1 – Alrighty Darin Morgan…let’s do this
2 – Hello fictional Oregon town…we’re already off to a good start
3 – I laugh at these stoners from Quagmire but GUYS come ON…how old are you? Get a life!
4 – And NO: huffing spray paint in the middle of the forest is NOT a life!
5 – Though the fact they are huffing green spray paint really is a nice touch
6 – DUDE!
7 – “Maybe we shouldn’t waste it by just getting high all the time?” DUDE!
8 – Oh yeah that’s totally a normal thing to wish…
9 – At least he didn’t say like Jacob… [My mother made me watch Twilight…I swear…]
10 – YEEEEAAAASSSSSS it’s MONSTER TIME!!!!!:
11 – PLOT: 40-year-old-stoners see a lizard monster attacking a guy’s neck – once the monster sees said stoners; it drops the guy it was attacking, growls at the stoners and then runs past them
12 – Yeah I’d probably be running AND screaming if I saw this sucker in front of me…then again I wouldn’t be high, but I digress
13 – “Did that just happen?” -> How the hell should I know?
14 – Dudes, I don’t think any of us are ok!
15 – Ah man, dude got his throat ripped out! Thanks for more nasty images to add to my “didn’t need to see that” bank, Darin Morgan….gosh
16 – In other news; however, the special effects/make-up department is KILLING it on these episodes. These wounds are really good looking
17 – Good looking as in completely disgusting….but very realistic which is good…but not. Ugh you know what I mean
18 – Then we get this utter nonsense:
19 – STOP PUTTING HOLES IN MY POSTER!!!!!
20 – TIMELINE/CONTINUITY issue with “Founder’s Mutation” = The walls were completely covered, Mulder’s desk was actually organized AND those boxes were all nicely stacked away on shelves in the last episode…not tossed haphazardly around the office or in a pile on the desk [got to love when episode orders get shifted once they’ve already been filmed]
21 – Methinks Mulder is having a crisis
22 – DON’T THROW THE PENCIL AT THE POSTER, MULDER!!!!!!
23 – At least they aren’t in the ceiling anymore…
24 – But this is NOT a healthy alternative
25 – Scully agrees with me
26 – And the sound of her saying “MY poster” is enough for me to love this episode until the end of time…
27 – I still want to know where they got the poster in the first place…
28 – Doggett rolled one up in the office in 2002, then Mulder kicked another one on the floor in “My Struggle”… did Scully bring this one from home?
29 – Inquiring minds want to know, Chris Carter!!!!
30 – “Much of the unexplained has been explained” -> ahhhhh poor Mulder, don’t worry Chris Carter will just re-write to show that all those things aren’t really explained after all. Just wait until the next miniseries
31 – “Yeah, ice” -> well, we’ve seen some nasty things in Ice…wanna re-visit THAT case?
32 – Seriously, her face is the best…
33 – Oh, Mulder you’re so cute when you think you’re life’s work has been all for naught and there was nothing to ‘believe’ in all this time…
34 – Scully’s got something up her sleeve
35 – “People making stuff up simply because they’re bored and/or crazy” -> basically…the Internet
36 – “Well then it was probably just ice” -> ranting Mulder is really hilarious but also kind of sad
37 – I wanna hug him right now
38 – I think Scully does too and is JUST BARELY holding herself back
39 – “Have you been taking your meds” -> the moment when the entire fandom is Scully
40 – I think you meant to say: “chasing after monsters in the dark”, Mulder?
41 – We FINALLY get to see a bit of this ‘depression’ that was hinted at not so subtly back in “My Struggle” – that hint of season five Mulder who just cannot handle the fact that everything he’s wanted to believe in so badly for his entire career [actually, since he lost his sister] has been a farce and there is nothing left…
42 – Except a government conspiracy, but whatever
43 – It’s nice to see this side of Mulder really looked in to at this point, though…colonization, the Truth he was SO invested in finding and derailing, never happened [at least not in the way he thought it would] and now, back on the X-Files he finds his life’s work has been hoax-ed and pranked away. Most people question if they’ve made the right life choices, before it was mostly because of the fact that his belief had put Scully in danger…it is heartening to see him questioning because of himself
44 – Which makes me think the idea that Scully left for his own good – so he could get back on his feet without the impetus of ‘her’ but for himself – may be right!
