When it comes to time travel, it's even more necessary for the plot to be coherent and make sense. And it is mostly coherent, but the ending was disappointing, as it is with most time travel stories.
This fool of a woman goes back to find a known murderer, the method of his murder being very painful, and yep, she does end up being almost murdered. But before that, she tries to confront him when he's chasing her, instead of going for help.
Ugh.
Mulder's role was disappointing, mostly relegated to just talking about the implications and possibilities, and not actually having much to do or not having substantive conversations with anyone other than Scully for the most part. Scully who is her usual dismissive self even in the face of great evidence to the contrary. In earlier seasons she was more open minded, and you would think after almost every episode experiencing something supernatural, she would be even more open minded by now.
We get very little information about the implications of time travel in the future. It's not enough. And what happened to Jason and the woman's relationship in the future? And what is she like? Not explained.
And of course for the sake of drama, it's not addressed that even if you stop the forming of time travel, it will eventually be researched and discovered eventually. So you becoming a murderer and ending up burning to death was a waste, wasn't it?
Ugh.
The more i think about this episode and the more i think about Scully and Mulder's behavior and dialogue and it just annoys me. The presentation of the episode is good, but it's let down by the writing.
Very dull for a time travel episode
Interesting idea that could have done with a little more complexity and suspense. It was pretty obvious from the off that the old man was Future Jason but it was still an entertaining episode and the special effects were great.
Damb that's cold!!! For real!!
This was the one about the time-traveling old man that tries to change the fate of the future, kinda like The Terminator or Trancers; interesting concept!
Shout by whitsbrainVIP 5BlockedParentSpoilers2019-11-20T12:47:53Z— updated 2023-03-29T17:46:51Z
I liked the time travel aspect of this. The concept of the old man coming back in time to stop his earlier self from making the cryogenic discovery is cool (pun!). He has come from the world of the future where people are able to travel back in time and so many have that there is no more history. A weird concept. The climax is expected in both the young and old version of the doctor destroying himself, but the future may not have been altered for good because one of the original three scientists continues her work, even with the old man's warning.
Secondary characters in this episode: None