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Revisiting The X Files Episode 17 · Death by Multimedia

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Music. Good day everyone and welcome
0:50
back for episode 17 of Revisiting The X-Files where
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each episode I will be working my way through the 11 series, 2
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movies and several books that make up The X-Files.
1:05
And for those of you who have returned, thanks once again for
1:08
your company. And if you're new to this, then
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thanks for dropping by to check out what is on offer and
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hopefully you'll find something that you like.
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Before we start today's episode, I always like to recap on any
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feedback I've received via the interweb, by messages or on
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social media platforms. Unfortunately for me, this has
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begun to dry up a bit, which is fine because that's not what
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we're here for. We're here to hopefully for our
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mutual enjoyment of a wonderful TV series and anything else
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apart from that is a bonus. However, should you wish to get
1:43
involved in the future, I will give you the contacts at the end
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of the episode. And as always, I'll also put
1:48
them in the show notes for you to follow.
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So with that out of the way, let's head back into the middle
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of Season 3 of The X-Files. So today we're going to kick it
2:04
off with episode 11 of Season 3 titled Revelations.
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And this was written by Kim Newton and directed by David
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Nutter. And this episode goes down a
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very different path from where most of The X-Files episodes
2:18
have trod before. We've seen a couple with a
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religious angle, but nothing like like this one.
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From the outset, we have a man who appears is waging war on
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religious folks who seem to be falsely advertising gifts from
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God in the form of stigmata. The bleeding from the hands and
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feet. And then we meet young Kevin,
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who is actually exhibiting stigmata and our antagonist is
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now trying to track him down. But why?
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Over the course of the episode we discover that Simon Gates is
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on a quest to kill off all those who pretend to show these
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religious harbingers, but he has found them all to be, as he
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calls them, false prophets. In Kevin, he believes he's found
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the real thing and that he must die for the new age to come.
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Mulder and Scully have come on board and from the outset we
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have Scully gravitating towards Kevin in a protective and
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believing fashion, while Mulder is looking from the outside in
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trying to discover why there are people trying to kidnap and harm
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him. The supporting cast around Kevin
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all have their own agendas and beliefs.
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Kevin's father is locked up for believing his son is the chosen
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1A part of the Great War between good and evil.
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Owen Jarvis is Kevin's secret protector who claims to be his
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guardian Angel and his mother is concerned about what is
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happening to her son and why that may be the case.
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Along with Gates who is the obvious bad man they are all
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concerned about. There is a lot going on in this
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small town. This episode allows Scully and
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Mulder to change their positions when it comes to faith and
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beliefs. Scully becomes the believer,
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backing herself by bringing what she has been taught in her
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beliefs as the portents to what is occurring.
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The stigmatic, the description of Owen as the incorruptible she
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has learned of during her catechism teachings, during her
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religious upbringing, and the fact Kevin appears to be able to
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be seen in two places at once. She suggests that her faith
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gives her the ability to believe that.
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Mulder on the other hand questions her as to faith over
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science and not not to allow her beliefs to blind her.
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While Scully is upset that even though he is open to so many
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things that they have investigated over the years,
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that he won't consider that a miracle from God is possible.
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Any revelations? Mulder, would you do me a favor?
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Would you smell Mr. Jarvis? Smell.
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What am I supposed to be smelling?
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You don't detect a faint floral odor, Mulder.
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This man's body is in no way decomposing normally.
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In catechism, we learned of instances like their so-called
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incorruptibles, whose bodies wouldn't decay and who emitted a
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smell of flowers. You're serious?
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Saint Cecilia. Saint Francis.
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And now you're suggesting that this is Saint Owen?
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I don't know. Kelly, those stories you're
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referring to are mostly regarded as hagiographic fabrications,
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not historical truths, just like the occurrence of the stigmata.
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What do you think this is? This man, he was rather abnormal
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in life. Maybe he's decomposing
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abnormally? Well, isn't a St. or or a holy
6:08
person just another term for someone who's abnormal?
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Do you really believe that? I believe in the idea that God's
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hand can be witnessed. I believe he can create
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miracles, yes. Even if science can't explain
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them. Maybe that's just what faith is.
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Well, I wouldn't let faith overwhelm your judgement here.
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These people are simply fanatics behaving fanatically, using
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religion as a justification. They give bona fide paranoics
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like myself a bad name. They're no more divine or holy
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than that ketchup we saw in the murdered preacher.
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And I think once you've finished your autopsy, you'll come to the
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same conclusion. So Owen gets bumped off by
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Gates. Unlucky Owen.
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Then Mum gets bumped off after a confrontation with Gates that
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leads her to crashing her car with Kevin in it.
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Scully then gets cranky with Moulder because he won't accept
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the possibility of miracles and that she wants to keep Kevin
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close. And this is where Moulder says
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you think it's you, don't you? You think it's you who has been
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chosen to protect Kevin, which Scully does not deny.
