User Reviews

Scully's back! But her return is a little more ambiguous than celebratory. She's in a state of Coma where she is weakening by the second and no one knows why or the circumstances of her arrival at the hospital. There are a lot of elements of mystery and spirituality throughout this episode. The scenes in which Scully is on a canoe with the rope to shore breaking (the metaphorical life line to the physical plane) were beautiful and poignant. On the other side of things Mulder's struggle to find who was responsible for Scully's state had some great moments. Mulder's scenes with X were intense and mysterious. X is quite the enigmatic figure and way more bad ass than Deep Throat that's for sure. Then there is the confrontation with the Smoking Man who admits to being involved in Scully's capture. His toying with Mulder saying he likes both Mulder and Scully and his taunts to Mulder of him never knowing the truth shows how manipulative he can be. My favorite scene however is when Mulder is faced with the decision of taking out Scully's captors or being with Scully in her final moments. Mulder picking the latter was a great payoff especially considering when she finally wakes from her coma she reveals to him it was his voice she heard.

Pros: David Duchovny's performance

Mulder's struggle

Scully's visions

X > Deep Throat

The Smoking Man and Mulder

Cons: No hard answers for Scully's disappearance

Nurse Owens character while sweet wasn't really necessary

Overall Score: 9.3/10

My new favorite episode.

Finally an episode as well, or even better written than 'Beyond The Sea'. The dialog was truly brilliant and emotional.

The episode finally made both CSM and Skinner officially part of the Mythology. I loved both of them in this episode. Mulder's confrontation with both of them was very well written.

Scully's death dreams were beautifully done and I loved how they faded into reality. and Mulder also grew a lot. He chose her over his revenge gig and once she came back, was so adorable.

It's unfortunate that we didn't get to see much of Melissa. I liked her very much. and last thing I liked was that Nurse Owens woman, I keep wondering what she was. Was she supposed to be an Angel taking care of Scully?

This episode deserves FIVE stars easily. FULL PRICE. Whatever you call it.

A lot happening in this episode - Scully mysteriously showing up at a hospital under unknown circumstances with her immune system decimated by experiments on her body, Smoking Man showing Skinner exactly who calls the shots (by lighting up in Skinner's office), Mulder attempting to resign only to have Skinner refuse, and the compassionate Nurse Owens a figment of Scully's imagination. It's a cleverly written story that finalizes the "Duane Barry/Ascension" two-parter, and places Mulder in even greater danger once the threat of Scully's demise is past.

I believe this is the first time Mulder signals his new contact at the FBI with the 'X' on his window, who in turn tells Murder emphatically to forget about his partner. Mr. X proves to be no slouch in the cloak and dagger game when he takes out the 'Overcoat Man' who attempted to steal a vial of Scully's blood from the hospital. Even though Mulder retrieves the vial for a short time, it still winds up missing, presumably in the hands of Mr. X.

The main event here has Mulder facing off against the Smoking Man in a confrontation that he had to know he'd lose if he pursued it. I found it interesting that Skinner's reference to the shadowy figure was 'Cancer Man', a hint that his future might be doubtful, even for all his power at the Agency. Interesting too that a little more of Scully's family background was fleshed out in the story, with Scully's Dad providing a message from the beyond, and sister Melissa (Melinda McGraw) arriving in a show of support for Mom (Sheila Larken). With the close of the story, you can't really say everything's good as new and back to normal, but it was a relief and pleasure to have Scully back in the fold.

One Breath is about Scully being returned, in a coma and on life support and those close to her dealing.

An intense scene after the teaser. Mulder gets the call that Scully has been returned while watching some adult movie :). He is infuriated that no-one can tell him how she got there. ANSWER ME RIGHT NOW! If your with them! If your hiding anything! I swear I will do anything! I'll find out what they did to her! Skinner's given a bit more depth, telling Mulder his experience in Vietnam. Your resignation is unacceptable. Melinda McGraw's terrific as Scully's sister as well. A memorable scene between she and Mulder in his apartment. Melissa: Why is it so much easier for you to run around trying to get even than to express to her how you feel?

I could not lots of things in this episode. Who was owens? Also mulder saw her.

Was she a real person or from FBI or from deep state or imagination? MUlder came to say hi to scully instead of killing the people who would visit his home and that caused scully to wake up?

I dont know.

Mulder chose not to kill. But i cant understand why he rejected metaphysics. Her sister could get "dont say fox, say mulder" from scully but mulder did not want to believe this. Instead he tried desperate things. Could not kill even smoking guy.

I always believed skinner was also involved but as we saw in this episode and previous episode, he can be said as good.

It was nice to see scully come back. Not easy but she did at last.

