or something closer to home?

as the audience, we are left just as in the dark as mulder is, never having anything to go on other than what is discarded in rental cars. cigarette butts, cross necklaces, lights in the sky, and nothing else to find when you reach the end of the road.

finally, you and i are both union-based krycek-girlies, so we must discuss his big moment.

(boys trip)

following his introduction and the reveal that he's working for CSM earlier in the season, ascension solidifies krycek's place in the game when he is given orders to slow mulder down at any cost

in an episode so defined by rush and the demand to make it to the top

krycek halts mulder in the air, finishing the race when only one of them knows the rules

and then disappears, another missing person leaving his partner behind, with a trail of crumbs behind him

[randomfoggytiger]

This post got me thinking:

[silo1013]

what are your thoughts about krycek's kill in sleepless?

i think i made some kind of small post about this like a month ago but i'm going to get more into it now that you've sent me an ask about it specifically. unleashing the beast.

ok so i don't know if this is like. #controversial or whatever but i don't actually think he was faking his reaction to killing augustus cole! i do think that was baby's first murder.

in the LSG media x-files podcast, one of the hosts points out that, at the end of sleepless, krycek kind of has no choice but to kill cole. cole wants to die, and was going to die either way (he was clearly planning to jump off the ledge of the vehicle yard building before being confronted by mulder)--but he knows that mulder isn't going to do it, so he puts it on krycek by manipulating him into seeing the gun where the bible was. there's obviously no way for krycek to fake that, it's external. so if he thinks that his partner is about to get shot, what does he do? if he wasn't a spy, he'd do what he's supposed to do according to what they teach you at the FBI, which is to shoot cole (the hostile suspect) before he can shoot mulder (the LEO). he is a spy, but he still has to do what he's supposed to do, because if he doesn't, it'll blow his cover.

the conversation between krycek and the cigarette-smoking man in ascension makes it pretty obvious that krycek is like. at this point, basically an errand boy. a foot soldier AT MOST. the cigarette-smoking man tells krycek, among other things, that he "has no rights, only orders to be carried out," and that if he has problems with that, they'll "make other arrangements," which is like. very obviously a threat that krycek seems disquieted by, placing him in what is probably a relatively low position in the syndicate's hierarchy. he's a mole, someone who watches and passes along information--not the kind of operative that assassinates people.

we get basically nothing on krycek in terms of backstory/what he was doing before being introduced into the story (which in almost all cases i think is a plus) but to be honest i don't think there would have been any reason for him to have killed anybody before cole. krycek mentions in ascension that the cigarette-smoking man "had" him do something--we infer that this is related to the death of duane barry at the least, if not also what happened to the tram operator at skyland mountain--so we know that he wasn't doing that of his own accord, he was receiving orders. we see him doing the same thing in anasazi (before the cigarette-smoking man decides he's a loose end that needs to be tied), except now he seems to be being specifically ordered to carry out hits; likely because somebody, somewhere, saw what he did in ascension and decided that he could handle it. i don't believe that that was always his job, and i definitely don't think that it was anywhere NEAR his job during the period of time he was assigned to be mulder's partner. the confrontation the end of sleepless puts him in the position to kill someone when he wasn't intended to be, and he does it, and after they realize he can do it, he's put in positions where he has to do it more. if it helps the government cover up the fact that they've been doing fucked up experiments on people, that's an added bonus.

part of this can be attributed to nicholas lea being a good actor, obviously, but i think when it comes to determining this sort of thing, it's physical reactions that tend to sell it. at the end of the scene, right before the cut to mulder finding out his file's been stolen from the car, there's the shot of mulder and krycek leaning over cole's body in the vehicle yard building. it's the most well-lit part of the scene, and there's a long shot focusing on the bible lying at cole's side where he'd dropped it as he fell. it's pretty zoomed in, since the focus is on the book, but both mulder and krycek are partially visible in-shot. mulder, who we know has killed people before, doesn't enjoy it but is familiar with it, is very sober and still; krycek's hand is shaking so hard it's changing the reflections on the face of his wristwatch.

so yeah, i do think augustus cole was the first time he ever killed anyone, and i think his hesitations and reactions were real. frankly i think most of his reactions to things regarding the case were real; he might be part of the alien cover-up conspiracy but i feel like maybe that doesn't prepare you for war veterans that can kill people with their minds. i guess it's the sort of thing where it's like. he COULD have been faking it? "it" being the fear and anxiety and immediate shock of killing a person for the first time. even though i think the emotions that you must be experiencing after you kill someone for the first time, especially if you didn't necessarily want to do it--residual fear, sick adrenaline, some kind of fucked up relief--would be pretty difficult to fake, particularly if you're trying to fool one of the best psychologists in the bureau, i don't doubt that he could have gotten away with faking it if he'd had to. but i just think it's a little more interesting if he didn't

[tranquilitybasehotelcasino]

obviously duane barry and ascension take place one after another because that’s basically one long episode but is there a gap between sleepless and duane barry. each season has ~22 episodes and encompasses something like a year (counting explicit time skips like scully being missing for two months or whatever) so there have to be gaps SOMEWHERE. taking into account the fact that mulder seems much more comfortable working with krycek in duane barry/ascension than he did in sleepless i think it’s reasonable to assume there was like. a period in between. i wish we saw that

[illogarithmil]

I probably need to watch Ascension before expressing too strong an opinion, but Duane Barry, despite being brilliant in itself, is undoubtedly the most disappointing x files episode of my watchthrough so far.* I've been saying since S1E3 that the whole thing would be massively improved if it roughly alternated between cases where Mulder's right, cases where Scully's right, and ambiguous cases. As is, this is one of very few even slightly ambiguous cases and the only time Scully's been fully overall correct (probably) is when it was Mulder's turn to hold the Idiot (Skeptic) Ball.

