#teliko

What Scully fears in Irresistible is a loss of autonomy, a loss of safety. It’s her body being unable to protect her, her sense of security being ripped away from under her and placing her in danger yet again, maybe for months, having who-knows-what done to her. It’s her abduction all over again, her strong façade crumbling, not only her body failing her, but her image as well.

When Mulder saves her, he hugs her and uses his body as a shield between her and Pfaster’s house, as if to say this is a space where nothing will take away your safety. If your body cannot protect you, mine will, and I will stay here until you can protect yourself again. He doesn’t say much to her, but it seems to all be variations on “it’s okay.” There’s a double meaning. There’s the it’s okay, you’re safe variation, which speaks to Scully’s fears of safety and normalcy suddenly becoming danger, but he’s also telling her that it’s okay to cry, okay to be scared, okay to allow her walls to crumble because he will keep her safe until she puts them back up, and he will never judge her or think less of her for it.

She can be terrified with him, and he will stand between her and anything that can come for her in the night, and there’s nothing she could say or do that would make him leave.

Teliko is not nearly as good an episode, but (as you might imagine if you’ve followed this blog for more than 2 seconds) I absolutely adored the climax. Mulder here has lost all of his ability to do anything. He’s literally paralyzed (and it’s actually pretty scary). He doesn’t fear losing power in the way that Scully does, probably because the show hasn’t made a thing out of it, but what he fears is being left alone. He fears being powerless and having those he loves suffer because of it. He’s scared that if something happens to him, everyone he cares for will be snatched away and he’ll never see them again. You know, Samantha trauma.

And because he’s got such a guilt complex, I’m willing to bet that a small part of him is scared that he’ll be left by Scully, or his family, or whoever, once he slips up, once he can’t be the protector anymore, because at that point, isn’t being left to die what he deserves?

So we’ve got all these fears at play as he’s being literally paralyzed and dragged into the vents, and what does Scully say to him when she finds him?

It’s okay, Mulder. I’m here.

Because no matter what happens to him, even if he can’t move or speak or do anything to protect her, she isn’t going anywhere. That’s not why she stays. She’s going to stay no matter how bad things get, no matter the danger or the cost. She will walk with him in his darkest moments.

And in this moment when he’s probably scared out of his mind, she follows him into the darkness and reminds him that he isn’t alone.

These two episodes just have such a lovely contrast and I think it shows how well Scully and Mulder understand each other, and what each of them can give the other in some of their most vulnerable moments. There are differences, yes, but also similarities. When it all boils down to it, I think all they both really need is a reassurance that the other will always stay.