Anasazi

Just wanted to make notice of a possible Easter Egg that may have not been noticed. When Mulder returns to the front door of his apartment we see that the number of his apartment is "42". That may be a reference and honor to the Science Fiction Comedy book called "Life, The Universe, and Everything" written by Douglas Adams, of which the number "42" plays a part of the story. So correct me if I am wrong if this has no reference to the novel. Or even the related T.V. series that was made from his novel.

Mulder receives encrypted information detailing alien visits to Earth, he also learns more about his father.

It's a dramatic ending, this episode rightly has a very high rating, but if I'm totally honest, there are several episodes I have enjoyed more from this excellent second series, but Anasazi does have some real highlights.

Major pluses include, the point at which Mulder finally learns of Scully's posting, the setting is great, more questions are asked, the visuals are very good, particularly at the end, and of course the explosive conclusion.

Series one's finale had me drawn in and captivated, this one didn't quite so much. It is very good, I look forward to the continuation, 8/10.

This is exciting on its own as a mythology episode and cliffhanger, but more interesting in how it exemplifies the X-files template.

The idea for me is that Mulder is the viewer, the same as the viewers of the show: curious to know, idealistic, drawn to stories that reveal. He wants to see into a complex web and reveal fundamental truth, which mirrors our own experience. What narrative arises around him in the show, stories about aliens, monsters, spirits, mysterious biologies, is the sort of narrative he'd fantasize about, conjuring secrets to investigate. It arises because there is the desire for it, which is the cornerstone of film noir far more meaningful than the clothes and shadows falling a certain way.

In this episode Mulder is outright handed the most important documents he could ever hope for, the most secret stuff. It's funny that they're handed to him by a guy called 'The Thinker', an anarchist hacker with grunge-rock hair in his mid-20s, the type of guy who would be a viewer of the show then. Apparently, he merely stumbled onto them one day, which is another way of asserting the magical (adolescent) nature of the experience, which is penetrating the murky, shady world of adults in the name of truth.

More instances of this adolescent distortion of the world, the distortion as byproduct of looking:

He experiences irrational, absurd behaviour, which is later explained as being under the influence of hallucinogens.

His own father is in the know, revealed as a chief engineer of what the son is driven to tear down.

He is brought into contact with Indians who can unlock the secrets, elder guardians who can decode the narrative 'truth'.

So is it a wonder that every teenager on the planet loved the show? Alas, typical for the show, our own seeing is not allowed agency in the world to determine the truthfulness of different levels. In better hands, we'd have to decide for instance how much of Mulder's exchange with his father really did take place, knowing he was under the influence.

Back when I saw this the first time it was run on TV, I Wanted to believe, and I believed.

I believed that they actually flew the production crew out to New Mexico or Arizona, I WANTED to believe that. I wanted to believe that the late and incredibly great Floyd 'Red Crow' Westerman was an ancient Navajo Shaman, and I believed that as well.

But Mostly, I remember not being very interested in The X-Files until this very episode, which was the first great Mythos episode. The threads of the story are all here: Genetic Manipulation, Skully and Skully's Sister's involvement, Mulder's Father and his relationship to Cancerman, Alex Crycek's enigmatic involvement and the questions we have about him all the way to the end of the series. We also see the first evidence here that Cancerman has a special Protective Interest in Mulder. If we had watched the show from start to finish, we know why- But for this to be revealed here, was just another puzzle piece.

It was only revealed to me recently how Chris Carter tricked us. He really had us believing that Mulder and a Navajo Kid are riding a Bike through a Reservation. Carter Himself makes one of his three appearances in The X-Files, the others in "Hollywood AD" and in the film "I Want to Believe".

A comment was made about "Research" - And I want to knock that down just to say that a name is not important, there are a lot more details in this and the two following episodes to get caught up in conventions about how to pronounce any Native American names. For instance, we do know that in WWII, Messages in the Pacific Arena were written in Najavo, this is basic history- And I had heard this long before this episode was originally broadcast.

What is important here, are the beginnings of Themes used all through the series - Train cars, Smallpox Vaccinations, genetic markers used to keep track of specific people. Some of the information may be real, some of it just sounds real- I have heard that when you are making a fabrication, stick as close to the truth as possible, and The X-Files research department got all the right words in - "Majestic" is used, as well as some other hints and tidbits. And that if you have a piece of metal embedded in you, think twice about removing it.

I had only been watching The X Files sporadically up to this point, it was this episode that made me a lifetime Fan and that has not wavered since then. Besides, it is better when we know a conspiracy is going in, but we can't quite grasp the whole Boundaries of it. When they were finally revealed in the first X Files Film- And it reaches back from that film all the way to this episode, it was a lot larger than the TV show and the TV sets of the time could handle, but it was also the end of the story.

So I salute this as one of the best Cliffhanger Episodes of all time, for me it was the best Season Finale of the whole series.

Edit: I have to respond to a trivia item that has magically appeared that states "Anasazi is no longer the proper term to use when referring to these people"... that may be true today but at the time this episode was written and researched, we know that Chris Carter investigated this himself and tried to keep it correct. So I accept the name of this episode and the referral to the Anasazi people as Anasazi, and not some rebranding of the word. However, if this new term is the way that descendants of these people want to be referred to I will respect that, but at the time it just did not matter. Because when we hear the word "Anasazi" we know what it is referring to. Even the author Louis l'Amour used the word Anasazi in his book "The Hidden Mesa". So it is as I said, a minor ethnical discrepancy, and not important when it comes to the year that this episode was made. I tried to edit the entry with clarification, but it would not allow me to do so, all I could do was report the entry as not relevant.

Chris Carter could have saved himself a LOT of headaches by having someone do a little simple research on Navajo culture. All these Navajos claiming to not know the language? If they were raised there, it's likely their first language, so the kid asking what grandpa said doesn't pass, nor does the DC woman only recognizing TWO WORDS, and recognizing them as 'modern'. Any Navajo could tell you what the words are, though yes, it would take a Code Talker to decipher it. Also, Navajo was not the only native language used in code talking. In addition, Anasazi does NOT mean 'ancient aliens', and "Hosteen" is NOT a name, but a term of respect for an male elder, pronounced 'Hah-steen' not 'Hoe-steen'. I can see why the Navajos jumped on Carter for all the boo-boos in this episode. Otherwise, great and enjoyable, but if you're familiar with the culture, these mistakes and others are GLARINGLY obvious, which does kill the thrill a bit.