User Reviews

I don't mind non-linear story telling but this one was a little confusing at first with the Mulder flashbacks. It would have been a good idea to differentiate Scully's looks to give one a better feel for past and present. Still, one can follow the story well enough once you figure out what's going on. Personally, I think I would have liked it better if the writers let the whole alien mythology arc die when it did (sort of), with the 'Two Fathers'/'One Son' episodes.

What really fascinated me in this one was not so much the story itself, but the acting of Gillian Anderson. That scene where she reacts to Mulder's offer to be a sperm donor was simply awe inspiring. How an actor or actress can summon up an expression of joy and mix tears in with it is an uncanny ability. That sequence was so good it's almost easy to miss Mulder's subsequent response to making the offer - "At that part, I'm a pro." Scully didn't seem embarrassed, and it's probably a credit to the director that they pulled the scene off the way they did. My thanks to reviewer 'mikko-sandt' for providing the translation for the title of this episode, 'Per Manum' so I didn't have to look it up. Yeah mikko-sandt, I got it.

So in true X-Files tradition, the viewer is kept way off balance by the intrigue offered in this story about government abductions, alien babies, and a conspiracy afoot to eliminate women who give birth to something that might be 'inhuman'. I think by now, Scully should have had more faith in Doggett to confide in him more about the personal trauma she was going through. It's pretty obvious he went the extra mile in prior stories to try to gain her loyalty and friendship. Granted, he was no Mulder, but neither was he a bad guy.

Of all the boring Scully's baby episodes, this is probably the most tolerable. The first bit of trivia I have for this episode is that lady at the beginning having the alien baby may be familiar to some of you Anne of Green Gables fans... That in mind, go watch it again. The basic story of the episode is a bunch of abducted women who have been said to be barren and then get pregnant and now the government is stealing their alien babies and killing the women. Some lady approaches Scully about this and now Scully is all paranoid about her baby again like usual. Poor lady, she keeps getting told her baby is ET and then the doctors tell her its fine but then the doctors are evil and at some point you're just like move to Alaska or something for 9 months sheesh! Some of the important stuff about the episode is the flashbacks with Mulder where we learn that he is indeed the father but not through the sideways polka but through donations and artificial insemination. I think its funny how every episode that has that Zeus Pregnancy clinic in it ends up with someone find the room with all the fetus jars and then some doctor being all "you're not supposed to be here!" You'd think they'd get a lock or something. Some more fun about this episode is Adam Baldwin stealing the baby with the government agents. Adam Baldwin is awesome. Also I can't help but feel bad for poor Doggett in this episode. I hate being kept in the dark like that with my own circle of friends, I can't imagine how frustrating it would be when you're FBI partner was doing that crap to you. And all because, "I was afraid they'd use it to get to Mulder." Um, how does that keep you from telling Doggett? You're saying you didn't trust him not to go tell the enemy basically. I give the episode a 8 out of 10 for some entertaining sequences but not for the best story in the world.

Great episode, loved the Mulder and Scully flashbacks and the story of her pregnancy. It was great to get more details about Scully's pregnancy and that Mulder was totally aware and that the were trying. Amazing performance from Gillian as always.

I'm in the middle of re-watching the whole series and today I watched Per Manum ("By Hand" - get it?).

When Scully first uttered "I'm pregnant" in Requiem, the mythology was destroyed. This episode is the first one to deal with the "new mythology" that revolves around Scully's Jesus boy and supersoldiers. It's awful.

First we have Scully acting like an idiot, ignoring the obvious and treating Doggett like scum. Now I know that pregnancy is a personal issue but if it's causing so much trouble and not just to you then please, princess Scully, tell your partner about it so that he doesn't have to guess what's eating you.

The scene where Scully is staring at her reflection in the mirror with that awful music playing in the background is just so laughable that I, well, bursted to laughter.

And we're supposed to believe that suddenly Scully wanted to have a child, and not just maybe some day in the future but pretty much immediately after learning that she can't have children? I mean, the flashbacks took place BEFORE the whole Emily thing so what is it that suddenly triggered her to want to have a child right now? I hate when writers re-write history. The whole flashback thing was a stupid excuse to bring Mulder in anyway (not that they found much use for him in The Gift either).

What a glorious way to celebrate the destruction of the character Scully once was!