Post-colonization Mulder remained a bit of a mystery, as he’s intended to, but I was disappointed that there wasn’t more insight into his transformation. The person he was and the person he becomes is so wildly different that I was left wanting more of an examination of his psychological and emotional state, even if Scully was happy to accept him without condition. He was tortured, traumatized, ripped from himself and from her and from reality, so his coldness, confusion, violence, indifference, self-preservation etc are all perfectly believable, but I was hoping more of the old person remained, locked up inside somewhere, and that through his reconnection with Scully he would regain something of his humanity. What humanity remained was entirely tied up in his relationship with his son, which is again, believable. And I guess you can’t expect too much of himself to resurface after only 3 or 4 days with her. You can forgive him for a lot, for having a son with another woman, for killing Skinner, using him for sex, for leaving Scully alone to pine and agonize, keeping her in the dark and taking her choices away in the name of her protection, for his violence and cruelty, and on and on and on, all under the banner of ‘he’s a survivor, not a monster’.
It fizzled out at the end for me. Where others said they were disappointed there wasn’t more to the plot, that it was only a story of Scully wanting to be with Mulder and vice versa, for me it disappointed that you never really saw them reconnect. What reconnection there was was way too subtle. (I don't mean them having sex, or him saying 'never doubt that I love you', etc.. for me it's his kindness, his gentleness, his affection and respect).
Maybe he’s too fractured to ever reconnect with her, and you can’t blame him if he is, but it’s what I wanted to see. Scully just accepts him for what he is, but without really understanding exactly what he is, what he thinks, where he’s been, what he’s done, what he wants (other than to raise his son), it’s hard to feel very satisfied with the ending. I get, they’re survivors, they’re together, they’ll figure it out, there’s hope because there’s a boy, she’d never be happy in the boring safety of the Colony, he might never be happy anyway, even with her (as was the case in the ‘real world), so hoorah for realism... I guess I just want for them something that’s impossible.
Anyway, I did enjoy the story and can always appreciate good writing, so thanks for bringing it to my attention. I look forward to your future recommendations! And I hope my post wasn’t too long!
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Post-colonization Mulder remained a bit of a mystery, as he’s intended to, but I was disappointed that there wasn’t more insight into his transformation. The person he was and the person he becomes is so wildly different that I was left wanting more of an examination of his psychological and emotional state, even if Scully was happy to accept him without condition. He was tortured, traumatized, ripped from himself and from her and from reality, so his coldness, confusion, violence, indifference, self-preservation etc are all perfectly believable, but I was hoping more of the old person remained, locked up inside somewhere, and that through his reconnection with Scully he would regain something of his humanity. What humanity remained was entirely tied up in his relationship with his son, which is again, believable. And I guess you can’t expect too much of himself to resurface after only 3 or 4 days with her. You can forgive him for a lot, for having a son with another woman, for killing Skinner, using him for sex, for leaving Scully alone to pine and agonize, keeping her in the dark and taking her choices away in the name of her protection, for his violence and cruelty, and on and on and on, all under the banner of ‘he’s a survivor, not a monster’.
It fizzled out at the end for me. Where others said they were disappointed there wasn’t more to the plot, that it was only a story of Scully wanting to be with Mulder and vice versa, for me it disappointed that you never really saw them reconnect. What reconnection there was was way too subtle. (I don't mean them having sex, or him saying 'never doubt that I love you', etc.. for me it's his kindness, his gentleness, his affection and respect).
Maybe he’s too fractured to ever reconnect with her, and you can’t blame him if he is, but it’s what I wanted to see. Scully just accepts him for what he is, but without really understanding exactly what he is, what he thinks, where he’s been, what he’s done, what he wants (other than to raise his son), it’s hard to feel very satisfied with the ending. I get, they’re survivors, they’re together, they’ll figure it out, there’s hope because there’s a boy, she’d never be happy in the boring safety of the Colony, he might never be happy anyway, even with her (as was the case in the ‘real world), so hoorah for realism... I guess I just want for them something that’s impossible.
Anyway, I did enjoy the story and can always appreciate good writing, so thanks for bringing it to my attention. I look forward to your future recommendations! And I hope my post wasn’t too long!
Cheers,
Kate