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19 out of 25 people found the following comment useful :- Believe To Understand, 30 May 2007 Author: Muldernsanta from Washington Terrace, Utah
*** This comment may contain spoilers ***
So it all comes down to this: The reason behind Mulder's persistence and motivation of investigating the x-files is resolved; the search for his sister Samantha. This episode is so well-crafted by the writers to show Mulder's determination to learn the truth once and for all. It's surprising to hear him say that he wishes he had found her body, just so it can be over. The search for his sister has taken such an emotional toll on Mulder as well as a physical toll, resulting in the deaths of his father and Scully's sister. He is ready to have it done with, even if it means his sister is dead. The scene from "Planet of the Apes" shown on Mulder's TV is very relevant when Taylor is told by Dr Zaius that he may not like what he finds. Mulder flips flop back and forth during the episode, believing Samantha to be dead, then alive. But at the end, when he has come to the end of the road, he accepts her fate of being dead, and it brings him inner peace. Scully asks how he is and he says, "I'm fine. I'm free". I admit, I do not like the resolution that Mulder's sister has been dead this entire time. I so wanted him to be able to find her alive. But I accept it. It makes our hero all the more tragic. Duchovny's acting is again superb as he makes peace with his demons. How the show goes from here with two main story arcs resolved, is a matter of differing opinion, but it is a great relief to see Mulder finally get the answer that he's been seeking for most of his life and obtain closure.
22 out of 31 people found the following comment useful :- Great closure, 9 January 2007 Author: kahurley from United States
I believe this to be one of the most powerful episodes in the series. The disappearance of Mulder's sister has without question been an underlying theme, and at some point Chris Carter would have to explain what exactly happened. This occurs at the end of the episode. I have a feeling since they were planning on having Mulder abducted at the end of this season, it was a good idea to wrap up what happened with Samantha.What makes "Closure" so powerful is that it is a true X-Files episode in every sense. There is absolutely no humor involved at all. The first 3 seasons went mostly without humor, then as the characters developed in later seasons we began to see a lighter side to them. The Moby song at the beginning and at the end with a slow action on the "ghosts" was very good. In the end, Mulder has his closure and makes his peace with what happened to Samantha. I think that fans having watched the series from the very beginning will enjoy this pivotal ending point to a question that has been asked since Season 1. I found the episode and its ending moving and appropriate.
11 out of 13 people found the following comment useful :- I'm fine. I'm free., 29 April 2008 Author: Sanpaco13 from Sandy, UT, United States
While reading through some of the other user comments here it is evident that some people really didn't get this episode. I hope I can help explain my take on it in a way that might satisfy some of their dislikes. One in particular says that "Carter fails to explain why Samantha was taken, why the cigar-smoking man wants to move her somewhere else, or how she disappeared or whom she was disappeared by. Instead he just rolls back all the previous insinuations and makes a nonsense out of the whole thing." I hope you'll forgive me but this comment suggests to me that you aren't very bright. In the very review this is taken from the author talks about how everything about Samantha was already explained in Season 5 other than what ultimately became of her. That is all this episode is driving at. Helping us the audience and Mulder understand what happened to his sister. We already know that she was "abducted" to be a pawn in the alien hybridization plot. Do they really need to bring that all up again? This episodes tells us that she was taken and was living with CGB Spender and his family for a time as they performed tests on her like an old suitcase that they just dragged around and opened up whenever they felt like it. She finally couldn't stand anymore and she ran away. On the night she was to be taken back to the tests, she joined the other old souls in the starlight to avoid a particularly unpleasant future and demise. Frankly, if you had said you just didn't like this explanation then that would be fine, everyone is entitled to opinion. But saying it is inconsistent with the mythology and "nonsense" is itself utter nonsense. Personally, while the arc ends completely different than I had ever imagined, I found it to be a fine way to end it given they were pressured into tying off loose ends. Chris knew that some wouldn't be satisfied with this ending and would continue wanting to search for answers or would adamantly declare "I don't believe you!" For this reason he wrote the character of Harold Pillar. I give the episode a 10 out of 10.
