Latest / Death by Multimedia / Revisiting The X Files Episode 9

Transcript

Revisiting The X Files Episode 9 · Death by Multimedia

0:49
Good day everyone and welcome back for episode 9 of Revisiting
0:54
The X-Files where each episode I'll be working my way through
0:58
the 11 series, 2 movies, and several books that make up The
1:02
X-Files. For those of you returning for
1:05
this next episode, thanks once again for being here.
1:09
And if you're a first time listener, well, I hope this is
1:12
not only enjoyable for you to listen to, but perhaps piques
1:16
your interest once again in a great TV show.
1:20
So the format, as always, is that I'll be working my way
1:23
through the entire show and several other media as we go.
1:26
And for the most part, we'll cover 5 episodes of the series
1:29
in each podcast episode. But firstly, I'll go through the
1:33
feedback on the last episode. And not a lot today, but every
1:38
little bit helps. And from Kansas City we have
1:43
Matt who says another good app here.
1:46
Bill. Although I've had to relive this
1:48
through my memories and your summary, it's still very
1:52
enjoyable. Thanks, and looking forward to
1:54
the next installment and to the bastards at Disney bringing it
1:58
back for me to watch. This last step of yours has had
2:01
me craving to see the developments in season 2 again.
2:05
Well, I think that that might have been the last episode, but
2:08
I think maybe this episode may do so even more.
2:11
Thanks once again to Matt, who is a long time listener of this
2:15
podcast. Another is Jeff from Florida.
2:18
So he decides as he always does. He gives his thoughts on the
2:22
episodes before he listens to my episode, which is always
2:25
wonderful. And his thoughts were little
2:29
green men. So good.
2:31
Great way to kick off the season.
2:33
I love seeing Mulder do his soul searching. 4.5 out of five.
2:38
The host Fluke man X Lots of stuff happening.
2:43
Fantastic episode. 5 out of five blood.
2:48
Ashlynn Gere. I don't know who she is.
2:51
The Lone Gunmen are back. I remember liking this episode
2:54
more back in the day, but it's still enjoyable. 4 out of five
2:59
Sleepless Krychek makes his debut.
3:02
I forgot how early he came into the series.
3:05
I like his dynamic with Mulder. Tony Todd kills it 4 out of five
3:10
and Dwayne Barry. Oh great episode.
3:14
I like seeing the rationale or sorry the rational conspiracy
3:18
theorist in Mulder confronted with the cure.
3:20
Non top of conspiracy theorist in Dwayne Barry.
3:24
Pretty accurate. He didn't give a rating on that
3:27
episode, but you know what? Let's just assume it's either 4
3:30
or 4.5 or five. Anyway, thanks as always to
3:34
everyone who has given this podcast to listen and if you'd
3:37
like to share your own thoughts, I will give you the contact
3:39
details at the end of the episode.
3:42
So now it's time to move to the part of the series that is
3:45
completely over the top brilliant mixed with some of its
3:50
most ordinary as we travail the next 5 episodes of Season 2 of
3:56
The X-Files. So let us peek into the frantic
4:05
tension that is the Season 2 episode 6 episode titled
4:10
Ascension, written by Paul Brown and directed by Michael Lang.
4:16
And perhaps the first question that comes to mind is who the
4:19
hell is Paul Brown? Where did he come from to write
4:23
such an important episode in this series?
4:27
And I think, and I haven't fact checked this, so take it as you
4:31
will, it's the only episode Paul Brown writes in The X-Files.
4:37
That is ludicrous. Moving on from that, I think the
4:42
greatest thing about this episode is not the story itself,
4:47
the fact that Dwayne Barry has kidnapped Scully and that Scully
4:50
is going to be abducted in his place.
4:53
For me, the great part about this episode is the tore through
4:57
scenes that play around the whole storyline itself, which is
5:02
very much like has been the case in a couple of episodes here in
5:05
building up to this. So we see at the start, of
5:09
course, Mulder is at Scully's apartment after the events of
5:13
the last episode, and he's looking through her stuff and
5:17
reliving what Scully went through in being kidnapped.
5:21
And it's the tracking piece that Scully had.
5:24
That's how Mulder thinks that Dwayne Barry must have found
5:27
her, something he brings up in the meeting that once everyone
5:30
has filed out, we see the Smoking Man has once again been
5:35
a discretionary part of. Then there is a great scene
5:39
where Dwayne Barry is driving off with Scully in the boot and
5:42
he's going to the mountaintop to try and find the spaceship to
5:45
take Scully away. And the music in this scene is
5:49
by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, and it's the song Red Right
5:52
Hand. And that makes this scene just
5:56
so awesome because the music actually fits the mood of the
5:59
scene so perfectly. So Dwayne, of course, has to
6:03
kill the cop who pulls him over. And this is how Mulder discovers
6:06
that Scully is still alive. And in the boot through the
6:10
footage from the cop car that was taken.
6:13
And you can feel and see the tension in Mulder through the
6:17
whole episode, which is really interesting, the way that that
6:21
builds through the episode and the way that Krycheck is there
6:24
with him and he's trying to help him.
6:27
But of course, we also see Krycheck in different scenes
6:31
also being in contact with his superiors and trying to stop
6:35
Mulder in every possible way he can.
6:38
And this is all the by play as Krycheck acts as interference
6:43
throughout Mulder's attempts to catch up to Dwayne Barry.
6:47
In the car ride, Krycheck mentions that Scully may have
6:51
been found by the piece of metal that she had, but then of course
6:55
Mulder brings out the fact that someone could have given Dwayne
6:58
Barry her address. And that's where we suddenly
7:01
believe that this is what happened with the people that
7:04
Crycheck is involved with, if not Crycheck himself.
7:10
Then we have Mulder going up to the Skylift and Crycheck stops
7:13
him from getting to the top so that Dwayne Barry has enough
7:15
time to get Scully to the top of the mountain.
7:18
And this required killing the lift operator, which is going to
7:22
leave a mess that needs cleaning up.
7:24
And yet, once Mulder climbs on top of the cable car and tries
7:28
to get to the top of the mountain, Krycheck then starts
7:32
the car again to allow Mulder to make it be.
