4x17 Tempus Fugit (1)

I really don't like how Mulder just blurts out his obvious thoughts to other officials in regards to his alien beliefs. It makes him look dumb, and lessens the trust between him and other officials/possible allies/him getting information on the situation, and may even shut him out of the discussion and put his job at risk. And there is never any gain to him being "i think aliens did it. He's an alien abductee" there is never any gain to him saying this dumb stuff in front of others. The writers do it to cement Mulder's character and that he "may actually be right of course" but it doesn't make sense in-character or in-universe. That's part of what i dislike when writers do that, the lessened realism of character behaviors in order to create more drama. But since most people don't seem to really care, i guess i'm in the minority.

As for the episode itself, it's quite good. Surprisingly we don't have further convolution of the alien mythos, and it feels more grounded and conspiratorial now with the military conspiracy. We have some interesting shots and moments like the ship with the spotlight, which makes you think "is this a ufo?" "Is this a military ship with ufo technology? That reminds me from the second episode of the entire show when we saw something like that" and i like the coverup that is going on by the military, it adds to the paranoia and conspiracy. However i am a bit mixed on the aspects conerning fenig and the woman he knew and her release.