"I'm sorry, but I'm just winging it here."

For all the writer's talk about telling scary stories the X-Files rarely 
scares me. I've always just viewed it as a character drama that happens to 
have the paranormal as a backdrop. I've often found it tense, sometimes 
unsettling, but scary? Hardly ever. "Roadrunners" scared me. Maybe it's 
because I've always found stories that center around being trapped amongst a 
group of people who are off-kilter creepy. Maybe it was that shot of the 
bloody bus driver walking purposely towards a screaming Scully with a fat 
ugly slug after just having bashed in someone's head. Maybe it was just the 
way Milsap stood on his front porch and eerily waited for Scully to come back 
and take a room. Maybe it was the emergency slugendectimy on the bus. Or 
maybe I just got scared that Vince Gilligan of all people would freaking 
forget Scully has a tattoo, or even a large scar from a bullet wound *he* 
gave her in "Tithonus." It was probably a combination of all that, but if 
they want to tell scary stories on the X-Files this season then in my book 
this episode succeeded at that.

There's been a lot of talk since "Requiem" about Scully's pregnancy and how 
it will effect the show. I'm convinced at this point that the writing staff 
can't win. If Scully just sat in the office and never went out in the field 
(which on the X-Files is inherently dangerous) people would complain that 
1013 had turned her into the "little lady" and if Scully does go out in the 
field there are complaints that she is endangering her child. For my money, 
I'd rather have her working because at some point that will have to end or be 
scaled back. Vince Gilligan did manage to weave the pregnancy into this one 
not only with Scully screaming out her condition to try to avoid becoming 
sluggish but also in a more disturbing manner with her having that creature 
put inside her. Thank God Doggett was there for the slug-section.

I'm a bit torn about the way Scully came off in this episode. I like the fact 
that be it hormones or whatever Snarky!Scully was not fooled by these people 
from the start. She let them know in no uncertain terms she knew something 
was going on. I liked the picture of her propped up in that bed, chair 
against the door, gun at the ready. However, even though Scully has certainly 
been portrayed as compassionate in the past, having an FBI agent give her gun 
to someone she doesn't really know was not the smartest move Gilligan could 
have made character wise. Sure she says "you had me convinced" (maybe Scully 
thinks everyone lies bad because she does), but still I wish Gilligan had 
found another way to move things forward. I'm also never thrilled with the 
sort of victimization of Scully we see in "Roadrunners", but I think some of 
the problems I had were from the choices that first time X-Files director Rod 
Hardy made in the way he shot the Scully tied to the bed scene.

Actually, the choice to give up her gun is not the only questionable one 
Scully makes in "Roadrunners". The first is to pull a classic Mulder and 
decide that she can be Dana Scully monster hunter all by her lonesome. She 
only calls Doggett at all because she needs his help. She's obviously not 
very good at ditching as she looks guilty and is only able to weakly offer up 
that it was a "simple consultation" and she did not want to bother him, but 
could he now pretty please search for "glycoproteins". Oopsie, that's one of 
those big words she can use around Mulder and we know Doggett doesn't handle 
them so well so better rephrase that as "mucus". Having him look through all 
the files did remind me of "Folie aux Deux" and Mulder's similar request for 
her to find "hiding in the light" and we know how much she enjoyed that task. 
 Doggett, while not thrilled at being ditched does manage to crack "I don't 
have a great memory for mucus, but I'd be happy to look." Apparently it takes 
Doggett a full day to find the information but you can bet he sure as hell 
knows those files now. What I'd like to really know is what prompted Scully 
to go on this investigation alone taking pictures in the middle of nowhere, 
but we never learn that. Instead we just see her chastised for her actions at 
the end. 

The last scene complete with the chastising bothered me in a couple of ways. 
For all the ditching that has gone on over the years in the X-Files, Scully 
is the only one that is made to feel bad for having done so. It makes it seem 
like her experience was punishment for having "screwed up". Personally, I 
find it in character to have Scully apologize for doing it in the first place 
and I like the fact that Doggett says to her what he feels about it, but I 
think it was the promise to never do it again that went beyond what we needed 
to see. I suppose that promise along with Doggett voicing his appreciation 
was meant to further solidify this prickly relationship, but I thought that 
point was pushed harder than it needed to be. Especially after we had just 
seen Doggett saving Scully.