45 – “It has a monster in it.” -> He looks like he’s trying SO hard NOT to be excited:
46 – Seriously STOP PUTTING HOLES IN MY POSTER!
47 – TO OREGON!
48 – GREAT things happen for you and Scully in Oregon, Mulder…pluck up!
49 – Well…except for you getting abducted for three months and then dead and buried for three months…but let’s not go there right now…
50 – PLOT: Once in Oregon, Mulder and Scully are at the crime scene. Two witnesses saw a lizard-like creature. One witness says it had three eyes, the other witness says one eye.
51 – “Notice they didn’t get a picture of it” -> Mulder stop channeling season one Scully…it hurts my head too much
52 – Mulder just rolled his eyes SO hard at the idea of talking to the ‘witnesses’…I wonder if he remembers them from Quagmire
53 – PLOT: Animal control guy who was being attacked by the creature claims he doesn’t have any memory of what attacked him…local authorities thought maybe animal control was attacked by a mountain lion until they found an alcove a little ways away with three dead bodies in it! All the bodies were mutilated in the same way (their throats ripped out); however, only one of them was found nude
54 – Mountain lions, grey wolves, nudist…Mulder’s season one Scully game is STRONG right now!
55 – Seriously, I shouldn’t enjoy this dynamic as much as I do…it’s wonderful at this late in the game to see Scully dragging Mulder out on a ‘monster’ case and him trying to find the logical explanation in it all
56 – Wolves and lions and bears, oh my!
57 – “That’s how I’d like to go out” -> autoerotic asphyxiation Mulder, remember
58 – Leave it to Scully to rein in her man and remind him – HEY people are dead here…if it’s an X-File or not we still have four…count them FOUR…murders to solve!
59 – “It’s only gonna have two eyes” -> well he’s not WRONG:
60 – THIS is why women carry purses
61 – “Like a unicorn” -> and Scully’s skeptic voice returns just like that
62 – “It had horns, at the back of its head, like a lizard or something” -> If the horns were on the BACK of its head, how did you get a hole in your purse by hitting it? I mean it’s obvious from the previously posted visuals that there are horns on the front of its head as well…but why not just SAY “horns all over its head”…otherwise the image here suggests that this ‘lizard’ turned its head away from you while it was ‘attacking’ you…doesn’t make much sense
63 – Two eyes and underwear -> well Mulder you were half right
64 – “Boxers or briefs” -> Dana Scully, asking the tough questions
65 – His face and the way he just kind of leans in to her:
66 – “But they think I’m on crack” “Are you?” “Yeah!” -> MWAHAHAHAHA at least she’s honest!
67 – So we have two stoners and now a crack head as witnesses
68 – Welcome to the X-Files
69 – It’s no wonder Mulder and Scully rarely solved their cases…
70 – Here monster, monster, monster…
71 – This guys whistles like me…which is to say…not at all
72 – This dude is REALLY jumpy
73 – I’m with you Animal Control…dogs and cats are ok, but after that…what is life?
74 – ANNNNNDDD he runs AWAY from the loud sound while Mulder and Scully run toward it….guns raised!
75 – Ok Scully with a gun and Mulder…
76 – Has his smart phone…with the flash going off every .3 seconds…
77 – I’m enjoying the character continuity here – Mulder was never one to be ‘up’ on the latest technology. Even in IWTB, he still had a sad little flip phone while Scully was rocking the Blackberry
78 – It totally jives that Mulder wouldn’t know how to work his camera app
79 – “I’m emptying my clip into it” -> ALL HAIL, DANA SCULLY!
80 – Oh yeah, Scully stay and look at the obviously dead body while Mulder chases after the monster so that you don’t actually see anything of import…
81 – Seriously, Scully, go save your man’s ass
82 – MULDER!
83 – Of course that’s the first thing she sees/thinks/says…who cares about the other guy lying on the ground…run straight to your man #stillmarried
84 – Seriously, you two, this breakup thing…stupid…
85 – Why is it he’s always covered in blood…?
86 – Yeah if I was chasing after something that tore through my butterfly net I’d quit too…you couldn’t pay me enough…
87 – “I got a picture!”-> he’s so proud of himself:
88 – Run to that porta potty!
89 – Of course Mulder would take a picture of a man on the toilet…really, Mulder?
