As Cigarette-Smoking Man/Cancer Man/Raul Bloodworth/C.G.B. Spender is proposing to have Special Agent Fox Mulder quit the FBI and join him, watch as he drops his cigarette and extinguishes it with his shoe. However, the next scene then has CSM still holding the same cigarette. Also, that bullet to his chest was awfully close to the heart. Enough said.

D. Stuart, I'm still waiting to hear: " Although we couldn't find Agent Spender's
body, there was so much blood he couldn't possibly have lived...

Hey, Nyla, where ya been?

-12-

On vacation, also known as Lent. Terrible food, doncha know, and the service is
just horrible. They make you stand for 3 hours, 11:00 PM to 2 something (in
high heels, a great feet--feel free to hit me) and, what's worse, they don't serve
the meat dish for 47 days (counting Holy Week).

Daily confession: I find something almost unbearable cute about Frohike.

lineater

You should try Yom Kippur... Thats 7 hours of standing (and fasting!)

-12-

All right, so Scully's cancer goes into submission because an implant is put back in her neck. The nit is that none of the Allentown women ever tried doing this (remember that their implants weren't destroyed by examination like Scully's was). If you're all dying of cancer, wouldn't you think that at some point someone would think that putting it back might help?

I thought it was a special implant, not the same scully had

If Special Agent Fox Mulder derived his partner's and Michael Kritschgau's son's index cards from the Pentagon's subterranean storage facility and consequently located a vial intended for the remission of Special Agent Dana Scully's cancer, why could he not locate some type of vial or equally affective remedy for Michael Kritschgau, Junior's contraction of toxic gas that was exposed to him and other US soldiers during the Gulf War? It appeared as if Special Agent Fox Mulder never attempted to trace any cures for the man's son. By the way, if you place Michael Kritschgau's son's name, whose middle name happens to be Lee, into initials, it spells MLK, and his name has the addition of Junior. Martin Luther King, Junior, anyone? Perhaps it was homage or allusion to this historical figure who was assassinated by Cigarette-Smoking Man/Cancer Man/Raul Bloodworth/C.G.B. Spender, a man who also may or may not have been responsible for the unleashing of particular chemical warfare during the Gulf War.

These three episodes ("Gethsemane"/"Redux"/"Redux II") were interesting and entertaining, but for me, this is where the mythology starts to wander and I get the feeling that Chris Carter is starting to make stuff up. Up till now, each new mythology ep was like a new puzzle piece, and I was waiting to see the whole picture. This is one of those "action" eps where we see the mythology "puzzle" change without learning much new. It's the first of many changes that will leave the mythology in a twisted, broken pile by the time "The Truth" rolls around (4 seasons later).

Here's what bothers me. I can well understand the reason that the joint-panel hearing is convened by Section Chief Blevins. With Skinner's deal in place to protect M & S (Albert Hosteen's dissemination of the MJ files throughout the Navajo Nation as seen in "Paper Clip"), the Consortium has been reduced to trying to get Mulder to hang himself. The hoax in "Gethsemane" is such an attempt, as CSM's ploy to get Mulder to ask for immunity for the NSA shooter will be (as seen in "The End"). Had Michael Kritschgau not divulged the nature of the hoax to Mulder (even though Kritschgau himself is uninformed), Mulder would have gone public with his findings and been rejected once the nature of the hoax was discovered.

Kritschgau's decision to tell Mulder the truth (well, the truth as he knows it) threw a wrench in these plans. But they also gave the Consortium another tool to use against Mulder. By divulging classified information to Mulder, both Kritschgau and Mulder were in violation of federal laws involving classified materials. Unless Mulder cooperated with the OPR investigation (and thus turned on an ally), the Consortium had grounds to get Mulder expelled from the FBI and imprisoned, where his death could have been arranged.

Mulder's "death" and subsequent discovery only enhances the Consortium's situation. Now, Scully is near death and Mulder can be charged not just with classified-materials violations, but with illegal trespassing (his entry into DARPA and the Pentagon basement), murder (of Scott Ostelhoff), and with lying to the OPR panel about his own death. They should have been able to arrange for Mulder's downfall with no trouble.

But instead, what do they do? Brandoguy tries to have Mulder assassinated! This completely baffles me. First of all, isn't this what they've been patently unable to do for 5 years now? What about Mulder being a public figure? What about turning his quest into a crusade? What about his congressional protection?

(I'm ignoring the part about Skinner's ultimatum to the CSM because it is highly unlikely that Brandoguy (or the First Elder) has any knowledge of this deal, since CSM hid so much from them about the whereabouts and final disposition of the MJ tape).

Second, why resort to murdering Mulder (and weathering the subsequent investigation) if you are able to ruin him without attracting any attention? Try as I might, I can find no reason why the Consortium takes this step. By writing this in, CC does nothing more than call into question everything that's been said before (and will be said in the future) about Mulder's supposed invulnerability.