Fuckit I want to see the man whose habitual response to a crime is to ask how aliens are involved make mistakes, be too presumptuous, get people hurt! I want to see him sometimes have to concede that his extremely smart knowledgeable companion was right :/ especially when he's being pushed into investigating more normal cases! His whole self-doubt thing really feels like a non sequitur, absent that.

*second most disappointing is Changes, because they both do the never-say Zombie thing with werewolves and reference werewolf lore as a comparison point. Cowardice!

[hotpocketcasserole]

X Files Season 2

Alright, my husband and I are pretty solidly into season 3 by now and I've just been tired and haven't felt up to writing my thoughts about season 2.

I'm still very tired but I'm going to give it a shot before I forget about 90% of season 2. I can tell you that the success of the first season is very apparent in the production value. The special effects, the make up, even the quality of the film seemed to improve drastically between seasons. I also feel like the writers felt like they could get away with a bit more now. It feels a lot edgier, there's a bit more gore than before, despite being restrained by the boundaries of what's allowed on television.

I feel like there are a lot more memorable episodes this season as well. The first time I watched this season I remember being very surprised at some of the plot points and revelations, particularly about Mulder's sister. Not surprised by them but rather how early they appeared in the lifetime of the show. I thought for sure that we wouldn't see Samantha Mulder until much later in the series but as it turns out (Spoiler: she wasn't really his sister, she was an alien/human hybrid clone).

Again, I don't have time to talk about every episode but I do want to talk about a few notable ones for me. Most of the episodes in this season were exceptionally good.

Best Episodes: S2 E5 / E6 / E8 - Duane Barry / Ascension / One Breath

An absolute knockout trilogy of episodes. The saga of Duane Barry and Scully's abduction is not just one of the best stories in the series but a watershed moment for the show. While season one had some defining plot points, Scully's kidnapping feels like it really shaped the show and affected everything to come.

Great Episodes:

S2 E13 - Irresistible An incredible episode. It dealt with a lot of really heavy topics I won't get into but the moment at the end where Mulder and Scully hug after she finally breaks and shows her own vulnerability. Pfaster is such a terrifying villain as well.

S2 E3 - Blood A classic episode. Though it feels like the idea of rogue technology and conspiracies of the public being drugged with mind altering substances are themes that pop up sort of frequently. Not complaining too much since those are often really good episodes.

S2 S22 - F. Emasculata An episode that almost feels less like the X Files and more like a suspense contagion movie. One of those race-against-time episodes that keep you engaged all the way to the end. It was also particularly graphic with pulsating boils and some rather stomach churning moments.

S2 S20 - Humbug A rather lighthearted and silly episode despite the looming murders that grip a town of side show performers.

S2 E16 / E17 - Colony / End Game A good two parter that expands on the alien/human hybrid and clone mythos and introduces one of the most intimidating villains of the show, the alien bounty hunter.

Bad Episodes:

S2 E11 - Excelsis Dei An interesting but disturbing episode. I don't want to go too much into the rather triggering matters but I like the idea of an episode about astral projecting and if I remember correctly, there are other episodes about that but done a little better.

S2 E18 - Fearful Symmetry Not the worst episode but not very memorable. I'd completely forgotten about it until it came on and I was like, 'Oh yeah, this is the one about the zoo animals that turn invisible.'

S2 E12 - Aubrey Just kind of a dull episode. Terry O'Quinn from lost is in this episode and is really good! It's just a shame that the episode overall was nap inducing.

The Worst Episode: S2 E7 - 3 A boring, moody mess. I do think an episode solely about Mulder or Scully is a great idea but it doesn't work here. I do think they're both great working together but the melancholy that looms over the whole episode, and the fact that it's trying hard to be some kind of erotic vampire thriller, just turns it into a brooding, mumbling mess.

Overall a great season!

[enigmaticxbee]

✖️✖️✖️✖️✖️ 2x06 Ascension

The one where... Scully’s is abducted by Duane Barry. Part 2 of 2.

Tag Line: Deny Everything

Best: Sad, scruffy Mulder trying frantically to find Scully is one of my favorite Mulders.

Worst: So Mulder just drops it at the end? I get that he hasn’t slept for days, and is devastated, and has no allies, but...

❌ Flashlights

❌ Woods

❌ Slideshow

❌ Autopsy

✔️ Evidence Disappears

❌ Scully Misses It

❌ Mulder Ditch

❌ Sunflower Seeds

❌ Voiceover

❌ Catch Phrase

❌ Scully is a Medical Doctor

❌ Mulder is Spooky

✔️ Scuuullllaaaaayy! Muullllderrrr!

