It's unfortunate that for two episodes in a row, it appeared that Mulder was losing his mind. It made this story seem somewhat derivative of 'Field Trip' in which Mulder was under the influence of some hallucinogenic mushrooms. This time, it appears that he's having a difficult reaction to the appearance of strange metallic objects discovered in West Africa, and brought to the States by Dr. Solomon Merkmallen (Michael Chinyamurindi). He's incapacitated by an aural noise that only he hears, driving him crazy and straight into a rubber room. Not a pretty sight for Duchovny fans.
I liked the idea of tying things back to the Navajo Indian language and seeing Floyd 'Red Crow' Westerman reprise his role as Albert Hosteen. Too bad that he's not on screen all that long, and when he is, most of the time he's incapacitated as well. All the previous players with a devious history make an appearance in this episode, forming the basis for the Season Six cliffhanger. The Smoking Man, Krycek and Agent Diana Fowley all have a sinister, underhanded presence in the story, always giving the impression that they're up to no good.
With the alien artifacts and especially with the closing scene of Scully on the Ivory Coast seeing the alien spaceship under water, the series reverts back to the idea that maybe the whole pursuit of UFO's and extraterrestrials is being given a brand new life. What really struck this viewer was Scully's opening narrative making note of five billion people that live on the planet. Not even twenty years later as I write this, we're now up to almost seven and a half billion people! Anyone feeling a little crowded?
I liked the idea of tying things back to the Navajo Indian language and seeing Floyd 'Red Crow' Westerman reprise his role as Albert Hosteen. Too bad that he's not on screen all that long, and when he is, most of the time he's incapacitated as well. All the previous players with a devious history make an appearance in this episode, forming the basis for the Season Six cliffhanger. The Smoking Man, Krycek and Agent Diana Fowley all have a sinister, underhanded presence in the story, always giving the impression that they're up to no good.
With the alien artifacts and especially with the closing scene of Scully on the Ivory Coast seeing the alien spaceship under water, the series reverts back to the idea that maybe the whole pursuit of UFO's and extraterrestrials is being given a brand new life. What really struck this viewer was Scully's opening narrative making note of five billion people that live on the planet. Not even twenty years later as I write this, we're now up to almost seven and a half billion people! Anyone feeling a little crowded?