PLOT: The appearance of alien writings similar to the ones that Scully studied from a spacecraft over two years ago in Africa brings Scully, Doggett and Reyes investigating a possible link to Scully's son.
Ah, the mythology episodes. Is it that time of the year already?
Back when the trilogy of the alien rubbings were first shown in "Biogenesis"/Sixth Extinction"/"Amor Fati", it was always intriguing to wonder where the producers were wanting to take that angle. The ultimate religious controversy: God is actually E.T.! Unfortunately, not much of it was ever mentioned again in subsequent episodes and was lightly touched on in Season Eight regarding Mulder's "illness".
Now, some two years later, it is brought up in full force in this latest installment. Besides the intriguing plot, how many other alien/Chosen One angles for William will the Ten Thirteen crew come up with before the series ends? From the very beginning of his life, he has been branded as a threat and chased by alien/human hybrids, lost his father to seclusion and, now, it seems he is somehow connected to aliens. Even Mulder had to wait until he was almost a teenager before experiencing anything paranormal or alien. William is off to a hectic start!
Scully is finally more back to her paranoid self, the legacy left by Mulder. Compared to "Trust No 1," she was downright suspicious of *everyone*, including Doggett and Reyes, who appear to be pushed aside by the Bureau in this particular investigation. It's hard to imagine any other reaction Scully would show besides extreme caution when entering a room full of Bureau higher-ups and, in particular, smarmy AD Follmer. It just seems sad that after all they have experienced together, Scully would instantly assume that Doggett and Reyes would betray her confidence. They have felt the fire coming from upstairs in their short span on the X-Files. If anyone would understand Scully's paranoia, they would.
Follmer's bullish behavior certainly doesn't endear him to many people, particularly Doggett. It would be interesting to see how the producers decide to show Follmer in the remaining episodes. He's a bit one-dimensional with the cocky smirk and the rather bold threats. It's almost difficult to take him seriously sometimes. Even Kersh is shown as a more complex character with his rather unreadable expressions and back-and-forth attitudes with the X-Files, and, in particular, Doggett. I read someone else's review that Follmer is what Doggett would have been if not for his opening awareness of the behind-the-scenes actions in the Bureau. Remember that Skinner had commented way back in Season 8's "Within" how Doggett was on the "fast track" to the Deputy Director's chair. None of that talk has recently been mentioned in conjunction with Doggett.
The weakest characterization was definitely Skinner. It's been quite awhile since we've seen him act as though he's Kersh's personal whipping boy. I suspect that they are hanging something over him, most likely the events in the Bureau parking garage from "Existence." It's difficult to believe that if it concerns Mulder or Scully, he would not do everything he could to ensure the safety of Scully and William. Remember, this is the same man who sacrificed himself to Smoking Man when Mulder was coping with Scully's illness back in Season 4. I just don't understand how Skinner, who obviously is no dummy, could not find a way to secretly help out. The closest thing I can think of is when he left his desk drawers unlocked so that Doggett would be able to "accidentally" find the info regarding the covert FBI agent.
One of the better scenes of the episode is definitely the one when Scully and Reyes were talking about the alien rubbings in Monica's apartment. It was as if both women realized in that small instant how *immense* the idea of aliens being responsible for pretty much all religion and science on Earth. It was also amazing how Reyes, who had first stated in "This Is Not Happening," that she wasn't a "believer" simply took Scully's statements as fact without dispute. The wonder and fright shown in Reye's face was priceless not to mention Scully's own belief that she was "meant" to discover those writings.
I really like the very close bond that seems to have developed between Scully and Reyes. It's obvious that when it comes to William, Scully trusts Monica implicitly. Small wonder that this only highlights one of the things that Scully has been missing all these years: another female to confide and trust. She obviously had that with her sister, Melissa. And in some weird way, Monica takes that place. Yet, it's also sad to see that she keeps Doggett at a distance even though it is obvious how her actions tear him apart at times.
It certainly was nice to see Mrs. Scully again. Does it appear as though she has moved in? That kind of makes sense in one respect. She lives alone, and she has one daughter left who needs assistance in being a single parent. No matter what or how Scully may have gotten pregnant, Mrs. Scully has no qualms that William is her grandson. She will do what she has to with both helping out and sharing the "burden" of what her daughter has to endure with the mystery of William. I like how she finally questions her daughter about the late night excursions that Scully seems to do in almost *every* episode this season.
And can we safely say that ticking off Scully is not a good idea? I'm sure Agent Comer would agree. If Scully were bigger, she would have probably thrown him out the window. I don't think I have seen her as frantically manic in her emotions since Mulder's hey day. It's obvious. She will easily protect the people she loves without hesitation, even if it conflicts with her duties as an FBI agent and her responsibilities as a medical doctor.
It was definitely nice to see the goofballs known as The Lone Gunmen. I find it surprising that Scully would firmly believe that they would be able to protect William. Though I love those guys, they are not exactly people who would be deemed "dangerous" by factions trying to get William. Hopefully, that wasn't a major mistake for Scully's sake.
Overall, the pacing of the story was definitely steady and flowing without any major hiccups in plot. It definitely leaves lots of unanswered questions (what else is new?), but for the most part, Provenance moves the mytharc of the alien spacecraft along nicely. It's nice to see that Doggett and Reyes, the new kids in town, become a part of something that is the stuff of X-File legend even if they did not become a part of the actual story that is personally affecting Scully.
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