AIR DATE:  November 4, 1994
Written by Glen Morgan and James Wong
Directed by David Nutter

	"3" is one of those X-Files episodes that was a missed opportunity
and had the misfortune to come after a great two parter.  So it was a no
win situation for "3" to ever match the intensity and drama of "Duane
Barry/Asscension" two parter and it didn't help that the story itself was
relatively weak. 

	The missed opportunity for us was seeing how Mulder dealt with
losing Scully's support with her abduction and if he had any type of guilt
attached to it.  We saw in the previous 6 episodes how important Scully
had become to Mulder through her help in cases and in emotional support
when he needed it, most especially during "Little Green Men".  In "3"  we
get a little bit of it at the beginning when we see Mulder has opened up
an X-File on Scully and later on when we see him wearing Scully's cross, a
symbol that he hasn't given up on finding her and it is a way to have her
close to him.  Unfortunately, "3" doesn't really go beyond that in having
us see Mulder deal with his feelings toward Scully.  This is something we
have to wait for in "One Breath".  It could be said his easily falling for
Kristen was part of the emotional fallout of Scully's disappearence
because it is unlikely he would have been so reckless with Kristen if
Scully were there.  There is definitely a tone of depression in Mulder and
the appearance of him just going through the motions throughout this
episode, but it wasn't enough to help us see how Scully's disappearance
affected Mulder. 

	Another problem with "3" was it had Mulder being both Scully and
Mulder so that at one moment he will be doing his usual Mulder thing of
saying these people are vampires and the next saying he doesn't believe
these people are who they say they are.  We end up with a Mulder who
doesn't know who he is and it affects the story because we end up missing
the give and take we are used to seeing between Scully and Mulder when
they discuss what is going on.  With no one for Mulder to play off it
affected the tone of "3" and it didn't help that there wasn't much
chemistry between Mulder and Kristen.  One could see there was a bit of an
attaction of two lost souls trying to find themselves in a crazy and
dangerous world, but would Mulder have had sex so quickly with her.  Then
again it is Mulder who has a thing for being careless in these situations.

	Now after criticizing "3" I have to say it isn't as bad as I
remembered it.  I remembered after seeing it repeated how bad I thought it
was, but seeing it again a few years later it wasn't as bad as I thought
even though it does have its problems.  I don't know much about vampire
legends so anything they said about it didn't bother me and I think it is
one of those legend things that has changed over the years.  It did have
some interesting Mulder moments such as when Mulder said he doesn't have a
motel room because he doesn't sleep anymore (boy, did it ever look like he
hadn't slept).  The best Mulder moment was Mulder finally getting lucky
even if it was with a weirdo bloodsucking woman.  What other type of woman
could Mulder be attracted to?  Also, the forensics doctor was a nice touch
as someone who is shaken by what Mulder is saying about the now burned to
a crisp John.  It was these nice little touches that made "3" a better
episode than it first appeared.

	Now some miscellaneous comments on "3":

- Mulder doesn't just get beat up and lose his gun once in "3, but he gets
beat up and loses his gun 3 times.  I think that is a record for Mulder in
a single episode.  You see what happens when Scully isn't around to help
him out. 

- I was happy to see they didn't turn Mulder's office back into the copier
room while the X-Files was closed down.  As a matter of fact they were
even nice enough to put dust covers over everything.  Heck, they even
reconnected his basement phone quickly.  Here at the old University it can
take days for the phone people to come rehook a phone. 

- Let's see I'm going into the club to see if I can find any of John's
bloodsucking friends so how should I dress so I don't stick out in the
crowd.  Oh, I know how, let's go in a suit and tie.  Now that won't say
cop to the crowd, will it?

- For a vampire John wasn't very good as one because he easily got caught
twice by Mulder.  It's a wonder he wasn't caught sooner. 

- I have to admit I found Mulder's attempts to protect Kristen somewhat
amusing because everything he did failed.  Why did Mulder leave John in
the house when he had him under control? 

- Kristen should have known she was going to die since the Bonanza
syndrome affects anyone who's had a thing with Mulder or Scully. 

	I wonder how I would have reviewed "3" when it was first telecast. 
My guess is I would have been a lot harder on it than I am today, like I
would be a lot harder on "Terma" if I was writing about it today. 
Watching it by itself, even with its problems, it wasn't as bad an episode
as it has been made out to be.  "3" could have been so much more, but it
wasn't so we have to take it for what it is, a minor episode that bridged
the gap between Scully's abduction and return. 


Claudia
E-Mail:  Claudia.Cauchon@unh.edu

10/27/97

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