7:34
And the question that comes to mind is, is this because
7:38
Krycheck is under orders not to allow Mulder to die, or because
7:42
he doesn't actually want him to kill him, he just just wants to
7:46
stop him from reaching Scully? More to contemplate on that
7:50
later on. So Mulder reaches Dwayne, but
7:53
Scully is gone, and though he claims Scully has been taken by
7:57
an alien craft, Mulder says that he only saw a light from a
8:01
helicopter, not another craft. So Dwayne is then interrogated,
8:05
which involved Mulder asking him again if anything he has told
8:09
him is a lie, which sets Dwayne off again.
8:14
But Mulder does not ask the obvious question.
8:17
Why did you take Scully? And how did you find her?
8:21
And I'm guessing that this is a script thing that we've left
8:25
unanswered because Chris Carter doesn't want us to know those
8:29
answers. But that's something you would
8:31
immediately have thought that Mulder would ask, even in his
8:34
confused and angry and distressed state, that he would
8:38
ask those questions and then and that then Dwayne Barry would
8:42
give the answers. And of course, Dwayne then dies
8:47
mysteriously the moment that Mulder loses the room.
8:50
It's amazing, isn't it? How would you have thought that
8:53
that was possible? Has Mulder remembered nothing
8:56
from Deep Throat? Trust no one.
9:00
I mean, come on. And what we then have are some,
9:07
and I mean, this, really terrific scenes.
9:11
There's the scene where Krycheck is in his car with the Smoking
9:14
Man and the discussion, which involves Krycheck saying, if
9:18
Mulder is such a threat, why not just dispose of him?
9:21
And the Smoking Man says that is not what our organization does.
9:26
So you can see here that Krycheck is confused.
9:29
He thinks he's done everything right.
9:31
He thinks that Scully has gone and he wants to know whether
9:35
Scully's alive or dead, and he's not told, and he suddenly
9:39
understands that he is now also disposable if he doesn't follow
9:43
orders, which of course leads to him disappearing.
9:49
And then we have the fantastic scene once Mulder then goes to
9:52
sea, Senator Matheson again, but he's pulled up by X, who on the
9:58
staircase tells him again that you know you are too late,
10:02
there's nothing anyone can do for you, and there's nothing
10:04
anyone can do for Scully. And that Molder believes that X
10:08
knows what has happened and that also that his predecessor Deep
10:12
Throat, would have helped him, whereas X, of course, is no
10:16
longer going to do that. And this then leads to Molder
10:19
discovering the cigarette in the ashtray of the car that he's
10:22
borrowed from Krawczyk, which then leads to another brilliant
10:26
scene in Skinner's office, where Molder tells Skinner in his
10:30
report the fact that he believes that it's Krycheck who has been
10:33
involved in this from the start and that he's the one who's
10:36
involved. Skinner asks for Krycheck to
10:39
come in, But of course, he then says to Mulder, tell me
10:43
everything you know? And Skinner's attitude changes.
10:47
And Mitch Pilegi plays this so well because when he's in
10:52
official mode, he speaks to Mulder through very pious lips
10:55
all the time and always has a terraced tone.
10:58
But once he asks Mulder for his an official report, his mouth
11:03
and opens normally and he speaks with a candor about events and
11:08
it changes Skinner's character in just that way into normally
11:13
without the authoritarian part. It is done subtly but
11:18
brilliantly. Sadly.
11:21
Of course, they then discover that Krawczyk has done a runner
11:24
and that there is nowhere else to go.
11:29
Past the point this will become a larger Bureau matter all right
11:40
what do you got I. Found this in age of Krycheck's
11:44
car. He doesn't smoke.
11:48
Agent Krycheck was the last person with Dwayne Barry before
11:51
he died. He was also the last person to
11:53
see the tram operator before he disappeared.
11:56
When I got to the top of Skyland Mountain, I saw an unmarked
11:59
helicopter working the area. I believe that Agent Krychek
12:02
gave away the whereabouts of Dwayne Barry and Agent Scully to
12:05
whoever he's working with. And who was that?
12:08
I don't know the military, some covert organization within the
12:13
government, whoever it is that the man who smokes those
12:15
cigarettes works for. Why?
12:17
Because Agent Scully got too close to whatever it is they're
12:20
trying to deny, because she had hard and damning evidence that
12:24
metallic implant in her possession, or because her
12:28
termination would prevent further involvement with me and
12:31
my work do. You think Agent Scully's dead?
12:41
I don't know. How far do you think they'd go?
12:48
What do you know about Agent Krycheck I.
12:50
Didn't give him the assignment. I only.
13:03
Yes, thank you. Agent Krycheck didn't show up
13:13
for work this morning. His whole number has been
13:17
disconnected. That's it, He's gone.
13:24
He just disappears into the woodwork.
13:26
So it would appear. Who are these people who can
13:29
just murder with impunity and we can't do anything about it?
13:32
Let it go, Agent Mulder. Like.
13:33
Hell, there's nothing you can do.
13:35
What can you do about it? There's only one thing that I
13:41
can do, Agent Mulder. As of right now, I'm reopening
13:46
The X-Files. That's what they fear the most.
14:00
Now that's a really terrific scene, really well written and
14:03
really well acted by these two, given the tension of the whole
14:07
moment. And even though it's a big
14:11
moment, The X-Files are reopened, it's not really given
14:15
the credence that it probably needed at that end of that
14:19
scene. So we get to the end of the
14:22
episode and Scully's gone. The X-Files have been reopened,
14:26
but we're not really sure what's going to happen going forward.
14:30
What is Mulder going to do? Is he going to just spend his
14:33
every moment trying to search for Scully, or does he have to
14:37
continue to do his work? It's it's fantastic, a really
14:42
fantastic episode. It's just unbelievably good and
14:48
overall it is so interesting, with the actual main part of the
14:52
storyline being the fact that Scully has disappeared.
14:56
Though whether by actual aliens or by the government, conspiracy
15:00
is still left in abeyance. The fact the conspiracy side of
15:04
things, the fact that Krycheck is so deep in with the Smoking
15:07
Man and his cronies. The fact that X has come in and
15:11
said there's nothing more that he can do, and the fact that
15:14
Skinner can see that things are happening around him and that
15:17
he's finally decided that he needs to help and be more a part
15:21
of this than he has been is the most dramatic and important part
15:26
of the episode. Which probably sounds crazy, but
15:30
it is. It's not the fact that Scully
15:33
has actually been abducted, it's everything else around that
15:36
abduction that has happened that is the most entertaining and
15:40
amazingly brilliant part of this episode.
