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Revisiting The X Files Episode 18 · Death by Multimedia

0:20
Music. Good day everyone and welcome
0:50
back for episode 18 of Revisiting The X-Files where
0:55
each episode I'll be working my way through the 11 series, 2
0:59
movies and several books that make up The X-Files.
1:03
For those of you who have returned, thanks for your
1:06
company and if you are new to this then thanks for dropping by
1:10
to check out what is on offer. Hopefully you'll find something
1:14
that you like. Before we start today's episode,
1:17
I always like to recap on any feedback I've received via the
1:21
interweb, by messages or on social social media platforms.
1:26
Let's get that right. And today we have two of our
1:28
regulars getting back in contact.
1:31
Firstly, we have Michael from Melbourne who was kind enough to
1:34
come on and offer his ten favorite all time episodes at
1:38
the end of season 2. And he says it was an absolute
1:42
pleasure to join at metal Kevin dot B sky dot social on this
1:46
episode to discuss my top 10X files episodes.
1:50
Had a load of fun talking all things X-Files.
1:53
So thanks to Michael and hopefully things are improving
1:57
down there in Melbourne from the last time we spoke.
2:01
We also had some feedback from Jeff over there in lovely sunny
2:04
Florida, who of course goes by the handle Doomy Mcdoombutt for
2:08
those of you who are on social media platforms.
2:11
And he said, I've been travelling so much this year, I
2:15
can't keep up with watching the episodes ahead of time.
2:18
Here's my thoughts on these episodes.
2:21
Revelations. I really dug this episode.
2:24
Ali Ermi was incredible. It's a bit heavy on the faith,
2:27
but so it gets penalized half a point.
2:30
So 4 out of 5 for that War of the Coprophages, I think.
2:34
Still think that's how you say it.
2:36
I hope, I hope so, because if not I sound like an idiot.
2:39
I love this episode, I just can't with the cockroaches. 5
2:44
out of five. Suzy.
2:47
I feel like I just watched a Satanic Panic episode.
2:50
Still quite good. Four out of five.
2:52
Grotesque. A weaker episode of this season.
2:55
3 out of five and Piper Maru. Yes, this makes up for
2:59
Grotesque, one of the best of the season.
3:01
The black oil is so creepy, Skinner's relationship with
3:04
Mulder and Scully gets more of a twist, and the plot builds
3:08
perfectly. 5 out of Five. So yes, thanks to both of our
3:12
contributors here. And should you wish to get
3:14
involved in the future, I'll give you the contacts at the end
3:17
of the episode and I'll also put them in the show notes for you
3:20
to follow later on. And with that, let's head back
3:24
into the middle of Season 3 of The X-Files.
3:33
And we are straight back into it here as we have the concluding
3:36
chapter of this two parter that we saw with the episode Piper
3:40
Maru from our last episode here with episode 16 of Season 3
3:44
called Apocrypha, which was again written by Frank Spotnitz
3:49
and Chris Carter and directed by Kim Manners.
3:53
So it opens with a scene that feels like a confession
3:56
delivered too late. An elderly sailor, one of the
4:00
last living witnesses to the mysterious black oil recovered
4:03
from a downed World War 2 submarine, lies dying in a
4:07
hospital bed. His memories are fractured, but
4:11
the terror remains intact. At his bedside stand two men
4:16
whose presence signals that whatever he knows is dangerous.
4:20
Bill Mulder and the Smoking Man. And he tells them the oil is
4:24
still down there, foretelling the events we saw in Piper Maru.
4:29
Back in the present, Skinner, who was shot in a brazen attack
4:33
meant to silence him, clings to life in a hospital. 2 FBI agents
4:38
assigned to protect him hover nearby.
4:40
But their inexperience, or perhaps their obliviousness,
4:44
makes them seem almost comically unprepared for the dangers
4:48
surrounding this case. Scully's incredulity at the lack
4:52
of awareness through the episode is shown on the surface and
4:55
helps portray just how alone Mulder and Scully are in their
5:00
own agency. Mulder and Krawczyk have
5:04
returned, but are soon haunted down by would be assassins, only
5:08
to be taken care of by the alien oil within Krycheck himself.