❌ Fox/Dana

❌ Inappropriate Touching (that I am here for)

❌ Casual Scully

❌ Casual Mulder

✔️ Trench Coats

❌ Bad Tie Watch

❌ Glasses Watch

✔️ Taking! It! Personally!: Mulder

50 States: Virginia x2 & D.C. x7 (18/50)

Investigate: Apart

Solve Rate: 70%

❌ Bechdel Test: No conversation between two women

MSR: 🐝🐝🐝

Goriness: 👽👽

Creepiness: 👽👽

Humor: 👽

Rewatch Thoughts:

Why do I love sad scruffy Mulder so much? He climbs OUT of a cable car because he HAS to get to her in time! (Spoiler alert: he doesn’t get to her in time 😩)

So Mulder sums everything up at the end and it kinda makes sense (Duane Barry’s escape from the hospital with a gunshot wound and travel from Richmond to DC to abduct Scully quibbles aside) but its a little convoluted (I’ve seen this episode multiple times before, although it’s been a couple years - and yet see my mid-episode confusion). I guess CSM’s just taking advantage of the situation, but if all he wanted was Scully out of the way he could have abducted her at any time. Or taken Duane Barry too if that’s what he wanted people to think happened...

Mid-Episode Thoughts:

Ugh, watching Mulder listen to Scully’s voicemail. And then when he’s imagining what happened.

He’s surprisingly calm at Scully’s. And when he’s talking to Mrs Scully he just looks so sad. He thinks she’s dead. If he thought she was alive he would be frantic.

The Scullys are psychic (well not Bill... the Scully women are psychic).

Mulder looks rough at this meeting. How did Duane Barry find Scully? How did he get to DC from the hospital in a Richmond? Was it the implant? Was it CSM?

Interesting music choice when Duane Barry’s driving and gets pulled over. I think it works - not what I’d expect.

Ugh, Scully in the truck. But Mulder just sees that Scully’s alive.

Ok, so based on Krycek’s call I guess Duane Barry kidnapped Scully on his own. “They” are trying to locate her, so CSM’s just taking advantage of this situation to solve his Scully problem.

Why is Mulder driving? Save your energy Mulder! I hate to say this, but Krycek’s making some good points.

If “they” gave Duane Barry Scully’s address why wouldn’t they have just tracked him rather than relying on Krycek/Mulder?

Skyland Mountain. I lived in Virginia for a few years and always thought of this episode when the Blue Ridge Parkway was mentioned.

That poor tram operator. That smooth of his hair after he attacks him - there’s the real Krycek we’ll come to know and loathe. But he doesn’t know who he’s dealing with - Mulder’s on a mission!

He’s too late.

Who decided to leave Mulder alone with Duane Barry? He loses it at sight of her hair and blood.

Is this supposed to be what’s actually happening to Scully or just what Mulder’s imagining is happening to her? They use this imagery again throughout the series so I guess it’s real - or Mulder has a link to her, like Scully does to him during his abduction later in the series...

Kill Mulder and you risk turning one man’s religion into a crusade. CSM, that feels like an excuse.

It’s the cigarettes that tip him off!

Mulder’s figured it all out. Poor Skinner, caught in the middle. He goes out on a limb to reopen the X-Files, but Mulder’s too devastated to process.

Love that Mrs Scully gives the necklace to Mulder. (Continuity police: 15th birthday present or Christmas present?) He needs something to hold on to.

[marshmallow-xphile]

My thoughts on the sexuality of some of my favorite X-files characters.

I posted this in my X-files amino back in June as part of a LGBTQ pride challenge and for some reason I only just thought to post it here as well.

Fox Mulder: openly bisexual

Mulder is so open sexually that I really don't think gender matters all that much to him. He does seem to prefer females but I wouldn't be even remotely surprised if he had a boyfriend or two in the past. I don't think he's flamboyant about his sexuality but I don't think he'd hide it at all either

My evidence:

In the season one episode "Ghost in the Machine" we meet an Mulder's ex-partner, Jerry, and I absolutely feel like there is an ex-lovers vibe to the both of them. They hug upon first seeing each other, Mulder looks incredibly happy to see him, when Mulder says they worked together Jerry corrects him to say they were partners at which point Mulder looks over at Scully as if to see her reaction. Mulder has this real guilty look to him. When Jerry acts a little self conscious Mulder is real quick to jump in and reassure him. They get in each other's personal space. It just really leaves me with the impression that they care deeply for one another and broke up for other reasons, perhaps the different career goals as Mulder tells Scully.

We also have Mulder with Krycek. From the very beginning of Krycek's involvement with the X-files I feel like the writers went out of their way to make a correlation between the change in partnership and a new partner in a relationship. There is a scene in Sleepless where Mulder and Scully are on the phone and Mulder tells Krycek he'll be right there, the rest of the conversation feels reminiscent of two exes chatting about the change brought about by the new relationship. Scully even brings up that it must be nice having a partner who doesn't question his every theory.

There were many scenes in Sleepless, Duane Barry, and Ascension in which Mulder and Krycek were alone but that we never got to see who knows for example what the two of them got to talking about while they were stuck in traffic during the drive to New York in Sleepless. Or how often they hung out between Sleepless and Duane Barry.

During Mulder and Scully's partnership Mulder only called her 'Dana' on a few emotional occasions. He started casually calling Krycek 'Alex' almost immediately.

Let us not forget the infamous speedo scene. While yes it definitely showed more of a Krycek attraction to Mulder than the opposite. It does make one wonder what led him to wear such a revealing bathing suit. How many straight men do you know who wear speedos? My guess is few. How many straight men wear speedos when they can reasonably assume their male partner will show up looking for them? Not many would be guess.

And then there is their relationship after Krycek is revealed to be a traitor. They both tend to act more like scorned lovers than enemies and notice that it's Mulder, not Krycek, who cannot seem to keep his hands off the other. Seriously it's like every time Krycek shows up, Mulder immediately grabs him.