15:43
Which it all adds up to being a 5 out of 5 episode.
15:47
One that stands alone itself as a sensational episode, but one
15:52
that also changes everything about this show as it moved
15:55
forward from this point because now one of the major players is
16:00
gone. So we reach season 2 episode 7
16:09
titled 3, an episode drafted by Chris Rappenthal and then has
16:15
the screenplay written by Glenn Morgan and James Wong and is
16:19
directed by David Nutter. So with all of these people
16:24
involved in the episode, it should automatically be a 5 out
16:27
of five episode right? Well let's go back.
16:32
Meanwhile, in the real world, after the events of the previous
16:35
episode, we have the usual situation of old bloke meeting
16:39
up with young girl, there's a hot tub involved and him dying
16:43
rather viciously too. And you know, it sets up, it
16:49
sets up what is a really disappointing episode.
16:53
After the intro, we have Molder going back into his old office
16:56
of The X-Files, because the furniture, of course, is still
16:58
wrapped in plastic, and he adds Dana Scully's file to his
17:02
X-Files cabinet. And as the humorous part of
17:06
trying to showcase a part of Mulder's character, we have the
17:10
calendar hanging on the wall, which has May on it.
17:14
And of course it's got all these pretty girls on the calendar, if
17:18
you know what I mean. And he changes the date of the
17:23
calendar from May through to November, so you know that a
17:26
period of six months has passed if you've only just caught up.
17:30
Anyway, here we go. The fires are burning in LA.
17:33
And in more ways than one, Mulder is called to a murder
17:37
scene, the murder scene that we've already described at the
17:39
start of the episode. And in the long run, it's only
17:43
Mulder who knows what's going on.
17:45
And he suggests that these murders are linked to other
17:49
murders that have happened in two other cities as well, and
17:53
that generally, they seem to kill several people in the same
17:56
method. And then they move on to the
17:58
next town. And very early on we are given
18:02
the impression that these are people who are following the
18:04
life of a vampire without actually being vampires.
18:08
And yet we eventually discover that 01 might be, because we
18:14
finally meet the lovely John, who is known as the Son of the
18:18
Unholy Trinity. And he's in a jail cell after
18:21
Mulder has interrogated him and he gets burnt to a crisp when
18:25
subjected to sunlight. Rather unfortunate for him,
18:30
Mulder then meets a woman named Kristen at the club that John
18:33
had a stamp on his arm of and discovers that she has been the
18:37
one who they've been following around the country and well
18:43
beyond that. He of course then discovers that
18:47
the vampires are real and that they can come back from the dead
18:51
because the sun suddenly arrives back from the dead and look.
18:55
Making a Long story short, it comes down to Kristen, who bumps
19:00
them all off in a big fire at the end, including herself.
19:04
And that's pretty much the end of the episode.
19:07
Yeah, I know, but it's there's not much more I can say about
19:11
this. One of the interesting things
19:13
said in here is when Mulder comes to the the first scene.
19:18
I think we can handle things. There's no time for agency
19:20
rivalries. I don't care about credit for
19:22
the arrest or what goes on whose record.
19:25
In the past year these killers have murdered 6 people in two
19:27
states. They only kill at night.
19:29
By the end of the week, two more people will be dead and they
19:31
will be gone. Just how do you know Wallace?
19:34
There's a file on the previous murders.
19:35
I've studied it. I've studied them.
19:37
I've been waiting three months for them to reappear.
19:40
And just how can you be sure that these are the same killers?
19:43
The Wire reported a body was found drained blood, bite marks
19:46
on the exterior jugular and median cubital veins.
19:49
Every mirror in the house was smashed.
19:51
Yeah, well, it's what The Wire didn't report that distinguishes
19:55
this scene. There's writings on the wall
19:57
written in the victim's blood. He who eats of my flesh and
20:01
drinks of my blood shall have eternal life.
20:04
Now we'll raise them up on the last day.
20:07
They have the same feeble literal grasp of the Bible as
20:10
all those big haired preachers do.
20:14
Now, in this day and age, you'd probably get cancelled for that
20:17
the character or maybe just the whole show itself.
20:22
Look, it's it's pretty simple. After everything that's come
20:26
before this episode in this series, this is a massive
20:31
disappointment. Doing an episode on vampires is
20:34
like doing one on werewolves. And of course, we did see that
20:38
in Season 1, but that was done so well because incorporated the
20:42
American Indian culture, whereas this is just basic blatant, yes,
20:48
look, these vampires are true and alive and they're killing
20:50
people to stay alive. And it doesn't work.
20:55
The long scene, and I mean long scene at Kristen's house with
20:59
Mulder, who is obviously fangirling over her, is awful
21:04
and drags on way too long. And it's supposed to increase
21:09
tension in the story that perhaps Mulder is going to be
21:12
drained of his blood or that Kristen's going to be killed,
21:16
and instead these two just end up smouldering over each other.
21:20
And apparently Duchovny was dating the actress who played
21:25
Kristen at the time. It's just dreadfully awful, and
21:30
it drags this episode out terribly.
21:33
There's nothing of this episode that I think is any good.
21:38
I mean, there's nothing apart from the first scene with Mulder
21:40
in his office and having Scully's bracelet and then the
21:44
very last scene after all these people have died and he's
21:47
suddenly wearing the bracelets bracelet as a necklace.
21:52
Nothing relates to the previous episode.
21:55
There is nothing in this episode that even remotely is
21:58
interesting to The X-Files. It's the problem with taking on
22:03
an urban legend such as vampires or werewolves.
22:06
It's all being done in popular culture far better than they
22:09
could ever do here in this show. And Mulder, of course, slips
22:16
through this episode in her daze.
22:17
And I guess that's what the writers were trying to do, that
22:20
Mulder was going on with his work.
22:23
But of course he's still thinking about Scully and where
22:26
she is. And if you look at it from that
22:28
point of view, then the episode in some ways works OK, but the
22:35
actual episode itself, as in being in any way interesting and
22:39
in any way a great episode of The X-Files, is just not.
22:45
In fact, to this point in time, it is the worst episode of The
22:49
X-Files. So even with the PSA, because
22:53
the PSA doesn't even help it at all.
22:56
The problem that obviously we have two or three people who are
22:59
out killing people in in a serial killer way and draining
23:03
the blood of their victims. And the answer is that
23:06
apparently we have an unholy Trinity of vampires who are
23:10
doing that. Which of course is solved by the
23:12
fact that Kristen kills them all in the fire at the end.
