Paper Clip (3)

Season 3, Episode 2, Aired
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Episode Summary

Assistant Director Skinner and Scully are at a standoff when Mulder bursts in and discovers that Skinner has the digital tape. Reunited, Mulder and Scully travel to a secret vault inside a mine and find an elaborate filing system of medical records which reveals that Mulder's sister may not have been the first choice for abduction. Meanwhile, Skinner deals with the Cigarette Smoking Man for their safety.moreless
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Fan Episode Reviews (12)

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  • "This is the part where you pucker up and kiss my a**"

    9.5
    "Superb"
    By MattMTRUSTNO1, Aug 12, 2011 Report Abuse
    From the moment Mulder stumbles into his apartment, he and Scully are joined as the two halves of one mind, operating as left and right hands of a single purpose. Even when they argue in front of the Well-Manicured Man, their disagreement is of a fundamentally different nature than their argument outside the hospital in the series pilot. Scully is no longer dismissing the idea of alien abduction out of hand, she is simply disagreeing with the evidence presented. Mulder's transformation is profound: he not only leaves the decision over the tape to Scully, he does not even present his arguments to her. He knows she knows him well enough to know what he would say. His trust in her is complete; she has been drawn permanently into the sacred circle of his faith and hope. Scully is now part of the quest, which has become as personal and real to her as to Mulder. The theme of "Paperclip" is really about choices. The choices Bill Mulder made, the choices Deep Throat made, and now the choices Mulder and Scully make, are the ultimate expression of humanity. Only humans choose. All else obeys the invisible dictates of instinct, and probability. The point of a heroic quest is to bring back a truth that holds up a mirror to our souls. Mulder and Scully could choose to quit, or to be intimidated, or to go rogue and run from the Cigarette-Smoking Man for the rest of their lives. But they choose to return to the X-Files, to the basement office, to the pursuit of elusive cases bounded by hostility and frustration. It is difficult, and daunting, and dangerous. This is the path of harmony, the path of Beauty that takes them clear-eyed and aware into the heart of darkness, on a hero's journey.
    The only flaw in this arc is the lack of connecting emotion between the various characters. Except for Margaret Scully, and the final scene between Mulder and Scully in Melissa's hospital room, there is very little expression of emotion in this arc. There's plenty of awesome action when Mulder confronts Krycek, or when the Cigarette-Smoking Man tries to bully Skinner. But when Scully thinks she's lost Mulder to a hideous death, when Mulder is brought back from death by Albert Hosteen, when Mulder meets his mother for the first time since his father's murder--these scenes are too emotionally muted. Drama is first and foremost about emotion. I could have used a little more of it in those scenes. The puzzles are interesting, vital to the show, of course. But I find it difficult to connect with a Mulder who cannot even thank Albert for saving his life, who cannot comfort his mother, who takes Scully so much for granted he cannot even say "Did you miss me?" when he returns from the dead. If she shows so little of her inner reactions to us when her life is being irrevocably changed, how shallow will her reactions be to an "ordinary" X-File?Beyond the changes implicit in the character development in this arc, we see other tectonic shifts taking place. Skinner finally decides where his loyalties lie, and the Smoking Man loses some of his threat. It's hard to be scared of a man who is visibly shaken. Mulder learns that his sister was sacrificed for him and Scully learns that her sister died in her place, burdens of guilt that could easily warp strong souls.
    Duchovny gives us a wonderful moment of body language when Mulder stands silhouetted against the rising lights of the mothership, caught literally like a deer in the headlights, echoing fear and wonder. The dance of firelight and shadow on Mulder in the hogan, the sooty atmosphere of the Smoke Ring's clubhouse, and the nearly silent stampede of aliens past Scully in the mine shaft make these scenes classics of composition and execution.
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  • The trilogy of episodes concludes here

    9.0
    "Superb"
    By JaCkKbAuEr2424, Dec 09, 2010 Report Abuse
    Boy, this episode had a ton of revelations and may have brought The X-Files to a whole new level of storytelling. Despite relying heavily on stand-alone plots for its first two seasons, the show does a superb job of pulling us into the main plot of the show, with its government conspiracies, cover-up of alien existence and experiments on the general public. This episode brings the little trilogy of episodes that began with the Season 2 finale and if anything, we're left craving even more information as well as the truth just as much as Agent Mulder.

    This episode proves that the Cigarette Smoking Man is an even more sinister villain than we originally believed, that Skinner is truly on the side of Mulder and Scully and that there are still people in the government who are looking to help Mulder.

    Perhaps the best moment of the entire episode (or show.. up for debate) is the moment when Mulder and Scully visit the warehouse in West Virginia. Here, they find nearly fifty years worth of files on people in the last fifty years. It appears that the government has been conducting tests on people and have been attempting to create alien/human hybrids. Fox learns that the government took his sister because his father was threatening to come forward about the experiments. With every revelation, we come closer and closer to learning the truth. And Mulder seeing the UFO was just as amazing for us as it was for him.

    This was just a great episode all around and it makes me miss the moments when the show focuses on the conspiracies. Hopefully, the story will continue sometime this season.moreless

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  • Lots and lots of files

    10
    "Perfect"
    By tunguska1013, Sep 27, 2010 Report Abuse
    Paperclip is another brilliant episode and the finale part of a masterly trilogy that takes the mythology into unexpected directions and introduces us to the Syndicate, a shadow government group with global interests. The episode begins with Scully and Skinner at a standoff when Mulder bursts in and learns that Skinner has the digital tape. Reunited, Mulder and Scully search for answers regarding the involvement of Mulder's father in the conspiracy and their search takes them to the abandoned Strughold Mining Facility where they uncover an elaborate filing system of medical records. Meanwhile, Scully's sister is in the hospital in critical condition.