Dana is in critical condition, out of what an incorporeal / a ghostlike lady relieves her, and her near-death situation deprives Mulder of the common sense to the point that he nearly pulled the trigger not only on the Cancer Man, thanks, of course, to the help of the Assistant Director Skinner, who apparently has a soft spot for the dryly realized justice, but on some insidious agents too, while the discrete helper shows Mulder what he'd become in order to get to the bottom of that whole conspiracy.

Everyone has a probable breaking point... May we continue to try / pray that we'll be even stronger (than Mulder... or our current selves) if a time / test such as this comes.

(John Kramer likes this post. A''!)

The idea of the Cancer Man, really trying to serve the humanity for calamities befall it not, is not an easy one. But still, in the future, we'll see even more sinister ones. Maybe.

Oh, don't we know that the Master of Hell may like a cup of cold icetea?.. Hot dam...

This is so thick, profound a screewriting. Wow! The series almost spills every mystery here.

It's, by far, one of the best episodes of the entire series so far.

We can only take half a point off for the scenarits made use of an incorporeal help without even explaining or hinting at why. Okay, it can happen. But what about Scully's father?..

The Gracious Koran - in the 155th and 156th Verses of the Chapter of The Cow - speaks of the terrestrial tests:

"And certainly We shall try you with something of fear and hunger, and loss of wealth and lives and crops; but give glad tidings to the steadfast,

Who say, when a suffering striketh them: Lo! we are Allah's and lo! unto Him we are returning."

Amen.

If the previous episode of this show proved anything, it's that this show is at its best when Mulder and Scully are together. While the previous episode had a lot of shortcomings, many of which can be summed down to lackluster writing, the main reason is that it was solely dependent on David Duchovny to lead the show. He has been leading it for the majority of the season, but Scully has always had some kind of importance to his actions. I actually didn't know when she was going to come back and if we were going to spend multiple episodes only with Mulder doing things the two of them should be doing together. However, the writers must have had the same thoughts as I did because they didn't waste any time getting the character back into the action. This episode went into production a few days after Anderson had given birth to her daughter, so most of it is still spent from the perspective of Mulder while we see Scully hanging on to life from a coma. It was written by Glen Morgan and James Wong - arguably the two best writers the show has - and is another great addition to the "X-Files" mythology. This show is a perfect example of how to take an unforeseen situation and turn it into something that actually works for your show as the relationship and co-dependency of Mulder and Scully has been perfectly explored in these last few episodes, providing some seriously great and very emotional television hours.

The dynamic between the two has really been missed, and while they don't get a lot of time to spar with each other in this, the writers introduce a new character in the form of Scully's sister who gets a few opportunities to have those scenes with Mulder, almost as if filling a void that was left behind after Scully left and waiting for her to come back. It was great to see that on screen, even if it didn't come from the source we were expecting, it was a nice way of telling us what we have been missing.

The episode is a very interesting exploration of life and death. Most of the episode has Scully in a limbo between the two, and the episode itself starts out with a beautiful story about Scully as a child first discovering what death is. This show has always been great for providing visual storytelling over the easy exposition dumbs and this episode really goes a step further, providing us with some of the show's most beautiful visuals so far and a very haunting depiction of the state between life and death, filled with sorrow, yet also a lot of hope.

There's no doubt that the mythology of this show is one of the most interesting, yet also one of the hardest to follow. This episode potentially revealed a lot of things about the people that Mulder and Scully work for. The conspiracy is getting deeper and deeper and that is arguably what we really like to see, but it's also getting to a very dangerous territory. If any show is able to keep it interesting, it's this; but I could get a little scared for the show's inevitable time to make everything clear, which isn't exactly looking like it's possible currently.

We've also seen Duchovny get a lot of chances to shine in these last few episodes, and he has been the shining light of the season, even in episodes that weren't all that good. He gives his best performance to date in this episode, beautifully portraying a man on the brink of doing something he'll regret in order to protect the person he cares the most about. It's a beautiful performance and it's placed so well against Anderson who, still in her limited screen time, manages to give an emotional high in a moment that we all waited for.

"One Breath" is another instant classic episode that features some of the show's most emotional highs up to this point and phenomenal lead performances. There's a lot of mythology being dumped on us, but as long as it's interesting, we're willing to stick with it, so let's just hope that they'll be able to deliver on it.

What a great episode, very emotionally intense and thrilling. I was glued to the screen and never knew what was coming next.

Scully's sister played a great role in this episode by stoping mulder from going down a dark path he was on for much of this episode and the last. And As result he gave scully the encouragement needed to pull through. Brilliant story telling by the writers.

I love how Scullys sister is the polar opposite of her the household dynamics growing up would have been interesting.

Deep throat's replacement is badass and reveals some of his motivations to keep the higher powers from doing their classified deeds by shooting the blood stealer. And telling mulder he can use "terminal force" on his avengers. Really happy mulder didn't though.

