"The Truth Is Out There" Re-Watch: "Redux" & "Redux II"

 The X-Files

The fifth season of "The X-Files" premiered on November 2, 1997. It was a big season for the show. It was the first time the season was pre-planned, which is wild to think about. The fifth season was leading up to the first feature length "X-Files" movie that was set to be released in the summer of 1998. Originally, the fifth season of the show was supposed to be the last and it was going to transition to a movie series, but the show as so lucrative that it continued on. The movie was shot during the summer hiatus in 1997. Due to the need for re-shoots, there are several episodes in the fifth season where David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson don't appear at all or appear very little. It was the last season of the show that was filmed in Vancouver, British Columbia. Production moved to Los Angeles with the sixth season because Duchovny and Anderson wanted to be closer to home. 

While this season was mapped out, it still feels like there are some wild left turns and season five features a lot of memorable episodes from the series. There is a black and white episode. There is an episode co-written by Stephen King. There is a classic episode about vampires. This may be one of the shortest seasons of the show, clocking in at 20 episodes, but it packs a lot and takes a lot of big swings. Let's get into it.

"Redux"

Walter Skinner: "As you compound the lies, you compound the consequences for them."

Dana Scully: "All lies lead to the truth."

Mythology or Monster of the Week: Mythology

X-File of the Week: We rewind 24 hours from the season finale and find out that Special Agent Fox Mulder finds out that he's being spied on by a DOD employee. The man, Scott Ostelhoff, is the dead body that was found who Special Agent Dana Scully identified as Mulder. Mulder investigates what Ostelhoff was doing while Scully works to prove that her cancer was part of the government cover up that Kritschgau told them about.

They love drawers.

The wait between seasons four and five was the longest one since "The X-Files" had begun airing. The season four finale, "Gethsemane," aired on May 18, 1997 and "Redux" premiered on November 2, 1997. There was an almost six month wait and I know that X-Philes were chomping at the bit for the show to return. Can you imagine waiting all that time and this is the episode you get? Were people excited for this episode when it originally aired? Because I've watched it a few times and I'm let down every time and I just have to hit play. I don't have to wait at all to watch it. If I waited six months and this was what I ended up waiting for, I'd be big mad.

This is definitely the weakest season premiere the show had produced thus far. Part of the reason that it's weak is because it hinges on the lame cliffhanger that Mulder killed himself. We all know that he didn't. So, you start off with this sense of who cares? Claiming that main character is killed is a cheap way to inject tension into things. But it leaves your audience collectively eye rolling. So, no one is shocked when we learn that Mulder is alive and that Scully helped him fake his death using the dead body of Scott Ostelhoff, a DOD employee who is spying on Mulder from the apartment above him for unknown reasons.

This episode is kind of boring. A lot of it feels like a re-tread of "Gethsemane." We see the machinations that lead Scully to her testimony in front of the panel. There is so much exposition here. The whole scene where Kritschgau is telling Mulder more about what he told them in "Gethsemane," except this time with newsreels underscoring it. That sort of makes it more interesting to watch, but it doesn't change the fact that we are just listening to an information dump for like five minutes. 

The idea that a traitor within the FBI gave Scully her cancer to keep up this facade is a good twist. And it's extremely insidious. And this first episode spends a lot of time implying that Skinner is the traitor. This goes over about as well as the Mulder committed suicide plot. No one believes that Skinner is the traitor. We've seen him work with the Cigarette Smoking Man to try to cure Scully's cancer to the point where he almost got arrested. Why would he do all that if he's the traitor? It just feels like another time fill waste of time.

The scientist that was examining the ice core sample reveals to Scully that when he injected the chimeric DNA into an animal fetus, it started to grow into something else. Scully has an epiphany and wants to have the chimeric DNA compared to her own blood. It is nice to see Scully in science mode. We haven't really seen that in a while if you don't count her performing autopsies. I think juxtaposing Scully working on this and not being sure if this DNA is legit alien or manufactured with Mulder finding the fake alien bodies, the people being experimented on and the infamous evidence room below the Pentagon is one of the more successful portions of this episode.

Before Scully can reveal to the Blevins led panel that the chimeric cells are in her body and the whole traitor thing, her nose starts bleeding and she collapses. Mulder finds a metal vial that he believes could contain the cure for Scully's cancer, but when the Lone Gunmen analyze it they find that it is just de-ionized water.

I'm not sure how I feel about the Cigarette Smoking Man portions of this episode. They have definitely been implying that he might be Mulder's actual father but I don't think that makes the scene where he breaks into Mulder's apartment after his "death" impactful. Oh, he cries over the thought of Mulder dying. Great. I can't be empathetic at all to this guy. Sorry Chris Carter.