23:16
And the answerless I guess is why would you do an episode like
23:21
this in the 1st place? Because it's just absolute
23:25
rubbish. So for me this is a 0.5 out of
23:32
five episode. I could give it zero and I was
23:36
very close to giving it 0. But there is a possibility that
23:40
there are worse episodes to come, and I must admit right now
23:45
I don't remember them any other episodes being this bad.
23:54
So we come to this episode, episode 8 of Season 2, titled 1
24:00
Breath, written by Morgan and Wong.
24:03
And yes, they more than make up for the Turkey they have just
24:06
delivered us and directed by RW Goodwin.
24:10
And of course, this episode is essentially the return of Dana
24:15
Scully to our universe. Oh, spoiler alert, Bill.
24:20
But it's far more than that. This is an episode that is a
24:24
constant scene after scene after scene that are just absolutely
24:29
incredible. 1 after the other. So we get the opening scene of
24:34
Scully's mother looking to say that she's willing to let Scully
24:38
go. And we have the gravestone
24:41
already made out, made-up and all that kind of stuff.
24:44
And then we go straight into the credits.
24:46
And then after that, we have the fact that Scully suddenly turns
24:49
up in hospital in a coma, and no one knows who has brought her in
24:53
or how she turns up on the ward or how she's hooked up to these
24:57
machines. Not one person there can explain
25:00
this. And this is in a day and age
25:02
even then, where there are cameras everywhere.
25:05
And the doctor says that she's obviously still in a coma, she's
25:11
not well and she's fading fast, and that Scully has signed an
25:15
agreement in her will, which was witnessed by Mulder, that if
25:18
this was to happen, they were to just let her go.
25:23
So we also have the appearance of Scully's sister, Melissa, for
25:27
the first time, who is very holistic and is a psychic and
25:31
is. So this is all a part of this
25:33
episode as well. And it's interesting to note
25:35
that initially, apparently the introduction of Melissa was
25:39
going to be as a romantic interest for Mulder.
25:43
Thankfully that was shelled very quickly, so beyond that we see
25:49
several quite amazing scenes in this episode.
25:53
I love how Frohickey turns up with flowers in a suit for
25:57
Scully, which is just fantastic. But from there, we go back to
26:01
the Lone Gunman and they take Scully's charts and they discuss
26:05
exactly what has happened with the branching DNA and the fact
26:09
that it's a waste deposit and that whoever has been
26:13
experimenting on Scully has obviously finished and this is
26:17
what's killing her. And of course, Mulder says, will
26:21
she live? And the other three all look
26:24
around at each other without giving an answer.
26:26
And this is an absolutely superbly acted scene, and it's
26:30
credited to all those three. It has the tension of the fact
26:35
that they can discover that this is something that's out of the
26:38
ordinary with the branching DNA and the reasons behind it.
26:42
And honestly, just a brilliant scene.
26:44
Another brilliant scene with these guys in it again, and the
26:47
Lone Gunmen now look like they are going to become such an
26:50
important part of this series. And this particular scene again
26:54
shows you that they are a very important part of that.
26:59
We then go to Scully's blood and the confrontation in the garage
27:03
with the guy who has stolen her blood and X appearing in the
27:07
scene from out of nowhere. Now at the start of the episode,
27:11
Mulder had attempted to contact X by putting a masking tape X on
27:16
his window and X has taken offense at this majorly.
27:21
And in this scene, X is frantic and angry and scared again.
27:28
Now this is what we saw with Deep Throat developing with his
27:30
character in season 1 when he didn't know what was going on
27:35
and he wasn't in control of what was going on.
27:38
And here we see X in a similar mood and he tells Mulder you are
27:43
my tool, I am not yours. And this whole scene shows that
27:48
he is not willing to be exposed through the fact that Mulder
27:51
continues to want to try and use him and that he believes that
27:54
Mulder is only there to be used by him when he sees fit to do
27:58
it. Despite this, Mulder then tracks
28:02
down the guy who's stolen the blood, but it's Ex who actually
28:05
executes him. And then he says, I will take
28:08
care of this and that basically I don't want to see you again
28:12
for some time. But again, this whole scene
28:16
showcases the fact that X is not really there to help Mulder at
28:20
all, that he is there to use Mulder for his own nefarious
28:23
means. And again, we don't know whether
28:27
he's on Mulder's side or not, much like it was with Deep
28:30
Throat at different stages of Season 1.
28:34
So X, once again excellently portrayed by Stephen Williams,
28:39
he really showcases every facet of the character's fear and
28:44
anger in the whole two sides of his character where he wants to
28:49
help to a certain degree, but in the long run, we'll only give
28:54
away a certain amount of information.
28:58
The next really terrific scene here is with the Smoking Man in
29:02
his apartment. So Molda finds an address for
29:06
the Smoking Man in a packet of Morleys in the cigarette machine
29:09
at the hospital, which results in the face off for the first
29:14
time between Molda and the Smoking Man on screen.
29:18
And it's another pivotal scene, a pivotal moment in The X-Files.
29:30
What do you mean? Tonight I ask the questions
29:35
you're going to answer me, you son of a bitch.
29:37
Don't try and threaten me, Mulder.
29:39
I've watched presidents die. Why her?
29:49
Why her not me? Answer me.
29:56
I like, I like her too. That's why she was returned.
30:05
You should be able to die. Why look at me?
30:12
No wife, no family, some power. I'm in the game because I
30:17
believe what I'm doing is right. Right for you to decide what's
30:24
right. Who are you?
30:32
People were to know of the things that I know it would all
30:36
fall apart. I told Skinner you shot the man
30:41
in the hospital, but I didn't really believe it.
30:45
And here you are with a gun to my head.
30:46
I have more respect for you, Boulder.
30:50
You're becoming a player. You can kill me now, but you'll
30:59
never know the truth. And that's why I'll win.
31:12
Don't worry, this will be our secret.
31:17
We wouldn't want others to start rumors.
31:25
And this whole scene is perfect. And Smoking Man says that you
31:30
can kill me now, but you'll never know the truth.
