I'd be curious about your thoughts: It's been awhile since I watched En Ami; but I always took that scene as Scully knowing he's lying, knowing he (in all probability) had tampered with her, but weighing the costs and the benefits. Since she didn't feel any trauma to her body, there was nothing to pinpoint as a hole in his lies; and in that case, it came down to the original point: were the risks of this trip worth it? Scully, imo, was still playing along to get the "cure to everything"-- her selflessness for humanity (and cure for her cancer) outweighing any temporary misgivings.

I do believe if she had felt any trauma or any lingering sensation she would have been gone. But she didn't; and she still didn't have the cure.

It's the ending, I think, that flubs it the most: instead of focusing on Scully's rage for being baited (though it's touched on slightly), and Mulder's boiling rage on her behalf (though, again, it's slightly touched on), they end it focused on CSM and his weird little "redemption arc" bit. Sure, fine, whatever; but it leaves it on a sympathetic note for him in the vein of Musings of a Cigarette Smoking Man. Yes, it was his own self-pitying POV; but this episode ALSO involved Scully heavily. There needed to be a focus on her own letdown, anger, trauma, and fear that she finally lets rise to the surface.

There wasn't enough time for all of these elements, of course.

Am I off base? Could be-- curious how far! XDDD

Well, I'm not gonna tell you you're off-base! 😆 After all, everyone views the episodes through their own lenses and it's all subjective.

I just don't buy anything about this episode - from start to finish. WBD wasn't at all subtle when it came to writing this redemption tale for CSM. For one thing the character had done absolutely nothing to deserve it. For another, it required taking one of the leads and erasing almost everything we knew about what drives her personally and professionally, about her own experiences with CSM and all it had cost her and Mulder, and portrayed her as naive and gullible. While it's not too far off the mark to attach those descriptions to Mulder from time to time, nothing I'd seen of Scully up to that point led me to believe she would go with CSM based on nothing more than his word. And then stay even after she woke to find herself in that bed in pajamas she knew without a doubt she hadn't changed into herself.

Even with what knowledge she had about where Mulder had found the chip that may have cured her cancer, I can't believe that alone would cause her to trust CSM enough to put her safety and well-being in his hands. I don't believe that even with the possibility of a cure for all cancer, all illness waved in front of her like a carrot on a stick, that she would so impulsively drop everything and go with him. Scully doesn't do impulsive. She overthinks everything, and I think the only person who can drive her to impulsivity is Mulder, and then only when he's pissed her off (see Ed Jerse). So, no, I can never buy that her sense of selflessness would override her bullshit detector, not when it comes to CSM.

Yes, she took precautions by rigging the hidden microphone and then mailing the tape (?!?!?) to Mulder. But it was uncharacteristically stupid of her to go in the first place. And she had to have known that as soon as Skinner told Mulder there was a Scully family emergency, he would've had his nose to the ground like a bloodhound.

I could go on but I'll spare you. Let me wrap this up by saying that Scully didn't earn the right to rage about being baited; it's something she should've anticipated from the get-go. And she then rationalizes her gullibility by saying that she saw something in CSM that made her believe his intentions were good? Puh-leeze. And I couldn't disagree more with your belief that Mulder was pissed for Scully. He was pissed at her, and rightly so.

In closing, it doesn't surprise me that the fallout of Scully's actions were never addressed or mentioned again. Mulder and Scully have always been chess pieces to be molded and moved around the board however CC saw fit. It's just that it was done to Scully in far more egregious ways than Mulder was ever made to suffer.

Yep, still hate this episode as much as ever.