Here are point-by point guides to the Season 5 moments packed with DAL and UST. Here I've tried to capture the most important events regarding Mulder and Scully's relationship. For more comprehensive, general reviews go to my 5th Season Review Page. Enjoy.

The End
• Agent Fowley appears, and Scully is jealous--more jealous than she's ever been. She notices the tension between Mulder and Fowley right away, and grows more and more agitated, especially when she finds out that Fowley was "Mulder's chickadee".

  Young Gibson tells Mulder that he's thinking about one of "the girls", and one of them is thinking about Mulder too. Right then, Scully's eyes widen and roll upwards almost imperceptibly, like someone who's been caught cheating on her diet. Surely Scully was the one thinking about Mulder. ;-) Then Gibson tells Mulder that the one who's thinking about him doesn't want him to say. That's Scully, hiding her feelings. Later, Gibson busts her again wondering about "that girl"--Fowley. Scully is really disturbed about the possible threat to her relationship with Mulder.

  When Scully glimpses Mulder and Fowley and thinks they're holding hands, she dashes to her car in despair, honestly thinking that Mulder no longer loves her. You could almost read her thoughts--even though they never spoke about it, they had an understanding that each of them always comes first in the other's life. Now Scully believes Mulder has broken that trust. In a delightfully catty move, she calls Mulder and insists that they meet at work in order to split up Mulder and Fowley for the moment. ;-)

• Scully had nothing to worry about. Fowley feels out Mulder's thoughts on Scully, mentioning that she's not very open-minded. Mulder defends Scully and her reasons for her skeptism. Who else wanted to cheer when Mulder told Fowley, "I've done okay without you,"? This is quite an improvement over previous years when Mulder would have been willingly swept off by any nice-looking diversion. There was a good thing about Diana Fowley's introduction: she forced Mulder and Scully to examine their feelings for each other and realize their true nature.

• Near the end, Mulder and Scully are hanging out in Mulder's apartment, Mulder lying on the couch, in a wonderfully intimate manner. Wonder what they were doing beforehand? ;-) Their conversation is replete with eye contact and soft gestures, both of them so crushed by their reassignment that they can't express it in words.

• The final picture of the season was a beautiful one to linger in our memories: a sort-of embrace with Scully leaning on Mulder, her head on his chest as he stands in shock, surrounded by the ashes of his life.

Folie a Deux
• There *are* some nice VG touches here, if you know where to look. :-) When Mulder is trapped in a hostage situation, Scully bursts on the scene, angrily ordering people around in her worry about Mulder's safety.

• Scully has problems accepting Mulder's credibility, but in the end she believes him, after he lovingly tells her, "You're my one in five billion." Early in the episode, she argues her viewpoint by telling Mulder that people in close association can share delusions. Then at the end, she admits that maybe she and Mulder were sharing folie a deux, or madness between two. So....what was she saying about their relationship? Don't you love finding those little connections!

The Pine Bluff Variant
• Scully is at her protective, caring best in this episode. From the teaser, when she leaps out of the surveillance van to pursue Mulder, on, she is nothing but concerned for his safety. Scully protests Mulder's role as a double agent in a terrorist gang because of the risk to his life. The poor CIA spook got quite a chewing-out by Scully when she found out he was in on the plot. And who else melted when Scully gently administered TLC to Mulder's injured fingers? How sweet...

All Souls
• For once, Scully tells Mulder what's wrong and they don't fight about it. Scully is more willing than usual to talk about her problems, and Mulder is responsive and receptive. He's supportive of Scully when she tells him about her vision of Emily. He caresses her shoulder and reassures her, taking her hand for a second. What a guy to have around during a spiritual crisis.

Mind's Eye
• Ho hum. Good story, but nothing shippy. Maybe next week.

Travelers
• Anyone feel like they're reliving Unusual Suspects?

The Red and the Black
• In the scene at Skyland Mountain, Mulder is wonderfully overwrought over Scully. The slow-motion shots of him running towards the bridge were great.

• The first conversation in the hospital was reminiscent of Redux II. Mulder was at his most tender and caring best, even brushing his fingers through Scully's hair and saying, "I'm just very happy to be standing here talking to you, that's all."

