"I don't believe in reincarnation,
but I did in my other life."
The second offering from the returning prodigals, Morgan & Wong, is a marked improvement over their first effort. I guess it just takes some practice to get back into the swing of things. Of note is, that as far as I can remember, this is the first opening sequence on The X-Files did not begin as the set-up for what was to follow. Instead, it was, ironically, a flash forward to what we would see again at the episode's denouement. It was a departure from the norm that helped make the episode complete.
Admittedly, this episode had me scrounging around for my Bible, and I did some late-night reading from St. John's "Revelations" to prepare this review. This is not suggested reading if you want to get a good night's sleep. ;-)
Our story opens with a pre-dawn raid on a religious cult's compound by a joint team from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (BATF) and the FBI (FBI) ;-). An anonymous tip about the presence of illegal weapons has brought the two Federal agencies to rural Tennessee (which sounds like a redundancy :-). Ostensibly, Mulder and Scully are part of the team because of the leader's (Vernon Ephesian, chillingly played by Michael Massee) supposed paranormal abilities. The raid yields no weapons, but Mulder, driven by some compelling force, wanders out into the field and heads straight for the cover of an underground bunker. Inside are Ephesian and his six (count 'em, six) wives, all about to partake of potassium cyanide coladas. Mulder prevents the group suicides and all are taken into custody.
Subsequent events reveal that one of the women, Melissa, either suffers from multiple personality disorder or is being possessed by the souls of her past lives. The informant who called the FBI is one of her past incarnations, a man named Sidney from the late 1940s. She then flashes back to a Civil War battle in 1862, and tells Mulder that not only was she there, but that he was there as well.
Director Rob Bowman could have used some standard footage and the all-too-familiar flashback technique to make his point. Instead, Bowman uses his actors, David Duchovny and guest star Kristen Cloke, and their their talents to make us see without using our eyes. The result is Bowman's finest hour behind a camera. Duchovny's Mulder is a complex melange of understated emotions which eventually bubble to the surface in the climactic scene. But the real star of this episode was scene-stealer Kristen Cloke as Melissa, who made me believe that she was indeed being possessed by the souls of her past lives. Ms. Cloke's performance rivals that of last year's Emmy winner Peter Boyle (Clyde Bruckman). She was riveting on the screen, a commanding presence so forceful as to make the consistently wonderful Gillian Anderson almost disappear. This was no small feat.
The recurrent theme through this episode was eternal life. For Ephesian and his followers, eternal life comes from the prophesies of Saint John in the Book of Revelations. Reading through Saint John's version of the Apocalypse late last night gave me pause to wonder. But then I realised that Revelations was what this episode was all about. The revelation that Mulder and Scully are inexorably linked forever, as are Mulder and Cancer Man, Mulder and Samantha and the soulmates, Mulder and Melissa. For them, eternal life is the constant struggle to be with each other, the endless searching for that special someone who gives your life meaning. Melissa bemoans how her heart aches because she and Mulder can't be together. The theme of love through the ages, of love so strong and indomitable that it transcends life and death itself is not a new one. But Morgan and Wong have taken that familiar theme and woven it into the very fabric of The X-Files for ever more. I sincerely hope that they don't just let this thread die, and that it somehow relates to the series when taken as a complete body of work. Relationshippers will have to deal with the fact that as of this episode, Mulder and Scully will never be together in the, uh, Biblical sense. Not in this lifetime, not in the next, not ever.
Complimenting Rob Bowman's superlative direction was Jon Joffin's effective lighting and Heather MacDougall's seamless editing. Mr. Joffin has come a long way from the light-deficient induced squinting of "Home". Shadows and light were used in perfect harmony to produce the desired mood for every scene. Ms. MacDougall's deft touch in the editing room made the episode flow naturally and without any abrupt shifts, enhancing the masterful work of all the players. Finally, I offer my weekly compliments to Mark Snow, for a background score that was so effective, so subtle and yet so vital to the mood and tempo of the episode. Even on the second viewing, it was barely discernible, but ever-present, like the hint of fine perfume on a beautiful woman.
This episode was not without its flaws, particularly with regard to the time line in Mulder's past life. Cancer Man could hardly be a Gestapo officer in the Warsaw Ghetto in 1939 and then be reincarnated as Cancer Man in his twenties in the early 1950s as we saw in "Apochrypha." It is tempting to want to picture Cancer Man as a Nazi in a former life. But the calendar won't let it happen. Still, this minor point didn't detract from the exquisite beauty of the work.
Two weeks ago. I expressed my dire concern that The X-Files had run out of ideas and that the overall quality of the show appeared to be slipping. The past two weeks have allayed my fears, at least temporarily. "The Field Where I Died" is a master work by a group of master craftsmen (and craftswomen), worthy of its own place in the upper echelon of great X-Files episodes. Welcome back, Morgan & Wong. This one's a keeper.
My Score: 9.9 out of 10