i'd still choose david duchovny any day

Throughout history, there are many relationships, fictional and nonfiction alike, that influence eras, generations and decades. Mork and Mindy, Bonnie and Clyde, Joni and Chachi, Rick and Ilsa, Sam and Annie, Marilyn and President John just to name a few. I'm getting a few head nods, right now, aren't I? I know I am.

Allow me to introduce another, maybe even more important than the aforementioned couples:
Special Agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully, the tall, chiseled chin mysterious man and the pint size red headed bomshell. More specifically, Mulder and Scully seasons 1 through 7. I am going to pinpoint a few episodes throughout the seven years that highlight their interaction, structure their relationship and define their love for one another.

I am going to skip over the running mythology thread for obvious reasons. If, however, you do not know the "obvious reasons", you must watch their relationship bloom from untrusted FBI debunker and paranoid smart mouth to trustful, honest and intimate partners. I can not even begin, in this humble blog, to analyze their relationship surrounding "purity control" and "black oil" and extraterrestrial life.

From season 1 to season 7, the stand alones that form their wonderful partnership: ready, set, go.
(note to reader, if writer is going to be talking about episode 6 on season 7, writer will set it apart as 7x06)

1x07: Ice. This is a creepy, look-over-your-shoulder type episode where everyone is against everyone save that of Scully and Mulder. This is close to the first trusting interaction between the paired partners. Scully trusted Mulder enough to act on his words against that of other professional scientists.

2x13: Irresistible. Mulder saves Scully life. Scully plays it off, but she is affected, just as Mulder is affected with the idea of losing his partner that he is developing a deep, once in a lifetime trust.

2x20: Humbug. Scully really surprises Mulder, allowing him to see that she has layers and layers to her being.

2x24: Our Town. Mulder saves Scully life again. However, since Scully is having a terrible time with losing her dad in season one, she allows Mulder her gratefulness and her vulnerability at the end of this episode.

I would like to input that Mulder and Scully are visibly growing closer and closer with Mulder being "dead" at the end of season 2 and the beginning of season 3 and Scully seeing visions of him as being very much undead. Their connection is growing stronger and stronger, she is his confidant through his dad's death at the end of season 2 (note: see 2x25 3x01 and 3x02) That's leaking across my boundaries of not talking about the mythology thread, though, so I will stop and continue with the stand alone episodes.

Season 4 is the pinnacle, the start of amazing. Ask anyone.

4x13: Never Again. This is an exciting Scully episode. She explores areas of her soul that have been tarnished, or so she thinks, by Mulder's partnership. She meets a man and nearly loses her life, by gaining a tattoo. Mulder saves her and, might I add, seems a little jealous when he finds her at this other guys apartment. Jealousy?

4x20: Small Potatoes. This light hearted episode about babies underlines Mulder's humor, where he asks her, "Should we be picking out china patterns?" By now, the reader should be thinking that maybe there is slight tension about an unspoken relationship; good tension, not bad tension.

Season 5 ends up being incredibly difficult for Scully, she gets cancer at the end of season 4 and her "mommy-ness" is most definitely accentuated. She questions if she is giving up too much, losing too much in this quest that Mulder has set forth to travel. However, that's a mythology thread, so moving right along.

5x06: Post-Modern Prometheus. Besides the artful and witty writing and the beautiful black and white rendition of small town secrets, Scully and Mulder face a heartfelt mission in allowing one boy's dream to come true. They, Dana and Fox, dance. They dance. And it inevitably makes me cry every single time.

Season 5 is also very spiritual and that raises deep issues between the two, however, each is growing more personable and vulnerable. Continuing right along.

6x08: How the Ghosts Stole Christmas (my absolute personal favorite). Even against her best judgment, Scully sacrifices her Christmas Eve to chase ghosts with Mulder. Their love is written between the lines and under the floor boards, the ultimate sacrifice or almost. The very end is the most beautiful relational sphere between the two of them.

6x20: The Unnatural. This is a Mulder episode, Scully makes an apperance at the end. A loving game of baseball at the end can make anyone's heart melt.

7x05: Millenium. More death defying acts at the dawn of the end of the world results in maybe a kiss between the two. Everyone holds their breath as it happens, even Scully.

7x13: First Person Shooter. Mulder gets his ya-yas out by blasting things, however, it takes Scully to save his life against a woman who is an amazing computer warrior.

7x18: Hollywood A.D. Mulder and Scully go to California, a screen writer/producer notices the relational tension. Their interaction is humorous and very touching at the end when Scully has the agency credit card, young night and a handsome Fox on her hands.

At the end of season 7, it is really shown how deep their relationship has become, but I will allow reader to watch.

These highlighted stand alones do structure a foundational archetype for couples everywhere; minimal physical contact, witty interactions, conflicts that get resolved and team mate sacrifice to achieve a common goal.

I'll let the reader decide.

Ode to Valentine's Day. (NOTE: Writer doesn't think it necessary to withhold in physical contact to maintain a good relationship. sometimes quite the opposite.)