AIR DATE:  November 2, 1997
Written by Chris Carter
Directed by R.W. Goodwin

	Middle episodes like "Redux" are frustrating because we know this
isn't it, that it isn't going to be concluded until next week.  Just like
"The Blessing Way" was to "Anasazi" and "Paper Clip", "Redux" is to
"Gethsemane" and "Redux II".  At least this time we don't have Mulder as a
piece of salad.  This time I think "Redux" worked better than "The
Blessing Way" in that "Redux" did lay out everything we thought to be true
could be false while "The Blessing Way" set up a lot of things, but never
really came into focus.  "Redux" basically fills in what happened between
when Scully identified Mulder's body to her announcing to the F.B.I. board
that Mulder has killed himself.  Boy, did a lot happen in those hours.
Mulder and Scully work together to feed their own lies to the powers that
be, Scully becomes suspicious of Skinner, Cigarette Smoking Man (CSM)
doesn't know everything that is going on, Scully finds real proof of a
connection between her cancer and the conspiracy, and she finally has some
serious reaction to her cancer.  Whew, that's a lot to pack in one hour. 
No wonder they needed another hour to explain it all. Where this all is
going is anyone's guess, but if it finally gets Carter and gang to focus
on where the whole alien/government conspiracy is going then it will make
the wait worth it. 

	One of the interesting aspects of "Redux" was CSM being totally
out of the loop on Mulder's apartment being under surveillance.  It makes
one wonder if he too isn't a part of the so-called hoax and doesn't even
know it.  While all this time he thinks he knows what is going on and is a
part of the decision making process, in reality he is just being used as
Mulder and Scully are being used.  The other question is how much does the
Consortium know about what is going on since the Chunky Italian Guy denies
knowing anything about the surveillance.  Maybe they too are a part of a
conspiracy they are not aware of.  I'm not even going to get into how CSM
looked at a picture of a young Mulder and his sister in Mulder's
apartment. I always get a kick everytime CSM says he created Mulder (I'm
sure this isn't the first time he has said this) because obviously he
created a person who will be his and the others downfall.  As if because
he claims to have made Mulder the person he is today he can control him.
It will be interesting to see how CSM works in the larger picture of
everything we have seen in "Gethsemane" and "Redux" because he was fairly
certain Mulder wasn't dead even before he saw Mulder leaving the Defense
Department building.  As he told the Chunky Italian Guy he still didn't
underestimate Mulder even after his supposed death because he understands
the level of Mulder's commitment to finding out the truth. 

	As it always is with three parters it is hard to discern
everything that has gone on and how it will be used in part three.  It
does seem as if Mulder easily believed everything Michael Kritschgau told
him about the elaborate conspiracy created by the military industrial
complex. Kritschgau has yet to produce any real proof to Mulder other than
telling him a good story of a conspiracy that can be traced all the way
back to the end of the Civil War and his belief that a cure to Scully's
and his son's illness can be found inside the high security area. As
Kritschgau is telling Mulder this story it was decided to use stock
footage of past world leaders who have all been a part of conspiracy
whether they were aware of it or not and it didn't work for me.  It just
seemed so cliche.  This isn't the first time a movie or TV show has done
this and it just was used as a way to get the point across of the Defense
Department using the UFO stories to cover up what they are really doing.

	Another interesting thing in "Redux" was Mulder understanding what
he was asking Scully to do for him.  She has always been the one he could
rely on not to lie and keep her integrity intact even after everything
that has happened to them.  Mulder is essentially asking Scully to go down
to the conspirators level by going along with him.  It shows how much
trust she has in Mulder that she would do this for him.

	Now some miscellaneous comments on "Redux":

- What kind of cheap answering machine does Scully have that she would
have to press a button to see if she had any messages.  I thought most
answering machines had a device to tell you without you having to press a
button.

- Where the heck was Scully until 12:24 in the morning?  

- I'm a Defense Department guy upstairs watching Mulder's apartment and
what do I do when I see he is coming upstairs since he has spotted the
camera spying on him.  No, I don't get ready for Mulder to come up with my
gun in hand instead I think I'll burn some old phone bills so that I bring
them to his attention.  Also, how did Mulder drag that bloodly headless
body down to his apartment without getting any blood on him or anywhere in
his apartment complex.