5:12
And with Mulder incapacitated, Krycheck has escaped again,
5:17
still with the digital tape that Mulder had so desperately
5:20
wanted. Well done alien Krycheck, he
5:23
could use you a bit more often in his life.
5:26
Mulder awakens later in a hospital where Scully is
5:29
waiting. She has been pursuing her own
5:31
leads and her investigation has taken a deeply personal turn.
5:36
She has learned that the man who shot Skinner is the same man who
5:39
murdered her sister Melissa. Of course, we already knew that.
5:44
The revelation, though, appears to steal her resolve to finding
5:47
this man. Scully's grief becomes fuel for
5:50
her pursuit of justice, even as she grapples with the emotional
5:54
weight of the truth. Mulder's next step, of course,
5:57
brings back Siri's favourites, the Lone Gunman to help find the
6:01
key that use the key. Sorry that Mulder has recovered
6:05
from Crycheck to gain access to a locker at the ice rink where
6:08
Crycheck supposedly stashed the digital tape.
6:12
But guess what, The locker is empty.
6:15
Sneaky lad Alex Crycheck. He uses instead the tape as
6:20
leverage with the Smoking Man to discover where the recovered UFO
6:24
has been located. Of course, it's not really
6:27
Crycheck who's doing this, it's the alien oil.
6:31
The Syndicate though, has sprung a leak as well, with information
6:34
seemingly slipping through their fingers.
6:37
Mulder, using a phone number he discovers on the disposed
6:39
digital tape envelope, makes contact with the Syndicate's
6:43
secret lair and arranges to meet with the well manicured man who
6:47
we met in the opening scenes of season 3, where the truth of
6:51
both sides situation becomes far more clear.
7:09
I trust we're alone. We're all alone in New York
7:13
City, Sir. You're looking for Alex Krycheck
7:19
to kill him in revenge. What makes you think we haven't
7:25
done that? Already What for?
7:28
Tell me what you know and I'll consider giving you Krycheck.
7:31
Now you answer a few questions for me first, like what was
7:34
pulled off the bottom of the Pacific Ocean.
7:36
It was a UFOA so-called Foo fighter down by American fighter
7:42
pilots in the Second World War. Left there until now.
7:45
There were savage attacks. The US sub was sent in 50 years
7:50
ago, but there were complications.
7:53
It was the entire crew died. Yeah, it's still a mystery.
7:58
A mystery to home. The cover story said it was the
8:01
3rd, a bomb bound for Japan, but the truth is no one knows what
8:08
killed that crew. I know.
8:13
Do you know? You give me a cry check.
8:15
And I'll tell you, Mr. Mulder. I've given you so much this
8:20
evening. You've offered me next to
8:22
nothing in return. You haven't told me anything I
8:25
didn't already know. I'm curious, if you encountered
8:31
Krawcheck, why didn't you kill him then?
8:38
Because here's the tape. Ah yeah, the tape the.
8:43
Tape. He's been selling those secrets
8:45
off. You don't know where he is
8:51
either, do you? You're looking for him too.
8:55
Mr. Mota, anyone can be gotten, certainly you've no doubt of
9:02
that. Back at the hospital, the danger
9:11
to Skinner has not passed. Lewis Cardinal, the assassin
9:15
responsible for shooting both Skinner and Melissa Scully,
9:18
looks to finish off Skinner, but he discovers Scully with him.
9:22
Scully confronts him in a tense, emotionally charged standoff.
9:26
Cardinal pleads for his life, insisting he is only a pawn in a
9:29
much larger game. Scully, who is torn between her
9:33
desire for justice and her commitment to the law,
9:38
ultimately chooses restraint. With Cardinal in custody and new
9:42
leads emerging, Mulder and Scully follow the trail to North
9:45
Dakota, where a series of abandoned missile silos missile
9:49
silos even hide A secret facility.
9:52
Mulder believes the UFO cry check is seeking is hidden there
9:56
and he is determined to reach it before the syndicate does.
10:00
Inside the silo complex, Krychek, still possessed by the
10:03
black oil, has left a trail of bodies in his wake.
10:07
The alien intelligence, using Krychek's body as a tool to
10:11
reach the buried craft, is still finding his way there.