90 – I like his hat…men should wear hats more often. It’s a very put-together look
91 – NICELY done image of the horns retreating into the guys head! [which means PLOT: this guy is the lizard-creature M/S are looking for!]
92 – As Mulder and Scully look around a random overgrown field for their ‘suspect’…with flashlights…
93 – Where are the unmarked helicopters?
94 – AUTOPSY!
95 – Complete with Mulder getting in Scully’s way, per ususal
96 – I’m having serious “Pilot” flashbacks here of Mulder being all excited that they found an ‘alien’ in a grave and Scully getting pissed that he’s pointing the camera’s flash right at her…except now it’s a person with his neck ripped open on the slab and Mulder’s annoying Scully with his camera phone right in her face…but the VIBE is still there!
97 – DUDE I’m trying to do an autopsy here!
98 – Don’t make me put you in time out!
99 – There is no such thing as personal space for these two
100 – “Mulder the internet is not good for you” -> if you’re going to play around on it at least go and find those conspiracy sites and some like minded people to help you get your groove back…
101 – Scully’s face and demeanor during this whole scene are amazing! We can tell she’s enjoying herself…as great as it is to see Mulder back in the swing of things…it’s great to SCULLY back and enjoying this work again too
102 – That happiness is something we haven’t seen from her in A LONG LOOOOONNNNGGG time!
103 – “You were attacked by a six-foot horny toad” “Whoa, let’s just keep this within the realm of the natural sciences, shall we?” -> Seriously, Darin Morgan WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN!!!!!!!! I LOVE YOU SO MUCH RIGHT NOW!
104 – Plus, let’s note that Scully’s voice is much more like “Scully” again…also makes the theory of directorial/acting choices of the “I just gargled with screws” voice from “Founder’s Mutation” more plausible
105 – “Sounds a bit silly doesn’t it?” -> They always do, Mulder, they always do
106 – Ever Doctor Scully looking out for her Mulder
107 – I’m really curious if Mulder even sleeps in a bed anymore since Scully left…
108 – How much you wanna bet he started sleeping on the couch again?
109 – Cause he doesn’t look very comfortable in that bed…granted it’s a motel bed, so it might not be very comfy, but still…on top of the blankets and the files open next to him…seems suspicious to me
110 – Why hello, Alex Diakun – nice to see yet more familiar faces from Morgan episodes past [and IWTB but we’ll forgive and forget that one…]
111 – DUDE stop drinking the rubbing alcohol! That’s not good for you!
112 – No wonder you’re seeing things…
113 – At least Mulder had enough presence of mind to put some clothes on before running out of his room
114 – “I heard someone yell monster” -> IT’S THE CALL OF MY PEOPLE!
115 – “Or I’ll kill ya.” -> And Mulder takes a step back closer to the door
116 – This is why you also bring YOUR GUN with you, Mulder! You’re an FBI agent again…you gotta start taking that thing with you everywhere you go because people are going to try and kill you…it’s just a matter of when
117 – VERY convenient that apparently the person calling the motel manager a monster was in the room RIGHT next to the office…AND they left the door wide open for anyone to just wander into
118 – Yeah Mulder, steal someone’s meds….nice going…
119 – Is that…a massive bunny head? A jackalope?
120 – With the eyes cut out??????
121 – And a hole in the wall cut into a secret door in the wall…ick…
122 – Well at least the secret hallway seems to be well insulated
123 – Gotta make sure you don’t freeze your ass off when you’re being a perve
124 – OF COURSE the first room he comes across is Scully’s! Cause as grossed out as Mulder would be at this guy; it’s expounded like a hundred times when the perviness could involve Scully!
125 – DUDE stop drinking the rubbing alcohol!!!!!!!!!
126 – HOW does this guy not notice the very audible squeaking and THE GIANT BEAR MOVING???? HOW?
127 – Mulder has to actually acknowledge him to get his attention
128 – Seriously, dude, stop drinking that stuff it’s messing with you in some pretty horrible ways!
129 – HEY Mulder remembered he’s an FBI agent!
