Fic Rec: 1x14 Lazarus
Apr. 25th, 2017 03:41 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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xfilesficrecsI feel myself getting into their heads and I'm scared by what I'm feeling: the intoxicating freedom that comes from disconnecting action and consequence. Theirs is a world where nothing matters but their own needs, their own impossible appetites. And, while the pleasure they derive from acts of violence is clearly sexual, it also speaks to what Warden Jackson called their operatic devotion to each other. It's a love affair I almost envy. - Jack Willis, "Lazarus"
As is so often the case with The X-Files, be careful what you wish for. Jack Willis literally gets to live that relationship, feel Dupre's mad passion for Lula, experience his betrayal at the hands of his duplicitous lover, and, as his friend, Dana Scully, looks on in horror, pull the trigger that ends Lula's life.
I'm pretty sure I've seen this opera before, is what I'm thinking.
Re-watching this episode after having seen most of the series, it's eery to think how much Mulder and Scully, who were created to be their opposites, come to resemble Lula and Dupre, at least in terms of obsessive devotion. Maybe Agent Willis almost envied their relationship, but I doubt the same is true for season one Agent Scully. And, as we and Scully know all too well, Agent Mulder already has his singular passion—his work.
Dr. Scully has a tough time giving up on someone she truly cares about. She miraculously resuscitates Willis/Dupre after he's been fatally wounded. She never stops believing that she can break through Willis's psychosis. As he's dying, Willis re-emerges and talks to Scully about the ice-fishing trip they took together.
Such simple language, but how masterfully it foreshadows his impending death, while wrapping up Willis and Scully's emotional arc. When he falls unconscious, I'm already in tears (with "You'll Never Walk Alone," from Carousel*, playing in my head), but this scene just about killed me.
"I love you," Willis/Dupre says to Lula, "Don't you know? You're why I came back."
Scully and Lula both believed he was dead, but Lazarus has risen again. Somehow, Willis has managed to wrest the gun away from Lula. As the Hostage Rescue team prepares to break into the house where Scully is being held captive, Lula pleads with the man she betrayed and killed—twice--to spare her life.
"We still have her. We can get away with it."
"I don't think so, baby. Not this time." He holds Lula tight to him. "Remember that light I talked about? It's beautiful. There's nothing to be afraid of."
Omigod! OF COURSE. It's the ending of Carmen**!
Without meaning to, this script makes it obvious what a brilliant casting choice Gillian Anderson was to play opposite David Duchovny. His acting is tolerable as long as she's in a scene with him. But in the most dramatic moment Duchovny has to play, the scene in the hostage command center where Mulder tells the search party how much finding Scully means to him, he can't sell it. Fortunately, Duchovny does get better. By the abduction arc in season two, we can begin to believe he's bereaved, or frantic, or furious, as the script calls for it.
The only thing I did not like about "Lazarus" was that ridiculous, magical tattoo. What is it with this show and tattoos?
*The best musical comedy ever written, a true masterpiece. Nothing else, before or since, even comes close. Don't even start with me, because I will fight you on this. Not the movie version--the musical play.
**Bizet's final opera, also a masterpiece, obviously. Who knows what else he might have created if his life had not been cut short at the age of 36.
FANFICTION:
Well. There isn't much, so I read or at least skimmed it all. I DO IT ALL FOR YOU.
I like this vignette by Leiascully.
Lazarus (620 words) by leiascully
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: The X-Files
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Dana Scully/Jack Willis
Characters: Fox Mulder, Dana Scully
Additional Tags: Episode Related, Minor Character Death, Minor Injuries, Biblical References, Past Relationship(s)
Series: Part 17 of The FBI's Most Unwanted
Summary:
The only other story I can recommend is Suzanne Barringer's "A Change of Cast," which does a good job of filling out the skimpy backstory provided by 1013, as far as it takes us, which is up to the brink of the pilot episode. I should give you fair warning: I fast-forwarded through the (to me) interminable sex scenes. But the rest of the story is interesting and well-done.
Fanfiction Request: I'd love to see someone write a story from the POV of a sadder but wiser Scully, looking back on all of her relationships. Or even Scully looking back at her relationship with Willis, after watching him die in "Lazarus." After knowing the woman she will become, the Dana Scully in "A Change of Cast" is a little too naive and untested for my taste.