Grade: C

"Redux II"

Dana Scully: [a Catholic priest enters Scully's hospital room] "You'll be in my prayers."

Fox Mulder: [Rising to leave] "Have the Father say a few "Hail Mulder's" for me."

Mythology or Monster of the Week: Mythology

X-File of the Week: Special Agent Dana Scully is in the hospital fighting her cancer which is looking more and more likely. Her partner, Special Agent Fox Mulder, is working to try to find a way to save her and find out who in the FBI has been working against them and made her sick in the first place.

Family... and Mulder.

Now, this is more like it. This is a much stronger episode and draws on the shows strengths. We start off with hysterical Mulder. I love hysterical Mulder where he is just acting unhinged. He's running around this hospital demanding to know where Scully is even though he is not family at all and this is, you know, a hospital. Whenever Mulder is acting like this and and Skinner is around, sparks are going to fly and they definitely do here. Is it just me or is it kind of hot when Mulder and Skinner fight. They are getting all up in each other's faces and like, I'm kind of chanting "kiss, kiss, kiss." Like, it'd be super hot to watch Skinner and Mulder go at it. I'm sure i'm not the only one to watch that video. Skinner pretty easily convinces Mulder that he is not the mole which is fine, because we all know he's not.

The Cigarette Smoking Man is ecstatic that Mulder is alive. He believes that by dangling things that Mulder wants in front of him, he can entice him over to their side, but its clear that the First Elder doesn't believe this to be the case. It's still kind of odd to see the CSM be so into Mulder after all this time. But it is nice to see him trying to work his wiles on Mulder like he has on Skinner and its almost successful. He initially leads Mulder to a chip that was in the vial that they thought only contained de-ionized water. Scully chooses to have the chip implanted thinking that perhaps her removing the chip initially is what brought the disease on.

The other thing the Cigarette Smoking Man does is bring Samantha Mulder to her brother. This show loves to trot out the possibility of Samantha but this is the first time that it feels like it might be legit. This is a meeting that fans have been waiting for and it is impactful. Samantha refers to the Cigarette Smoking Man as her father and she claims she doesn't have any memories of her abduction. She's one edge the entire time. She seems reluctant to talk to Mulder. She doesn't seem interested in seeing Teena who she thought was dead. The whole thing is extremely suspect and I don't think has the impact that the Cigarette Smoking Man thinks it will. Samantha ends up leaving without giving Mulder any way to contact her.

Things don't seem to go the Cigarette Smoking Man's way here. The entire episode an assassin called Quiet Willy has been tailing Mulder and the CSM. We think that he is after Mulder, but it turns out he was sent to take out the Cancer Man. Skinner reveals that he is dead though no body was found. Skinner claims no one could have lost that much blood and lived, but I don't think anyone is convinced, particularly Mulder. And I'm kind of surprised that Skinner is after everything he's been through with the guy.

Gillian Anderson might be confined to a hospital bed for most of the episode but that doesn't mean she doesn't get some great moments. Her scene with Margaret about her faith is extremely affecting. I love her taking control of her own treatment and making her own decisions no matter what others are saying. The show doesn't hesitate to give Anderson these powerful moments because they know she can handle it which is great.

We get more of Bill Scully in this episode and he is not a Mulder fan. It makes sense that Bill is not a Mulder fan because from the outside it does look like this guy has brought a lot of suffering into his family. It looks like he is going to lose his other sister to Mulder's obsession so I don't blame him for lashing out. And since it is difficult for Mulder to take responsibility I don't think anyone is shocked when Mulder brings up his sister's abduction and his father's death as he tries to one up Bill in the suffering Olympics.

It's extremely satisfying that Blevins is revealed to be the mole because he sucks. And narratively it makes sense since he was the one that assigned Scully to the X-files in the first place. He's been working for a company called Roush that is some sort of biotech company which I'm sure is not shady at all. Blevins is killed by the guy that you assume is his lackey so I guess don't underestimate no names is part of the lesson here. The episode ends with Scully officially in remission and it definitely feels like Mulder is entering his skepticism era. We'll see how long that lasts.

Grade: B+

Next up, we learn the secret origin of the Lone Gunmen, the agents track invisible humans and work a case that features a Frankenstein's monster like creature, Jerry Springer and Cher.

What did you all think of the start of season five? Did you think "Redux" was weak or are you a fan? Are you ready to read some Skinner/Mulder slash? Does Bill have a point? Let me know in the comments.