"Three Words" refers to "Fight the Future. Mulder has been back from the dead for a scant week, but he is already back to his old ways. He can barely stop to feed his fish before he is off on another crusade to uncover the super soldier conspiracy. Scully is back to being dragged along behind him on his quest. For good measure, Mulder does take time out of his busy schedule of paranoid scheming to accuse Doggett of being a spy. It is the old dynamic back in full swing, yet it is disappointing. Sad, but true. The X-Files truly is losing its mojo.
Before getting to the heart of the episode, we do get a brief moment in which Mulder and Scully rekindle their relationship. A few things about it bug me. A week has passed. Mulder is still hospitalized, but miraculously recovered. One assumes Scully has rarely, if ever, left his bedside. She lgazes at him as though his return is the greatest gift she could ever receive. When he is released from the hospital, she takes him back to his apartment--an apartment she has maintained for him after he has been dead for three months. There is no logic in that other than she needed a reminder of him all this time. She takes the opportunity cozier environment to pour her heart out about how difficult it was without him all these months. In response, he finally gets around to asking about her pregnancy, then with that minimal politeness out of the way, asks about his job status.
Seriously, Mulder? Scully has been by your side all week long after months of worrying if she will ever see you alive again. She has maintained your life for you as best she could in the dim hope of your return. She just tearfully expressed your importance to her. But you do not even ask about her pregnancy for an entire week, then only do so as a courtesy before talking about wanting your job back? What a self-absorbed jerk. I can see suffering emotional issues from his abduction being a distraction from reconnecting with Scully, but his problem is he cares more about the x-Files.
The worst part is Scully goes along with it. She has become far more independent and capable since his absence. In fact, she started growing in that direction when she stopped trying to investigate X-Files in the same manner he would. Now she is relating herself back to second fiddle. Mulder does not really care she is carrying his child, but that is okay with her. He is obsessed with the new conspiracy. That is okay, too. She will go along with him. He does not trust Doggett. She never sticks up for him when Mulder makes all sorts of wild accusations she knows by this point are not true. Scully’s entire involvement is nothing but demeaning to the character. Within two acts, I wondered why she or we ever wanted him back.
Doggett is thoroughly abused, too. Aside from the abandonment by Scully--which is literal as well as emotional. On two occasions, she asks him why he is still around--he is kidnapped by the escaped from prison Absalom in order to expose census data that proves the government is tracking alien super soldiers. Mulder and Scully are unofficially working that angle, too, thanks to Mulder’s interest in a census worker shot at the White House while attempting to warn the president of the conspiracy. But they have no interest in Doggett. He is rescued by federal security. When Doggett does get intel that Mulder is in danger when he attempts to expose the conspiracy, neither he nor Scully care. Bonus points: doogett is right, and saves Mulder in the nick of time, but to no appreciation. It boils down to me actually being happy when Mulder is refused reinstatement to the x-Files because Doggett and Scully had a higher success rate. I cannot believe I feel that way. I do not believe I did when “Three Words” first aired.
Considering real world events--David Duchovny was reluctantly fulfilling contract obligations--influenced the writing. Mulder just does not fit in any longer. The show has definitely changed, not necessarily for the better, but definitely in a way that typical Mulder-isms are no longer amusing. I am not rooting for him at any point in “Three Words.” Instead, I think he is a self-absorbed fruit loop. Turning him into a distasteful character has to be a deliberate act to compensate for his departure from all but four episodes next season.
Or maybe the writers are just phoning it in these days. Whatever the reason, “Three Words” is a watchable, but otherwise mediocre episode. One would expect Mulder’s first escapade back from the dead to be a reflective piece with an emotional reconnection to Scully and Doggett wondering where his place now is. But no, it is a typical conspiracy caper with virtually no character development. I expect more out of the set up.
Rating: *** (out of 5)
"Three Words" refers to "Fight the Future. Mulder has been back from the dead for a scant week, but he is already back to his old ways. He can barely stop to feed his fish before he is off on another crusade to uncover the super soldier conspiracy. Scully is back to being dragged along behind him on his quest. For good measure, Mulder does take time out of his busy schedule of paranoid scheming to accuse Doggett of being a spy. It is the old dynamic back in full swing, yet it is disappointing. Sad, but true. The X-Files truly is losing its mojo.