31:33
And then you can see Mulder thinks about, but then pulls his
31:37
gun away, to which the Smoking Man says, and that's why I'll
31:41
win. It's just a fantastically acted
31:44
scene between these two. They're first confrontation face
31:48
to face, and now they both better understand each other in
31:52
the fact that it's obvious that Smoking Man was certainly
31:56
concerned that he'd been found and that he could be possibly
32:00
killed. And of course, Mulder knowing
32:03
that he couldn't kill him because he obviously had more
32:07
information that he could, you know, than he could possibly
32:10
allow to occur. So William B Davis, again for
32:14
the win here, portraying the Smoking Man, fantastic once
32:18
again. So we go beyond that.
32:20
And then the next great thing we have is down in Mulder's office
32:24
as he has set his resignation to Skinner.
32:27
And Skinner comes down and tears it up and more or less just says
32:31
it's unacceptable. And Mulder, of course, says that
32:36
he's got nothing, he has no evidence and he has no hope, and
32:39
that he's lost himself. And then Skinner tells him of
32:43
his own story of joining the Marines in going to Vietnam and
32:47
killing the kid who was encased in bombs and grenades, and
32:52
obviously at one point saying that he was dead and he had an
32:56
after death experience of looking down on himself.
33:01
And his last quote that he says is, I'm not able to look beyond
33:05
this, but you are. And again, he says the
33:10
resignation is unacceptable. And just before he walks out of
33:14
the room, Mulder says to him, you're the one.
33:17
You're the one who gave me the Smoking Man's address.
33:20
And Skinner doesn't confirm that.
33:23
All he says is your resignation is unacceptable.
33:26
So this is a fantastic scene. I couldn't possibly explain to
33:31
you how good this scene is. It's another opportunity where
33:36
we really have a meaningful discussion between these two
33:39
major characters in the show. And Skinner as being the
33:43
authority person here, the elder statesman and Mulder looking his
33:47
youngish age during this conversation that he's lost and
33:52
no doubt appreciating the fact that his superior has come down
33:55
and said all of this to him. It's just brilliantly done.
33:59
And Mitch Poleggi, again, he showcases how fantastic he is
34:04
and where he, along with the writers, are taking this
34:06
character of assistant director Skinner.
34:10
And I think, again, just proving how fantastic this show is.
34:16
And for Mulder, again, for David Duchovny, in this particular
34:19
scene, again, he's able to showcase that his vulnerability
34:23
and the fact that he's lost and that he's looking for an answer,
34:27
but he doesn't know what to do about that.
34:30
And then obviously resigning, moving on was one of those
34:33
things. But he's been brought back here
34:36
by Skinner, which is just brilliant.
34:39
It's a truly terrific scene. So then we move on from that
34:44
scene and we get back to meeting X again.
34:46
And X explains that he can't tell Mulder what they took
34:51
Scully for, but I can give you the two who did it and who took
34:55
her and that they're coming to your apartment at a specific
34:58
time this evening. And you can then execute them
35:01
because there's no other way to go.
35:03
They'll never be punished for what they've done.
35:06
The only way to administer justice is to kill them.
35:09
And at the end of this, X says after this, we will not be able
35:13
to make contact for several weeks.
35:16
So it's another showcase of this character's side where it is.
35:22
Look, here you go. This is what I think you'll
35:25
want. And then I'm going to cut off
35:27
contact until I need you again. And it really does put X in the
35:33
category of someone who thinks that all Mulder wants is
35:37
revenge, when in reality what he wants is for Scully to live.
35:41
Of course, Mulder then gets called away at the crucial
35:45
moment when there's he's waiting in his in his apartment for
35:49
these guys to come and ransack his apartment because Melissa
35:51
turns up and says you must come and see Scully.
35:54
You must come and say goodbye and let her go.
35:58
And that's another really well acted scene between Mulder and
36:03
Melissa, putting him in the perspective of the friendship
36:06
and that he needs to let Scully go and come to be with her.
36:11
So then we have the next scene, which is in the hospital where
36:14
Mulder is speaking to Dana in her coma, saying, I don't know
36:19
if you can hear me, but that in the long run, I believe you're
36:24
not ready to go. And you've always had the
36:26
strength of your beliefs. And I don't know if my being
36:30
here will help bring you back, but I'm here eventually, of
36:35
course, he then goes back home to his apartment.
36:37
He finds it. It's been ransacked as
36:40
predicted. And then he begins to break
36:42
down. And they don't really extend
36:45
that part. It's more or less a SOB.
36:48
And then we cut to the next scene.
36:50
And they could really have, given that whole scene and the
36:54
character of Mulda some gravitas by actually showing Mulda
36:58
breaking down completely over what he believes he's just done,
37:03
which is say goodbye to his partner.
37:06
And he's extraordinarily good friend.
37:10
The next scene, of course, is Scully's arrived back in the
37:13
world of the living. Who would have thought?
37:16
And Mulda arrives at the hospital, and he comes in and
37:20
Scully immediately says without any prompting, I don't remember
37:24
anything after being kidnapped by Dwayne.
37:27
And then we have beyond that, the final scene, Scully asking
37:31
for Nurse Owens, who she had heard talking to her while she
37:35
was in her coma. And she believes that Nurse
37:37
Owens has been there the whole time and has been pivotal in
37:42
bringing her back to the Lena living in in not allowing her
37:45
spirit to go to the next life. And of course, the reply that
37:50
the nurse gives her is there's never been anyone of that name
37:53
who's ever worked here. And that's the episode it's got
37:59
as. I know, I know I've rambled on a
38:01
bit here, but this episode is made-up of all these
38:05
magnificently wonderfully written and acted scenes like no
38:09
other episode prior to this in the series.
38:12
It is amazingly written by Glenn Morgan and James Wong.
38:14
Again, it is directed fantastically by RW Goodwin.
38:18
It is truly a masterpiece and given that Glenn Morgan and
38:22
James Wong wanted it to create a new version of the episode of
38:27
Beyond the Sea, which was from the first series.
38:29
That of course centered on Gillian Anderson and her
38:32
portrayal of Scully's character. And this time they wanted to
38:36
give it the opportunity to centre on David Duchovny's
38:39
character of Mulder and give him the chance to show a different
38:42
side to his character, such as Gillian Anderson got to do a
38:46
Scully and Beyond the Sea. I think it was just
38:49
magnificently done. And it's interesting that the
38:52
episode prior to this was, I think, without a doubt the worst
38:56
episode of The X-Files to this point in time and possibly of
38:59
the whole show. But there's also little doubt
39:03
that to this point in time, this is the best episode of The
39:07
X-Files to this point. And the fact that it followed
39:10
the worst, I guess is interesting enough.