Now, having discussed this puzzling affair, let's jump forward to the deal that Blevins offers Mulder and Mulder's subsequent naming of Blevins as the mole within the FBI. As we've stated, Blevins is already in a good position. Mulder has gotten himself into a serious bind and is unlikely to escape anytime soon. Why does Blevins throw Mulder a rope? Is Skinner really a more lucrative target than Mulder? Granted, Skinner is working to exhonerate Mulder (as demonstrated by his appearance at the Senate hearings, no doubt to research Roush), but he makes it clear more than once that he'll go only so far. If Mulder continues to lie and break the law and winds up hanging himself, it's unlikely that Skinner will come to his aid. In other words, if Mulder is removed from the FBI, Skinner will cease to be a problem. (At this stage, he still does not believe Mulder's theories and protects him only because he detests the methods that the Consortium uses.) So by eliminating Mulder, the Consortium could remove Skinner as a threat too. Instead, they opt to take Skinner down and leave Mulder, the one whose downfall they've sought for years now, intact! WHY?? Why do they need Mulder's help to take Skinner down? He has no evidence to help their cause. All he can do is say the name. Why don't they just go ahead and take down Mulder and leave Skinner? Is Skinner going to start running down X-Files while Mulder is in Milan Federal Penitentiary?

Now, finally, let's look at this dramatic meeting and the senior agent's subsequent execution of Blevins. It is understandable that someone naming Skinner as the mole would be successful. After all, the Consortium can produce all the evidence they need against him. But Mulder naming Blevins is totally illogical. There is NO evidence against him! The only pieces Mulder has are phone records showing a call from Scott Ostelhoff to Executive Extension 130 at the FBI. Mulder can't prove who Ostelhoff was talking to (since that extension could be any number of senior FBI agents) and even if he could, there's no recordings of the call. Just because Blevins has been getting phone calls from Ostelhoff doesn't mean that he's a mole. Those records prove nothing. Yet Mulder not only alledges that Blevins is the mole but that he was responsible for infecting Scully with cancer! Aren't these claims totally unfounded? Indeed, when the manufactured evidence against Skinner is brought forward and Mulder can show NO proof to back up his claims, shouldn't Blevins be in the clear and Skinner back in the hot seat? Instead of following this course, the Consortium has Blevins killed. Doesn't faking his suicide tell the whole world that Mulder was right? What happened to "Denial is Policy"? Or "Confuse, Inveigle, Obfuscate"? I don't ever remember "Admit and Retreat" being part of the Consortium's methods. Now, maybe Blevins cracked and admitted that he did it, and they had to kill him. But that seems a little silly, doesn't it?

In short, these episodes were pretty fun to watch. But when you try to examine them in detail or figure anything out, they break down.

The Consortium didn't try to kill Mulder. The assassin's (I think his name was Quiet Willy or something) target was the CSM

Well, it appears at first that he's gunning for Mulder. Then Quiet Willy (that is his name) sees Mulder talking to CSM on the street, and then the target becomes CSM.

Another thing: why does Skinner refer to Blevins as "sir"? An assistant director is higher in rank than a section chief (who is either just another special agent or, at best, a supervisory special agent).

ML: The nit is that none of the Allentown women ever tried doing this. If you're all dying of cancer, wouldn't you think that at some point someone would think that putting [the chip] back might help?
I'm not sure if this is a nit per se but I wondered the very same thing. It's obviously a cause and effect relationship and to go two seasons without anyone figuring this out is a little unbelievable.

Omer: I thought it was a special implant, not the same scully had
I'm not 100% sure about this but I'm fairly certain it was meant to be the same type of chip.

D. Stuart: It appeared as if SA Mulder never attempted to trace any cures for the [Kritschgau's] son.
A good point but he may have done it off-screen. Either way it didn't appear to have helped because his son died only a few days later, so even if Mulder found something it seemed to be too late.

Jesse: First of all, isn't this what they've been patently unable to do for 5 years now? What about Mulder being a public figure? What about turning his quest into a crusade? What about his congressional protection?
For the most part I agree with what you posted here Jesse, but I think Mulder's perceived immunity up until this point mostly orginated from CSM, since he was the one who always mentioned the crusade line.

Jesse: why does Skinner refer to Blevins as "sir"? An assistant director is higher in rank than a section chief (who is either just another special agent or, at best, a supervisory special agent).
Thank you Jesse! Perhaps this line is simply professional courtsey but I think TPTB messed up the chain-of-command from the beginning because Skinner should basically be #2 of the entire FBI. However, judging by how Skinner usually conducts himself in the show I wouldn't guess he was as high up as he should be with that title.

This was a great finale to both this arc in general and Scully's cancer, though as stated above I don't know why this solution wasn't thought of earlier. On the other hand I'm with Jesse here in that the plot of this arc didn't make a whole lot of sense when the details are broken down. At no time was I concerned about Mulder's fraud and murder charges when, with a good lawyer, he could show it was all for a conspiracy investigation and in self-defense respectively. I'm also a bit surprised Mulder wasn't at all suspicious about the meeting with his 'sister' considering he's encountered a clone of her in the past. Finally, if Skinner was investigating Roush why did he need to go to a senate hearing, if that was indeed what he was doing there?

Scully's mother apparently had time to go to the hairdresser between the dinner and when she's in the hospital. :P

CSM was ALWAYS the target for the hit (NOT Mulder). At the horse track scene, Blevins gives a nod to the assassin after CSM leaves. It was only for "dramatic effect" that we ever thought Mulder may be an intended target. The assassin knew Mulder would soon meet the CSM and considering how elusive CSM is in comparison, it was easier to track Mulder until he meets with CSM.