“This is not Happening” features the long-awaited permanent return of David Duchovny for the remainder of the season, as well as the introduction of Annabeth Gish as special Agent Monica Reyes. The episode is as strongly emotional as you might expect. There are several key connections to previous episodes. Some make sense, but others feel as weird as Gibson Praise suddenly coming back into the picture. There is also some manufactured drama surrounding Reyes that, while adding intrigue at the time, turns out to be an overly manipulative red herring when viewed in the grand scheme of things. Nevertheless, “This is Not Happening” is one of the best episodes of the final two seasons.“This is Not happening” is a direct sequel to the seventh season finale “Requiem“ Ritchie Szalay, whose friend Cory was abducted in that episode by walking into the invible barrier that rejected Scully, has been following UFO sighting reports in order to find his friend. His search leads him to Montana, where he follows a flashing light in the sky until he encounters a severely wounded Teresa Hoese, another abductee from Oregon, lting on the ground. Ritchie witnesses a man running away from the scene.
Reports of the incident catch Skinner’s attention because he knows Theresa was taken at the same time and place as Mulder. Skinner, Scully, and Doggett travel to Montana, though Doggett reluctantly so. I understand he is playing the skeptic here, and playing the skeptic against Scully’s newfound belief in aliens is fine, but his interactions with skinner are forceful to the point of insubordination. Doggett is a field agent assigned to a basement office at the FBI. Skinner is the Assistant Director. Under those circumstances, if Skinner says their suspect is a giant pink rabbit from Saturn, then that is who Doggett ought to be looking for. I do not find Doggett’s behavior reasonable, and it gets worse when Reyes shows up. More on that in a minute.
Teresa is mutilated to the point the treating physician makes the agents promise to find whoever did this to her. That night, she is taken from the hospital by what we learn is a shape shifter. We are supposed to feel that she has been ominously kidnapped by the Alien Bounty Hunter, but the tension lasts little more than a commercial break. Some fans complain “This is Not Happening” has an unfocused script. It is elements like this which are introduced, then dropped before they can be fully absorbed which reinforce the claim.
Doggett is neither buying the idea Teresa was abducted or that the alien bounty hunter took her from the hospital, so he takes it upon himself to request Reyes come to Montana. He does not notify skinner, even though he is in charge of the investigation. See what I mean by pushing too far? What is odder still is he arranges for Scully and Skinner to meet Reyes in the middle of the desert? Why not at the FBI field office or back at the motel where all three are staying? Presumably because we need to see the wind blowing through the beautiful Reyes’ hair from dramatic effect. She also smokes Morley’s, the same brand as the Cigarette Smoking Man. That is the red herring I was talking about earlier. They are setting her up as a possible spy for the CSM with that dubious connection, but it ultimately goes no where.
Another note about Reyes is how much she is like Mulder. While she does not actively believe in UFO and the like, she says she is open the paranormal existing. She is not really a skeptic. She willing to look at and accept evidence of the paranormal as valid. It is easy to see early hints the writers are planning to make Doggett and Reyes partners on the X-Files. Reyes will play Mulder the True Believer to Doggett’s Scully the Skeptic. The series will fade off into oblivion before that happens, but within two scenes with the characters, you already see the possibilities.
Doggett once worked with Reyes when he was with the NYPD. We will learn later she was the agent in charge of searching for his missing son. For now, he says they need her help because of her experience with ritualistic crimes. She believes these abductees are part of a local UFO cult. She also suspects Mulder may have joined. Whether she believes the cult is staging the stereotypical injuries associated with abductions is not made clear, but her theory prompts the FBI to raid their compound.
There they find the cult is headed by a man named Absalom, played by Judson Scott. Scott is famous to science fiction fans for playing Joachin, Khan’s right hand man in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. Jeremiah Smith, the alien healer from "Talithas Cumi” and “Herrenvolk” is there. He has healed Teresa completely from all her injuries.
In the interim, cory has been returned, though he did not survive his abduction experience. His reappearance sets up Mulder’s return. He is found lying in a field by skinner and Doggett, dead. Scully desperately runs off in a panic to look for Jeremiah, but the same ship that dumped Mulder has abducted Jeremiah. Scully does her best Darth Vader scream in frustration a full four years before Revenge of the sith made it a permanent joke. To bad. Gillian Anderson pulls it off without a hint of the melodrama from the Vader scene. To be continued….
“This is Not Happening” does merit the complaint of being unfocused. Dramatic moments are set up, but have no pay off. There is no logic in when, where, and how Reyes shows up. There is no reason skinner, scully, and Doggett did not think to contact the UFO cult they knew existed from the get go without Reyes’ urging them to do so. Doggett is being a jerk the entire time, by not only going over Skinner’s head with Reyes, but showing jo sympathy for either of them about Mulder. People who have disappeared like him have reappeared mutilated or dead. Have a heart, Doggett. Considering what happened to his son, you would think he would be empathetic instead. Mulder’s body shows up to set up the cliffhanger without much related dramatic build up, but old school X-Philes like me felt it anyway. Lots of flaws can be excused because of the highly charged ending.
Something that makes the episode quite emotional is the use of mark Snow’s “Scully’s Theme.” The piece was originally written for “all things,” but did not fit in with the metronome beat that ran through the Anderson penned episode. The music has been featured in several episodes this season, but it has a very big sound that many scenes it played over were not charged enough to warrant it. This is not the case in “This is Not Happening.” The music is used to wonderful effect in several places. The following video is edited some, but the heart is still in it: I am going to award this one four stars, in spite of its numerous flaws, because the episode is redeemed by the final minutes.
Rating: **** (out of 5)