2x07 "3"

[wendelah1]

Critical opinion is so divided on this episode, it's hard to know where to begin. Even the writers weren't exactly happy with how it turned out. Sarah Stegall gave it an A for no reason that I can see except David Duchovny is hot. The critic at The A.V. Club must feel differently about DD's sex appeal because he gave "3" a D+. My non-X-Phile spouse's verdict: "They really jumped the shark with that one." After this latest viewing, I stand somewhere in the middle. I give it a solid B-. With Scully missing, Mulder has hit bottom. It was good to see the emotional fallout from her kidnapping addressed, even if it was only briefly and in the middle of a mediocre vampire pastiche.

Everyone agreed on one thing: The Unheard Music by X was an excellent, atmospheric choice for the scene at Club Tepes.


Writer: Chris Ruppenthal, Glen Morgan, James Wong
Director: David Nutter
Originally aired: November 4, 1994

Synopsis:
After reopening the X-Files, Mulder heads to Los Angeles to investigate a series of ritualistic killings.

Most Memorable Quote:
Kristen Kilar: Are you about to ask what a normal person like me is doing in a place like this?
Mulder: How do you define normal?
Kristen Kilar: Misha, red wine... I don't. How do you?
Mulder: All I know is... normal is not what I feel.

Links:
Transcript
Musings of an X-Phile.
A Surreal X-File Captures Earthlings - LA Times article about filming the episode in Vancouver.

Fanfiction:
There should be more but I like this early season two story.
Under the Rose by bugsfic
Summary: The Christmas holidays are always so stressful. 1994 is even more so for Dana Scully, bringing painful memories, a perplexing Mulder, and vampires.

Comments

[mosinging1986.livejournal.com]

It's hard for me to even believe it now, but I came to XF pretty late. (About S6.) Maybe I'd seen bits here and there, but not regularly.

So this is an episode that I didn't get to see for the longest time. For whatever reasons, it didn't seem to come on reruns very often. And I didn't own the tapes/DVDs until way later.

Nitpick: Is it too much to ask that you get a reference correct? How in the world do you write John 52:54, when the correct reference is 6:54? I can see maybe putting the chapter or verse directly after or before... but 52? Errors like that make me cringe in embarrassment. And they did that sort of thing several times in this series!

In this post-Twilight world, it's good to have vampires portrayed as what they are - hideous monsters. I've never understood the "vampires are sexy" thing. Blood squicks me out in general, so I've never found anything remotely appealing about the genre. And this ep had needles too, which doubles the squick factor for me!

I'd almost forgotten how dark early episodes were. (Visually as well as thematically.)

The Son: Don't you want to live forever?
Mulder: Not if drawstring pants come back into style.

LOL! Oh, Mulder. We love you so.

It's been a long time since I'd seen this. So Mulder... for once in his life, DIDN'T believe someone? He didn't believe Son was a vampire? Hm. Isn't that completely unlike him? Do we just chalk it up to exhaustion and grief?

Tho' he can't be grieving too much since he's off chasing monsters instead of, y'know, looking for his partner.

THIS (http://www.chrisnu.com/s2/index.php?spgmGal=3&spgmPic=55#spgmPicture/)

reminded me so much of THIS (http://youtu.be/svpqmV1iY9g/)!


I'm not sure I ever fully understood this episode. I guess it's just what it is - creepy and dark.

[ruuger]

it's good to have vampires portrayed as what they are - hideous monsters

You know, now that I think about it, I wonder if the monstrous vampires in this episode were a deliberate backlash to Anne Rice's vampire novels, which were hugely popular in the early 90's.

(or alternatively an attempt to cash in on their popularity, since the Interview with the Vampire movie came out around the same time as this episode)

[wendelah1]

You know, now that I think about it, I wonder if the monstrous vampires in this episode were a deliberate backlash to Anne Rice's vampire novels, which were hugely popular in the early 90's.

(or alternatively an attempt to cash in on their popularity, since the Interview with the Vampire movie came out around the same time as this episode)

Or both?