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Of course. Kevin is then kidnapped by Gates
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who tries to bump him off and allow the next part of the
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religious hellscape to take place.
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But somehow he falls into the paper shredder himself, and
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Kevin holds on until Scully can arrive to save him, at which
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point he says, I knew you'd come.
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And at the end, as Kevin heads off for his new home, Scully
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says, perhaps I'll see you again.
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And Kevin replies, you will. This then leads Scully to head
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to church for her first confession for six years and
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speak about the priest or speak with the priest even about her
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inability to discuss her religious beliefs with Mulder
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and that she feels a need to reconnect with the church again.
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The priest then utters the same phrase that has been used during
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the episode. Sometimes we must come full
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circle to find the truth and we end with Scully in a personal
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quandary about her own feelings. Now, I haven't really pushed too
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hard on this episode because the thing with this is that it
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doesn't really have anything to do with the story playing out on
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screen. It has everything to do with the
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characters of Scully and Mulder, the way their usual thoughts
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have been reverse engendered and how they react to that.
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And that is important to note. Scully, usually the devotee of
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science and what can be empirically proven in this
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episode, is bound to invoke faith as her ally, and in this
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case, her faith in her religious beliefs.
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And while this has been touched on before in other episodes, it
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is heavily revived here, in part to show that she can look at
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things in another way apart from her scientific way, but also as
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a vehicle as to what is going to happen down the track just a
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little way. Mulder, on the other hand, shies
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away from these thoughts of miracles and wants to look at
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the situation more aesthetically, looking to locate
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and solve the crimes as they occur and not move into the
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fanciful. So we have the supernatural in a
9:31
way, with Scully the believer and Mulder the denier.
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Scully's angry and then felt let down that her partner cannot
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conceive that what is happening may be a miracle in a religious
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fashion because he steadfastly disbelieves in the concept,
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something of which the reverse is usually true when it comes to
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the paranormal events these two usually investigate.
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It offers the viewer, if not the characters, as they are too far
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invested here of their own opinions, the opportunity to see
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each point of view from the other side of the argument, and
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it is something that is very well written and very well
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acted. Ali Ermi is terrific in his very
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short cameo at the beginning of the episode, as is Michael
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Berryman as the protector Owen, and this also acted as the final
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episode directed by David Nutter, who moved on to other
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projects after it. This is heavy on the religious
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parts here, which for Scully's character are enormously
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important going forward in the series, but does that work here
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as the mirror effect to shine upon our two characters?
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If one wanted to tear down the story itself, there are
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questions still left unanswered as such regarding the deaths and
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how they happened, but the Moulder and Scully arc is what
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this episode is judged on and for me it therefore comes in as
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a four out of five episode. Well, we've had that tinge of
11:09
weirdness, so let's get straight into episode 12 of Season 3 with
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the ever present wonderfulness of War of the Coprafagies.
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Think that's how you pronounce it?
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Coprophages. Or it could be coprophages.
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But you know what? Go with whatever you think.
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And it's written by the brilliant Darren Morgan and
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directed by Kim Manners. And if you're a fan of the
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episode's humbug and Clyde Bruckman's final repose, then
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you are in for another great episode here.
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The premise of the episode concerns the strange deaths in
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the town of Miller's Grove, where it appears people are
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dying from killer cockroaches and who just happens to be on
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the scene when this is occurring.
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Of course, Fox, Moulder FBI just staring at the sky after hearing
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a report of strange lights in the sky the previous evening at
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that location. What follows is a slew of deaths
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that all seem to be related to cockroaches who are sighted on
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or around the deceased bodies, but which Scully, when contacted
12:13
by Moulder, is able to offer a reasonable scientific
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explanation for. And the way these phone calls
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are scripted is pure Darren Morgan Brennans.
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The one prior to the deaths occurring, where Mulder is
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pondering the possibility of alien life.
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Looking down at them, takes place while Scully is at her
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kitchen table taking apart and cleaning her gun like it's the
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most normal thing in the world. Once Mulder is on the scene with
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the first death, the exterminator who has been
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exterminated, she is washing her dog in the sink.
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Yep, the same dog that came from Morgan's previous script from
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the neighbor of Clyde Bruckman. I love how these callbacks occur
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over his stories and the Scully is still taking care of this
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damn dog. Then, as further deaths occur, a
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teenager who slices and dices himself to death with a razor
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blade after huffing manure fumes, the medical examiner who
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dies on the toilet, and the man dead on his hotel bed watching
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TV, Scully manages to find convincing arguments as to how
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they all die, all while doing normal things around her house,
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such as reading Breakfast at Tiffany's.
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She follows them all with Do you want me to come out there?
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And Molder sighs. No, no, you're probably right.
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Sorry to bother you, this is all done so wonderfully by writer
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and actors. The humor and laughs come easily
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and naturally and without being sourced or pushed.
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And it is another crux of The X-Files, the ability to see the
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side of Mulder and Scully that we don't normally see.
