Now I remember why I felt so ambivalent about this two part episode. They both intend to flesh out the new mythology for however much longer the series was supposed to last. It is heavy on messianic undertones regarding William, the coming alien invasion, and the Mulder family place in it. It is all really murky and confusing, but also irrelevant. When the series is cancelled, all the set up goes out the window as the powers that be only get a handful of episodes to course correct to give fans a sense of closure.
Should one have gotten high hopes? If Chris carter had gotten his wish for a tenth season and beyond, there is no way Gillian Anderson, who is largely phoning it in at this point, would have stuck around to play Scully. That means no William, either. The new mythology would have been dropped rapidly for a Doggett and reyes-centric story arc, so either way these two episodes seem irrelevant.
But for the sake of a complete review, here it goes: Josepho does not actually want to kill William, he wants to protect him instead. The FBI agent who tried to kill in in yesterday’s episode is a rogue former cult member who believes in some sort of prophecy that William will grow up to crusade against the alien invasion just like his father. Allegedly, Mulder has been murdered in order to spur the prophecy along. William takes matters into his own hands when he apparently kills the entire cult and causes the spacecraft to fly off just as scully and reyes arrive in the Canadian wilderness to save him.
Complicating matters; Doggett is in a coma until god talks to him about protecting Scully. The toothpick man is secretly a super soldier who has been impeding the case behind the scenes. Why/ Truth be told, we are not really certain if William is the John Connor who will eventually fight the alien invasion or the alien leader himself. I do note the irony that robert Patrick feels like he has been called upon to watch over William if the former is true in light of Patrick’s role as the T-1000 in Terminator II . Your guess is as good as mine which is which. I assume Carter and Company did not know, either.
Speaking of not knowing, there are three inexplicable points to ’Providence.” One, Folmer announces the same woman who kidnapped William hit Doggett with her car and put him in a coma. How does he know that? Doggett is the only one who saw her and he is in a coma. For all Folmer knows, Doggett was struck by a drunk driver in a stroke of bad luck. Two, Scully has no idea where to look for her son until Josepho calls her cell phone in order to arrange a meeting. How did he get her personal cell phone number? Finally, when Josepho tells her he wants the head of Mulder in order to prove he is dead, Scully does not flinch. It is the second time in the episode someone has told her he has been killed, but she has no particular reaction either time. As weepy as she has been over him, you would think she would freak out.
The Christian themes are very obvious. Mulder is John the Baptist. William is Jesus. Either the FBI agent Scully shot or Toothpick Man is Herod the Great, depending on whether you believe William is the messiah or the harbinger of doom. Scully is kinda sorta the Virgin Mary. Doggett has had a Damascus road conversion to true believe with his conversation with God like Paul. The least subtle connection is when Josepho refers to the super soldiers as the Nephilim by all but proper name. the Nephilim being named in the Old Testament as the offspring of the sons of god and the daughters of men. I assume that Carter and company were going for the more popular interpretation the Nephilim were the children of fallen angels--aliens, in this case--and human woman. If so, perhaps cutting the series short was not such a bad thing.
“Providence” is not technically bad, either, save for the plot holes I mentioned above which are difficult to rationalize away. The problem is the story is pointless in the grand scheme of things because ir all gets dropped in favor of a quick wrap up. The story feels like we burnt off two episodes for no good reason. I will grant “Providence” is more engrossing than the previous episode, but that is not saying much.
Rating: *** (out of 5)
Now I remember why I felt so ambivalent about this two part episode. They both intend to flesh out the new mythology for however much longer the series was supposed to last. It is heavy on messianic undertones regarding William, the coming alien invasion, and the Mulder family place in it. It is all really murky and confusing, but also irrelevant. When the series is cancelled, all the set up goes out the window as the powers that be only get a handful of episodes to course correct to give fans a sense of closure.
