X6 SPACE
Agent Donald and Agent Chelsea watch the rocket lift off from the launch pad.
It shoots high into the clouds. Then..suddenly... BOOOOM.
The rocket explodes.
The pieces begin to fall back to earth with long trails of smoke behind them.
Then the words 'GAME OVER' appear on Donald's TV screen.
DONALD: "I hate this game!"
CHELSEA: "Donald, you lose this game at the same spot every time."
Just then, a picture appears on the screen.
It's a picture of a folder... marked only with an X.
Donald 'clicks' on the picture of the folder, and it opens.
The file inside reads "YOU LOSE".
Then the file turns over.
The other side reads:
☼ SPACE ☼
X-FILE # UNKNOWN
MY FILE # X6-1.09
SNOW TRAX:
DRIVING RAIN
FLASHBACK
MIRROR
OUT THE WINDOW
SABOTEUR HUNT
THE FACE
STARS AND STRIPES
ZERO SUM:
LIKES: I like the footage of the shuttle... I'm still thinking...Well... I still like the music.
DISLIKES: In the final scene, a lot of the Airmen have thick mustaches,
like it was a Village people reunion. (whY.M.C.A.?)
Also the jet 'flyby' was done by the Blue Angels - they are the Navy's aerial stunt team. Colonel Belt was Air Force. The Air forces stunt team is the Thunderbirds, although I believe any flyby would be done by regular - non stunt planes.
The low budget Martian face-morph didn't help either.
MY PHOTOS
2 SCREEN SHOTS
MULDERIZMS:
I didn't notice any good ones.
MYTHOMETER SCORE (0 to 3)
*SEE 'GENDER BENDER' FIELD REPORT (BLOG AT BOTTOM) FOR FULL DESCRIPTION*
MYTHOMETER:
3 = FULL MYTHOLOGY
2 = STRONG HYBRID
1 = WEEK HYBRID
0 = MONSTER OF THE WEEK*****
SPACE gets a 0 on the MYTHOMETER.
It had no Mythology elements.
MY 1-10 RATING
I give SPACE a 7. I liked it
The Sequelizer
[The potential the episode had for a sequel]
SPACE had a low potential for a sequel... not that many people wanted one anyway.
Pending any further evidence, this case,
X6-1.09 is Filed
Closed
==================================================================
X7 ICE ***** (REMASTERED AND COPIED FROM EARLIER POST) *****
RADIO ANNOUNCER: Fouts looks over the Raiders� defense... here�s the snap.
Raiders blitz! Fouts dumps it across the middle to Winslow! He�s at the 15! The 10! Touchdown San Diego!
(The man stands and laughs giddily.)
MURPHY: Touchdown! Fouts... is... God!
(He spins around and stops, having noticed Mulder and Scully walking towards him.
He pulls out the earphones and turns back to them.)
Sorry. My team scored.
SCULLY: There�s no football on Wednesday.
(Mulder puts down his bag.)
MULDER: Fouts retired in �87, didn�t he?
MURPHY: No, this is just some of my all-time favorite plays on tape. You two F.B.I.?
MULDER: Agent Mulder and Agent Scully, you?
(Mulder points to himself, then to Scully, then shakes the man�s hand.)
MURPHY: Danny Murphy, professor of geology.
********************************************
Agent Donald and Agent Chelsea are in their basement office talking about the movie 'The Thing', when Donald get a phone call from a man telling them to meet him in the FBI parking garage.
Donald and Chelsea go down to the garage but all the overhead lights are out. They can hardly see a thing. At that moment they hear a voice from the darkness behind them saying "Don't turn around".
Something is slipped into Donald's trench coat.
The voice says: "This is urgent".
After a moment, the lights come back on and the man is gone.
Donald looks in his coat and finds a strange envelope marked only with an X.
Donald opens it. It's a highly classified document telling of a cover-up operation that will soon be launched to destroy all evidence of the Arctic Ice Core Project.
The report mentions that there are also samples of alien life there
that will also be destroyed.
The Agents act quickly.
They mobilize the RXF Quick Response Team to get to the
Arctic Ice Core Project immediately.
They come from all corners of the globe.
Australian Agents Adelle and Jasper are taken off their case of "Black-eyed people", to help out.
Ireland's 2 Agents, Lauren and Sarah join in - leaving their "Potato Famine conspiracy" case.
Amanda and Tara from Texas are taken off the "Shamrock case".
Vancouver Agent John Bailey is joined by Agent Danielle from the Netherlands Field Office.
And of course Agent Super Spandex who is on a stake-out on a roof-top in Tel Aviv is called in.