Gillian Anderson is given a lot to do in "Roadrunners" as she's in 
practically every scene. I especially thought she brought the terror home as 
Scully sees someone murdered to those cries of "amen" and then realizes to 
her horror that she's next, screaming to protect her unborn child. I liked 
the indignation with which she spat out "Him? That thing in my spine is a 
him?" And she proves Scully's toughness as sans anesthesia she yells for 
Doggett to "Cut it out of me now" - we can only hope that he got out the slug 
and left in that chip that I'm sure was forgotten along with the tattoo. 
Actually, that whole scene on the bus I found incredibly tense. Even though I 
knew Scully logically had to be saved it got my adrenaline going watching it. 
Well done. The most irritating thing I can think to say about Robert Patrick 
is that in a season where I thought I could just concentrate on watching 
Gillian Anderson act he's forcing me to watch him on the screen. He's very 
good at letting us know so much is brewing right under the surface. I'm 
really enjoying watching him work.

As far as the supporting performances go, I found Lawrence Pressman as Mr. 
Milsap to be particularly good as he gave me the willies every time he was 
onscreen. I also though William O'Leary was great at playing dumb as the gas 
station man.

>From a technical standpoint, kudos to Production Designer Corey Kaplan and 
the gang for doing such a great job of creating that town. The walls full of 
cracks and general disrepair really added to the feel. Everything needed a 
coat of paint because we could see the rotting infrastructure. Nice touch. 
Even the old rotary phone was perfect. Makeup wise I'm not sure they could 
have made those holes in the back look any grosser. I have no idea why with a 
hole that large they did not bleed more. I clip a nail wrong on my toe and I 
see more blood than the slugster made going in. There was also an odd makeup 
moment when Doggett carries Scully into the bus - I suppose the mark on her 
back is supposed to represent the shadow of the bulge the creature makes, but 
it looks like a purple scar.

I also noticed a few editing flubs in the way this episode was put together. 
The editor for this one is Chris Willingham (it seems like there is now a 
husband and wife editing team at 1013 as he joins Lynne Willingham). The 
first mistake occurs after Scully hotwires her phone and you can see her set 
it down twice. The second is at the end where after Doggett makes that huge 
cut into Scully's back it is not visible the very next shot and then it 
reappears. However, I think the worst technical choice was the decision to 
loop in that terrible moan during the scene where Scully is on the bed that 
does not even sound like Gillian Anderson. A few times you can actually hear 
Gillian, but what was up with the rest of it? It has me convinced that for 
some reason they chose to add it in post-production and decided that any old 
moan would do. It was unnecessary and weird and made the whole scene over the 
top. All it served to do is make the audience think that when Scully does 
actually give birth she better sign up for the serious drugs ahead of time.

Writer Vince Gilligan has been a fan favorite for a long time, and while this 
outing was certainly not his best it still made for an interesting episode. I 
just wish that it had been tighter. If the plot is going to be about a 
Jesus!Slug, then I wish that we'd been privy to why the townsfolk thought 
that this mutant slug was the second coming. Where the heck did that thing 
come from and when did someone say "I know, we'll shove it in your back!"? As 
usual with a Gilligan episode the "monster" is really the people, but were 
those people really wrong? Certainly sluggo was not the second coming, but it 
did appear to take people over and control their demeanor. That's some sort 
of weird intelligence and it's dropped without investigation. I could have 
even used a typed field report about how Doggett's shooting it had destroyed 
it too much for further investigation. Something. Anything. Scully is a 
scientist after all. Like I've said this episode scared me. It had some good 
moments to it. Gillian did some good work. I just can't help but think how 
much better it could have been were Vince at the top of his form.

Random Musings
-----------------------

-I can't quite figure out why in the world there would be a bus stop just 
north of Sugarville in the middle of nowhere Utah. And why someone would even 
be expecting a bus to come by at 12:36AM. It certainly is not on the way to 
Fort Collins. I do know that much.

-Plus what was up with that checking for change, etc. with the phone when we 
find out later that the guy had obviously just made a call from the booth to 
his sister? Personally, I think it was an actor just looking for something to 
do and a director not stopping it.

-We've always heard the saying there is no free ride. Our friendly hitchhiker 
thought there was because he certainly did not pay after chewing out the bus 
driver. I guess he paid in the end.

-The episode title comes form the name of the bus company that services the 
desolation just north of Sugarville Utah. The sign reads "ROADRUNNER BUS 
LINES". I bet they're profitable with all that business they must get.

-Scully obviously thinks it is odd to see a bus in this locale since she 
becomes immediately fixated on that bus. It couldn't be just a bus driving 
by. She with her new found Mulder!Leaping skills or her old time 
Psychic!Scully sense knows it is important and tries to track that thing down.

-You know, just why was that bus out joyriding around that day? Did someone 
decide to head on into town to pick up some more Karo syrup? Or were they 
just down to the pet store for some slug food and maybe a nice slug habitrail 
for next time it was between spines?