- Oh yeah, I'm waiting for Mulder's landlord to say to him that they are
not renewing his lease because of all the stuff that has happened in his
apartment.  Let's see what has happened there since he moved in:  Mulder's
apartment water was laced with a drug that made one of the apartment
residents kill her husband, Mr. X is shot and killed outside his
apartment, Scully is shot at from the window, his apartment has been
ransacked and now he has killed someone and dragged the body down to his
apartment.

- Skinner is right in telling Scully that she is in a lot of trouble if
she is lying about Mulder's so-called sucide and is covering up someone's
death.  He tells her that the person whose body they found in Mulder's
apartment was killed in cold blood which makes me wonder what happened in
the apartment above Mulder's.  It wasn't Mulder that had the shotgun in
his hand so how did the Defense Department guy get shot in the head with
his own shotgun.  I'm going to state right now that I cannot believe
Skinner is a part of the conspiracy in the way they are making us think
because all his past actions indicate the opposite, and it would really
piss me off if this is the case.  Just like it would piss me off it any of
Scully's brothers are a part of the conspiracy.  Skinner is trying to save
Scully's career by telling her it is important she comes out with the
truth to him, and he is most likely mad that Mulder and Scully don't trust
him. What Scully has done is a lot more serious than what she did in
"Anasazi/The Blessing Way/Paper Clip".  I got a feeling it is going to be
Skinner who will be the one who gets killed this year since they always
kill someone at the beginning of every season.  Unless he is in the movie
then I guess not, maybe Bill, Jr. will get killed.  Of course, it would
take guts to kill off Skinner which is why it is a longshot that it would
be him this year.  Another reason I don't think it is Skinner is because
the Chunky Italian Guy says his F.B.I. source confirmed that Mulder did
kill himself. Now if Skinner was really working for the Consortium he
would have stated his suspicion that Mulder was alive.  Unless, he is
working for someone else.  So many what ifs in this damn episode. 

- Mulder's apartment building must really be sound proof since not one
single person came out or was aware that a gunshot even went off.  Well,
with Mulder living nearby they must be used to it and didn't give it a
second thought.

- It was about time Scully found Mulder in her place since she never has
had any problem going into his apartment unannounce.  Take those keys away
from her Mulder, I swear she is going to walk into your place at the wrong
time.

- I understand it was done to keep the plot moving, but one would think
security would have been a little bit tougher at that Defense Department
building.  I can't believe they wouldn't want to look at the id card
Mulder used to get into the building.  TV security, either you can't break
into it or it is a piece of cake. 

- Anyone else notice how Skinner was standing in the same place in Blevins
office as CSM did in the pilot episode. 

- Good to see the Consortium has decided it is best to keep their records
on paper in a nice secure building instead of on a computer system that
anyone could break into as in "Anasazi".  What I'm really surprised at is
that we didn't see Mulder look for anything on his sister.  I guess Scully
has taken precedent over his sister at the moment.  It was interesting to
see there was nothing under Kritschgau's son's name.  Maybe the Gulf War
had nothing to do with his illness and it was just a coincidence that he
got sick after he got back.

- Both of the tag lines at the end of both episodes opening credits were
used by either Scully or Mulder.  Mulder says, "All lies lead to the
truth" and Scully said, "Believe the lie".

- This is what I see happening at the beginning of next week's episode. 
Byers saying to Mulder, after he has just told him it is distilled water
that he has brought back from the Defense Department building,
"but...blab, blab this is how it will help or something is in it".  Voila,
Scully's miracle cure is found. 

- I now know why people were talking about hating the TV Guide.  Gee, why
didn't they just print the whole script in the issue since they told all
the important parts of the episode up to Scully's collapsing.

	"Gethsemane" set up what led Scully and Mulder to fake Mulder's
death because we needed that information of what happened up in the Yukon. 
"Redux" continued the story of Scully and Mulder trying to find out who is
behind the conspiracy of lies by their lying to everyone.  But to tell you
the truth it might have been a better season ender if they had ended with
Scully collapsing in the meeting than with her saying Mulder killed
himself.  It is about time her illness did have some affect on her other
than her nose bleeding at inopportune times.  "Redux" was a solid middle
part that makes one wonder where Carter and company are taking us. 


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

11/3/97

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