NIHT: Off the Top of My Head (SPOILERS) (November 11, 2001) Caution: spoiler for next week's ep (based on the trailer) is in the "Etc." section. When I wrote my OTTOMH for "Existence," I indicated that it might be the last ep commentary I ever wrote, because I wasn't sure I would have the enthusiasm for the show to write them in S9. "Nothing Important Happened Today" inspired me to write again. That is not a compliment. NOTHING IMPORTANT HAPPENED TODAY (9ABX01): In a nutshell: Mulder is gone. Scully is scared. So is Skinner. William is special (what a shock!). Doggett is determined. Reyes is... I can't figure out what. Her old boyfriend is an FBI bigshot, and he's a horse's ass. Xena is killing people and it has something to do with the water. Is this hour over yet? What I liked (sort of): - This is really sad. I did not have one single thing in my notes about anything I liked. That's never happened before. - Well, I did like GA's performance, even though I hated seeing Scully scared and vulnerable when I know that the reason she's feeling scared and vulnerable is NONSENSICAL. Umm, okay, so Mulder had to leave. He's just GONE. Yeah, it makes a lot of sense that he's take off without Scully and William. Yup, I'm buying that. :-PPPPPPP - Hmmm, I guess I like RP's performance, too, even though, again, the story itself was ludicrous. - And Reyes didn't annoy me so much that I wanted to throw something at the TV. I guess that's a good thing, right? - Oh, and it was nice to see Mitch Pileggi in the opening credits. But too bad he had nothing important to do in the ep. ::sigh:: - Oooh, I forgot something, and it's actually a REYES thing, if you can believe it: was it my imagination, or was Reyes trying to use her, um, sex appeal to manipulate Brad Follmer into keeping her on the X-Files? Hee hee! - Oh yeah, the Gunmen were amusing too, although the fact that Langly still had blue on his face was a bit much (more about that below). What I didn't like: - The opening credits. What was wrong with the old version of the music? What was wrong with the old images? Who was that kid at the end? - Does Reyes not have any backbone? #1, she was going to chicken out and leave Follmer a note instead of talking to him. #2, she shook his hand, clearly indicating that she wanted some distance, but then when he grabbed her and kissed her in his office -- after they hadn't seen each other for 2 years! -- she didn't rip his balls off? Monica, Monica, Monica... just start asking yourself, "What Would Scully Do?" - I swear, I'm going to take up a collection to buy 1013 a watch, a calendar, and some lessons on now to use them. Let's see if I followed all of this: it's 48 hours after the Mulder/Scully smooch (watching that again was the best part of the ep, BTW). But, according to Reyes' conversation with Doggett about the tapes, it's also two nights after the showdown in the parking garage. So in those 48 hours: Mulder raced to Georgia as Scully gave birth; Scully and William spent at least SOME time at a hospital; they all got BACK to DC from Georgia; the Lone Gunmen visited Scully; Mulder and Scully smooched; Mulder packed, cleared out his apartment, and left without a trace. Did I miss anything? Oh yeah, due to Langly's blue face am I supposed to believe that it's shortly after the end of the cliffhanger from the now-canceled LGM show? So somewhere in the last few days Mulder had his meeting with Jimmy in that parking garage, and presumably helped to rescue Yves and the Gunmen? Umm, okay. Whatever. - So, Reyes shows Doggett those tapes. Obviously they've been doctored, so why is no one making the effort to PROVE they've been doctored? And why didn't Reyes tell Doggett who gave her the tapes? And why didn't he demand a better explanation from her when she gave him a vague answer about where she got them? Why, why, why? - Umm, wasn't it, maybe, a bad idea to announce in front of Reyes that Skinner had killed Krycek? At the very least, shouldn't they have been worried that the office was being bugged? - Classic 1013 vagueness that still drives me nuts after all these years: Skinner tells Doggett that Mulder, Scully, and William may be in danger, but he doesn't tell him WHY. Mightn't the direct approach have been effective in that case? - Reyes to Follmer: "Maybe I was trying to avoid myself." I wrote in my notes: - Someone please tell me WHAT THE HELL SCULLY IS SO SCARED OF. If Mulder or William are in some kind of danger, why, for the love of Pete, did the three of them not just ALL LEAVE TOGETHER? I mean, aside from the fact that GA has another year on her contract. Come on, 1013, you're going to have to do better than this. - Wow. William may have special powers? Who woulda thunk it. You