Now here's a couple quotes from Mulder,

Krycek tells Mulder he most be losing it because Krycek beat him with one hand. Mulder's immediate reaction: "isn't that how you like to beat yourself?"

When the little man in Humbug is lined up pretty much exactly with Mulder's crotch he says that Mulder would be surprised how many women find his size alluring. Mulder's immediate reaction: "you'd be surprised how many men do as well"

How many straight guys do you know comfortable enough with their sexuality to make a gay innuendo? I personally cannot think of any.

Dana Scully: bicurious

I believe that Scully is sometimes attracted to women. It definitely is not as blatant as with Mulder and I really don't think she's had any past girlfriends but I definitely think that there is an attraction.

My evidence:

In the episode "Ice" I really felt like there are a few tender moments between her and Felicity Huffman's character especially while they were examining one another for the worms. That examination had a sort of sexual energy to it I thought.

In the episode "kill switch" theres a moment where the Invisagoth asked if she could have her handcuffs removed or if she should type with her tongue. Mulder mentions that she doesn't want a vote there and the look on Scully's face and the way she licks her lips, I definitely get the impression that she would have been perfectly happy to see what Invisagoth could get up to with that tongue.

Some people point to Scully's relationship with Reyes as evidence of her bisexuality, I personally don't see any attraction there on Scully's side but I don't think its outside the realm of possibility.

Monica Reyes: Closeted lesbian

This one's probably a surprise I know there was something between here and Brad as well as a flirtation with Doggett so you would probably think she was Bisexual but honestly was either one of those even remotely convincing? To me they weren't. I believe that Reyes is a lesbian.

I kind of go back and forth on whether she's open about it. Reyes is very spiritual and open so it seems strange that she would be in the closet but maybe she has a reason, fear of it affecting her career in the FBI perhaps? It just seems strange that she keeps pursuing these heterosexual relationships she has no passion for unless she is trying to hide her true passion.

My evidence:

I admit I really have very little evidence but look at the relationship between Reyes and Brad Follmer. It had all the chemistry of two people who got really drunk once and cannot remember sleeping together. I don't for a second believe she was ever in love with Brad nor he in love with her.

Then you've got the same thing between her and Doggett. Yes the writers were obviously trying for a romantic angle with the two of them but to me it never came across as convincing. It seemed more like she thought of him as a good friend and figured she might as well date him, I saw no evidence of love or attraction.

On the other hand look at her and Scully. While I feel like the attraction there was one sided I definitely feel like Reyes was into Scully or Dana as she would call her. Reyes was willing to risk her life for Scully and yes that is her job after all but Reyes seems to take that above and beyond and it's not just Scully herself but also William. Look at how protective Reyes is of William in The Truth and of the sacrifice Scully made in giving him up. She seems to care even more than Mulder on that.

Cigarette-Smoking-Man: Asexual

CSM has probably had sex at some point, he is of course the father of at least three children but I do not think that he was ever in love with any of these women or even attracted to them. I believe they were all just a means to an end.

I believe that CSM's only love was for his cigarettes

Evidence:

There is a little bit of evidence that he might have actually felt something for Teena Mulder but I don't buy it. He freely admits that he felt nothing for Cassandra Spender but he must've been convincing if he got her to marry him and we have seen him fake emotions more than once. He also seemed to show an attraction to Scully in En Ami but that too was just a means to an end. Perhaps he does feel something towards all the women he has impregnated but I wouldn't call it love. I don't see any real attraction there either. My bet is that CSM needed some "help" in order to produce his offspring.

Alex Krycek: Gay

While Krycek did have an obviously sexual relationship with Marita Covarrubias he definitely didn't have any real feelings for her and I don't buy attraction either. No I'd say they were both just trying to use sex to get what they wanted. His anger at finding the Russian boy gone wasn't because he was heartbroken at her betrayal. Merely mad that she'd managed to get the upper hand.

Whether Krycek is open or in the closet I'm not sure, I'm thinking it probably depends on the mission hes on at the time.

Evidence:

Of everyone on this list I'd say Krycek is the one I'm the most sure of. There is no doubt in my mind that Krycek was attracted to, perhaps even in love with, Fox Mulder. From the very beginning there appeared to be a bit of longing in his eyes.

There was the speedo scene wherein Krycek was definitely checking Mulder out. There were several scenes where Krycek could've killed Mulder but chose to help him instead.

As I've seen pointed out before, Krycek's crazy motivational choices don't make any sense at all unless it's all in an effort to be around Mulder more.

Look at his sense of style and his obvious love for lip gloss. I am not saying that straight men cannot love lip gloss and dress themselves in Krycek's fashion but it is uncommon and it was especially so back in the 90s

The infamous kiss in The Red and the Black could certainly be explained away as some kind of Russian custom but it isn't one that I am aware of and he hasn't really shown any other signs of his Russia heritage.

I would say my best evidence of Krycek's sexuality is in Essence and Existence, just look at the look on Krycek's face when Mulder trusts him to protect Scully. Krycek knows what Scully means to Mulder and then look at how seriously Krycek takes the job! I definitely feel like that moment meant a lot to him and he would have protected Scully with his life for Mulder.

There's also the fact that Krycek's unwillingness to kill Mulder lead to his own death.