[fueschgast]

It bothers me that I can clearly see that the LA sky is photshopped.

"Don't you wanna live forever?" - "Not if drawstring pants come back into style."

It fascinates me how people look in red light, it seems to sort of photoshop them, makes their faces smoother. Green light has the opposite effect. Is it because skin is on the red side of the color spectrum?

[wendelah1]

It bothers me that I can clearly see that the LA sky is photshopped.

It's just stock news footage from one of Southern California's many fires, isn't it? I was more bothered by the sight of that huge body of water that doesn't exist in Virginia that even I can see behind the tram car that Mulder is hanging off of in "Ascension." They could have used a little CGI in that shot. But if you're going to use special effects, you probably have to film everything differently to begin with?

[fueschgast]

No, I mean the scenes with the actors outside, the blue sky was made brownish (there's still some blue left at the edges).

[chinapatterns.livejournal.com]

Ok, confession time. I have never seen this episode before. I missed it when I was watching the show and when I got the DVD boxset there were that many grumbles regarding this episode that up till now I have voided it. Sooo first time round.

I like the calendar flip denoting the passing of time

Tracking the case for three months, how does that fit in with Scully's abduction? Was Mulder going to take her on a vampire hunt with the X-Files closed?

The detective's quick exit when the janitor (son) said he only wanted to speak to Mulder was amusing

Looks like our vampire friend has 5th and 6th degree burns ;)

Mulder didn't believe in Vampires?

You've lost someone, not a lover a friend - I like the fact that is stated, perhaps to ward off shippers at the time this went out?

The whole blood licking scene was just uncomfortable, I suppose that was its intent. When Mulder pulls up outside "The Ra Restaurant" I almost imagine a scene from Dusk till dawn starting.
The blood bread is disgusting!
I’m uncomfortable with the fact that he wears Scully’s cross whilst getting down and dirty with the vampire and then gives it back to her. That’s not something you can just drop into conversation at a later date even in a friendly platonic setting.
Overall, not the best episode in the world but passable.

[wendelah1]

Tracking the case for three months, how does that fit in with Scully's abduction? Was Mulder going to take her on a vampire hunt with the X-Files closed?

I wrote a fic set between "Ascension" and "3" that opens in Portland, Oregon with Mulder giving a slide show to the task force there so I have thought long and hard about this timeline. Although they retcon it later, as far as we know now, Scully is gone for approximately three months. "Duane Barry" has a date stamp of August 7, 1994. "3" takes place in early November. Mulder had to have picked up this case right after the X-Files are reopened--presumably back in August, so Scully doesn't enter into it at all. He figures out the connection between the murders in Atlanta and in Portland and knows they're going to strike again in three months--he just doesn't know where. My head canon explanation for why he's never gotten around to pulling off the dust covers from his desk and changing the calender for three months is that he was too busy investigating her kidnapping and losing his mind in the process.

This is the episode where I figured out that blood play was definitely a do-not-want for me in fanfic. Of course, naive gen reader that I am, I'd never actually heard of it before.

Mulder didn't believe in Vampires?

I know. It's a little hard to swallow, isn't it? Mulder's actually wrong about something paranormal. He doesn't believe in entity rape either, as we will discover shortly. WRONG AGAIN, MULDER.

You've lost someone, not a lover a friend - I like the fact that is stated, perhaps to ward off shippers at the time this went out?

Maybe? I have no idea how aware TPTB even were of shippers back then. By the mid-nineties, Fox's lawyers were issuing cease and desist letters to websites asking them to take down their content so they obviously got the message at some point.

I’m uncomfortable with the fact that he wears Scully’s cross whilst getting down and dirty with the vampire and then gives it back to her. That’s not something you can just drop into conversation at a later date even in a friendly platonic setting.

I'm really confused here. Are Catholics supposed to remove their crosses before having sex? If that's the case, I don't think the Church would hold it against him since not being a Catholic, he wouldn't be in a position to know the cross had been defiled. Scully wasn't even a practicing Catholic at this point so I doubt it would worry her. In any case, he and Scully weren't lovers so I don't see how Mulder's sex life (or lack of one) would come up in conversation or why it would ever need to, not until they did become lovers, and maybe not even then.