130 – No one believes you, pervy-manager, stop talking…
131 – “When one checks into an establishment such as this, one expects the manager to be a peeping tom” -> THEN WHY CHECK IN THERE?!?!? Eeeeeeewwwwwwwwwww
132 – Dude, I hunted down aliens in Antarctica – nothing you say will shock me at this point in my life
133 – HAHAHAHA part of my brain says – why the hell would Mulder wear a red speedo to bed…but the other, more childish part of my brain, giggles because…well…red speedo
134 – Then the creep factor sets in that the manager was chilling out watching Mulder sleep…
135 – Cannot tell you how many times I’ve called my alarm clock a bastard and then wished I could throw it against a wall…
136 – Evil, evil creations
137 – No wonder this guy is on meds…serious schizophrenia happening here…
138 – Or he’s the lizard-monster…po-tay-to, po-tah-to
139 – Make up department did a great job on the prosthetics for the lizard-monster…they are really cool looking
140 – Dude, pull your head out of the hole and RUN away! Don’t just chill there and wait for the lizard-monster to find you!
141 – PLOT: Pervy-manager tells Mulder he was watching from behind the wall as the guy from the porta potty screams about not wanting to look at himself anymore, smashing the mirror in the room with a chair, killing his alarm clock (justified), and then transforming into a human-sized lizard. Lizard-man then notices pervy-manager behind the wall watching him then rips the bunny (jackalope?) head off the wall. Pervy-manager identifies the man from the picture Mulder has on his phone of the dude-in-porta-potty and the lizard as the one from the drawing [only with two eyes instead of three]
142 – All it takes is a pervy motel manager who’s been drinking rubbing alcohol to identify the lizard-monster and the porta potty guy as “one in the same” and MULDER’S BACK!!!!
143 – I could watch this one scene in the room with Mulder and Scully over and over again for the rest of time and be completely content
144 – So are you guys gonna start making out or what? I mean Scully is just chilling there wearing what I am convinced is Mulder’s shirt looking alllllll gorgeous and kissable…so what gives?
145 – “Yeah, this is how I like my Mulder -> we’re ALLLLLLL with you, Scully:
146 – “You’re bat crap crazy” -> She’s been waiting to say THAT to him for years!
147 – Come on, Mulder how long have you known this woman? Of course she doesn’t believe YOU she believes IN you! Substantial, but very wonderful, difference there
148 – “Well that sounds like a good investigative plan” -> ‘Nice job remembering you work for the FBI, Mulder. Get yourself a cookie.’
149 – Mulder finally has his priorities straight
150 – Get your woman the HELL out of there!
151 – And seriously…get over this whole ‘breakup’ thing…it doesn’t suit you, you’re being stupid, you’re obviously completely in love with each other…I mean, Scully is very conveniently still sleeping on only one side of that bed [#stillmarried]
152 – Yeah, why the appendix, it’s basically a completely useless piece of our anatomy…
153 – “Who the hell knows” = “how the hell should I know”
154 – I gather this therapist is a Freudian
155 – Mulder looks SO uncomfortable with this guy
156 – “Not everything can be reduced to Psychology” -> says the man who spent YEARS of his life studying Psychology
157 – Were-lizard!
158 – This guy is giving out an awful lot of information on his patient…isn’t there such a thing as Doctor/patient confidentiality? Even with Psychologists/Psychiatrists?
159 – AND he just handed over his patient’s file????? The hell kind of doctor is this guy?
160 – Guy Mann? This patient’s name is “Guy Mann”? If there ever was an alias…
161 – Mulder agrees with me…I’m a pretty good TV FBI agent everyone
162 – Ok yeah, this therapist is a complete hack…I’m rolling my eyes hard and I don’t have a degree in Psychology from Oxford
163 – Mulder agrees with me, again…I’m SO good at this, y’all
164 – Then he tries to give Mulder a prescription and Mulder is having NONE of it
165 – He already HAS a doctor and she is supreme to you in every single, solitary way, buddy. BYE
166 – Mulder/Scully phone tag…yeah…
167 – AND he hangs up on her before she’s finished speaking…nice to know some things haven’t changed, it’s somewhat comforting
168 – Plus apparently at least Scully knows how to use her smart phone…
169 – “You know it’s not safe to approach a dangerous suspect without backup” -> you mean, like we did for over nine years while working at the FBI previously? Shut the hell up, Mulder!
170 – You NEVER took backup! Need we bring up Robert Patrick Model, Mulder?????
