AIR DATE:  May 16, 1999
Written by Chris Carter and Frank Spotnitz
Directed by Rob Bowman

	"Biogensis" brings back the issue of aliens being the forces
behind life on earth in some form or another and having a helping hand in
writing the Bible.  Also, we are to believe Mulder suddenly decides the
real reason he works on the X-Files is to find his sister.  Gee, I thought
he had all but given up searching for her since she hardly been mentioned
since Cigarette Smoking Man supposedly showed her to him.  It seems these
past two seasons Chris Carter and gang will just briefly mention Mulder's
sister to prove they haven't forgotten that his sister was the original
reason for his quest to find the truth.  It is doubtful if she had never
been taken he ever would have been involved in the X-Files or become a
thorn in the Consortium.  One of the biggest disappointments in X-Files
was when they went with the alien invasion story and dropped Mulder's
search for his sister.  Some of the best episodes ("Paper Hearts",
"Conduit")  dealt with the emotional impact of this single event on
Mulder's life, but it seems Mulder's character has been stuck in a rut
since he gave up his search.

	The first suprise in "Biogensis" came with Scully once again for
plot's sake questions Mulder as to why they are still searching for the
truth.  Gee, Scully it is fairly self-evident why you are still working on
the X-Files.  This creates the second surprise in the episode because two
seconds later Scully is all gungho investigating the case. One minute she
has one of Mulder's old expert friends checking out the artifact drawing
and the next she is off to New Mexico looking for Dr.  Sandoz.  Thank
goodness for Scully otherwise they wouldn't be any further in this case
with Mulder having his attacks that are making him crazy.

	Be that as it may, "Biogensis" wasn't a bad episode.  It was
entertaining in its own way and the acting was excellent as it usually is,
especially Duchovny showing Mulder's distress at hearing voices or
whatever it was and Anderson showing Scully's look of disbelief when she
realized Skinner has been spying on them.  The pacing and directing were
fine.  The idea of Mulder finally going over the edge was great to see
though it would have been nicer if it was done differently, such as
letting us see the slow decline instead of having him suddenly in the nut
ward.  We always knew Mulder would finally go over the edge so it was good
seeing it finally happening. 

	Now a few comments on "Biogensis":

- We should all thank Chris Carter and Frank Spotnitz for the little
historical lesson we got on the origins of life on earth at the beginning
of the episode.  I need it for the test I'm taking tomorrow.  Also, it let
us know it is a Chris Carter script even before we see the credits, and
I'm glad they are reusing scenes from the movie. 

- The artifact must either be very evil or it was psychic and knew Dr. 
Mermallen would open the bible to the passage that is supposedly on the
artifact.  Most likely it was so we would get it later on for those of us
who are not familiar with the bible. 

- What exactly was the importance of the artifact spinning around?  Was it
supposed to be scary?  Or was it supposed to show us that this is alien
because only an alien artifact could do such a thing. Either way there
didn't seem to be any reason to have it spinning around other than to show
it isn't your typical artifact. 

- "Panspermia" - Well, I guess I learned something new today.  With a name
like that no wonder not everyone takes it seriously. 

- As always Scully takes action by making sure when she needed a
projection screen in the office there was one. 

- There was a great opportunity for Mulder to say he was fine to Scully,
but they never had him say those words.

- What is happening to Scully when she isn't even carrying a pair of latex
gloves with her?  I thought they were a part of her, like flashlights. 

- Dr. Barnes can sure move fast and quietly when not only is he able to
take Dr. Merkmallen body to Dr. Sandoz's apartment, but also chop off his
limbs.

- Exactly what does the tape Skinner gave to Ratboy prove other than
Scully and Mulder are closer to figuring out what the artifact is about
and what happened to Dr. Mermallen. Everything Skinner heard could have
been just told to Ratboy.

- Poor Floyd Red Crow Westerman, his big part was to be stuck in a
hospital room unconscious.  Why does that seem like such a waste? 

- Whew, I was a little worried when Scully went in the staircase to look
for Dr. Sandoz because we know what happens in staircases on X-Files. Just
look at what happened to Mulder.  Dr. Sandoz must not believe those signs
on doors that say the alarm will sound if you open the door though why he
was still hanging by the door instead of leaving is an X-Files in itself
since he had plenty of time to leave from the time Scully first hears the
alarm and catches up with him. 

- Not only do I feel sorry for Westerman, but I also feel sorry for Mimi
Rogers who is never given much to do with her character, Diana Fowley,
other than a convenient foil to Scully.  It has been a year since her
character has been introduced and she still hasn't been fully developed. 
What was her relationship to Mulder other than they founded the X-Files
together?  What has she been doing since "Two Fathers/One Son"  where her
and CSM were about to give up on humanity, especially after Scully said
they exposed the Consortium plans (one of the funniest lines in the
episode because it sure didn't seem that way from the past few episodes).
Mulder must not be thinking clearly if he called her first over everyone
else that he knows who are more trustworthy than her.  To me this didn't
make sense, but they had to bring her back in somehow.  Having her taking
off her shirt before she enters Mulder's bedroom was a bit much.

- My favorite part of the episode was after Scully tells Skinner over a
cellular phone that she is in Gallup, New Mexico with Dr. Sandoz, Dr. 
Sandoz tells Scully not to tell anyone where he is.  Ahh, I think she just
did Dr. Sandoz considering you were standing right next to her and could
hear everything she was saying.

- I love TV consequences when Dr. Sandoz is killed just as he is talking
to Scully. 

- Scully in khaki.  Whoa, never thought I'll see the day she would wear
that color, but she was on the beach so she had to blend in.  It was an
abrupt change from her basic gray and black suits. 

- Marc Snow went overboard with the music as they pull the camera up to
expose what we are to believe is an ancient crash alien ship off the coast
of Africa as Scully looks at it.  It was the old important music cue for
us though it was a good shot to convey the importance of this discovery.
Now I can't wait to see how Scully gets it through customs.

	"Biogenesis" ends what has been a disappointing season where
Scully and Mulder acted out of character, some episodes never really
happened, they tense us about Scully and Mulder's relationship (one show
they are close and the next one they are at each other's throat) or plots
that were laughably bad.  I have to admit even though I don't think
"Biogenesis" was a great season finale I still can't wait to see how they
resolve it from what the alien ship means (if it is alien) to how Mulder
gets out of the psych ward.  It just would be nice if they would stop
ignoring what happened in previous episodes for months then suddenly
mention the events in an episode.  Mulder suddenly saying he is still
looking for his sister is a good example because he hadn't mentioned her
or even appeared to care to look for her in 2 years.  It was fine doing
this the first few seasons, but it has become frustrating after 6 seasons
where it doesn't seem as if the story is moving on and they are too busy
introducing new things before they clear up the old plots. 


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

5/18/99

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