ONE YEAR LATER: Twenty things I want to see in S9... ... whether CC likes it or not. ;) (June 22, 2002) This is a re-post of what I originally wrote on June 8, 2001, with year-later new comments added between "***". Obviously there are many S9 spoilers in here, so if you haven't seen those eps yet and don't want to know what happens, bail out now. ;) = * = * = * = * = * = * = * = * = * = * = * = * = * = * = * = After #2, these are in no particular order. 1. Scully wearing a wedding band. No explanation. No hair swipes. Just there. *** And no one really expected to see that, did they? ::snort:: *** 2. An intelligent, believable explanation of what Mulder and William are up to. It can't be that difficult. Right? And if we ever see Scully's apartment, there'd damn well better be evidence of the men in her life. *** Evidence amounted to: a poor body double for Mulder taking a shower, and some baby paraphernalia (along with the baby)... although it didn't look to me like a home with a child. Too freakin' clean and tidy. (Yes, we found out in the finale that Mulder had been hiding out with Gibson, but that was too little, too late, IMO.) There were one or two non-William-related eps that had a mention of William being at home. Not a very good record, if you ask me. And don't get me started on Mulder's absence making sense "in its own way." :-PPPPPPP 1013 had better do better than this with the second movie, or the fat lady will be singing on my way out the theater. *** 3. An intelligent, believable explanation for what the aliens are up to. Stop laughing. *** Bwahahahahahahahahahahahaha! If you understood what the hell went on, please post an explanation. Really, I'd pay good money. *** 4. CSM. Yeah, you heard me. None of those "Mulder's story" excuses. CSM is a lot more interesting to me than Knowle or Crane. And I just *know* that the bastard isn't dead. *** Well, I'll be damned. I got one! I wish his appearance had made more sense (so just how did he find Mulder, anyway? And am I really supposed to believe that he kept Mulder alive all those years just to enjoy seeing him broken?), but I'm still glad that the shove down the stairs wasn't the last we saw of him. *** 5. Samantha. 'Cause that "starlight" thing was a load of crap. (I'm sure Agent Doggett has his own feelings about that topic.) And ditto on the above comment re: "Mulder's story." *** ::sigh:: Not only is Samantha still dead, but 1013 couldn't even get the year that she died correct in the finale. And they'd better not try to con us into believing that that was on purpose, since Mulder gave NO indication that he was suprised/shocked by the news that Samantha had died not in 1979 but in 1987. That sort of sloppiness is exactly why I will forever avoid any non-XF project undertaken by CC, JS, or FS. *** 6. Agent Leyla Harrison. *** Except for that little "oh, aren't the new agents DIVINE!" crap at the end, I was pleased to see her again. In fact, I'd like to see her in a cameo role in the second movie. (hint, hint) *** 7. As little of Agent Reyes as possible. And if she starts singing whale songs again, I'm going to have to seriously reconsider my feelings for this show. *** You know, Reyes wasn't that bad this year. I wouldn't go so far as to say that I really liked her, but she didn't really bug me. I think if there had been a S10 AG would have grown into the role the way RP grew into the role of Doggett. While neither would have ever come close to replacing Moose and Squirrel in my heart, there might have come a point where I would have been sorry to see those characters get killed off. *g* *** 8. Lone Gunmen who remember that they're paranoid. *** I am SO not even going to touch this subject, except to say: THEY ARE *NOT* DEAD, DAMMIT! *** 9. Chuck. Chuck is always a hoot. Well, that hair thing was a little over the top (not pun intended ), but I can forgive that. *** It's a bad sign that I can't remember if we saw Chuck during S9. Did we? Anybody? (I don't think so, but I'm honestly not sure.) Even if we did, I'd be glad to see him in the second movie, too. Just in case anyone at 1013 is reading this... *** 10. More Mrs. Scully -- but not the one from the baby shower, okay? Give me Wetwired!Maggie or MementoMori!Maggie. *** I think we got a flash of the Mrs. Scully I know and love in "Provenance" when she came up with that second gun so Scully could blow away the bad guy. It wasn't enough for me, though. I'm demanding that way. *** 11. Continuity. Plot logic. People doing dumb things is okay as long as they're doing *believably* dumb things. *** Mulder's disappearance makes sense in its own way! Mulder and Scully were under surveillance 24/7, from every possible angle, all these years! William's cured because Jeffrey said so! The bad guys will still be looking for William but they'll NEVER find him with that nice adoptive family! 