Case 08, File 15: Deadalive

AKA: Okay But I Have Seen Dead Alive...It's Called Braindead In The US

The possibility of Mulder's death, in the middle of Season 8, is one of those things that prompts a knowing roll of the eyes from the fans. Maybe this was a little less obvious in 2001, but there was absolutely no way they were going to kill off the central character (and yes, despite his absence, he is still very central to the series in Season 8) and certainly not in the middle of the season. No, the question was never "Will Mulder live?" It was "How will Mulder live and will that be satisfying?"

Our episode this time around kicks off with everyone (including Skinner and the Lone Gunmen) at Mulder's funeral. So I guess the series is over? Oh wait no, we cut to three months later, where Scully has gotten even more pregnant and Kersh is giving Doggett a promotion for having found Mulder (which I guess he sorta did). But he's not sure he wants it, since he's pretty sure it's just a backdoor way to shut down the X-Files while Scully is on maternity leave.

But that worry doesn't last long, as Billy Miles (remember him? He got abducted with Mulder) washes up in a fishing net and, despite having been in the water for like a week, he's still breathing. Finding out about that makes Skinner think something might be weird, so he decides to dig Mulder up, and to tell Doggett but not Scully. And it turns out that yes, Mulder is still alive in that coffin. In a coma, but alive, so that's a step up. And Scully finds out immediately because you can't keep Scully from Mulder.

Back at the FBI, Kersh tells Doggett to drop the Mulder thing, while Scully and Skinner try to find a way to get Mulder out of the coma. Or rather Scully tries to find a way, because Skinner hasn't even been thinking about it that long when Krycek shows up and says that he has a way to cure Mulder. This is instantly complicated by Billy waking up from his coma perfectly fine, but with his mind clearly not right. And Scully needs Mulder to have his brain working (or working as well as it ever did) so now she's desperate to fix him, and she means now.

I'm terrified that people on AO3 will try to use the "Krycek controls Skinner" thing for shipping.

Around here, we learn that basically what happened was the virus incubated inside Billy to make a half alien replica, and that what Krycek wants in return for the vaccine to cure Mulder is for Scully to not have her baby. Skinner obviously thinks that's terrible and refuses, taking Mulder off life support, but Doggett intervenes and Skinner tells him what's going down. Doggett tries to take down Krycek, but Krycek escapes and destroys the vaccine. But, twist, it turns out that by taking Mulder off life support, Skinner stopped the virus enough that they can just use normal antivirals to save him. Don't worry too much about it, because Kersh withdraws the offer of the promotion and Scully and Mulder have their reunion. Finally.

Deadalive is less of a story that demanded to be told, and more of an exercise in story management. Much like how Mulder being abducted was less the direction they wanted to go and more like the needle they needed to thread in case Duchovny could come back for a few episodes, here they need to get Mulder back into the plot and they want to get a bit of a cliffhanger out of it. That doesn't make it bad, it makes it utilitarian, and we need to basically acknowledge the reality of its creation before we can examine its quality. Because under that acknowledgement, it's actually pretty good.

If I'm being honest, the main thing that makes this episode work, is Gillian Anderson. The script and direction aren't bad, but Gillian Anderson catches a weak pass from them and runs it through the opposing team's end zone and into the Denny's parking lot across the street (that was a working football metaphor, right? I don't watch football.) She puts so much genuine emotion into her two reunions with Mulder (one when he's asleep and one when he's awake) that she can be the episode's emotional core all on her own.

Can you imagine being this actor? Just getting called back for shit like this after having been in the pilot 7 years ago?

Robert Patrick is still awkward, and he and Scully's chemistry is still quite shaky, but he's actually pretty good here. The three month time jump gives them an excuse to smooth over their on-screen relationship and both of them do a good job with it. They also use it as an excuse to make him more devoted to the X-Files than he probably should be, but I'm okay with that kind of thing; While Robert Patrick strikes out whenever he's asked to be glib, resolute sincerity is something he's good at, and it's nice to see the episode playing to his strengths.

I'm less enthused about the actual meat of the episode because it feels...underbaked? The two main elements of plot are Krycek manipulating Skinner and Scully trying to save Mulder, and neither of them are firing on all cylinders. Krycek in particular seems to come completely out of nowhere; They established way back in Season Six that Krycek has control over Skinner and then left it to dangle ever since, so him wandering back in with his trump card now seems off. Never mind that his goal (to make sure Scully doesn't have her baby) feels icky, in a way that Krycek's schemes don't normally feel. A little context to why he wants that might alleviate that feeling, or it might make it worse, but I feel like some more context was needed.