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Mulder's investigations now lead into discovering 2 other
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subplots within the Township and two different people doing
14:00
undercover research involving bugs.
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Stay. Hello.
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I take it back, Scully. I think you better get up.
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Here, another Roach attack. Yeah, and this was no allergic
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reaction. 2 Witnesses claimed they saw the victim screaming
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about cockroaches furrowing into them.
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Are there still insects in the body We.
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Haven't located any yet, but there are wounds all over the
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body from. The cockroaches.
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Well, the victim did attempt to extract the insects using a
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razor blade, but we're not sure all of the incisions are
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self-inflicted except for the severed artery.
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Was there any evidence of drug use at the crime scene?
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Well, he did have a homemade lab set up, but I'm not sure what he
14:44
was producing. Oh yeah, it smells like a septic
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tank. Will you make sure this gets
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analyzed? I'm older.
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There's a psychotic disorder associated with some forms of
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drug abuse where the abuser suffers from delusions that
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insects are infesting their epidermis.
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It's called egg bomb. Syndrome.
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Egg bomb syndrome. The victim cuts himself in in an
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attempt to extract the imaginary insect.
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You still want me to come up? No, you're probably right.
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I'm sorry to bother you. It's no bother.
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Bye. Doctor Bambi Berenbaum is a
15:26
researcher from the USDA studying cockroaches that
15:30
develop more effective methods of pest control.
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When she suggests that some UFO sightings are actually insect
15:38
swarms flying through electricity, she has Moulder
15:42
swooning in more ways than one. He shows her a cockroach he
15:46
brought from the last death which Bambi believes is
15:49
mechanical, which settles with Mulder who believed that the
15:52
casing was made of metal. From here he discovers Dr.
15:57
Ivanoff who is working on insect like robots in another local
16:00
location. He speculates on sending robots
16:04
into space instead of humans and that the reverse could also
16:07
occur. He suggests everyone has been
16:10
brainwashed by too much science fiction.
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On investigating the cockroach Mulder has brought, he admits
16:17
its technology is vastly superior to anything he has ever
16:21
seen. The episode concludes with
16:24
mayhem all around. Mulder admits to Scully that he
16:27
hates, not afraid of, just hates insects.
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Something to tuck away to use at a later date.
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Scully's arrival on the outskirts of town at the
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convenience store to see COVID levels of a mass panic buying
16:41
from the townsfolk and then complete mayhem as a knocked
16:45
over box of chocolate raisins has everyone believing in his
16:49
cockroaches and sees even more mayhem as Scully calmly stands
16:54
in the middle of it all. It's a great scene, excellently
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executed by director Kim Manners, and again brings
17:00
unsolicited laughs as Scully discovers 1/3 facility in town,
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this one experimenting in dung derived methane as an alternate
17:09
fuel, and Mulder then concluding that the cockroaches are
17:13
extraterrestrial robots using this as their fuel source.
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We miss out on any proof of this when our paranoid researcher
17:21
blows himself and his facility up by firing his gun in the
17:25
methane field laboratory. Nice one.
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This is such an underrated episode, especially by Darren
17:34
Morgan himself who has always been disappointed with the end
17:37
result and yet it has so many different levels of
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appreciation. The story itself, discovering an
17:44
alleged colony of interstellar visitors who are robots
17:48
disguised as cockroaches is a believable and well constructed
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line of thought in the episode. The movement between the deaths,
17:56
to discovering 3 different research facilities all in the
18:00
same area, all doing research into different areas that all
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become linked by what is occurring and incorporating the
18:07
alien story without actually being the source of the alien
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story is fabulous. And the way the panic slowly
18:16
escalates during the episode such that it becomes a news
18:19
story that then pushes the misinformation even further adds
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to it all. Both the serious storyline and
18:27
then the humor. Because Morgan nails it again
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through this episode, bringing in subtle and non subtle humour
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that invigorates and emphasizes everything that is occurring in
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the story. The interactions between Moulder
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and Scully over the phone, the discussions between Moulder and
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the townsfolk who are all becoming increasingly frantic,
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and the brilliant scene of Scully in the store all dissect
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exactly how a panic can escalate so quickly by word of mouth.
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Like the Clyde Bruckman episode, I cannot possibly explain here
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how well this is done by everyone.
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The humor throughout is infectious and wonderful to the
19:06
episode. It allows a story that could
19:08
have gotten completely silly to be easily watched.
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The acting also has a lot to do with that, playing it straight
19:16
up the line. I could have spent this whole
19:18
piece here quoting the great lines and scenes of this
19:21
episode. There are far too many to
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complete. End Quote.
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It is brilliantly written and wonderfully directed.
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It offers that other, lighter side of the series in an
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interesting story that is entertaining on another level.
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Thank goodness for Darren Morgan. 5 out of five and don't
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consider anything Less. And greetings from planet Earth.
