Sometimes the best episodes leave me with the fewest notes with which to write these reviews. This is because I get so wrapped up in the story I forget to observe more closely. Gethsemane is one those episodes. The episode grabs your attention right away when Scully is apparently identifying the body of Agent Mulder. The story then goes back in time and shows Scully recounting those events to some FBI committee. We are introduced to Michael Kritschgau, a federal Department of Defense employee who manages to cast doubt on Mulder's belief on the existence of extra-terrestrial beings. The revelations given by Kritschgau prove to be a turning point in the series for most of the next season. The one gripe I have with this episode is that six men have just been murdered on a mountainside, but the alien hasn't been stolen! The man Mulder is with smiles. Well, at least the important thing is still here. They then take off to perform the autopsy on the supposed alien. How insensitive of Mulder and the other two men! I know they weren't friends with these men, but come on! Other than that, I found the red/orange feel to the FBI committee interesting. I thought Mulder showed some genuine tears, and the scene transition from his face to Scully's was interesting. I don't know why, but it was cool. If you did not have any spoilers when first seeing it, then this cliffhanger has got to be the most powerful of the series, thinking that Mulder has just committed suicide. Gethsemane, like its name implies, shows us Mulder's sufferings as he realizes that everything he has believed in is a lie.
11 Reviews
"This is your Holy Grail Mulder, not mine."
classicsoncall30 June 2017
Warning: Spoilers
Back in the day, this Season Four ender would have been a shock to the system to see one of the X-Files principals left for dead as a result of suicide. Knowing now that there were five more seasons to go it's not too much of stretch to figure that Mulder would somehow find a way to return in Season Five. I can't remember what happened in the follow up because after all, it's been a couple decades, and I'm just now getting around to view and review the entire series episode by episode. So I'll just have to wait and see.
So with everything Scully and Mulder have seen and done before, the story here is another one of those that tends to contradict and obfuscate the existence of extraterrestrials and the UFO's they came in on. It's cleverly put together with a research team traveling to the Yukon Territory to discover an alien encased in ice. Core samples of the location suggest that this is the real deal, and Mulder's belief is all but confirmed, until Scully outwits a former Defense Department employee who spills on the conspiracy involved in planting the alien and virtually everything else conjured up by the government to keep Mulder running around in circles.
Meanwhile Scully's skepticism remains at an all time high while her cancer is aggressively metastasizing. One thing that didn't make sense to me was the amount of blood on the back of Scully's shirt after she took that tumble down the stairwell, courtesy of Michael Kritschgau (John Finn), the former DOD researcher mentioned earlier. Unless her fall caused some damage to break skin, which seemed highly unlikely, there's really nothing there that would have resulted in those awkwardly placed blood stains.
I found the choice of title for this episode to be quite interesting. Gethsemane was a garden at the foot of the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem where Jesus Christ prayed and his disciples slept on the night before His crucifixion. The historical event is often referred to as the Agony in the Garden, and as it relates to the fate of Mulder, contains an element of betrayal, with Jesus stating that wicked people were about to come and take Him away. I wouldn't put Mulder in the same category as Jesus Christ, though his despondency at the end of the story suggested that he was carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders.
So with everything Scully and Mulder have seen and done before, the story here is another one of those that tends to contradict and obfuscate the existence of extraterrestrials and the UFO's they came in on. It's cleverly put together with a research team traveling to the Yukon Territory to discover an alien encased in ice. Core samples of the location suggest that this is the real deal, and Mulder's belief is all but confirmed, until Scully outwits a former Defense Department employee who spills on the conspiracy involved in planting the alien and virtually everything else conjured up by the government to keep Mulder running around in circles.
Meanwhile Scully's skepticism remains at an all time high while her cancer is aggressively metastasizing. One thing that didn't make sense to me was the amount of blood on the back of Scully's shirt after she took that tumble down the stairwell, courtesy of Michael Kritschgau (John Finn), the former DOD researcher mentioned earlier. Unless her fall caused some damage to break skin, which seemed highly unlikely, there's really nothing there that would have resulted in those awkwardly placed blood stains.
