The Truth

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PLOT: Mulder is on trial for murder and must justify the past 9 years of working on the X-Files.

This was it. This was the final episode of the nine-year run of the X-Files. Even though I had a few months to mentally and emotionally prepare for it, I still wasn't ready when May 19th finally rolled around. Setting aside my personal attachment to the show, were all the convoluted elements from the alien conspiracy and shadow government actually revealed? Did the recap of the various plots regarding the conspiracy in the past nine years feel satisfying? Did we actually learn anything new?

Well, all that is debateable. Even though I personally didn't follow the conspiracy as tightly as many other fans, most of what was said made sense to the overall plot of the mythology. Even though there are continuity errors that are a bit glaring (i.e. Samantha's death is stated by Spender in this episode as 1987. It was mentioned in "Closure" that she died in 1979.), for the most part, Carter was able to connect all the mythology elements into one rather cohesive tale. That in itself is a daunting task as Ten-Thirteen tended to stray away from the original Conspiracy elements (alien virus and vaccine, the Syndicate group, alien colonization) to weak tie-ins (bees, clones and super soldiers). Though the recapping of the past nine years' events was helpful to make sense of it all, it also seemed too contrived as a way to show scenes from the series' legendary past.

As I had feared from the end of Season 8, Mulder definitely showed that he made the X-Files what it was: a classic, uncoventional, thrilling hour of paranormal adventures. From the teaser, we see Mulder risking his neck to find out the secrets of a government installation. Though Mulder is one of the most intelligent characters to ever grace the television screen, he walks a thin line between being courageous and wreckless. If you looked at the screen closely, Mulder confirmed what Cancer Man had told him about the date of colonization. That was not anything surprising but Mulder not telling Scully definitely was. Why not tell her? It's not as though she wouldn't believe him. Mulder can tell her that he talked to Queequeg the other day, and she would most likely believe him. I just found it strange that Mulder would be so tight-lipped over something like that.

The initial reunion of Mulder and Scully seemed bittersweet. Mulder was obviously not acting like himself and even though his joy of seeing Scully again was evident, he didn't fully show his emotions in front of the Marine guarding him. As for Scully, she finally is reunited with Mulder but at a cost. She was happy to see him as her emotions did not remain reserved during their initial encounter, but I think she wasn't too surprised to find Mulder in trouble again. She and Skinner were more surprised to find Mulder under military jurisdiction. Their second meeting was much more satisfying as Mulder finally released some of the passion that he had saved up for Scully in the past year. Even though the scene wasn't well lit, there were definitely some fireworks between them as Skinner is nearby clearly embarrassed. It was a very satisfying scene to say the least. On another point, I was glad to see that Carter did mention her being forced to send William to adoptive parents. It wouldn't seem right to just ignore that fact considering that Mulder did confirm that William was his son.

The trial for the most part was rather silly. Is it just me, but why is Kersh involved when Mulder is no longer with the FBI? Considering that Skinner is not a lawyer and the proceedings were not going to be kept on record, it was already a foregone conclusion that they were going to find Mulder guilty of murder. The funny thing is that there was no actual physical proof that Mulder killed Knowle Rohr, whom we all know as being a super soldier. No body was ever produced. All the prosecutor had were eyewitness accounts. Considering that every witness in Mulder's behalf were also technically "eyewitnesses" to the activities within the alien conspiracy, it was okay that the bogus court proceedings would allow the prosecutor to not submit physical evidence but not Mulder's defense. Beyond that feeble plot point, it was a forced scenario to allow the past nine years to be shown in recaps from earlier classic episodes.

Though it was definitely nice to see Skinner taking on a major role within the plot, I think he has been used very little in the past couple of seasons. It's a shame that he finally gets to shine again but it's in the finale. Seeing many of the characters coming back for the swan song was an emotional walk down memory lane. I knew Alex Krycek was dead. I remembered how earlier this season, Frank Spotnitz hinted that he might not be, but that was just a nice ruse. Seeing Mr. X again after all this time only reminds us how much his presence is sorely missed within the mythology arc. Marita Covarrubias' appearance seemed pointless as Mulder didn't allow her to say anything more than the bare minimum. Spender's appearance was good continuity from "William" as well as both his and Mulder's acknowledgement that they are half-brothers. Doggett and Reyes were not that helpful to Mulder but the fact that they were more than willing to help shows where their true loyalties lie. As for Scully's testimony, she sounded very credible even though the prosecutor brought up a cheesy point that she has deep emotional ties to Mulder, which makes her sound like a sympathetic witness rather than a credible one.