The large RXF team enters the deserted Arctic Ice Core Project.
They search the building for any evidence that could prove the existence of extraterrestrial life, before the 'cleaning' team arrives.
Then, Agent Super Spandex calls out:
"Over here!"
The Agents run over to see what Spandex has found.
He's looking at a block of ice in the freezer with something encased in it.
Spandex: "Looks like a folder... with a plus sign on it!"
Donald: "Spandex, that's an 'X'.
Chelsea: "Well, are we going to have a spelling bee or are we going to open it?"
The Agents chip away at the block until they get to the folder.
They open it up. It reads:
===== I C E =====
X-FILE # UNKNOWN
MY FILE # X7-1.08
ZERO SUM
This episode is one of the best overall episodes of the whole series,
and maybe the very best 'monster of the week' of the 9 seasons.
The sense of isolation is portrayed very well.
The mystery of who is infected, and how, is riveting.
Again, Mark Snow nails the mood with very eerie sounds and music.
The actors do a great job of portraying the fear and paranoia that would be present.
The choice of actors is right on the money, with the differences
in their personalities adding to the plot line.
Also, Bear is one of my favorite guest stars in the whole series.
One observation: Why is there no snow in northern Alaska, even after a major blizzard that hit just north of them in Ice Bay?
(I know, they're really in Vancouver)
This episode is a kind of tribute to the movie 'The Thing'
by John Carpenter, which is also a remake of
'The Thing From Another World' by Christian Nyby.
This was influenced by 'Who Goes There?', by John W.Campbell.
One of the team members in the episode is named Campbell,
an homage to the author.
The shots of the Arctic Ice Core Project building are taken directly from the movie 'The Thing'.
This takes nothing away from the episode.
It truly is a 'classic'.
If you want to 'relive' ICE, watch 'The Thing', with Kurt Russell.
You'll love it!
One little thing happened that I was curious about.
The "We're not who we are" speech always seemed different
the second time we hear it - when Mulder and Scully are reviewing the video tape. So I recorded it both times it's played and I overlapped them to see if they match. They don't.
I'll play them in a moment.
They do sound similar at first but they change significantly as the clip plays out.
It's not a big deal but I don't know why the producers would use 2 different clips for, what's supposed to be,
a recording of the same speech. Wouldn't it have been much easier
and more accurate to just use the same sound byte?
Here's the 2 clips overlapped:
[We're 'really' not who we are]
MULDERIZMS:
When the team has to check each other for spots.
(Mulder, Murphy and Hodge all start to undress in a room.)
MULDER: "Before anyone passes judgment,
may I remind you, we are in the Arctic."
SNOW TRAX:
(ICE is the 1st Field Report where I had SNOW MACHINE:
now Snow TraX)
I mention Mark Snows music in every Field Report
so I thought I would make a category for him.
I will play clips of his tracks that didn't make it to the sound track
in the back ground.
To hear all the Snow TraX without me talking over them, plus other specials, just subscribe to 'Agent Shadows Field Reports' at iTunes.
Todays Snow TraX are:
ARCTIC ICE CORE PROJECT
ASLEEP AT THE MICROSCOPE
BLACK NODULES
LEAVE IT THERE
ON ICE
MYTHOMETER:
3 = FULL MYTHOLOGY
2 = STRONG HYBRID
1 = WEEK HYBRID*****
0 = MONSTER OF THE WEEK
I give ICE a 1 out of 3 on the MYTHOMETER.
REASON:
1/2 a point for the alien worm, because it's alien,
but not part of the 'Alien conspiracy'
1/2 a point for the Government cover-up, for destroying the AICP base (brief mention)
MY 1-10 RATING:
I give ICE a 10.
This is a great episode
The Sequelizer
[The potential the episode had for a sequel]
ICE had a HIGH potential for a sequel.
You had the potential for the Government to NOT destroy the AICP,
and continue the project secretly.
Maybe they could find more life forms up there - who knows.
Pending any further evidence, this case,
My file # X7-1.08 is filed
UNSOLVED
==================================================================
X8 LAZARUS
Agent Donald and Agent Chelsea respond to an apartment complex,
where Agent Brandon has given them a tip that a murder suspect is hiding.
Donald and Chelsea search the building and, at last, see their suspect,
Lula, hiding in a stairwell.
The suspect runs down the stairs, and into a dark basement.
The two follow her, and find themselves in a maze of dark corridors. Machines whirring, steel pipes clanging, steam hissing as it vents. Suddenly, from behind them,
Lula attacks them with a pipe. Chelsea intercepts the attack by tackling Lula as she swings.
