Tithonus

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PLOT: Scully is reassigned with another partner to investigate a man who may be over 150 years old.

When a Vince Gilligan episode comes up, x-philes listen. As usual, Gilligan delivers an episode that at first seems cliche but ends up being unique in more ways than one.

Death is the subject for this latest Gilligan work. Though many other episodes have already touched on it (namely Darin Morgan's classic, "Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose"), Gilligan shows us a man who is jealous of us mere mortals who can die. Sounds rather profane, but the character of Alfred Fellig (Geoffrey Lewis) is such a man. Fellig has an uncanny sense to know when Death is coming for someone as shown in the teaser. He literally follows people like a stalker and waits for what he believes is the inevitable and takes their picture at that particular moment. Sounds like an X-File...

But Scully does not believe that at first. She is reassigned by A.D. Kersh from the mundane work of background checks with Mulder to help a very green agent, Peyton Ritter, investigate Mr. Fellig. Of course, Scully's first thought is that Mulder is supposed to go with her, but Kersh tells her that this is for her not for Mulder. Kersh has lost any confidence in bringing Mulder back to the fold but has reserved hope for Scully. From Scully's face, she could care less what Kersh thinks. Interesting to note the parallel between Ritter and the green Scully so many years ago. There's an obvious correlation there, and it's certainly not lost on a more seasoned Scully.

For Mulder, he definitely can read between the lines when he finds out that Scully is being assigned something that is instantly recognizeable to him as an X-File. Kersh is rubbing it in his face, and Scully knows it as well. She cannot bear to know that her partner will not be joining her on this particular case. So what happens? Scully ends up being "Mulder"-like during the case to Ritter's chagrin. She does not instantly believe what everyone else does of Fellig's guilt. She encounters Fellig and then goes with him without Ritter backing her up. As they say, couples' habits rub off each other, and Mulder definitely has shown Scully the way. Though Scully still sticks to her somewhat skeptical ways, she definitely has more than just an entertainment of the thought that Fellig is 150-years-old from the mounds of evidence that she has witnessed. How else to explain Fellig not looking a day older than 65 for 30-plus years?

But Gilligan is clever enough not to dwell on just that particular fact. He has Fellig show Scully how and why he does it. "To get the picture." For Scully, who is adamant in protecting the innocent, she cannot fathom how someone could just stand by to witness someone dying. Sort of like during the 1960s when those horrific pictures of priests pouring gasoline on themselves and lighting a match and not one of the photographers doing anything to help them. But Fellig has a motive for his selfishness. He needs to take a picture of Death itself. He has come so close before but needs to witness it for himself. As he explains to Scully, he had committed one very selfish act during a yellow fever outbreak in New York City, where a nurse saw Death as he averted his eyes to it when it was really his time. So for all these many years, he has been doing a sort of penance for not leaving when he was supposed to.

Though this is a very Scully-centric episode, I'm glad that Gilligan made sure that Mulder was not forgotten. In fact, he was very supportive towards Scully's investigation and did not try to tell Scully what she should do next. Since Scully has done the same thing for Mulder countless times (most recently, "Terms of Endearment"), Mulder certainly owes her a few. Yet, it also had a layered meaning in that Mulder desperately wanted to ensure that he stayed connected with Scully in some capacity. Kersh may have physically separated the two, but they will never volunteer to terminate the strong bond they have. It is probably the most maturity Mulder has shown as of late.

Not since Krycek was paired with Mulder have we seen them paired with someone other than each other. It solidifies the obvious fact that they complement each other so well that any other influence on their partnership seems so wrong. Though Ritter does not show the cockiness of Tom Colton or the idiotic arrogance of Jeffrey Spender, Ritter just wants to make a name for himself in a very hierarchal government branch (sound familiar?). Yet, he has the same narrow-mindedness as the other two agents. Instead of wondering why, he only wants to know who, where and when. Thus, any bond that may have been formed with Scully was gone before it even started.

Gilligan definitely has a knack to delve into the human condition and show us more than what is there. He does it time and time again as easily as Darin Morgan did. Fellig has no more malice in him than any other human being. But he had a unique longing for a life event that everyone else knows will eventually happen to them. In that point of view, he is warning Scully and everyone else not to take *anything* for granted. In essence, he shows us to embrace the lives that we have, because immortality only reminds you that living life should not be more than what was originally intended. Because the life spent beyond those years is not all that it is cracked up to be.

The final scene was interesting in that it ended rather quietly. Mulder's thinly disguised threat to Ritter was very much something either Mulder or Scully would have said (Remember "One Breath?") in reference to the other. The little hand-holding scene between the two seemed so natural compared to other seasons. Their closeness is so "matter-of fact" as of late that there is not even a hint of embarrassment or awkwardness between them. Their talk of Fellig's demise was very subdued, and then, that was the end. Another "different" episode for Season 6, "Tithonus" shows us so much more than what is there.

One final note, since Fellig "took" Scully's place in death, does that mean Scully is now immortal? This could be a very slight reference to Morgan's "Clyde Bruckman" where Bruckman tells Scully that she doesn't die. Just had to pose that question.

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