2 out of 4 people found the following comment useful :- Season spanning conclusion to what happened to Samantha., 29 June 2009 Author: lhawker-2 from New Zealand
*** May contain spoilers *** I agree with Sanpaco13. This episode deals with WHAT BECAME of Samantha, as an earlier season had already established that Samantha had been abducted i.e. family members of the Syndicate (including Mulders father Bill) each nominated family members to survive the alien colonisation (this is what others refer to as being 'a pawn in the hybridisation plan').Basically, after Samantha had run away from Smoking Mans home (post abduction) on the base, she ended up in hospital. She was taken into the 'starlight' by spirits to spare her the fate of continued experimentation.The the episode also fleshed out some of Smoking Man and (his son) Agent Spenders early history.Very emotive music from an awesome track by Moby ("My Weakness" from his album 'Play'), it certainly helped bring the season-spanning story arc to an emotional close.I know this is being written almost 10 years after the episode aired and when I first watched it, but I've just seen it again on TV and felt compelled to look for other peoples understanding of what happened, and it's probably why your reading this now.
7 out of 17 people found the following comment useful :- Incongruous, 20 January 2008 Author: junaidalam1 from United States
This episode is utterly nonsensical.The broader context is that Carter essentially wrapped up the underlying mythology of the X-Files series in Season 5 with 'Two Sons' and 'One Father,' following the movie itself.According to that narrative, hinted at in earlier episodes, Samantha, Mulder's sister, was used as a pawn in the alien hybridization experiments The Syndicate conducted as it collaborated with the aliens.But unlike all the other underlying storyline points, the fate of Mulder's sister was not completely, openly depicted as resolved in 'Two Sons' and 'One Father' - likely because Carter realized the show would be giving up its entire emotional impact if 100 percent of the mythology was resolved.So here he returns to the matter, but bereft of all its previous hints, context and narrative. Sentimental music and fuzzy visuals are employed to elicit an emotional reaction, and the abduction, syndicate, and hybridization references go by the wayside as if they never happened.Instead, we are treated to some nonsensical, secular-mystical bromides about what it means to die and take away innocence.Carter fails to explain why Samantha was taken, why the cigar-smoking man wants to move her somewhere else, or how she disappeared or whom she was disappeared by. Instead he just rolls back all the previous insinuations and makes a nonsense out of the whole thing.
34 out of 75 people found the following comment useful :- Cleaning Out Old Plot Devices, 24 October 2006 Author: (andyetris@yahoo.com) from Philadelphia, PA
Part two of two. In the previous episode FBI agents Mulder and Scully tracked down a serial killer and in the process discovered possible leads to the disappearance of Mulder's sister Samantha, which was originally thought to be an alien abduction. We also were told of beings that lived in the starlight, pre-kidnapping children to preserve them from greater harm. In this episode Mulder is approached by Harold Pillar, a man who became psychic when his son disappeared. Pillar - or is it his lost boy? - leads Mulder to a place where his questions can finally be left unanswered.It seems like Chris Carter painted himself into a corner back in season 5 (or with the movie?) and in season 6 the alien-invasion "mthology" was essentially flushed. In severing the loose strings it was revealed that Samantha's "alien abduction" was a cover-up in which Mulder's father allowed her to become part of the alien-human hybridization plot. In an effort to finally flush Samantha, this episode gives us a new twist on the issue, and as usual it doesn't really jive with previous info.I thought the mysticism was murky and the sentimentality of the ending HOPELESSLY inappropriate. I guess we needed a whole episode to say our goodbyes to Samantha, who was once such an important plot device. However I can't help but see this episode as doing little more than burying a piece of the soul of the X-Files - perhaps one that died a season earlier.
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