X-Files Episode Guide: Three Words

Written by Chris Carter & Frank Spotnitz

Directed by Tony Wharmby

The X-File in play in this episode is as close to the definition of a MacGuffin as the series has trafficked in. And the fact that after three consecutive episodes of new life being sparked in the mythology after God knows how long, that we seem to be taking such a big step backward - meeting with shadowy informants that cannot be trusted, characters trying to bring about knowledge of the end of the world, and our old friends the Lone Gunmen trying to bring Mulder back through a mysterious government facility. All of which is now being tapped off by a man trying to leap the fence of the White House. (Be honest: when we first saw what Howard Salt was trying to get to the President, didn't you really think someone was trying to slip W. a pirated DVD of the X-Files movie?)

However, what makes Three Words work - and I mean work - is the fact that, for once everything seems to be very off-kilter. And that's because of what Mulder doesn't seem willing to admit to anyone.  He may be miraculously cured of all his ailments (including that brain cancer that was 'killing' him, and there was a way for Carter to write himself out of a corner), but the fact of the matter is, Mulder can't deny the fact that he was dead for three months. Not near death in a boxcar in New Mexico. Not supposedly dead from a shotgun suicide. Dead and in a coffin. It would be easy for Carter and Spotnitz to try and have Mulder back to his old self after everything that they have put the fans through during Season 8. But in a rare moment of character triumphing over plotline, they decide to make Mulder's utter discomfort front and center of the story, rather than some hunt for the truth.

Mulder is back, but he now finds himself in the world that Carter and company have been forced to build based on his absence. Scully is now visibly pregnant, and Mulder seems very reluctant to ask what has led to that moment. There's a new person working on the X-Files. A partner that has earned Scully and Skinner's trust, and by extension the audience. And now, after years of  effort in trying to push him out, the powers that be have a legitimate reason to take Mulder out of the Bureau for good. (It's difficult to believe that Doggett has managed to put up a decent arrest record on the X-Files given what we've seen, but considering they've bee trying to use that argument as far back as Tooms, we'll let it go.) That Mulder's career at the Bureau is now going to end not with a bang but a whimper is something that he can't accept, and so he finds himself throwing himself into the new conspiracy with a desperation that, frankly, we've never seen before. He can't make sense of the world that has emerged in his absence, so he finds himself hunting for the familiarity of a government conspiracy. And when the rest of the world pushes back against him, Mulder seems a lot meaner then he's been when faced with adversity. He treats Scully as if he's dancing on eggshells, he doesn't completely view the Gunmen as trustworthy any more, and his reaction to Doggett's open hand is to slam him against a wall. We've seen Mulder angry before, but now there's a lot more recklessness and cruelty in it. One is reminded of how the Cigarette-Smoking Man reacted to the rest of the Syndicate when he returned after his assassination. (Speaking of which, where is CSM? Mulder could really use his help right now.)

David Duchovny seizes on his return with a freshness and vitality that has been missing from Mulder for nearly a year and a half. Considering how pissed he is at the world, it seems like he is trying to avenge his own murder, even at the cost of the subtle approaches he has been trying for the last seven seasons. There's a spark an energy to it that is seized on by the rest of the cast. Anderson, who has spent most of season 8 hoping and praying for Mulder's return, now finds herself at an utter loss when the partner that she has spent all season searching for is no longer himself, and seems utterly uninterested in listening to her. In a way, Scully now seems to be taking the role of the X-Files fan who has been patient enough to wait for Duchovny's returns, and is now upset that he just isn't as fun as he used to be. Robert Patrick's Doggett continues to demonstrate the integrity that his character has shown all season - it would be easy for him to walk away now that Mulder has been found, but now he's desperate to find a rationale for what's happening among being taken hostage, and that seems to be leading him to trust the wrong people.

Admittedly, there's difficulties with much of the story that seems to be going on around us.  The plot is more of a runaround than anything else we've seen throughout Season 8, but because we're seeing through new eyes it actually manages to play rather well. And there's the sad fact that everything that's being done by Absalom and later, through Knowle Rohrer is the kind of destructiveness that will deliver the final blow to the mythology of the series ever having a logical progression - something that even Carter seems willing to acknowledge now. But the series seems to have a recharged energy that actually entertains in a way even the most steadfast viewer has given up on in the mythos. It's a shame that Duchovny's decision to leave would undo it - this path could have demonstrated a new direction for the X-Files to take - one that might have given it a longer life.

My score: 5 stars.