The X-Files: The Unexciting “Adventures” of Walter Skinner
Season 11, Episode 6
Did anyone else yawn through this entire episode?
If you need a refresher on the season 11 premiere or were too wary to even watch, check out my thoughts here. For my thoughts on previous episodes: 11x02, 11x03, 11x04, 11x05.
The Wig Files
Here I will check in on Gillian Anderson’s Scully wig and see how it’s doing. Her season 10 wig was lackluster, but based on promos and behind the scenes photos, the season 11 wigs seem to be much better.
Still loving the long wig. Based on the promo for the next episode (in 3 WEEKS?! Ugh.), we will be saying farewell to it soon.
Shipper Moment
A good 50% of The X-Files is wondering when Mulder and Scully will finally kiss and make-up. The show’s creator, Chris Carter, is notorious for insisting that despite having a child together and sharing a few on-screen kisses, Mulder and Scully are platonic. Obviously he’s wrong. This section will track the progress made on the MSR (Mulder Scully Relationship) front.
Mulder and Scully barely did anything but talk about trying to save Skinner this week. 1/10 on the cuteness scale. I would’ve rather watched an hour of them shopping at IKEA.
Best Line or Exchange of the Episode
Depending on who wrote it, an episode of The X-Files can contain quite a few gems. The 10 seasons and 2 movies we’ve had before this point have given us iconic one-liners like “Mushrooms taste great on burgers, Mulder, but they don’t raise the dead,” and “Please explain to be the scientific nature of a whammy.” What does season 11 have in store?
Scully (holding up a sign that says “the monsters are here”): “Does that get your juices flowing, Mulder?”
Mulder: “As much as I appreciate any reference to my juices, Scully…”
Monster Mash
How does this week’s monster square up against the rest of X-Files canon? Mulder and Scully have seen some wild creatures over the years, from the Flukeman to clones to evil dolls. Season 10 didn’t have any strong monsters, so hopefully season 11 will rectify that.
I guess this week it was experimental weaponized gas that played tricks on people’s minds and drugged them? But only at that mental hospital, with the implication that crops in the U.S. are being contaminated with it? The storytelling was so lazy I couldn’t tell you what that gas actually was, and I doubt anyone who wrote it could either.
Oh, and that son of one of Skinner’s old military buddies who was wearing a creepy costume in the woods and set tons of traps. But he’s dead now.
The Bat-Crap Crazy Corner
This section will track the craziest thing Mulder reveals his belief in this week — and the dude believes in almost anything, no matter how many times Scully rolls her eyes.
Nothing of interest or value happened this week, so nothing to report here. There was a moment where Scully said, “Tell me you don’t think that’s a real monster, Mulder,” and I was like, “Girl, what do you think? You know the answer to that. He’s gonna say yes 98% of the time.” I think it was in reference to the person on the video footage from the woods, who was clearly wearing a mask.
William Dollar Baby
To those unfamiliar, William is the son Scully conceived despite believing she was barren after aliens conducted tests on her and took out her ova (I know, it sounds crazy). Mulder is his father and you can’t make me believe otherwise.
He was mentioned briefly when Scully was wondering if Skinner digging into the Ghouli case is why he went missing.
Basement Analysis
I’m just gonna rant and overanalyze like Mulder does down in the basement.
I’m just gonna say it: this was the most boring, uninventive, unnecessary episode ever. It didn’t fit into the X-Files canon, there was no real point to it and I just wasted an hour of my life. The plot was barely there — just some sloppy story meant to make us care about Skinner. Consider it unsuccessful.
Did anyone else find it weird that Skinner has been shady all season, is maybe working with the CSM and yet every other line was about how loyal and awesome he was? Is this episode from an alternate universe where Skinner actually did something besides get annoyed with Mulder and Scully and let the CSM blow smoke (literally) up his ass? Did I miss something??
When Kersh said Skinner’s stalled career was due to his loyalty to Mulder & Scully, I choked on my water. Good one. It’s not like he ever had any intense loyalty to them. He just didn’t get them shut down. Big whoop. And then Scully had lines like, “The reliable Skinner we knew and loved,” and, “We know precious little about Walter Sergei Skinner” — what? He was always kind of a jerk. Why are we all in the Skinner fan club all of a sudden?
The richest detail of all is when Skinner said he never fully trusted the government when he started working for the FBI. Dude, tell your face and personality and character of seasons 1–9 that. The characterization of Skinner basically did a (weak) 180 and I would love to be given one good reason why, because I’ve seen every episode of the series multiple times and this made no sense to me.
Overall, this episode was a waste of the short season we have been given and I wish it could’ve been anything else. Mulder and Scully tracking down William, a Monica Reyes redemption arc, some weird Monster-of-the-Week case related to a cult that worships emojis, whatever. Anything would’ve been better than this.
(Also, I can’t believe this is what we’re left with before the show takes a 3-week break. UGH.)
