#one son

Mulder also likely carried some bitterness from the early season when Scully humiliated him in front of the committee after Fight the Future events. And now it happens again but with an audience whose opinion Mulder actually cares about.

I definitely think that that argument (and a lot of their growing tension (negative) through season six) is a direct result of Scully refusing to say "Aliens" at the hearing. In a very real way that refusal lost them the x files, but I think Mulder could've forgiven that if he didn't feel like she was lying to herself about it. I've talked about this before, but the fact that CC put such a strong restriction on both of their abilities to grow or mature in any way that could change the Believer-Skeptic dynamic, outside of just swapping for an episode, means that as the mytharc gets more complex, Scully appears less and less rational. And at the beginning of season six when, despite all of the actual scientific evidence that she witnessed and gathered that indicated at the very least that there existed a previously unknown parasite that killed human hosts, she testifies that it can't be aliens on the basis that the virus has recognizable proteins. This is despite the fact that the whole Gibson Praise thing had her concluding that everyone has dormant ancestral DNA which could be alien in nature (her dismissal also ignores the fact that there's no reason to believe alien life couldn't form out of the same proteins that were successful here, unlike hypothetical unknown alternatives we know those ones work). So I think on that particular grievance, given their ongoing emphasis on mutual trust, respect, and dedication to the cause, Mulder feels like Scully betrayed him and their work by ignoring evidence to avoid an uncomfortable truth, particularly as her conclusion requires her to completely discount his entire eyewitness experience (seeing as she offers No alternative explanation for why he saw what he thought he saw) rather than simply disagreeing with his conclusion as she normally does. And I think the longer they're not on the x files his resentment builds, even as he's trying to get their place back, and Diana is there telling him she believes him and she's trying to find the truth too while he's being barred from the search, which is exactly what he wants to hear. And Mulder, despite what he might like to believe, is quick to trust and easy to trick as a result. He's clearly experiencing some pretty significant depression during their absence from the files and is even more desperate to latch onto anything that gives him hope for his quest, and Diana is oh so willing to provide just that.

As to the Lone Gunmen, I hadn't considered how their part in that fight might've influenced Mulder's decision to lash out that way, but I think you're right. Specifically, I think it creates yet another breach in their trust when she asks them to look into Diana. By One Son Mulder has become increasingly agitated and paranoid, and Scully conspiring with the Gunmen to go behind his back to investigate one of the only other people on his trust list feels like betrayal from multiple fronts and he goes on the defensive as a result. And given the way that he immediately goes to check and see if Diana really is sketch, it's not that he doesn't care about their concerns, but in the moment especially, he cared more about the implication that his judgement was questionable than his actual attachment to Diana's trustworthiness. And maybe that's another reason he went with the "personal" accusation, because if Scully's motivation was jealousy, then Mulder's professional assessment of the situation wasn't under fire. Which would be one hell of a deflection, especially because for them, the professional is and has been personal the whole time.

Omg junegoose hiii thanks for stopping by thanks so much for asking this!! One Son is confounding to me and it’s one of the episodes I revisit the most just to wonder “why the hell did Mulder say what he said to her”.

The first point about my interpretation of season 6 is that I firmly believe that Mulder is clinically depressed during this season. I mean, we’ve seen him sad before, but this is the first time we see that Mulder is truly apathetic. We know that Mulder cares for Scully, of course he does, but sometimes within season 6 it seems to me that he can’t muster the feeling to care. I have years like that, Mulder, believe you me. Someone get this guy an ssri stat.

The fabulous @dabeth-is-dead has suggested that Mulder said that “you’re making this personal” to Scully because he knew that it was the most hurtful thing that he could say, an interpretation I agree with more and more the more that I think about it. There are two aspects to my personal opinion: 1) that he meant that in intent genuinely and 2) that he was trying to provoke a reaction out of Scully to satisfy his own feeling.

We know that Mulder and Scully play roles for each other. Whenever they feel like their relationship is tenuous, they fall back onto the roles that they established for themselves and latch onto them. We see Scully struggle with this in season 8; I think this is why Mulder is so doubtful whenever Scully chooses to land on the “believer” side. I believe that Mulder acts as the skeptic for Scully and for her safety— Scully’s typical point of view might be her inclination, but the only time she really tries to convince him to see her side is when she believes that his actions may endanger him and them. Mulder may genuinely have doubts, but the reason that he’s so emphatic about them when he does is that he’s trying to do for Scully what he feels that she does for him. He just can’t manage a light touch and his doubt bleeds in, and he comes off as a total asshole. He is right that whenever Scully comes to him about a case with something unsubstantiated that it means Scully is feeling personally affected by it. MS can agree and disagree on what is substantiated evidence in the case of One Son, but that fact is true. Does that excuse the manner in which he refuted her in this episode? No! He was a total asshole for no reason!

This is the first season where we see Mulder genuinely hurt by Scully’s doubt, and this has less to do with Scully herself than Mulder grasping at air as he tries to justify his identity that is all wrapped up in his work, which he doesn’t have. After all his and Scully’s efforts over the last 5 years they have nothing to show for it. He cannot rationalize a justification for his efforts, but more importantly, he cannot justify Scully’s efforts and injuries. Vis a vis Fight the Future, he believes he is tearing Scully’s life apart piece by piece with nothing to show for it. (Scully, of course, has a different opinion.) Pair that with total dissatisfaction with the state of his life and a chronic case of guilt and you get a man who feels like his life has very little meaning. Hence, Mulder’s agreeableness to throw in the towel and his desperation to get Scully to the airbase to save her.

I think that part of the reason why Mulder was so moody in this episode was in order to provoke a reaction out of Scully. We have seen Mulder act rashly with little regard for his wellbeing or lash out when he feels that his life/work/identity is threatened. I believe, as an extension of this line of being, Mulder begins to lash out at Scully to provoke a reaction out of her. Take the bath scene for example. He mocks her and says “No, you actually hide your feelings very well.” Again an asshole thing to say, but this tells me that Mulder isn’t mad at Scully for disagreeing with him about Diana (though he in fact is), he is mad at her for not sharing her feelings with him. His entitlement to her feelings is another can of worms, but at this point, I understand his frustration, as Scully is not the best at sharing although she tries.

After Fight the Future, their relationship went back to the status quo. They made no mention of it again. From there, I would understand why Mulder is angry with her. He blames both her and himself for lack of any progress professionally and personally. If he’s an asshole, maybe they’ll get some movement from it, and if he doesn’t and if he makes her feel the way that he does, then at least they’re on the same page. Do I think that he’s aware of this motivation, or that he thought ahead of his own hurt in TLG’s office? Not really, unfortunately. Meanwhile, Scully is trying her hardest to reach him from where she is able. It’s just a clusterfuck. They really need to work on their communication skills.

There are better write up’s of this here and here and also here

We’re in Love by boygenius / The End, 5x20 / Paper Clip, 3x02 / One Son, 6x12 / The Field where I died, 4x05