The cross seems like a non-issue--to me--but there are reasons Mulder could feel guilt and shame about this incident. He slept with a material witness to a crime he was actively investigating. This was a woman whose life he knew was at risk and he failed to protect her. He can't put what happened into his official report because he knows he'd probably get fired if he did. There is no way Scully would find out he slept with Kristin by reading the casefile.

[chinapatterns.livejournal.com]

I didn't run the time line but that makes sense, I also like your head cannon and may adopt it.

I'm really confused here. Are Catholics supposed to remove their crosses before having sex? If that's the case, I don't think the Church would hold it against him since not being a Catholic, he wouldn't be in a position to know the cross had been defiled. Scully wasn't even a practicing Catholic at this point so I doubt it would worry her. In any case, he and Scully weren't lovers so I don't see how Mulder's sex life (or lack of one) would come up in conversation or why it would ever need to, not until they did become lovers, and maybe not even then.

The cross seems like a non-issue--to me--but there are reasons Mulder could feel guilt and shame about this incident. He slept with a material witness to a crime he was actively investigating. This was a woman whose life he knew was at risk and he failed to protect her. He can't put what happened into his official report because he knows he'd probably get fired if he did. There is no way Scully would find out he slept with Kristin by reading the casefile.

I don't care about the fact that it's a cross at all. Religion isn't a factor here. It could have been any object, a watch for example.

Mulder obviously thought at this point that chances were slim that Scully would be found, or if found would be found alive. It's been three months, no information to speak of, he's getting on with his life as best he can and carrying an object that reminds him of a friend. I have no issue with that.

Then he has sex whilst wearing it, still no issue with the scenario.

I suppose In my head the issue appears when he has to give it back to her, it now belongs to her again and if I were Mulder I would feel uncomfortable knowing that I had worn it during that incident and that the object now had a history that she wasn't aware of. It could have been a ring on a chain round his neck or any object. I would just feel... wrong. Or I'm just a bit odd that way.

[wendelah1]

Mulder obviously thought at this point that chances were slim that Scully would be found, or if found would be found alive. It's been three months, no information to speak of, he's getting on with his life as best he can and carrying an object that reminds him of a friend. I have no issue with that.

I have more head canon that contradicts that to some extent. See, I don't think he's given up, although he's hit bottom. He's in the Slough of Despond, okay? But he's never stopped searching for his sister or believing that he'll find Samantha alive. Why would it be any different for Scully? He tells her mother when she drags out the headstone that it's too soon, that they can't give up yet.

He's wearing the cross because Mrs. Scully gave it to him to keep until he can give it back to Scully himself. The cross may have conscious or unconscious symbolic meaning for him? I think it's a symbol of his quest to find her.

What's interesting to me is that Catholics usually wear a crucifix--Christ suffering on the cross. Protestants favor an empty cross--symbolizing Christ's death and resurrection. If I thought the 1013 writers knew the difference I could spin that but I know they don't know diddly squat about Christianity. John 52:54, my ass. John doesn't have 52 chapters!

I suppose In my head the issue appears when he has to give it back to her, it now belongs to her again and if I were Mulder I would feel uncomfortable knowing that I had worn it during that incident and that the object now had a history that she wasn't aware of. It could have been a ring on a chain round his neck or any object. I would just feel... wrong. Or I'm just a bit odd that way.

To me, in this case, it's the person who has acquired the history. The cross itself is an inanimate object, which was just along for the ride. *cough* It only has the meaning we (or perhaps Mulder) give to it.

[estella-c.livejournal.com]

Being very late to comment has become my insignia. I wear it proudly.

This is an ep many hate but I dont. I love the tortured Mulder carrying on without his partner. "I don't sleep anymore." He is in a personal hell. I speak as a lifelong insomniac.