'Nuff said. *** 12. Jeremiah Smith. Or Gibson Praise. But *not* both -- unless there's a *really* good storyline for it. I don't want to see familiar faces trotted out for an ep or two and then disappear, never to be meaningful again. ::grumble:: *** Gibson was trotted out for the finale. Did his appearance make a lick of difference in the story? Not that I remember. *** 13. More about Doggett's son. I'm gonna be pissed if Doggett's tragic loss was just some plot contrivance tossed in like Mulder's brain disease. Feh. *** Hey, we got this, too! Yeah, they threw in that nonsense about Follmer being on the take, but his character was a waste, so I don't think I'll deduct points for that. And the sheer cruelty of Luke having been murdered after being molested was over the line for me. But I liked Mrs. Patrick as Mrs. Doggett. Bring her back for the second movie, too. :) OTOH, what was the point of Luke Doggett's abduction and death? Yeah, I know, feel Doggett's pain. But really, did Doggett learn anything from the experience? Did we? Or was it, as I suspect, just a lot of "gee look, Doggett lost someone just like Mulder!" sensationalism? *** 14. NO further comparisons between Reyes and Melissa, thank you. I liked Melissa, as quirky as she was, and would like to retain my fond memories of her. *** Got this wish, too. Whew! *** 15. Skinner, complete with backbone. And other parts of his anatomy. *** ::sigh:: Skinner was barely *in* S9. That in and of itself should be a crime. I want *significant* Skinner time in the second movie. Are you listening, 1013? Significant, "pucker up and kiss my ass" Skinner time. *** 16. Kersh with some personality and backstory, not just as some stereotypical ass-chewing bad guy. *** None. Zero. Zip. That unexplained (and unnecessary to the plot) turnaround in the finale just doesn't cut it. *** 17. Loose ends that are tied, not ignored or chopped off or shot in the head or pushed down stairs or barbequed to get rid of them so no one has to bother. A few that come immediately to mind: the nanobots. Scully's chip. Teresa Hoese's baby. *** Nope. Nope. Nope. ::sigh:: *** 18. Bill Scully. 19. Charles Scully. 20. Karen Kosseff. *** No on those three, but hoping for them was really shooting for the moon anyway. ::shrug:: *** What would *you* like to see? *** So now I wonder... what do I want to see in the second movie, aside from what I already mentioned above? 1. A Mulder and Scully who don't keep secrets from each other or try to "protect" each other. I'm still steaming over Mulder's refusal to tell Scully about the date for colonization. 2. Doggett and Reyes in a small but important role. No, I don't love those characters, but I think they got shafted in the finale, and I'd like to at least know that they're still alive. 3. Mytharc. Given the way the finale ended, I simply can't imagine any way that the second movie could satisfy me as a MOTW. 4. Clarification: I want mytharc that MAKES SENSE. 5. The Lone Gunmen. Alive. Because they are. 6. Samantha. Ditto. 7. Pull together William, Scully's chip, and Teresa Hoese's baby as part of the mytharc plot. I don't need to see Mulder and Scully reunited with their son, but I *do* need to see some proof by the end of the movie that they have actually taken steps to assure his safety. An "anonymous adoption" just doesn't cut it. 8. An unambiguous sign (relatively speaking) of the M/S relationship. It doesn't have to be more than 30 seconds, nor does it have to be R/NC-17 rated (although I probably wouldn't complain if it were *g*). Show them in bed, sleeping together, holding each other, and then the phone rings. Their behavior upon waking proves that they've woken up together many times before, and it's perfectly natural to them, not some freakin' "one lonely night" crap. 9. Colonization is thwarted once and for all... or, at least, there is some kind of "mutually assured destruction" scenario that would make an attempt at colonization pointless. 10. After seeing the second movie for the first time, I want to be glad that it was made and that I went to see it. I want to look forward to seeing it again, preferably within 24 hours. I want to appreciate the plot, the acting, and everything else that went into crafting the flick. I want to look forward to the third, fourth, and fifth movies. I want, I want, I want. Is that too much to ask? *g* ***