I totally agree with the love for ‘Ice’ and ‘Beyond the Sea’, but find it strange that nobody has mentioned ‘Tooms’ yet – one of my favourite season 1 episodes. It has so many great things:

It’s pretty: I don’t know what it is, but the episode looks sort of brighter – brighter colours maybe? Mulder and Scully are also prettier. And very nice filming when Tooms sees his potential victims in colours, and the rest of the world just falls away in black and white.

It’s funny: Mulder after his raving madman routine at Tooms’ hearing, saying to Scully: “You think they would have taken me more seriously if I wore the grey suit?”. Mulder interrupting Tooms’ stalking with: “Could you help me find my dog? He's a Norwegian elkhound. His name is Heinrich. I use him to hunt moose.” (OK, maybe that’s just funny to me – being Norwegian and all… Heh)

It’s sweet: The scene in the car with root bear, ice tea, and: “Mulder, I wouldn’t put myself on the line for anybody but you”!

Also, it’s Skinner’s first episode! (yey!)
And did you notice that Skinner actually called Mulder “Fox” when he talked to him? Scully did it first, in the car, but later Skinner did the same thing in his office, after he sent Scully out. (And Scully flat out lied to Skinner! This is before she perfected the art of not answering questions…)

Yes, definitely one of the favorites!

and not to mention Gooey Mulder!

And I've always loved the ending with the CSM bit. And isn't this the first time we hear him talk? If so, it's a doozy of an opening line:



And the conversation that immediately follows between M&S that seems deliberately vague:



What do you all think that meant? I know little about the behind the scenes drama of the first season of the show but seem to remember that 1013 was far from sure that they'd be picked up for a second season, that the ending of the THE ERLENMEYER FLASK deliberately mirrored the PILOT because they thought that was it for the show. Could this "change" have been a reference to the show ending or even Scully's impending abduction? But, again, without GA being pregnant yet, had they even discussed having Scully abducted?

Regardless, LIVE BAIT is right; TOOMS is just a really good episode. I wish they'd done more continuations with MOTW's characters and not just the Mytharc. Or did more of this type of episode where the mytharc and MOTW intersect and live in the same universe...good times.

I always figured it foretold the X-Files being shut down and M&S reassigned in Erlenmeyer Flask (for the first of many times). That much 1013 had probably already planned.

Yes! Famous first words by CSM!

I don’t know anything about the ‘behind the scene drama’ either, but I always thought the caterpillar scene played perfectly in with the episode.
They had obviously been put under new management, and Skinner tried to ‘reel Scully in’ as she called it: he wanted them to apply more conventional methods of investigation. Even though they had a 75% conviction or case solution (really???), and that alone kept the X-files going. As Scully suggested: more conventional methods would decrease the rate of success, so they were in fact set up to fail. And Skinner is talking to Mulder about how Mulder is wasting his talents with the X-files.
I agree with Mulder's hunch: it’s obvious their working situation is changing, and that it’s possible the X-files will be shut down.

As for real life – surely GA was pregnant by then? It’s late season 1, and she gave birth early in season 2?

I've never been clear about GA's pregnancy, I used to think that they rushed Season 2 into production because she was expecting, but then someone (on this board, I believe) said that wasn't the case, that she wasn't pregnant/showing yet at the end of Season One. But, to my eye, she looks like she's starting to show, especially in certain scenes in THE ERLENMEYER FLASK:

http://xfphotos.fredfarm.com/season1/eflask/cap162.jpg
http://xfphotos.fredfarm.com/season1/eflask/cap216.jpg

But I do remember reading/hearing that GA was very nervous they would just write her off the show because of Piper so perhaps she kept it to herself as long as she could?

I remember reading interviews with GA in which she said that during the filming of "Young at Heart" she was required to kind of throw herself backwards onto the floor in the scene in which she got shot, and this scene had to be done several times. She was pregnant at the time, but she didn't yet know she was. She said looking back on it after she learned of her pregnancy, she was thankful that nothing bad had resulted from all the battering her body took in the filming of that scene.

