"3" is the first episode following Scully's abduction, and is one of few X-Files without any appearance from Gillian Anderson. The third Morgan/Wong script for this season, "3" finds an adrift Mulder obsessed with tracking down a trio of bloodthirsty killers in California. This episode is notable for starring the stunning Perrey Reeves, who portrays enigmatic Kristen Kilar and dated David Duchovny around this time. There is a very strong, believable sexual energy between them that is the highlight of a somewhat uneven script.
The episode starts with a well-directed teaser of a young woman seducing a much older man and proceeding to murder him with the help of two others in his jacuzzi. The premise is that this Unholy Trinity had pursued Kristen across the country to turn her into one of them, a vampire. Mulder captures one of the Trinity members who is subsequently killed in his sunlit cell, only to return to life in the episode's final third. He then encounters Kristen in a nightclub, in the episode's strangest scene, and believes she too is a bloodsucker until he spots a gore-filled bread loaf in her oven (apparently this has defensive properties in vampire lore).
There are some interesting ideas and new spins on vampiric mythology that are unfortunately presented in such a way that the audience becomes as lost as Mulder seems to be. Kristen, though an interesting character, is too ambiguous for much of her storyline to make any sense on first view. It is implied that consuming the blood of a believer and sacrificing a human life can convert one into a vampire, yet this is a detail touched upon far too late for the denouement to seem anything but convenient.
"3" gets a pretty bad wrap from hardcore fans for the lack of Scully and Mulder's eccentric behavior but is enjoyable when not viewed from an analytical lens. Though the script is a tad pedestrian from the writers who brought us masterpieces like "Beyond the Sea," there is still some good character study which is the trademark of any Morgan/Wong affair, with Duchovny's chemistry with Reeves and ability to play Mulder in a different yet believable way being the high spots.
The episode starts with a well-directed teaser of a young woman seducing a much older man and proceeding to murder him with the help of two others in his jacuzzi. The premise is that this Unholy Trinity had pursued Kristen across the country to turn her into one of them, a vampire. Mulder captures one of the Trinity members who is subsequently killed in his sunlit cell, only to return to life in the episode's final third. He then encounters Kristen in a nightclub, in the episode's strangest scene, and believes she too is a bloodsucker until he spots a gore-filled bread loaf in her oven (apparently this has defensive properties in vampire lore).
There are some interesting ideas and new spins on vampiric mythology that are unfortunately presented in such a way that the audience becomes as lost as Mulder seems to be. Kristen, though an interesting character, is too ambiguous for much of her storyline to make any sense on first view. It is implied that consuming the blood of a believer and sacrificing a human life can convert one into a vampire, yet this is a detail touched upon far too late for the denouement to seem anything but convenient.
"3" gets a pretty bad wrap from hardcore fans for the lack of Scully and Mulder's eccentric behavior but is enjoyable when not viewed from an analytical lens. Though the script is a tad pedestrian from the writers who brought us masterpieces like "Beyond the Sea," there is still some good character study which is the trademark of any Morgan/Wong affair, with Duchovny's chemistry with Reeves and ability to play Mulder in a different yet believable way being the high spots.