I can’t. I can’t.
Today’s video (commissioned by Nora) is located here, and you can find all of my Mark Watches in this Dropbox folder.
Now, back to being unable to can.
- Five different people tried to commission this episode from me. I am not exaggerating. Once folks had seen that I was willing to watch this show and write about it, I got five different commissions all asking for this episode WITHIN 24 HOURS. Whenever I start a show, there’s always a small handful of episodes that people clamor to claim. Usually, I forget what those are because they get lost amidst the many interactions, conversations, and commissions. This time, I knew this was going to be something special.
- Ha.
- IF ONLY I KNEW.
- So, I have a storytelling trope/device that I love so much I will watch most anything in order to see it pulled off well. I am obsessed with closed room scenarios. I love when fiction takes place in a single room that the characters cannot leave. Like, I will excuse the most basic errors in writing or characterization in order to read or watch a story that uses this. I love “Midnight” in the fourth series of Doctor Who. I DO. There’s a British thriller called Exam that I want to marry because IT’S SO GREAT AND SATISFYING. And because I can’t go a week without making a reference to The X-Files, I adore “Ice” and “Quagmire.” (Which, yes, doesn’t take place in a closed room but has an extended sequence where Mulder and Scully are stuck on a rock in a lake.) Wait, I suppose I need to mention The Thing, since “Ice” is just a giant homage to it anyway.
- OKAY, SO THAT IS WHY THIS EPISODE IS ALREADY A WINNER BEFORE I’D EVEN EXPERIENCED MORE THAN 5 MINUTES OF IT.
- Oh my god. OH MY GOD.
- Look, I had no idea if Hodgins would survive this, and as soon as he declared his love for Angela, I expected him COMPLETELY DOOMED. So this episode was GENUINELY TERRIFYING TO ME. I have mild claustrophobia, so this is a goddamn nightmare to me.
- I also need to say that Emily Deschanel and T.J. Thyne give such convincing performances here. DID THIS EPISODE WIN ANY EMMYS OR ANYTHING.
- Hey, so… people ship Booth and Brennan, right? Because for a couple of platonic friends, this episode is kind of SUPER ROMANTIC, isn’t it? Look what Booth does in order to find Brennan! I dunno, IT SEEMS PRETTY ROMANTIC TO ME.
- Of course, that doesn’t upstage Hodgins/Angela, which is so goddamn beautiful.
- I am also way into the fact that THIS EPISODE DOESN’T REVEAL WHO THE KILLER IS! That’s amazing to me! It really drives home the point that this wasn’t about bringing a murderer to justice. The Gravedigger got away, and “Aliens in a Spaceship” is a story about what the team will do to save the people they love.
- It’s also really fucking scary.
- Y’ALL, THIS EPISODE FREAKED ME OUT.
- I know that the show isn’t “Aliens in a Spaceship” all the time, but lord, when this show is good, it’s fucking great.
Oh god, “Judas on a Pole” is tomorrow H E L P.
