"All Things" follows Dana Scully as she consciously drops out of her routine as the great skeptic, Mulder's straight-man, and instead is cast into circumstances entirely outside her expertise and experience, the spiritual, emotional, even the feminine aspects of this world. This is an entirely different, introspective interpretation of the X Files' fundamental theme of other world influences on human existence. In keeping with this "other world" theme, Scully finds herself dealing not with aliens and present dangers, but with the interconnectedness of all things, her own past decisions and their unintended consequences. And to reflect this mirroring of the usual X Files' storyline, the plot progression throughout this episode does not rely on causal connections and reasoning, but instead the plot is moved forward by synchronicity and emotion, the forces at work on the other side of all our lives. There is some exceptional cinematography in this episode, as for example in the sidewalk scene, unexpectedly broken like a dream by the creaking Apothecary sign. (Look up the etymology for the word. It's about things that are concealed, put away. The creaking sign represents Scully's awakening to aspects of her own life that she needs to recognize and come to terms with.)
"All Things" is a pretty spectacular first effort for writer-and-director Gillian Anderson, a bold re-formulation of the series' tried-and true thematic foundations. This episode also gives us the best use of music in the entire series. Moby's "The Sky is Broken" works to tie the tale together like The Dude's rug. "All Things" gets my vote as the most impressive episode of the entire X-Files series and the runner-up is right down the road at "Hollywood A.D."
"All Things" is a pretty spectacular first effort for writer-and-director Gillian Anderson, a bold re-formulation of the series' tried-and true thematic foundations. This episode also gives us the best use of music in the entire series. Moby's "The Sky is Broken" works to tie the tale together like The Dude's rug. "All Things" gets my vote as the most impressive episode of the entire X-Files series and the runner-up is right down the road at "Hollywood A.D."