10:15
Mulder and Scully, arriving too late to prevent the said
10:18
carnage, are quickly captured by Syndicate operatives.
10:22
Their presence, of course, complicates matters for the
10:24
Smoking Man, who has also arrived at the site, and he is
10:27
desperate to contain the situation, but the black oil is
10:31
beyond his control. Deep within the silo, Krycheck
10:35
finally reaches the UFO. The craft is dormant but intact,
10:40
and we are then treated to the sight of the black oil leaving
10:43
Krycheck's body from every possible point, convulsing as it
10:47
pours from his eyes and mouth, flowing toward the craft like a
10:52
living stream. The UFO responds by activating
10:55
with a low hum and a pulse of light.
10:58
The black oil has found its way home.
11:01
Well done. Cry.
11:02
Check, job done. Mulder and Scully are dragged
11:05
away by the authorities before they can find what they are
11:07
looking for, and the episode ends with Skinner recovering
11:11
from his ordeal and Mulder informing Scully that Cardinal,
11:14
of course, has been found dead in his cell.
11:18
All the loose ends for the Syndicate have been tied up,
11:20
even if it was messy and not in their best interests.
11:25
And of course, the final sight is cry check.
11:27
Now back in control of his own body but trapped in an abandoned
11:31
silo, hammering on a door to be let out when it is patently
11:34
clear no one is there to help him and that he is likely to
11:38
live out what remains of his days.
11:40
Trapped with the alien and its UFO, maybe.
11:45
Who knows what the future might bring?
11:48
So this is a fabulous episode. It deepens the myth of the black
11:51
oil one that at the time this was released, always felt would
11:55
be revisited by the writers once again.
11:58
Alex Krawczyk, once again brilliantly portrayed by
12:01
Nicholas Lee, lives up to his hype as the bumbling ever
12:04
present kicking post for everyone involved.
12:08
Things just never seem to go right for him and his
12:10
involvement as the antagonist to all parties is a great character
12:14
and a story buffer. It's a cracking episode and it
12:18
is a 5 out of five episode. And the great thing is it still
12:23
leaves so many questions unanswered.
12:31
From one great alien arc episode to a brilliant monster of the
12:36
week episode in Pusher Episode 17 of season 3, which was
12:41
directed by Rob Bowman and written by the breed Vince
12:45
Gilligan. His second episode written for
12:48
The X-Files and Gilligan is at it from the start where we see a
12:52
tabloid headline featuring the Flute Man, the Seward dwelling
12:56
creature from season 2, splashed across the cover of the National
13:00
Enquirer. Our antagonist for the episode
13:03
buys it before finding himself arrested.
13:06
The man is Robert Patrick Modell, A seemingly ordinary
13:10
individual who has been involved in a number of murders or
13:13
seeming murders. But while being transported to
13:16
jail, the car he is in pulls in front of a truck, and the
13:20
ensuing high speed accident gives Modell the opportunity to
13:23
escape, which we discover comes with the aid of the driver of
13:27
his vehicle, who frees Modell before dropping dead.
13:32
Mulder and Scully are brought in to investigate, and soon it is
13:36
Mulder who begins to suspect that Modell possesses an unusual
13:39
ability, something akin to psychokinesis, but not in the
13:44
traditional sense. He doesn't move objects with his
13:47
mind, he moves people, he pushes them, he bends their thoughts,
13:52
their impulses, their decisions, and he does it with nothing more
13:56
than his voice. This episode is fabulous in that
14:00
it offers 3 scenarios throughout 3 dynamics that create the
14:04
ultimate tension throughout the episode.