171 – Ok that thing you JUST said about backup, Mulder…listen to your own advice
172 – Especially since you have a MUCH longer history of getting your ass kicked by suspects than Scully does
173 – AND he keeps leaving Scully without a car…DUDE, learn some chivalry
174 – Stealing flowers off some random person’s grave…really, Mulder?
175 – But then he puts them on ‘Kim Manners” grave and ALL the feelings! Loving the tribute to Kim…so sweet. Plus the fact that Kim’s gravestone says “Let’s kick it in the ass” makes it a million times better
176 – I think I want that quote on MY tombstone
177 – BACKUP! Seriously, Mulder…BACK. UP.
178 – Then Mulder loses his gun and all is right with the world
179 – Mulder would need the “whole story” of what happened to someone before he would kill them…
180 – Can I have a swig of that, Mulder?:
181 – PLOT: Lizard-man (Guy, i.e. the ‘were-monster’ of the title) was chilling in the forest, enjoying a nice snack of oat or some other kind of plant [I don’t care enough to look up what the hell that might be; the image is good enough], when two humans stumble past him – one taking a bite out of the other. Guy tries to frighten the one doing the biting but ends up getting bit himself and runs away past the stoners
182 – Guy has the BEST run…The. BEST. I need a gif of that run in the lizard make-up cause it is golden
183 – Mulder stop interrupting Guy’s story with your questions, it’s rude
184 – PLOT: “That’s how the whole thing started. I should have stayed still but I panicked. I tried to scare off that predator. Of course that only made him more rabid. I didn’t even get a chance to shoot blood out of my eyeballs.”/“What? Three eyes?”:
185 – PLOT: [seriously nothing does this scene justice except for watching it and taking it in in all its glory!] Guy first transformed [physically and mentally] the next morning into a HUMAN BEING! His first thought was the fact that he was naked and therefore needed to find clothes. He noticed the bodies in the alcove nearby and took the clothing off one of them. Then he was overcome with the need to go find a job. He found one “rather tragically”, right away at the phone store BSing his way through sales until, by the end of the day, he was the manager!
186 – “You see now I possess the one Darwinian advantage that humans have over other animals: the ability to BS my way through anything” -> So you got a degree in English, then?
187 – Mulder, everyone…everywhere…all the time…is BSing you! We’ve all gotten used to it, I would think you would have by now, too
188 – PLOT: [I almost don’t want to even TRY to do this but I will] After work that day, Guy went out and “murdered” a cow by buying a hamburger from a fast food joint (made even better by trying to walk through the drive through and asking why he couldn’t!), In his ‘natural state’, Guy is an insectivore. He then proceeded to the pervy-hotel to eat his murdered cow and watch some porn
189 – Guy is now channeling 90s, Mulder
190 – PLOT: During the night, Guy began to transform BACK into his lizard state and happily strips off his clothes and jumps on the bed! The next morning; however, he finds himself asleep in the bed, being woken up by the evil alarm clock, which he unceremoniously hits off the nightstand (YES!), then transforms back into a human craving coffee.
191 – I really am trying to refrain from just outright quoting all of this right now…I’m thinking I should just stop trying and let it go…
192 – “I went back to work. But now that I had a job, all I could think about was how much I hated my job”-> Join the club
193 – PLOT: Guy then throws the table of cell phones around. However, overcome with ‘human fear’ he cannot quit because what about a mortgage and retirement…whatever those are.
194 – “If I haven’t written my novel by now, I’m never gonna write it, you know?” -> It’s like he’s IN MY HEAD!!!!
195 – PLOT: Guy then visits a witch-doctor (ie the crap-tastic Freudian psychiatrist), the pills Guy was prescribed simply served to cloud his thoughts. He soon found this was only rectified by getting a puppy! He named the puppy “Dagoo”.
196 – “The only way to be happy as a human, was to spend all your time in the company of non-humans” -> well humans have this tendency to be dumbasses…so…
197 – PLOT: Sadly, the next day when Guy returned from work, it seems the maid at the hotel had let Dagoo out of the room (Nooooo!!!!! People on this show cannot have pets!). Guy then proceeds to wander around at the gas station searching for his lost pup…unable to find the pup, Guy gets very depressed and sees the human who bit him and turned him into a human. Guy was then overcome with the desire for revenge and began stalking the human but ran across the human attacking yet another human. In the light of the moon, Guy transforms back into his lizard self, sheds his clothes and runs away, getting hit in the head by the purse and being knocked out. In the haze after the head wound, he remembers people chasing him around a truck and then someone taking a picture of him in the porta potty
198 – Mulder, stop ruining the story with trying to find logic!
