"The X Files" Sein und Zeit (2000)

Director:

Michael W. Watkins

Writers:

Chris Carter (creator)
Chris Carter (written by) ...

TV Series:

"The X Files" (1993)

Original Air Date:

6 February 2000 (Season 7, Episode 10)

Genre:

Drama | Horror | Mystery | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Plot:

Mulder requests to be put on the case of a seemingly routine child abduction case of a missing little girl...

Plot Keywords:

FBI | FBI Agent | Alien | X Files | Conspiracy

Cast

David Duchovny	...	Fox Mulder
Gillian Anderson	...	Dana Scully
Mitch Pileggi	...	Walter Skinner
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
John Bisom	...	News Anchor #2
Randall Bosley	...	Ed Truelove / Paunchy Man
Marie Chambers	...	Guard
Megan Corletto	...	Amber-Lynn LaPierre
Kim Darby	...	Kathy Lee Tencate
Spencer Garrett	...	Harry Bring
Martin Grey	...	Agent Flagler
John Harnagel	...	World Weary Dad
Shareen Mitchell	...	Billie LaPierre
Mark Rolston	...	Bud LaPierre
Nancy Tiballi	...	News Anchor #1
Rebecca Toolan	...	Mrs. Teena Mulder

Runtime:

Argentina:60 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Certification:

USA:TV-14 | Argentina:13

Company:

20th Century Fox Television

Trivia:

'Sein und Zeit' is the original title of German philosopher Martin Heidegger's influential 1927 book 'Being and Time'.

Quotes:

Scully: Mulder?
Mulder: Over here.
Scully: What is it?
Mulder: Diazepam. She used them to sleep.
Scully: Is there a note?
Mulder: No. She called when I was in California. She wanted to talk, but, uh... I never called her back.
Scully: Mulder...
Mulder: I didn't... Why would she do this? It just doesn't make any sense.
Scully: We never truly know why.
Mulder: No, she wouldn't kill herself. Why are these pictures gone? There were photos here. There were photos of my sister and I. This is all that she had left of us and they're missing. Why...? She saw me on the news. She wanted to talk about the missing girl, Amber Lynn. She wanted to tell me something about her, or maybe she couldn't tell me over the phone because she was afraid that they would do something like this to her.
[...]

Movie Connections:

References "The Twilight Zone" (1959)

I don't know what is the truth and what isn't anymore.

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

Sein und Zeit is German for Being and Time, a philosophical work by Martin Heidegger. Being and Time was originally intended to consist of two major Parts, each Part consisting of three Divisions. Heidegger was forced to prepare the book for publication when he had completed only the first two Divisions of Part One. Some have argued that there are indications that the second division of Being and Time shows some signs of haste.

Possibly naming this episode after an uncompleted and hastened work of genius was a way of saying that there was supposed to be a lot more to the story of Samantha's abduction but the story was forced to a "closure" prematurely. Whether this is a true interpretation or not doesn't really matter to me since I really thought they did a great job with what they had. The episode begins with two parents and their child Amber Lynn settling down for the night. The father while watching television hears a noise and gets up to check on his family. Yes the show he is watching is the Pilot for Harsh Realm and yes I think Chris Carter was blatantly trying to plug that show here although I don't know why seeing as it wasn't even on anymore I don't think. Anyway, the father goes to check on his daughter as the mother is writing a cryptic ransom note. The father sees his daughter dead and then alive again. As soon as he leaves the door is slammed shut and when he breaks it down to get back in Amber is gone. Do you think using the name Amber was a coincidence? Do you think they put out an Amber Alert? Mulder wants on the case for obvious reasons and chases explanation about walk-ins. He finds similar disappearances and believes he is close to finding Amber when he learns of his Mother's "suicide". Again one of those debates that will never really be resolved. Trying to deal now with the death of his mother and her trying to send him a message about his sister, Mulder realizes that he is way too emotionally involved and asks to be taken off the case. On the way to the airport however Scully cracks the case and they are led to the arrest of Santa Claus and discovery of many child graves.

On the subject of walk-ins: a walk-in is an old soul looking for a new body according to the theory. This theory however is loosely based on actual Hindu theology that "each person is comprised of several bodies, including the physical, astral, mental, refined, and so on. The only essence that is not a body, and therefore not transferable, is the Atman. So according to this belief system, a walk-in, as described in the book Merging with Siva by Sivaya Subramuniyaswami, can take one or many of these bodies." The way I see it, either of these theories fit. The episode seems to follow the former theory however, it never quite explains what happens to the physical bodies which seems to fit the latter theory. Whatever it is, the fact is that the victims were all taken before their time in order to protect them from violent deaths. It is not quite certain exactly how these people are chosen. I do like the explanation however since it is comforting to think of someone you love being in a safe and better place. That is really what anyone who suffers loss needs. I won't say it all here since we still have Closure to talk about these things some more so I'll wrap it up here by saying that the episode gets a 9 out of 10. It loses a point simply for the somewhat inconsistent walk-in theory.