As for the rescue Mulder plotline, it's all over the place. The episode spends a lot of time setting up all the various elements, only for it to get resolved out of nowhere in the final minutes. Yes, much of that is setup for upcoming episodes (especially all the Billy Miles stuff), but in the context of the episode it feels very abrupt. They even have Doggett wander off to the prison to remind us Absalom exists as setup for the next episode. A little less setup for future episodes and a little more work on making Mulder's survival feel earned would not have gone amiss. As is, finding out that all they needed to do was unplug his life support machines and give him some antivirals feels abrupt.

"This isn't how we do things, Mulder just yells at me, MULDER JUST YELLS AT ME!"

And what's frustrating is that there is stuff in the overarching plots that I really like too, which is what makes me think it just needed some more time cooking, rather than a complete rewrite. I really dig the scene where Doggett confronts Krycek; It's a nice little action beat, and I like that Krycek seems to be panicking slightly about dealing with someone who decides to just run over and try to jump into a moving car. And while Billy's part in the back half is mostly just setup for the future, I really like the scene where Billy heads off to the shower and just washes his skin off, it's gross but in a compelling kind of way.

Ah but all is forgiven when he get our scene with Mulder waking up and talking to Scully. And that's sort of the crux isn't it; As I've said repeatedly over the course of this season, Mulder and Scully's chemistry can carry even very weak episodes, and the burst of emotion I got during their reunion scenes is proof of it. And maybe I'm more of a sucker for it because I've been denied it for so many episode (more cause of The Lone Gunmen) but I do also wish the episode had more going on in this story than those scenes. But for now I guess, those scenes are enough.

Case Notes:

• Wait, is Mulder getting buried in that random plot he supposedly picked out? In North Carolina? Why?
• Kersh being at Mulder's funeral feels weird, but I like the Lone Gunmen being there. They actually wore suits, unlike in Scully's mushroom fantasy.
• The cut from everyone at the funeral to just Scully and Skinner is a good one. Also Gillian Anderson fucking slays this scene.
• I know what he's saying, but Skinner saying that he doesn't think Mulder is the last when Scully got done talking about how his family all died makes it sound there's another Mulder out there.
• Wow, full three months later. Wish we could have seen some of those months.
• Kersh smiling and joking is deeply inappropriate in the context of the episode, but I guess if three months have passed it's not inappropriate anymore.
• Scully not being particular upset that, if Doggett gets transferred out the X-Files close makes sense if she's still grieving for Mulder.
• It's so weird to see an autopsy about to be performed by someone other than Scully.
• I like that when Skinner gets the call about Billy Miles' body coming back to life, he and Doggett both agree that they shouldn't tell Scully. 
• Skinner jumps to digging up Mulder's body super fast, but I guess that makes sense given the circumstances. Doggett and Skinner's discussion about it works pretty well though, I especially love that Doggett is willing to say that it's insane to Skinner's face.
• Not sure why we needed all the people showing up in the room, but Doggett kicking them out is amusing.
• The hard jump to Scully arriving is really really solid and once again, Anderson sells the SHIT out of it.
• Scully's reunion with Mulder is damn near perfectly realized under the circumstances.
• Kersh asks Doggett to drop the Mulder thing, but like...Mulder is alive? Does he not know that? You can't really drop that.
• Billy looks like shit, but in a "Good makeup" kinda way.
• It's been long enough since Krycek has used the fact that he has control over Skinner that I genuinely forgot about it. I wouldn't stand within grabbing distance of Skinner though, he grabs it, that's all over right?
• Krycek wanting to save Mulder's life is in keeping with him constantly betraying everyone, but I like that Skinner is just entirely unwilling to even pretend to trust him.
• I like Scully's speech to Doggett a lot, especially since "The truth may hurt, but it's all that matters" is basically the show's overarching theme.
• Billy claiming that the aliens are here to save humanity makes me feel like one of them should say they're tired of the aliens jerking them around. People have switched what they think the aliens are doing like 8 times at this point.
• I know that Doggett is supposed to be skeptical, but you know...Billy and Mulder were dead, and now Mulder is alive and Billy is back on his feet, he could be a little less dismissive of the alien thing.
• I like that Krycek and Scully both use the same phrase about the vaccine, it's decent screenwriting.
• Doggett just passes Krycek in the hall and I suddenly realize that he and Krycek have never met.
• The episode ending with everyone trying to come their own solution and all at odds is a nice dramatic beat.
• Krycek destroying the vaccine is really dumb, even for him, what leverage does he have now?
• Mulder's first instinct being to make a joke on Scully is just so perfect, it made me tear up a little. The whole scene is just fantastic.
• As always these reviews are supported by my Patreon. Check it out so I can keep fangirling over Mulder and Scully.

Future Celebrity Watch:

Richard McGonagle, who plays the autopsy doctor who initially works on Billy, is primarily known as a voice actor. You've almost certainly heard his voice in something (he's done voices in everything from Community to Ben10 to 500 Days of Summer) but his highest profile role is as Victor Sullivan, Nathan Drake's father figure in the Uncharted series. I really like the Uncharted series, and you can't stop me.