Veiled Vesta

Me and my bro have been watching the Sci-fi and FX channel lately so we also saw the X-Files movie promo like ten times. He was actually the first one who pointed it out to me. I was typing and heard a familiar voice, when he was all "Hey, isn't that Mulder?" I whirled around and demanded he cranked up the volume while watching the trailer. It was great! He though Mulder and Scully looked old. (Don't worry, I kicked him for such a blasphemous comment!)

Recaps are so slow in coming as my laptop is *still* down and sharing the family computer gives me less time for typing as well as doing my own surfing the net. I hope I can get the last episode up before the next viewing party. BTW, happy fourth of July for the Americans!

Triangle

**(Personal Notes/Persönliche Anmerkungen: The WWII German episode where we get the furst uninterrupted kiss between Mulder and Scully! Well, sort of. You'll see. Also, the whole episode is nicely shot in continuous motion with seemless cuts. Gillian Anderson is lucky she got to kiss not one, but two of the awesome main guys on the show. I wonder how much she laughed when she first got the script...)**

We're somewhere in the Sargasso Sea, underwater. This is what Mulder's fish must see when they've gone to fishy heaven after starving to death in his little tank. We're panning over to see pieces of a boat and life saver. Last thing we see is someone face down in the water. And not just any someone; it's Mulder! His swimming technique needs work. This is quite possibly the shortest pre-credits scene I've recapped. Thus far.

Opening Credits! Aka ‘Offene Blankokredite’ or ‘Vorspann’ according to our resident German shipper, Ele, back when I was doing that Unruhe recap. I should’ve saved the German motif for this episode. Oh well. Instead we’re celebrating the 1930s-1940s and you can all choose any music from that era to listen to, whether it was a song played in the episode or something else. Personally, I like the song: Sing, Sing, Sing. (I think it was played during the big mutiny/fight scene.)

It's now night time and raining cats and dogs as some burly British blokes are hauling someone out of the sea. I think we can all guess who it is they're dragging out. And yes, we soon see that it's our lovely little lunatic Mulder, looking very much like a drowned rat and coughing for air. The British soldiers have saved him only to rough him up a bit and demand to know who he is. I used to think British accents sounded classy (as per our departed Prissy friend) but these guys grate out their slang like true salty seadogs. I'm using alot of animal alliterations so far. The British sailors quickly decide to throw their catch overboard but Mulder finally protests and identifies himself as Fox Mulder and they make fun of his name before they check his ID and drag him down below deck. They tell him they've never heard of the FBI and accuse him of being German on account of his accent. They want a real awful accent, wait until we see Spender try and speak later on. Oh it's brutal. They drag the protesting Mulder, saying more stuff about him being a "Jerry" and an "Uber Ally" or something. They finally get to the captain's room where they inform him that they found Mulder in the sea and suspect he's a German soldier. The captain takes the prisoner inside where he hits him a few times asking if he's a friend or foe. Mulder is thoroughly confused as he tries to explain himself. It's worth noting that he can really take a punch. Practice makes perfect, I suppose. We finally find out that Mulder was looking for their ship, the Queen Anne, and he tells them their exact coordinates before telling everyone the shocking news that the ship is caught in a time warp and currently stuck somewhere in the Bermuda Triangle (hence the episode name) and all the soldiers on the ship are from the long ago time of 1939 where swing jazz ruled supreme and World War II was the ongoing buzz kill. The soldiers, understandably, think Mulder is insane. The captain and Mulder argue a bit about their current time period, Mulder saying it's 1998 as well as assuring them there is no war and the Germans are no longer their enemies (True that; they're awesome! So many of them are X-Philes on this thread and the X-Files board! ) Also, Mulder makes a crack about Bill Clinton's troubles. Yeah, you'll be praying for those troubles if you knew what I knew buddy, believe me. Another British soldier steps in to announce that the Germans have boarded the ship and have taken over. Where were all the other British soldiers who were supposed to keep look out? Don't tell me they were all with Mulder. The captain orders them to keep Mulder prisoner in the captain's room and they all leave to deal with the Germans, locking a laughing and giddy Mulder inside. He walks over to the radio to call a Mayday and while tuning the dial to get the right frequency he hears a news bulletin broadcasting the war and announcing the date as September 3, 1939. It is then that Mulder realizes *the ship* isn't in 1998, rather *he* is in 1939. Well ain't that a kick in the keister.

