Cheryl

Cheryl is a pretty interesting episode. It continues some of the subplots and finally allows us to see one of the black tapes for the first time in Season Two. Personal I enjoyed Cheryl much more then the previous episode. It laid back on the conspiracy. Actually had Strand back in the episode for more than a Voice Stabs and Drama. Like of the black tapes there isn't really anything about the black tapes that stand out. The Black Tapes isn't procedural Crime drama. At the end of it Alex and Strand won't find the killer and be called "Meddling Kids" they often leave off the episode on something interesting but it very really feels like a conclusion.

 Which makes sense In the world of the Black Tapes there are no cut and dry answers there dichotomy between skepticism and belief lets us except the stories no clear answers its a motif they play over and over and theirs no reason why we should see it metaphysical.

Overall the episode seemed as a way to characterize Strand which I think they did wonderfully. First by introducing Strand house which he inherited from his father,(which side note is a great excuse to have Strand in Seattle) but also by revealing more about his and Cora Lee's Marriage. The discussion of her supposed message about the red wheelbarrow and his wedding photos were telling, particularly the part where Alex describing Strand smiling as "Weird". its just something about the comment that really hits home about who he is. Hes a person that isn't really there. He a had a life that he wanted to live and then it all went to shit. Its not so much that he is broken or shell shocked but rather somehow incomplete. Personally I don't think Cora Lee Disappearance is the beginning or the end to his skepticism especially with the Cheryl Tape but it is something that is a major event in his life. But that gets us on to are main point the Cherly tape. If the beginning of the episode takes us to his recent past Cheryl takes us a bit further, I'm not going to spoil it but it was taken at a time where Strand wasn't Dr. Strand, where he didn't have that aloof skepticism where everything has an answer. In a way it was the first black tape. Season Two had been making a point to make sure that we aren't excepting things at face value anymore. Alex and Strand lives are a bit more complex then the Mulder/Sculder formula that we might have pressed them into. It seems that the Story is growing more complex and that the enigma that is  "The Enigmatic President and Founder" is starting to unravel.

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