I also recall her saying in another interview that while they were filming the scene in "Darkness Falls" where she and Mulder and Forest Service Guy are being attacked in the Jeep by the glowy bugs, there was a trash can or something hiding behind the back seat so that she could lean over and vomit when she needed to. So presumably, everyone learned about the pregnancy somewhere in between these two episodes.

Thanks, greenshirt, so one might assume that Season 2 production started not long after Season 1 wrapped. But when did they get the word they were coming back? I don't think it was a sure thing when Season 1 ended. Didn't the show really start to pick up during summer reruns?

And, just think, there's a bucket o'vomit in the back of this jeep:

http://xfphotos.fredfarm.com/season1/darkn...2/falls263A.jpg

Kinda takes the magic out of it, huh?

Nope. Still love the ep.

Live Bait, just how Norwegian are you (asks the Swedish chick)?

all this talk about what happened behind the scenes makes me pine even more for an E! TRUE HOLLYWOOD STORY on the show; GA's pregnancy, DD's dispute over syndication to FX, that sexual harassment scandal, the move to LA, DD making so much more than GA for a time, the alleged tension between GA and DD on the set, the aborted attempt to retool the show with Seasons 8 & 9 -- there's just SO much we don't know...

What sexual harassment scandal???

And Kanel, I’m pretty much completely Norwegian. I even live here these days, in Bergen to be exact. And I already knew you’re the “Swedish chick” - you have mentioned it here before. I apologize for my bad manners, for not immediately introducing myself as a fellow Scandinavian! Sorry about that! :-)
Besides – kanel – that’s Swedish for cinnamon, right?

Add me to the list of Tooms-lovers. I tend to mix up what happens in it and what happens in Squeeze together. The court-appointed psychiatrist amuses me, with his oblivious "oh, you like making paper-mache" comments.

The coat Scully wore in Erlenmeyer Flask seemed awfully heavy for an episode presumably set in May, so I figured that by that point they really had to start hiding her pregnancy. But it's a good piece of clothing to have if you need to stash away monkey pee.

Here's what I could find:


http://www.scifi.com/sfw/issue30/news.html

I believed this happened in 1996 and was eventually settled out of court with one of those gag order things so no one can talk about it. I'm hoping some wise and wonderful poster here can fill us in more...

I have never even heard of this before….
And, a great link ejluther! DD dated Winona Ryder??? That is so funny! Heh.

To get back on season 1 topic: it’s good to hear you guys share the ‘Tooms’-love. Now, did the X-files unit of season 1 really solve 75% of their cases, do you think? 20 cases (or episodes) before ‘Tooms’, 15 of them counted as solved? Which 5 cases were not solved?
Any thoughts?

Live Bait, are you taking this statistic from a show quote? does it just relate to cases in episodes or all the cases designated to the XF since the days of J Edgar?

I’m taking this from Scully’s quote about the work she and Mulder did on the X-files:
So, I just thought it related to the cases she and Mulder had worked on together – and by ‘Tooms’ they had worked 20 cases (that we know of).

And cases not solved? It’s very hard to decide sometimes. Was the ‘Jersey Devil’ case solved when they killed the beast woman? Or is it unsolved because her child is still running free? Is the ‘Fallen Angel’ case solved, when Max disappeared and Mulder never got confirmation? The 'Gender Bender' case with the disappearing gender-changing aliens with their crop circles? Solved?
I really don't know what criteria Scully measures case solution by....

So if you Norwegians go to the beach, does the sea water make you all old-looking and sickly?

M&S's case clearing rate is easy to explain if you keep in mind how Mulder expained everything that happened:
Case 4723: Aliens did it, but no proof found.
Case 2938: A monster did it, but no proof found.
Case 3208: An alien monster did it, but government agents stole all the evidence.
Case 3838: Government agents did it, and an alien monster destroyed the evidence.
Etc.

We try really hard not to drink the sea water when we’re at the beach! At least the X-files taught us that much…..

