Okay. That was fun.

I'm kinda on the fence over this episode. I like some parts of it but other parts I didn't care for.

I didn't care for the whole 'uncomfortable' way everyone acted in the episode. I realize that's how their supposed to be acting but it made it difficult to watch.

What annoyed me the most was how not only do we have to deal with everyone protecting Scully now everyone is doing it to Mulder. Argh. If I was one of these two I would have gone postal on everyone for treating me like a baby.

I did like the appearance by the Lone Gunmen. But where was Jimmy? :-)

And the killsquad going balistic on Khan Jr. (••••, I can't remember his name) was pretty hardcore.

The thread with Doggett's mole and the fact his a 'pod person' now is kinda interesting.

I'm surprised Doggett didn't go ape on him over what happened.

Khan jr was played by Justin Scott who also played Joachim in ST:Wrath of Khan (and presumably on TOS, I can't recall). He also played the drug dealing Sobi on ST:TNG's Symbiosis.
If it's so tough getting into the database building, how did the Gunmen get there in the first place, and why didn't Mulder go that way? It would probably be a lot easier, and lot less risky then hoping the guard isn't looking.
I don't know what Knowles is supposed to have/be, but I hope it's not catching. But it probably is and it probably will be Doggett who catches it.

Thanks for the info Karen. I was thinking of his X-Files' character name. Which I just looked up, 'Absalom'. Not the easiest name to remember.

Yeah I was kinda confused on the whole issue of where the lone gunmen where during the break in. Then the issue of Mulder planned to do while he was there. He mentioned emailing it to the media. It seems that Mulder had to route the data to the Lone Gunmen since they mentioned the data wasn't coming.

Then there's the technology issue of what was on census guy's laptop. 10gb sure. that's a lot of stuff. But apparently it wasn't useable information. Well then what was it 10gb of links to this big database?

Then was there supposed to be 10gb on that mini-CD that he had when he jumped the fence. Because if's it just a CD then it would only hold about 60-100mb of data.

And why was he trying to get this info to the President? If this was a gov't conspiracy why would he assume the President couldn't be in on it. He might have had better luck going to the media like Mulder wanted to do.

Also the parts of West Virginia I've been to don't look at desert-ish. In fact West Virginia is kind of, oh I don't know, mountainy. And decidious rainforest.

Also would federal prisoners be on a work detail? I'm reluctant to call it a chain gang, mostly since no one was chained up!!! I realize that handcuffs aren't very practical when your digging, but wouldn't leg shackels be a good idea.

Well, I was kinda hoping they started by showing Mulder's reaction to finding out Scully is pregnant. Isn't he curious at all? He had after all agreed in a flashback episode to help Scully conceive a child right? Granted that no solid proof is given yet of whether he is or not the father ... still. I seem to recall Scully stating that Mulder was the last @ last week's episode which seems to indicate he was the last of the Mulders ... but probably that's 'coz she can't legally give the last name to the baby when (s)he is born? It's a maybe so far isn't it? But Frohike might have piqued Mulder's interest in saying he was part of the "blessed" thing eh? Scully didn't deny it right? Oh well, I guess we'll just have to wait and see.
Doggett waits outside Mulder's apt for Scully to come out ... why didn't he just call her on her cellphone to tell her the password?
The invasion is imminent I guess by all indications. Now I wonder if Scully's baby would turn out to be something like V's Elizabeth. Anyone still remember that miniseries ... I'm beginning to forget but she was the half-alien right who was suppose to bring peace? Just a thought. ;-)
While Mulder was uploading the file, I kept thinking he should have at least scanned to see if he/Scully/Doggett were among the folders. He did after all know now that it was a genetic profiling/tracking being done. Ah, Mulder's getting a tad sloppy. Well I guess having been buried could've slowed him down.
One thing though, nice touch of them mentioning his brain illness is cured. But doesn't this flag as an alert that he may be somewhat alien now because he's in "perfect health?"
Doggett's informant ... didn't he look like Krychek? And what's that poking at his nape? Weren't the implants suppose to be small and only detectable by metal detectors? Or is this a completely different one? Wonder what it does. I was expecting Doggett to punch the guy for setting him up. But I guess he's not the type of guy.
Nice to see the Lone Gunmen. :-)
Are the Gunmen's phones the same number so they rang simultaneously?
So, the harddrive Mulder took was useless?
Ok, just my random thoughts for tonight.