199 – Have you seen this show? There is no logic!
200 – Poor dead-friend George…
201 – PLOT: After the porta potty incident, Guy transforms back into a human and then returns to work the next morning to be confronted by Scully wanting to ask him some questions. Guy then proceeds to say that Scully shameless flirted with him and then they had sex in the back room of the phone store and Mulder is having NONE OF THIS!!!!!!:
202 – Dude, if you’re going to exaggerate about sleeping with a woman at least make sure you’re not telling the tale to the person said woman used to sleep with on the regular…
203 – Thank you SO much for using ‘fantastic’ properly, Mulder! [‘Fantastic’: imaginative or fanciful; remote from reality]
204 – “We both want to believe in things that aren’t real or even possible”
205 – Hamlet shout out!!!!!!
206 – “Fox man, you’ve got to put me out of my misery” -> how does he even know your first name?????
207 – Scully’s ringtone is the X-Files theme song on Mulder’s phone! There are times I love meta…and this is one of them!
208 – Scully step away from the dog – you only get them killed
209 – He bit you because he knows you’ll get him killed…
210 – My dogs just hold hostilities toward anything that makes a noise they don’t like…like leaves
211 – Scully, Mulder will hold ALL your grudges…
212 – Whatcha doin with the pole there, animal control?
213 – Walk away, dude!
214 – SCULLLLLLAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!
215 – WHERE THE HELL IS THE ANIMAL CONTROL SHELTER???????????
216 – At least he’s calling for backup…that’s progress
217 – Of course she’s got this all taken care of – guys in cuffs and all the dogs are running loose. ALL HAIL DANA SCULLY!
218 – PLOT: The killer was the animal control guy all along. Scully knew the animal control guy was the killer before heading to the shelter, because the autopsy result showed the cause of death was strangulation. So she analyzed the pole the animal control left behind at the gas station scene and it had tissue and blood on it from the previous victims.
219 – “Scully, that is the second time you’ve approached a dangerous suspect without backup. What’s going on?” “I thought maybe you’d want some more quality time with your lizard-man. Besides, you forget, I’m immortal” -> Clyde Bruckman shout out…but also…AHHHHHHH they’re bringing it back up which means they’ll be touching on it in one of the next episodes…
220 – PLOT: Mulder knew it was animal control guy because the photos he took had one with a bite mark…so if Guy’s story were true he must have been bitten by a human (he doesn’t finish that thought though…)
221 – “If Guy’s story were true?!” -> RUN, MULDER! RUN TO FIND YOUR LIZARD MAN!!!!
222 – She just takes the dog? Really, Scully?
223 – So, Scully can have a puppy but not her own child?
224 – Last time I checked, Queequeg was killed ON A CASE, BY A MONSTER and William was still alive and kicking
225 – So this makes perfect sense
226 – Cause a fifteen-year-old human is SO much harder to care for and keep track of than a puppy…
227 – Sure…fine…whatever
228 – Whose brilliant idea was it to make neckties? Seriously? Guy is right…it doesn’t seem like a good idea to have something chilling around your neck ready to strangle you at any moment
229 – PLOT: Guy’s a lizard-man that hibernates for 10,00 years!
230 – If you don’t mean to get personal, Guy, you shouldn’t have stripped right in front of Mulder. For most people, that’s crossing the line
231 – “I’m glad to have met you” “Likewise” -> I think we can all say the same thing, Guy.
Parting Thoughts
There is SO much to say about this episode and I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to articulate it fully.
I love and adore the through line of Mulder feeling like he’s lost his path and really seeing the manifestation of his depression. It’s a bit jarring when you consider the fact that the end of “My Struggle” seemed to show him and Scully united against yet another government conspiracy – but maybe believing in a conspiracy, for Mulder, is not the same as believing in the paranormal. It’s not the same as thinking and hoping that there is more out there than just a corrupt consortium of men who will do whatever they can to save their own asses at the expense of the whole planet.
