Oh. My. God. How can I talk about this episode? How can I even discuss the first 40 minutes of it when the last five throw that at me? How? How is this happening?
OK, I'm going to try to write something about what was already an outstanding episode before I address the end.
This is definitely one of the weirder stories, but also one of the better ones, the series has told. For one thing, the crash in the cold open was horrific. It also looked really faked, as if the ambulance was specially constructed out of thin aluminum for the episode, because that thing just got completely shredded. I didn't think a broadside impact like that would tear it apart so much as just smash it. I guess ambulances just don't have that much structural integrity.
Oh right, and also because Leonard Betts was decapitated by the crash. Seems an important detail, since you know, how can someone possibly recover from that? Losing one's head is generally considered fatal.
But not if you're Leonard Betts and eat cancer, right?
OK, so I like the episodes with medical mysteries, because they really give Scully a chance to show off her knowledge and skill in a way other than simply performing autopsies. Especially in this case, because the autopsy is, well, somewhat awkward, to say the least. Not '2Shy' awkward, but still. Really, the knowledge Scully drops in this one is all about body snatching for fun and profit. I really hope that's just something they wrote in there to give a plausible reason for Leonard's body to have vanished, and isn't a thing that actually happens. I kind of don't want to find out.
I find it interesting that Leonard Betts, as opposed to say, the villain from '2Shy' and also a lot of Fringe villains, tries to use his ability to detect cancer for good, even though he does need it to survive and maintain his regenerative ability. He always looks for work as an EMT; he even bandaged his mother so she could survive his surgery to remove her cancer. Obviously he's not a good guy, but he's still very different from the usual type of character he represents.
The last episode that was just a person's name - and I'm not counting 'D.P.O.', full names only - was 'Duane Barry', which had a very similar feel to 'Leonard Betts' in some ways, and was also an outstanding episode with a surprise ending. The ending of 'Duane Barry' led to Scully's eventual abduction, but I'm not sure where the end of this episode is leading. Nowhere good, I'm sure.
OK.
"You've got something I need."
It's rare that a line that has such obvious implications plays so well in a show, but this didn't seem like it was forced or wedged in or anything. It was a natural continuation of Leonard Betts's story and a still subtle way to introduce the fact that Scully has cancer. Certainly a better way than if she had just unexpectedly woken up with a nosebleed.
And I have to talk about Gillian Anderson's acting in the final scenes, too. As soon as Betts tells her she has something he needs, the look on her face conveys about a dozen emotions in the space of a couple of seconds. She's afraid for her life in that moment, and thankfully is able to fight him off, but she's also completely taken by surprise. She isn't just afraid he's going to kill her, but what's going to happen to her if he doesn't.
But that's not the scene that really his me. It's the one after it. Scully is just calmly sitting in the car, clearly terrified by what Betts told her. Her very even responses to Mulder let him know something is wrong, though obviously he doesn't know what.
"I want to go home."
Never have five words said so much more.
I don't think Mulder picked up on exactly what was going on, but the fact that he simply nodded to her and got in the car to drive away definitely let us know that he's concerned, and possibly more than usual, because he knows enough to just leave, not to even ask, "Are you OK?"
She's clearly not, and who knows when or if she will be.
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