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The Cave's X-Files
Commentary Archives: Post: Continuity and knowing which
side you're on Note: posted the week after the ep first aired) I'm beginning to see a continuity growing for Mulder between the events in *Orison, *Signs and Wonders and the future of the quest... or at least, what may happen as we head into the February mythology eps. In *Orison, wanting to protect Scully from further mental or physical harm by Donnie Pfaster, we see Mulder echoing the words of the song Scully keeps hearing: 'don't look any further'. Scully pushes ahead, keying off her religious interpretation of the significance of what she sees, and Mulder, though his disdain for traditional organized religion is well-known, seems more willing here--for her sake, and probably for the sake of his growing closeness to her--to try to grasp just what it is she's seeing/experiencing/interpreting from this situation and why she's pressing ahead. By the end of the story, while Scully is fighting off Pfaster in her apartment, Mulder hears the song on his own (the first time out of her presence) and I think it's of more than tangential importance that this time he doesn't ignore it. He takes the song as having significance and immediately tries to call her, and having failed, goes to her aid. Though there's a regrettable lack of continuity in the overall XF storyline at times, you'd have to assume that the fact that he *does* discover Scully in jeopardy is something Mulder would be giving a lot of thought to afterwards. A sign--something coming from beyond his own comprehension of the plausible or viable, but accurate nonetheless. In *Signs and Wonders, Mulder seems (along with Scully and the audience) to be back at square one, easily taken in by the plausible story the pleasant, progressive minister sets forth. After all, he seems like a nice, upright, tolerant (how many times does this word come up?) guy--the kind we *want* to believe. O'Connor, on the other hand, is portrayed, along with his congregation, in the most unflattering of lights. The mere amount of time spent showing O'Connor's church service in detail and the close-ups of the parishioners (Mackey's congregation isn't shown at such close range) serve to do just what the writers intended--to make us squirm, to play upon the 'educated, tolerant' view we have of ourselves and thus lead us to see O'Connor in the light of suspicion ('lead', I believe, being a key word here.) O'Connor seems a plausible suspect to Mulder and Scully, and certainly O'Connor's manner at their first confrontation and the way he decides to 'test' Scully in the presence of the snakes only reinforces their initial impressions. But eventually the evidence turns in such a way that Mulder has to question their initial assumptions. Gracie is delivered not of a human baby, but of snakes. And O'Connor, in a guileless and sincere manner, confronts Mulder with a statement that obviously sets him to thinking: "Unless you're smart down here (indicates his heart), the devil's going to make a fool out of you and you're not even going to know it." Mulder has, earlier in Jared Chirp's room, voiced the idea to Scully that "someone offering you all the answers can be a very powerful thing." At the time it was a way of explaining the seemingly dangerous O'Connor's appeal to his flock. But by the second time he says this, there is a certain solemnity to it. Mulder, after all, was recently presented (*Amor Fati) with a dream-life he'd bought almost completely until Scully interjected herself into the dream to bring him back to himself. And in *One Son, Mulder was presented with 'all the answers' by CSM--'answers' leading to action that could have proved fatal. That he has these instances clearly in mind is evidenced in Mulder's expression and tone of voice. And he has found something of value in O'Connor's message, in the same way he finally listened to the song on the radio in *Orison. And the message is...? That things aren't always what they seem, that it will take more than intellect or education or previous Bureau experience to find and separate truth from lies on the quest as it moves ahead, and that soothing messages aren't always to be believed. The song in *Orison said not to look any further. It sounded like reasonable advice, but not pursuing the case would have led to the escaped Donny Pfaster committing more of his horrific crimes. Reverend Mackey focused on tolerance, the acceptance of all beliefs, but it has been said that all evil ever wants is to be left alone...left to fester, multiply, grow and accomplish its purpose. O'Connor, on the other hand, was very emphatic that "God hates the lukewarm." "God wants you to put your money where your mouth is," he said. If we think about it, most of humanity is probably 'lukewarm'. Perhaps more disturbingly, if we look closely at ourselves, more of us than would like to admit it aren't really ready to put our money where our mouth is if push came to shove, if it were uncomfortable for us. Would we have spoken out against Hitler if we were WWII Germans in danger of our lives? Would we intervene in a neighborhood scene of domestic violence? (Pretty solemn stuff, no?) But the fact is that the heroic journey requires the identification and vanquishment of evil in whatever form it may happen to present itself, and Mulder and Scully are on such a journey. And you can't fight what you haven't identified, or don't see coming. This, I think, is what Mulder will carry forward from this case as the quest continues--more care in discerning truth from lies and an openness to explanations beyond the scope of his own conventions. -LT ................. Post: Mulder's capacity for belief Mulder has an enormous capacity to believe. In the past year and a half he has not only accepted but actually postulated psychic surgery, sea monsters, a man inadvertently controlling the weather through his emotions, a man walking through walls, a brain-sucking mutant guy, 'four horsemen' zombies, and teenagers moving faster than the eye can discern. In light of his willingness to accept answers seemingly beyond the realm of science, a question that has been popping into my head more and more often recently is, "Why can't he believe in God?" As Scully herself says in *Revelations, "...usually he ... he believes without question." In *Field Trip, Scully says, "Mulder, can't you just for once, just... for the novelty of it, come up with the simplest explanation, the most logical one, instead of automatically jumping to UFOs or Bigfoot or...?" I tend to side with Scully (BIG surprise to most of you, I imagine), but in this instance I think she's not seeing Mulder very clearly. To Mulder, UFOs and Bigfoot *are* the simplest and most logical explanation, just as psychic surgery is the simplest explanation for extraction of a heart without evidence of incisions, scope marks, or cutting of any kind. Mulder is open to almost any explanation that will substantiate the evidence before him. The proof he requires is that an action has occurred - the extraction of the heart, or the man first on one side of a wall and then on the other. The theory he comes up with is nearly always the simplest one that will accommodate the proof of the action. Occam's razor at work, but with the caveat that the simplest explanation may not be one that Scully's science can verify. Mulder can believe a great deal, but I think it's the case that he believes it after he sees it. I think that Mulder has always strongly resisted seeing the hand of God, and this exchange from *Revelations offers a very compelling reason: SCULLY: How is it that you're able to go out on a limb whenever you see a light in the sky, but you're unwilling to accept the possibility of a miracle? Even when it's right in front of you. MULDER: I wait for a miracle every day. But what I've seen here has only tested my patience, not my faith. It seems to me that Mulder rejected the idea of God early on because God didn't fix the terrible wrongness in his life. It makes sense that Mulder would've turned to God at some point after Samantha's abduction, but God didn't make things any better. God would've failed Mulder's expectations, and that kind of adolescent disappointment on top of the horror of the abduction could easily have predisposed Mulder against seeing God in action in his adult life. This season, things have changed. I think *Orison and *Signs and Wonders indicate a big shift in Mulder's belief system. After the events of *Orison, it surely must've occurred to Mulder that God may have had a hand in saving the life of someone he cares about deeply. God may not have returned Samantha, but I think Mulder saw the possibility that the simplest and most logical explanation could be that He led Mulder to Scully when her life was threatened. Now that he's opened himself to the prospect of God, perhaps the leap Mulder made at the end of *Signs and Wonders is simply another instance of Occam's razor - with a new addition to the realm of the possible. -beth .................. Post: Re: Simplest explanation I think that this is a matter of perspective. The simplest explanation for S is diametrically opposite from that of M, and vice versa. Scully: As a scientist one is trained to look for the simplest explanation. Why? Because as a general rule nature does not do things the hard way. Biological bahavior -- be it molecular or chemical or organismal -- evolves in a manner that makes sense and is achievable within the confines of the particular environment encountered. So the simplest explanation would be one that makes sense within the realm of scientific possibilities. For example: ritualistic murder and not UFOs or Bigfoot. Mulder: As a psychologist (did M get a bachelor's degree or a Ph.D. at Oxford?) one is trained to look for the cause and effect of human behavior. However, as Beth has explained so well, his belief system has been shaken from a very early age. I think that it is very human to need to believe in something greater than ourselves that can provide answers to the things that stump us. For M this has been the paranormal. He has accepted that science and psychology is not able to provide all the answers. Granted, I have to point out the holes in my proposal above. S is not your typical M.D. (how many doctors run around with a gun and an FBI badge?) Moreover, the constant conflict within her between science and her spiritual faith has influenced her view of the simplest explanation in the past. Now, I know that some of you disagree and will point out that Scully is strong in her faith. IMHO, one can have faith in God and have doubt at the same time. S is after all, just human and not a saint. This is one of the aspects of S that make her such an interesting character -- her struggle to balance two belief systems that at times oppose each other. There is also a third force at work within S's belief system and it has been getting stronger this 7th season: the acceptance of the paranormal. Where am I going with this? Oh, yes, good job LT and Beth. It seems to me that while S&M complement each other's belief systems, they are progressing toward a common ground. Each will continue to have their stronger influences based on past history, but the simplest explanation may evolve to be the same. -lucyskull
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