As is so often the case with The X-Files, be careful what you wish for. Jack Willis literally gets to live that relationship, feel Dupre's mad passion for Lula, experience his betrayal at the hands of his duplicitous lover, and, as his friend, Dana Scully, looks on in horror, pull the trigger that ends Lula's life.
I'm pretty sure I've seen this opera before, is what I'm thinking.
Re-watching this episode after having seen most of the series, it's eery to think how much Mulder and Scully, who were created to be their opposites, come to resemble Lula and Dupre, at least in terms of obsessive devotion. Maybe Agent Willis almost envied their relationship, but I doubt the same is true for season one Agent Scully. And, as we and Scully know all too well, Agent Mulder already has his singular passion—his work.
Dr. Scully has a tough time giving up on someone she truly cares about. She miraculously resuscitates Willis/Dupre after he's been fatally wounded. She never stops believing that she can break through Willis's psychosis. As he's dying, Willis re-emerges and talks to Scully about the ice-fishing trip they took together.
Willis: Was there snow?
Scully: Yes, Jack. There was lots of snow.
Willis: I can't...
Scully: It was December. It was the weekend after Thanksgiving.
Willis: I remember...a red stove.
Scully: Yeah. That's right. There was a wood-burning stove right in the middle of the room.
Willis: Cold.
Scully: Yeah.
Willis: So cold. I remember I had to wrap you in a blanket when the wood ran out.
Such simple language, but how masterfully it foreshadows his impending death, while wrapping up Willis and Scully's emotional arc. When he falls unconscious, I'm already in tears (with "You'll Never Walk Alone," from Carousel*, playing in my head), but this scene just about killed me.
"I love you," Willis/Dupre says to Lula, "Don't you know? You're why I came back."
Scully and Lula both believed he was dead, but Lazarus has risen again. Somehow, Willis has managed to wrest the gun away from Lula. As the Hostage Rescue team prepares to break into the house where Scully is being held captive, Lula pleads with the man she betrayed and killed—twice--to spare her life.
"We still have her. We can get away with it."
"I don't think so, baby. Not this time." He holds Lula tight to him. "Remember that light I talked about? It's beautiful. There's nothing to be afraid of."
Omigod! OF COURSE. It's the ending of Carmen**!
Without meaning to, this script makes it obvious what a brilliant casting choice Gillian Anderson was to play opposite David Duchovny. His acting is tolerable as long as she's in a scene with him. But in the most dramatic moment Duchovny has to play, the scene in the hostage command center where Mulder tells the search party how much finding Scully means to him, he can't sell it. Fortunately, Duchovny does get better. By the abduction arc in season two, we can begin to believe he's bereaved, or frantic, or furious, as the script calls for it.
The only thing I did not like about "Lazarus" was that ridiculous, magical tattoo. What is it with this show and tattoos?
*The best musical comedy ever written, a true masterpiece. Nothing else, before or since, even comes close. Don't even start with me, because I will fight you on this. Not the movie version--the musical play.
**Bizet's final opera, also a masterpiece, obviously. Who knows what else he might have created if his life had not been cut short at the age of 36.
FANFICTION:
Well. There isn't much, so I read or at least skimmed it all. I DO IT ALL FOR YOU.
I like this vignette by Leiascully.
Lazarus (620 words) by leiascully
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: The X-Files
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Dana Scully/Jack Willis
Characters: Fox Mulder, Dana Scully
Additional Tags: Episode Related, Minor Character Death, Minor Injuries, Biblical References, Past Relationship(s)
Series: Part 17 of The FBI's Most Unwanted
Summary:
She had raised Jack from the grave like Lazarus, but she was no saint: he had not come back the same.
The only other story I can recommend is Suzanne Barringer's "A Change of Cast," which does a good job of filling out the skimpy backstory provided by 1013, as far as it takes us, which is up to the brink of the pilot episode. I should give you fair warning: I fast-forwarded through the (to me) interminable sex scenes. But the rest of the story is interesting and well-done.
Fanfiction Request: I'd love to see someone write a story from the POV of a sadder but wiser Scully, looking back on all of her relationships. Or even Scully looking back at her relationship with Willis, after watching him die in "Lazarus." After knowing the woman she will become, the Dana Scully in "A Change of Cast" is a little too naive and untested for my taste.