Ghouli comes with a lot of baggage.
It rewrites aspects of Williams original sendoff.
(Apparently that shot of magnetite Spender gave him didnt wipe out baby Williams powers after all.
Credit: Robert Falconer/FOX
Did it just protect him from the super soldiers because it was deadly to them?)
Still, I love this episode for the same reason Mulder would: Its got pathos.
Ghouli, named after a monster that doesnt exist, is an hour for reckoning with haunting absences.
Was she tilting at windmills, like the one in Jacksons snow globe?
She and Mulder follow the breadcrumbs to the scene of the crime in Norfolk, Virginia.
Mulder and Scully both know what that means.
(Everyone around me is in danger, Jackson says later: a neat tagline for his life.)
But its too late the DNA confirms that Jackson is William.
Where does CSM fit into all of this?
Does Mulder assume CSMs involvement to be less invasive, maybe related to the chip in Scullys neck?
And whose version of events is closer to the truth?
At least, despite what Dr. Its Scully whos accustomed to Catholic leaps of faith.)
But Mulder does understand finding safety in an alternate reality.
He heard everything she wanted him to.
Its as if she senses their connection.
It isnt hard to see the family resemblance, and not just to Scully.
Theres no way this kid is not Mulders son.
More than one model spaceship is on display in Jacksons room.
Rural towns onThe X-Filesare crawling with creatures; in suburbia, Jackson has to make them up.)
His journals are filled with equations and musings on dream theory.
Hes cheating on two girls but cares enough about them both to risk his life to say goodbye.
But Sarah spots Jackson kissing Brianna and snaps a picture, alerting the cops to his location.
(He really memorized his birth mothers face.)
She falls, bloody, before we learn it isnt her: another fake-out that feels like resurrection.
In the aftermath, Scully and Mulder call out for their son, whos hiding a few feet away.
Scully has never sounded more like a mom: Jackson, we just want to talk to you.
see to it youre okay.
In his journals, Jackson writes about how the real significance of a dream is concealed from the dreamer.
Are you following me?
Jackson asks, still wearing the authors face.
Jackson tells Scully that hes off to travel cross-country, see the world: Things are about to change.
For now, this monster-of-the-week/mythology hybrid splits the difference, leaving plenty unfinished but allowing for some temporary relief.
I wish I could know you better.
His parting line is a quote from Malcolm X, whose words also hang above Jacksons bed.
If you dont stand for something, youll fall for anything, Jackson declares.