39:13
It's it's a really it shows that I don't think they really knew
39:18
how to space out the period from where Scully was taken to where
39:22
Scully returns. And also, of course, the
39:24
pregnancy of Gillian Anderson, which is what the episodes were
39:28
there for, to allow her to have her baby and have a little bit
39:31
of time off before she came back to the series for the birth of
39:35
Piper Anderson. I think maybe I don't know what
39:38
the last name is, but I know her first name is definitely Piper.
39:41
So there you go. So yes, absolutely magnificent,
39:45
because it's not about The X-Files as such, it's about
39:49
Mulder searching for Scully returning and then basically
39:53
trying to find a way for him to find revenge and to try and help
39:56
Scully as much as possible, but also to see Scully's journey
40:01
from the land of the dead back to the land of the living.
40:05
So I'm out of breath. This is just a fantastic
40:08
episode. I've used the word fantastic a
40:10
lot in the last 10 minutes or so.
40:13
And I apologize for that, but this stretches beyond what you
40:17
would normally expect from the alien mythology or the monster
40:20
of the week episodes. It's really a personal
40:23
relationship episode between so many people.
40:27
It's obviously Mulder and X in their relationship, Mulder and
40:32
the Lone Gunman in their relationship, Mulder and Skinner
40:36
in their relationship, Mulder and the Smoking Man in their
40:41
relationship. And then of course, we also had
40:43
the relationship between Maldo and Melissa and Mrs. Scully and
40:48
with Dana, and also, of course, Maldo's intertwining
40:52
relationship through all of that with Scully.
40:56
So if I could give this more than five out of five, I would.
41:01
And as I've already said at least a couple of times, this is
41:04
the best episode of The X-Files to this point of the series.
41:13
OK, I promise the next two episodes won't take so long, and
41:18
we're moving on to episode 9 of Season 2 titled Firewalker.
41:22
And it was written by Howard Gordon on his own and directed
41:26
by David Nutter. And there are two very main
41:29
points to consider about this episode.
41:33
The 1st is that we jump right back in as though nothing has
41:36
happened, with Scully ready to continue on in her job, as
41:40
though nothing has happened to her over the previous month or
41:43
two months. Now, this is a big thing when
41:46
you consider the events of the previous three episodes.
41:49
Scully was gone, taken by aliens or the government and
41:52
experimented on, though that isn't certain just yet, and then
41:57
mysteriously returned, to which we can not actually place.
42:01
How did she come back? She'd been close to death, and
42:06
then she was suddenly alive, and now the very next week.
42:10
If you were watching these in the good old days when these
42:13
episodes were aired every week, Scully's back and insisting she
42:18
be allowed to accompany Mulder on his new mystery.
42:21
There is the obligatory comment from Mulder in their office in
42:25
the bunker of the newly reopened X-Files, that Scully should take
42:29
some time off and recover from her ordeal.
42:32
But Scully's reply is, I've lost too much time.
42:36
I need to work, which is a really interesting comment.
42:40
So a shrug from Mulder and off we go.
42:43
The other thing to consider here is that this episode does tend
42:46
to track along the same way as the episode Ice from season 1.
42:52
Our intrepid agents are whisked away to our remote location, the
42:56
premise being that communication has been lost with the
42:58
scientists there. And as with the other episode,
43:02
we have a video of a dead body, but then a shadow that traverses
43:06
the scene in apparently conditions that humans could not
43:09
withstand. So from the outset, both of
43:12
these things leave you in a state of I'm going to use the
43:16
word ambivalence about what is going to happen because it
43:19
becomes increasingly obvious that, much like in ice, there is
43:23
something that has come up from the depths this time, the
43:26
volcano that these scientists are studying, and that whatever
43:30
this life form is, it isn't good for the human race if it manages
43:34
to escape. We soon discover the head of the
43:37
scientific exploration, Daniel, played by the quite brilliant
43:41
Bradley Whitford, has disappeared and gone mad,
43:45
probably in that order, and has destroyed all of the research
43:48
made to this point. The remainder of the crew are
43:52
frightened and stranded, but are they frightened because they
43:55
feel that Daniel is trying to kill them, or because they
43:58
suspect that something else is happening?
44:02
After the returning former head of the group, Pierce, who
44:05
brought the agents to the site, is bumped off logically by
44:09
Daniel, there is a general evacuation ordered until one of
44:15
the crew shows he is not suffering from the flu, but in
44:19
fact is infected with an asca. CARP, which is a new Organism
44:25
that Scully eventually concludes is silicon based, then has been
44:30
brought to the surface by the expedition Rover.
44:34
Of course, Scully concludes this after Mulder had already sort of
44:38
more or less said this is what's going on.
44:41
So Tanaka, who is the infected crew member, dies from the
44:45
bursting of the ASCA carp out of his neck.
44:48
Where is Ripley when you need her?
44:50
Yes, there is an Alien reference there.
44:53
And he did it after running into the woods when he was almost on
44:58
the chopper to get out. You could almost hear go to the
45:01
chopper. Yes, I thought I'd do that as
45:04
well. And that made no sense except as
45:09
a convenient plot point to ensure that Mulder and Scully
45:12
don't die when the ASCA Corp explodes.
45:16
Now for me, that's lazy writing. Surely there is some way that
45:20
you could have said that they got on the chopper and then it
45:22
exploded on the chopper and then everyone who was on the chopper
45:26
died before Mulder and Scully got there.
45:27
I don't know. See, I'm already a better
45:29
writer. It's I should just be writing
45:31
X-Files episodes. I've attempted to culture this
45:39
bore using temperatures ranging from human basal to those
45:43
approximating the volcanic interior.
45:46
I have used nutritive mediums containing human tissue, blood
45:52
and saliva, even sulfur. However, none of the seven
45:57
trials have successfully grown the fungus that killed Tanaka.
46:01
Based on this preliminary data, I've come to the following
46:04
hypothesis that unless these spores are ingested or inhaled
46:11
by the host Organism immediately upon their release, they become
46:16
harmless, effectively dead. Move on Bill.
46:24
While Scully continues her research, the rescue of everyone
46:28
is abandoned until more facts can be obtained.
