"O God! it is a fearful thing
To see the human soul take wing
In any shape, in any mood"
-- Lord Byron, "Prisoner of Chillon"
"I'm as mad as hell,
and I'm not gonna take it any more!"
-- Howard Beal, Network
"Never Again" is supposedly Morgan & Wong's final effort for The X-Files. But I'll use one of their lines from the episode, "Never say never." It is a striking study into the deep recesses of the psyche of one Dana Katherine Scully, not to be confused with that of Dana Scully, MD., and Special Agent for the FBI.
The two seemingly disparate quotes used to introduce this review are really apropos when this episode is viewed as a character study of Dana Scully. In another sterling performance that's just one in a continuous stream of sterling performances, Gillian Anderson once again proves why she is without peer among TV dramatic actresses today. "Never Again" gives Anderson the opportunity to demonstrate her range and versatility, and she is more than up to the task. From her opening appearance on screen to the final fade-out, Anderson takes so many risks with her character that my senses were bombarded. Mr. Carter, this is the episode to send to the Emmy nominating committee.
Morgan & Wong's script, under the unerring eye of director Rob Bowman, elicits a performance from Anderson that stretches the boundaries of her character. It was not by chance that Scully seemed preoccupied with a rose while Mulder interviewed a former Soviet scientist about yet another "lead" that will prove the existence of aliens on Earth. Scully's fascination with a single rose petal is a metaphor for her life. She is single, and the bloom on her own rose is starting to fade from neglect. She has traded any chance for happiness for a role as Captain Ahab's first mate. What finally dawns on her is that she isn't even considered an equal by her partner; Mulder only sees her as a highly competent assistant. Her dedication to Mulder's cause (and it is his cause) has seen her be abducted, lose a sister, nearly kill her partner in a TV-induced psychosis, and endure countless brushes with death. And for what? She doesn't even rate a desk in her own office. Armed with a rebellious attitude and knowing in her heart that she has cancer, Dana takes to the streets of Philadelphia (with apologies to Bruce Springsteen :-) where she encounters a man who's having hallucinatory encounters with a recent tattoo. After determining that Mulder's Soviet contact is a swindler, she's ready to pack it in, until Mulder pushes her over the edge by reacting with incredulity at the notion that she might have a date.
Hurt by Mulder's questioning her judgment and angered by his condescending tone, she decides that she's had enough of being treated that way, and she calls Ed Jerse (Rodney Rowland), the man from the tattoo parlor. This is Dana, not Scully, and there is a big difference. Dana reverts back to the rebellious 13-year old who sneaked out of her house to smoke her mother's cigarettes because of the thrill of being caught. She asks Ed to take her to the "sleazy bar" instead of one of the "nice restaurants near the river." She gets her own tattoo, a snake chewing on its own tail, the symbol of eternal frustration. In her own words to Mulder, Dana says that she wouldn't mind it so much if they were running around in circles, but they seem to be on a never-ending line.
Even when Ed writes Dana a little note when he goes out for breakfast, the symbolism is rife: under his name, he makes one single O, and one single X. It's a metaphor for her life: the never ending circle of frustration, caused by the X-Files. From what we have seen of it, Dana's life must be like this, night after lonely night when she and Mulder are not on the road: she comes home, flips off her shoes, puts on her comfortable slippers and contemplates what she'll make for dinner in the microwave while she watches a little TV. It never gets any better; they don't seem to be any closer to cracking the conspiracy, and the noble motive of searching for the truth, of doing something altruistic, has grown wearisome. Her soul longs to be free, if only temporarily, and she's going to show Mulder and Skinner and everyone else that even if she isn't in control of her life, she's sure going to look like she is.
In a limited role, David Duchovny turns in a nice performance as the self-absorbed Fox Mulder. Bowman has Duchovny play Mulder the way a typical, self-centered man would, and it works without becoming a cliché. Everything Mulder does seems to be right in character, right down to the final fade-out, where Mulder leaves the unspoken words ". . . but it's my life, too," hanging in the air.
Director Bowman created some extraordinary visual images. The most notable was the footage of the camera preceding Ed down the stairs to the basement where he disposes of his neighbor's body. This sequence was reminscent of the closing of one of my favorite episodes of Cheers from the first season. Fifteen years later, Bowman emulates the master, James Burrows, to perfection. After alighting in the basement, Bowman pans the entire basement to give the viewer an objective view of the scene before settling on the opening of the bloody box containing the body. It was a most effective use of time and place in setting the stage. Another gem was the sequence where the camera slowly exits from the apartment while Dana and Ed are kissing, and the door closes. It's hard not to be impressed with shots like these, that capture the mood of the action without dialogue. Bowman is becoming a master craftsman at this. BTW, Mr. Carter, you can send this episode to the Emmy committee for direction as well. Rob Bowman has earned a nomination with his work in "Never Again."
Editor Jim Gross makes the frequent transitions from locale to locale very nicely. Since M & S spent most of the time apart in this episode, their phone interaction was more than it normally is. To make the episode flow smoothly requires a deft touch in the editing room, since you have to cut from one scene to another quickly. Mr. Gross's final product was beyond reproach. Director of Photography Jon Joffin gave us a look at the dark side of one of TV's most photogenic actresses. The use of reduced lighting on Dana as opposed to the bright lights of the office (Scully) provides a symbolic view of the two sides of this complex woman. Even the music was used to marvelous effect in this episode. In addition to the exceptional score by the consistently amazing Mark Snow, Morgan & Wong use an old song by The Partridge Family, "Doesn't Somebody Want to Be Wanted?" to set the background theme for this episode. Dana wants to be wanted for herself.
But this was a Dana/Scully episode from start to finish. Gillian Anderson displayed such range that the actual X-File wasn't even secondary to the enjoyment of this episode. Scully says that she doesn't go out much. When she was talking with Ed for the first time in the tattoo parlor, you could see that she was attracted to him. Yet Anderson simply averted his eyes when it became apparent that Ed was interested in her; her message was loud, but her actions quiet. The subtle nuances of Anderson's performance ran through the entire episode, much the way Mark Snow's background score does. It's so perfectly done, so smooth and so dead-on, that you could almost miss it. "Never Again" is another one of those episode that requires repeated viewings to fully appreciate it.
It was not by chance that the initial view of Scully was at the Viet Nam Memorial, a symbol of the frustration and loss for a generation of Americans. From my perspective, "Never Again" was symbolic in both title and in action. I saw this episode as one where Scully was trying to muster up the fortitude to say to herself, "Never again will I be intimidated by the father figures in my life. Never again will I allow Mulder to order me around like an underling. Never again will I sacrifice my personal life for the job. Never again will I not be the Dana Scully I want to be. " Can she keep those promises to herself, and grow to be the person she wants to be? I can't say for sure, but it's going to be treat to watch and see firsthand.
My Score: 10 out of 10