What Is Your Favorite Shipper Episode? Just One

What is your favorite shipper episode? Just one

Pusher. Why? Well…

First, we get this cute little moment. Mulder was totally chill about Scully sleeping on his shoulder for who knows how long. He seems awfully close with his pretty partner, indeed.

Next, we get an extremely underrated emotional scene when Mulder is hooked up with surveillance equipment. He sees the apprehension and concern in Scully’s face, so he kneels down in front of her and tells her to smile. 

He doesn’t have to do this and not too long ago he wouldn’t have. They’d have made eye contact, nodded at each other, and he’d have been on his way into the building. But not anymore. There’s been a shift.  

When he gives her his gun, she places her hand on his.

*Note that Mulder gives Scully the gun with his right hand and starts to pull it back. When he sees her face, he not only keeps his hand on the gun, he places his left hand on her knee.

Their eyes… I could write 1,000 sonnets about their eyes in this scene. There is concern there, yes. But there is also love- it is undeniable and unabashed.

Then we get the Russian roulette face off. Mulder so easily pulls the trigger on Modell and himself-

-but he shakes with the effort he puts into not shooting Scully. 

He cares so much more about her life than his own and we get to see it play out on screen. If she hadn’t pulled the fire alarm, he’d have shot her. Mulder is so affected by this, he pulls the trigger of the gun over and over on Modell even though he knows it’s empty. He’s so upset with himself for almost shooting her, he slumps into the chair and surrenders the gun.

Then we get the end. Hoo boy. Mulder is, of course, racked with guilt and beating himself up over almost killing Scully. And she knows it. So what does she do? She takes his hand and says, “I say we don’t let him take up another minute of our time.” She lets Mulder know with both touch and words that she doesn’t hold him accountable, she still trusts him and they can move on from this unscathed.

That is love.