I found the choice of title for this episode to be quite interesting. Gethsemane was a garden at the foot of the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem where Jesus Christ prayed and his disciples slept on the night before His crucifixion. The historical event is often referred to as the Agony in the Garden, and as it relates to the fate of Mulder, contains an element of betrayal, with Jesus stating that wicked people were about to come and take Him away. I wouldn't put Mulder in the same category as Jesus Christ, though his despondency at the end of the story suggested that he was carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders.
Strong, but frustrating
SleepTight66625 December 2008
Warning: Spoilers
The fourth Season finale of the X-Files is a strong, but frustrating little episode.
There are a lot of things that bug me, it feels like the writers are playing a dog and pony show with the audience. I know it's supposedly a lie, but I still find it terribly annoying how they are thrown in our faces and how Mulder, after all that he has been through, believes in them.
But despite that extremely irritating turn, the rest of this episode is extremely well done. The make-up effects of that alien creature, the visuals on that mountain and the acting from Gillian and David all work in the episode's favor and save the frustrating plot.
I remember how shocked I was when Mulder's death was announced, I believed the lie and that is really what this episode is about.
FOUR stars. Mythology's turn didn't work for me, but the rest is very good.
There are a lot of things that bug me, it feels like the writers are playing a dog and pony show with the audience. I know it's supposedly a lie, but I still find it terribly annoying how they are thrown in our faces and how Mulder, after all that he has been through, believes in them.
But despite that extremely irritating turn, the rest of this episode is extremely well done. The make-up effects of that alien creature, the visuals on that mountain and the acting from Gillian and David all work in the episode's favor and save the frustrating plot.
I remember how shocked I was when Mulder's death was announced, I believed the lie and that is really what this episode is about.
FOUR stars. Mythology's turn didn't work for me, but the rest is very good.
Season Four Review
ametaphysicalshark10 March 2008
*this is a review of season four. The rating you see above is for Gethsemane. Season rating follows after the review.
Season Four of The X Files is a slight drop in quality from the exhilarating season three, but it's still simply incredible television which is consistently enthralling.
One thing I missed in season four was consistently interesting mythology plots. I've said it before and I'll say it again: other than the super soldiers, the 'black oil' section of the mytharc is by far the weakest. I really enjoyed the 'abduction' and the later 'colonization' sections. There are still some great mythology arc episodes to enjoy in this season but overall I felt the quality decreased.
The monster of the week episodes are not lacking in typical X Files creativity, wit, and energy, however, delivering on both the horror/suspense and humor angles with series-defining classics like "Home" and "Small Potatoes".
I thought the best season four episodes were: "Home"- Peacocks. Bed. Inbred. Mutant. Brutal. Violent. Really, really creepy. About 10X more effective than most horror movies.
"Musings of a Cigarette Smoking Man"- exactly what I look for in The X Files- intelligent, creative, witty writing.
"Paper Hearts"- one of the best X Files from an emotional viewpoint.
"Small Potatoes"- Babies with tails, shapeshifters, hilarity, frustrated Jehovah's Witnesses.
"Gethsemane"- A brilliant season finale with one of the most effective cliffhangers ever on TV.
Out of all the rated episodes, the average rating for season four is 7.9/10, a bit of a drop from the exhilarating high of 8.25/10 for season three, but still enthralling TV and better than most shows could dream of managing.
Season Four of The X Files is a slight drop in quality from the exhilarating season three, but it's still simply incredible television which is consistently enthralling.
One thing I missed in season four was consistently interesting mythology plots. I've said it before and I'll say it again: other than the super soldiers, the 'black oil' section of the mytharc is by far the weakest. I really enjoyed the 'abduction' and the later 'colonization' sections. There are still some great mythology arc episodes to enjoy in this season but overall I felt the quality decreased.