Mulder starts to say a word he would've gotten away with saying uncensored in the first movie but he gets cut off when the door opens and a German soldier walks inside. It's dark in the room... well darker. Seriously, much of the time we're on the Queen Anne it's darker than Charlie Chaplin's mustache. The camera work in this episode is superb but something tells me the budget for the camera work was taken from the budget for lighting. Was the Emmy consideration worth it Carter? Was it worth giving the shippers a dimly lit kiss?! So, where was I? Oh yes, Mulder jumps the German soldier and starts beating the crap out of him. The radio treats us to an Andrews Sister song while we barely see the fight in the dark room. Mulder is the victor and he finally gets a good look at the soldier – it's Jeffrey Spender! Or rather, the alternate reality, WWII version of him. This isn't the only familiar face Mulder will be seeing on his adventure aboard the Queen Anne. For now, he decides to undress Spender (back slash fangirls, back!) and don the Nazi soldier garb to walk through the ship relatively unnoticed. He doesn't get far before other German soldiers see him and go after him. They seem to be asking him to stop in German. He does not. They go through the fancy halls of the Queen Anne, looking more like luxury liner than a war ship. It reminds me of the movie Titanic. Hmm... tough and red headed heroine, charismatic and optimistic hero... too bad they don't get their own steamy car scene. Mulder manages to make it to the grand ballroom where the well dressed passengers are dancing to some jazzy tunes and having a dandy time. A bubbly blonde singer is singing 'Jeepers creepers, where'd you get those peepers?' Mulder finally bumps into a familiar feisty red head dancing with an older man. It's the alternate reality, WWII version of Scully! Mulder is surprised to see her (especially when she looks so damn good in her ball gown and curly hair). He makes the mistake of grabbing her arm, and she calls him a Nazi as well as threatening to pop him in the kisser. She said "kisser" while holding out her fist all adorably; if that doesn't turn Mulder on even a little bit then I don't know the man! She may be quite a dish but she's also a real tough cookie just like her 1998 counterpart. Suddenly the blonde singer points to Mulder and yells out in German something that sounds like "Here's the man". The German soldiers grab Mulder and haul him off while he yells threats at them about their future loss in Russia and all that jazz. They don't like it so they rough him up a bit as they leave with him. Scully and her dancer aren't bothered by that and everyone in the ball room resume their jitterbuggin'. (How much 1930s-1940s slang can I pack in this recap? Keep an eye out for it.)

Up on the rainy deck, one of the Germans try and stomp on Mulder but he won't let him get away with it for too long. He lunges at him and gets his own licks in before they all surround him and decide it's a little too wet and rainy outside for a decent beat down. Into the steering room they go. The captain is at the wheel (I think naval terminology calls it a 'helm' but that's why I'm not a boat person.) A German officer is threatening him in German but the British captain refuses to let go of the wheel, spitting at them in disdain. Truly a brave action of a Brit who's about to be gunned down by some angry Nazis. After the captain falls, we see that the Nazi officer who was yelling at him, the one who's commanding those German officers, is Cigarette Smoking Man! Das ist geil! (Did I say that correctly? Hope so...) German CSM and a German soldier trade words before German CSM turns to Mulder. Some questioning commences and Mulder insults him which earns him a gun pointed to his head. This is why it would help to control your sarcasm and snark in life or death situations. BTW, a bit off topic, but I wonder how this episode was handled in Germany. Did they dub the semi-decent German? How did they handle German Mulder not being able to communicate with the Nazis? Hopefully our resident German shipper won't mind answering. Anyway, Mulder doesn't want to get shot and protests a bit before yet another familiar German soldier comes in to stop him from getting shot. It's Skinner! Oh wow, Skinner is a Nazi! But he says something to German CSM (I recognize the word American) and Mulder doesn't get killed. Instead he gets a nice trip down to underbelly of the ship. Mulder yells for German Skinner's help as he gets dragged off. Of all the joints in town, Mulder had to pick this one... oh wait, they're on a boat.