• When Scully is going through hypno-regression therapy, a sweet M/S hand-clasp occurs. Mulder's hand lingers on Scully's for several seconds after she "wakes up". :-)

• Now the other conversation in the hospital. A lot of people found it very shippy. Yes, there were undertones of DAL through the whole scene. But I just don't see what's so romantic about Scully basically telling Mulder she wouldn't support him anymore.

Patient "X"
• Hmmm...not much Mulder/Scully interaction here. The scene in the office with the newspaper article was kinda cute, though.

• Marita with Krycek.... a toast all around now that she's out of the way!

Bad Blood
• Mulder and Scully were on a Magic Fingers bed together for a few seconds, depending on whose story you believe. ;-)

• I smell jealousy....While Scully is bowled over by Sheriff Hartwell, Mulder describes him as a country bumpkin with buck teeth and the intelligence of a cowboy boot. He also remembers Scully staring dreamily at the sheriff, acting like a bimbo in an obvious attempt at flirting. This is quite different from Scully's explanation of things. Scully was embarrased by her crush on Sheriff Hartwell (boy, does she know how to pick 'em! Ed, then a vampire.) Mulder, much like a jealous lover, exaggerates events in his mind. And since the sheriff was a vampire all along, I don't think we need to worry about him. :-)

• Scully's straightening Mulder's tie showed definite signs of intimacy....in fact, they were acting like an old married couple.

Kill Switch
• Together again at twilight time... What a cute moment. Mulder and Scully sat in a car, steamed up the windows, and listened to romantic music.

• Scully's snippy behavior around Esther showed definite overtones of jealousy.

• About time we had a nice rescue scene. Mulder was hanging all over Scully as she helped him out of the trailer, warming shippers' hearts everywhere.

Chinga
• Phone call UST galore! Mulder watches porn and talks to Scully at the same time. Then he asks her to marry him, sounding semi-serious. Also, I thought it was great when Scully kept hanging up on him--revenge for War of the Copropahges.

• Again, we see how pathetic Mulder's life is without Scully. He simply can't stop calling her. While Scully takes a "relaxing vacation" in Maine, Mulder floats and putters around his apartment and office, restless and bored without his partner. Despite Mulder's efforts to hide his pencil antics from Scully, she realizes just how he spent his weekend....and they both realize how close their lives are.

Inside The X-Files
• Shippers, hail the Creator God! Finally, the acknowledgement we've been waiting for, out of Chris Carter's mouth: "Mulder loves Scully and Scully loves Mulder. It's a wonderful romance."

• Sheila Larken, David Duchovny, and Gillian Anderson all testify to the depth of Mulder and Scully's relationship. My favorite was DD's saying, "Scully is Mulder's human credential--she's the only thing that makes him not crazy." I though that summed up their relationship perfectly.

• Amazingly, Chris Carter agrees with us shippers againin saying that Mulder and Scully just can't have romantic relationships outside of their work.

• The bits of extra footage from the Post-Modern Prometheus scene were lovely, with Mulder spinning Scully and more gazes and smiles. I thought it was great that they mixed bits of that scene in with the closing.

Schizogeny
• I do love those morgue scenes.... the UST seemed to me to be crackling for no particular reason. When Mulder said "Now that sounds like an exaggeration, don't you think?" it almost sounded like a come-on line.

• Mulder's grin up at Scully was just another indication of their unspoken rapport--he knew that she knew exactly what he was going to say; there was no use speaking!

• Mulder: "Hey Scully, is this demonstration of boyish agility turning you on at all?"

Kitsunegari
• Plenty of subtle DAL here. When Mulder and Scully are interviewing Linda Bowman, watch Scully's eyes as Linda says,"You never know how much time you have left." Scully glances at Mulder right then, and we can be sure that she is thinking of her cancer...and Mulder.

• The entire shootout scene was incredibly emotional and well-done, even though I was confused the first time I watched it. Mulder's anguish when he thought Scully had shot herself brought me to tears. He has a tortured expression on his face, not unlike the one in the dark hospital scene in Redux II.

