War Is Never Over
This ep focusing on Skinner (Mitch Pileggi) begins with his time in Vietnam during the war and how green poisonous gas was released when they come under attack in a village. Leading to the survivors seeing a 'monster.' However Skinner didn't get the major brunt of it. He now goes AWOL from the FBI and Kersh (James Pickens Jr) calls in Mulder (David Duchovny) and Scully (Gillian Anderson) practically accusing them of being instrumental in Skinner not getting a promotion in over 35 years of service. Of course he blames them now as well for his disappearing since their return. They go in search of Skinner and Mulder breaks into his apartment where they find the interiors sparse and no mementos around either!
Scully finds an envelope addressed to Lance Corporal Skinner and inside it are clippings and Mulder unwraps a human ear! With an 'eww' as he drops it back down. Kinda reminded me of him in The Simpsons ep with his naked pic on his ID, well don't ask me why I thought of that!! ha. This leads them to the town of 'Mud Lick' with Scully giving Mulder a look and especially when the note inside the envelope mentioned 'monster'. Now this is his kind of investigation.
Arriving there the local sheriff Stenzler (Brendan Patrick Connor) shows them the man with the severed ear and says it was a hunting accident. All the Vietnam vets have nicknames like the one called Trigger outside the police station. They're taken to the woods and here they find the pit of spikes the man fell into, an intentional trap. As well as a deer cam, now you don't see that everyday. Th sheriff also talks of people getting missing teeth unexpectedly. On the footage they see Skinner standing over the pit and assure the policeman he's not responsible and he's not a murderer. With Scully adding he wouldn't have been so sloppy if he had killed someone.
Skinner shows up at Kitten's (Haley Joe Osment) cabin and flips through the photo album. He then has a flashback to the war and how he saved his men from a suicide bomber in the village by shooting him. Also meets his son, Davy (Haley Joel Osment) who said his father called Skinner a 'baby killer' and they kept him at the mental asylum. With the government doing secret experiments on him and others. Skinner says he tried to look for him after his court martial but he didn't find him and he wants to put this right. He couldn't speak up for him since he had rules and orders to follow.
Mulder and Scully also turn up there as Skinner falls into the trap set by Davy and is speared by a spike in the chest. Davy then throws in his father's DB on top of him. There's no service in the hole so he can't call for help. Davy takes them inside saying he hasn't heard of Skinner and he puts on a loud record. Mulder snoops around and comes across the album which contains photos of Skinner. He then leaves abruptly with Scully in tow, as he gets out of the car and searches for Skinner, she leaves him to get phone reception. He goes inside and the music finally stops allowing him to hear Skinner's cries for help. Narrowly missing Davy in the closet disguised as the 'monster.' Yeah strange things always taking up residence it the closet!
He throws Mulder into the pit with Skinner and then attempts to set the alight, but Scully shoots him before Skinner can fire of a shot. Why leave Skinner with the gun which means he could've shot Davy at any time. Scully asks Skinner about what Kersh said to them but it's not the case, he would've done the same for them and no one but them would be here right now for him. As he leaves he pulls out a loose tooth from his mouth. As men bring in more gas to be tested and crop spray with a plane. With Davy's narration talking of how the government is conducting experiments on its own people.
As for nicknames, Mulder figures out "Eagle" must refer to Skinner as in 'Bald' Eagle! Also Scully's line to Mulder about Mulder getting "his juices flowing" when he hears monsters maybe involved. Sheesh that couldn't have been a double innuendo meaning could it? Skinner mentioned his shooting a 10 year old boy and how this affected him ever since in 2.8 One Breath. Also how he enlisted in the Marines but Kitten was drafted and he had to watch out for him cos he was always scared.
His quote to Mulder from this ep: "when I was eighteen, I went to Vietnam, I wasn’t drafted, Mulder, I enlisted in the Marine Corps the day of my eighteenth birthday. I did it on a blind faith."
Adding he enlisted as it was the right thing to do and he still had his faith, at least back then. That perhaps he still had his faith back then and he's not cynical. Kinda changes in this episode though with wanting to go further and find the truth. He mention an experience where he felt he was out of his body when he had a near death experience during the War. How he felt at peace and not frightened. How "I'm afraid to look any further beyond that experience" he tells Mulder but that Mulder isn't. He's not afraid to look into the unexplained. A great moment between the two of them and explaining why he's such a staunch supporter of them both.
Also as a aside to Mulder and Scully looking out for them all those years. How instead of dealing with "faceless puppeteers" he'd deal with Mulder and Scully all the time. Though as for CSM not sure where his loyalties lie but it's better to be on side with him to see what he's up to than to actually side with him. What was also amazing about One Breath was that in Mulder and Skinner's interaction he tells Skinner how he puts his life on the line with CSM to help them and Skinner replies, "every life, everyday is in danger. That's just life." Giving Skinner a presence on the show which reinforced his humanity. Another reason why in last ep he kinda berated Mulder for not knowing where he is until he gets reports about him. One Breath again showed why he puts up with Mulder's subordination.
Wow another Skinner centric ep and without a glimpse of his tighty whities either!!
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