We finally see what the real FBI Agent Dana Scully has been up to. She's in the Washington office in the large office area with all the desks around. They still haven't gotten the X-Files back but at least up here she's got her own desk. The Lone Gunmen are paying a visit and telling her that Mulder is in trouble. When is he not in trouble? Looks like Scully's been ditched for like the sixteen hundredth time and once again it it's up to her to bail his ass out. Wow. This woman is not only a pro but she's got more patience than a nun. She's the only one who'd put up with this crap six years running... she's so perfect for him. They explain to an impatient Scully that they've been tracking Mulder on radar but he's disappeared. They found out that the British luxury ship, the Queen Anne, reappeared on satellite photos after a sixty year absence. Scully thought the boat was torpedoed by the Germans but you know the Lone Gunmen, our biggest believers of conspiracies, don't buy that story. The point is, when they found out the ships' location and Mulder rented a small boat to go find it. The viewers at home know he most definitely found it but the Lone Gunmen and Scully worry that he's probably injured or worse because of a storm that interfered with them tracking their pal. Now they hope Scully and her FBI connections can get specific info from the Pentagon so they can find him. Coordinates or imaging or something. All I know is that Scully is about to have a little adventure of her own just trying to get the darn information. She tells the guys to wait for her downstairs and she's off.

The camera follows Scully on her first leg of the journey: down the hall to Skinner's office. She barges past the secretary and interrupts his phone call. Hope it's not a $4.99 per minute call... his personal psychic. She asks him for help and all she needs to do is tell him that it involves Mulder and Skinner immediately knows the young agent is in trouble but Skinner can't help Scully this time because he's not their boss anymore, kitten strangling, flower withering Kersh is their AD now. Scully tries to elaborate on the dire situation but Skinner doesn't want to hear it. Mulder's a big boy and should learn that actions have consequences and she should've probably stuck a tracking device in him long ago so really it's just as much her fault as it is her partner's. Scully shows him the paper with the info she needs and Skinner says he could get fired for helping her. They bicker some more before he tells her to use her head and she insults him and his ass. He did say he wasn't their boss anymore. Nice one, Scully. Plus we all know she's the only one who can get away with this because she totally has him wrapped around her finger. You'll see why a bit later on.

Time for Scully to try her second option as she embarks on her second leg and heads to her AD's office. We follow her to the very crowded elevator and Scully somehow injures some lady before getting out at her floor and check's Kersh's office. She tells his secretary that she needs to talk to him and once again barges past her when she spots her AD inside his office. If secretary barging was an Olympic sport, Scully would take the gold. She starts to ask for his help, ready to show him her note with the information she needs on it, then suddenly she spots CSM in his office. They were comparing evil glares before they were so rudely interrupted. Scully tries to back track but Kersh wants to know what it was Scully wanted to show him and he takes her note. You win this round, Kersh. Scully leaves looking supremely frustrated. Light bulb! She gets out her phone and calls Mulder while waling along the FBI halls. I'll tell you right now, unless the middle of the ocean has excellent cell phone coverage, you're not going to get in touch with him. And that's on the assumption that he even still has his phone; he could've lost it, or broken it, or used it as a makeshift weapon against little green sea aliens that want to eat his brains. Sadly enough, they're all equally plausible with Mulder.

She's on the elevator but she's on her third leg of the harrowing FBI hallway journey and she's ready to let her last option know how determined she is for the information. She's down in the basement and she's no-nonsense as she tells the person inside that she wants a favor or she's gonna have to kill him. She's talking to perpetually low-voiced Agent Spender who asks if she's okay. She's not and she tells him so, threatening him in an awesome kick-ass way and saying he'd better not weasel her. Nice nickname for him. He does sort of resemble a weasel. She re-writes the information she needs him to get from the Pentagon, saying she doesn't care "what [he does] or who [he does] or who [he has] to grease" for the information. Spender doesn't show it but he's totally turned on right now. And scared. Damn his complete control over his semi-monotone voice and bland expression. I can see the resemblance with him and Mulder. (Possible spoiler! Gasp!) He leaves her alone in the basement X-Files office and a few seconds later the phone rings. She isn't sure if she should answer it but decides to hell with it and picks up the phone. The man on the other end mistakes her for Agent Fowley! The hell!? He's a dead man! A cool, evil, cigarette smoking dead man! Scully swallows her disgust and goes along with the charade, hardly disguising her voice. How fast does it take for lung cancer to spread into the ears because CSM tells her about the earlier incident with Scully and the note before he realizes it's not Fowley on the phone. Scully quickly hangs up and rushes out of the office but gets accosted by Kersh's secretary. Scully says that she was just waiting for Spender to return but she tells him he's currently tattle-telling to AD Kersh about the note. Scully curses him for being a rat bastard (No, Scully, it's Krycek who's the rat bastard! Spender is the poodle-haired weasel.)