Better over here on the east coast. We never get old-looking from the water. But we keep trying, so XF apparently has taught us zip.

You should come over, Live Bait! Stockholm is a nice place.

As for the rate of solved cases, I distinctly remember the vo after Shapes saying "The case remains open and unsolved." Or at least words to that effect. Which casenumber was that bmills?

I hadn't heard of the sexual harrasment thing either, but I can't say it was a shock. I think those boys might be a little unnerving that way at times, while they themselves think they're just "having fun". I would like to know more, though. Frelling gag.

And why would DD make more money than GA?? She's heaps better than he is!

Oh, wait. He's a man. Right. Excuse me while I go hit my head against the wall for a bit.

I thought the waters off of Stockholm had the ability to keep things young and beautiful. I've seen the Vasa ship. And of course the Swedes themselves are proof of this.

I think we were meant to understand that the 75% success rate referred to cases that weren't shown on the series. I assume they had normal mundane FBI cases in addition to chasing aliens and monsters. I wouldn't imagine that the FBI would be willing to pay full-time salaries to 2 agents to only take on 20 or so cases a year.

DD got paid more than GA at the beginning because he was a more established actor - he had already done a couple of movies, plus appearances on Twin Peaks, while she had done very little film or tv before that point. So, it does make sense that he would make more at first. The problem was that she quickly became as popular as (or more popular than) he was, but they continued to pay him more.

Oh, Lili, you always know just what to say!



Well, they might if Hollywood offered to foot the bill...

You’re probably right about cases not being shown on the series, Lili. It is sort of an X-files theme in itself: successfully solved cases: off screen. An entire romantic/sexual relationship: off screen. Really interesting/essential conversations (Skinner telling Mulder about William, anyone?): off screen. *sigh*
Ah, well.

Mulder’s explanations of ‘what really happened’ according to bmills are also very funny and true! Especially with the government agents and monsters alternating on doing it and destroying the evidence! Very good!

And Kanel, Stockholm is a really great city! Bergen is nice too, but maybe nicer in the spring and summer: right now it’s mostly ice and rain. And good luck on your first day back at the university (what courses are you taking?).

I also assumed the high solution rate involved mundande cases we never saw, but I would really have liked to see a few of them. I always dreamed of an ep in which Scully was 100% correct and it really was a weather balloon or swamp gas that they were chasing. It would have been fun to see the characters reacting to Scully being right. Sigh.

I agree with you, bmills, about wanting to see cases where Scully was right. And I also assumed that there were mundane cases where she was right, but then there's FIELD TRIP:



Anyway, the point is this sort of suggests that Scully's NEVER right, doesn't it? Or should it be read as Mulder's almost always right about THESE kinds of cases, the weird & paranormal ones he brings her? I used to think the latter but the former could be assumed as well. But that doesn't feel right, Scully's NEVER right? Even on the boring cases? She'd be a pretty useless FBI agent, if that were the case.

So, were there X-Files - that we actually saw - where Scully was right and Mulder was wrong? If so, on which thread should we discuss such a thing?

I could never hear that comment of Mulder's without feeling annoyed. Scully is smart, a good agent with lots of deductive reasoning, it's just inconceivable that she would be wrong all the time. Even in the supernatural cases, she will often get past her own non-convictions and go with whatever evidence turns up.

And Mulder always right? Please, the man is a regular FBI kangaroo - jumps to conclusions like there's no tomorrow. Often the right conclusions, I admit, but he's not always right and Scully's not always wrong.

It's when they work together that they manage to solve their cases best, isn't it? He goes way out there, Scully reels in hard, and together they end up at something like a solution. That's their strength.

And Mulder knows it, as he admits later on in the series (and to some extent already in the first season, although not in so many words), and shouldn't try to take all the glory like that.

I guess he didn't mean it like that, but it sure sounds like it!

What? This doesn't fit in the season one thread? You're right.

Maybe we need a trans-seasonal thread or something?

Since my reply has everything to do with FIELD TRIP/Season Six, and nothing to do with Season One, I'll post over there.

