Collected Thoughts on Never Again (2/4/97)

GravesPA2  wrote:

>  
>I wish I could have gleaned some greater lesson from "Never
>Again."  The most frustrating part of watching this episode
>was realizing that Mulder and Scully SHOULD be dealing with
>some of the questions raised at the beginning.  Does Mulder
>value Scully's role in The X-Files?  Can Scully continue to
>beat her head against the wall of subterfuge and conspiracy?
>Has she allowed herself to become subservient to her
>partner?  Is her life inextricably intertwined with Mulder's
>or is there room for something outside of him and her work? 
>These were questions that needed to be addressed.  But
>instead of any real exploration of these themes, "Never
>Again" used them as convenient springboards to show Scully
>cutting loose and acting out of character.  And I'm a bit
>disturbed by the implication that the only way for Scully to
>gain control over her life is to LOSE control.
You have captured why I thought this was a worthwhile episode.  The Mulder
and Scully scenes finally addressed questions that needed to be addressed.
I know for some people it was a case of "too little, too late", but for me
it was "better late than never".  As for the scenes of Scully without
Mulder, I could happily live without having ever seen any of those, aside
from the pleasure of watching her make that one very graceful and
expressive hand movement, you know the one :) .  And yes, the abysmally
stupid acts of those scenes would have more appropriately (though less
gracefully and expressively) come from Tori Spelling than GA.  And yes, it
is quite disturbing that that is the best they could come up with when it
is Scully's turn to shine on her own.  But my approach to episodes is
this: I would rather seen one with high highs and low lows than watch
straight mediocrity.  For some reason, my mental editor only works in one
direction: I can edit out the bad stuff, but I can't pretend that
non-existent good stuff was actually there.  If an episode contained
something good, it was a good episode -- I forget the stuff I didn't like
almost as soon as it happens. (Newsgroup discussion always helps me
remember, though ;) ).
And for me, the hurt, anger, and awkwardness between M & S was good.  I
mean, bad, but good.  I think it was very much in character.  I think it
was Bernardine who commented that they seemed worlds different from the
two people who had the Conversation on the Rock, but I disagree.  The same
dynamics are there in the Hellish Office Scenes, just magnified.  In the
COTR, she compare him to Ahab and says his obsession is going to drag him
and those close to him to their doom, and though part of her feels like
loyal Starbuck, part of her isn't willing to be doomed just yet, thanks.
And Mulder's response is to defend himself with jokes, rather than
seriously address her concerns.  And even his "joke" about the peg-leg
gives a big hint of the deep-seated neuroses surrounding his quest, the
psychic wounds that prevent him from reacting like the mature and fairly
sensitive adult that he can be in other aspects of life, when his quest is
in question.
They never resolved any of it in that conversation, and now a season
later, the pressures are still there, only stronger, but unfortunately the
barriers to an open discussion of the pressures are stronger, too.  In the
intervening time the two of them have come to depend on each other that
much more, making these issues so much more threatening.  And so they are
played out in covert rebellion and snippy remarks.  For the time being, at
least.  I'm hoping that the painful silence will have made discussion
unavoidable.
>I am particularly dismayed that, despite her protests to the
>contrary, almost EVERYTHING she did in this episode was a
>direct reaction to Mulder.  She would not have called Ed
>Jerse had Mulder not thrown down the gauntlet by presuming
>that she couldn't possibly have a date.  She would not have
>hung up the phone when she called Mulder from Jerse's
>apartment had she not wanted to show Mulder she could handle
>things on her own.  And at the end, her sullen behavior
>seemed to be an attempt to torment Mulder, who was honestly
>trying to understand her, even if he wasn't very good at it.
>I'm not used to siding with Mulder over Scully--it gives me
>the hives.  But in "Never Again," my sympathies lay with
>Mulder, I'm afraid. 
For me, this is the real key to the entire series.  Their investigations
into the X-Files have forced M & S into this smothering intimacy.  No one
else knows what they know.  No one else can be trusted or depended upon.
They have become each other's entire world.  And because they didn't ask
for this relationship, and because they can't escape it, it includes not
only trust and love, but also resentment and anger.  But like it or not,
by this point, everything that Scully does *is* about Mulder in some way,
and, more subtly, vice versa.  Well, they do actually have one escape
route, and that's for Scully to leave the X-FIles entirely (Mulder never
could).  I agree completely with those who say that Mulder's actions
toward her in this ep were totally unprofessional, and that Scully's
reactions were *far* from the reactions of a reasonable woman to such
behavior in a professional situation.  That's because these two left the
professional world back in the dust a long, long time ago, and I don't
know if they can recapture that necessary distance.  At this point, it may
be all or nothing.

