This was it: the last non-“Struggle” episode of THE X-FILES. Titled “Nothing Lasts Forever,” the latest in a long streak of misguided storytelling focused more on a washed-up 85-year-old woman running a bloodthirsty youth cult than the dynamic that made this series seem worth bringing back from the dead in the first place. But then, just as all hope of a miracle was lost, something beautiful happened. So, as THE X-FILES’ run of new episodes is set to (hopefully) not last forever, viewers will need to do what’s been done all along, particularly during the drama’s weird second life: Ignore all of the waste, and just hold on dearly to the story that told itself, even when the series’ own creator was desperate to flee from the blessing dropped undeservingly in his lap.
Case? What case? This isn’t going to be the most comprehensive recap of all time because, frankly, the torture porn dynamic of it all was outrageously awful. Blood for the sake of blood is not “horror,” and it’s not good storytelling — not by a long shot. If Barbara Whatshername and her cult wanted to drink blood smoothies, they could have done it in a wonderfully creepy way by calling up the folks who made Wynonna Earp’s rat smoothie. Maybe even adding WYNONNA EARP star Melanie Scrofano to the mix for help with actually acting out the disturbing aspect of it all, rather than just relying on the blood and guts to make an impression, would be a good idea, too.
Alternatively, the former child star wanted to drink blood without having to actually go around biting people, she could have gone for THE VAMPIRE DIARIES’ handy blood bags, from witch the Salvatore brothers sipped their nourishment like school kids with Capri-Suns. Or! Hey! Remember TRUE BLOOD? Throw back some bottled life juice whilst doing all of that random bursting into song, and you’ve got something that, due to the actual psychology of the moment, is way more effective than all of that blending.
Drinking blood and guts aside, there wasn’t a lot going on here. I mean, people were definitely engaging in some shady “medical procedures” right from the get-go; and somehow that meant the has-been actress at the heart of it all received tons of hearts and lungs from unsuspecting victim-types or followers…But really, what else is new? This is THE X-FILES. At this point, we’ve been conditioned to not blink an eye when we see butchers’ work masquerading as “science.”
Do I understand the use of the grotesque spin on conjoined twins? Nope! Do I care? Absolutely not. Was there any point to the whole fake Buffy, killing the not-quite-vampires and even talking to a priest after slicing and dicing his hands? Not one bit. Also, why was she cosplaying this guy? And the original NES version of him at that???? The real story could have been a woman avenging her sister’s loss, but it got lost somewhere in all of the blood for blood’s sake.
To steal (and slightly tweak) wise words from a fellow viewer, I just wanted to see Gillian Anderson. I didn’t sign up for this. Maybe more to the point, I just wanted to see Scully and Mulder doing their thing together, free of “mythology” or anything that can be translated to “Mein Kampf,” just one last time.
Too bad this episode focused more on gratuitous gore shots instead.
But wait! “Never give up on a miracle,” right? Dana Scully actually visited a church in THE X-FILES’ latest; and, in a stunning inclusion of character growth, Fox Mulder joined her. After Scully’s initial attempt at taking her communion was interrupted by work, she made multiple return trips to practice her faith.
And it bears repeating: Mulder joined her. This man, who was once so infuriatingly dismissive of Scully’s faith, was now going above and beyond to be supportive. It didn’t matter that Mulder, personally, didn’t believe. Scully did, so it was worth respecting.
Finally!
The couple that whispers case-speak and jokes about God’s forgiveness allowing the heathen husband into the building without consuming him in the flames of hell stays together. Well, not quite. But remember! We’re shutting out the bad and living with only the good parts of THE X-FILES at this point, so Scully and Mulder never actually broke up. Got it? Good.
If the balance of case-to-couples’ confessional was reversed, “Nothing Lasts Forever” would have easily been the best episode THE X-FILES has seen in a very long time. It had everything from Scully confessing to Mulder that, when she was a little girl, she was supposed to be praying for her brother to get well but spent the first couple of nights praying for a puppy instead. Mulder, who knows his partner’s history of Grand Theft Dog very well, thought that story was hilarious.
(Same, Foxy. Same.)
The best part about the puppy anecdote, though, was that it actually showed Dana Scully opening up to her platonic life mate. The whole tale was meant to explain how she became faithful in the first place, which made Scully’s admission that she’s not sure if she believes in miracles anymore that much more powerful. It was a moment of getting a sad, yet complex, mixture of everyone’s favorite medical-doctor-slash-special-agent-slash-rewriter-of-Einstein’s feelings out in the open, all while infusing it with the kind of lightness only Mulder and Scully could find in a world that is most often nothing but darkness.