The monster of the week episodes are not lacking in typical X Files creativity, wit, and energy, however, delivering on both the horror/suspense and humor angles with series-defining classics like "Home" and "Small Potatoes".
I thought the best season four episodes were: "Home"- Peacocks. Bed. Inbred. Mutant. Brutal. Violent. Really, really creepy. About 10X more effective than most horror movies.
"Musings of a Cigarette Smoking Man"- exactly what I look for in The X Files- intelligent, creative, witty writing.
"Paper Hearts"- one of the best X Files from an emotional viewpoint.
"Small Potatoes"- Babies with tails, shapeshifters, hilarity, frustrated Jehovah's Witnesses.
"Gethsemane"- A brilliant season finale with one of the most effective cliffhangers ever on TV.
Out of all the rated episodes, the average rating for season four is 7.9/10, a bit of a drop from the exhilarating high of 8.25/10 for season three, but still enthralling TV and better than most shows could dream of managing.
A high quality, fitting end to the excellent fourth series.
Sleepin_Dragon19 August 2022
Mulder is convinced that an alien body has been found in The Canadian Mountains, so he travels to discover a potential hoax.
I've come to expect something pretty special from The X Files series finale, Series 4's Gethsemane is no exception, it's another, high quality, game changing episode, one that has you desperate to crack on with Series 5.
I thoroughly enjoyed it, an excellent episode, one that lacks any humour or frivolity, it's a straight up, serious X File, a case that threatens the future of Mulder and Scully as a team, and the very X Files themselves.
Beautifully shot, those snow capped mountains looked just beautiful, they really added a different vibe. Strong production values throughout, a great job was done with the being, and old footage.
The main shock coming from the opening, and conclusion, I'm sure we'll return to that meeting in Series 5.
High quality, 9/10.
I've come to expect something pretty special from The X Files series finale, Series 4's Gethsemane is no exception, it's another, high quality, game changing episode, one that has you desperate to crack on with Series 5.
I thoroughly enjoyed it, an excellent episode, one that lacks any humour or frivolity, it's a straight up, serious X File, a case that threatens the future of Mulder and Scully as a team, and the very X Files themselves.
Beautifully shot, those snow capped mountains looked just beautiful, they really added a different vibe. Strong production values throughout, a great job was done with the being, and old footage.
The main shock coming from the opening, and conclusion, I'm sure we'll return to that meeting in Series 5.
High quality, 9/10.
Season Four
zkonedog7 July 2019
Warning: Spoilers
The Fourth Season of the X-Files continues to develop the "mythology" plot points of earlier season, while also churning out quality "stand-alone" episodes. Let's examine the three types of episode formats that the X-Files showcases:
1. Mythology: During this season, a Mars rock turns out to be something more than just terrestrial, the Russians begin experimenting with an alien virus, Max Fenig (Scott Bellis), last seen in Season 1, makes a return appearance, and Mulder (David Duchovny) again must choose what to believe surrounding the events of his sister's disappearance. Though the "Tempus Fugit"/"Max" two-part episode falls a bit flat, the other mythology episodes this season are as strong as ever. Perhaps the most important mythological development of this season, however, is Agent Scully's (Gillian Anderson) contraction of a deadly disease which may have been given to her by outside forces.
2. Stand-Alone: Despite a few clunker episodes, this season continued to produce compelling hour-long stories. "Unruhe" focuses on a genuinely terrifying pyschopath, "Home" is so scary that it almost wasn't shown at all, and "Musings of a Cigarette Smoking Man" sheds some light on the shadowy figure's younger years.
3. Comedic: While "Never Again" is very hit-or-miss depending on who you ask, "Small Potatoes" is a hilarious romp that also serves to provide the first hints (however small) of a possible Mulder-Scully romantic relationship.
Overall, the Fourth Season of the X-Files continued to give fans what they wanted...more mythology to endlessly debate online, spooky paranormal creatures, and a few hearty laughs. Also, though I am no expert in this department, the show seemed to have been shot on better film starting this season, as the picture is more crisp and the special effects more incredible.