    The X-Files was always successful in mixing facts with fiction and Paperclip is a great example of this. The MJ documents and project paperclip, which brought Nazi scientists and war criminals to the US to exploit their knowledge, tie up perfectly with the hybridization program and the creation of a master race that the X-Files deals with. Also, this episode offers us a great deal of character development. Skinner faces CSM, Krycek from now on is working alone and CSM breaks-down for the first time. Moreover, Melissa's death makes the search for the Truth Scully's personal quest too.

    A truly amazing episode that confirms the greatness that The X-Files is.moreless

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  • This is why I watch this show

    10
    "Perfect"
    By OnePerCentClub, Jan 03, 2010 Report Abuse
    I feel sorry for Mrs. Scully. First she lost her husband, then she lost Dana for several months and now Melissa's death is was too much to deal with. And what was about to come.

    One thing that bothered me was the lack of emotion from Scully when she sees Mulder for the first time after believing he was dead. We know that at this moment of the series they weren't lovers, or very close, but they were partners and supposedly only trusted each other so I expected a little bit more from her. But if you want to take it to an extreme, there was no time for sentimentalism.

    Two facts were interesting. First, Skinner taking the digital tape and holding on to it and trying to reinstate Mulder and Scully at all costs, I think this was the time when Skinner realized he was the only one who could protect their investigation and it was worth risking his life. And second, the Cancer Man failing in every attempt to get the tape and being threatened by the people he himself had hired. I liked the last scene. It was sad, but yet it was full of determination. Now Scully fully understands Mulder: she wants answers and they will work together to get them.moreless

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  • Watch Out For Your Clock Flashing 12:00

    10
    "Perfect"
    By shahkirimeme, Apr 12, 2009 Report Abuse
    Where The Blessing Way slacked in action, Paper Clip picks up that slack and gets the story up and running again. Mulder is fully recovered from his blessing way healing and teams up with Scully to find out more about his father's past. Because of the incriminating DAT cassette tape, Mulder and Scully's lives are in danger. Skinner attempts to broker a deal with the Cigarette Smoking Man(CSM) for their reinstatement and for their lives. Very interesting discoveries are made by Mulder and Scully at an abandoned mine. Skinner and CSM have two awesome confrontations over the digital tape. Krycek gangs up on Skinner in the hospital to steal the tape and then subsequently almost gets himself blown up. It's a good thing he knows that a flashing 12:00 on a car clock means that a bomb is about to blow up. Overall, this trilogy of Anasazi/The Blessing Way/Paper Clip is one of the best in the X-Files. It lags just a tiny bit in the middle, but the drama, suspense, intensity & action makes for an awesome thrill ride of a trilogy.moreless

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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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  • Trivia

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    • Principal Settings: Washington, D.C. and West Virginia Edit
    • When Mulder first sees Samantha's file the name tag is faded and semi-hard to read the date 20:55, but when he goes to peel it off it appears to be a new tag, very easy to read 21:00. Edit
    • Mulder and Scully get to the abandoned mine. When they drive in there is no one there. Yet when they enter the building, there is a hole in the wall. Through that hole there are two people visible, sitting on a ledge, a lady in black pants, and a person in blue, obvious production crew. Edit

  • Notes

    ADD NOTES
    • The little gray aliens that run past Scully in the mine were played by eight and nine-year-old children. Edit
    • The crew was unable to use a real white buffalo calf. Instead they opted to shoot a very light-colored calf and bleached it in postproduction. Edit
    • Dedication: "In Memoriam. Mario Mark Kennedy, 1966-1995" Kennedy was a major fan of the show who organised many on-line sessions on the Internet. He died in a car accident shortly before the 3rd season premiered. Edit

  • Quotes

    ADD QUOTES
    • Byers: ... Victor Klemper certainly takes the prize for the most evil Nazi to escape the Nuremberg trials. Scully: What did he do? Langly: Experimented on the Jews. Drowned them, suffocated them, put them in pressure champers. All in the name of 'science'. Edit
    • Cigarette Smoking Man: There was a mistake. It will be rectified. Older Man: By whom?! By whom will this be rectified? Your ridiculously ineffectual assassins? Cigarette Smoking Man: These men are professionals. Older Man: This is not a profession for men who make mistakes. My God, you expect us to believe you can fix any problem with enough bullets? Edit
    • Cigarette Smoking Man: You wanna work a deal? Is that what this is? Let me tell you something, I don't work deals. Skinner:I just thought you should know of certain potentialities. Cigarette Smoking Man: Do you have the tape? Skinner: As I said, I may have located it. Cigarette Smoking Man: Do you have the damn tape!!?! Edit

  • Allusions

    ADD ALLUSIONS
    • Title: Paperclip The title is an allusion to Operation Paperclip, a codename under which many German scientists were recruited and secretly brought to the United States during the final days of World War II. The project was authorized by President Harry S. Truman and the majority of the scientists were deployed at several Southern states to work on guided missile technology. Much of its information is still classified. Edit
    • Mathematics Reference: Napier's Constant The mathematical constant e is the base of the natural logarithm. It is occasionally called Euler's number after the Swiss mathematician Leonhard Euler, or Napier's constant in honor of the Scottish mathematician John Napier who introduced logarithms. The first six digits of this irrational number are 2.71828 ... Edit

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