14:07
The match up between Mulder and Modell is compelling as Mulder
14:10
begins to suspect what Modell is able to do and tries to go about
14:15
proving it. He sees it in the young SWOT
14:18
officer, whose self immolates himself even as he cries for
14:21
someone to help him. Mulder then discovers Modell in
14:25
his car after he's completely spent with the energy it took
14:28
for him to make this happen. It also becomes more prominent
14:32
in the scene with Modell on the phone when the FBI has stormed
14:35
his home and he talks to Agent Frank Burst and talks him into
14:40
cardiac arrest, all the while with Mulder imploring him to
14:44
hang up the phone. All of this encourages Modell to
14:47
believe that here is a man worthy of his attention, of a
14:51
one-on-one battle that he then engineers into the conclusion of
14:55
the episode. The strength of the relationship
14:58
between Mulder and Scully is also shown during these several
15:01
confrontations. Scully is not immediately drawn
15:05
to the same conclusions that Mulder is, surprise surprise,
15:08
but becomes slowly drawn in once they discover Modell's medical
15:12
prognosis that he suffers from temporal lobe epilepsy and a
15:16
brain tumor. The tumor is located in a region
15:19
associated with impulse control, perception, and possibly
15:24
suggestibility. Mulder theorizes that the tumor
15:28
has somehow amplified Modell's ability to impose his will on
15:32
others. Scully, ever the skeptic,
15:35
counters that Modell may simply be a master manipulator
15:38
exploiting psychological weaknesses.
15:41
But even she cannot deny the mounting evidence that something
15:44
extraordinary is happening. For the most part, she is as
15:48
committed as Mulder is to capturing Module and once again
15:52
supporting her partner, even though she may not be as
15:54
convinced of the reasons of what is happening around them.
15:58
And the other dynamic is Module easily pushing people's decision
16:02
making process however he likes in order to either escape
16:06
capture or to get off court cases by turning the judge's
16:10
opinion. Or as in the scene where he
16:12
infiltrates the FBI to get information on Mulder from his
16:15
personal file in turning poor old Holly to kick the crap out
16:20
of Skinner, who once again finds himself on the wrong end of a
16:24
beating. He's not having much luck in
16:27
this season in that regard. Right.
16:33
Thank you very much, Tegretol. What's that?
16:37
It's to relieve Mundell's seizures.
16:39
He has temporal lobe epilepsy. I just talked to his doctor's
16:42
office. They wouldn't give me much over
16:43
the phone, just that that prescription dates back to April
16:47
1994. What causes epilepsy this late
16:51
in life? A head injury, neurological
16:53
disease, a brain tumor, or a lesion.
16:55
A tumor. The growth of brain tumors has
16:57
been linked with the reported occurrence of psychic ability.
17:00
All of those reports are completely unsubstantiated.
17:02
Just bear with me for a second, what if Modell's suggestive
17:06
ability is really a form of psychokinesis?
17:10
Brought on by the brain tumor. Well, it fits all those protein
17:12
drinks in his fridge. Maybe he's got to replenish the
17:15
metabolic energy that he uses in the process of controlling
17:17
somebody's will. Mulder more to the point, if
17:20
Modell did have a brain tumor, the effects on his health would
17:23
be more debilitating. It's it's likely that he simply
17:26
wouldn't be well enough to play these cat and mouse games with.
17:28
Us. Maybe he isn't.
17:30
Maybe that's the whole point. What do you mean?
17:32
His exhaustion at the driving range?
17:34
He didn't let us capture him. He was too sick to escape, too
17:37
tired, too wiped out. Why would a a killer who was so
17:40
proficient confess to murders that he'd already gotten away
17:42
with? Maybe he's dying.
17:44
And. He wants to go out in a blaze of
17:46
glory, not. With a wimp up in a bang.
17:52
Gilligan's riding on this episode is superb in exploring
17:55
all of these relationships, and Bowman's direction is equally
17:58
good. Best of all is Robert Wisden In
18:01
the main role. He plays the character exactly
18:05
as he explained, as he's sorry is explained through the
18:08
episode. A man who has a giant ego with
18:11
anger problems, both of which have seen him miss out on jobs
18:15
he felt he was overqualified for, even applying for the FBI
18:20
at one stage. Suddenly he was a small man who
18:24
had picked up a secret power, one that gave him the edge and
18:28
the ability to bend people's thoughts to his will and
18:31
something his characteristics were perfect for.
18:35
The final showdown is the one that offers the best tension and
18:38
drama in an episode that has utilized this to its best means.
18:43
Modell has captured Mulder and as Scully turns up, she is
18:47
witness to the game of Russian Roulette that is about to take
18:50
place. He forces Molder into a
18:52
situation where he must confront the limits of his own willpower.