Of course asking Skinner to shoot Mulder goes against this theory but I do have a couple thoughts on that, the most sensical being that he knew there was no chance Skinner would shoot Mulder and he probably knew there was no chance he would survive anymore. Maybe he made that request in hopes of sparing Mulder any pain he might have otherwise felt at his death (I know it's a bit of a stretch but my other theories require a long explanation of my thoughts on where the series had planned to go next)

The lone gunmen: no one knows....not even them

Three (I don't count Jimmy for this) single adult men who all live together in very cramped quarters and are, at least in Langley's case, perfectly happy to be around each other without thier clothes on certainly makes it seem like there's something between them all but I really don't get a overtly gay impression with any of them, even Langley who as mentioned doesn't like to wear pants and is the only one who hasn't had a love interest. They just have this sort of Vegas-esque thing. "What happens in the bachelor pad/newspaper room stays in the bachelor pad/newspaper room.

I would love to hear other people's thoughts on these and any other X-files characters you think might be somewhere on the LGBTQ spectrum.

[dreamingofscully]

Stolen Time: Quarantine

Rated: E / Scully-wasn't-abducted AU / Post-ep: Firewalker / UST to RST / Words: 2862

Summary: Scully struggles with unpartnerly thoughts during quarantine with a bored Mulder.

Read the FICLET (thanks @leiascully) of the alternate ending that I wrote to Ascension here.

Thank you to @skumflowerskullz and @ceruleanmilieu for the betas

*** Mulder is splayed out on the floor near her, flipping idly through a magazine. His hair is sticking up every which way—restless hands constantly running through them. Her fingers twitch, she longs to run them through the soft strands—just to tame it, she tells herself.

Heat rises from the base of her spine and her chest flushes at the lie. She focuses back on the book—flips to the cover to remind herself of the title. Her eyes glaze over as she attempts to concentrate. 

Nothing to do but talk or read, for an entire month. Three more weeks left, and they’ve chatted about every insignificant thing they can imagine. The sparse books and magazines—in quantity as well as content, makes her cringe when she tries to find something to distract herself from her distracting partner.

My partner, she reminds herself.

The first and last time they’d been quarantined, she’d been bed-bound most of the time. Extremely dehydrated and uncomfortable, she would have loved, back then, to have the ability to read through a boring stack of books. Anything besides the beeping of the monitors, the headache that wouldn’t go away, and the guilty look in Mulder’s eyes when she caught him glancing in her direction.

Right now, she'd give anything to be bed-ridden, to have an excuse to close her eyes and shut away the world, pretend her stomach wasn't doing somersaults when he inevitably crept close, peered over her shoulder, and whispered sly comments in her ear.

The guilt is there now, but more well-hidden. His rage has a target, but he directs some of it towards her, unintentionally she hopes. When he's not teasing or poking at her with increasingly paranoid theories, an awkward silence hangs between them like a curtain. She feels him watching her, though. The warmth of his closer-than-usual presence. It was their first field case since Duane Barry, and he feels responsible; he drew her close to death, once again.

She understands, but they don’t talk about it.

Instead, Mulder rants about the injustice of their discovery being burned by those who don’t care or understand, or who don’t care to understand. Punctuates his words with disparaging comments on the ads and articles in the magazine. Complains about the bland food that arrives punctually at breakfast, lunch and dinner. Lashes out at the technicians that come take their samples. The space is filled with his words about nothing, and an occasional rebuttal from herself, but she likes to listen to him. She usually finds the endless monotone a comfort, but at the moment his voice does things to her that she certainly shouldn’t be thinking about.

Scully sighs, for the thousandth time today it seems, and is suddenly just as frustrated as him.

“Mulder, we can’t do anything about the spore. It was dangerous, they had to contain it. That's all. Would you please, please, please stop ranting about it.”

Her words are harsher than she intended. Everything in this past week has been irritating, for some reason or another.

He twists around to stare at her, mouth agape. She’s been quiet, a lot more than usual. Patient and tolerant, as if controlling the time took all of her mental effort and she could spare none for their usual back-and-forth.

So he switches from speaking to staring, which is worse. He examines her face, eyes travelling from her eyes and downwards, her lips, she thinks. She folds her fingers into fists when he lowers his gaze, hiding her torn cuticles.

“Mulder?”

“What should we talk about then. The weather? Sports? Our fine accommodations?” His eyes flash at her.

“We’ve got three more weeks. You just need some patience.”

Mulder scoffs, turns to face her, his forearm pressing against her thigh.

“You seem to have that covered enough for the both of us.”

Scully lets out yet another sigh and moves her book to the table beside her. “Look, I’m finding this difficult as well, I just…”

“Don’t want to talk about it.” 

Their eyes lock. And there it is. 

Since Duane Barry, she’s done her usual thing - straightened her back, ploughed forward, focused on the work. She did her mandated counselling, replaced her broken windows with reinforced glass, took the stairs instead of the elevators, and started a new self-defense class at the gym. All very practical, very smart things to do. But she didn’t talk.

To the counsellor: she pretended she was fine. Needed to lie to get back to work so she could be.

To Mulder: she wouldn't let him see weakness, wouldn’t let him down, that she couldn’t be anything less than a partner who could back him up no matter the situation.

And he followed her lead, but she could see the yearning in his eyes, the unspoken words that he wanted to know what she was going through. Who was she to add to the mountain of guilt that he piled on his shoulders?

They look at each other for what feels like an eternity. The frustration he’s been lashing out at her with has been replaced with something else, something that makes her cheeks burn, her palms sweaty. Her chin set stubbornly forward, mouth in a line, she dares him to speak first.