With all her "legs" seemingly knocked out from under her, Scully gets back into the elevator and briefly wonders if maybe she'd get more answers if she greased someone. Heh. Her cell phone rings which will hopefully clear her mind from the less than professional imagery. There's static but she thinks she's got Mulder on the line. She says she can't hear him because she's on the elevator and when she tries to get off on the first floor, she sees Kersh, Spender, and CSM a few feet away. She hilariously hides back inside, making a mental "damn it" gesture. She keeps talking on the phone to whoever it is... it turns out to be Skinner. "Was that you?" Hah! He's on the next floor up and he actually pulled through for his favorite agent; he found out the information for her! Yay! Scully won't grease him up but she's cool with giving him a a thank you kiss. And not just some paltry cheek kiss either, this is a firm spur-of-the-moment kiss that leaves Skinner even more surprised than me, and possibly the security guards who'll be watching the tape of the elevator's surveillance camera. The two get out at the bottom floor where the mini axis of evil/annoyance has caught sight of Scully and Skinner so Skinner must ad-lib some angry speech about her not breaking protocol. The three men presumably think it's all been handled. Well, two of them. Spender is suspicious and we can see him trying to follow Scully into the elevator but Skinner stops him so he leaves to take the stairs, I think. Scully takes the elevator down to the parking garage looking so happy that all her efforts paid off. Just as they were told, the Lone Gunmen are down there waiting inside this van that looks like it's from the 70s. Inside the van, Frohike asks her if she got the info and she says yes. It took alot of finagling and added alot to her stress level but it was for Mulder so of course she came through. The group pull out of there and Scully turns and looks out the back window to see a familiar agent running after her. It's Spender who is quite possibly having second thoughts about helping the little spit fire. I don't blame him since she's certainly easier on the eyes than his current X-Files partner. It's one of many little things he and Mulder have in common, including running after cars and not being able to catch up with them. Eat 70s exhaust, weasel boy!

We're back with Mulder in the alternate reality/WWII ship where a British soldier is explaining why Mulder's life was spared as they get led down to the hull of the ship by some German soldiers. It looks like America hasn't joined the war yet and the Germans don't want to get them involved by killing an innocent, foxy American. Mulder brings up Pearl Harbor, as if any of them knew the significance of that. Mulder makes another joke about the Spice Girls whose music I must admit is a guilty pleasure of mine. They finally get to the engine room where much of the British crew is being kept. One of the British sailors knows German and he tells them that the German's are looking for weaponry aboard the ship. Specifically something called Thor's Hammer. And before Mulder can answer, the engine crewmen find them and demand to know who they are. The sailors are annoyed that the engine men don't recognize their own crew, and they tell them that the ship is being taken to Germany where the dark skinned engine men will definitely be the first to get tortured by the Nazis. Mulder interrupts the argument to tell them that Thor's Hammer is not a weapon, it's actually the code name for the scientist who's going to help build an atomic bomb, and Mulder knows the man is currently in the ballroom. Whoever gets the scientist's secrets will win the war so whatever they do, they must keep the German's from finding out it's a man they're looking for, not a weapon. Turns out the British soldier who knew German, didn't learn it in high school. He's a German spy who now has the information and is ready to leave and help the Nazi's find the scientist. Way to go Mulder. One of the engine men tells Mulder that's there are spies everywhere, and to "trust no one, mon". He's awfully uptight for a Jamaican, but I love him for using the truly timeless X-Files phrase. The British soldiers realize that it's up to them to stop the ship and it shouldn't be too hard since they're locked up in the engine room. A main engine man, looking alot like Kersh, tells the sailors that they can't stop the engines since it's been chained up. What they can do, however, is to set a new course. Where to, you ask? Jamaica of course! The whole engine crew cheer, as they visualize the beautiful homeland of coconuts and cannabis. The sailors demand they take the ship back to England but Mulder says they can't, and the sailors guess he wants to go to America. Wrong again. And no, he's not a fan of the green, black, and white flag either. He tells them they have to go back to where they came because that's where the future lies (fight the future!) Or the past. Tenses are a bit hard to figure out when you're stuck in a time warp.