The harddrive had 10GB of encripted data on it, this does not mean that the CD had all of the info on it. Since the census data is tracking thousands of people all the guy needed on the disc was some of the data, perhaps the data of a few hundred people to prove his point to the president.

One more thing ... Scully seems to be trying to reach out to Mulder but he doesn't seem to be responding back ... what gives? Remember she asked if he knew what she's been through and all that praying she did hoping he'd come back ... I was at least expecting Mulder to hug her.

Was the "Fight The Future" only for getting access? Did Mulder try to use it to unencrypt the harddrive ... would've saved him the trip and worry to a pregnant Scully. If the census guy burned a CD, it must've been with this notebook right and not at work.
Ah, they're all at the tip of the ice berg and don't even know it.

Only Byers' cellphone rang. None of the three knew which one of theirs rang till Byers spoke into his.

Wasn't it rather convenient that there'd just happen to be a piece of wood with a nail poking out of it, so that Absolom would have a chance to escape? Gee, what are the chances?

I also expected Mulder to react moreso than he did at Scully's pregnancy, and ask who the daddy was.

That was some e-mail program they had there. First, it lets someone send e-mail without requiring a password, or user name. And then it lets you send 10gb as attachments. Good night, mine won't let me send more than 25mb. Also, what good would it do to send all those people encrypted data, if they have to read it at the source?
How did he get out anyway? Go through the ceiling, and out the back door? Why didn't he get in that way?
I wonder if Mulder was replaced with "a alien facsimile," and that's why he doesn't care whether or not he is the father, or if not him, who. You have to wonder if he thinks Doggett is the father.

COMMENTS

*So, like exactly, what is Mulder's position now? As I recall, Doggett never told him that he was off the X-Files as Kersh wanted him to.
*Someone already commented that TLG got into the facility a lot easier than Mulder...but what about Doggett? He got in there FAST.
*Remember that plot point. Doggett's neck is good. But what about everybody else's? Mulder's? Scully's? Skinner's? Krycek's? Even Kersh's?
*I love that goofy grin Doggett gives to Mulder when he attempts to shake his hand.
*Note: I wanted to see Jimmy on tonight's show. I also wanna see Doggett on TLG, but that ain't gonna happen.
*Why would you give yourself the name "Absalom" if you're trying to save the world? In the Bible, Absalom was a murderous guy that tried to off his own dad.
*I must say for Absalom, that he gets away pretty darn easily. He also does a darn fine job of somehow figuring out Doggett's identity and address.
*I've heard a lot of things online about Mulder's "obnoxious" behavior in this episode. (a) Was it normal? (b) Is it a plot point?

I was thinking of this in the scene where mulder logs onto the census computer...he type is the pass word "fight the future"
1) we can see what he type...normally passwords appear ***** *** ******....
2) Wouldn't he need a user name? There was a space on the screen to enter a username...but there was no mention of one.
3) The user name was in stars ****** and the password was visable...

MikeC,
Doggett got in fast 'coz the security guard was gone. I bet the security guard was told to leave his post when he got up to answer the call ... but I wonder what happened to the phone on his console. Part of the setup. And it galvanized Doggett's suspicion.

MarkN,
Thanks for pointing that out. I couldn't quite tell and I thought I was missing on the cool feature. ;-)

You're welcome, Wong. I also just thought of something else: Doggett and Mulder escaped by crawling inside the ceiling. Well gee, didn't they think that the guntoting boys in black just might happen to think of looking up there? Of course if they did then we'd once again see those three little, near-ubiquitous words: "To Be Continued..." which would be annoying, since this is already Part 3 of this storyline. I suppose the inside of the ceiling is pretty strong to hold two fully grown men weighing roughly several hundred pounds.

