Memento Mori

Free Web Site - Free Web Space and Site Hosting - Web Hosting - Internet Store and Ecommerce Solution Provider - High Speed Internet

PLOT:Scully confirms that she has cancer. While she copes with a treatment, Mulder tries to find out the people responsible and hopefully a cure.

I was a little wary of making a review of this episode. The emotional scope and the absolutely brilliant execution by the actors made this one way above and beyond the call of duty. It takes some time to contemplate the magnitude of such an excellent episode that will forever be a classic to many fans including me. But I have a job to do and here it goes....

Since her abduction, many of us wondered what kind of long-lasting effects it would have on Scully, both psychologically and physically. She and Mulder were so entrenched in finding the Truth that it appeared to take a back seat. Very few episodes, particularly "Nisei" and "731" dwelled on what happened to her. Not until "Leonard Betts" is she made frighteningly aware of the consequences of what her abduction has done.

So we are introduced to a long tunnel of light with a voice-over narration by Scully. The tunnel of light is symbolic not only to many near-death experiences but also to the long journey between life and death as well as love and despair. We don't realize at this point that Scully's narration is actually part of a journal that she will leave for Mulder. We soon find out why. It is when we reach the end of the light that we see Scully come face to face with her enemy. She is holding an X-ray of a skull with a very large white mass between the nasal cavity and eye sockets. She medically confirms the cancer that Betts had told her.

The journal entry is remarkable unto itself. The sheer imagery evoked makes the actual images we see take an even more surreal appearance:

...I feel the tethers loose and the prospects darken for the continuance of a journey that began not so long ago, and which began again with a faith shakened and strengthened by your convictions. If not for which I might never have been so strong now as I cross to face you and look at you incomplete, hoping that you will forgive me for not making the rest of the journey with you.

In effect, she is telling Mulder that she knows her death will make Mulder's search for the Truth become less important to him. Her loss would affect him greater than even he would ever admit. But she is telling him that he must move on and complete the work that they have done all these years. It is up to Mulder to carry on with their mission. The operative word here is "their" as she has definitely made the X-Files her own as well.

It is interesting to note just how much Scully has meant to Mulder since the Pilot when searching for Samantha was all that mattered to him. He was willing to give up whom he thought was Samantha in "End Game" for Scully's life. He gave up the data tape in "Paper Clip" so that Scully could see her dying sister. So when Scully tells him that she has inoperable brain cancer, the first words that come out of his mouth is "I refuse to believe that..." She has fully accepted the outcome while Mulder is still looking for another way. This scene is also a testament to how much Mulder means to Scully, since she readily admits to him that he is the first one she has told.

After informing Skinner of her condition, they return to the place in "Nisei" at Betsy Hagopian's house where Scully first met the women who were abducted. Unfortunately, Betsy and the other women have all died within the past year save for one, Penny Northern. They discover that a young man, Kurt Crawford, has been using Betsy's computer to search a fertility clinic in town.

Only with Mulder's help does Scully finally succumb to the emotional trauma of what is happening to her. He tells her that he has to go talk to Penny Northern. "Why?" Scully demands. "To find out what it's like to be dying of cancer?" Mulder sees her denial, because he has seen it within himself. Sort of like an alcoholic seeing another alcoholic try to hide their addiction. So Mulder uses his psychology training to tell Scully to think with a different point of view: as an investigator. "You have one witness, Agent Scully," he says. "I think you need to find out her story."

Though Scully denied the other women's similar experiences as alien abductions, she instantly bonds with Penny Northern, who reminds Scully that they were together during her experience. Penny's motherly affection towards Scully is an incredible contrast to Scully's real mother who is angered and frustrated that her daughter never told her about the cancer. For a woman who had lost her oldest daughter and husband within the last three years, she acts very *real* while venting her emotions during a traumatic period in her daughter's life.

In the meantime, Mulder is trying to find out a way to help Scully with Crawford's help. His quest for the Truth is taking a whole new meaning, because Scully is again involved. As she tells Mulder,"...right now, the truth is in me." Reminiscent of "One Breath", Mulder again asks Skinner's help in seeking the Cigarette Smoking Man. Before, he wanted revenge for Scully's abduction and coma. This time, Mulder is willing to sell his soul to the devil no matter what the cost. Skinner sees this, and he *implores*, not orders, Mulder to find "another way." Instead, Skinner decides to take it upon himself to deal with the devil. So Mulder seeks our favorite conspiracy geeks, the Lone Gunmen, to help him do "some funky poaching."

