Written by Glen Morgan & James Wong
Directed by David Nutter
This is the only season opener in
the show's entire run that wouldn't be penned by Chris Carter. Perhaps not
coincidentally, it is also the best, not only serving as an episode that could
just as easily serve as a pilot for the many just joining the show now, but one
full of all the meaning of Mulder's quest with none of the pretension and
purple prose that we typically get with Carter.
The second season begins with our
heroes split--- Mulder, the most brilliant of investigators reduced to
wiretapping; Scully back at Quantico ,
teaching again, and disturbed that Mulder has essentially cut her off. Mulder
spends the majority of the episode looking spiritually beaten---- the X-Files
have been taken away from, his source is dead as a direct result of his work,
his only friend deliberately isolated. It's small wonder that he has begun to
doubt himself, and everything he thought to be true. It's also fitting that for
this new beginning, we finally see what Samantha's abduction looked like (or
might have looked like, this will be another one of the series elements that is
constantly opened to reinterpretation.)
Rather than turn inward, Mulder's
motivation comes from one of the few friends he has left--- Senator Matheson,
one of those allies on the hill he mentioned in the Pilot. It's also fitting
that we look at the extraterrestrial from the terms of scientific fact for
once, going to world of Voyager, and our countries ever shrinking ways of
watching the skies. Mulder's determination seems to have slipped away, and as
soon as he gets to Areciebo, the more frenetic he becomes, until by the time
Scully shows up, he seems to be just a little removed from a raving lunatic
Duchovny gives the first in a series of brilliant performance this
season. It's as if he used the hiatus to realize just what potential the
character and the show might actually have.
He is helped immensely by having Morgan & Wong pen the episode
instead of Carter. The monologues that he engages in--- first during the
teaser, then the extended ones he records to Scully--- don't smack of the
unspeakable dialogue that will become prevalent in the mythology, but show a man
who has been pushed to the breaking point so far, and seems driven there the
more he sees. We actually hear Mulder's desperation and how he seems unable to
even trust what the truth even is. He has the vaguest idea of what the truth
might be, but what happens if he were ever to come face to face with it? The
answer is--- and it's as much a shock to him as it is the audience--- is to
pull a gun to start shooting. That's assuming that it happened just as we see
it, of course--- Mulder does spend the majority of the episode in sheer terror
and exhaustion.
Even now, with their partnership
effectively shattered, Scully is still trying to find a way to help her friend.
This is the first in a long series of episodes that will end up with our heroes
on opposites parts of the country/ Mulder is generally given the exposition
part of the episode, Scully has to do the investigation--- indeed that's how
the first third of the season is going to proceed, mainly because of the
outside element of Gillian Anderson's pregnancy. But the way she puts things
altogether, how she uses her cleverness to outmaneuver the cronies who are
trying to bring her and Mulder to heel demonstrates that she may be the skeptic
in this relationship, but her cold logic works nearly as well (if not better)
than Mulder's lack of impulse control.
It doesn't add up to much in the
end, of course. Mulder and Scully are cornered by the authorities minutes after
being reunited, forcing Mulder to leave whatever evidence he had behind, and
what was left being useless. But for the first time, that doesn't seem so much
like a zero sum gain, mainly because we are also getting a little bit of
insight into the fringe characters that are hanging around. Skinner, who seemed
no different then any of the authority figure we met in Season 1, is given room
to actually seem like a person. He seems uncomfortable being pushed by the
powers that be, and when the walls start to close in against Mulder, he proves
that he can push back as well. The Smoking Man is also starting to seem like
someone who might be more than a shadowy figure. It's the first time he and
Mulder are in the same room, and he seems to view the agent with little more
than contempt. But when Skinner doesn't take his side, he doesn't seem inclined
to argue the point, even though he's clearly the Skinner's superior.
Unfortunately, he knows which one of them has more power behind the scenes, and
he'll start demonstrate it very soon.
Little Green Men isn't a perfect
episode, but that may be more due to expectations rather than overall effect.
But it's well written, superbly acted, and seems to have a touch of realism
that many of X-Files episodes don't
have, and when they do, they don't use it properly. Perhaps fans are just
frustrated that we couldn't go back to business as usual, just like with most
series. But at this point, no one knew that The
X-Files was actually far more clever than that.
My score: 4.5 stars.
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