Update (12/2015) -Upon a recent re-watch, I now consider this to be my favorite single season of this show. Everything is "on point" here: all actors are fully engaged, the mythology is at its peak (especially towards the end of the season), and nearly all of the standalones are very enjoyable. In terms of storytelling and plot, this is the last really tight season of the show.
1. Mythology: During this season, a Mars rock turns out to be something more than just terrestrial, the Russians begin experimenting with an alien virus, Max Fenig (Scott Bellis), last seen in Season 1, makes a return appearance, and Mulder (David Duchovny) again must choose what to believe surrounding the events of his sister's disappearance. Though the "Tempus Fugit"/"Max" two-part episode falls a bit flat, the other mythology episodes this season are as strong as ever. Perhaps the most important mythological development of this season, however, is Agent Scully's (Gillian Anderson) contraction of a deadly disease which may have been given to her by outside forces.
2. Stand-Alone: Despite a few clunker episodes, this season continued to produce compelling hour-long stories. "Unruhe" focuses on a genuinely terrifying pyschopath, "Home" is so scary that it almost wasn't shown at all, and "Musings of a Cigarette Smoking Man" sheds some light on the shadowy figure's younger years.
3. Comedic: While "Never Again" is very hit-or-miss depending on who you ask, "Small Potatoes" is a hilarious romp that also serves to provide the first hints (however small) of a possible Mulder-Scully romantic relationship.
Overall, the Fourth Season of the X-Files continued to give fans what they wanted...more mythology to endlessly debate online, spooky paranormal creatures, and a few hearty laughs. Also, though I am no expert in this department, the show seemed to have been shot on better film starting this season, as the picture is more crisp and the special effects more incredible.
Update (12/2015) -Upon a recent re-watch, I now consider this to be my favorite single season of this show. Everything is "on point" here: all actors are fully engaged, the mythology is at its peak (especially towards the end of the season), and nearly all of the standalones are very enjoyable. In terms of storytelling and plot, this is the last really tight season of the show.
You already believe, Mulder. What difference would it make? I mean, what would proof change for you?
Sanpaco1314 November 2009
Warning: Spoilers
Gethsemane is a good episode, but I don't know that it is my favorite ever. I enjoy the trilogy that it sets up, but unfortunately the story doesn't quite grab me until the very end. Mulder calls Scully onto a case as she is being harassed by her former pastor about coming back to the church. I like the theme that this sets up about belief and faith in what you believe. That is the most important part of this episode is setting this theme up. There is a duality between Scully's faith in God and Mulder's faith or belief in "the truth". Mulder heads off to the Yukon to help with the excavation of an alien corpse from the ice. He is present as an autopsy is performed and as soon as he leaves, all remaining members of the team are dead and the body is missing. Meanwhile Scully meets Kritschgau who tells them that Mulder is being used as a pawn in an elaborate hoax. It is not known at this time who is telling the truth and who is lying. All this misdirection and misinformation is brought to a climax at the end of the episode as Scully tells the FBI that she has identified Mulder as having shot himself in the head and killed himself. Close curtains, close set until next season, leave fans everywhere sitting on their couches going "wah?" I give the episode an 8 out of 10. Better things to come for this story.
Mulders wouldn't Epstein himself
devonbrown-9064924 June 2023
Warning: Spoilers
What a bombshell of an episode.
Scully seems to priorities herself in the FBI hearing and systematically disproves mulders beliefs, after all she's seen and been through? One thing that is certain though is that the syndicates lies run very deep and each lie has its own truth seeker perpetuating that very lie by seeking it.
How will he ever know the truth must have been mulders thoughts when watching Carl Sagan. I really don't think mulders dead though, he may have staged it so he could use the veil of death to go under the radar and discover higher truths.
