Title:  In-depth research (or how to wear out your VCR's pause button)
Author: Listen

Last night, in the selfless pursuit of truth, minus the proper tools for this delicate task, I spent some 45 minutes pausing my way through "The Point", as LT has so eloquently dubbed the final scene between Mulder & Scully.

Let me pause here (pun definitely intended) to thank everyone who has posted to this board so far. There is such a wealth of material in *Milagro, so much food for thought and discussion, that at first I felt overwhelmed. Then I deduced that detailed research was the key to understanding. I felt qualified due to my relative lack of distractions (no African greys, children, nor spouse to impinge on my attention; only the soulful eyes of two hungry dogs, backed by a row of lambent feline eyeballs glowing in the dark -- well, not really dark, as I have misplaced my Etch-a-Sketch, and had to resort to pen and paper). What follows is based solely on my own humble observations:

Mulder breaks through his apartment door, sees Scully lying on the floor, bloody, her face still, inanimate, her eyes closed. He takes an audible deep breath; his mouth is slackly open; two exaggerated eye blinks, then his eyes rapidly flicker back & forth; he bends closer, seeming to track from her bloody chest to her face, an almost reluctant movement. [IMHO he radiates stunned disbelief, coupled with shock.]

Scully convulsively regains consciousness; she gasps and exclaims loudly, inarticulately; her eyes seem to home in on Mulder's face, then track sideways (seemingly towards her own right hand); this movement repeats, then her right hand moves towards his head, then jerks back towards her own face. [Patterson, where are you? I would swear that there is an edit here, as her hand seems almost in two places at once.]

Mulder's eyes close as both of Scully's arms reach for his neck. Then he stares towards her eyes, lips parted, with the corners of his mouth infinitesimally curving upwards, and the worried crease in his forehead smoothing out; his left arm reaches around her neck/shoulder. [IMHO, there is the ghost of a smile starting as he realizes that she is actually reaching for him.]

Scully's right arm curls around his neck, her fingers loosely turned in towards her palm. She clutches at him, working herself more closely into his neck/shoulder; her left hand slides along his shoulder, seemingly seeking purchase. Only her left eye shows, eyebrow raised; she looks stunned/in shock.

Cut to Mulder's face, forehead creased, mouth slightly open, eyes seemingly blank. He stills, almost as if he is carefully waiting to ascertain her next move [IMHO].

Cut to Scully's face. She glances in towards his neck, then closes her eyes tightly; her fingers curl into his shoulder, leaving visible indentations as she digs her left hand in. She begins to audibly sob.

Cut to Mulder's face. His mouth is now closed, with a sad line to the lips; his brow furrows; he looks down; his left hand is now digging into her shoulder. Scully's sobbing increases in volume, and he tilts his head into hers in response. The crease in his brow deepens; his eyes tighten in pain, almost squinched shut; the line of his mouth subtly saddens further. His eyes seem to flicker sideways, blinking rapidly just before shutting again, and his face seems to somehow close down into itself [IMHO, altogether more pulled in/tightened/diminished.]

Cut to Scully's face. She is sobbing; her eyes are shut, her hands almost meeting on his shoulder. Her face fades into fire ...

So, you say, that was an interesting exercise, but what does it all mean? This is a complex and layered scene, beautifully acted, brief but riveting. I see in Mulder elements of both the deeply disturbed confusion postulated by Littlejoe, and the surprise coupled with sympathetic pain seen by LT. This is not the Mulder of *Redux II, gently reaching out to his partner, seeking to reassurance that she still lives, that he can still connect to her. Even through the shock of seeing her bloody, seemingly lifeless, he is carefully watchful, responding to her movements. Scully reaches out to him first. And knowing her emotional reticence as well as he does, I believe he is genuinely shocked that she does so. And that she allows herself to break down so thoroughly in his presence. This Scully is *not* 'fine'. I believe that he shares her pain, but that he also anticipates the pain of how they will go forward as partners. Will they simply push this interlude into some unspoken, unacknowledged corner of the space between them?
 

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