This is one of the most despised episodes in the entire series, and though I can see why people loath it, I also see it as an interesting choice made to show the audience where Mulder would be if Scully was truly gone. Unfortunately the use of vampires in sci-fi rubs the die hard lovers of this genre the wrong way, which is clearly evident in all of the reviews. I see the use of them as more symbolic than clique. Vampires are the undead, unholy, soulless, creatures of the night that can't live in the sun. All of these descriptions can also be used to describe Mulder right now. Without his yin to his yang, he becomes the walking dead. He is just going through the motions of this case trying to find a way to escape from his pain. There is only darkness in him and as the days creep by without Scully, he too moves further away from the light into darkness. Without her he clearly lacks his usual spirit and drive in the case, his spirit can be seen as his soul. As his spirit aka soul disappears, so to does his usual open mindedness that he uses to question every situation and to believe in what society views as abnormal and even impossible. When he is questioning the first suspect he is condescending and disbelieving right from the beginning. This is not like him. He even goes so far as making the man talk with the threat of sunlight. Usually he connects to the characters by believing their version of truth, and being open to it being a reality. This is evident in past episodes when he is talking to Duane Berry. The other officers refuse to "entertain his delusions," whereas Mulder doesn't just entertain them he is truly trying to understand and believe that Berry has had an encounter with Aliens. That version of Mulder is absent during his interrogation. Then when the suspect actually does burn bc of the light, he acknowledges that he made a mistake and does everything he can to rectify it by finding a woman who claims to be vampire and believes in her right away. This brings me to the other part in this episode that really turned off many viewers; he has sex with her. Most people are so adverse to this because they can't fathom how he could be thinking of carnal pleasures when Scully has barely gone missing. However, I think that it makes sense for a couple reasons. First, if the vampires represent him then it's important that to go back to the lore of such creatures. Vampires are usually associated with fulfilling their carnal desires and their base instincts, and sex, in its very nature is that. He is quite possibly doing this also to feel alive, bc without Scully he is dead inside. Secondly, it's also common for people to use sex as a way to escape their painful reality and to have those moments where u feel good. In the movie "High Fidelity" with John Cusack, his girlfriend asks to have sex with him, "because I want to feel something else than this. It's either that or I go home and put my hand in the fire." I personally don't see it as an affront to Scully, though I will admit I don't like seeing him with anyone else but her!! This just goes to show how well the show has done at creating the relationship between them! Clearly we all very invested in it!!! But the writers let the audience down in many other ways in this episode. The myth that vampires can't see their reflection was confusing! The vampire that Mulder interrogates says he has no reflection in mirrors and then we see Mulder holding up something that clearly is his reflection, thus proving he is not a vampire. However, he burns up in the sun and cannot die. I wish they would've decided whether or not vampires were real and what mythology they are going to adhere to in this show. Another example of the writers dropping the ball is questions being raised that are never fully answered. You would think that when the chick sees her ex boyfriend alive and tells Mulder that he would've had some reaction to it. I know a lot is happening then, but there should have been some acknowledgement of him being alive!!! Then she evidently kills the other female vamp, or maybe she doesn't and just stops her for a little bit till she can heal. We will never know. The only reason I can see as to why these things were overlooked is that this episode wasn't about the vampires as much as it was about what parallels one can draw between Mulder and the undead. I choose to look at this episode and see the symbolism instead of the literal aspects and details that were never quite fleshed out. If I do that, then I can see this episode in a better light than most. With that being said, I miss Scully and Mulder working together and I'm glad I don't have to wait to long for that!!
Review of 3
