The Fowley factor: Mulder stuck between a rock and a hard place
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| Title: | The Fowley factor: Mulder stuck between a rock and a hard place |
| Creator: | LoneThinker |
| Date(s): | around 2001? |
| Medium: | online |
| Fandom: | |
| Topic: | |
| External Links: | The Cave's X-Files Commentary Archives: Mulder between a rock and ahard place, Archived version |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
The Fowley factor: Mulder stuck between a rock and a hard place is an essay by LoneThinker.
It was posted as part of The Cave's X-Files Commentary Archives.
Excerpts
Rewatching *The End the other night, and with a bit of distance from its original airing, the Mulder/Diana/Scully dynamics looked a bit different to me than they had initially. Mulder does hesitate to tell Scully about Diana. If Diana had been just a work partner, I don't think he would have had that hesitation (remember, there was Chuck, a former partner, who figures into *Ghost in the Machine, and he shows no hesitation in telling Scully about Chuck.)But Diana was more than just a work partner; she was a relationship, and a relationship that, from the little snippet of reaction we get from Mulder in One Son, obviously meant something valuable to him. Consider this from his perspective--sans the knowledge that Diana is working for CSM. What you see is that Mulder found in Diana a kindred spirit, someone who, probably for the first time in his life, didn't laugh in his face at what he believed in. Added to that, she liked him, and this is an experience that Mulder, as an 'other' (INFP--see the Briggs-Meyers stuff) has rarely experienced. Its rarity would have made that connection of even greater value.
Now, if Mulder had no feelings for Scully, he likewise wouldn't have hesitated to say anything to her about Diana, but the fact is, he does, and this is where he finds himself stuck between the rock and the hard place. (How ready would you be to tell someone you'd like to be involved with about past relationships?) Granted, Mulder takes the chicken's way out and leaves Scully to discover the truth on her own, which was obviously devastating for her because it distinctly affected her trust in him. (My feelings about "You are the only one I trust" are that Mulder meant the words when he said them, and that Diana Fowley wasn't even alive in the minds of the writers at that time, so this previous trust is probably a story inconsistency more than anything else.)
I also think women tend to be much more territorial or exclusive when it comes to men than men are about women; they want exclusivity. Scully is naturally taken aback when Diana appears; the immediate question in her mind is, "Where does this leave me?" whereas a guy doesn't think in those terms so much, so he wouldn't be looking at it in the same way. He wouldn't have seen any reason, for instance, to tell Scully about Phoebe Green because she was an old flame and the relationship he has with Scully is professional. Apples and oranges, in Mulder's mind at least. Not the same, therefore no need to explain himself. I don't think Mulder is dumping out on Scully here. Certainly, though, Scully gets the bumpier ride.