AIR DATE:  February 2, 1997
Written by Glen Morgan & James Wong
Directed by Rob Bowman

	"Never Again" is a solid knockout episode for Glen Morgan and
James Wong to go out on.  They bring out into the open Scully and Mulder's
relationship more in this episode than in any other except maybe "One
Breath".  It is hard to believe it took this long for Scully to finally
get a little bit frustrated by Mulder's relentless chase for aliens.  It
makes me think of the recent Bayliss and Pembleton partnership breakup on
"Homicide" where Bayliss finally decided he was sick of being in
Pembleton's overpowering shadow.  Scully, it appears, might be getting a
little sick of being in Mulder's shadow and getting nowhere in her
professional or personal life.  There is poor Mulder at a lost for words,
not quite knowing how to approach the situation.  Just like Pembleton he
would rather act as if everything is fine and pretend there is nothing
wrong, but there is definitely something wrong at the heart of the
X-Files.

	The desk was an interesting way of having Scully ask Mulder about
her position in the X-Files because it symbolizes her not being a part of
the X-Files while at the same time she is a part of it.  As always Mulder
misses the boat or wants to be in denial about it all.  Now if this
episode had truly been planned to be shown before last week's episode than
we could interpret what was revealed to her in last week's episode in even
broader terms.  At the end of last week's episode we have a stunned Scully
sitting in the car after Leonard Betts indicates she has cancer.  It only
confirms her worse fear that working in the X-Files and staying loyal to
Mulder has cost her in ways she never could have imagined.  This only
makes next week's episode even more anticipated to see where this is going
since this is something that should have happened a long time ago.  Are
the X-Files truly Scully's life work?  Mulder is using the X-Files as a
means to find his sister and uncover the government conspiracy while
Scully was assigned to the X-Files and started to believe in the
conspiracy and in Mulder, though it always has been questioned how far she
would be willing to go compared to Mulder.  We have always thought of
Scully and Mulder as equals though it is always Mulder who decides what
cases to pursue as we see here where Scully doesn't really see this case
as worth pursuing, but decides to investigate due to her loyality to
Mulder.  Add on the insult that Mulder doesn't even trust her judgment
when she says she has turned over the case to the local bureau due to lack
of evidence to support the man's claim.  It is no wonder Scully feels she
is at that point in her life where she feels ready to rebel against an
authority figure (Mulder?), or at least for a change in her life. 

	The final scene where they pan up with no music was great in
showing the growing tension between them.  Mulder at a lost of words on
what to say to Scully and Scully sitting there with her head down knowing
there is nothing Mulder can say to make the situation better.  This is the
second week in a row in which we had an outstanding ending.  Last week we
had a stunned Scully sitting in their car and this week we had a stony
silence in Mulder's office.  Wow, it is amazing how much can be said by
saying nothing at all.

	Now the overall plot was pretty good and kind of funny in a way. 
It was a good X-Files in that we really didn't get an answer if the tattoo
was talking to Jerse or he was going crazy with the help of the substance
used in the red dye.  The best part of the murderous tattoo were the lines
Jodie Foster was given to say because you can just see Ed Jerse after
getting divorced (how often will he get to see his kids), he could think
of himself as a loser.  The line of not even the Jehovah's Witnesses
wanting to bother with him was too damn funny.  Unlike last week's mutant
monster villian you can't help but feel sorry for Ed Jerse whose life
seems to be coming apart. 

	Some miscellaneous comments of "Never Again":

- Some people thought it was sickly funny when Morgan and Wong used that
song "Wonderful World" (I think that was it) in "Home" as the brothers
murdered the sheriff and his wife.  Well, no, in tonight's episode using
that Partridge family song whose name escapes me as Jerse is murdering the
woman downstairs was the sickest joke they ever thought of in the show.  I
also liked how it was decided to have camera pan down the hallway to the
stairs to basement where we see him dragging the body.  They did the same
thing as Jerse is seducing Scully.

- Not that I'm saying an old apartment complex wouldn't have a furnace
like the one in Jerse apartment and the place did seemed kind of run down,
but I got to kind of wonder about the fire being in the furnace.  It
almost looked like it was being fueled by coal and not oil.  This just has
one of those plot convenience things written all over it.

- Even when Mulder goes on vacation he rents a car as one could see the
rental car company name on the bumper of his car as he is calling Scully
from who the hell knows where in Tennessee.  Didn't we see him driving his
own car in "Paper Hearts"?

- Having Mulder going to Graceland was another funny thing Morgan and Wong
did in the episode.  He couldn't tell Scully where he was going because it
was a personnal journey he always wanted to do.  What it really was is he
was too embarrassed to tell Scully he was going to spend his vacation at
Graceland.

- This is the second Chris Carter show (Millennium being the other) where
a song by X was used in the backround.  Now if I only could get him to use
some of my favorite semi famous bands then I'll be really happy.

- Scully and Jerse were really dressed light considering there was
supposed to be a blizzard going on outside.  He's running around in his
t-shirt and she's ready to go outside without a jacket, boots, hat or
gloves.  I guess that furnace must put out the heat since neither one of
them appeared to be cold or worried about the blizzard.  To tell the truth
you wouldn't even think a blizzard was going on from their reaction and
the two cops that came up to question Jerse. 

- One big plus for the show was not having Jerse finding Scully's badge
though did anyone think Betty saw it lying on the floor and put it all
together.  Now that would be creepy. 

- As always I can miss the most obvious thing when a fellow X-Files friend
called me up and mentioned did I see the Millennium connection in Scully's
tattoo.

- Just like TV parking, I wish I could have an internet hook up as fast as
Scully did using Jerse's computer.

- I enjoyed Mulder being stuck in the "use it or lose it" situation with
his vacation time.  Notice how Scully doesn't have this problem since they
most likely made her use up all her vacation time for her abduction.

- Bravo to Morgan and Wong for remembering Scully's story about sneaking
cigarettes when she was a teenager in the episode "Beyond the Sea".  I
think it is the first time this season they got their facts straight about
past character history on the show.

	Another excellent X-Files episode where we get a good X-Files in
the murderous tattoo and some great Scully and Mulder interaction.  It
always did seem a matter of time before Scully would get a little bit
frustrated with the state of her life and might want to reevaluate it.
"Never Again" brought this up nicely along with Mulder not understanding
what is bothering Scully.


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

2/3/97

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