X-Files--"Gethsemane"

We have reached the finale of the fourth season. There were more highly rated episodes in this season than in any other, so while I have the most nostalgia for the earliest seasons when The X-Files was a cult hit, I have to label the fourth season as the most well done. I am not the only one. Gillian Anderson won an Emmy Golden Globe for the season and the series itself won a Golden Globe, one of the rare times a genre show has been given such clout. David Duchovny was nominated for an Emmy, too, but did not win.

Do not fret. It is not all downhill from here as far as the show goes. We have not yet reached the halfway point of the series. There are still many favorite episodes left to cover. But it must be noted we have completed an unusually good string of episode. It is not easy to hit so many high points in a 24 episode season.

“Gethsemane” runs on two themes: betrayal and hoax. The first should be obvious. Gethsemane is the garden in which Jesus was betrayed by Judas to the Romans. Seemingly, Scully is betraying Mulder’s trust throughout the story by debunking the X-Files before an FBI committee hearing. The hoax aspect holds a double meaning, only one of which is readily apparent in the episode. It appears the grand conspiracy Mulder has dedicated his life to uncovering has been an elaborate plot to deflect attention away from Defense department initiatives in general and lately, to throw him off specifically. The other hoax will have to keep for the fifth season finale review tomorrow.

The episode opens with one of Chris Carter’s favorite tricks--showing us the end of events at the very beginning. In this case, Scully arrives at Mulder’s apartment to identify a wrapped up corpse for the police. We do not see who it is, but it is pretty obvious we are to believe it is Mulder himself. The story resumes later with scully relaying the events of the last few days in front of a hearing of FBI top brass. She is ready to announce the X-Files has been one big hoaxed that has duped both her and Mulder.

As her testimony goes, Mulder had been contacted by an anthropologist associate of his who has found an alien body frozen in the ice of the Yukon Territory. He drags scully away from a welcome home dinner for her naval officer brother to test some cell samples of the alien. Mulder has regressed back to his old self of putting his own agenda above anyone else’s feelings after he had been maturing over the season. He is being a royal jerk here. Scully’s cancer is spreading aggressively. She deserves to spend as much time with her family as possible.

She does passive aggressively acknowledge his selfishness. Why should she bother looking at these samples when Mulder believes they are alien anyway and would only consider a false report to be a detour on the road to the truth? Mulder tells her this is his life’s quest. It is as important to him as finding proof of God would be to someone else. There is a tough of sadnness in how important finding proof of aliens is to him. Scully responds it is more important to her to live what little time she has left, not waste time pondering unanswerable questions of faith.

Notice how their roles are being taken to the extreme in “Gethsemane.” Mulder is the ultra True Believer here by comparing his search for proof of alien life to the timeless quest for proof of God’s existence. It is a religion to him, and one in which he is willing to absorb the last bit of life scully has left to resolve. Scully is the ultimate Skeptic. She does not want to waste time on pondering the existential questions, even those about life after death, even though she is quickly marching into twilight. The two of them have been pushed to the very edge of who they are.

The two split up on estranged terms. Interestingly, Scully still researches the cell samples as Mulder heads off the Yukon. She gets scolded by her brother for it when he comes to her aid after she is attacked by a Dod agent stealing the cell sample. Her brother wants to know why she is so dedicated to spending what is left of her time when he has hauled off to chase after an alien corpse. She does not have an answerr, but does offer further proof she is one tough woman by hunting down the agent that injured her.

Mulder discovers the corpse in the midst of the anthropology team having been murdered. He excitedly watches the autopsy. There is a palpable sense he is trilled to have finally reached this point. He and his anthropologist buddy return to the united states with it, but are confronted by Scully and her DOD assailant. He spills the beans that everything Mulder has seen about the alien conspiracy, including the cell samples and the corpse, have been faked. There are no aliens, but they wanted him to believe there was. The coup de grace was too give scully cancer to solidify his belief in the conspiracy. Mulder storms off, clearly distraught at the cancer revelation.

In the cliffhanger, scully testifies she identified mulder’s body early that morning. He had apparently committed suicide by a gunshot wound to the head.

This was still in the Dark Ages of 1997 when a television series could keep spoilers away from even the most dedicated of geek snoops. The cliffhanger came as a total surprise. There was speculation all summer long that Mulder might really have committed suicide. The speculation was not helped any by the increasingly vocal distaste Duchovny was having for being tied to a television series rather than becoming the movie star he was obviously destined to be with such cinematic masterpieces like Playing God under his belt.

Oh, you did not see Playing God? Neither did anyone else. My mother brought it home one night from my stepfather’s video store because she knew I was a big X-Phile and assumed I would want to see Duchovny in the film. I watched in order to be polite. I gave it one star. Duchovny plays a doctor who loses his medical license because of drug use, but becomes the personal physician to a crime lord after performing an emergency procedure. He has a romantic encounter with Angelina Jolie. I have to assume that is the only reason he agreed to star in the clunker.

But I digress….

“Gethsemane” earns high marks for one of those rare cliffhangers that actually had me anticipating the season premiere. It takes a lot to impress me with such things, so when one comes along, it must be acknowledged. The lead up to the cliffhanger is good, but not great. It is certainly not as monumental as one would hope for a season finale. The powers that be spent a ton of cash on the elaborate cave in which the alien corpse was frozen in ice. Perhaps that was supposed to be enough to wow us. I would have preferred more personal touches, such as a further exploration of Mulder’s religious obsession with finding proof of alien life versus Scully total rejection of it, but still loyalty to him. The dynamic of their relationship means more here than expensive sets and weird, alien corpses, particularly considering all that is revealed as a mindfrak in tomorrow’s episode.

Rating: *** (out of 5)