The X-Files Review: Rm9sbG93ZXJz (Season 11, Episode 7)

Mulder and Scully take a deep dive through the other side of the black mirror on The X-Files Season 11 Episode 7, “Rm9sbG93ZXJz”

The best part of “Rm9sbG93ZXJz” is also the worst: it is everything The X-Files in the 21st century should be, but will never truly ever be again.

Well-paced and beautifully shot, the episode plays fast and loose with a minor AI rebellion in order to show us just how out of place Mulder and Scully are in our world.

There are many lessons that can be taken away from this episode: humanity continues to revisit its sins upon its children (even our robotic ones), human interaction should not just be limited to screens, one should always have a baseball bat handy — you name it, there’s something to be said about it here.

But really, what it all boils down to is this: Mulder and Scully are from a different time. Not a better one, and not one we can ever go back to, but undeniably different. The Mulder and Scully of old navigated with paper maps and wrote in notebooks — their cell phones barely deserved the name, and robots didn’t serve meals.

What do two people do who fundamentally do not fit into their modern society do when faced with a full-on revolt by the creature comforts we all have happily come to depend on?

They swing baseball bats and duct tape things shut. They use those old paper maps and run on foot, and they throw big-ass barrels at bullets to stop them. They stick together right to the very end while a pissed-off sushi robot demands a tip for its service.

So no, Mulder and Scully don’t fit. But they’re not supposed to, and they don’t have to. Technology doesn’t get in the way of their relationship, or of them simply being Mulder and Scully. In the end, they can share a meal together anywhere, just the two of them, with nothing said between them at all. And they can hold hands while they do it.

MULDER/SCULLY RELATIONSHIP WATCH

First of all, I call total bull on Scully living in that big, giant, super gorgeous house by herself.

MULDER: Why is your house so much nicer than mine?

Didn’t they live together at Mulder’s place? That’s where Scully always seems to be, anyway, and Mulder did mention to her that they had to go furniture shopping when that house was shot up in “This.”

What’s the truth.gif

No matter their living arrangements, though. Let’s talk about Scully’s vibrator. Because Scully, as a single (?), grown woman, owns a vibrator, and it’s almost revolutionary for The X-Files to allow Scully to have that.

Despite being a show filled with mature themes, the subject of Scully’s sexuality and how she expresses that is rarely addressed. Sure, Mulder’s porn addiction is common knowledge, but what about Scully? Her romantic encounters ended in death more often than not. Scully didn’t get to have sex.

(Unless she’s having sex with Mulder? Literally who knows at this point.)

So yeah, Scully has a vibrator, and she’s 49 years old, and she damn well uses the thing. Go, G-woman, go.

STRAY THOUGHTS

• The sequel to this episode is so obviously Black Mirror Series 4 Episode 5, “Metalhead” and I think we can all agree on that.
• Scully inexplicably has a new haircut? I mean, like, work, but where did that come from?
• The almost dialogue-free aspect of this episode was so damn cool. It’s a hard concept to pull off, but with two characters who we know as well as Mulder and Scully, it hits all the right beats.
• Hello! They held hands! Discuss!

 

What did you think of this episode of The X-Files? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!

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The X-Files airs Wednesdays at 8/7c on FOX.

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