He doesn't get a chance to explain because some Germans want Mulder for questioning. I guess they're having trouble figuring out who Thor's Hammer is and since Mulder is the only one who knows, they go down and get him. Mulder yells out one last plea to the sailors and engine crew men to take the ship back or they'll never win the war. We follow the German soldiers as they navigate Mulder all the way to the ballroom, Mulder struggling just as they enter, maybe because he's underdressed. Doesn't matter because the music has stopped and they aren't cuttin' a rug anymore. German CSM and German Spender (whose got himself a new uniform) are in the ballroom ready to question Mulder. The German soldiers throw him in front of Spender's feet and CSM calmly speaks a whole lot of German which Spender translates. Oh dear god his German accent is so awful! He sounds like a drunken Arnold Schwarzenegger. He wants to know who the scientist is and Mulder says he doesn't know. One of the German soldiers gets their gun ready and German Spender translates German's CSM's threats of shooting a passenger every time Mulder refuses to answer. Mulder doesn't take him seriously, and I wouldn't blame him. ("You vill answer ze question, or ve vill begin killing passangas.") A soldier walks quite a bit to shoot a white haired man standing near WWII Scully and her dance partner. Mulder doesn't want anyone to die but when he doesn't answer the German soldier executes another passenger and finally Scully can't take it as she stands up to the Nazis, telling them that Mulder doesn't know anything. She actually calls German Spender a little weasel! Awesome! And so the nickname sticks. Looks like they got themselves the next target as German weasel extraordinaire aims his gun at WWII Scully and demand an answer from Mulder. Looks like the stakes are higher when it's Scully in danger, or at least an alternate reality version of her. Mulder agrees to answer, giving German Spender the evil eye, before walking over and pointing to the first man that got shot, saying that he's the scientist. Verdammich.

The Lone Gunmen and Scully managed to find the Queen Anne! The lights on the ship are on which is one of the less strange things about that ship. They get on board and hope to find Mulder. Inside the ship back in the alternate reality WWII, German Spender accuses Mulder of lying and WWII Scully says he's not. Looks like even as a Nazi, Spender is suspicious. He asks them the dead man's name and Mulder does this silly little spiel that I never heard of before but should definitely use at least once in my lifetime. The fed's grandstanding is gonna cost him big. He should've just let our favorite dame take charge. Ultimately the real scientist steps forward, and it's WWII Scully's dance partner. WWII Scully quickly says that he's lying, and she's actually the one who's the scientist. Will the real scientist please stand up? Turns out WWII Scully was the man's bodyguard, she worked for the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) but the German soldiers pretty much figure out that WWII Scully is lying. German CSM says something in German which Mulder would like to know and WWII Scully doesn't need to translate because they get shoved into a kneeling position and are obviously about to be shot. Or "greased up". I'm pretty sure the laws of the sea can apply here. So as they bow their heads to face certain doom, they realize that the ship's engine has suddenly shut down and everyone is looking around as wondrous swing music stirs up from out of no where. It's about to be a throw down on the Queen Anne! Mutiny ahoy! Fists are flyin', dukes are put up, and even the passengers get in on it, defending themselves against the Nazis.

