X-Files Episode Guide: Trust No 1

Written by Chris Carter & Frank Spotnitz

Directed by Tony Wharmby

I'll admit there are some interesting ideas on display in this episode. The opening is one of the most well-shot teasers the series has done so far. The X-Files idea of the ever-evolving surveillance state is intriguing, even for those fans who were now rapidly beginning to jump on the 24 bandwagon (like I was), especially the idea that there is no true 'middle of nowhere' anymore.

But none of this can disguise the fact, that this is a truly dreadful episode. Starting with the most obvious problem - its a waste of time. The entire storyline of Trust No 1 is based on the principle that we are going to see Mulder again - and those fans still devoted enough to be watching the series in Season 9, know that it just ain't gone to happen. Duchovny is gone. He's not going to be making cameos. He's been abundantly clear on that point. For Chris Carter to now try and center an entire episode around that idea is downright insulting.  This might have worked had this been happening in Season 8 - considering Duchovny's schedule, an episode like this would've worked (never mind that it would have thrown the story of the season out of joint, but since when has that ever stopped the writers?). But now, Mulder isn't going to make a stunning reappearance. And in many ways, this is a replay of the endless waiting game that fans like me had to endure in Season 8. No, wait, its worse, because this time, they won't even give us a payoff. The climax of the episode basically involves a shooting to guarantee Mulder can't show up, and then a scene in a quarry, where everybody's shouting for Mulder, but we all know, he isn't going to be there. You really don't want the series to be showing metaphors for what the X-Files has become by now.

As  frustrating and borderline insulting as this is, it pales in comparison to all the other flaws that are on display. To be starting on a new kind of mythology at this point in the series was a bad idea when Season 9 started, but at least they were trying to come up with different ideas (horrible though they were). Now, in Trust No 1, we have them trying to develop them... and there's nothing new to see. There's the couple who fight on the street for the sole purpose of gaining Scully's trust, there's the shadowy people who have no names who seem to be responsible for spying on us, there the shadowy informant who goes to great lengths to try and get one of the protagonists attention, and reveal his power, and eventually we learn that he, too, can not be trusted. All of that was hard enough to deal with during the series early years, but as if to make up for the dragging pace of the mythology, Trust No 1 tries to do it all in a single episode. The only thing they try to do to modernize it is throw in some lines about how the Constitution is a mere scrap of paper, and that they knew when Scully invited Mulder into her bed. (And honestly, this may be the most offensive part. Bad enough that they dragged out the sexual tension between Mulder and Scully for eight seasons; now they're - and by extension Scully, is implying that they were doing it like bunnies during the same period that everybody was denying it. Were they trying to piss off the shippers who were left by this point?)

And what this does is weaken the series foundation - which took some serious damage throughout Season 8 - even further.  We've been sold - not very well - that there was some horrible threat to Mulder that told him that he had to go into hiding. Now, that threat is apparently Terry O'Quinn with a gun. That's it. The supersoldiers have been somewhat imposing, I'll give the writers credit for that, but after seven years of being threatened by the government, shadowy assassin, liver-eating mutants, and alien bounty- hunters, the Mulder that we know would stand and fight. This Mulder (and seriously, he couldn't think of a less obvious email address?) writes romantic emails with more of Chris Carter's deathless prose, and is willing to throw everything away to see Scully again. And its bad enough that the series still seems to have Mulder as a central character, even though the actor playing him isn't there anymore, Chris. It's now formally gutted Scully. Where's the strong woman who was willing to stand up to every major threat? Throughout the entire episode, Gillian Anderson is askew. She constantly seems to be bursting into tears, she's willing to go on a wild goose chase for no real reason, and she's willing to sacrifice Mulder's safety just so she can see him again.

And all this seems to do is make every element of the X-Files seem redundant. There are so many good actors in this episode - Terry O'Quinn, Alison Smith, Kathryn Joosten - and they are given almost nothing to work with in every scene they're in. O'Quinn is a great actor, capable of portraying even the most bland character with great nuance. But his whole presence in this story, he just seems to lead Scully on a wild goose chase. And what do we gain out of this whole mess? Apparently, these supersoldiers can be destroyed by some form of metal. Frankly, I liked the bees better. Oh, and by the way, for some reason either Mulder or William must die. In other words, by keeping himself alive, Mulder is forcing the baby to be dead. That's what we were getting from all this ordeal? That's what Mulder has been reduced to? A fall guy?

At least the new writers on the series have the excuse that they haven't been around long enough to know what the X-Files. And considering how good a writer Spotnitz managed to be last season - even in the mythology episodes- you'd expect better from him at least. By now, we know that Chris Carter has no direction for his series; we learned that years ago. All that Trust No 1 reveals is that Carter can't even follow the dictates of the rules his own actors have forced upon him There have been bad episode over the last couple years, but none that where the best you can say about is that's an exercise in futility. Throw in that ridiculous purple prose that the characters are saying to each other, as well as that awful Mark Snow theme, telling us how miserable Scully is, and you have an episode where you would really have been better served watching those photo stills of Mulder and Scully for an entire hour.

My score: 1 star.