X-Files Episode Guide: Requiem

Written by Chris Carter

Directed by Kim Manners

By the time this episode was written, no one -  not even Carter - knew whether it would be the last X-Files ever done. All indications to this point had been that Season 7 was going to be the final one, Duchovny's contract was up, and the greatest indication the series might continue would be in movie form. So under those circumstances, Carter wrote Requiem, an episode title which would indicate an end of sorts. So let's set aside all of the usual conflicts and problems with the story  - God knows this episode wasn't immune - and just consider, for a moment, that it was going to be the last episode.

This was a little trickier for me the first time I saw it, considering that I had never seen the Pilot. Most of the symmetry was lost on me, and considering what happened in the following seasons, that might not have been the worst thing. Nevertheless, Mulder and Scully are brought back to the site of their very first investigation, in Bellefleur, Oregon. They go under the same disapproval that was following them when they went there the first time. The threat is more financial than some of the ones the X-Files has endured over the years, but bureaucracy  would be a more interesting sword to slash it to death, considering most of the other ways have tried and failed

And there are a lot of similarities to the Pilot present - some alien force is present in the woods, Sheriff Miles is an obstacle to the agents, we come across the same X that Mulder almost giddily spray painted seven years earlier, and even the motel that they stayed at seems to have been rebuilt. But in another way, so much has changed. Billy Miles, the comatose teenager somehow behind everything in the first case, has become a sheriff's deputy, with enough time having passed for him to marry and divorce. Teresa Hoese, the ME's daughter who seemed so fluttery and untrustworthy in the first episode has become a calmer, married mother. The children that were at the center of the case have become adults, and Mulder and Scully are seven years older, still looking for respect from the FBI that will never come, the conspiracy and shadowy figures behind their investigations dead with still no real resolution. The world seems to have moved on without them.

There is a critical scene that is mirrored halfway through the episode. In the Pilot, Scully came to Mulder's motel room scared out of her wits that she might have been infected by some alien force. Rather than sexualize their relationship, Mulder took the opportunity to befriend her, and they very carefully formed the friendship that has served the series ever since. Now, in Requiem, Scully comes to Mulder's motel room, in a similar situation, and this time, the two of them spoon in his bed. But rather than try and bond (and oh, how every shipper in the world must have pouted at this scene), Mulder tries to talk her out of his quest, realizing that everything that they have gone through to try and find the truth, just isn't worth it when it comes to the personal costs. It seems like he is accepting that it is somehow time to rejoin the rest of humanity.

The one remaining character from the Pilot who is still around - CSM - has also changed, and much for the worse. Confined to a wheelchair, finally on the brink of death (or so it would seem) he sees in the crash in Oregon a chance to rebuild the project that has cost him everything. Why he should turn to Krycek and Covarrubias (and how the hell they both managed to get where they were is just one of a dozen mysteries Carter never bothers to explain) is hard to fathom, except that they may be the only family he has left at this point. His result for his trust is as bad as all the other alliances he has made - they betray him, and in the end decided to push him down a flight of stairs. Again, you really wish that Carter would've just decided to let the bastard finally die - it would've been fitting for the master manipulator to be taken off the board in such a pathetic fashion. And you get the feeling Carter may have even considered it, given how the next couple of seasons went.

The rest of the characters who come back for Requiem are somewhat of a mixed bag. The Lone Gunmen seem just to be caught in doing what they do rather than anything deserving of a future series. Nicholas Lea finally gets a chance to play off some of the menace that has been missing from his character for nearly two seasons. But the biggest revelation is Mitch Pileggi's work as Skinner. Finally getting the proof of the alien conspiracy that his two best agents have been telling him about, his performance in the last scene is his finest hour. No longer will be someone who plays with ambiguity, for the remainder of the series he will finally be the ally the two agents have always wanted.

And the final series of scenes are remarkable. When Mulder finally gets the proof he has spent his whole life searching for, the mixture of shock and joy on Duchovny's face puts to shame the idea that his expression has always been that of a stoneface. And the final minutes with Anderson in the hospital are equally wondrous - as she finds out that something that she never thought would be possible - her pregnancy - has happened.

If this had been the last episode - or even a segueway into movies - it would somehow have been perfect. The fact that the series chose not to resolve all its mysteries in its final act would have nevertheless been satisfying as it gave Mulder the only resolution his quest could ever bring. The fact that Scully's pregnancy would've been one last mystery would've still made us realize that even in its last seconds, The X-Files could amaze us.

So what's the problem with Requiem? It wasn't the end. All of the symmetry that we saw in the last episode kind of gets shot to hell when you decide to keep the series going an extra two seasons. As a result, the fates of Billy Miles and Teresa Hoese are just some added characters that Carter and company somehow think add more in the next year. Mulder's abduction no longer seems like a fitting end for character, just another cliffhanger, now weighted with the very real problem that there probably won't be a fitting resolution for it either, given Duchovny's contract woes. And Scully's pregnancy is the worst part of all, the definition of added baggage that the X-Files will absolutely do a horrendous job of handling in the next couple of years. If you're going to write this an end, then follow through - to just get started again seems to be a waste of energy.

After what has been mostly a fairly disappointing season, Requiem does have the advantage of leaving the fans wanting more. The problem is, Fox and Carter should've been satisfied with that, rather than think that they were morally obligated to give more.

My score: 4.5 stars.