The X-Files Season 9, Episodes 1/2: Nothing Important Happened Today

I saw the title for this two part episode and my first thought was, "Then why even make an episode out of it?" Because really, if it's nothing important, it's probably just going to be Mulder and Scully hanging around at her house playing with William.

We're into the home stretch. Season nine. The very end. Just 20 episodes to go. Seems a long way from where I was in January when I had no idea what this show was really all about.

Aaaand, new intro. No more Mulder. He's just gone. Not even falling into an eye this time. At least they said as much, even if it's kind of vague. It's not like he got put on the bus to Mandyland or something, though it's close.

And now Skinner is a regular character, along with Reyes. And they remixed the music and modernised the fonts. I'm so disoriented, but the intro sequence does look a lot more polished and modern than the old one did. I think that was perfect for 1993, but by 2001, it was starting to look rather dated.

OK, so the title referred to the thing King George III wrote on July 4, 1776. I think it's odd that the legend claims he just didn't know about the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Obviously, communication took a while so I'm sure he didn't know right then, but even if he did, I would expect the same response. The colonists were beneath him, so he would have considered the Declaration unimportant anyway.

But that's not the point. The point is, Kersh is ... a good guy? Not in on the conspiracy? Or rather, manufactured his own internal conspiracy and somehow convinced Mulder to leave by convincing Scully that he had to? I don't understand. I can't figure out why even Scully would ever trust Kersh. After all he's done against the X-Files and against Mulder and Scully, how does he suddenly get to play the hero?

Was the whole thing a long con? Was his antagonism towards the X-Files completely fictitious and his point in agitating Mulder to the point where he was forced out of the FBI to protect Mulder? I mean, I guess it could work? I'll see how the rest of the season plays out. I'm not ready to forgive him, because as much as he may have helped in the investigation in these episodes, he was still an asshole to Mulder and Scully plenty of times before. He's like Snape in that way. Just because he's possibly a good guy now doesn't negate all the awful things he's said and done in the past.

And then there's The Dread Pirate Brad, and Cary Elwes can't quite hide his English accent and so he sounds kind of like his character is from Boston, only more exaggerated. He also can't really seem to hide the fact that he's a villain, though it's possible no one else realises that yet. Maybe he's the one who's been pulling Kersh's strings all along. Regardless, I know this pretty much has to get wrapped up in 18 episodes, because there isn't a season ten (or wasn't at the time, anyway).

One the apparent side of good, there's XenaShannon McMahon, whose methods may be a little bit unconventional - well, OK, murdery - but I guess when you're completely impervious to harm, you can get away with a few more things than the average normal person, and I'm guessing it's not quite as provable as it might seem. I really should say she's impervious to lasting damage, though, because I'm sure having someone's arm stuck through you is no picnic, even if you're an invincible super soldier.

But here's the thing about super soldiers. One of the things that generally makes them super, as soldiers, in just about all fiction, is a lack of free will. They aren't supposed to not like what they are. They aren't supposed to be in a position to not like it. So that seems like a slight flaw in the design.

And maybe that's an early flaw - maybe Knowle doesn't care what he is and just goes along with it. Though he actually seems to derive a certain enjoyment - at least that's the way Adam Baldwin plays him - from carrying out his orders, or causing mayhem, or whatever. So maybe they just refined the process by the time he and Crane were created or modified or whatever the process is. Billy Miles was obviously human - and dead - before becoming what he is now, and I guess that's the point of at least hinting that William could be the first normally born person of this type. I still hope he just turns out to be normal.

One last thing about the Lone Gunmen, who I really figure I should mention. I didn't watch their short-lived show, but I knew a little about it, and still didn't pick up on the reference to its cancellation in these episodes. But now that I know about that, I do enjoy the little inside joke.

Another thing I've noticed is that the show seems to be starting to take some direction from other popular shows at the time. Serialisation was becoming much more popular by this point, and given the very precise continuity from the end of season eight, I figure we'll see a little more in most of the episodes that ties things together, especially since at some point they're going to find out they have to wrap it up entirely. (I still don't know whether the show was cancelled or if they simply decided that nine seasons really was more than enough.)

I'm still expecting some crappy standalone episodes in the mean time, but I'm hoping the end of season nine is much like the end of eight, where it's entirely driven by the main plot. It would be weird if this alien supersoldier thing just got dropped or resolved easily at the end without too much buildup. I want a truly grand finale.