"Diseases desperate grown,
By desperate appliance are relieved,
Or not at all."
-- "Hamlet", Act VI, Scene 3
"Memento Mori" is a Latin phrase that means, "remember that you have to die." This would seem to be in contradiction to the season-opener where the Uniblonde tells Mulder, "Not everything dies." These three little words offer a glimmer of hope for the terminally ill Dana Scully as she faces inoperable brain cancer in "Memento Mori." Of course, on The X-Files, where anything is possible, we're pretty sure that Scully will not fall victim to this insidious disease. It will be the journey and how it fits in to the A/GC mythology that will provide the entertainment.
The episode opens with a camera slowing moving through a dark, enclosed space, heading towards a lighted area where Scully is examining the results of her own MRI. This technique was very effective, although somewhat clichéd. Many people who have had near-death experiences recall walking down a dark corridor, heading towards the light when they were brought back to the living. Scully, by virtue of her medical training, has already reached the light, seeing for herself what she already knew from her encounter with Leonard Betts. Later, director Rob Bowman once again uses his deft skills to depict death coming from the light when Scully awakens after checking into the hospital in Allentown. She sees the image of someone obscured by a bright light, and as her eyes clear, she makes out the image of Doctor Scanlon, who is supposed to represent hope for her condition. In reality, this image is a portend of death, the death that will come to Scully if she allows Dr. Scanlon to treat her for her cancer.
The voice-over while the camera moves towards Scully was as poetic as anything I have ever heard on TV. The writing credits for "Memento Mori" lists CC, Vince Gilligan, John Shiban and Frank Spotnitz. Whoever is responsible for this wonderful soliloquy (yes, we have all learned our lessons from reading "Macbeth" in high school, haven't we? ;-) richly deserves the accolades that accrue to superior writing. And "Memento Mori" teems with superior writing from start to finish. Scully's voice-overs, most notably when she begins her radiation therapy, impact the viewer in a way that few television shows can these days. The analogy of cancer being the demon that modern science has to exorcise is both lyrical and touching. The depth of the writing is underscored by just how affected a viewer was as he or she listened to the words while viewing the mechanics of modern cancer treatment. Despite all the advances of modern medical science, treatment for cancer is still something that touches us at our very core. Scully's imagery in the opening sequence, where she talks about "tethers loosed and the continuance of the journey" shows just how deeply intertwined the lives of Scully and Mulder are; they are bound together inexorably by circumstances beyond their control, and Scully apologizes for not being able to make the rest of the journey with Mulder.
Gillian Anderson's performance was on a par with that in "Never Again," which I called her best performance ever. She went through an emotional wringer and put the viewer through it with her. I'm beginning to think that there isn't anything that this peerless actress can't do with a script. She made us feel the pain, the agony, the desperation, the despair, the resignation, and finally the determination that was meant to be communicated in this episode. Rob Bowman's excellent direction not only elicited this fine performance from Ms. Anderson, but he also managed to draw out a sensitive, caring Fox Mulder from David Duchovny. One of my favorite scenes was when Scully was telling AD Skinner that she wanted to pursue treatment for her illness through the Justice Department. In the background, Mulder was nodding his head in complete agreement as she spoke. It was the little details such as these that make one appreciate the consistent quality of The X-Files that runs from the actors to all the technical people involved.
Interestingly, although Mulder and Scully were on screen together for only brief periods of time, they were together while they were apart. Scully's diary entries showed where her heart was, and Mulder's actions in search of the impossible cure lead him deeper into the heart of the conspiracy. But this time, he was motivated by his devotion to Scully rather than his search for Samantha. His willingness to deal with the devil, CSM, revealed new bounds in his dedication to his partner. In the end, it made the bond between him and Scully all the stronger.
The supporting cast performed at the same intensity level as the stars. Sheila Larkin turned in another gripping performance in her all-to-brief portrayal as Scully's mother. In the moment when she hugs Dana and cries about Dana being the only daughter she has left, I could see that she was grieving as much for her lost Melissa as for Dana. She's the perfect mom, displaying the anger and resentment that would naturally follow hearing the news that her daughter had cancer, and hearing it from someone other than her daughter.
Gillian Barber absolutely shone as the doomed Penny Northern. Barber managed to display hope and comfort mixed with the sorrow of knowing that her days were numbered. She comforted Scully with her reminiscence of their abduction ordeal, and she gave her hope, albeit a false hope, with her referral to Dr. Scanlon. Her resignation to the terminal nature of her disease was offset by her words of encouragement to Scully, and Barber played the role perfectly.
But it was the stone-faced, hard-as-nails Mitch Pileggi who rose to the top for me. His insistence that Mulder "find another way" when he knows that the only thing he can do is to make a deal with CSM displayed a connection to Scully (and by extension, Mulder) that was heretofore suppressed. He wasn't about to let Mulder sell out to CSM, but he would do it in Mulder's stead. Skinner made a lot of fans when he sent Mulder packing and then took matters into his own hands. He knew full well that CSM would exact a terrible price in exchange for Scully's life, but he was willing to pay that price. Somehow, the word "hero" just seems inadequate. This was Pileggi's best performance in some time, and it was a fitting contribution to the entire work.
The Lone Gunmen, absent from the show for too long, helped stage a break-in that was reminiscent of last summer's Mission: Impossible break-in of CIA headquarters. They're at their best with computers and electronic gadgets in their hands, working to help Mulder and Scully. The techno-babble was doled out in just the right amount, and Byers' dodging the authorities while trying to buy time for Mulder was excellent. Here's a guy who spends most of his time in front of a CRT now out there on the front lines, putting his life at risk, totally dependent on his cohorts' technical skills for his survival. That scared rabbit look as he hid behind the wall spoke volumes.
Editor Michael S. Stern's editing did justice to Bowman's masterful direction. Bowman captured a poignant moment when Scully entered the former MUFON headquarters. Scully's eyes panned the room and then faded to a hazy image of the group. The recollection caused Scully to touch the back of her neck where the implant once resided while her gaze back in time remained fixed. The fade-in was perfect, as was every other scene change.
Mark Snow's background score set the tone for each scene perfectly. I'm simply running out of new ways to say this, in much the same way that I'm running out of ways to describe the sheer genius that Gillian Anderson brings to the small screen week after week.
"Memento Mori" was a unique episode in that it was the product of 4 writers and it was a stand-alone conspiracy episode. I thought I recognized the hand of Chris Carter when Mulder was trying to escape the conspiracy's hit-man in the research center, and the climax, where Mulder and Scully embrace had "Vince Gilligan" (if you'll pardon the expression) written all over it. But the blend was a wonderfully homogenous mixture of suspense and emotion. There was a revelation about the nature of "The Project"; and this revelation, as do most in the mythology, raised two questions for every answer it provided. Other than the scene where the car with the new assassin drives up to the door while at least 5 people watch him enter Betsy Hagopian's house before he kills the first Kirk Crawford clone, this episode was free of incongruities. I can easily overlook this one scene, which did not detract from the whole.
The blend of nonpareil acting, skillful direction, seamless editing and exquisite background music combined with a script that tugged at your heart in one minute and made it race in the next. It was the best of all possible worlds, and is beyond reproach.
My Score: 10 out of 10