The Cave's X-Files Commentary Archives: 
Episodes: 2x05, Duane Barry
 

Rewatching this episode to refresh my memory and to give myself an idea of where to focus my meta, I jotted down notes as the ep played out, but I think, looking back over them, that they may be worthwhile in their own right. 

So, the blow-by-blow: 

• A classic XF atmospheric teaser: the camera wandering down a hallway, hesitating and then choosing a direction; the scene set with a few sparse brush strokes: the trashy floor, the dog coming to the food bowl in the middle of the hallway, and later, the dog's wariness at the abrupt fuzz on the TV.  Those vague alien shapes that merely suggest, but don't mess with our suspension of disbelief.  Less is more, in classic XF style.

• Duane Barry's FBI training is obvious in the clean, efficient way he takes down the guard and Dr. Hakkie.  NIce bit of consistency.

• From Mulder's reaction to Krycek at the pool, he's accepted him at this point. No sign of irritation/snarkiness/frustration on Mulder's part.  And that nice little pause Krycek makes before he approaches the pool shows us he's preparing for this encounter, aware of the dual roles he's playing.

• "Do we know anything about his abduction experiences?"  Mulder forges right ahead when talking to the crisis team; he doesn't worry about being thought crazy, but is concerned about DB/the hostages/the situation.  He gets this look on his face: he's seen this reaction before, the same-old same-old.  Nobody believes; they think it's all 'alien abduction crap'.

• On the phone, Mulder doesn't follow the hostage script for long; he stands up, keeps to the general gist of it, but then starts branching out, testing Duane Barry's veracity, saying that he knows of of people who have had similar experiences.

• After Mulder chews out the team for their inability to think outside the box, to see the factors involved in Duane Barry's specific case, Krycek tries to be conciliatory toward those in charge--almost the way Scully does.  Except that he gets shut down with the coffee ordering.  Nobody seems to pay any attention to Krycek, as if he's just Mulder's briefcase.

• "Look, Scully, I need your help."  Who is Mulder going to call when he needs help?  And immediately she's on it.

• After the sudden loss of power/flash of brightness in the building, Mulder immediately calls DB, tells him he believes him.  At this point Mulder WANTS to go; he repeats the team's talking points back to them to make them think he's finally seen the light.  Then he takes off and does his own thing, just like he ditched Krycek at the beginning of Sleepless.  Tell them what they want to hear.

•  "The light--was that them?"  At this point Samantha-search mode has switched on inside Mulder.  He's performing this assignment/asking these questions to get information, not just for DB; he's using him as a resource.  It's his own agenda driving him. 

• As Mulder talks to Duane, telling him he's talked to people like him and he understands, he's very convincing, but beyond that, David is finally fully Mulder here.  We're past the occasional awkward/wooden delivery of Season 1 (and even at the outset of Season 2, in LGM's parking garage scene.)  Mulder just oozes out of David in this ep.  And within the story, Mulder is convincing enough that DB decides he's going to keep this guy with him--someone who may finally believe.

• After the medic and injured man leave, DB goes immediately to finding out whether Mulder is lying or not.  Mulder admits that his sister was abducted.  He wants to pick Duane's brain, to know what they might have done to Samantha.

• Mulder recites everything he knows about alien abductions in an effort to get DB to believe him... or at least to believe that he knows what he's talking about and hasn't just been following some FBI script.

• Surprise: in DB's flashback, we do see aliens clearly.  I hadn't remembered that.

• Great visual segue: the alien drill working inside DB's mouth fading into a hand drill drilling a hole in the wall of the travel agency.

• Krycek: is frustrated at being ignored.  He seems to want to do something of value, and it's not happening.  He keeps getting passed by.  Little does he know what's up for him in terms of his work for CSM.  "No rights, only orders to be carried out" is only a day away.

• Scully: the voice of rationality--DB 'isn't what Mulder thinks he is."  She's got her explanation; she's debunked his theory and can relax now.  Or so she thinks.

• Seeing the hole being drilled through the wall (and knowing there's not much time), Mulder tells DB to let the others go and offers to accompany DB to the abduction site.  Duane says, "If they hear you talking like that, they're going to have your ass."  Mulder's immediate comeback: "I don't care about that, Duane."  Classic Mulder: anything for a little information that will take him one step closer to the fulfillment of his quest.

• DB tells Mulder that the government is in cahoots with the aliens, that 'they're right there in the room with them when they come."  He also mentions a 'secret corporation', though we get no specifics.  (Mulder: "Who in the government?"  DB: "Men, military.")

• "Mulder, it's me," her voice comes into Mulder's ear.  And he listens to her, as usual, whether or not her theory coincides with his.  He's learned that it's risky not to hear her out, to get her viewpoint.

• When they've got a bead on DB, Mulder tells him to 'come here', but not just because he wants to save Duane.  HE WANTS TO KNOW IF DB HAS LIED TO HIM.  This is part of who he is, both as a low-percentage personality type and as one who wants to believe: he's been confronted with enough insincerity in his life that he can't accept the appearance of belief without checking.

• The shouting match between Duane and Mulder: incredibly intense, right through to the repeated, "Go lock the door, Duane."  David and Steve Railsback did masterful jobs here. 
   
• And at that point Mulder is ready to let the team have DB.  He sends Duane to shut the door, knowing what will happen when he does.
   
• Agent Kasdan at the hospital: surprisingly considering her former attitude, she admits to having researched DB's history, and then drops the bombshell, verifying DB's implants.  And who does Mulder go to?  Directly to Scully.   Of course, she doesn't believe (rolls her eyes.)
   
• The etchings' on the chip provide at least a bit of the kind of scientific evidence Scully tends to look for.
   
• In the grocery store: what if Scully had never run the chip through the scanner?  Did it somehow alert the consortium?  Did it activate the chip in some way?  (But without his chips, how could DB know this?  Unless there were more implants that they didn't catch.)
   
• Hospital scene:  DB sees aliens again, as he did in the opening scene. Were they actually there, or were they just images in his mind triggered by his sudden fear/premonition of abduction?
   
• The final sequence: It's night when Scully goes to the grocery store (the cashier emptying her drawer.)  It's right after that that DB wakes up and feels the call.  It's soon afterward (though no time stamps are shown) when DB shows up at Scully's window.  When was there time/opportunity for someone to contact him and direct him to Scully?

1. In this episode, we see the mytharc finally touching Scully.  (Well, just barely, but it's coming.)  Before this, the alien question has always been something she's approached from the outside, or seen through the lens of Mulder's search for his sister.  Now it will be personal.
2. Powerful performance: When asked in early-season interviews what his favorite episode was, Nick Lea consistently pointed not to any of his own work but to Steve Railsback's totally convincing performance as Duane Barry.  Nick's own performances are all about complexity, and it's made me realize, trying to view this character through his eyes, what a fine line between sanity and obsession Railsback's Duane Barry walked.  Really, think about it: what would this character have been in the hands of a lesser actor?
3. Memorable Moment Award: Scully swiping Duane Barry's implant across the grocery store scanner, setting it off, was a stroke of genius on the part of the writing staff.
4. The $64,000 Question: What led Duane Barry to Scully?  So little time appears to have elapsed, if you watch the sequencing of the final scenes.  Even if CSM had been monitoring DB's hospital room, how would he have found him once he escaped from the hospital (in order to lure him into kidnapping Scully?) When would he have the opportunity, given that DB appears at Scully's not long thereafter?  Was there something in the chip itself that called to Duane (even though his chips had all--supposedly--been removed?) 

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