19:51
From the amusingly entertaining to the dark arts, we go with
19:55
Syzygy, Episode 13 of Season 3, which was directed by Rob Bowman
20:01
and written by Chris Carter. Now, the term syzygy refers to
20:06
an astronomical alignment of three celestial objects,
20:09
something the episode bases itself around and it kicks off.
20:14
In a nostalgic way, when we see an impossibly young Ryan
20:18
Reynolds getting completely sucked in by the two obvious
20:21
protagonists of the episode after the death of one of their
20:25
schoolmates by a purported satanic cult.
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As he drives them home, they suggest that the cult is looking
20:32
for a virgin sacrifice and that the only way they can be safe is
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to not be virgins, and Ryan's character is whisked away, sorry
20:42
to his obvious fate. I wonder if Deadpool ever
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tracked down those 2 girls in a later life.
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From the outset, things are Askew.
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Mulder and Scully are not acting the way they usually do.
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They appear to be antagonistic toward each other for no
20:58
apparent reason. Most of the people in town
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believe a satanic cult is at the root of what is happening,
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though Scully is not convinced and is indeed quite annoyed and
21:08
skeptical about the whole incident.
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So over the course of the episode it is revealed that our
21:14
two protagonists or antagonists, sorry best friends Terry and
21:18
Margie, who were born on the same day, are at the center of
21:22
an astronomical event that gives them an over boost of cosmic
21:26
energy. This is all eventually revealed
21:29
to Mulder when he visits the local astrologist, which gives
21:32
him the knowledge to help try and combat the growing storm
21:36
around them. So rather than stretch this out
21:39
any further than is necessary, this episode misses the mark and
21:44
it is all in the writing. And saying that about Chris
21:47
Carter in relation to The X-Files is a massive call.
21:51
I know, but it just doesn't work.
21:54
If you were to watch the episode and not know how the main
21:57
characters work, you'd be hard pressed to work out why this
22:00
show is so very good. For a start, the 2 girls who act
22:05
as the antagonist on the episode are too cutie early on in the
22:09
episode. It comes across as too fake.
22:13
However, the way their relationship and power builds,
22:16
as well as their unavoidable turn from parties in or partners
22:20
in crime to foes is done well, and the showcasing of that on
22:25
screen is excellent. The townsfolk are all going
22:29
crazy like it's the witch hunts of the 1600s, all of which feels
22:33
a little hokey. The digging up of the field,
22:36
discovering the doctor's bags with the bones in it, and
22:40
immediately accusing him of killing babies when it's the
22:42
bones of the cat. It's all hokey.
22:46
And the relationship between Mulder and Scully.
22:50
I think this is really average, OK, It's supposed to be the way
22:54
it is. Chris Carter was offering a
22:56
glimpse of their relationship as they are being affected by this
23:00
cosmic event, having them show different sides to their
23:03
character, where Scully is impatient and cranky and less
23:07
understanding and Mulder is far less intense and needling his
23:12
partner in that way. And do you have physical
23:15
evidence of these rituals being conducted?
23:17
No. No, just the murder victims.
23:20
So you have nothing concrete to connect these things to Samus.
23:26
We detect a hint of skepticism or incredulity in Agents Kelly's
23:29
voices because of the overwhelming evidence gathered
23:31
by the FBI debunking virtually all claims of visual abuse by
23:34
Satanic cults is. That true?
23:37
Don't ask me. Our research has proven that
23:43
most of these accounts are false or imagined, that the trauma or
23:48
mental illness that is often linked to Satanic cults is a
23:50
result of denial, hysteria and misplaced blame.
23:54
Well, you're gonna have a hard time convincing the locals of
23:56
that, especially after hearing the stories of the two girls
23:59
that were there the night Boom died.
24:00
Who interviewed them? I did.
24:03
Together or separate together. Why?
24:06
Well then you have no way of determining whether or not their
24:08
stories are fabricated. No, no, these are good kids.
24:12
We're talking about outstanding students and the details they
24:16
gave. I doubt they could have made
24:17
them up. Let me guess, I told you about a
24:19
wild beast entering in on a black mass, the drinking of
24:23
blood, the sacrifice of an infant or a blonde virgin.
24:29
Yeah, that's right. Excuse me, where's she going?
24:38
You don't suppose she's a virgin, do you?
24:42
I doubt she's even a blonde. The whole episode has them
24:46
acting like a married couple on the brink of a break up.
24:50
Mulder is drinking in his hotel room which he admits he never
24:54
does and it does make him stop and consider what is happening
24:58
to him and around him. Scully is smoking in her hotel
25:03
room. Then there is the argument over
25:06
Scully driving and her saying why do you always drive and
25:10
Mulder retorting, I wasn't sure your little feet could reach the
25:13
pedals. Earlier in the episode, Mulder
25:16
had said to Scully in the field with the discovery of the bag of
25:19
bones. No, go ahead.
25:22
I know how much you like snapping on the latex.