-Mulder must have done a hell of a job restoring those files after that fire 
for Doggett to find all those occurrences over the years in the Southwest.

-That Gas Station dude really lives the high life. He's got a thriving 
business specializing in ice, trashed cars, and hubcaps. He apparently takes 
a shower every 3 weeks whether he needs it or not. (Probably just uses the 
old water can out back). He's got a dirty old rag to take care of any 
injuries. He's got a skanky couch to sit on outside and pass the day. And 
best of all he's got Jesus!Slug in his heart. Don't get much better than that.

-Frank's Fashion Spot: Well, at least she wore a white bra. That little 
number must be her official desert tank top. Which really is great for when 
you need to yell "I'm a Federal Agent at this moment my breasts are about to 
pop out of my tight, low-cut tank top. Um. I mean at this moment the FBI is 
searching for me." Now I just think about the old story of the FOX network 
execs wondering if Gillian would look good in a swimsuit and laugh.

-You know for all the jokes about Scully and unbuttoned clothes I found it 
amusing that as soon as Doggett gets out of the car he's buttoning up his 
jacket. Also while all hell is breaking loose on the bus and Scully's got a 
huge slug in her he takes the time to remove his jacket before crawling 
around under the steering column. Wouldn't want to muss it. He'll learn about 
X-Files dry-cleaning bills soon enough.

-It's the little things that count - a small moment played perfectly was when 
Scully's car suddenly conks out on her. We've all been in that situation at 
some point and a confused "okay" just about sums it up.

-Another nice touch was that you could actually see the gun bulge in Scully's 
back when she was at the gas station wanting to use a phone.

-Our Little Sailor: Vince does like to make our girl swear. This one may set 
an all time record. We have the "damn" for no service on the cell to get 
things rolling. She then tosses out a "what the hell's going on here" to 
Milsap as she warms up. And then the gloves are off. "I'm going to try and 
get us the hell out of here" quickly leads to "You son of a bitch" and "I'm 
going to get every last one of you bastards". We cap off the evening's 
swearing with a simple "get me the hell out of here."

-I can't help but wonder if part of the reason that Scully was picked for 
this little adventure was the fact that she was wearing a cross. That's 
another thing Gilligan could have played with if he'd wanted to add some 
depth.

-You know I suppose I should consider it a nod to the fact that she was 
carrying a child, but the little protective gesture to the stomach as Milsap 
tells Scully it is a long walk back to the road just didn't ring true to me.

-I really liked the use of a continuous shot that moves from Scully cocking 
her gun and propping herself up for a long night to the windows where we see 
the townsfolk gathering with lanterns.
Plus, it led up to the cool sequence of Scully grabbing her gun with 
lightening speed when she hears a noise outside her door even before her eyes 
open. Now that's a quick draw. 

-Wow, I guess there always was room in that office for another desk. Who knew?

-They can't remember things like a character getting a tattoo, but I suppose 
1013 thinks it has just made continuity points by having Doggett call "Danny" 
for assistance.

-Manly Man Meter: You're probably sitting out there thinking he's finally 
done it - Doggett has to have scored a perfect 10 this time. I mean he tracks 
Scully down, smacks her captor, carries her around, tries to hot wire a bus, 
cuts a giant slug out of her and shoots it dead, and even gets after her for 
screwing up. However, you're forgetting one thing now aren't you? Just what 
was Doggett looking at to figure out Milsap had a gun in his pocket? Hmm? I'm 
afraid that will keep him from a perfect 10 on the scrotum scoreboard. This 
week's score - 9.

-I found it pretty entertaining to watch MacGyver!Scully trying to boost her 
cell signal by attaching wires to the antenna. 

-So Scully notices this huge gaping hole on a guy's back and her first 
instinct is to squeeze it? Is that proper medical procedure along with 
shoving a pocket leatherman in it? Thank God Scully's bottomless pockets that 
held that tool are apparently sterile as well.
 
-How long does it take this slug to get to your brain? If it already was in 
the brain of the hitchhiker than what was it doing down by the bottom of his 
back again? Just vacationing? It seemed to be making the trip up to Scully's 
head pretty quickly.

-When Scully says "now this is something that I am completely unfamiliar 
with" I assume she must be referring to big slug creatures as this is 
certainly not the first time she has dealt with parasites in people.

-How odd to see other FBI agents actually saying "good to know you" to 
someone on the X-Files team. Those Salt Lake agents seemed awfully nice. And 
to think Scully could have worked with them...

-"You're going to be so loved" guess slug brain doesn't know about the OBSSE. 
She already is.

Autumn 
"Oh and it rains a lot here does it? Seeing as though it's basically the 
desert."