46:31
Mulder goes off with another crew member in Ludwig to search
46:34
for Daniel, who instead finds them and kills Ludwig, who
46:39
eventually he says was also infected and that all of the
46:43
crew were apart from him. As Daniel explains how the
46:48
Organism was discovered and that no one who is exposed to it can
46:51
leave for fear of contaminating the whole world's population.
46:56
As he says that the Organism is parasitic in nature and it
47:01
therefore makes its host pass itself on to others so it
47:05
actually controls its host and makes sure that it gets passed
47:09
on. So while this is happening, Last
47:11
Woman Standing O'Neill handcuffs herself to Scully back at the
47:16
the ranch to ensure that Scully is then infected, and it's
47:19
passed on. Of course, Scully manages to
47:22
avoid her fate by closing her kneel in a containment room that
47:25
conveniently Shields her from the flower bloom blast.
47:29
Daniel and Mulder then arrive and Mulder and Scully helicopter
47:34
away for a month in quarantine while Daniel disappears into the
47:38
volcano and the project is shut down.
47:42
OK, so this isn't a terrible episode, but it does have that
47:47
feeling of repeating itself and it's very early in The X-Files
47:51
to be doing that. Bradley Whitford is a great
47:55
guest actor to get onto the show, but he is terribly wasted
47:59
here when a better role could surely have been found for him.
48:03
Shawnee Smith too did far better things down the track.
48:07
She's probably best known for her role in Ted Danson's Becker,
48:11
and Given the similar tracking of the episode, there was little
48:16
to no drama or tension to speak of in this episode.
48:19
Even the tame ending, which left a resolution for the viewer even
48:23
though there was no resolution for the characters in the show,
48:27
didn't befit what we as viewers were hoping for.
48:30
Certainly not after what we had been getting in recent episodes.
48:35
The problem became clear very quickly.
48:38
The shadow on the video. The solution came eventually and
48:43
there was no real answerless to this because everyone was dead.
48:48
So what were we watching for? So this, after the previous
48:54
episode, wasn't a real disappointment.
48:57
Now it's not a bigger disappointment as the episode 3,
49:01
but it was pretty ordinary. Even even if it was just
49:06
standing alone, it still would be average.
49:09
And the episode barely mentioned what had happened to Scully in
49:11
the lead up to this episode, so we saw it.
49:14
As I said, in episode 3, we saw Malden moping around all episode
49:18
with Scully's disappearance and it was what the episode
49:21
portrayed most. And surely this one should have
49:24
referenced Scully and are difficult to get over her
49:26
experience while still trying to perform her duties under duress.
49:32
But obviously not. So 2.5 out of 5 is the best I
49:37
can offer for this episode. And I honestly do believe that
49:40
that is being very generous. And we've reached episode 10 of
49:50
season 2. And this is titled Red Museum,
49:54
written by Chris Carter and directed by Wynne Phelps.
49:57
And it's his first appearance as a director in this series.
50:01
And the length of time it takes to get this episode, to get to
50:04
the point where it becomes interesting and actually
50:07
relevant, is ridiculous. And perhaps a part of that
50:12
reason can be the following. As hard as it may be to believe,
50:17
this episode was meant to be a crossover episode with the show
50:22
Picket Fences. Now, if you don't remember
50:25
Picket Fences, look it up. And then also the story behind
50:30
the fact that this was going to be crossover episode is probably
50:35
a bit long winded and I don't really want to go into it here.
50:37
But if you do go to the Wikipedia page for this
50:40
particular episode of The X-Files, they cover it really
50:43
quickly and easily there for you if you're interested on reading
50:46
up on it. It's crazy.
50:49
But still, given that this script then had to have things
50:53
purged from it once this deal didn't go ahead, perhaps there
50:57
is some excuse there as to why this episode feels a little
51:02
butchered. And that pun was definitely not
51:05
intended because I've just thought about it.
51:08
The first half of the episode concentrates on what everyone
51:10
believes is happening. Teenagers have been targeted and
51:13
kidnapped, and they appear hours later, drugged and half naked
51:17
with He is 1 or she is 1 written on their backs.
51:22
Contacted by the local sheriff, Mulder and Scully arrive and
51:26
they are directed to the Church of the Red Museum, a religious
51:29
order who are vegetarian and who believe they can have spirits
51:33
walk into their bodies. And thus Mulder talks of them as
51:38
walk insurance believers of soul transfer, taking possession of
51:42
others bodies. And this is the line of
51:45
questioning that goes on for at least the first half of the
51:48
episode, and the mess of other points of investigation.
51:53
That the leader of the Colt, Richard Odin, is a former Doctor
51:56
Who had been struck off the register but would still have
51:58
been able to get the drugs that were used on the kidnapped
52:02
teenagers. The discovery of Gerd Thomas's
52:05
hidey hole where he's been filming a family secretly for
52:08
years and years. And Doctor Larsen, who was
52:11
killed in a plane crash carrying a case full of cash.
52:16
A lot of it is misdirect, a mishmash of a story that seems
52:20
to be going nowhere and in a convoluted circle.
52:25
And then everything clicks into gear.
52:29
We finally work out that the cattle of the town have been
52:32
injected with something that resembles a growth hormone, but
52:35
instead is discovered by Scully to be an alien DNA.
52:40
A jump that in Season 1 Scully could never have made, but now
52:46
she does not hesitate in the slightest to actually come out
52:50
and say it. So we see how her character has
52:53
grown, and probably only because she's been kidnapped by aliens.
52:58
Perhaps. Not only that, they begin to
53:02
suspect that the vitamin shots that Doctor Larson had been
53:05
giving certain teenagers in the town since birth.
53:08
Not surprisingly now the ones who are beginning to be
53:10
kidnapped by GERD and marked as such were also in fact shots of
53:15
the same alien DNA. Now prior to this occurring,
53:20
Mulder and Scully had learned from an old timer that he
53:23
believed people in the town had been changing, that they were
53:26
becoming more confrontational. That with 7 rapes in the past
53:30
four months in the town, the population has changed within
53:34
the time frame that the so-called growth hormone had
53:37
been used in the cattle. And all of this builds to the
53:40
point where the episode changes and starts to become something
53:45
far more real. I think he's telling the truth.
53:49
I don't think he killed anyone. How can you be sure?
53:52
I just got the toxicology report back on the broken pile.
53:55
The residual substance couldn't be analyzed because it contains
53:58
synthetic corticosteroids with unidentified amino acids.
