SEASON 1

SEASON 2

SEASON 3

SEASON 4

SEASON 5

FIGHT THE FUTURE

SEASON 6

SEASON 7

SEASON 8

SEASON 9

< PREVIOUS

So, what's happening again? Oh yeah -- Mulder's raving some more about how the government planned all of this and they don't care about sacrificing lives and all the usual. Except this is all new(ish) to Scully, so she's staring raptly at him with her humongonormous blue eyes (or maybe she's just enjoying how hot he looks in that shirt). She counters that the government has a right to protect its secrets. "But at what cost?" says Mulder. "When does the human cost become too high for the building of a better machine?" Well, that all depends. Just how awesome is this machine? Can it, for example, record any TV you want it to whenever you tell it? Or, perhaps, vacuum your living room for you? Or rollerskate? Some things are bigger than us, is all I'm saying. Scully backs off: The kidnap victim is back. The case is over. Let's get the crap out of here. Mulder dangles the picture of the floating triangle from the diner in front of her face. "Aren't you even curious?" he asks. Scully puts the picture aside and sits down stubbornly. I think that means no. Don't worry, Mulder, she'll come around. In about seven years.

Mulder nods, and then immediately gets suspiciously cooperative. He's going to shower and pack, and then they'll leave. See, he's not so unreasonable. Scully watches him go, looking pensive. Until -- oh crap. She hears the car start, the tires squeal, and there's Mulder, blowing by her in the Oldsmobile. "Mul-DER!" Scully yells after him, bursting through the door. "Where are you GOING?" Too late. She stands in the parking lot, looking exceedingly pissed off. Four words, kiddo: Get. Used. To. It.

Where he's going is to a hole in the fence surrounding the base, accompanied by none other than Seth Green and Possible Future Mrs. Seth Green. Remember when guys wore thermal underwear underneath jeans with massive rips in the knees? That actually was a style at one time, wasn't it? Boy oh boy. Seth and Girl Seth aren't coming, but they tell Mulder to stay on the path for 45 minutes or so (man, wouldn't it be easier just to get stoned in the basement when their parents aren't home or something?). But Mulder wants to know where the Yellow Base hangar is. "It's like ten miles!" Seth says. "Nobody's ever been that far..." Sounds like a challenge to Mulder! He's a federal agent! He can definitely sneak into a base more effectively than some random slackers. Shirt untucked for maximum efficiency, he stalks off.

Night. Mulder steps out from the grass, and he's on pavement, with Experimental Plane HQ looming in the background. There's a light in the sky, approaching. Mulder watches it. Wow, that thing is coming fast. It's -- holy crap, man! It's an honest-to-God spaceship, or it sure looks like one. Shaped like a triangle, just like the previews promised. It stops over Mulder. It hovers. It looks -- really really cool. Remember what I said before about how every once in a while the space stuff gives me a chill? That goes for this scene too. Mulder's got a wonderful expression of mixed awe and ecstasy. Suddenly -- a blinding light. Then the ship zooms off. Mulder gapes after it. And then, of course, ruining all the fun, come a bunch of assholes in trucks. Mulder runs, but -- as he is to find out numerous times throughout the series -- he cannot, in fact, outrun a truck. I've actually considered before trying to catalog how many times Mulder tries to outrun a motor vehicle on this show. I mean, David is a triathalon runner (triathaloner? triathalon runner/biker/swimmer?). Mulder's got a good set of legs on him. But still. You're just never going to win that one, Muldster, no matter how much you want to believe. Sure enough, the trucks catch up with him. He's wrestled onto a stretcher and driven off as they put a gas mask over his face and prepare to inject him with something. Gaaaah!

Motel, the next morning. OK, I had this whole rant ready to go about how I couldn't understand the timeline of this thing and it was day again and Scully was wearing the same outfit and I couldn't figure out what was happening and 1013 are idiots and blah blah, the usual. Then I just noticed on a rewatch that there's actually a timestamp that says 6:30 am. Well, duh. I? Am unobservant. So, evidently Scully's been up all night, because she is, as I mentioned, wearing the same outfit, and the same hairdo. She's trying to make a call, and telling the operator that she can't get a long-distance line. Hey, you know what might help with that? If you had your own phone that you could carry around in your pocket and use whenever you wanted. Oh, 1993. She gets cut off, and, like the n00b she is, leaves her gun on the table as she runs to the motel office to try their phone. No luck there either. The manager says this isn't unusual. Scully is on the point of having to send a fax, or maybe a FedEx.