His sexuality is aroused in what many assume is an inappropriate way. Trust me, the death (presumed here) of a loved one triggers an odd sexual response. It's as though the universe is saying to get it up lest the race die out. And there is another reason that Mulder is attracted to the victimized female played by DD's girlfriend. The reason is that she is a masochistic woman, due to die. He sleeps with her partly out of sympathy and a desire to aid, mostly out of empathy and a desire to die. Also lust. But this sexual adventure is not a fun outing for Mulder. It is a ritualistic suicide. He let Scully die.

The cross. It certainly is not meaningless. Scully is in the bed with Mulder. Her religion may be meaningless to him, but it is all he has left of her. And it symbolically--maybe--saves him from the vampire non-death.

Someone wants to argue about whether M thinks vampires are real? Oh, gee, must we decide? In the last twenty years, vampires have become the popular choice of thousands more than those who ever watched The X-Files. Frankly, I think Mulder is not thinking straight here about non/extreme possibilities.

I have decided that I love 3. And, yeah, I know it doesn't make a lot of sense. Don't care.

[wendelah1]

His sexuality is aroused in what many assume is an inappropriate way. Trust me, the death (presumed here) of a loved one triggers an odd sexual response. It's as though the universe is saying to get it up lest the race die out. And there is another reason that Mulder is attracted to the victimized female played by DD's girlfriend. The reason is that she is a masochistic woman, due to die. He sleeps with her partly out of sympathy and a desire to aid, mostly out of empathy and a desire to die. Also lust. But this sexual adventure is not a fun outing for Mulder. It is a ritualistic suicide. He let Scully die.

It's not for me to say whether or not his attraction to Kristin is inappropriate but I think we can all agree that acting on it was self-destructive, and potentially career-ending were the facts to come out, which they won't since dead girls tell no tales. I don't think Mulder believes in his heart of hearts that Scully is dead, unless you think he's bullshitting when he tells her mother in "One Breath" that it's too soon to think about getting a headstone. I think he hit bottom emotionally before he arrived in LA. Kristin might have temporarily raised his spirits, in fact. After all, he thought he was going to save her. For that reason, I can't see this sex act as ritualistic suicide.

Someone wants to argue about whether M thinks vampires are real? Oh, gee, must we decide?

I wasn't aware that we were arguing about what he believes re: vampirism. He says exactly what he believes.

MULDER: I’m familiar with porphyria. It’s an affliction which causes lesions and blisters when skin is exposed to sunlight, not fourth degree burns. Sufferers may have a hema deficiency which can be supplemented by a small ingestion of blood, not the kind of bloodthirst this man had. It’s probably ignorance of porphyria as a disease that led to the creation of vampire myths in Asia in the Middle Ages. I had dismissed the possibility of the actual existence of such a creature as myth.

DR. BROWNING: (staring at MULDER throughout his speech) You are really upsetting me. On several levels.

Frankly, I think Mulder is not thinking straight here about non/extreme possibilities.

Okay, but that's not anywhere in the text. And he seems completely lucid to me in this scene and even throughout the episode. I think we were discussing whether or not the writer's characterization seemed consistent with what we know about Mulder. The general public's enduring fascination with vampires isn't at issue--or relevant.

The cross. It certainly is not meaningless. Scully is in the bed with Mulder. Her religion may be meaningless to him, but it is all he has left of her. And it symbolically--maybe--saves him from the vampire non-death.

I don't think anyone here has said the cross was meaningless, to us or to Mulder. It belonged to Scully, it was given back to him by her mother. I see the cross as a symbol of his quest to find her, his cross to bear literally and figuratively, along with his search for his sister. And it's not the only item laden with symbolism left in his possession in any case: he has her glasses (her clarity of purpose) and he has her badge (her pursuit of justice). For now he's put those two things away in her case file. He takes the cross out of the evidence folder and takes it with him. That's not a sign of defeat to me. He's taking up his burden, even as he resumes his regular duties on the X-Files and heads to LA in pursuit of the Trinity Killers.

And it symbolically--maybe--saves him from the vampire non-death.

Okay, now you've lost me. When was he at risk of becoming a vampire? How can something symbolically save someone from a real and present danger?