One last thing Scullys inclination to believe CSM's agents over mulder is concerning. It seems she just wants a scientific rational explanation for everything and that often isn't clear in any of the cases they pursue. I'm just in shock that a she still thinks this way after all the paranormal activity she's witnessed.
Scully seems to priorities herself in the FBI hearing and systematically disproves mulders beliefs, after all she's seen and been through? One thing that is certain though is that the syndicates lies run very deep and each lie has its own truth seeker perpetuating that very lie by seeking it.
How will he ever know the truth must have been mulders thoughts when watching Carl Sagan. I really don't think mulders dead though, he may have staged it so he could use the veil of death to go under the radar and discover higher truths.
One last thing Scullys inclination to believe CSM's agents over mulder is concerning. It seems she just wants a scientific rational explanation for everything and that often isn't clear in any of the cases they pursue. I'm just in shock that a she still thinks this way after all the paranormal activity she's witnessed.
Gethsemane
lassegalsgaard25 April 2024
This entire show has always been about pondering whether or not there's something else out there. Is there actually something in space that we don't know about and if there is, does that otherworldly intelligent life have any impact on us? That is the big question of this show, and for four seasons, it has been dragging us through possible explanations as to what is happening out there and whether or not we're covering up the knowledge of their existence. This finale gives us a lot of details leading both ways, yet it still walks around familiar ground and is the least satisfying finale so far.
This is a show that firmly plants us inside the mindset of our two protagonists, and therefore has led us down a specific path to believe that there is definitely other life out there. What this episode seeks to do is find a plausible explanation for both possibilities: that there is and that there ain't. It's an interesting approach and there is a clear passion from the writing side to actually give us these ideas that will make us question everything that we've experienced up until this point. It's not an easy question to answer, but it's one that's fun to ponder over. The added locations to this episode also made it quite interesting, with the cold setting giving the crew opportunity to do some very interesting things in terms of its cinematography, and it definitely makes for one of the more beautiful episodes of the show. However, the big problem with this episode is it doesn't account for the audience's clear knowledge of the show prior to actually making up their own mind here. We have seen what we have seen and clearly know that there is something else haunting our main characters, and therefore, the ending of this episode is incredibly unbelievable and therefore, the twist that they try to leave us with doesn't make any sense. It feels off for this show to do something like that, but we're also entering the territory where this show will reach its 100th episode, which could signal that the show's ideas may be running low.
"Gethsemane" is an enjoyable episode because of the questions it asks of us, but it also fails because it doesn't trust its audience to know better. The ending is very strange, but it isn't enough to bring down the momentum of an overall fun episode that features great cinematography and some really clever editing tricks.
This is a show that firmly plants us inside the mindset of our two protagonists, and therefore has led us down a specific path to believe that there is definitely other life out there. What this episode seeks to do is find a plausible explanation for both possibilities: that there is and that there ain't. It's an interesting approach and there is a clear passion from the writing side to actually give us these ideas that will make us question everything that we've experienced up until this point. It's not an easy question to answer, but it's one that's fun to ponder over. The added locations to this episode also made it quite interesting, with the cold setting giving the crew opportunity to do some very interesting things in terms of its cinematography, and it definitely makes for one of the more beautiful episodes of the show. However, the big problem with this episode is it doesn't account for the audience's clear knowledge of the show prior to actually making up their own mind here. We have seen what we have seen and clearly know that there is something else haunting our main characters, and therefore, the ending of this episode is incredibly unbelievable and therefore, the twist that they try to leave us with doesn't make any sense. It feels off for this show to do something like that, but we're also entering the territory where this show will reach its 100th episode, which could signal that the show's ideas may be running low.
"Gethsemane" is an enjoyable episode because of the questions it asks of us, but it also fails because it doesn't trust its audience to know better. The ending is very strange, but it isn't enough to bring down the momentum of an overall fun episode that features great cinematography and some really clever editing tricks.
...........What?!
