"The X-Files" Sein und Zeit (TV Episode 2000) Poster

(TV Series)

(2000)

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9/10
I don't know what is the truth and what isn't anymore.
Sanpaco1329 April 2008
Warning: Spoilers
Sein und Zeit is German for Being and Time, a philosophical work by Martin Heidegger. Being and Time was originally intended to consist of two major Parts, each Part consisting of three Divisions. Heidegger was forced to prepare the book for publication when he had completed only the first two Divisions of Part One. Some have argued that there are indications that the second division of Being and Time shows some signs of haste.

Possibly naming this episode after an uncompleted and hastened work of genius was a way of saying that there was supposed to be a lot more to the story of Samantha's abduction but the story was forced to a "closure" prematurely. Whether this is a true interpretation or not doesn't really matter to me since I really thought they did a great job with what they had. The episode begins with two parents and their child Amber Lynn settling down for the night. The father while watching television hears a noise and gets up to check on his family. Yes the show he is watching is the Pilot for Harsh Realm and yes I think Chris Carter was blatantly trying to plug that show here although I don't know why seeing as it wasn't even on anymore I don't think. Anyway, the father goes to check on his daughter as the mother is writing a cryptic ransom note. The father sees his daughter dead and then alive again. As soon as he leaves the door is slammed shut and when he breaks it down to get back in Amber is gone. Do you think using the name Amber was a coincidence? Do you think they put out an Amber Alert? Mulder wants on the case for obvious reasons and chases explanation about walk-ins. He finds similar disappearances and believes he is close to finding Amber when he learns of his Mother's "suicide". Again one of those debates that will never really be resolved. Trying to deal now with the death of his mother and her trying to send him a message about his sister, Mulder realizes that he is way too emotionally involved and asks to be taken off the case. On the way to the airport however Scully cracks the case and they are led to the arrest of Santa Claus and discovery of many child graves.

On the subject of walk-ins: a walk-in is an old soul looking for a new body according to the theory. This theory however is loosely based on actual Hindu theology that "each person is comprised of several bodies, including the physical, astral, mental, refined, and so on. The only essence that is not a body, and therefore not transferable, is the Atman. So according to this belief system, a walk-in, as described in the book Merging with Siva by Sivaya Subramuniyaswami, can take one or many of these bodies." The way I see it, either of these theories fit. The episode seems to follow the former theory however, it never quite explains what happens to the physical bodies which seems to fit the latter theory. Whatever it is, the fact is that the victims were all taken before their time in order to protect them from violent deaths. It is not quite certain exactly how these people are chosen. I do like the explanation however since it is comforting to think of someone you love being in a safe and better place. That is really what anyone who suffers loss needs. I won't say it all here since we still have Closure to talk about these things some more so I'll wrap it up here by saying that the episode gets a 9 out of 10. It loses a point simply for the somewhat inconsistent walk-in theory.
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9/10
No One Shoots At Santa Claus
Muldernscully29 May 2007
Warning: Spoilers
Sein Und Zeit begins the story that will finally reveal the truth to us about the abduction of Mulder's sister, Samantha. It feels like the writers and producers of the show were trying to wrap the main story lines up, maybe in anticipation of the series ending. In season six, the syndicate is all killed by the faceless rebels, and in this two-parter the story of Mulder's sister is wrapped up. These two story lines were the impetus for Mulder's quest. After 'Closure', the show heads in a different direction. An odd thing I noticed in the beginning of the episode is that Mrs. LaPierre has a Hollywood video in her dresser drawer. That has got to be overdue! She'll surely forget to return it if it's left in there. I found it disturbing that FBI agents had a pool going on whether or not Amber LaPierre was dead. How sick. A moment of cinematography I liked is when the TV at Ed Truelove's place is on the news. The camera closes in on the TV and when it pulls out, we are at the FBI watching the same thing, no longer in Truelove's place. David Duchovny's acting is so strong in these episodes about his sister. It is second to none. It's quite interesting that it is Scully that discovers the "74" clue to find Santa's North Pole Village, and not Mulder. Finally, X-Files characters are normally named after friends and families of the writers of the episodes and don't carry any significance. The character Ed Truelove, however, does bear significance as his name is an oxymoron, meaning he believes he has true love for these little girls he kidnaps, while in reality it is nowhere near true love. The ending scene of the unmarked graves is poignant as we are left wondering if maybe Mulder's sister is buried here. Sein Und Zeit is a poignant episode with excellent acting by David Duchovny leading up to moment of truth about his sister in 'Closure'.
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8/10
Mulder once again questions what happened to his sister despite so much evidence pointing to what we all know. I'm
david_hokey_1613 January 2017
Okay, so this was a good episode except for one thing. They once more did the bs with Mulder deciding his sister wasn't abducted by aliens but was instead taken like these other kids. Are we to believe he's that stupid after all of this? He freaking met her clones on more than one occasion! That includes clones of her as a child as she was when she was taken! He's seen enough about the alien conspiracy and learned from Cassandra about those that were taken by the aliens. They can't keep milking the whole "Mulder hangs onto hope that something else happened to his sister" when he's seen too much evidence to the contrary. They could've used her as fuel for Mulder's delving into the case without him rethinking her disappearance. It's just becoming a huge plot hole. This is otherwise a great, suspenseful episode. But I had to take points for the previously mentioned points.
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8/10
"Don't look for something you're not gonna find."
classicsoncall6 August 2017
Warning: Spoilers
I'm somewhat conflicted by the idea that Mulder's mother committed suicide in this episode. The rationale was laid out plausibly enough, but I always gave Teena Mulder (Rebecca Toolan) a lot more credit for being a strong person who survived her daughter Samantha's abduction and marriage to a State Department employee who had his own share of stress, as revealed by the series in prior stories. Scully's autopsy revealing Mrs. Mulder's disfiguring Paget's carcinoma made the suicide somewhat more credible, but I still have a queasy feeling about it.