In the meantime, here's a memory from Season One:

INTERNET STRANGENESS SEEMED TO RESULT IN THE DOUBLE POST - NOT INTENTIONAL IN ANY WAY...

I think there should be a Fox Mulder Jump-To-Conclusions Mat. Just saying.

As far as the 75% solve rate, I always figured there were cases in there, too. Does the FBI have any kind of juristiction (sp?--I'm retarded) in the US Virgin Islands? Because I can totally see Mulder making that work in their favor.

Meaning that I would totally make that work in mine.

I think that maybe the cases that resulted in the 75% solve rate were ones where they helped out other agencies or areas in the Bureau, or just the really mundane ones. The FBI could possibly afford to keep them in the basement all the time.

Topic? M&S really do get their flirt on in S1. Does anyone else constantly look for clues that they're in love, especially in the earliest seasons?

As well, I definitely think that GA was pregnant in The Erlynmeyer Flask. She gave birth pretty early into S2, right? So it would stand to reason that she was preggy by that point. I dunno...

Caught the last 10-15 minutes of "Young at Heart" tonight in syndi and it may be an episode I never saw and didn't realize I had missed. I have a vague recollection that I've ever watched it before. What's the consensus on that episode?

Is it worth watching the reair tomorrow on WGN?

I'd watch YOUNG AT HEART, if for nothing else then to see a glimpse of CSM at the end, interrogating the dying John Barnett:

http://xfphotos.fredfarm.com/season1/yah/Dcap081.jpg

(that is CSM, yes? i'd check my DVD but i have to run. he's identified as "man in black" at the transcript site, but I think it's ol' smokey with what, i guess, are technically his first lines on the show, even if they aren't delivered to the camera...)



Plus, it's got a good ick factor with those rapidly aging children, the salamander hand, and some creepy stalking of Scully...

I caught some of it again tonight and realized I had seen it, it just didn't catch in my "know it in one scene" mental library. I don't believe that was CSM at the end, because Mulder says something generic about, "I think he's CIA," and at that point they already knew of CSM as CSM, right? Wasn't he in Scully's interview in the pilot? I'd have thought if it had been him, he'd have been referred to in a more known fashion.

Yes, but he wasn't established as "the smoking man" yet to M&S, I don't believe. And I did a search for a cast list and William B. Davis is listed as CSM in the credits here:
http://www.carterphile.com/EpGuides/OS/You...ungAtHeart.html

And, you're right, Mulder does mention him:

But I don't think that's a mistake, I just think CSM was a still an enigma and, more likely, not fleshed out by 1013 yet. Actually, did we ever officially establish CSM as FBI? Could he be a CIA agent? Or NSA?

But now I'm thinking, when was CSM first dubbed "the smoking man/cancer man" on the show? Anyone?

wasn't it during or immediately after Scully's abduction? didn't M come into Skinner's office and see smoke rising from the ashtray? i think "Cancer Man" was used in that exchange, shortly before the mysterious woman leaves CSM's address in the cigarette machine for Mulder to find?

I think you're right, glasgow. and my next question is if the names "cancer man" and "cigarette smoking man" were an invention of 1013, or were they taken from internet fan postings/chats about the show and this mysterious man in black? i've always suspected the fans named him, but have no confirmation either way...

I don't know about fans naming him (wouldn't surprise me, though), but I think I heard that they first called him "Cancer Man" and then had to rename him after pressure from the tobacco industry. Is that just something I dreamed?

Watched Jersey Devil on TNT last night. Between Scully's date outfit, her red plaid suit, and Mulder's fun pattern mixing (not to mention Scully's white tights), I kept expecting Trinny and Susannah to burst in at any moment.

Heh! Wouldn't that be an interesting cross-over.

Oh gawd, that date outfit! I forgot how horrifying that was.

Did anyone watch Conan last night? It was pretty funny listening to Duchovny discuss watching Fire and Mulder's out-of-nowhere/disproven earlier by the Pilot fear of fire. 1013's continuity problems didn't take long to surface, did they.

