The X-Files 3×17 — “Pusher”: My favorite X-Files episodes are usually ones in which there are a few great shipper moments. Mulder and Scully are perhaps my favorite TV non-couple/couple of all time and are the whole reason I felt compelled to watch The X-Files every single week when it was on. Unfortunately back then I wasn’t online, so I didn’t know what a “shipper” was and I didn’t have any message boards to read and post on. How things have changed these days!
Anyway, one of my favorite episodes is 3×17, called “Pusher”. In this one, a guy who calls himself “Pusher” is able to force his will on others and hypnotize/control their minds so that they do what he wants. The premise was great, and the last 15 minutes of the ep were particularly gripping — both from a suspense and shipper standpoint. The showdown between Pusher and Mulder was extremely tense and I held my breath when Mulder put the gun to his own head and pulled the trigger during the Russian roulette game. Even though I knew he would survive, I was every bit as on edge as Scully was. And when he turned the gun on her… Wow! That single tear that fell from her eye as she tried to break through the hold that Pusher had on Mulder really got to me. And Mulder’s voice breaking as he told Scully to run because he could feel his finger start to squeeze the trigger. Man, that was amazing!
But what really made my shipper heart skip a beat was the very end where Mulder and Scully held hands for a brief moment as they looked at the brain-dead Pusher. They were so much more than partners already — and yet so far away from their romantic relationship that wouldn’t happen until several years later. LOVED it!