25:25
It feels and sounds petty. And this is where the episode
25:30
falls down for me because Carter was obviously trying to do an
25:34
episode where he was offering some humor into his script, but
25:38
for the majority of the episode it doesn't work.
25:41
It comes across as clunky and not believable.
25:45
It is mean spirited, not humorous.
25:49
It takes these characters too far away from what we know and
25:52
love about them. And it kills the plot of the
25:55
story. Even with the final scene as
25:58
Scully takes the wheel and speeds out of town and Mulder
26:02
says you just ran a stop sign and Scully replies shut up
26:07
Mulder. Even that just doesn't work.
26:11
What we've discovered with Suzyji is that Chris Carter is
26:15
no Darren Morgan when it comes to writing episodes that
26:19
showcase A humorous aspect to the story and the characters.
26:24
He might be brilliant in the Alien mythology arc stories, but
26:28
this falls flat. Indeed, if this had been played
26:32
as a straight story, toning down the silliness and focusing more
26:36
on the horror of teenage kids constantly getting murdered in a
26:39
cult like way, that it would most definitely have been a much
26:43
better episode. As it turns out the best part of
26:48
the episode was the music with All Over You by Live being
26:51
played in the party scene and the Danzig song Deeper playing
26:55
in the diner giving that the creepy vibe it needed.
27:00
So for me this is nothing better than a two out of five episode.
27:04
It could have been far better, but how much better is
27:08
debatable. On to episode 14 of Season 3
27:17
with Grotesque, written by Howard Gordon and directed by
27:21
Kim Manners. Kurtwood Smith guest stars here
27:25
as Special Agent Bill Patterson, which immediately gives this
27:28
episode A touch of gravitas and a feeling of expectation.
27:33
Patterson has spent three years tracking down a serial killer
27:37
who puts the same patterns of gashes across the face of all of
27:40
their victims, but now he has been caught.
27:44
The only problem is, five days after his capture and
27:47
incarceration, another murder occurs with the exact same MO,
27:52
which is how Mulder and Scully find their way onto the case by
27:56
way of a request from AD Skinner.
28:01
Patterson seems less impressed by this as we discover that he
28:04
and Mulder worked together at Quantico, where Patterson was
28:08
not a fan of Mulder's technique. Mulder says that Patterson felt
28:12
the best way to investigate these kind of crimes was to
28:15
emphasize, sorry, empathize, not to emphasize, empathize with the
28:20
subject and imagining himself in the killer's place.
28:25
The person captured. Mostow claims his innocence, of
28:29
course, don't they all, suggesting that it was an evil
28:33
spirit, a gargoyle that forced him to kill.
28:37
When told of another murder, he exclaims.
28:39
It's found someone new, just like it found me at Mostow's
28:44
apartment. Mostow's apartment, I should
28:47
say. Let's get that fact straight
28:48
too, Bill. Come on, get with the program.
28:51
Molder and Scully find the walls plastered with drawings of
28:54
gargoyles and then discover a hidden room where they discover
28:58
gargoyles sculptures with corpses contained within them.
29:04
As the episode develops, we watch as Molder slips into a
29:08
state of obsession and perhaps to madness.
29:11
Mirroring what we have seen in Moss Tower, we discover that
29:15
Patterson requested Skinner assigned Molder to this case and
29:20
he too becomes obsessed with the drawings.
29:22
And then he gets shown to be in places that he probably
29:26
shouldn't be in. He is accosted by a gargoyled
29:30
faced creature which he chases and is defeated by but not
29:35
killed. And the question that needs to
29:37
be asked from the scene where he pursues the gargoyle offers 2
29:41
scenarios. Perhaps it was all in his mind,
29:45
or perhaps he was followed by the manifestation of the
29:49
gargoyle. You weren't at home in your
29:52
office. I was scared, Molder.
29:54
I didn't know where you were. I I kept trying your cell phone
29:57
but you didn't answer it. Was turned off.
30:02
You turned your phone off, why do you even mother carrying it?
30:06
You're all set. You want to see a doctor
30:08
sometime tomorrow in case of infection?
30:10
Sure. Well, you still haven't told me
30:14
what you were doing in Mostow Studio It.
30:16
Was working. At 3:30 in the morning.
30:19
Mulder, I haven't seen or spoken to you in almost two days now.
30:21
You haven't been returning my phone.
30:23
Saying exists, Scully. It's real.
30:25
It's what are you talking about. Whatever keeps killing those
30:28
young men. Mostow killed those men Mulder,
30:30
and out of some sick alliance some other person is is
30:33
continuing where he left. Off Whatever attacked me wasn't
30:35
a person. Well, did you actually see it,
30:40
Mulder? Maybe you're just seeing what
30:41
you want to see. What makes you think I would
30:44
want to see that? I didn't imagine it, Scully.
30:49
Listen to yourself, Mulder. Listen to what you're saying.
30:52
You're starting to sound like. Look, when I couldn't reach you,
30:57
I went to your apartment. I saw your new wallpaper.
31:03
Don't you realize what is happening here, Mulder?
