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17 out of 20 people found the following comment useful :- Mobylicious, 7 July 2007 Author: Muldernsanta from Washington Terrace, Utah
all things is different. Plain and simple. If you are looking for a standard, creepy, mysterious x-file, you are not going to find it here. Gillian Anderson wrote and directed this episode that shows a side of Scully we haven't seen.I like how Gillian gets the rhythm of the episode going with the dripping water. It sets the tone. The Moby music is different but nice. Mark Snow did a nice job of incorporating it into his score. Three is a significant number in this episode. I don't know why. I know that three is a good karmic number. The first slide shows three crop circles, Waterston's room number is 306. Colleen's house number is 3. Gillian uses a lot of slow motion during the course of the episode, mostly to good effect. I thought the one unnecessary use of slow motion was when Scully was receiving the folder from the nurse. In the episode audio commentary Gillian said that it was hard getting the tapping pencil to be rhythmic. I agree. I like how Scully hides from the daughter behind the magazine. The name of the magazine is Feng Shui Life Magazine. Hmmm. Once she goes into his room, there's this rhythmic pinging sound. I felt it was out of place. When she goes home, the toggle(I got this from the audio commentary as well) is knocking against the wall. The rhythms are nice when they are a natural sound, like the water dripping or the toggle knocking, but that pinging in his room is just out of place. Scully has a Mac with a web cam on the top of it. I never knew Scully was this techno-savvy. Who is she tele-conferencing with from home? Mulder? Gillian's opening shots for scenes start with shots on a specific object then zoom out. As mentioned in her commentary, there are contrasts between the two hospital rooms. #304 is red, brown, warm, and happy. #306 is blue, dark, and sad. Nice use of contrasts. My favorite line of Scully's is when she's saving Waterston's life. "Who's paying attention?!?!?" Taking control. Just like in the movie. After he goes into a coma, it looks like a music video as Scully walks into a D.C. Chinatown. I like how the creaking sign interrupts the music. The scene of the transparent Waterston was weird. Gillian said that her vision in the Buddhist temple was her attempt at adding a paranormal aspect to the episode. Another thing I dislike about the episode is Scully having the guy come in to do the new age/psychic kind of healing of Waterston. It is out of character for her. That's something her sister Melissa would of done, not Scully. Scully's dream sequence is kind of freaky. I like how later the shot transitions from the back of Waterston's head to Scully's head. It's interesting how the pony-tail lady turns into Mulder at the end. However, the jacket and hat that Mulder is wearing are not his color or style. It is out of character for him. Although, I do like his hat "Stone Henge Rocks". Lastly, some additional items from GA's commentary. She had to shorten her script considerably. Her original script made it more obvious that she did not have an affair with Waterston. She broke it off when she found out he was married so that she wouldn't break up his family. However, it was too late. Waterston's wife suspected he had an affair and hung herself. Gruesome. Also, the cardiac arrest scene was originally one shot like in 'Triangle', but GA had to do close-ups to add more drama to the scene. And finally, Gillian says she loves the final scene of the episode. This is a good hour of television. Gillian Anderson does so me interesting camera work that is not standard for the X-Files. The few things that are out of character for Mulder and Scully and the lack of it being a traditional x-file prevents it from being in the top tier of X-Files episodes. all things is not everyone's cup of tea, for sure, but it shows that Gillian Anderson can do more than just act.
13 out of 19 people found the following comment useful :- another side to Scully, 12 February 2007 Author: paltrow389 from United States
Like the above poster, this is far from my favorite episode - either when it aired or watching it again all these years later. Parts of it are way too touchy-feely and smack of pop psychology, and the slo-mo effects are little gimmicky. At times, it feels like a music video (though a nicely done one) with bits of drama and narrative thrown in.But seeing it again, I appreciate that it gives us a different glimpse of Scully. Like many females, I loved Scully's intelligence and determination throughout the series, but in this episode, it was nice to see her passion too, even if it also means she might not be perfect in her choices. Finally, she gets to respond to impulses that aren't governed by logic or science! Preceding X-Files writers (Glen Morgan and James Wong, especially) were instrumental in making Scully her own person, independent of Mulder, but leave it to Gillian Anderson herself to force the question of Scully's life outside of the X-Files.
7 out of 9 people found the following comment useful :- The Sky is Broken, 26 July 2007 Author: Sanpaco13 from Sandy, UT, United States
All things is a very good episode even if it is not so much an X-File. While it is not necessarily my usual choice of entertainment (ie a little too new age-ish) I still enjoy learning about Scully in this episode. They way I see it there's some kind of guardian angel that is causing seemingly random events so that Scully can learn a lesson and realize what she is supposed to be doing with her life. I love that part where the ponytailed girl turns into Mulder and he's wearing the Stone Henge Rocks cap. What a nerd. This also serves as a confirmation for Scully that she is doing the right thing with her life since she is led back to Mulder at the end. Another high point for this episode is the awesome "The Sky is Broken" by Moby. I love that song and I love the scenes where they play it and show Scully walking in slow motion down the street with the flowers dangling at her side. I give this episode an 8/10.