EP

and more on this topic...

Portia <>portia@ix.netcom.com> wrote:
>When Scully started the Rocky and Bullwinkle monologue, I thought ...
>okay ... but it won't be definitive unless they *say it.*  And Mulder
>did -- Moose and Squirrel!  Congratulations Gia, who I think coined
>these monikers.
Hee hee!  I smacked my betrothed in the shoulder with a triumphant "Ha!"
at that point in the ep and then told him I'd explain everything at the
next commercial.
>I loved this episode.  Every "fuck you" look from Scully in the scene
>at Mulder's desk.  I'm sure somebody will come up with a name for that
>scene, but I can't think of one.  Mulder was a consummate asshole,
>further setting up Scully's obvious depression.  The M&S interaction
>in this ep was excruciating, and devilislhly well written and
>delivered.  It was interesting that she referred to him as an
>"authority figure" in the bar scene.
I'm with you 100% on this one, though this episode was not nearly as
resonant as "3" (Scully being shortchanged again?).
I honestly thought Myrke might like this ep -- it vindicated everything
she's been saying about Mulder.  Mulder apologists may be able to wave
away his behavior when it's distributed over many episodes, but this was a
distillation of his PUNKish, self-obsessed side.  It's always been there,
folks.  This was not out of character.  And Scully finally gets to have
her say.  Repeatedly.  "Not everything is about you, Mulder".
Of course, as Myrke very rightly pointed out, much of Scully's behavior
really was about Mulder.  But I don't think that's a bad thing.  Well,
maybe it is a bad thing from a feminist standpoint, but not from the
standpoint of creating an interesting, consistent, and worthwhile
character.
M & S are completely enmeshed, entangled, and involved with each other.
They have lost themselves in each other -- Scully was right.  And their
circumstances foster that enmeshment -- they have no one else they can
trust.  THey're stuck with each other in this sometimes-unwanted intimacy.
We may fantasize about Scully slapping him when he mouths off... she may
fantasize about it... but she wouldn't do it.  Too risky.  He has become
her world.  She pushes the envelope with some very sensible comments, but
beyond that it's covert rebellion.
But she is no less his world, in his self-absorbed way.  When he calls her
from the road, it's not just to check up on her.  He wants her there -- an
experience doesn't really count for him anymore unless she shares it.
He's terrified of losing her, and he's angry at her for making him scared
about it (think of Mulder as emotionally stuck at the age of 12 -- his
development was cut off by The Event in many ways, because so much of his
psychic energy has been devoted since then to managing guilt, etc.).
Hence his reaction at the end of the episode.  Part of him loves her in a
much more selfless way, but that part has to battle its way past all the
complexes.  Hopefully it will next episode.
I think he stopped mid-sentence because he didn't know what he was going
to say.  "yeah, but it's m....".  He didn't know how to finish it, but the
underlying idea was "what about me?".  I think grown-up Mulder realized
there was absolutely no good way for 12-year-old Mulder to finish that
sentence.
Two things I didn't like: one, no matter how rebellious Scully was
feeling, the burnt-out face in the photo would have killed the attraction.
I'm sorry, she just spends way too much time around deranged killers to
not have a negative gut-level reaction to something like that.  Two, when
he got a little rough and grabbed her arm, I also think Scully's instincts
would have gotten her out of there, "wild side" or no.
 
EP