We go back and forth between the Lone Gunmen and Scully investigating the old decrepit Queen Anne in their time, and the fight going on in WWII time, all the while that snappy music is still playing. Not since Syzygy's ‘Sabre Dance’ scene have I been more delighted by semi-inappropriate music playing during a cool action scene. Mulder decides there's too much danger going on for him and his Scully look-alike so he tries to get her to sneak out while the fight rages on. She refuses to go with him at first but ultimately decides to blow that popsicle stand and they're off. Scully in real time has managed to get separated from the Lone Gunmen and she's wandering around the abandoned Queen Anne. Looks like Mulder and WWII Scully finally get caught by one of the few German soldiers who escaped the ballroom fracas. He points his gun at them and they put their hands over their heads. Once again they get lucky when they hear a gun shot that wasn't directed at them. The German soldier behind them has been shot by none other than Skinner! God bless America indeed, turns out Skinner's a spy himself and he's on our side - that's just the bees knees! Even in this time he's helping Mulder and Scully out of a jam. Mulder grabs his pretty WWII red head and they run, run, run until we get a split screen in an empty ship hallway. On the left, Mulder and WWII Scully are avoiding some more German soldiers by ducking into the hall. On the right, regular Scully is calling out for the Lone Gunmen while walking down the same hall. The three run past each other through the center line, completely unaware of each other. Well ain't that just the cat's meow! Okay, so they're not completely unaware, since the two Scully's stop for a moment on either screen and turn toward each other, almost sensing something but Mulder grabs his WWII Scully and pulls her onward while the real Scully just walks away in the opposite direction. Scully finally finds the Lone Gunmen and we temporarily lose the split screen as we follow them walk along the hallway. We get the split screen once again and this time we see the ballroom fight still raging on while the our present day group make their way to the ancient ballroom. It's all dusty and barren, not jovial and neat like in the WWII period.

Mulder and WWII Scully are finally out on deck where it's night time and we get the best scene of the episode. Mulder explains that she's the only one who can save everyone. She's got to turn the ship around because they're caught in "the Devil's Triangle" aka the Bermuda Triangle, and if she doesn't get the ship turned around history as he knows it will be... well history. He's afraid he won't exist and neither will her future self. Throughout his speech she looks at him like she's wondering if he's been hittin' the hootch. Nah, he's just a passionate lunatic in love. Though he's certainly drunk on adrenaline as he decides to give her a special goodbye in case they never see each other again. Mulder grabs her and pulls her toward him to plant a long hard smooch which would be a thousand times better if someone would turn on a light bulb! I know they were invented in the 1930s-1940s, darn it! When he finally lets her go, she channels her future Scully as she shoots him an icy glare and sucker punches him with mean right hook! NICE! She does manage to injure her hand on his hard head and he pretty much expected the punch. He's been punched all night by Nazis and Brits but by far this was the best punch he got. Mulder's adrenaline keeps him going as he runs off and jumps overboard. WWII Scully throws him a life saver floaty ring but I don't think it's going to do much good. Remember the pre-credits opener? Now we know what happened. Mulder's luck kicks in before he sinks like a stone and from under the water we see him being pulled out of the water.

We see Mulder dozing in a hospital bed as Scully leans over him. He wakes up when she calls his name and he says he feels like hell. Well you did get punched a bunch of times and nearly drowned. Scully tells him that what he did was stupid and the Lone Gunmen enter his room, soon followed by Skinner. Mulder gets all Dorothy on them as he says Scully was there on the Queen Anne and so was Skinner. He tries to recount his amazing WWII tale but seeing as he's pumped full of drugs and sounds completely out of it, Scully and Skinner don't believe him for a second. They promise that when he gets better, they'll really let him have it for ditching Scully. Mulder is definitely on some fine drugs, laughing at Scully's skepticism and looking all moony-eyed at her. When all the other men leave, sweet piano music plays and Mulder says sleepily that he thought he'd never see her again and that he was the only one who believed her. Scully, presumably still irked at the ditching, tells him to go close his eyes and think "there's no place like home". When she starts to go, Mulder calls her back and takes a moment to gather the last of his courage before telling her those oh so important three little words: "I love you". Squeeee! Scully responds with two little words of her own: "Oh brother..." Shippers all around the world curse the promos, curse Scully for not believing him, and curse Mulder for ditching her in the first place and having to get pumped full of drugs. So Scully leaves and Mulder looks kind of dazed. Part heartbreak but larger part sedatives and drugs in his veins. Since this won't get brought up in future episodes, maybe he's going to forget this in about two days. Mulder starts to lie back down but when his right side hits the pillow, he feels some pain in his jaw and reaches up to rub the area where his lovely alternate reality, WWII Scully popped him in the kisser after getting kissed. He smiles and maybe, just maybe, I'm wrong and he *will* remember some of this. He wasn't just whistling Dixie.