Chelsea 'cuffs Lula.
Donald says:
"Thanks Chelsea, I was just about to do all that but I knew you could handle it.
Plus I was looking at this folder here on the ground.
It has an X on it. Hmmm, I wonder..."
Donald opens the folder.
The file reads:
Ø LAZARUS Ø
X-FILE # UNKNOWN
MY FILE # X8-1.15
LIKES:
LAZARUS has some suspense, and unexpected turns.
I especially like the effect where the doctor is 'shocking' Agent Willis,
but we see Dupre's body, on a gurney in the background, react to the shock.
[screen shot in MY PHOTOS]
DISLIKES:
Not too much to dislike here.
Just the low budget 'tattoo fade' when Dupre turns into Willis,
and back.
The hair on the arm moves too much.
INSIDE THE X:
In this episode's original plot, the producers had it that
Dupre was to have jumped into Mulder's body. Fox argued against it and won.
So we get to meet Agent Willis here.
MULDERIZMS:
PROF. VARNES describes what the pilot of a plane which crashed did, when a similar situation happened to him, and he realized that
his wife was having an affair with a passenger on the crashed plane:
"Well, the pilot became increasingly disoriented – a schizophrenic,
his doctor claims – until one day he strangled his wife with an extension cord."
(smiles and walks away)
Mulder looks at Scully and says:
"That’s a nice story."
MYTHOMETER:
3 = FULL MYTHOLOGY
2 = STRONG HYBRID
1 = WEEK HYBRID
0 = MONSTER OF THE WEEK*****
LAZARUS is a 0 on the MYTHOMETER -
its a full 'Monster of the Week'.
MY 1-10 RATING
I give LAZARUS an 8 out of 10.
It has twists, suspense, and a good story line.
SNOW TRAX:
Mark Snow brings us more great non-soundtrack music in LAZARUS.
The 2 clips I'm using in My field report on the podcast I named:
'Lazarus Consectatio' [lazarus chase] and
'Lazarus Terminus' [lazarus end]
The Sequelizer
[The potential the episode had for a sequel]
LAZARUS had a medium potential for a sequel.
If Dupre 'jumped' into Willis, maybe he could jump into one of the other agents... maybe.
Pending any further evidence, this case,
MY FILE # X8-1.15 is filed
CLOSED
==================================================================
X9 YOUNG AT HEART
Agent Donald and Agent Chelsea are assigned to protect Agent Super Spandex who is having a cello recital.
Super Spandex has had numerous death threats and tonight is the most likely time for the gunman to attack. As agents Chelsea and Donald enter their booth to watch the performance, Chelsea sees a folder on her seat, marked only with an X.
She picks it up and puts it under her bulletproof vest to read later.
As the concert starts, agents Emily and Amanda, who are watching from the side of the stage, notice movement coming from the balcony area - behind Chelsea.
Emily 'radios' the Agents, but there's no time. Immediately a man jumps out from behind Chelsea and shoots her in the chest.
Then the gunman leaps over the edge of the balcony, and falls to the stage floor.
Donald recognizes the man as John Barnett, a nemesis of one of his fellow agents.
Barnett limps over to Super Spandex, grabs him around the neck, puts the gun to Spandex's head and holds him hostage.
He slowly backs away, pulling Super Spandex with him in a desperate escape attempt.
Amanda points her weapon at Barnett and yells:
"Freeze!"
Barnett pushes Super Spandex away and points his weapon at Amanda.
Amanda fires.
Her bullet whizzes over Barnetts head. The bullet misses because a trap door on the stage floor opened at that moment. This takes Barnett quickly under the stage, and on to his escape with his accomplice, a theater worker, who operated the trap door.
Back up in the balcony, Donald is checking on Chelsea. She's unconscious.
He sees that the bullet went through all the layers of Kevlar in her vest.
Donald yells "Chelsea!"
She opens her eyes and looks down at her vest.
She reaches under it and pulls out the folder. It has a bullet hole in it.
She opens the folder.
Inside is the bullet, and a file that reads:
♥ YOUNG AT HEART ♥
X-FILE # UNKNOWN
MY FILE # X9-1.16
Snow TraX:
Todays clips I named:
adulescens ab auditorium - young at court
ab salutatio - the visitors
ab venorba vulpes - a hunted fox
LIKES:
I like when Mulder sees his old boss Reggie Purdue, he starts to chant - 'Reggie...Reggie...'.
It's a reference to Reggie Jackson - even though I hate the Yankees.
[Go Sox]
DISLIKES:
Sorry I don't dislike anything in this episode.
