Right off the back, Scully returns in a coma at a hospital. No one knows how she got there or who brought her there. Mulder arrives and bursts into anger, sending chills down my spine. To be frank, "One Breath" doesn't have much plot other than Scully's internal struggle to find to willingness to stay alive, a forgone conclusion intensified by the mystical scenes of her rocking in the boat. That's not to say that the episode is bad, but the earlier mythologies drag on without revealing a whole lot, a symptom which creates various plot holes later on.
What sets "One Breath" apart from other episodes is the raw emotion coming from Mulder. In whole, I think Gillian Anderson's acting abilities are very underrated when compared to David Duchovny's, but in this particular episode, Duchovny blows it out of the water.
Something cool about the episode is that everyone gets a part of the action. The Lone Gunmen help Mulder early in the episode, introducing him to the Thinker, who will show up later. Scully's mother, Margaret, pops in for a while and we meet Scully's sister, Mellisa, a kooky new-age person who could use more subtle dialogue. Skinner secretly gives Mulder the location of CSM, giving Mulder the perfect chance to kill him. But CSM offers Mulder a convincing argument against it: Without him, Mulder won't learn all his secrets. Later, X gives Mulder the perfect opportunity to strike back, telling him to wait in his apartment for those to ransack his house. His rage, however, is tamed and he spends the night with Scully instead.
In the end, Scully wakes up abruptly and without warning. Scully smiles, Mulder smiles, and everything is all right. It's trite for the time being, but where the show is going, fine in my book.
Score: 9.3/10