Considering that the main focus was obviously on the A-team of Mulder and Scully, it made sense that Doggett and Reyes would not have much to do. Their involvement within the X-Files in the past year did not have them involved in the overall mythology of alien colonization. Doggett came close in his experience with the black oil on the ship with Mulder in Season 8's "Vienen". Yet, they were very much in character when testifying in Mulder's behalf. Doggett believed whole-heartedly in the super soldiers as he witnessed his old friend, Knowle Rohr, die many times over only to come back again like a bad penny. Yet, he could not fully submit in believing in an alien conspiracy as Mulder and Scully do mainly because it never personally affected him. However, it was a nice little quiet nod of respect between Mulder and Doggett no matter what their disagreements. Reyes also believed in the super soldiers and in a respect, aliens, yet also could not submit to an alien conspiracy. Unlike Mulder, Reyes will believe but only if she has hard evidence to back it up. However, Monica proved her loyalties when she defied the faux court's orders for her silence when they went against their own wishes. Though Doggett and Reyes were never fully fleshed out this season, I hope they will appear in the future film franchise as they are undoubtedly as much in danger as Mulder, Scully, Skinner and now, Kersh, for defying the new conspiracy's plans.

I never fully understood the importance of Gibson Praise in the alien colonization conspiracy. Mulder once said that he was "the answer to everything in the X-Files." It is never explained why and this episode still leaves us guessing. He obviously has exceptional ESP abilities but then, so did William. I always assumed that since William was supposedly the "perfect human," Gibson was the obselete model. His true value it seemed was his ability to communicate with the aliens as he did in Season 6 "The Beginning," but I guess Ten Thirteen didn't know how to use Gibson in a more regular basis, since those aliens were never brought back since. Instead, we get the William and super soldier angle that never truly worked.

Bringing back Cancer Man was a coup de grace. He personified evil in all its forms and definitely brings closure to the series in a big way. The big secret that Mulder did not tell Scully the whole episode is brought to light by CM even though we already knew about it since around Season 3. The teaser only confirmed the date of the colonization as being 12/22/2012. What is the significance of that particular date? As usual, Carter and gang don't explain everything and this little detail is left to be ambiguous. CM's death (and much more grander than falling down stairs) leaves no true villain for Mulder and Scully, so the alien colonization is what the movie franchise will most likely be concentrating on. Who knows at this point? From interviews I've read with Chris Carter, they don't plan to even begin shooting the film until summer of 2003. So the earliest we'll even know what Mulder and Scully's next adventure will be is 2004. I know that Duchovny, Anderson, Carter and the rest of Ten Thirteen need a break, but will people even remember anything by then?

Did the finale reveal everything? Not really, but we did get the confirmation of a few things: Mulder's true father, William's true father, the unabashed love between Mulder and Scully, the actual date of colonization, Kersh's true loyalties and the death (finally!) of Knowle Rohr. Did I miss anything?

As for the final resolution of the nine-year romance of Mulder and Scully, I just have a big smile. Scully has never been truly herself since Mulder left. Though she understood from an intellectual level why Mulder had to leave, she had to endure the past few months of not only being the sole protector of their son but also having to shoulder the emotional burden of giving him up. I always thought that Scully's feelings were almost always on display in regards to Mulder even though she was the outwardly stronger one of the two, while Mulder seemed to fear rejection. In this episode, he didn't hold back in the slightest as he didn't care who saw his affections for Scully. For once, Mulder shows his feelings without making jokes. It was only proper that the final scene of the finale would be reserved only for them and the lasting few images it displayed.

So this chapter of the series has ended. It has yet to fully set in for me. The X-Files is a series for the ages, and even though there are many excellent shows out there that will take up my time, this particular series really got to me in more ways than even I can admit. Will we see something as truly original and unique as the X-Files? I'm sure there will be one day but for now, the X-Files will always be special and remind me of many important moments in my life during its nine year run. Until the movies, the season DVDs will have to do.

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