Meanwhile, Scully is shown slowly deteriorating as she undergoes radical radiation/chemotherapy treatments. To pass the time between treatments, she again writes in her journal to Mulder:

...I feel you close though I know you are now pursuing your own path. For that I am grateful more than I could ever express. I need to know you're out there if I am ever to see through this.

Are these words from a dying woman to the man she loves? As sad as this episode becomes, there is still very much a celebration of love, whether something deeper than friendship or pure romantic love, it is still love in every sense of the word. Scully is telling Mulder in very beautiful prose that she *DOES* love him. She knows she is dying and holding back her emotions is not something she wants to do. Yet, her respect for their friendship forces her to write her words rather than say them to Mulder. The words do not disguise Scully's feelings towards him and avoids being overly "gooey" unlike a lesser show would do. It is her hope that he continues to pursue the Truth even after she is gone.

With the Lone Gunmen's help, Mulder breaks into the fertility clinic and finds that Kurt is one of many clones. He takes Mulder to a large storage room containing ova from abducted females. We see Betsy Hagopian's name on one of the drawers. So Mulder, who would have otherwise looked for his sister's name, does not hesitate in looking for Scully's name. When he does find it, he is fascinated to be holding a tube full of Scully's ova in his hands. Mulder realizes that he is holding a part of Scully that was forcibly taken from her and caused her cancer.

When he returns to the hospital, he finds Scully's empty room with her journal next to the bed. He reads some of it and lays it down gently as if it were Scully's body instead of a book. Mulder is frightened, because he's not sure if her words are all that is left of her. However, he finds out through Byers that she is comforting Penny Northern during her final hours. So he patiently waits all night outside the room.

The next scene is something that will be debated by the two factions of X-Philes (shippers and noromos) for many seasons to come. All you need to do is look at the body language instead of the actual words spoken. Scully is grieving for a special friend. Mulder knows that and finds himself acting like a teenager trying to ask a girl out on a date. He can't stand still, his hands are constantly moving, his eyes do not easily lock on to her face and his voice gives the slightest hesitation. When he mentions reading some of her journal, Scully is visibly embarrassed, her eyes look down towards the floor, her feet do not move as Mulder approaches her and she frowns at the thought of her written words revealing so much before she had a chance to explain. Yet, it is what was not said between them that showed their deep commitment and love for each other. Their actions show love in the most romantic sense.

It's important to note that this episode was co-written by four different writers, particularly Chris Carter and Vince Gilligan. From their track record, they were the ones most likely to have written the more emotional and character-revealing scenes. While Frank Spotnitz and John Shiban most likely wrote the clones and other action sequences. Of course, Carter oversaw the whole story, but had a huge hand in writing Scully's journal entries, since they are reminiscent of "Blessing Way." I find it surprising that he wrote the final scene in the hospital hallway with Mulder and Scully. For someone who constantly expresses his displeasure of having our favorite dynamic duo romantically together, Carter perjured himself when he wrote and actually allowed the filming of that scene. There was even a rumor that Duchovny and Anderson ad-libbed a romantic kiss on the lips, but Carter snipped it. (There *is* a picture! Send me an e-mail to request a copy.)

Of course, as well as the writers were in making a powerfully emotional and beautiful episode, it is an incredible testimony to David Duchovny's and, in particular, Gillian Anderson's acting talents that this episode became an instant classic. Anderson portrayed Scully with a quiet strength and determination that never disappeared in even the darkest hours. While Duchovny showed Mulder as a man willing to give up his life's work and Samantha, if there was some way he could save Scully's life. In essence, they made Mulder and Scully as real as your best friend, and we *want* to care deeply for their well-being. This episode was also the most romantic "X-Files" ever without blatantly becoming a romantic episode. It just showed the incredible bond between two people who truly love each other and never have to say it. As beautifully sad as it was, "Memento Mori" brought about a new conviction for our agents that the Truth is out there. Only together will they truly find what they seek.

Please use the "Back" Button on your Browser.