Neither of them back down, and before she realized he’d moved, his lips are on hers.

She's too shocked to pull away, to stiffen and protest. She’d imagined this moment many times over, especially this past week, and she responds automatically, pressing her own lips against him, pulling him closer and threading her fingers through the hair at the base of his skull.

When he pulls away and she opens her eyes he's only a few inches away, his warm, sweet breath puffing against her mouth. The dim light from the cheap lamp behind her washes him in a soft glow, shadows hiding him from her.

“That’s… one way to deal with boredom.” Scully finds her voice, somehow, but it sounds like she’s dragged it over asphalt. She clears her throat, certain that, opposite his inscrutable expression she's completely revealed to him.

“Your turn to make jokes, Scully?”

“Is that what this is?” 

Mulder pulls back slightly, his arms bracing her torso. His hands fidget with the cotton of her shirtsleeves, thumbs brushing against her shoulders, but he's staring at her with laser focus.

“Never,” he says, waiting. 

A stab of panic pierces her chest. She needs to know. Needs answers before she jumps off this cliff. Or was it too late already?

“Do you think I’ll talk if you kiss me?” 

Mulder smiles, shakes his head. “I think if you won’t talk I might as well kiss you anyway.”

As she licks her lips, Mulder’s eyes stray downwards, his hands moving up to cup her face, tangle in her hair. He leans down and kisses her again, and she takes a leap.

All of the uncertainty she'd felt vanished at the touch of his lips against hers: the embarrassment at his rejection during the Tooms case, the hurt at his indifference when the X-Files were shut down.

Thank God.

He’s above her, but hesitant. She invades his mouth with her tongue while he feathers the lightest of touches through her hair and safely along her arms. 

Wrapping a leg around his waist and pulling him closer, she revels in the taste of him, the feel of his soft lips sliding against hers. An unmistakable bulge presses against her hip. When she grinds into him, Mulder moans into her mouth. His hands slide down her side and tease the skin at the hem of her shirt.

When he pulls away again and rests his forehead on hers, they're both breathing heavily, chests touching with each inhalation. He's wedged atop her, half off of the small couch that barely fits her small frame.

"Mulder, let's move somewhere more comfortable." Scully meets his gaze with steely determination; she wants this, and she knows he does too. She's not about to wait any longer.

"Your place or mine?" Mulder waggles his eyebrows, but his eyes search hers questioningly, carefully. You sure?

Scully nods at his unspoken question, pushing him away so she can move out from underneath him. Pausing before standing up, she grasps the collar of his shirt, pulls him towards her and nips at his plush lower lip.

"Mine," she says.

Mulder's eyes widen and the corner of his mouth twitches with the hint of a smile. When she stands and holds her hand out, he takes it and follows her.

In her bedroom, Scully whips her shirt over her head and eyes Mulder over her shoulder while she undoes the zipper on her pants. He’s standing there with a dazed expression, like he hadn’t just initiated all of this a few minutes earlier. Coming back to himself, he removes everything but his boxers and joins her on the bed.

She trails a hand along his bicep, the strong muscles of his forearm, mouthing their names under her breath. Her gaze sweeps over the defined musculature of his chest and abdomen. 

“You’re beautiful,” she murmurs, hiding behind a sweep of her hair as a moment of self-consciousness washes over her. She feels out-of-place; a plain fern among the rose bushes. 

Looking back at him she sees nothing but reverence in his gaze. He brushes his thumb over her cheek. “You’re perfect, Scully.”

She huffs in disbelief, but there’s truth in his eyes.

When they kiss once more, Scully maneuvers on top. His hands are everywhere, but still gentle and hesitant. She leans into his touch for more, but his hands ghost away, trembling and unsure. 

“I won’t break, Mulder.”

He blinks slowly, once, twice. Traces his finger along the curve of her nose, her swollen lips.

“I’m afraid I’m going to wake up.”

Scully bites her lip and smiles widely. Laughter bubbles up, overflows, and he’s caught up in it too. His hesitance turns to giddiness as they laugh together.

“What kind of fantasies are you having?” she says. “Thin mattress, sparse furnishings, nurses and technicians on the other side of the wall just waiting for us to sprout something so they can whisk us away.”

“In my dreams, they’re in the room,” Mulder deadpans.

Scully shakes her head and arches an eyebrow at him. She sits up, straddling his waist, and deftly unclasps her bra and shrugs out of it.

Peering at him beneath her lashes, Mulder’s cocky smile fades. His eyes are dilated, hungry. His hands twitch but he still waits.

“You can touch me.”

His eyes connect to hers and he nods.

At her encouragement, his touch matches the intensity of his gaze. Over her ribcage, along her breasts, flicking her nipples with his thumbs. Scully leans downwards and kisses him sloppily. She can’t process anything except the sensation of his hands, the warmth and smell of his skin next to hers.

“More,” she demands, arching into his touch.

He leans upward, kissing her breasts, tonguing her nipples. One of his hands slides downwards, to the apex of her thighs. His fingers brush over her through the thin cotton of her panties and she gasps and grabs his shoulders.

When he pushes the garment aside, slicks his fingers along her folds, teases her clit, she sees stars and bats him away before she loses herself too quickly. The thought that this is him, that this is them, sends her spiralling upwards far faster than she's ever experienced, and it alternately thrills and terrifies her.

“For me?” he whispers into her skin. 

