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10 out of 10 people found the following review useful: I don't know what is the truth and what isn't anymore., 29 April 2008 Author: Sanpaco13 from Sandy, UT, United States
*** This review may contain spoilers ***
Sein und Zeit is German for Being and Time, a philosophical work by Martin Heidegger. Being and Time was originally intended to consist of two major Parts, each Part consisting of three Divisions. Heidegger was forced to prepare the book for publication when he had completed only the first two Divisions of Part One. Some have argued that there are indications that the second division of Being and Time shows some signs of haste.Possibly naming this episode after an uncompleted and hastened work of genius was a way of saying that there was supposed to be a lot more to the story of Samantha's abduction but the story was forced to a "closure" prematurely. Whether this is a true interpretation or not doesn't really matter to me since I really thought they did a great job with what they had. The episode begins with two parents and their child Amber Lynn settling down for the night. The father while watching television hears a noise and gets up to check on his family. Yes the show he is watching is the Pilot for Harsh Realm and yes I think Chris Carter was blatantly trying to plug that show here although I don't know why seeing as it wasn't even on anymore I don't think. Anyway, the father goes to check on his daughter as the mother is writing a cryptic ransom note. The father sees his daughter dead and then alive again. As soon as he leaves the door is slammed shut and when he breaks it down to get back in Amber is gone. Do you think using the name Amber was a coincidence? Do you think they put out an Amber Alert? Mulder wants on the case for obvious reasons and chases explanation about walk-ins. He finds similar disappearances and believes he is close to finding Amber when he learns of his Mother's "suicide". Again one of those debates that will never really be resolved. Trying to deal now with the death of his mother and her trying to send him a message about his sister, Mulder realizes that he is way too emotionally involved and asks to be taken off the case. On the way to the airport however Scully cracks the case and they are led to the arrest of Santa Claus and discovery of many child graves.On the subject of walk-ins: a walk-in is an old soul looking for a new body according to the theory. This theory however is loosely based on actual Hindu theology that "each person is comprised of several bodies, including the physical, astral, mental, refined, and so on. The only essence that is not a body, and therefore not transferable, is the Atman. So according to this belief system, a walk-in, as described in the book Merging with Siva by Sivaya Subramuniyaswami, can take one or many of these bodies." The way I see it, either of these theories fit. The episode seems to follow the former theory however, it never quite explains what happens to the physical bodies which seems to fit the latter theory. Whatever it is, the fact is that the victims were all taken before their time in order to protect them from violent deaths. It is not quite certain exactly how these people are chosen. I do like the explanation however since it is comforting to think of someone you love being in a safe and better place. That is really what anyone who suffers loss needs. I won't say it all here since we still have Closure to talk about these things some more so I'll wrap it up here by saying that the episode gets a 9 out of 10. It loses a point simply for the somewhat inconsistent walk-in theory.
13 out of 16 people found the following review useful: No One Shoots At Santa Claus, 29 May 2007 Author: Muldernscully from Washington Terrace, Utah
Sein Und Zeit begins the story that will finally reveal the truth to us about the abduction of Mulder's sister, Samantha. It feels like the writers and producers of the show were trying to wrap the main story lines up, maybe in anticipation of the series ending. In season six, the syndicate is all killed by the faceless rebels, and in this two-parter the story of Mulder's sister is wrapped up. These two story lines were the impetus for Mulder's quest. After 'Closure', the show heads in a different direction. An odd thing I noticed in the beginning of the episode is that Mrs. LaPierre has a Hollywood video in her dresser drawer. That has got to be overdue! She'll surely forget to return it if it's left in there. I found it disturbing that FBI agents had a pool going on whether or not Amber LaPierre was dead. How sick. A moment of cinematography I liked is when the TV at Ed Truelove's place is on the news. The camera closes in on the TV and when it pulls out, we are at the FBI watching the same thing, no longer in Truelove's place. David Duchovny's acting is so strong in these episodes about his sister. It is second to none. It's quite interesting that it is Scully that discovers the "74" clue to find Santa's North Pole Village, and not Mulder. Finally, X-Files characters are normally named after friends and families of the writers of the episodes and don't carry any significance. The character Ed Truelove, however, does bear significance as his name is an oxymoron, meaning he believes he has true love for these little girls he kidnaps, while in reality it is nowhere near true love. The ending scene of the unmarked graves is poignant as we are left wondering if maybe Mulder's sister is buried here. Sein Und Zeit is a poignant episode with excellent acting by David Duchovny leading up to moment of truth about his sister in 'Closure'.
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