know what I miss most about the "old" X-Files? This show used to be about two relatively ordinary people who were put into the most extraordinary of circumstances, and survived because of their intelligence, drive, and devotion to the truth and to each other. You could look at them and say, "I could face those challenges and do what they did, too, if I had the same personal fortitude." Now I can't identify with my heroes anymore. :( - It sure was handy for Doggett to have that photo of his old Marine buddies. Why did it take him so long to start checking up on Knowle? Has anybody thought to have the Gunmen check him out? Hello? - Doggett, when Scully comes to do the autopsy: "We found something." No, Doggett, somebody *led* you to something. There's a difference. OK, I'll give you points for mentioning to Scully that the obituary was left for you, but why didn't anyone think that something really fishy was going on? I don't suppose anyone bothered to check that obituary for fingerprints, did they? - Speaking of the obituary, I'm pretty sure that it said the EPA guy was 45, but the TV show that Follmer was watching said that the guy was 37 or 38. It was the same man, wasn't it? Or am I confusing the two dead guys? - Reyes to Scully after the autopsy: "I'm just impressed that you can do this." I wrote in my notes again. That was really just one step away from her telling Scully again that she's beautiful. ::eye roll:: - How did Scully not see the marks on the guy's ankle earlier in her autopsy? Wouldn't she have done a visual exam BEFORE slicing and dicing? That just made her look sloppy. I can understand that, for story-telling purposes, the mark on the ankle had to be mentioned last, but would it have been so hard to have Scully say something like, "And I found this very interesting thing during my initial visual exam..."? - If Scully is so afraid that William is not normal, why did she leave him alone with her mother? He was just more vulnerable that way. I just can't believe that, for whatever reason Mulder left, neither Scully nor Mulder apparently considered the possibility that William really WAS special, and the Bad Guys (whoever they are these days) were trying to separate them from their son. - Speaking of Mrs. Scully, is the woman out of her freakin' MIND? I give her points for not opening the door to a stranger, but then as soon as it seemed like Shannon was gone SHE OPENED THE FREAKIN' DOOR? W I D E OPEN? She's lucky she's still alive right now. And why did Shannon just leave, anyway? If she were looking for Scully just to talk to her, why did she try to turn the doorknob? Will Mrs. Scully remember to tell her daughter that some weird woman came to the door, or will she conveniently forget? Bleh. What's got me puzzled: - Why did Shannon wait until that guy in the convertible was nearly out of the car before she held him down? Was she unconscious for a few seconds, and came to just as he was escaping? I saw that the windshield was cracked on her side; how did she hit it when she had her seatbelt on? And if she did hit it, why was there no mark on her face? And why didn't anyone involved in the investigation of the crash NOTICE that the windshield was smashed on the passenger's side? - Why did Mulder take the time to have his ENTIRE APARTMENT cleared out? I mean, he had 48 hours. Didn't he have more important things to do besides move furniture in that short period of time? - Why was Doggett looking so beat up as he got out of bed? Did he get that badly whupped-up on in "Existence"? I don't recall. Anyway, seeing that scene flashed me back to "Avatar" for some reason. - Why are Scully and Doggett suddenly on a first-name basis? - Why was there no one at the water reclamation plant when Skinner and Doggett went there? - And why was Skinner there anyway, after he'd told Doggett to drop his investigation? - During The Big Chase, why didn't anybody yell at Doggett to stop running? Etc.: - Whoa. Interesting dress than Shannon had on in the teaser. And the moral of the story, ladies and gentlemen: don't pick up strangers in bars, especially if they're dressed like... well, like THAT. - Nekkid!Mulder has a big butt. Sorry, I just had to say that. - And man, Mulder doesn't pack light, does he? - I'm impressed by how long Doggett can hold his breath. I think that file is a goner, though. Which is a shame, since the dead guy went to such lengths to mark his files so neatly. That'll teach him. - Interesting tidbit: in the credits, "Brad Follmer" is listed as the assistant to Chris Carter. - Next week's ep: Once again, I don't know whether to laugh or to cry. "She's the key to everything in this case!" BWAHAHAHAHAHA! "People's lives are in danger!" BWAHAHAHAHAHA!