“Take your shorts off," she says. Her voice is breathy and soft, her hands tugging impatiently at the hem of his boxers. 

Seconds later, their underwear lies twisted in some corner of the small room, and they're finally together, nothing between them except ragged breaths and unspoken words.

The inevitable glimpses of his bulge during the time they worked together didn’t prepare her for his size. He’s much larger than any partner she’s had so far and her heart speeds up thinking about him inside of her. Biting her lip to stifle a nervous giggle, she peers at him out of the corner of her eyes. 

“For me?” she repeats, smiling coyly.

“All yours, Scully.”

“How generous.” 

She pats him on the chest, and reaches for him, sliding her hand around his girth. Watching his face, eyes squeezed shut and lips twisted, he mutters something unintelligible, reaches for her blindly.

“Scully…” he moans. Opening his eyes, he almost seems shocked to see her there. 

“I’m here, Mulder. I’m real. This isn’t a dream.”

He shakes his head, smiles and pulls her to him, his mouth devouring hers hungrily. She feels like she's finally the hot focus of his obsessiveness, his mouth sliding across her skin, down to her collarbones, over her breasts. Hands on her hips, he draws circles with his thumbs, his fingers digging into the soft flesh of her buttocks.

She grinds against him, scratching her short nails through the hair on his chest, over his nipples, finding the places that make him squirm and gasp. Before Mulder thinks again of stopping, of hesitating, of claiming that this is all a dream, she adjusts herself over him and sinks downwards, taking him inside of her.

When she's finally surrounding him completely, she feels full, pain-adjacent, but oh, it’s wonderful. Her heart races, thrumming wildly as she struggles to regain control. Their eyes connect, and she sees the same wonder there that she feels. So she exhales, lets go. 

“Dana, this…” he starts, capturing one of her hands and kissing her palm. 

“Yeah,” she agrees. Still not sure with what, not sure but taking a chance that this could be something more than raw physical desire.

Her fumbling hands grasp at his shoulders as she starts to move above him, his hands at her hips. Sighs and moans punctuate their lovemaking, so soft and quiet, holding onto each other as if it could shatter with a word or a breath. Their sweat-slicked bodies come together, their eyes lock, reassuring each other of the reality of this moment.

She can't stop running her hands over his shoulders, through his soft hair. Digging her nails into his chest as she rocks above him in an increasingly erratic rhythm.

His deft hands roam her body, no longer hesitant. Learning what she likes, noticing her response to his touch, filing it away in his labyrinthine mind. It feels good to be the subject of his powerful intellect, his intense devotion. She's electric under his touch, wanton and unashamed.

Soon she's at the edge, and a flick of his fingers at her clit has her tumbling over. He catches her, holds her tightly as she comes back to herself. Whispering her name, soothing her inflamed skin with his touch and voice. 

Her first thought, damning her: she loves him, fiercely. No matter what the future holds, what this means to him, she'll hold onto that thought. It would have to be enough.

He's above her, then, shadowing her body with his own, caressing the slope of her shoulder. His lips trace a hot trail from her jaw to her neck, and he brushes his thumb along her cheek, peppering her with increasingly feverish kisses.

Her hands wander along his back, counting the vertebrae. The soft curtain of her fading orgasm lifts slightly, and she reaches lower, lower, stroking his erection and shifting herself so he's at her entrance. 

This time, with him in control, he's careful, watching her. Her eyes squeeze shut at the feeling of him within her, the emotions welling up despite herself, feeling whole. When he looks at her, she can pretend he feels the same. As long as she says nothing, as long as they just touch.

So close to her first climax, Scully finds herself climbing again when he begins to thrust within her. Softer this time, less desperately. She waits for him, and as his rhythm falters and he shouts her name into the silence of this temporary home, she follows him into the oblivion of pleasure.

Afterwards, she's curled up against his side, mouth puffing into the dip between his shoulder and pectoral. Her hands play with the soft hairs on his chest, her toes glide along his calf. 

"Three more weeks, huh?" Mulder kisses the top of her head, runs his hand along the arm draped across his chest. "I don't know if I can manage."

Scully leans up on an elbow and quirks an eyebrow at him. Unable to keep a straight face, Mulder grins foolishly, taps a finger along the bridge of her nose. 

"I haven't seen you smile like that for a while," Scully says, watching him carefully, a pane of imperfect glass separating her from him. The words don't come easy, and she's not sure she wants them to.

"Not much to smile about lately." Mulder takes her hands and kisses her knuckles. "Dana, I—"

Her hands flexes, covers his mouth. She shakes her head. Mulder simply nods and she settles back onto him, clutching him tightly.

There's plenty of time for words and excuses later.

[pjstafford]

Anasazi - the Kitchen Sink Episode

The second X-Files story credit for David Duchovny was the season finale of Season two, Anasazi. Darin Morgan reportedly called this the "kitchen sink" episode because so many writers had contributed thoughts on what should be included in the season finale as the series was gaining popularity. According to Chris Carter, he worked closely with David Duchovny on the story. Then, Carter wrote the script.

What does it include:

An earthquake in New Mexico unearthing a boxcar and an alien-looking body

A tag line in Navajo

A murder in Mulder's Building

The lone gunmen

The thinker

Encrypted defense department files in Navajo code talk

A fight between Skinner and Mulder

A Bill Mulder/ CSM reunion

Bill Mulder’s almost confession to Mulder

Bill Mulder being shot

Scully almost being shot

Mulder woke up stripped down in Scully's apartment.