INSIDE THE X:
When Mulder is at the youth football game, we can see Young Barnett in the stands, and you can see both of his hands - they're both 'normal'. They forgot to give him a 'hand'.
The cigarette smoking man is seen at the end of this episode as the 'FBI Agent' who's trying to get info from a dying Barnett.
After Scully is shot, and is still lying down, she flicks the spent bullet that is lodged in her bulletproof vest away, and you can see the bullet land back in her hair.
MULDERIZMS:
CRIME LABS
(Agent Henderson is looking at the note under an electron-emission microscope. Mulder is looking as well through a second pair of lenses on the same machine.)
HENDERSON: This guy a friend of yours?
MULDER: Yeah, I play golf with him every Sunday. What do you think?
MYTHOMETER SCORE (0 to 3)
*SEE MY 'GENDER BENDER' FIELD REPORT FOR FULL DESCRIPTION*
(IT'S THE BOTTOM BLOG AT MYSPACE.COM/AGENTSHADOWX)
MYTHOMETER:
3 = FULL MYTHOLOGY
2 = STRONG HYBRID
1 = WEEK HYBRID*****
0 = MONSTER OF THE WEEK
Reasons:
Appearance of Deep Throat.
Mention of secret Government negotiations to buy the medical
technology from Barnett, who stole it from Dr. Ridley.
MY 1-10 RATING
I give YOUNG AT HEART an 8.5
Very good
The Sequelizer
[The potential the episode had for a sequel]
YOUNG AT HEART had a high potential for a sequel, with the medical technology hidden 'somewhere out there'.
The last scene really sets this up.
Pending any further evidence, this case,
My file # X9-1.16 is filed:
CLOSED
==================================================================
X10 E.B.E.
Agent Donald and Agent Chelsea are on a stake out,
waiting for a tractor trailer which is believed to be transporting
an Extra-terrestrial Biological Entity - an E.B.E.
They finally spot the truck and begin to follow it.
After a few hours, a mysterious bright light shines down on the agents car, forcing them off the road and blinding them.
By the time they can see again, the truck is gone, and Donald is lost, somewhere in Anna Indiana.
Later that week, Donald is contacted by the field office in Seattle with a tip phoned in by a man only known as "Spandex".
The tip mentions that the truck was spotted near a power plant in
Mattawa, Washington.
The Seattle office dispatches 2 agents:
Agent John Bailey from Vancouver and Agent Patty from Seattle, to help Donald and Chelsea.
They all meet near the power plant where multiple UFO sightings have been.
John and Patty stay outside at the UFO party, as backup, while Donald and Chelsea sneak inside the power plant.
Inside the plant, Chelsea distracts the guards while Donald sneaks into a stairwell and accesses Level 6.
He sees the secret holding cell where he believes the E.B.E. is being held.
He approaches the cell and opens the door.
The cell is empty, except for a folder on an examination table.
He opens the folder.
It reads:
E.B.E.
X-FILE # UNKNOWN
MY FILE # X10-1.17
1st category is
SNOW MACHINE:
Mark Snows music that was in this episode,
but was not on the sound track.
like Mark Snow, I also gave them a Latin name.
Breakdown is 'Defringo'
Pen bug is 'Penicillus Cimex'
Don't stop swimming is 'Facio haud conquiesco natatio'
Scullys briefcase is 'Scullys concido scrinium'
LIKES:
You gotta love the lone gunmen.
Especially when Frohike says: "she IS hot."
DISLIKES:
None.
INSIDE THE X:
You can see the reflection of the sound crew
[i believe] in the back window of the car that Mulder and Scully are in,
when they're waiting for the truck to come down the road.
MULDERIZMS:
Mulder and Scully are talking about swamp gas,
and Scully says:
SCULLY: It’s a natural phenomenon in which phospine and methane rising from decaying organic matter ignite, creating globes of blue flame.
MULDER: Happens to me when I eat Dodger Dogs.
MYTHOMETER SCORE (0 to 3)
It's how close the episode is to being a mythology episode.
3 = FULL MYTHOLOGY*****
2 = STRONG HYBRID
1 = WEEK HYBRID
0 = MONSTER OF THE WEEK
MY 1-10 RATING
9.5
excellent
The Sequelizer
[The potential the episode had for a sequel]
E.B.E. Had a high potential for a sequel because of all the angles that could have been taken with the recovered alien wreckage and what could still be inside the power plant.
Plus it is a mythology episode, so it does have a sequel in effect... the next mythology episode.
Pending any further evidence,
this case, My file
# X10-1.17 is filed:
UNSOLVED
No comments:
Post a Comment