31:05
He is testing you. He is the reason you were
31:08
brought on this case in the 1st place, Patterson.
31:14
He requested your involvement for Skinner's office.
31:16
I checked the three O 2 myself. Where are you going?
31:27
Meanwhile, more evidence piles up that Mulder could indeed be
31:30
involved with the knife used in the killings found by Scully on
31:34
the scene, and it being the same knife that has now vanished from
31:38
the evidence locker. Skinner and Scully have a
31:41
forthright conversation regarding the evidence and
31:44
Skinner asks are you worried about Agent Mulder?
31:49
When Scully hedges he says off the record and she says yes, to
31:54
which Skinner replies so am I. It does offer a sympathetic
31:59
reaction from both. The conclusion accelerates as
32:03
Moulder discovers Patterson's off cider dead and encased in
32:06
clay, and Patterson appearing in the secret room but with no idea
32:11
how he got there or what he was doing there.
32:15
Moulder is brought to awareness that Patterson is now the
32:19
copycat murderer, that he has gone too deep in the well over
32:22
the last three years in his desperation to capture the
32:25
culprit. That he has sunk to become the
32:28
murderer himself. That by trying to get into the
32:31
mind of Mostow, he has now become him.
32:36
And then once again, Scully does it again.
32:40
She arrives on the scene and immediately points her gun at
32:44
Moulder, not believing he is in his right mind, and allows the
32:48
real villain in Patterson to escape.
32:52
How many times is she going to do this before she actually has
32:55
full trust in her partner? Dear, Oh dear.
33:00
Patterson runs, of course, and Mulder follows, and during their
33:03
wrestle he again sees the gargoyle in his attacker and he
33:07
shoots him, only to find it is just Patterson.
33:12
And though the conclusion suggests Patterson has gone
33:14
insane, he screams his innocence from his jail cell, just as
33:19
Mostow had done, as well as composing his own picture of the
33:22
gargoyle on his cell wall in his own blood.
33:26
While Mulder is unable to reconcile what he saw during the
33:30
attack, suggesting of course that the gargoyle is real and
33:35
has found its next ride. The gargoyle's awake and it's in
33:40
Bill Patterson. This is a far darker episode,
33:44
and it is one that doesn't give itself away too early in the
33:47
piece. The story allows you to believe
33:50
it is Moulder who may well be becoming the gargoyle's next
33:54
carrier, when in fact the truth only becomes apparent at the end
33:58
of the episode. While still retaining the
34:01
possibility that the gargoyle is a myth, as Scully believes, and
34:06
it is just the insanity of the two culprits that caused the
34:09
murders to take place. In this way, it is really well
34:13
scripted by Howard Gordon. David Duchovny's performance in
34:18
this episode, he's bloody fantastic.
34:22
He pushes his character completely and he immerses
34:24
himself in the road that it looks as though he is headed.
34:29
He gives the impression that he is the one who is becoming
34:32
obsessed and drawing on the gargoyle, becoming that person
34:36
who is being possessed. When Patterson tells Scully let
34:41
Mulder do what he has to do, it reveals that he knows the
34:45
lengths his former protege will go to in tracking down a serial
34:49
killer and that he needs to be allowed to do it his way, and
34:53
Duchovny certainly portrays that trait beautifully.
34:58
This is by no means a perfect episode but the dark alleys that
35:02
it creeps down and investigates brings back a scary and an edge
35:07
of the seat potent to the monster of the week episodes.
35:11
For me it sits as a comfortable 3 1/2 out of five.
35:21
One more episode to go on this podcast episode and we are now
35:25
going to discuss Piper Maru, the 15th episode of season 3.
35:31
This was Co written by Chris Carter and Frank Spotnetz and
35:34
directed by Rob Bowman. The title of the episode are the
35:38
given names of Gillian Anderson's first child who was
35:42
born during the shooting of the second season.
35:45
And it is best known as the landmark episode where the black
35:49
oil was introduced for the first time, something that would go on
35:54
to play a very large role in the series going forward.
35:59
So hold on tight. Now, there's a couple of
36:02
storylines that run through this episode and then necessarily
36:06
into the following episode. And one of them is where at the
36:11
start of the episode, Skinner tells Scully that the
36:13
investigation into her sister's murder has been put on ice
36:17
despite all of the evidence that has been collected.
36:20
And Scully's skepticism of this is apparent as she says that the
36:24
FBI are able to solve all these other murders with the barest
36:28
minimum of evidence. And yet with all the evidence
36:31
that's been collected here, they can't go forward with this
36:34
investigation. And you can see that Skinner has
36:37
already decided that he's not going to let go of this ball and
36:41
that he keeps making his inquiries into the matter.
36:45
So through the episode, this leads him to being confronted in
36:48
a restaurant by several men, one of whom is the grey haired man
36:52
who obviously tell him to drop his investigations as a veiled
36:56
threat. And then when he goes back to
36:59
the restaurant later on and he goes to the bar to confront the
37:02
man who's having a crack at the girl behind the the bar, we find
37:06
out that it is our favorite assassin.