• This isn't really on topic...but who else had a "Go Scully !" moment when she hung up on Mulder for once? ;-)

Emily
• Mulder shows his paternal side, and loves Emily because Scully loves her. The doctor obviously noticed: "Now are you two the parents?" Another person seeing Mulder and Scully for what they are...

• Mulder kicks Dr. Calderon's butt for being involved in the conspiracy and harming Scully. I was cheering him on the whole time!

• Mulder and Scully have several conversations reminiscent in tone to Memento Mori--very good! Who else saw how Mulder hung his head after Scully asked him to leave her alone with Emily? The conversation on the couch at Bill's house followed the same pattern: very intense and subtly shippy.

• So we didn't get a hug at the end. Scully still showed how much she needs Mulder by choosing to take a ride with him rather than with her family. Their conversation was packed with DAL:
  Scully: She found me.
  Mulder: So you could save her.

Christmas Carol
• Although Mulder's not in this one much, except for a five-second scene in which he wears a strange long hat, we can see how much Scully depends on him. She calls him, but she can't bring herself to tell him about the weird events involving Emily and hangs up.

• The social worker tells Scully she's not a good candidate for adopting Emily because she's never had a long-term relationship. From the look that went across her face, you know she thought of Mulder....

Post-Modern Prometheus
• Woo-hoo! After an average ep relationship-wise, we're treated to a delicious dance scene to Cher's Walking in Memphis. Mulder and Scully sit at a concert and exchange beautiful, laughing eye contact over the table while the "Mutato" dances in his seat. They smile at each other. Mulder gets up and, with his head shyly bowed, holds his hand out to Scully. Looking shocked but pleased, she accepts, and they dance and gaze into each other's eyes for a wonderfully long time.
  Note: There has been some confusion and distress among 'shippers over whether the dance scene actually occurred in TXF universe. I do believe it happened, and here is my view on the episode's events. After Mulder said, "I want to speak to the writer", Izzy suggested taking the Mutato to the concert. Mulder and Scully complied, and therefore the entire dance scene took place. Later, Izzy added the concert scene to his comic book, hence the comic book ending. See? No fear. Besides, the official episode synopse says nothing about the dance scene being imaginary.

Detour
• The conversation in the car with the two dorky agents showed how much Scully prefers Mulder to "normal" people...and the way she was smirking at Mulder during the whole scene was just too cute.

• Scully brings wine and cheese into Mulder's motel room, probably thinking of that incident from Small Potatoes: "Although I must remind you this goes against the Bureau's policy of male and female agents consorting in the same motel room..."

• Mulder: "I was once told the best way to regenerate body heat is to crawl naked into a sleeping bag with someone else who's already naked."
  Scully: "If it rains sleeping bags you might get lucky."
  Scully, you minx!

• Finally, the cuddle scene: Scully pulls Mulder onto her lap and cuddles him to sleep while singing "Joy to the World." Incidentally, the second verse of the song ends with, "and make sweet love to you." Can we assume Scully sang that too?

Unusual Suspects
• If Scully were in it, maybe.... Although we gals agree that naked Mulder made up for her absence!

Redux II



• Holy shipperdom! Mulder sheds his disguise as a dead man to see Scully in the hospital, and really wigs out when Skinner drags him away.

• The Kisses: Mulder kisses Scully's cheek, and nothing could have been more natural. Then he kisses her hand, then her cheek again, only a lot closer to her mouth!

• Scully tries to make Mulder lay the blame on her, proving her everlasting devotion (again). Mulder won't do it because he couldn't live with himself if he did.

• About to accept an offer to join the Dark Side, Mulder goes to Scully's room at night and cries on her hand as she sleeps.

• Upon telling Skinner of Scully's remission, a beaming Mulder says, "It's the best news I could have heard."

Redux
• UST right off the bat....Waiting in Scully's dark bedroom, Mulder says, "Keep going, FBI woman," to her as she starts to remove her shirt.

• Kritschgau tells Mulder he can have what he wants most, and to our shock and joy he replies "A cure for Scully's cancer." Samantha? Nah, Scully's the main woman in his life now.