37) Redux II- Season 5, Episode 2- With all the set up from the previous two episodes, you would think this would be a big one and it kind of is. Scully beats cancer (was it the microchip that Cancer Man gave Mulder or Scully's faith in Jesus that saved her? As Mulder says, "we'll never know." This is a long parenthetical, huh?), Cancer Man gets shot (but no body is found) by the slowest hitman ever and Mulder's faith is shaken. Beyond that, there are lots of scenes in the hospital with Mulder worrying over Scully. Lots of scenes of Mulder and Kristgau testifying before the FBI panel. Lots of people trying to make various deals with Mulder.
I don't read the AV Club reviews until after I write my own for fear of contamination but the last round for Redux part 1 had an interesting factoid. Apparently, the movie was shot before Season 5 in order to be released after Season 5 ended (which all makes sense with post-production and such). So, essentially, the entire season is kind of in a predetermined trap. They know where everyone has to be by the start of the movie so they don't have a lot of leeway to play around this season. In a lot of ways, I think that challenged the writers to come up with some cool stuff like the next episode but left some wheels spinning when it came to the mytharc.
38) The Unusual Suspects- Season 5, Episode 3- This is not considered a vital episode but one I love dearly. In comic books, some of the most interesting stories are the origins and this episode allows the writers to give the secret origin of the Lone Gunmen and how they met Mulder.
The writers lift the general plot outline from the Usual Suspects in that Detective Munch (from Homicide and Law & Order SVU, and I don't mean just the actor, the actual character) grills Byers about why there is a bunch of blood in a warehouse but no corpse and Mulder was found naked and raving about aliens there. With it all set in 1989, we of course get a giant cell phone joke (which is double funny because the phones they consider sleek and cool look laughable now).
The way the hour gets us back to that point is pretty cool for the first half. Byers, Langley and Frohike are brought together by a mysterious woman who claims her daughter has been kidnapped and her ex is a psycho looking to hurt her. She spots her ex and hides, pointing him out to our Lone Gunmen (it is, of course, Mulder). As her web of lies and schemes unfolds, our boys learn for the first time that the government may be up to some shenanigans.
The whole thing even ends up being an excuse for Steven Williams to reprise his X character. We know Mulder was under some protection even then but we don't know why the Lone Gunmen were allowed to live and see the things they saw. Maybe everyone knew they would be marginalized as crackpots but it still seems like a big risk to take. I know this episode ends up with a kind of sequel later so I am looking forward to that.
Tomorrow, 5 more episodes from Season 5- Christmas Carol, Emily, Bad Blood, Patient X and The Red and the Black. Join me!
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