Season 5's "Bad Blood" was an outright comedy with basically no dramatic or really 'serious' elements. Season two's "3" creates an odd and different mythology for vampires, and it's a shame that the episode as a whole isn't as strong as the concept.
"3" is one of the most despised "X-Files" episodes, and I don't think it would be presumptuous of me to suggest that the hatred might have something to do with what fans (particularly shippers) perceive as Mulder betraying Scully. His relationship with Kristen here is something I myself have dismissed as 'playa Mulda' in the past, but I think I was being unfair. Blame peer pressure. It's entirely believable that this mopey, depressed, and frustrated version of Mulder would be drawn to this mysterious and seductive woman, it's not like he 'had' a $20 whore. The motivations for his character are sensible, and there's depth in the concept of the episode here.
Alas, the execution is not as strong as it could have been. While "3" proves not nearly as bad as I once thought it was, the script by Glen Morgan, James Wong, and Chris Ruppenthal (of "Quantum Leap" and "The Outer Limits" fame) is, well, a mess. Where this could have been a character-driven masterpiece, it ends up a confusing, largely pointless mess, in spite of us seeing Mulder like we never saw him before (and never really did we see him like this again), and the interesting mythology developed for vampires here.
"3" has a good premise, and gets too much criticism for not including Scully, for having Mulder 'sleep around', when the real problems with the episode lie simply in the script not being very good, and evidently quite rushed as well.
5/10
"3" is one of the most despised "X-Files" episodes, and I don't think it would be presumptuous of me to suggest that the hatred might have something to do with what fans (particularly shippers) perceive as Mulder betraying Scully. His relationship with Kristen here is something I myself have dismissed as 'playa Mulda' in the past, but I think I was being unfair. Blame peer pressure. It's entirely believable that this mopey, depressed, and frustrated version of Mulder would be drawn to this mysterious and seductive woman, it's not like he 'had' a $20 whore. The motivations for his character are sensible, and there's depth in the concept of the episode here.
Alas, the execution is not as strong as it could have been. While "3" proves not nearly as bad as I once thought it was, the script by Glen Morgan, James Wong, and Chris Ruppenthal (of "Quantum Leap" and "The Outer Limits" fame) is, well, a mess. Where this could have been a character-driven masterpiece, it ends up a confusing, largely pointless mess, in spite of us seeing Mulder like we never saw him before (and never really did we see him like this again), and the interesting mythology developed for vampires here.
"3" has a good premise, and gets too much criticism for not including Scully, for having Mulder 'sleep around', when the real problems with the episode lie simply in the script not being very good, and evidently quite rushed as well.
5/10