I want to believe (long Mulder/Scully musings)

[perenelle13 at yahoo.com]

--- In HPFGU-OTChatter at y..., "Kristin" <Alyeskakc at a...> wrote:

>    Does anyone watch The X-Files on a regular basis? Did you see the
> season finale?  I'm just wondering if I missed them (Scully and
> Mulder) admitting that Mulder is the father of her baby. I was
> watching but was a bit distracted towards the end. I did see them
> kiss, yeah, but I'm not sure they really answered the question of
> paternity. I hope it's Mulder's.

heh.  i was half-heartedly meandering through alt.tv.x-files for
intelligent responses to the finale, not to mention a good dose of
gloating from the presumably-still-glowing shippers (not that i'm
*not* one... or am!), but wasn't having too much luck.  it seems that
the shippers and noromos have gotten themselves into a self-righteous
frenzy of alternating "YAY! finally!" and "feh! it means NOTHING!", ad
infinitum... not particularly entertaining reading.  but hey, what
else can we expect from USENET?

annnnnnyway... as to your question.  no, you didn't miss anything.
unless you mean that in a figurative sense, in which case, perhaps you
did ("DISTRACTED" at the end? yikes!).  :p  but.  i'm personally of
the opinion that Chris is leaving this issue acceptably vague, leaving
you to make up your own mind on the subject.  there are more than a
few clues that could honestly lead one in either direction (ie,
Mulder's-the-father or this-is-ambiguous-and-we-really-don't-know).
this is the way Chris Carter has done things for eight years; there's
no reason to expect anything different now.  howwwweeeevver....

all the ridiculously heavy-handed (even for Chris Carter) christ
imagery aside, here's my take:  Both Scully and Mulder believed her to
be sterile, but she turns up pregnant after her abduction.  Scully
can't explain this; she knows she tried IVF, but it didn't work.  She
later finds out that the doctor she had been working with on IVF was
involved in that whole alien-baby-making deal.  She and Mulder learn
of all the sketchy people that are interested in her baby ("This isn't
about the X-Files, Scully, it's about you. It's always been about
YOU", blah blah).  so, Billy Miles and his merry band of alien friends
show up to take the SuperBaby/AlienBaby, whatever it is, but much to
their dismay, it turns out to be a normal, human child.  Billy Miles
and friends return from whence they came.  in the final scene, Scully
muses on this, interestingly using the word "us" at one point
("...take him away from us"? i can't recall explicitly).  then, of
course, she tells Mulder that the baby's name is William, after his
father (awww, Mulder melts inwardly).  Scully continues to muse on the
fact that they feared the truth about the baby, his origin, his fate,
etc.  Mulder tells her, "what we feared were the possibilities. the
truth we already knew", ie, the possibility/truth that they really do
love each other, and, miraculous or otherwise, the baby was conceived
out of that love, blahblahblah.  you, of course, know the rest.  ;>

i have to admit, though, that as much as the fact that they've been
staring longingly at each other for the past six episodes has made me
want to attach "also, i'm desperately in love with you" at the end of
every damned line, i was ultimately *shocked* when they actually
kissed.  particulaly considering that all the other near-misses have
been hyped to *death* beforehand, only to end in basically a letdown
for the shippers in us.  ;>

argh.  right, then.  i've blathered on long enough.


-cyn