The X-Files: Two Fathers (Part 1/2) Rewatch
July 4, 2020 8:29 PM - Season 6, Episode 11 - Subscribe
Cassandra Spender is found at a railyard in Arlington, Virginia, the only survivor among a number of people who have been burned alive, and she asks to speak to Agent Fox Mulder.
I probably shouldn't lean too hard on my "smokers are bad people in the X-Files universe" theory -- it's certainly a thing, but is not 100% consistent. I've remembered that Monica Reyes is also a smoker. Cassandra certainly isn't evil, though she's messed up from having been put through a lot of trauma and abuse. In her case the smoking is a coping mechanism.
I did not enjoy seeing Jeffrey Spender get slapped around, and wished he'd fought back. That poor guy. His horrible father abandoned him -- apparently at a very young age because he didn't even recognize him when he saw him -- and now has contempt for him, preferring his illegitimate son to him. His mother was repeatedly abducted by aliens, which means frequent and extended absences (and who took care of Jeffrey while she was gone?), and had mental health issues because of it and because of her husband abandoning her and her son. Jeffrey had ceased to believe his mother's account of what was happening to her, even though it really was true. Mulder has issues because of his sister's disappearance and the resulting family trauma, but Jeffrey has it so much worse. I think he's essentially an honest and conscientious person who means to do the right thing, but who has no idea what the right thing is, and it's not his fault that he's so confused. This episode gave him a crash course in reality: his mother is telling the truth, and the alien conspiracy is actually a thing.
How on earth did CSM ever get Cassandra to marry him or Teena Mulder to sleep with him? He's sleazy to the core. I can't imagine any woman ever finding him attractive.
Yes, it is wildly inconsistent with previous episodes that Krycek and Jeffrey were unaffected by the green blood vapours. I suppose the explanation would be that they didn't get close enough, but they were pretty close -- as close as Mulder was when he got gassed.
The bit of the stiletto tool opening and the person holding it starting back (combined with a big musical effect) is getting old.
Mulder's still on background checks but at least gets to enjoy some time on the basketball court.
The first time I saw Cassandra Spender screaming "KILL ME NOW" at Mulder, I hoped he'd do it. God that woman annoys me. (As does Diana Fowley.) But Veronica Cartwright got an Outstanding Guest Actress Emmy nomination for this two-parter, so what do I know. I was amused by the shot of her tucking into that lime green jello, so there's that.
posted by orange swan at 5:47 PM on July 5, 2020
I did not enjoy seeing Jeffrey Spender get slapped around, and wished he'd fought back. That poor guy. His horrible father abandoned him -- apparently at a very young age because he didn't even recognize him when he saw him -- and now has contempt for him, preferring his illegitimate son to him. His mother was repeatedly abducted by aliens, which means frequent and extended absences (and who took care of Jeffrey while she was gone?), and had mental health issues because of it and because of her husband abandoning her and her son. Jeffrey had ceased to believe his mother's account of what was happening to her, even though it really was true. Mulder has issues because of his sister's disappearance and the resulting family trauma, but Jeffrey has it so much worse. I think he's essentially an honest and conscientious person who means to do the right thing, but who has no idea what the right thing is, and it's not his fault that he's so confused. This episode gave him a crash course in reality: his mother is telling the truth, and the alien conspiracy is actually a thing.
How on earth did CSM ever get Cassandra to marry him or Teena Mulder to sleep with him? He's sleazy to the core. I can't imagine any woman ever finding him attractive.
Yes, it is wildly inconsistent with previous episodes that Krycek and Jeffrey were unaffected by the green blood vapours. I suppose the explanation would be that they didn't get close enough, but they were pretty close -- as close as Mulder was when he got gassed.
The bit of the stiletto tool opening and the person holding it starting back (combined with a big musical effect) is getting old.
Mulder's still on background checks but at least gets to enjoy some time on the basketball court.
The first time I saw Cassandra Spender screaming "KILL ME NOW" at Mulder, I hoped he'd do it. God that woman annoys me. (As does Diana Fowley.) But Veronica Cartwright got an Outstanding Guest Actress Emmy nomination for this two-parter, so what do I know. I was amused by the shot of her tucking into that lime green jello, so there's that.
posted by orange swan at 5:47 PM on July 5, 2020
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Cassandra Spender's nicotine dependency... evilness from being a total dupe/ association?
That it was Fowley who CSM was expositing to was telegraphed by how fake she was buttering Mulder up earlier.
CSM slapping Jeffrey around was satisfying.
Never liked the idea of the alien ice pick, but it's a convenient prop. I want to believe that CSM knew Jeffrey would bollocks it up, and serve as the distraction for Krycek. I guess the green stuff doesn't kill regular people anymore, or the rebels are different?
posted by porpoise at 12:10 AM on July 5, 2020