I watched DD on Conan and laughed. His "paralyzed with fear" impression, which he repeated throughout the interview, was pretty funny. I also felt good knowing that DD and I had both watched Fire at the same time the night before. ([music notes] "Somewhere, out there, beneath the pale moonlight..." [/music notes]) DD should have stayed up another hour after Fire to watch Elegy on Sci-Fi; he would have felt better about that episode, I'm sure.

Well, it's slow at work today so I'll bring up something I've always wondered about. Why does everybody hate Scully's date outfight from Jersey Devil? Yeah, I can see that it's a bit over the top, but still, she looks so pretty in it.

Ooooh - I watched "Fire," too! Didn't DD injure his hand shooting that episode? The thing in that episode that just makes me roar is Gillian's extraordinarily stilted reading of, "Freeze. Federal Agent." when she's at the bottom of the stairs near the end of the episode.

Conan repeats on Comedy Central tomorrow late afternoon, I believe.

genius status notwithstanding, bmills, some free advice from a friend: stick to what you know, baby.

You know, I'm not sure where to put this, so I'll stick it here.

The Season 1 DVDs (as well as Seasons 2-7) are on sale at amazon.com for $69.99.

Sorry if there's somewhere else this should go- I'm happy to move it to the right place if need be.

Crow, heeeeee. Also, this is TOTALLY something I would do. :)

Let's see, what don't I like about Scully's date outfit? Well, my biggest problem with it, aside from the poufy shoulders, is that she paired this lacy top with a pair of (extraordinarily high-waisted) black trousers and a belt. Pleated, no less (IIRC). I thought the giant lace flowers were way too far on the ornate side anyway, and with the belted black suit pants it's just comical. I'm sure I'm also biased because even if it was in style in 1993 it definitely isn't eleven years later. I don't remember thinking it was that bad when I first watched it (probably three or four years after it aired -- I missed Season 1 and had to wait for the syndicated eps to catch up), but it hasn't aged well. <g>

Plus, the hair is so over the top (again with the last echoes of '80s fashion, and another reason I don't like it when they try to be uber-trendy) that it doesn't exactly help.

But it's still Scully, so she's pretty anyway.

Well, I always thought GA looks like an ivory cameo come to life anyway, so the blouse and the 'do played right into that. I thought she looked beautiful, but if I'm being gauche and clueless about fashion, I guess this just bolsters my street cred as a straight guy, right?

Yes, bmills, it does that. A very, VERY straight guy. Because yo, I don't even think my mother would wear that.

Although, her suit in the pilot was even worse. The one with the buttons?

Awww, but she was all Clarice Starling in that. Very G-Woman, in the round glasses and tweed coat I-can-play-in-the-boy's-club-too kinda way.

bmills, I've actually had that thought too, particularly in The House of Mirth. So I see what you mean. It's just...the tendrils, and the bangs, and then when she stands up, the pants, and it's all over.

I happen to love her terrible Pilot fashions, up to and including the leggings/socks/oversized t-shirt combo. Hee hee. And the white tights make me happy to be alive, they are so hilarious.

I guess I love all her terrible fashions. I just also love to make fun of them.

Speaking of the pilot...I decided to reward myself for sitting through every minute of every episode of season 8 on DVD (including the inane commentaries) by watching season 1 from the beginning. I watched the pilot today and was reminded of something I've always wondered about.

Upon meeting Scully for the first time, Mulder sarcastically says "Isn't it nice to be suddenly so highly regarded?" Is he referring to himself being highly regarded, as in "Well, aren't I a lucky duck that the big boys upstairs finally deemed me worthy of a partner, and a fancy schmancy medical doctor at that", or is he referring to Scully as being highly regarded, as in "Well, aren't you a lucky duck for getting assigned to work down here in the basement with spooky old me"?

I was also reminded that the first time I watched this episode on DVD (which was actually the first time I had ever seen it), the subtitles came on of their own volition during the airplane scene, just as the (UFO-induced???) turbulence struck. That had never happened before and hasn't happened since. Spooky.