Skinners character development in this episode was excellent. Really got to know how he feels about cancer man, his Vietnam war trauma and his empathy with mulder as he ripped up his resignation. He must have always been the friend in the FBI mulder has. Interestingly enough even cancer man "likes" mulder too hence why he returned skully and didn't abduct him. Haha, strange logic without the context of why and what part he had to play in the drama. Can't wait to see how his character developed throughout the seasons.

"I don't know if my being here will help bring you back. But I'm here." – Fox Mulder.

Episode 8, 'One Breath', original air date November 11th, 1994. Written by Glen Morgan and James Wong, directed by R. W. Goodwin. Mythology episode count, 10. Morgan & Wong close off the myth-arc that began with 'Sleepless', with an episode that's rich in drama and human emotion but presents more as a series of moments rather than a complete package. Gillian Anderson's first episode back after having given birth conveniently has her lying in a hospital bed for the majority of her screen time. Therefore this is really a Mulder centric show in the vein of 'Beyond the Sea', meaning Duchovny is given the chance to explore his character's faith, or lack-thereof and come to terms with what he truly holds dear to his heart. The relentless pursuit of truth, whatever the cost is taking it's toll on Mulder and those around him. We're introduced to Scully's new age sister (Melinda McGraw) in the same episode we bid farewell to the final appearance of her father (Don S. Davis). Mulder debuts the term 'Cancer Man' which some fans adopted in place of 'Smoking Man'. I personally prefer the new moniker, it carries a more ominous connotation that fits with the character and in keeping with the progression of the series I will henceforth utilise this name in reference to him. Mulder tapes a large 'X' on his window in an attempt to signal his informant, this is the first time we see him act out this now iconic gesture and the taped 'X' will become a very recognisable reference to the show in the years to come.

Scully is returned to civilisation by mysteriously appearing in a hospital bed, the staff are unable to account for either her whereabouts previous to her reappearance or the circumstances that brought her to this setting. Mulder is irate, having just recently been cautioning Margaret Scully that it's too early to presume the worse, while the pair stand over a recently purchased tomb stone. This episode sees Mulder with a singular vision, desperately trying to track down Scully's abductors regardless of the consequences. He's warned at gun point by X that pursuing this further will result in dire ramifications for both of them. Regardless, Mulder pushes on and eventually comes face to face with Cancer Man himself. Skinner has an encounter with the antagonist in his office and clearly displays both his contempt for the man and his support for the X-Files. In a decision which puts his own life at great risk, he provides Mulder with Cancer Man's home address. Unfortunately the confrontation simply forces Mulder to face his own guilt and this prompts him to tender his resignation at the F.B.I. Through all of his coming and going, Mulder has spent very little time with Scully in the hospital. Melissa, her sister, urges him to try and connect with Scully and at least take the time to let her know how he feels. He finally chooses love for his partner over his lust for revenge and we end with an atypically happy conclusion for the X-Files as Scully regains consciousness.

This episode is full of great moment that, as mentioned, unfortunately don't come together quite as neatly as they should. If we break down the character driven emotional drama that is presented to us into separate pieces we can draw out some terrific scenes that work well in isolation. Mulder's confrontation with Cancer Man is definitely a highlight. We see that the character is fallible and vulnerable physically but at the same time intellectually superior. He is able to talk down an enraged Mulder with a gun to his head without breaking a sweat. At first it seems odd that he's home is so easily accessible and unguarded. However, what this interaction shows us is that he does not rely on brute force to ensure his survival but rather through manipulation and intimidation. Fear is this character's greatest weapon, fear of the unknown, fear of our true nature, as in the case of Mulder becoming overwhelmed with guilt and and disdain for what he has become, a man obsessed with vengeance. This interaction basically says to the audience that Mulder will never kill Cancer Man, not without crossing a line he is not willing to cross.

Each of these scenes are well crafted and deliver a strong amount of drama to the episode. However, Morgan & Wong are never quite able to make all these individual elements gel together as well as they should have, considering their strength as individual scenes. I also found the visual metaphor of the boat tethered to the dock to be a bit on the nose, an almost too literally representation of what the writer's were trying to convey.

There is a rather peculiar element that I feel compelled to mention, and that is the distracting nature of Anderson's breasts while lying down. They seem to be abnormally large, pointy and defiant of gravity. There's something not quite right about her physical proportions here and I only mention it because I found that it detracted from the sombre mood of some of the scenes. Some fans have suggested that since the episode was filmed directly after Anderson's labour, that her stomach was quite big and would be very noticeable while lying down. Therefore, the suggestion is that they padded her bra in order to make her belly appear flatter. This is one possibly explanation, but either way there is certainly something strange about her appearance that doesn't seem natural.

That oddity aside, this episode is by and large a satisfying conclusion to this story line which contains a memorable performance by Duchovny and some fantastic standalone scenes which writer Glen Morgan himself commented was a departure from standard X-Files procedure and was more about human emotions, drama and relationships.