Review: Tempus Fugit/Max

A Price Too High

by Robert Smith

"I have a bad feeling about this" Han Solo Return of the Jedi

***1/2(out of four)

The latest of the big mythology two-parters is the Tempus Fugit/Max two-parter. It brings back a character we thought we would not see again, and also clumsily kills off a rather well liked character.

The ambitious episode opens inside a commercial flight, where we are reintroduced to Max Fenig, the NICAP member from first season's Fallen Angel, which many consider a precursor to the quirky Lone Gunmen. He appears to be very sick, and is clutching a backpack which an assassin has been sent to retrieve. The pilot loses control of the plane and it crashes.

Mulder and Scully get involved when they learn about the crash, but someone is obfuscating the investigation. A mysterious "Moustached Man" (listed in the credits as Scott Garrett, but never adressed by that name) sanitizes the crash site, removing all evidence of the assassin, and a pair of guilt ridden Air Force officers are under orders to lie to investigators. One of the officers nevertheless comes forward, and while Scully goes to place him in protective custody, Mulder discovers the crash site of a UFO, which he was involved in the plane crash. Scully and the Air Force officer, Sergeant Frish, await a federal marshal, and instead encounter the Moustached Man. Agt. Pendrell, the sci-tech specialist with the crush on Scully, is also at the bar, and ends up taking the bullet meant for Frish. Assistant Director Skinner later shows up to announce that Frish is to be placed under military arrest for suspicion of murder (the other Air Force officer, who actually commited suicide) and lying to federal investigators, and Pendrell later dies from his injuries, leaving Mulder more determined, but Scully wondering about the high price of Mulder's crusade.

This is, all in all, a riveting, feature quality show. More than likely, this idea was considered for the upcoming XF movie, which Chris Carter wants to be a "stand alone story worthy of the big screen, which ultimately fits into the mythology arc" and was converted to a two-parter when it was passed over. This show does, more or less, stand on its own. There are references to Scully's cancer, but it was probably mandated by studio execs who thought the writers might be forgetting about it. The scene where Skinner goes to the bar to tell Scully that Frish is to be placed under military arrest is nothing on its own, but it plays much more ominously when watched with the knowledge that Skinner made that mysterious deal with the Cigarrette Smoking Man in Memento Mori three episodes earlier. There has been fan speculation that Skinner was forced to reluctantly tell the CSM where Frish was, then went to the bar in an attempt to avert disaster but arrived too late.

This is the most suspenseful mythology show since Duane Barry. Particular standouts are Mulder playing chicken with a jumbo jet, and his final showdown with the Moustached Man. All too often, the big action climaxes of these shows have Mulder and Scully battling anonymous paramilitary types sent by the show's villain; it is refreshing to have a big showdown with the main villain of a multiparter. The are a few problems, however. Agt. Pendrell's death really had no logic; he died off sceen, and the time used to say that he is dead could have just as easily been spent saying that he is recovering. The other main probem, which can be linked to other problems, is that the Cigarrette Smoking Man does not appear. During part two I thought, "I have a bad feeling about this" on two occasions: when William B. Davis's name didn't appear in the credits, and when it was announced that Agt. Pendrell was dead. There was plenty of logic in featuring him, no logic in his absence. He would know about this, wouldn't he want to get involved? Wouldn't he get chewed out by his superiors for the Pendrell shooting? Wouldn't he have been at the UFO salvage operation? Woudn't he make a token effort to get Max's backpack from Mulder, shortly before Mulder's final showdown with the Moustached Man? And lastly, wouldn't he have gone to Leavenworth to silence Frish, like he did with Duane Barry?

Despite its problems, this two-parter is nevertheless a good decent show, its strong points outweighing its weak points.