“Sein und Zeit,” loosely translated from German as “Being and Time,” is the first p with far less red herrings, the set up for the art of the long-awaited conclusion to the story arc of Samantha Mulder’s fate. When I say long-awaited, I mean dragged out so long and meandered so implausibly, virtually all suspense has been sapped out the story. Over the years, Samantha has “returned” as an adult clone, a child clone, the adopted daughter of the Cigarette Smoking Man, the possible murder victim of a pederast posing as a vacuum cleaner salesman, and another adult version as part of an idealized fantasy in Mulder’s mind. Seven years is a long time to be jerked around in such a manner. One becomes dismissive of any new directions the story may take. But I have to admit, while it should have come sooner with fewer red herrings along the way, the set up here is very poignant.
The catalyst is a clear nod to the Jon Benet Ramsey case that still remains unsolved and probably always will. The LaPierres put their daughter, Amber-Lynn, to bed one night. Her father, Bud, feels compelled to go check on his daughters moments later as his wife, billie, sits down to write an odd note. Bid finds Amber-Lynn gone without a trace, but finds the note. Billie never confesses to writing it.
The FBI treats the matter as a straightforward kidnapping with the parents as the most likely suspects. Mulder, whose grinding his ax over the similarity of the case to his sister’s disappearance, wants in on it. Skinner denies him under the rationale the case is not an X-File, but it is obvious he is concerned over Mulder’s emotional issues in such matters. Mulder does not listen, and investigates himself contrary to skinner’s orders to stay away.
Mulder finds similarities from Amber-Lynn’s disappearance to another case in 1987 in which a mother was convicted of killing her missing son after an identical note with the same phrase “Nobody shoots at Santa Clause” was written. When the LaPierre’s discover this fact courtesy of Mulder, they change their story to a paranormal cause for Ambr-Lynn’s disappearance. Skinner is in the process of chewing Mulder out for derailing the legitimate investigation this way, but is interrupted by scully informing Mulder his mother is dead.
His mother had been trying to get a hold of him for days, but because he was distracted by this case, he never called her back. In his paranoid mind, he suspects she must have felt compelled to write a note like the one the other mothers wrote the night their kids were taken. She wanted to tell him, but was murdered before she could. Mulder asks Scully to autopsy the body. She does so reluctantly. She does not want to out of friendship with him. The autopsy reveals she was suffering from a disfiguring, incurable disease she did not want to suffer through, so she over dosed on sleeping pills. No grand conspiracy. Just asserting her own power over life and death.
Billie witnesses a ghostly vision of her daughter, but insists she will only talk about it with Mulder. He travels out to California with Skinner and Scully to listen to her in a more or less simplified state. Billie describes the encounter and tells him Amber-Lynn only had to number 74 to say. Outside, Mulder dismisses everything he has heard. He believes the parents killed amber-Lynn. Skinner is right--he gave them a free defense to use in court. He wants to be recused from dealing with them any further.
On the trip back, scully spots a Highway 74 sign. She urges Skinner to drive down it. The three of them reach a Santa Clause Ranch wherein they discover St. Nicholas is a pedophile who has been recording the kids playing at his ranch--including amber-Lynn days before her kidnapping. “Santa” runs upon the discovery of the agents, but is chased into a distant part of his ranch where there are numerous small graves. To be continued…
“Sein und Zeit” hits some poignant notes on a personal level. My mother took her own life while I was in law school in Virginia. We were not on the best of terms, but it was more a matter of the inherent cruelties of life making a healthy relationship difficult. There was still that maternal bond that stays no matter what. Our relationship with her as an adult was not too different than Mulder’s with his mother--there for each other in the worst of times, but cool and distant at best, fiery at worst, other times. It still came as a shock to return home in order to wrap up the loose ends of her life. Many answers died with her. I am empathetic to the mysteries of his mother’s suicide Mulder is facing. I find this aspect of the story more engaging than that of Samantha’s fate, or the Jon-Benet Ramsey similarities.
On several less personal notes:
First, Skinner scolds Mulder for putting it in the laPierres’ minds that Amber-Lynn might have been abducted by aliens by claiming he has just offered them the Twinkie defense. Skinner is referring to the case of former San Francisco county Supervisor Dan white’s defense when he was on trial for the murders of Mayor George Moscone and County Supervisor Harvey Milk. A defense psychologist claimed white had his judgment impaired because he was on a sugar high. The defense worked. White was convicted of manslaughter instead of murder. In law school, such defenses have the contradiction of being frowned open as the legal equivalent of chasing rainbows, but are privately celebrated in an I cannot believe the jury was stupid enough to buy my crap argument sort of way. You may now commence hating lawyers.
Second, the episode title comes from the seminal work of German philosopher and Nazi sympathizer Martin Heidegger. Heidegger believed the whole of philosophy had addressed every being in existence, but had not adequately addressed the nature of being itself. Heidegger argued that philosophy has considering being such a obvious concept--”I think, therefore I am. Not let’s move on’--that it had never been adequately explored. Thousands of words could be written about his thoughts on the true nature of being, but it boils down to one is defined as a being, not by any notions of body and soul, but by what one cares about. It might be interesting to chew on that later, but not in a television review.
Finally, the phrase ’No one shoots at Santa Clause” which ended the notes written by the mothers in the two kidnappings was a campaign slogan used by al smith in 1936 when he was running against FDR in the Democratic primaries. The slogan serves as a warning for politicians not to attack entitlement programs. Considering the reluctance of even our Republican elected officials to trim the federal budget in any significant way, it would appear most elected officials have gotten the message.
“Sein und Zeit” is an emotionally tense episode. It is far more complete than most first parts of a two part episode. Often, such installments feel like a lot of set up which seems to have little value in itself without a big pay off in part two. The story does feel strange because it has no real connection to the mythology arc that has run through the series. I do not consider that a problem, per se, but it still feels strange to know the series has moved beyond itys mythology. Nevertheless, “sein und Zeit” is a worthwhile view very much different than most of the fluff we have seen so far in the seventh season.
Rating: *** (out of 5)
“Sein und Zeit,” loosely translated from German as “Being and Time,” is the first p with far less red herrings, the set up for the art of the long-awaited conclusion to the story arc of Samantha Mulder’s fate. When I say long-awaited, I mean dragged out so long and meandered so implausibly, virtually all suspense has been sapped out the story. Over the years, Samantha has “returned” as an adult clone, a child clone, the adopted daughter of the Cigarette Smoking Man, the possible murder victim of a pederast posing as a vacuum cleaner salesman, and another adult version as part of an idealized fantasy in Mulder’s mind. Seven years is a long time to be jerked around in such a manner. One becomes dismissive of any new directions the story may take. But I have to admit, while it should have come sooner with fewer red herrings along the way, the set up here is very poignant.
