Review: Gethsemane/Redux/Redux II

A Time to Kill

a review of Gethsemane/Redux/Redux II by Robert Smith

***(out of four)

"When you compound the lies, you compound the consequences". Assistant Director Walter Skinner

"All lies lead to the truth." Agt. Scully

"You come out dead, and it's you best friend that does it." Al Pacino, Donnie Brasco.

The powers that be have given us an epic three-part story that, once it gets off the ground, becomes one of the best XFs given to us. It opens with Scully attending a meeting headed by her original supervisor, Section Chief Scott Blevins. In this briefing, she announces the illegitimacy of Mulder's work. In flashback we see the events that led to this declaration. A perfectly preserved alien corpse is found in an ice cave, and Mulder jumps at the chance to see ultimate evidence of extraterrestrial life. However, a Department of Defense employee named Michael Kritschgau comes forward, revealing that the body is a fake, and that the conspiracy Mulder pursues is a smokescreen to cover all too real atrocities. Scully is convinced immediately, but Mulder is skeptical until it is revealed that Scully was infected with cancer to strengthen his belief. Scully attempts to convince the FBI officials that this revelation drove Mulder to suicide. In actuality, Mulder learned of a spy who was monitoring him. Mulder tracked down the spy, who's face was blown off in the resulting gunfight. Mulder took advantage of the dead man's ID to enter the pentagon, hoping that the vast storage facility would hold a cure for Scully's cancer. Meanwhile, Scully learns that her disease was the result of a viral substance, given to her by a mole in the FBI. Scully starts to believe that Assistant Director Skinner is the mole. After the hearing, Scully's disease gets the better of her, and Mulder must turn to the Cigarette-Smoking Man for help.

This is one of the best ones that has been given to us in a long time. Fans were starting to think that the powers that be had painted them into a corner when they gave Scully cancer in the middle of the fourth season, but they have found an excellent way to resolve the cancer arc, which was starting to annoy them as much as the fans. Skinner and the Cigarette-Smoking Man have a chance to shine here as well. At first, Skinner seems to be an all out adverasry, accusing Mulder of "cold-blooded murder" and Scully of lying to protect him. When he was suspected of being on the take, longtime fans immediately suspected he was being framed, and those suspicions proved right when it is revealed that he has covered for Mulder and done some investigating of his own. The Cigarette-Smoking man gets his moments, too. When he confronts his superior, shouting "I will not be cut out of this," one can see the fear inside him. And his offer to save Scully if Mulder quits the FBI and works for him was very Faustian. What really shocked viewers was the assassination of the nicotine addict. We know CSM is not dead, because he will be appearing in a two-part episode(which also brings back Alex Krycek) to air in February, and the movie. Until then, Internet speculation about his fate will flourish. All in all, a top notch show, which streamlines the series "mythology arc" to make it once again palatable to stand-alone audiences. If this quality continues into the movie, we are in for a treat.