The other thing that bothered me about the story was the presence of all those burial mounds behind Ed Truelove's Santa Claus/North Pole workshop. As a popular tourist spot, what are the odds that a visitor NEVER walked around back there, even if by accident? That he could have kept up that secret for so long, serial killer that he was, doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me. Maybe we're not supposed to look at these stories so critically, but in my case I can't help it. Some of these oddities seem just too obvious.

Apart from the story line, the big surprise for me here was the presence of Kim Darby in the role of Kathy Lee Tencate, the woman who lost a son under similar circumstances as the LaPierre's, and was accused of and incarcerated for murder. She beat out the likes of Tuesday Weld, Mia Farrow and Karen Carpenter for the role of Mattie Ross to John Wayne's Rooster Cogburn in the 1969 version of the Western, "True Grit". I didn't really make the connection until I started this review, but the resemblance is there, although the passage of forty years had left it's mark. She was such a royal pain in the side of John Wayne's character in that film, which is why I remember her so well.

With a lot of similarity to the Jon Benet Ramsey case, this episode would have resonated a lot more with followers of the series back when it originally aired. I think someone catching it for the first time today wouldn't make the connection so easily, even with the clip of Jon Benet made part of the story. On the subject of the title of this episode, 'Sein und Zeit' - it was the name of German philosopher Martin Heidegger's treatise on the subject 'Being and Time', written in 1927. He sought to provide a definitive analysis on the concept of 'being', and although heralded as a landmark work, it probably does little to provide an answer on a subject as elusive as God or the soul. A topic, as Mulder would conclude, to be as frustratingly elusive as any truth he ever hoped to discover.
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10/10
You Can't Shoot Santa Claus
XweAponX1 April 2012
Warning: Spoilers
Mark Rolston (who was previously in "Red Museum" which was also about "Walk-Ins") is a parent who with his wife has had a child kidnapped - And due to the evidence, or lack thereof, is being blamed and made the prime suspect.

But this kidnapping has suspicious parallels to Samantha Mulder's kidnapping, this affects Mulder, distracting him.

Mulder's mother Teena has seen this case being broadcast on TV and calls Mulder, but Mulder is too wrapped up in the case to call her back. This is a bad move by Mulder.

Meanwhile, Mulder has located a woman who had a child vanish, and got arrested and convicted of the kidnapping - Played by Kim Darby.

Is this woman just telling Mulder what he wants to hear? Or do the words this woman spouts have a secondary meaning?

Are these children being Abducted by Aliens?

That's the question for Mulder. Was Mulder's sister abducted? Mulder's Mother knows. But Mulder can't ask her about it any more - She's dead.
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7/10
Some very good elements, a few frustrations.
Sleepin_Dragon22 September 2022
Mulder demands to be given the case of abducted little girl Amber-Lynn LaPierre, who's parents are prime suspects, Mulder remembers another case, and finds a link.

It's a good episode, it feels like one that's adapting to a new phase of X Files mythology. I'll start with the gripe, I didn't enjoy the side story of Mulder's mother, and subsequently I really didn't like the way that Samantha's disappearance was linked to the case, it was so tenuous.

On the plus side, the story was different, and it was good to see Mulder returning to the kind of work he did prior to The X Files, there were some really chilling elements to the story.

I thought Mulder's scenes with Kathy Lee were excellent, and I thought Kim Darby was the standout, Duchovny was terrific here.

They changed the direction of the show earlier in this particular series in regards to Aliens, and it feels a little like they've done that with Samantha here.

It's good, but I have the same frustrations here that I had with Biogenesis, and for that it has to be 7/10.
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