9 out of 13 people found the following comment useful :- Not my favorite, 12 December 2006 Author: aurrora_australis from United States
*** This comment may contain spoilers ***
This episode tries to be very serious, with Scully narrating and trying to figure out why some things happen and other things don't. The whole episode is about how she almost ended up spending her life with some guy. First of all, I find it out of character for Scully to have had an affair with someone who was not only her professor from medical school, but was married! It is hard to swallow, given that she spent 7 years up to that point in a close working relationship with her single, attractive partner, which was never anything more than platonic. I really disliked that aspect of her history, since I think that kind of thing is repugnant. Second of all, the guy was creepy and at least 20 years older than her. They had ZERO chemistry together. Then, equally maddening was the implication that Mulder and Scully slept together for the first time in this episode, which I say did not happen. The episode is shot out of sequence, with Scully getting dressed in the morning and leaving Mulder's apartment in the beginning; in the end, which was the night before, he tucks her to sleep on the sofa and leaves the room. One could speculate all day, but it was there just to tease the shipper fans. Aside from that, it is hard for me to find fault or even to be objective when commenting on any episode of the X Files because I love it so much. I still watched this episode attentively, and I found it to be visually stunning. The Moby music set the mood nicely (as it did in Closure), and I did like the somber narration, and the fact that Gillian wrote and directed this episode. Watching this one makes me sad because it is not long afterward that the fans lose Mulder and have to endure a traumatizing upheaval of the X-Files. Anyway, that's my take on it.
8 out of 12 people found the following comment useful :- This is a great insight into Scully's past and psychological make up, 14 April 2007 Author: Angelo Gomez (angelog@umd.edu) from United States
In my opinion this is one of the best episodes on learning about Scully's life. There are two types of episodes. Those with special effects and UFOs -the signature of the X-Files-, and those where we learn more on the life and psychology of the characters -Molder and Scully. This one falls into the latter category. I love this episode because I can learn about Scully's past. One where she is emotionally involved in a forbidden affair, where she loved passionately. Also, the music used in this episode gives a really special touch as well as the use of images make and camera angles makes it very interesting, in my opinion. Although it is not a typical X File episode,I must admit, and I really enjoy it a lot. I have seen it in several re-runs and I still like it, more and more. Scully's performance is great. She shows a new side of her, one where she displays confusing and contradicting emotions. Psychologically is very interesting, which is the main perspective of the episode. Also as I said before, the song chosen for this episode is great. I bought it on itunes. I like the filmography and the notion of time-splitting that is presented in this episode. In summary, I recommend it, but I warn fans of the X Files to look at this episode with different eyes. In summary, I like it!!!
2 out of 2 people found the following comment useful :- Get ready to be caught off guard..., 3 July 2008 Author: Erin (lotr_freak514) from United States
I was not expecting All Things. Although it hardly seemed like an X-file Gillian Anderson took Scully to a whole new level with this episode. This episodes shows a more unguarded, less scientific view of the character Scully. I thought it was very creative and allowed Scully something she had not been given in the past: flaw. For once it wasn't her medical knowledge being put to the test, or her morals, or her religion, it was her womanhood. And if you're a shipper like I am you will love this episode for a whole other reason, too. *wink*Apart from the character development I thought the episode itself in the way it was written and directed (Love you Gillian) was very creative and very different from the previous X-files styles we had been shown. It threw me for a loop, and I was not disappointed.
2 out of 3 people found the following comment useful :- Scully gets spiritual, possibly., 17 June 2008 Author: n-town-smash from United Kingdom
Scully's past: let's find out about it!Personally, I never cared about or even really picked up on the "will they? won't they?" tension that seemed to have been the hot water-cooler topic since the show began. Was it that hard to imagine that two people of opposite sexes could work together without Stuff Happening?Whatever. "All Things" decides that, rather than continue with the occasional hints at the nature of Mulder and Scully's relationship offered over the last 7 years, we're just going to find out the story of how they first "did it". And we're going find out about it through the medium of some vaguely New Agey stuff, some repetitive tapping, and some guy who may have had an affair with Scully who is dying. As a sort of subplot to get rid of him, Mulder is now apparently really interested in crop circles.There's a little more to it than that, but nevertheless, it's slow, plodding, perplexing fluff for the most part. Scully's spiritual awakening, if that's what it's supposed to be, is just weird, for the same reason that it's weird when she starts believing in aliens in later episodes despite being perfectly capable of ignoring overwhelming evidence and her own senses until then. Gillian Anderson's creative role in this episode is perhaps the source of this, since she seems to be playing herself rather than Scully a lot of the time.The whole point of it seems to be: look out for the moments that change your life, and you might get laid.
