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PLOT:Scully tries to overcome the grief of her father's death as she helps Mulder find a pair of missing teens. Their only connection to the missing pair is a death-row serial killer who claims to have psychic powers and an other-worldly connection to Scully's father.
This episode is one of my personal favorites. For the first time in the series, Scully is shown with more depth and emotion than the stereotypical pathological skeptic she regularly portrays. Her grief over her father's sudden death opens her eyes to extreme possibilities than all the monsters and mutants she has already seen in the X-Files. In effect, Scully finally becomes humanized in our eyes rather than just a two-dimensional character.
Ironically, the beginning of the episode has Scully witnessing a paranormal event. Upon waking up from a nap, she sees her father sitting on one of her living room chairs even though he and her mother left hours before. That seems normal enough, except that he disappears as soon as she turns her head when the phone rings. She answers to hear her mother weeping because her father had just died an hour before from a massive coronary. As Scully slowly turns her head back towards the empty chair, her face shows her confusion and fright.
Yet, Scully is the ever present professional. Instead of taking a few days off to grieve over her loss, she decides to conduct business-as-usual and accompanies Mulder, who is preoccupied with their latest case. His concern is like a protective older brother. For the first time in the series, he calls her "Dana," which even surprises Scully. He tries to convince her to take time off, but she insists on tagging along. Though they've been together a relatively short time, Mulder knows better than to try to change Scully's mind.
An interesting scene occurs where Scully's Dad's ashes are spread out towards the sea while the song, "Beyond the Sea", is playing as part of the funeral. This scene is important because we find out that as much as Scully loved her dad, they didn't always see eye to eye. He protested her career decision to go into the F.B.I. instead of practicing medicine. That was hinted in the Pilot, but never fully revealed the tension within her family from that decision until now. The enigmatic Scully was just as rebellious with her father as any normal daughter. This is the first time we are made aware of her inner character that seems lost in all her professionalism. When Scully asks her mother if he was proud of her, she simply replies, "He was your father."
Their latest case of a kidnapped couple by a madman seems secondary to their encounter with convicted serial killer and death-row inmate, Luther Lee Boggs, played brilliantly by Brad Dourif. Boggs claims to have a psychic connection to the case and in exchange for information, he wants a stay of execution. He specifically requested Mulder's involvement, because it was Mulder's profile that captured Boggs. So Boggs believes Mulder knows him.
In their first interrogation, Mulder deceives Boggs with the famous "Knicks' T-shirt" scenario. He shows disgust on his face at Boggs while telling him "I want to believe." Mulder's doubt does not register with Scully as Boggs hums a few bars from "Beyond the Sea". She is ready to leave the room when she turns around to see her father sitting where Boggs is supposed to be and says, "Did you get my message Starbuck?"
A grieving Scully is thrown into shock. "Starbuck" was her father's nickname for Scully while "Ahab" was her nickname for him. Both names are from her father's favorite book "Moby Dick." Only a close family relative would know that. Yet, Boggs told her as casually as her father. This opens Scully up to a flood of emotions, because of her usual skeptic attitude towards the paranormal, this obvious reference from her father disturbs her. Since she knew how much he disapproved of her career path, there is still a tinge of guilt for causing so much tension with her father over her decision. Was that last message from him finally an approval? With his passing, Scully will never know for sure, and it is obviously tearing her up inside.
Scully's character has grown immensely since the Pilot. Being the youngest in her family, she must have been watched closely by her father, especially after her older sister, Melissa, formed a rift with the family. She always wanted approval and did her best to get it. Scully shows that same trait with Mulder. Upon finding the warehouse Boggs described from his psychic description, Scully thought Mulder would approve of her opening her mind to extreme possibilities. He doesn't approve, because Boggs can't be trusted. This makes Scully feel even more guilty. She openly reveals to Mulder how much she loves her job, but without her father's approval, she is not sure if it is truly important to her anymore.
When Mulder becomes seriously injured after Boggs' warning, Scully goes into a full tirade against Boggs. She believes that Mulder was set up by Boggs. Her concern for Mulder has grown exponentially since the pilot. She reveals a fury that has never been shown before and really hasn't since. Yet, Scully is thrown for a loop when Boggs reveals another Scully childhood rebellion involving her mother's cigarettes. She is confused, because Mulder, a person that she trusts, tells her that Boggs is not to be trusted. But when he can tap into her father's thoughts and her own childhood memories, she is questioning who to believe.
Eventually, Boggs does help her find the kidnapped couple even though she could not get him a stay of execution. Whatever prompted his good deed is never revealed, but Boggs might have known that his was a lost cause. He may have wanted to do one decent human act before he was executed. Scully returns to his cell one last time to thank him and possibly find out her father's last message to her. He tells her to come back to the execution, so she can get the message.
Mulder wakes up on the hospital bed to find that Scully never went. He asks her, "After all you've seen, you still don't believe?" Her reply, "I'm afraid to believe." This is consistent for Scully since her skepticism is still evident even after her experience. She does not want to jump blindly into Mulder's ideals without checking on a few things. When Mulder asks her what was her father's message, she simply says, "He's my father."
This episode finally reveals that there is more to Scully than her skeptical side. She shows much depth of character and a range of emotions never before seen. We are shown her parents and how much their influence, particularly her father's, has made Scully into the person she is today. She has always had dedication to the job, but this is the first time she shows her worried concern over her partner and her quiet strength is released in a furious rage towards Boggs. This is a Scully episode in every sense of the term.
Gillian Anderson has shown how solid she is in even mundane episodes, but this early classic shows what she can do when given material to really shine. Mark Snow's music never went beyond the moody tone of the episode and helped accommodate the storyline. Writers Glen Morgan and James Wong show that when it comes to characterization and plot, no other writing team can combine them as effortlessly. So no matter how many times I watch "Beyond the Sea", I still marvel at its excellence.
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