I wouldn't be the first to comment on M & S as the poster couple for sublimation. As far as the MSR goes, you either see it or you don't, but far more of us see it than don't. But rather than make excuses for why we don't see "it," or why "it" hasn't happened, or why "it" can't or won't, I say "it" has, if we redefine it. Now I'm no Ken Starr, but I do believe that--outside of a Grand Jury hearing, and strictly within the confines of popular culture--sexual meaning is diffused throughout a "text" in countless ways. In fact I would argue that the erotic is very rarely represented by genital activity or even signs of physical closeness, but can be signified by not only a touch, a glance, or a smile, but even by its "absence," by the explicit lack of sexual connection when that lack is underlined and "foregrounded" by the narrative. For instance, the times when M or S have come close to death, and are rescued only to have a law enforcement or medical authority intervene, the camera turning away with Scully at the end of Pusher, the gap between the cow destroying Mulder's room and the next day (in other words, the narrative explicitly cut that scene out, bringing it to our attention by its absence). So, given my thesis that TXF is one of the most erotic shows ever (due not only to the charisma of DD and GA, but the cinematography, editing, et al), I have a theory as to what constitutes the deepening MSR in seasons 5 and 6 and why--although they seem right now so far apart--M & S could said to be closer than ever.

Most viewers, if they had to, could list several reasons for why M & S "can't" have a sexual relationship at this point in TXF, but near the top of everyone's list would be that they are both, at this point, consumed by their careers. They sublimate desire by focusing their energy and attention on their caseload, and, in the world of TXF, the journey to a solution of each case--even if that solution is thwarted--provides an erotic charge. Their relationship as partners is strengthened by their collaboration, and the best episodes are those in which they work in tandem to solve a case even when--as in Drive and SR819--they are in different physical locations, connected only by a disembodied, but sensual voice. Because for each, life is career, the give and take, the push and pull in their working relationship is their "sexual" relationship, with mutual pleasure derived from the progress toward a common goal.

So what might represent an intensified and more erotically-charged relationship now, given the surface angst of season 6? What I find signifies the most intensely "erotic" moments of recent episodes has little or nothing to do with physical moments between the agents. Rather, it is Mulder allowing himself to adopt Scully's objective, rational stance towards his work and--most strikingly (since she is arguably the more repressed of the two), Scully not only opening up to the intuitive and supernatural but--as many people pointed out--actually "becoming" Mulder in Tithonus. As I look back over the last few seasons, I see--little by little--each one adopt traits and procedures employed by the other. I started to see this not only as a subconscious "tribute" of each to the other, but as a way of connecting to one another in a deeper sense, of allowing each other inside in a much more intimate way that mere words or gestures might. In the same sense that a woman might get an erotic charge out of wearing her boyfriend's over-sized shirt, so Scully "tries out" Mulder's mindset, to get to a place she would otherwise never visit. And when Mulder pulls back from his theories and exercises an empirical objectivity that conflicts with his beliefs, it represents a highly-charged shift of character. Although misguided in PX/TRATB , Mulder's reversal tries to internalize Scully's original narrative (the government is solely responsible for abductions and their aftermath) and "unite" with her. That she has moved at this point is a rather clumsy but necessary prolongation of the "mating dance." As they become more and more like one another, the intensity of the partnership heats up, and the two opposed agents draw closer to union, as one mind and soul coming to a mutually-fulfilling consummation. Or so I hope!