Had the character development ended there, with just that small story from Scully’s past, that would have been enough. Because X-FILES viewers are starved enough for quality content at this point that just one shining moment can make all the inconsequential things fall away.
Lucky for all involved, the final scene of this penultimate episode delivered even more.
In Scully’s third trip to church, her attempt at lighting a prayer candle went sour. Just as she was blowing out her match, the candle that she had just lit fizzled out — leaving it the only patch of darkness surrounded by so many tiny lights. (Excuse me while I light myself on fire with the massive amount of symbolism here.) “That must be a sign: ‘I’m all out of miracles. Turn back. Give up.'” Mulder, ever a believer in absolutely anything that might work in Scully’s favor, though, wasn’t having it. Despite not believing in God himself, Mulder believes in Scully. So, he relit her candle for her, extending her prayers through his.
Ok, but that’s true love if I ever saw it.
What followed was flirty banter about the difference between saying prayers and blowing out birthday candles, full of clear evidence that the same fragile, beautiful thing that had always been between these two characters was still alive and well. Scully’s hope might have fallen victim to the darkness, but Mulder was still there, ready to rekindle the flames. Scully berated herself for failing to protect William and for fleeing when she had thought that she and Mulder could live together; but Mulder, ever patient and ready to be the rock, reminded Scully that she could have left much earlier and had a much fuller life.
He was wrong about that “fuller life” part, though. Obviously.
Following the conversation, Scully’s question of “are we together” wasn’t explicitly answered in words; but in deeds and implicit assurances, it was pretty clear. The Mulder-Scully relationship is not dead but is, instead, somehow stronger than ever. If that whole conversation, complete with the house of Scully’s faith as backdrop, wasn’t THE X-FILES’ version of wedding vows…Well. It was, so there’s no need to finish that sentence.
“That’s not my four-year-old self looking for a miracle. That’s my leap of faith forward. And I’d like to do it together.”
Unlike Fox Mulder, I’ve never wondered how this was going to end. Because the true miracle of beloved characters is that they always get to live on in our minds. So, even if THE X-FILES’ return from the dead was rocky at times, we’ll always have Mulder and Scully out there somewhere, seeking The Truth with a capital T. And their obviously deep love will live on with them, regardless of who says otherwise. The thing is, whatever was initially created here became much bigger than its creator — bigger than any of us — and that actually does last forever.
Additional thoughts.
- “Shame to waste a good pancreas.” And yet, somehow, you did!
- “I WANT TO BE BEAUTIFUL.” I want it to hurry up and be this time next week so we can be done with the constant changes to the title cards.
- What did Scully whisper in Mulder’s ear? Was it sinful? Were viewers unable to hear it because of Mulder’s birthday candle superstition? Was it cruelty for cruelty’s sake? Who do I need to fight to get answers?
- Gee, I wonder why Scully is afraid she can’t believe in miracles anymore. Maybe it has something to do with all of this?
- Actually good parts of the investigation: Mulder rattling off nonsense about “holy properties necessary to defeat evil” while Scully looks at him like, “wow, let’s go sin together.” And how about Fox Mulder, sporting Gillian Anderson’s glasses, while finally noticing Scully’s haircut? And Gillian’s delivery on the “are you kidding me.” Amazing. More of that, less blood smoothies! PLEASE!
- That’s twice this season that someone on a case has tried to throw the fact that Scully is aging at her, and I would really love to fight the men that consider this to be a necessary part of their storytelling. If we’re trying to make a commentary on society’s sick obsession with youth, we can do it without insulting our supposed feminist icon. Thanks!
- That slight hesitation on Mulder’s part after Scully asked if she and Mulder were actually together? Now, that was gold. For as much as Rock!Mulder was present in that scene, that split second communicated so much of the character’s own lack of confidence and potential hopelessness…Just. Wow. Gut me.
- “Seven years, and you’ve never crossed paths.” Funny that Scully was so scandalized by this, while I’m still wondering how it supposedly took her and Mulder’s reproductive organs seven years to cross paths.
- “Aging isn’t a disease. It’s a natural progression.” Mr. Ashamed Of My Bifocals, out here, learning a lesson.
- Is Scully immortal because of the communion or.
- “I don’t know if any God is listening, but I am standing right here. And I am listening. Right beside you. All ears. THAT’s my choice.” No, really. They’re married.
- Scully fell into the dumpster and couldn’t get out. Her “fall was broken by decades worth of trash.” Fandom can relate.
THE X-FILES series finale airs on Wednesday, March 21, at 8/7c on FOX.