Patience: Off the Top of My Head (SPOILERS)

Caution: spoiler for next week's ep (based on the trailer) is in
the "Etc." section.

In a nutshell:  It's official -- Chris Carter has lost his mind.
 Either that or he's trying to destroy the character of Scully. 
Go ahead, ask if I'm pissed.


What I liked:
Yes, there were a couple things, believe it or not.
-  Slides!  Scully was using slides!  I can't tell you how happy
that made me.
-  Scully responding "Never" when Doggett asked whether she ever
carried a flashlight.  This proved that it *is* possible to
inject a bit a humor into (what should be) very serious "The
Search for Mulder" eps.


What I didn't like:
-  The teaser.  Anybody else think that that couple were too
stereotypical?  I mean, "Lands sakes"?!  And the undertaker
looking ready for embalming himself?  ::sigh::
-  The additional footage added to the opening credits, with
Scully and Doggett with their flashlights.  Was that really
necessary?  Or, more to the point, was it really necessary to
have a snippet of film so similar to the old Mulder and Scully
footage?
-  Dammit, why isn't Scully looking for Mulder?  Why is there no
explanation of why they're dashing off to investigate homicides
when there are leads to follow up on in looking for Mulder? 
Attention Chris Carter:  SCULLY WOULDN'T DO THAT.  Why are you
doing this to this character?
-  It looks like Scully is still wearing blouses that are
untucked and so tight that there's a gap between the buttons. 
::groan::  Who is doing costuming?  Does this person not have a
clue?
-  At the end of the first scene, we get a good look at the
monster as it jumps in and out of the shot.  Did anyone else
think the monster was funny?  The face kinda reminded me of
Kilroy.
-  So, we've got a monster that looks like it might kill 5
people every 44 years?  Sound like any other ep we've ever seen?
-  Why didn't Scully read Doggett the riot act for literally
getting between her and the detective from the local PD?  If
Mulder had done that, she would have given him hell.
-  Speaking of local PD, why did those officers have to tell
*Doggett* that they didn't want Scully to touch the dead
detective?  What, they were only willing to talk to the male FBI
agent?
-  Doggett telling Scully to stay on the island while he went to
check on the brother.  He's lucky Scully didn't shoot him. 
Well, the Scully *I* know and love would have given him hell for
that, anyway.  I don't know who this redhead was in this ep, but
I sure didn't know her.  (In fact, did anyone else think her
hair looked a different shade of red?)
-  Scully blowing an entire clip by shooting into the ceiling. 
Is that what they teach you in the FBI Academy?
-  IN THE DESK DRAWER?  SHE PUT THE NAMEPLATE IN THE DESK
DRAWER?  Who the hell *is* this woman?  I know I said this
already, but WHY ISN'T SHE LOOKING FOR MULDER?  She acts likes
she's given up, yet we've been given no evidence that she's
tried to follow up on any of her available leads.  How stupid is
this?  What the hell is Chris Carter thinking?  Is this the kind
of bullshit we're going to be seeing in every ep until Mulder
suddenly re-appears next spring?


What's got me puzzled:
-  Where did Doggett find that newspaper article?  And why
doesn't anyone else in town seem to recall 5 missing/dead people
from 44 years ago?  Shouldn't that sort of thing have become a
local legend?
-  How did the mother identify the daughter that had disappeared
44 years earlier, and who had been burned?
-  Why did Ernie bundle up when he went out?  How did he last 44
years on that island, anyway?  He appeared to have electricity
-- are we supposed to believe that no one really knew he was
there?  Did anyone else think that was just plain silly?  And
wasn't it convenient to not tell us that the missing woman and
the missing man were husband and wife?
-  Don't Scully and Doggett carry cell phones anymore?  Why did
Doggett need to leave the island to go find the brother? 
Couldn't they have just called him?  At the very least, CC could
have taken 3 seconds to show us a "No Service" message on a cell
phone.
-  How did Doggett survive the attack in the water?  And was
anybody else rooting for him to buy the farm right then and
there?  (Sorry, Mr. Patrick -- this is nothing against you.)
-  Er... where did Ernie get the radar from?  I think *that* was
the silliest thing in the whole ep.
-  Why didn't the bat creature come back to kill Scully and
Doggett?  At some point they would have had to leave the island,
and with Doggett injured they would have been vulnerable.


Etc.:
-  Overall... this ep was a disaster, IMO.  The plot was weak,
and the Scully character assassination was beyond my
comprehension.  I saw no chemistry of any kind between Scully
and Doggett, either.  "I'm no Fox Mulder" is right.
-  Next week's ep: Once again, I don't know whether to laugh or
to cry.  That ep looks like it's going to be a cross between
"Ice" and "Our Town."  I usually find that the actual ep isn't
at all what I expected from the trailer, but the trailer for
"Patience" pretty much told me everything I needed to know, so I
suspect the same will be true in this case too.  ::sigh::