Dear journal,
It's hard for me to say that any show other than The X-Files is my favorite. It aired at the perfect time for a young Dave to get invested early. When it originally showed on Friday nights, my dad would tape it so we could watch it since we never missed a Carthage Tiger football game. When it switched to Sunday nights, we would watch it out at my grandpa's when we all got together for dinner and games. Over the years, a lot of episodes stuck out: Beyond the Sea, Duane Barry, Jose Chung's From Outer Space, Home, Memento Mori, The Post-Modern Prometheus, and Bad Blood just to name a few. This past week, one episode has been playing in my mind over and over again, Season 4 Episode 5 The Field Where I Died. The basic gist of the episode is that while investigating a militant cult, Mulder and Scully come across a member who Mulder believes is manifesting her past lives. Typical X-Files shenanigans ensue. Ulitimally, Mulder undergoes regression hypnosis to reveal his own past lives in which it is implied that, "souls come back together, different, but always together." For example, his sister is his daughter in one life. To me, the episode explores a lot of interesting concepts about relationships and the people in our lives: friends and adversaries, those who heal us and those who hurt us, even who we care for. I love the idea of souls coming together time and time again to struggle, to learn, and to love. In the end, Mulder and his literal soulmate are torn apart as the cult commits mass suicide once again separating them across time. The Field Where I Died aired on November 3, 1996 and I have never forgotten it.
Reminiscing,
Dave