4 out of 7 people found the following comment useful :- I Really Liked This Epiisode, Despite Many Reasons Not to, 13 April 2007 Author: loudprincess from United States
Up until last night, I would have sworn that I had watched every last episode of The X-Files. I thought I knew every last bit of trivia, all the funny lines, and all of the critically important shifts Scully and Mulder's characters had taken.LAst night, All Things was on the SciFi channel, and it was almost like I was watching an entirely different series. Suddenly, the forever stoic, consistently skeptical Scully was a home-wrecker, and shaky about her faith in science. Maybe this is the pivotal episode that started all the "I believe in extreme possibilities" rants from Scully later in the series. Maybe this is the one point that I missed over the years, when I watched the episodes out of chronological order, and couldn't understand how Scully began taking over Mulder's mission for herself.At any rate, let's go over the reasons why I shouldn't like this episode. One, Scully, through a weird twist of happenstance, finds that the man she once had an affair with is in the hospital with serious heart problems, and his daughter makes it blatantly obvious that she blames Scully for the emotional devastation the affair caused the family.For as far back as I can remember Scully has always been the one with the high moral barometer in any situation, so it's a little difficult to digest that she would be so judgmental of, say, Skinner in Avatar.Two, Scully learns that this man has spent the last ten years of his life living in D.C., in order to be near her again. How could she have not known about this before? She's an FBI agent, for crying out loud. She has access to all kinds of information an just about anyone she chooses, but she never figures this out before? And he never tried to contact her before? A little unbelievable.Three, at one point, Scully finds herself wandering into a Buddist Temple, and having a big vision of her personal choices and circumstances. Now, remember, this is Scully, who's trademark is a golden cross pendant became a big symbol for her over the years. And God only knows how many times she's talked about her faith in miracles and Catholic mythology. So how can she so easily drop a lifelong faith in Christianity to suddenly be in awe of Taoist mysticism? This leads to the fourth point...Scully, after having this big epiphany, brings in a mystic healer to help her former boyfriend, and then tells him that this ritual may have saved his life. Wh-wh-what?? Seriously? Our Scully???? But now that I've explained why I shouldn't like this episode, I need to explain why I liked it so much.It's beautifully directed, there are great, deep moments of clarity for Scully, that probably had never really been explored before, and, despite my personal love of the fact that she is the moralist of the show, it makes Scully seem more human.There were some moments in the show that made me think I was watching Six Feet Under, and maybe that tone drew me into this installment. Yes, there's liberal use of music, and there's the recurring theme of one of the characters chasing someone who seems to be leading them to a place of significance. However, I do think it adds to the story, rather than being distracting. I'm not a huge fan of Scully or Mulder's voiceovers in episodes, but this one is short, and more to the point.(For those who aren't familiar with X-Files and Gillian Anderson history, there was a HUGE following for Anderson after she recorded an erotic poem underscored by some electronica artist, and I think a lot of the episodes that used Scully in voice-over banked on that end of the fan spectrum.) Sure, it's not typical X-Files, and there are a lot of moments that are hard for X-Files junkies to buy into, but it's a nice diversion from some of the other installments that had become so predictable that you could set your watch for whenever certain moments would happen.
0 out of 2 people found the following comment useful :- Intangible Emotions, 1 April 2009 Author: radioheadrcm from United States
How do we convey profound connection to an 'other'? How can we feel strongly towards spirituality that we don't believe in? Why do we feel obligated towards figures of the distant past? How can a simple situation overwhelm us? All Things deals with one of the most difficult objects to film: intangible emotions. Emotions that go beyond being sad, happy, or confused. Emotions that make you sit down and really think out: "What the hell was I just feeling?" I've read comments about this episode that complain that it isn't an X-File. In the tradition of Ray Bradbury's Martian Chronicles, I ask: Why explore other worlds when there is so much of ourselves left unexplored? How well do we really understand these vague, alien dynamics we feel towards ourselves and others? Gillian Anderson offers a depictions of these difficult emotions through original and deeply artistic direction, paired with masterful acting. On top of that, All Things provides an new and interesting lens through which we can view Scully. She can seem utterly in control of her environments and competent as an individual, yet internally feel lost, confused, and perhaps helpless. Unfortunately, this is a concept that seasons eight and nine failed to follow through with. Instead, we are to settle with just one brief, beautiful glimpse into the potential of Scully's character. All in all, this is one of my favorite X-Files, and certainly the most emotional for me. Submit to Gillian Anderson's artistic vision and she will show you the way.
3 out of 8 people found the following comment useful :- i love one scene in this episode, 22 June 2007 Author: Sandra from United States
there is this moment in the episode when you see such tenderness and longing in Scully -- a memory of a great love and loss... it is when she learns he has been in DC for all this time... i found it so incredibly tender... it so perfectly captured that moment we all have when we remember what was and what might have been... i am still blown away when i see the way she bends forward and touches his hand... the rest of the episode is a blur, just back fill. but that scene to me is priceless and makes this whole episode so utterly great... when you look at the first season (which would mean Scully had just ended the relationship a couple years before), she is young and driven and professional -- it's hard to imagine that she felt such passion and pathos... i wonder if she could only show it with the passage of time and realization of where she is at now...
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