Mulder not trusting Scully

Scully discovers Mulder has been drugged.

A Krychek/ Mulder fight

Scully shooting Mulder

Scully and Mulder in Farmington New Mexico

Scully is in the decoded documents

A white buffalo is born

A meeting of the syndicate

An introduction of "the merchandise"

Mulder finds a bunch of dead alien bodies in a boxcar.

CSM burning the boxcar

The possible death of Mulder

(see you after summer break)

That all of this is in one 45 minute episode of television does not seem like too much somehow. It somehow has good timing and simply leaves you on the edge of your seat, enchanted by Mulder/ Scully relationship, with more knowledge of the project and the implications and horror, and with more questions than you had at the beginning.

It is hard to find information about what exactly David Duchovny contributed to the story outside of helping Chris Carter think through all the multitude of plot lines and the pacing. Likely, based on Colony, Duchovny might have added Bill Mulder’s deeper involvement in the conspiracy and the pathos of the story around father and son.

it is my opinion that the Anasazi, The Blessing Way, and Paper Clip kicked season three mythology off in a way that was worthwhile and exhilarating. If you ever loved X Files for the mythology, then Duane Barry and Ascension, Colony and End Game, Anasazi, The Blessing Way, and Paper Clip are all episodes you remember fondly. Given that it was Gillian Anderson's pregnancy that resulted in Duane Barry and Ascension and David Duchovny received story credit for Colony and Anasazi, it is clear that in the second season, the two stars of the show were influential in the storyline.

[chavisory]

So there’s this shot in “The End.” Act 1, sc. 2, Skinner standing in Mulder’s office perusing files, looking at stuff on the bulletin board. And as the camera pans over the bulletin board, there’s this prominently pinned news clipping about the hostage standoff with Duane Barry.

Now, we all know Mulder can be insensitive to Scully, but I do not believe for one single second that he is so insensitive to Scully that he’s had this news clipping on his wall where she can’t avoid seeing it every single time she’s in the office, and more than that? I don’t believe Mulder has a news clipping about Duane Barry on his wall because Mulder wouldn’t be able to handle it. Mulder consistently wants to discuss Duane Barry even less than Scully does, Mulder’s never been able to deal with his own grief and guilt over the whole incident, Mulder never once says his name again, after “Ascension,” for the whole rest of the series.

Mulder just does not have a clipping about Duane Barry on the wall of his office. It’s also not there in other prominent shots of the bulletin board in any other recent episodes. It was set-dressed there for this episode.

Why?

Nothing I can see about the events of “The End” in themselves seem particularly relevant to what happened to Barry.

But something that jumps out at me in rewatching is that the proximity of episodes to each other is often much, much more meaningful than the Monster of the Week structure necessarily makes apparent. The more I rewatch, the less I actually think it’s true that the show ignored emotional continuity between episodes. It’s just that with a week or more between episodes, we as original viewers were often not thinking about what “just” happened, right before, in the world of Mulder and Scully’s larger story as opposed to what we just saw in the teaser/cold open of the episode.

So why are we being very deliberately, specifically reminded of Duane Barry right now?

Well, this episode occurs between “Folie a Deux,” in which... Mulder winds up locked in a psych ward himself as delusional despite everything he’s saying actually being true, and Fight the Future... in which the Syndicate is about to try to take Scully away again.

[crossedbeams]

Unsaid

For @fictober and anyone who ever missed the chance to say what they felt. MSR. Angst. Ascension | deadalive | Requiem

I.

‘Keep it Fox.’ Her voice is kinder than he deserves and he wants to hurt her for it. Wants to hold her for it. The line between violence and catharsis is blurred with tears. 

‘But I lost her. Mrs Scully-’

‘Maggie. Call me-’

‘How can you bear to have me call you anything when I lost your daughter? And all for Duane fucking Barry’.

‘Because she’s not lost yet, only missing. And because you helped her find something I thought she never would. Because you lo-’

‘Don’t say it.’

‘Keep it Fox. Give it to her when you find her.’

‘I will… and I do..’

And he does.

II.   

‘I know I said I wasn’t coming today. I made plans with mom, but then… well I ended up here. I always seem to end up here Mulder. Why do you always drag me out of reality and into places I shouldn’t want to be? 

There’s more people here than I expected for a holiday. I suppose it’s easier to be thankful for the dead than the living. They’re finished. No ugly little surprises or catches in their condolences. Bill is in town. I think he likes you more now you’re…

He definitely likes me more without you as my prefix.

I don’t like it. I hate it. I hate you.

No I don’t. I…

I never told you in person and I wont tell it to your tombstone Mulder but you know. Knew. 

Fuck. Past tense. It’s the past tense that gets me every time. Dammit Mulder! I just wish I knew that you knew.’

III.

‘Don’t wake me up. I won’t be able to let you do it if I’m awake.’ Her voice catches on the idea and threatens to run in to tears in the darkness.

‘I wont’

‘Don’t let me fall asleep though. I need every second. I need - I need -’

‘I know’.

‘Don’t make me raise him alone Mulder. Don’t go. Tell me you’ll come home again.’

‘I wont lie to you Scully. Dana. God, I hate that that still feels wrong in my mouth. That this - all of this - it’s a dream I have to wake up from and run away from and I never got to call you darling or make you breakfast or learn how to do the night feed and tell you every day that -’

‘I know. But there’s now. Tell me now. Tell me until it’s time to go. Tell me so I can tell him.’