this is, hands down, my favorite ep, as Mulder
goes through what Dr. Laura calls 'the joyful and
painful process of becoming more fully human.'
First, he tells Skinner that he is willing to give
up the X-Files for Scully's revenge. This is the
guy, remember, who has given over his whole life
to the X-Files, who, as Garth Brooks says, 'is
unable to resist/ the slightest chance that might
exist/ and for that forsake it all/'. Then (with a
little help from Miss Ohm... that is, Melissa) he
gives up even his revenge to stay with his partner
on her (supposed) deathbed. This is pretty
powerful stuff. This is what, no matter if you're
a shipper or a friendshipper, the MSR has *always*
been about--partnership. They are closer than some
married couples that I know.

I agree... it's a great episode, even if not my personnal favorite. My favorite scene though, is the confrontation between Mulder and the Cigarette Smoking end. It was so touching. It was also the beginning of a continous thread about Mulder becomming like cancer man, being his (symbolic) son.

I also liked the scene with X, when X really threaten Mulder. It was easilty X's finest moment.
and ofcourse, Melissa is great. I was sad that she dies, but it was fun to see her back in Crismas Carol

I'd give it a 9 out of a 10

Ditto Ditto! and I liked X's scene too.

Ok, now that we all love this ep, here's a nit.

When Mulder prints out his resignation letter, he uses an HP LaserJet 4. However, you can see a dark line on the upper face of the page as it comes out of the printer. The LJ4 prints face down. Therefore, either we have an equipment oddity where the paper was just placed in the printer to come out, or else Mulder printed his resignation letter on scrap paper. Assuming the latter, no wonder Skinner rejected his resignation!

I also enjoyed this episode. Another nit--when the woman drops by the hospital and asks Mulder for change for the cigarette machine, then says there's already a pack there "Morleys, not my brand" and leaves; Mulder gets the hint, reaches in for the pack and then OPENS the pack by tearing off the cellophane strip around the top of the package to find the note from Skinner--nice of Skinner to go to the trouble of somehow re-sealing the pack (no doubt a very tricky operation for him since he does not approve of CSM smoking despite the ashtray in his office).

A great and touching ep., with many wonderful performances by Mulder and Scully; its a great perfomance by Anderson (in the boat) considering she had a c-section only one week before!

Phil wondered in the Guide who Nurse Owens was. I wonder if there is a real-world explanation for this: maybe she was from another station/ part of the hospital/ a voluntary helper? After all, a big hospital would have a big staff, and when the African-American nurse at the end says she has worked at the hospital for 10 years and never heard of a Nurse Owens, she might be thinking only of her ward/ shift.

Considering that the hospital made a serious mistake /breach of protocol and procedures by admitting scully without papers and in the proper way (shouldn't they be afraid of an investigation?) and the fit Mulder - a FBI agent - has thrown over this, wouldn't the personnel attending to scully be closely monitored by the hospital?

constanze:
Phil wondered in the Guide who Nurse Owens was. I wonder if there is a real-world explanation for this: maybe she was from another station/ part of the hospital/ a voluntary helper? After all, a big hospital would have a big staff, and when the African-American nurse at the end says she has worked at the hospital for 10 years and never heard of a Nurse Owens, she might be thinking only of her ward/ shift.
-I pretty much figured that there is a supernatural situation going on here, alone with Scully's father, (general Hammond-----just kidding!) visiting her from the great beyond, but what gets me, then again, watching it again, I didn't veiw it all, I just trying to remember all of it when I was watching it the first time, but Scully describes to the African American nurse what Nurse Owens looked like. But, wasn't Scully in the coma during all that time? How would she know what she looked like? Did I forget that Scully was conscious at all, or her eyes are open at the time. Maybe I don't remember the nurse being in her viewpoint, when she visualized herself in that rowboat on the lake in her out of body experience, but wouldn't she view the figures from memory, like Maulder and her sister, that appeared there. The one scene I saw again, was when Scully's boat's rope broke, and the figure on the deck was hazy.

Yes, I thought the figure on the pier when the rowboat drifted away did look very hazy. But then, maybe scully saw her very clear when we weren't looking (or when she drifted back to her body?)

A great ep that draws you in and keeps you there until the end. However, it is of course not without its nits

Following the confrontation with X Mulder continues his pursuit of the man who took Scully's blood. Mulder tells him to 'freeze' and identifies himself, the man fires, Mulder takes cover behind a pillar and then waits for him to exit. While this sequence of events is understandable Mulder could've easily returned fire with low risk considering he was protected and the other guy not. As an FBI agent he's been trained for situations exactly like this.

When Mulder was in Skinner's office he referred to Scully as "a good officer" which is incorrect since she is a special agent, and there are significant differences beyond title.

This may be a simple matter of me never noticing but I don't recall a hospital ever having a ciggarette machine, and I've been to a many over the years for multiple reasons. I realize this was the mid-90s, and that these machines are all but vanished in the US these days, but I just don't see this as a normal vending machine in hospitals. However, due to the lack of comments on it I may very well be wrong here.

There was a missed opportunity for a "great line" moment in this ep, which there was none in the Guide. When Melissa came to see Fox at his apartment she asked why it was so dark in there. Mulder replied "because the lights aren't on." good stuff

Phil made a NANJO comment about Scully's breasts being noticably larger in this ep, particularly during the scene where her father is talking to her in a vision, but didn't offer a real-world explanation like he often does. This is likely due to her giving birth (c-section) only one week before, as constanze points out, and she is lactating.

After the teaser Mulder is watching a tape of something I don't recognize but it sounded a lot like porn. Maybe that's just me with my mind being frequently in the gutter.

It's probably not you, Inblackestnight. Mulder is known to have a porn collection.

I knew there was a reason I liked Mulder Thanks ScottN, good to hear from you.