JaydoDre10 January 2013
Warning: Spoilers
There has been a problem with agent Scully and agent Mulder's relationship from the beginning. The continuous skepticism coming from Scully as part of that scripted relationship loses its credibility already in the beginning of the 1st season of X-Files. Occasionally these outbursts of skepticism make her look like she is actually deliberately trying to annoy and it makes you want to reach out right through the screen and smack her, yelling: "What the hell is wrong with you?!".
In this particular episode this problem comes to a pinnacle as the whole script takes on the face of agent Scully. After four seasons of both characters personally witnessing all kind of aliens we are supposed to believe that agent Scully, due to a single conversation with some stranger who both assaults and tries to flee from her, is suddenly convinced that everything in the past was a lie; that the never doubting agent Mulder might actually doubt himself; and that agent Scully believes that agent Mulder might actually shoot himself because of that.
The story in this episode, however short and blunt, is so far up itself that it threatens to open an all-consuming cosmic singularity.
If Gethsemane and its two follow up episodes were a movie, starting from scratch, it may have worked. In fact, with a little correction it would have been quite interesting, but you cannot just ignore a library of preceding events only to create a plot twist in the last episode of the season to keep the public interested. The fact that this attention grabbing plot twist is clearly the purpose of the episode just makes the poor strategy and writing appear worse - not just the writers having a bad day, but a conscious conniving conspiracy. And even though the next episode in the series will claim that some of the characters' behavior was a fabrication it will not relieve the problem. In fact Season 5 will continue to push the ridiculous character arch.
In this particular episode this problem comes to a pinnacle as the whole script takes on the face of agent Scully. After four seasons of both characters personally witnessing all kind of aliens we are supposed to believe that agent Scully, due to a single conversation with some stranger who both assaults and tries to flee from her, is suddenly convinced that everything in the past was a lie; that the never doubting agent Mulder might actually doubt himself; and that agent Scully believes that agent Mulder might actually shoot himself because of that.
The story in this episode, however short and blunt, is so far up itself that it threatens to open an all-consuming cosmic singularity.
If Gethsemane and its two follow up episodes were a movie, starting from scratch, it may have worked. In fact, with a little correction it would have been quite interesting, but you cannot just ignore a library of preceding events only to create a plot twist in the last episode of the season to keep the public interested. The fact that this attention grabbing plot twist is clearly the purpose of the episode just makes the poor strategy and writing appear worse - not just the writers having a bad day, but a conscious conniving conspiracy. And even though the next episode in the series will claim that some of the characters' behavior was a fabrication it will not relieve the problem. In fact Season 5 will continue to push the ridiculous character arch.
Issac Asimov: I can conceive of no nightmare as terrifying as establishing such communication with a so-called superior or, if you wish, advanced technology in outer space.
bombersflyup25 March 2018
Warning: Spoilers
Gethsemane is about a geodetic survey team finding an alien frozen in the ice, but it all ends up being fake and Mulder hits rock bottom.
He hits rock bottom not just because of the hoax, but because Scully tells him that they gave her cancer to make him believe. In context with the show, the alien didn't look real at all. Mulder doesn't believe what he's seeing is real and this Arlinsky guy's completely unconvincing. Like I've said before, they both know aliens exist and no one believes the evidence anyway and always killed in response. So what's the point, why are we there at all? The rest of the episode's solid, but this takes up a large portion. Scully's right throughout, other than saying what she's seen can't be disproved.
He hits rock bottom not just because of the hoax, but because Scully tells him that they gave her cancer to make him believe. In context with the show, the alien didn't look real at all. Mulder doesn't believe what he's seeing is real and this Arlinsky guy's completely unconvincing. Like I've said before, they both know aliens exist and no one believes the evidence anyway and always killed in response. So what's the point, why are we there at all? The rest of the episode's solid, but this takes up a large portion. Scully's right throughout, other than saying what she's seen can't be disproved.
See also
Awards | FAQ | User Ratings | External Reviews | Metacritic Reviews
