Best of the two Duane Berry episodes imo. Mulder shows more emotion in this than any other episode so far!
This is good but it isn't super memorable other than Scully is gone and that Skinner reopens the X-Files because it's what Cigarette-Smoking Man and the Syndicate fear the most. It's Skinner's first really great moment. Krycek is missing after Mulder tells Skinner that Krycek is working for the CSM.
Secondary characters in this episode: CSM, Duane Barry, X
Oh baby, i loved this double episode as a child. And I love it now. The last scene with Mulder and Skinner always gets me. :)
Excellent choice of Nick Cave's "Red Right Hand" for the soundtrack, love that song.
"As of right now, I'm reopening the X-Files. That's what they fear the most."
Review by WardVIP 8BlockedParentSpoilers2023-10-29T21:57:04Z
I had almost forgotten how The X-Files jumps off some cliffs and jumps some sharks in regards to it's aliens/experimentation storyline throughout the show. They throw a lot of different things into the mix, some of which work brilliantly, and others which really do not. It's this mix that is a blessing and a curse for the show, but the bright parts help to keep you invested, and the bad parts aren't bad enough to stop you from watching. Plus, most of the show rests on it's standalone episodes anyway, most of which are good, which help to further keep you invested.
It's a really good show, but not as good as i remember, honestly, at least so far. There were a surprising amount of episodes in the first season that weren't that good (9 i rated 6/10, and 15 i rated 7+/10) . And in this second season it boggles my mind how they split Mulder and Scully up, which i don't think was a good decision for the show. And now they jump off another cliff with the things that happen to Scully. It just doesn't work.
Focusing more on the episode itself, it's mostly Mulder chasing after Duane, and the whole chase feels dull. Then comes the random and borderline nonsensical (even with my past, present and future knowledge of the show) abduction and experimentation of Scully.
The episode gets better when we see the effect Scully's abduction has had on Mulder, and then the moments with Krychek and Skinner are good.
The show started off really tight with it's alien stuff, and by now to my surprise it's already gone off the rails, and while it's still quite interesting, it just doesn't work, but i'm still invested. The atmosphere, direction and music are all still usually high quality, it's just the writing can be variable in quality.