37:09
Well, maybe our second favorite assassin, who then turns and
37:13
shoots him and does a runner again.
37:15
And it looks like Skinner is in all sorts of trouble.
37:18
And of course, Scully gets the phone call at the end of the
37:21
episode to say that he's been shot and that he's in hospital.
37:26
So this is the first part of the episode, the trail going through
37:30
the investigation being dropped but Skinner unable to let go.
37:36
The main line, of course, is tracking the black oil, which
37:40
has come from the depths of the ocean, where a French diving
37:43
team's main member has an encounter with a sunken plane
37:47
that they've been looking for. And apparently when he looks at
37:51
it, there's a man still alive in the cockpit.
37:55
And while the rest of the crew winds up with radiation burns,
37:58
the diver, who is actually the one who went down to the plane,
38:02
heads home, apparently unharmed. But what we know, but no one
38:07
else does, is that the pilot of the submerged plane contained an
38:10
alien substance which will become known as the black oil,
38:14
and which contains the presence of an alien and can transfer
38:18
from body to body as necessary. And so now, as it decides to
38:23
move into the body of the diver's wife, Joan, we're off
38:26
again. We all joined thinking we'd come
38:29
home Heroes. That's me, the rest of the men
38:34
in the picture. A month later, they were all
38:36
dead. In the madness we planned to
38:40
unleash on the Japanese, we ended up setting it loose on
38:44
ourselves. Radiation killed all those men.
38:49
The men, you say, had burns on their bodies.
38:53
That's how it began with us. Awful burns.
38:59
We'd found the Sunken Squadron when a Japanese destroyer moved
39:03
into the area and rather than attempt to return home, Captain
39:07
Sanford ordered us to go to silent running.
39:12
After three days, the burns started to appear.
39:16
Baker got them first, and Morrison's innocent tea.
39:21
No one had seen burns like these before, but a lot of us began to
39:24
suspect they had something to do with the planes that we've been
39:27
sent to recover. Men are all frightened of dying.
39:32
As the EXO, I urge the captain to return to port, but against
39:35
all reason and good sense, he refused to leave the area.
39:40
Captain Sanford, I want an MD. But I know a lost.
39:44
Cause when I see one, these men are all dying and there's
39:48
nothing I can do to stop it. Just do your damn job.
39:52
Sir, I'm trying. But if we stay down here any
39:55
longer, none of us are going home.
39:56
You're the exile. You've got to get us to the
40:07
surface. We are under the captain's
40:09
worms. And is losing his mind.
40:11
The Japanese are shadowing us. The destroyer is doing in wide
40:14
circles above our position. You have to take control of this
40:17
sub, Sir. You have to make a decision.
40:20
We're. All you're dying.
40:27
I don't know. All of us, we're dying.
40:27
Can't you all see that? You've got to.
40:29
Get us out of here. Our silence had been shattered
40:40
by the gunshot. The only command that could save
40:43
us from the Japanese destroyer now was the command to return
40:46
home in order. I knew the captain would never
40:51
dish. Johansson, open this door.
40:56
Open this door. Johansson.
40:59
I knew mutiny, it was our only chance for survival, but I also
41:03
knew by sealing that door I was seeing the fate of the men
41:09
locked behind it. By luck, the grace of God, we
41:19
made it to Pearl Harbor. What happened to Sanford and the
41:23
sick crew men? When they opened that door,
41:26
those that were not dead were dying.
41:28
There were 144 men on that boat. Only seven of us survived.
41:35
Whatever killed them, I was allowed to live, to raise a
41:40
family, to grow old. None of us ever got an
41:45
explanation why. Mulder and Scully have split up
41:51
and Mulder has gone and chasing down the diver.
41:54
And of course, once he finds the diver at home and now that he's
41:57
free of the black oil, he doesn't really want to join into
42:01
this at all. And he's just says he wants to
42:03
speak to the French consulate before he goes any further.
42:06
But Mulder has found a letter. And with that letter, he is able
42:10
to track down Geraldine, who is off to Hong Kong because she is
42:15
actually a middle man selling government secrets.
42:18
What a surprise. Mulder, of course, then
42:21
handcuffs him to her, and they go off to her hotel room to find
42:25
what's going on. And as we walk into the room,
42:30
who else could it possibly be except the great Alex Krawcheck,
42:36
back once again to keep us all amused to see how he can be
42:40
bumbling and stuff up yet another wonderful aspect of his
42:44
career. However, he doesn't get a chance
42:47
early on because as soon as Mulder and Geraldine walk into
42:50
the room, there's a whole bunch of Frenchmen outside coming in
42:54
to get her, and whatever she's selling now, she gets trapped
42:59
outside, and guess who else turns up at the same time?
43:02
Yes, it's Joan, and yes, she's carrying the black oil, and yes,
43:07
she burns the crap out of everybody in that hallway.