That’s why THIS episode and this storyline are so important for Mulder’s character development at this point in his life (and the revival). For him to know that while there are pranks and hoaxes out there, there are still actual monsters and the paranormal out there! And Mulder and Scully will find it. Even though Mulder doesn’t have tangible proof (pictures or x-rays, etc), he KNOWS that he was right about this creature existing – even if it wasn’t in the way he initially thought – he was still right and you can see in that final, beautiful shot of the episode, that Mulder has found his belief again.
I also love that Scully helping him find it is a forgone conclusion. She continues on with the actual murder investigation allowing Mulder to chase after the were-lizard and even solves the case (because we have established Dana Scully is a kickass investigator!) and it is wonderful to see her so competent and able to handle herself, with or without Mulder. Seeing Scully enjoying herself is also something I know I desperately needed after the crap show that was IWTB and honestly, basically the entirety of seasons eight and nine. I needed to see Scully committed to doing this job again. Not for Mulder, but for her! To see her smile and joke and laugh with Mulder again makes me excited and hopeful for their future by the end of this revival…
These two truly bring out the best in each other…thank you, Darin Morgan for reminding us all of it.
Yeah…this is how I like my Mulder, my Scully and my X-Files.
im here for the story 
February 3, 2016 at 6:28 pm
“19 – STOP PUTTING HOLES IN MY POSTER!!!!!”
Preach.
I think “Who the hell knows?” may have been the line that caused me to laugh the hardest. Only because I was thinking it myself, but didn’t expect to hear it said and then there it was. Hilarious. Although I also enjoyed: “Animal, human or…otherwise.”
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February 22, 2016 at 8:38 pm
I feel like that gif of Jack Sparrow through this entire revival – screaming at CC “Stop putting holes in my ship!!!!!!”
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February 3, 2016 at 10:01 pm
“Which makes me think the idea that Scully left for his own good” TBH I’m also really hoping that’s it because it’s the only reason for leaving (unless he was treating her badly of course but that seems unlikely) that I can live with and be invested in watching.
“I’m having serious “Pilot” flashbacks” That didn’t occur to me until you mentioned it but I see it too! Especially with the pictures and whatnot.
Scully’s Voice-I’ve accepted your headcanon and am sooooo relieved that she sounds more like herself.
“182 – Guy has the BEST run…” RIGHT?! Also the sound he makes is adorable.
“186 – So you got a degree in English, then?” LOLOL I have two; I gained my powers with my BA and lost them with my MA. I’m now just a wordy nerd.
“…but maybe believing in a conspiracy, for Mulder, is not the same as believing in the paranormal.” I think that’s a great point. I wonder if to Mulder (and to all of us possibly) it’s important to think There’s Something Out There, and not just shadowy corruption and brutality. Even if we can’t believe it, we all kind of want to hope that magic still exists somewhere in the world. For Mulder he needs that to comfort himself when facing all those monsters in the dark we hear about. Maybe. I dunno. But I definitely think you’re onto something there.
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February 22, 2016 at 8:44 pm
[“186 – So you got a degree in English, then?” LOLOL I have two; I gained my powers with my BA and lost them with my MA. I’m now just a wordy nerd.]
I have the BA in English as well (did my MA in playwriting) and most people look at me like I have two heads when they hear that. “What do you do with that?” is the most normal question to which I normally respond “BS my way through a 15 page essay in one night :)”. A BA in English provides wonderful BS-ing powers.
[Even if we can’t believe it, we all kind of want to hope that magic still exists somewhere in the world. For Mulder he needs that to comfort himself when facing all those monsters in the dark we hear about. ]
YES!! It’s one thing to know that people/the government can be corrupt and would be willing to sacrifice the entire human population just to save their own asses – that’s practically a given (especially given Mulder’s background in profiling and behavioral sciences), but it’s another to believe in magic. To believe in monsters, and aliens, and ghosts and the like is a VERY different thing. This episode was so wonderful to see that side of Mulder back and enjoying the ride again.
PLUS it’s hilarious to see his almost Scully-side in that he needed to see it to believe it! Seeing Guy as his lizard self is what truly gave Mulder his perspective back, to know it wasn’t just a hoax…so when it comes down to it…they have both really rubbed off on each other whether CC likes it or not 😀
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