I imagine TLG would be embarrassed to introduce Jimmy to M&S. It would involve a whole lotta explanation.

I was expecting Mulder to ask Scully about the pregnancy, though. I mean, he knows it can't be natural.

It's obvious that he caught up on political affairs pretty quickly; he made an election joke.

Of course, Mulder might be referring to the wins of John Quincy Adams and Benjamin Harrison.

I dont see how Mulder and Doggett escaped through the ceiling...if u lift a panel of the ceiling in any office, school, convience store, etc with that type of ceiling or any panel type ceiling, u'd see that its a kinda "false" ceiling....because above the panels are the lighting fixtures, the air ducts, the insulation, etc...and then there is the actual ceiling made of wood and separating each floor in multi level building or the inside of a building and its roof.

Not always....in my dorm building, the part above the celing panels doubles as repair crawl space.

All the false ceilings I've ever messed with wouldn't allow two grown men to crawl on top of them with crashing down to the floor.

How come Mulder still had an apartment to live in? After all, since so MUCH time had passed since his "death", wouldn't Scully have made arrangements to get rid of his stuff so the landlord could rent it out to someone else? Also, was Scully paying the rent all the time Mulder was gone? If so, what a friend!

Thanks DanR, password being visible as typed is a nit that has always bugged me. They have shown passwords in previous episodes. I wish they would be more accurate and consistent with this.

I was expecting Mulder to reply, "Yes, I know", when she went on about how she felt that he was abducted and she was trying to find him and thought he was dead, blah, blah. Isn't that exactly what he did back in the second season when GA really was pregnant?

The injury on Dogget is a little unreal. There is no way a bullet would have traced the curve of his cheek that much and just scratched his face. That was really buggging me. Plus the angle that Absolom appeared to be shot doesn't coinside with how Dogget is injured.

Mike, I was wondering about the apartment thing myself. In fact it bugged me as soon as Mulder walked in the door.

I'm guessing that either like you said maybe Scully was paying it, or maybe Mulder has something setup to handle things like that. But that makes me wonder, does he get paid for being missing for several months? I mean he was abducted on company time.

Well, not only that, but while they were all searching for Mulder (must be months, too), his apartment had been kept for him. I guess it must be 'coz it's a company paid apartment where they probably pay annually. But you're right, someone must be hanging on longer than they should since everyone seemed to accept Mulder was dead, even Scully. She could've moved his stuff to her place if she want the mementoes.

About the apartment: I guess Scully looked after it, because she even made a joke how it looked different because its cleaned up, and she knew about the fish.

Of course, the escape from the gunboys uses one of the oldest rules "Things which only work in TV and movies": You can always escape through the ventilation system, because it leads everywhere and noone looks for you there. (And how many bankrobber movies had the robbers crawling around in these false ceilings?) Of course, in the X-Files, I would have expected a little bit more reality: this is a security area, the gunboys know somebody was here, and the ceiling is neither secured nor searched... Well, must be the charmed life Mulder leads! ;-)

I agree with Rick, during the very touching moment in Mulders apt. I expected M to mention Scullys abduction, because there sure are a lot of parallels!

Just how many months has M been abducted, dead and in hospital to know that much about current events? (I lost count somewhere).

About the thing from the neck: I understood Absalom that a visible thing means that somebody has been replaced by an alien, not the normal implant scully wears, because he was searching dogget for it.

I missed this Jimmy guy: Who is he?

Jimmy is a character from The Lone Gunmen.

In the scene where Absalom is doing forced labor, the guards all wear hats that say "DOC" on them, presumably for "Department of Corrections." Now, as I recall, Absalom was arrested on federal charges. He should be in a federal prison. (In fact, since he is now in WV instead of wherever he was before--Montana, I think--there's reason to believe that he is in the federal prison system. State prisons are never outside of the borders of the state that runs them.) If that's the case, the hats should say BOP, for Bureau of Prisons, the arm of the U.S. Marshals Service which runs federal prisons. "Department of Corrections" is a name given by some states to their prison systems.