Customer Reviews

The X-Files: Ascension/One Breath [VHS]

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Season 2 of the X Files had perhaps one of the best cliffhangers in the series. That is Agent Scully's abduction. ASCENTION starts with a fatigued Agent Mulder at his wits end after dealing with Duane Berry (Watch the episode DUANE BERRY for more on this episode, it can help) who as it turns out has taken Agent Scully away with him. Berry believes that if he can offer a different person to his alien abductors, the aliens won't bother him anymore. Mulder tries his hardest but he is unable to rescue his partner in time and she dissapears, thanks largly to an "allie's" meddling.

I have never come away from a TV episode with such a worn out and unhappy feel. Mulder's partner and best friend is missing with no trace, Mulders new partner Krycheck has vanished (guess why), none of his friends are willing or able to help him and the little help that Skinner can offer can't heal the wounds of what has happened.

This episode has a very unpleasant ending, but that is also what helps make this one so good and it is VERY important to see this episode to link it to the show's main plot line.

ONE BREATH is part 2 of ASCENTION where Mulder, after month's of searching finds out that Scully has mysteriously been delivered to a hospital in exetreme condition and with no trace of where she's been. Mulder is furious to find out where she has been but nobody can give him an answer. On top of that Scully's living will states that if she ever ends up in this state she wants her life support cut off. With no hope in sight of his friend recovering, nor finding those responsible for the crime, Mulder is ready to throw in the towel and quit the FBI.

While it is not hard to figure out the outcome of this episode it is a great follow up to ASCENTION and one of the series better episodes.

If you only see a few "X-Files"(although they are all FABULOUS and worth viewing), these episodes should be included. Scully's abduction is an essential part of understanding the overall storyline or "mythology". Also, anyone who is an advocate for a Scully/Mulder romantic relationship(a "shiper" as we like to be called) should see "One Breath". It contains some very touching scenes that express Mulder's caring for his partner. Plus, you get to see Scully family (some of whom are not with us any longer)and watch a tear-jerking dream sequence with her deseaced father.

This box set is one of the best. "Ascension" is the adrenaline-pumper, with Scully being kidnapped and Mulder hanging off a ski-transporter-thingy, and "One Breath" is a beautifully written sequel in which Scully is returned in critical condtion, and her life depends on Mulder, even after her life support is cut. Intrigued? Check your pulse if you're not. These videos rock.

OMG!!ASCENSION WAS VERY EXCITING AND I WAS ON THE EDGE OF MY SEAT THE WHOLE TIME.BUT MY ALL TIME FAVE IS DEFINATELY ONE BREATH.VERY TOUCHING.IT MADE ME CRY.THIS ONE IS DEFINATELY FOR SHIPPERS ALL ALIKE!!!!!

Until I watched this tape, I had never seen even a minute of an X-Files episode. All I knew was that it was about two FBI agents named Scully and Mulder and they investigated strange events. While watching this tape, I was entertained yet puzzled. The two episodes rely heavily on events in previous episodes and the involvement of the enigmatic "Cigarette Smoking Man" and the "Death Dealing Black Guardian Angel" had me puzzled.
In the first episode "Ascension", a supposedly insane man who believes that he is about to be abducted by aliens kidnaps Scully. He takes her to the top of a ski resort and Mulder follows them there in the company of a fellow agent. That agent is playing a double game, trying to prevent Mulder from getting to the top of the mountain and saving Scully. When Mulder gets there, he sees a light in the sky and the kidnapper is ranting about them taking her instead of him.
From this point, the convolutions become a mystery wrapped in an enigma. There are many hints of duplicity between the government agents and hints of conspiracies within conspiracies. Finally, Scully appears in a hospital with no explanation of how she got there and is comatose.
The second episode, "One Breath" is a continuation of "Ascension." Mulder continues to press the case, but finds every path has either several forks or a brick wall. There were so many things happening that I really did not know all that was going on. My wife Kathy watched it with me and she was just as confused, even though she had seen some episodes of the show before. She put it very well when she said, "At the end, all I cared about was whether Scully lived or not."
It is reasonable to assume that these episodes would have made much more sense had I watched the series from the beginning. Since I had not, I cannot be too critical of them. Therefore, to the extent that I understood what was happening, it kept my attention, the complex plot is something that I do enjoy. I rarely watch television series because the plot is generally so simple that it cannot keep my attention.

tyis was one of the first x fgiles vidoues i ever brought. it was the first i had ever rented. one breth is one of my all times fevoirte episodes. it is excting and hert waring. i loved the scne in wioch mulder confrunts cancer man and csm delives his,"i wanched prasidnets die". i liked asenosn escily the tram car. this is one of most membable x files events.