54:02
That's purity control molder. Do you know what you're saying,
54:08
Scully? The man who died in that plane
54:11
crash was inoculating those kids with antibodies derived from
54:14
what may have been an extraterrestrial source.
54:16
He's been injecting those kids with alien DNA.
54:19
No, Mulder, that was never proven conclusively.
54:21
But it's the same substance we found in the Erlenmeyer flask,
54:23
isn't it? The same material my Deep Throat
54:25
contact died for? Yes.
54:27
Well, it all makes sense. The money in the briefcase.
54:29
They've been conducting an experiment here.
54:30
Somebody's been paying to have those kids injected with alien
54:33
DNA to see how they'd react. It's been going on for years.
54:36
Does that man know anything? About it?
54:38
No, he's just some poor soul that blew their cover.
54:41
I don't think he knows any more than he's telling us.
54:43
Well. I think his boss must have
54:44
because they just found him shot to death in a cow pasture.
54:47
What? I think I know who shot him.
54:49
Alder, the man that I recognize on the road today, that's the
54:55
same man that executed Deep Throat.
55:00
The heart was behind us. He's here covering their tracks.
55:02
He's going to go after the kids. You get the sheriff and meet me
55:06
at Gary Can's apartment. And Scully, I want the sky live.
55:19
The recognition by Scully of the crew cut men sends the agents
55:23
into action. Mulder calls on the help of the
55:26
Church of the Red Museum, gathering all the children and
55:28
their families affected by what has been occurring.
55:31
On a hunch, Mulder heads back to the beef packing plant and he
55:35
finds the crew cut man about to torch the final evidence that he
55:39
hasn't already dealt with. He locks Mulder in the cool room
55:43
and prepares to torch the place, but he is taken down by the
55:47
Sheriff, even though Mulder had made it clear that he wanted him
55:50
taken alive, but too late. Everything that he may have
55:56
known, which he almost certainly wouldn't have given up anyway,
56:00
goes with him to the grave. The episode then ends with
56:03
Scully's voiceover back to completing her reports on The
56:07
X-Files cases, suggesting that the case remains open and
56:11
unsolved. So here are my problems with
56:15
this episode. Why bring back the crew cut Man
56:19
to kill him off in such an innocuous way without giving
56:23
anyone any sense of satisfaction?
56:26
He had become iconic as the man who had executed Deep Throat.
56:31
No doubt X-Files would have liked to have seen him get a
56:34
particularly gruesome end, preferably at the hands of our
56:37
agents. But as someone who, even though
56:41
it was only through 1 episode, had built up this mythology
56:44
within the series, to dump him so easily in this episode seems
56:49
like a misread of the fandom and the story line.
56:53
Next, there is some subpar acting in this episode,
56:58
particularly by the kids and in the cult.
57:02
It just seemed unrealistic and poorly executed.
57:05
Surely just one more take of these particular scenes would
57:10
not have taken up much time to iron this out.
57:14
Thirdly, and most importantly, it took enormous amounts of time
57:20
for this episode to kick into gear, finally linking purity
57:24
control and the Ehrlen Meyer flask to the inoculations of
57:27
cattle and kids and the crew cut man said to clean up the mess.
57:32
The incongruousness sorry of the first half of the episode kills
57:37
much of the tension and enjoyment of everything going
57:40
on. By the time it all comes
57:42
together and we realize what is happening, it comes too late to
57:46
say the episode. We get 10 or 15 minutes of a
57:49
great episode instead of 45 minutes of a great episode and
57:54
the ending with crew cut, men taken down and the usual X-Files
57:58
government cover up and clean up and lack of proof is just a
58:02
little tired in this episode. In hindsight it had the chance
58:07
to be excellent. A really top shelf episode.
58:11
Instead it is still above average but for all the wrong
58:16
reasons. Overall I would give this a
58:20
strong three or a weak 3.5 and yet it could have been so much
58:25
more as a part of the alien conspiracy mythology.
58:29
This should have been a really important episode, and it is for
58:35
what eventually comes to light. But the time it takes to get to
58:39
that point and the whole misdirect of the Church of the
58:42
Red Museum is just time wasted. It's such a shame.
58:53
So that's it for this episode and for me #9 is in the books
58:58
and what a mixed bag we have. For me, we have two of the
59:02
greatest episodes so far in The X-Files and easily the worst one
59:07
as well. The slow build that we've had
59:10
all the way to Ascension and then One Breath has been
59:14
absolutely brilliant, but the disappointment of Three and
59:17
Firewalker and Red Museum really took a fall.
59:23
Anyway, beyond that, you know, I mean hesitating.
59:27
Sorry. Thanks for listening and for
59:29
being a part of this. If you would like to get
59:32
involved and give your thoughts on this episode, there are a
59:34
number of ways you can do it. You can find me on X as Metal
59:38
Bill with the handle at Real Metal Kevin.
59:41
I'm on Blue sky as metal Bill under at metal Kevin dot B sky
59:46
dot social. You can leave a comment on the
59:49
episode page on Spotify. If you're listening to this
59:52
podcast on that streaming service or if you want to check
59:56
out my Patreon page, you can find that at the creation of me,
1:00:00
a lifetime retrospective. Go to the podcast that I've set
1:00:03
up there, revisiting The X-Files, and leave a comment on
1:00:07
the page for this episode now to listen to.
1:00:11
These episodes on that, you have to become a free member of my
1:00:15
Patreon page. It doesn't cost you anything.
1:00:18
You just have to become a member and then you can interact on all
1:00:23
those kind of episodes as well. And if you know anyone else who
1:00:26
may be interested in going along on this journey with us, please
1:00:29
pass on this episode to them or any of the other episodes and
1:00:32
let's get them on board as well. Eh?
1:00:35
Righty. I've rambled on far too long
1:00:37
here today, as on one particular episode, that is for sure.
1:00:42
I've already started watching my next set of five episodes.
1:00:46
I'm really enjoying it, and to get away from a couple of these
1:00:51
episodes is a good thing that I don't have to see them again
1:00:54
until the next time I go through all these episodes in a few
1:00:57
years times, I guess. But anyway, I'm enjoying
1:01:00
reliving Season 2 and we've got five more episodes coming up and
1:01:04
I can't wait to get stuck into it and hopefully to have you
1:01:07
return for the next episode of revisiting The X-Files, where
1:01:12
the truth is out there. Cheers.