43:13
Of course, Krycheck has been able to escape, and Molder does
43:16
as well. But then at the airport, Molder
43:19
has tracked Krycheck down and he demands the fact that he wants
43:23
the tape that he has had for all this time for most of this
43:27
series. And of course, Krawcheck says he
43:30
doesn't have it, but he can give it to him once they get back
43:33
into the US because it's in a locker at the airport.
43:36
So Mulder says go and tidy yourself up.
43:40
But guess who he meets in the toilets?
43:42
Yes, it's the lovely Joan. And guess what?
43:46
At the episode ends because Krawcheck walks out and his eyes
43:50
are full of the black oil and seen and episode and to be
43:58
continued written across the screen.
44:01
So yes, there's lots going on in this episode.
44:04
There was also the part, of course, where Scully goes and
44:07
visits an old friend of her father's to find out about this
44:10
plane and what happened initially when he was sent out
44:14
to look for it. And he gets the whole story of
44:16
that as well, and the fact that only seven of the crew of 144
44:20
got back after he had basically mutinied against the commanding
44:24
officer and of course, the commanding officer at the time.
44:27
He also had the black oil in his eyes too.
44:29
So we can see that the black oil is taking control here from the
44:33
very start. There's lots going on here, and
44:36
it's really interesting that there's very little here.
44:40
Like most episodes, we have Mulder and Scully having their
44:43
little to do's together, and they're usually the best parts
44:46
of the episodes when they're talking about what's going on.
44:50
There's a little of that here at the very start of the episode
44:52
when Scully finds out that the investigation to her sister's
44:55
murder has been stopped. But in the long run, they're
44:59
apart and they're both going down their own paths.
45:03
And I think that's a really interesting part of this episode
45:07
in that Mulder is out on his own.
45:09
And of course, once he finds the great Alex Krawcheck, everything
45:13
moves on. And that's just fabulous.
45:15
When he walks into the room and it's Krawcheck there with the
45:18
gun. I cheer whenever I slept this
45:22
episode, I'm just there. He's like, yes, Krawcheck's
45:25
back. How good's that?
45:27
Because he is the star of this show, really, everything that
45:31
can possibly go on. And of course, now he's infected
45:34
with the black oil. And at the end of this episode,
45:36
you can only imagine what that is going to lead to once we get
45:40
to the next episode. And in the great days where we
45:44
watch this in not in syndication, but when it was
45:46
first aired on TV, on commercial TV and you had to wait a week
45:50
for the next episode. That was a great ending.
45:53
And then we just thought, Oh my God, I've got to wait till next
45:55
Tuesday now before I get to find out what's going to happen.
45:58
So this is a really good episode.
46:01
It's not a perfect episode. Again, it's not one that you're
46:06
going to give five out of five to because there's a bit going
46:09
on, but it's just lacking something and I'm not really
46:12
sure what it is. But 4 1/2 out of five for me for
46:17
this episode. I think that is a it's a really
46:20
good leading and an interesting episode for us to stop on as we
46:23
get to this point. All righty, that is the end of
46:32
this week's program and the end of this episode and we've got
46:37
another 9 episodes to go for this series 3 and it's series
46:42
3's heating up again. I think it's really found its
46:46
food again. We've had one episode that I I
46:48
really didn't like and it's unfortunate for that episode
46:52
because I think that it had enough promise that if it was
46:54
done properly, like a true Chris Carter episode, I honestly
46:59
believe it would have been so much better.
47:00
But he was obviously on a bent there that he wanted is saying,
47:04
oh, Jared Morgan can do this. Maybe I can too.
47:07
And I think he found out No, I can't.
47:10
So anyway, thanks for listening, guys.
47:13
As I've said before, if you'd like to get involved and give
47:15
your thoughts on this episode, you can find me on X as metal
47:19
Bill with the handle at rural metal Kevin.
47:21
I'm on blue sky as metal Bill under at metal Kevin dot B sky
47:24
dot social. You can leave a comment on the
47:27
episode page on Spotify if you listen on Spotify or if you want
47:30
to check out my Patreon page where there's so many other
47:33
podcasts going on there as well. You can find that at Patreon,
47:37
the creation of me a lifetime retrospective or go to Patreon
47:41
and look up at real metal Kevin and then go to the podcast
47:45
revisiting The X-Files and you can leave a comment on the page
47:47
for this episode. And if you know anyone else who
47:51
might be interested in going on this journey with us, please
47:53
pass on this episode to them and let's get him on board.
47:57
Listening. Listenership is steady at the
48:00
moment, I would say. But I appreciate the fact that
48:03
if you're listening to this, I appreciate the fact that you've
48:06
actually come here and and had a bit of a go.
48:09
That's enough for me this week. Thanks for listening as always.
48:13
And we will return very soon with the next episode of
48:16
Revisiting The X-Files, where as always, the truth is out there.
48:44
The.