18:57
Modell wants a duel. Mulder, under Modell's
19:00
influence, raises a gun to his own head.
19:03
Scully watches in horror as Mulder fights to resist, his
19:06
hand trembling, sweat pouring down his face.
19:10
He fires once at Modell and then immediately at his own head.
19:15
Both clicks on an empty chamber as Modell forces Mulder to the
19:19
point the to sorry to point the gun at Scully, and Mulder tells
19:23
Scully to run because he knows he can't hold off this much
19:26
longer. Scully notices the fire alarm
19:30
and as she runs to activate it, the noise breaks Modell's
19:33
concentration, freeing Mulder's mind, who immediately shoots
19:37
him. The first shot is the bullet,
19:40
but Mulder keeps firing the empty chambers a number of times
19:44
around, unloading all of his pent up anger and fear over what
19:48
has just occurred. This whole scene with all of
19:51
these three actors is brilliantly acted.
19:54
It's brilliantly written and terrifically filmed.
19:58
The closing scene has Mulder explaining to to Scully that
20:01
module could have had an operation that would have
20:04
successfully removed the tumor and allowed him to live.
20:07
When Scully questions him as to why he didn't, Mulder just says
20:11
that it was his character. He had been a nobody who wanted
20:15
to be somebody, an influencer, and he would rather have lived
20:19
with that power and died quickly than remain as who he was.
20:24
This is such a wonderful and fabulous episode.
20:28
Scully was witness to what Modell was able to do, as was
20:31
Mulder first hand, and it showed him in a weaker moment someone
20:36
not in control of his destiny as he likes to portray.
20:40
His constant firing of the empty gun shows that fear and anger he
20:44
had at being unwittingly manipulated, and it really did
20:48
offer a fascinating insight into Mulder's character.
20:53
This is Top shelf X-Files, great acting from our dynamic duo, a
20:57
great guest star, awesome writing and directing. 5 out of
21:01
five, and if I could give it more I damn well would.
21:11
There is always the possibility of disappointment after you get
21:14
a run of great episodes, and that does tend to be the case
21:18
for episode 18 of season 3, titled Tesso dos Bishos or
21:23
something like that. I don't know how to pronounce
21:26
that. Written by John Shaban and
21:28
directed by Kim Manners, it's a tale as old as time itself.
21:34
If you disturb ancient buried remains of female shaman, do not
21:39
under any circumstances decide to dig them up and take them to
21:43
another country, because that is going to bring you bad luck.
21:48
And surprise, surprise, that is exactly what happens here.
21:53
In fact, as you would suspect of the two archaeol, Sorry, the two
21:58
archaeologists. Let's get that word right.
22:01
Who said they should take it and preserve it in a museum?
22:06
He is killed before even leaving Ecuador, while the other he
22:10
seems to have been captured in a hallucinogenic state.
22:14
There's some big words there, Bill.
22:15
You're going to learn how to say them properly.
22:18
The burial lern is transported to the US and now people start
22:21
to go missing at the museum it has been held at.
22:24
Mulder and Scully have been called in to investigate, and as
22:27
you would expect on a case of this level, Scully tends to look
22:30
down the factual route, looking for solid evidence to suggest
22:34
what has happened and where the bodies may have gone.
22:38
Mulder, of course, begins to form his own theories, delving
22:41
into the paranormal as a way of explaining the strangeness of
22:44
the disappearances and murders, possibly of the missing people.
22:49
When they discover evidence of animal nesting in the museum's
22:52
ventilation system, Scully's theory gains traction.
22:56
She suggests that a population of feral cats, possibly driven
23:00
into a frenzy by environmental toxins, could be responsible for
23:04
the attacks. Mulder doesn't dismiss her idea.
23:09
Instead, he folds it into his own, proposing that the cats
23:12
might be acting as vessels for the Shyman spirit.
23:16
It's classic Molder here, blending the scientific with the
23:19
supernatural, taking what Scully says and being able to utilize
23:23
it as a part of his own theory. And it's classic Scully refusing
23:27
to accept a mystical explanation but acknowledging the validity
23:31
of Molder's observations. The climax of the episode occurs
23:36
when the museum's curator, who had been resisting the return of
23:39
the burial urn, is attacked and, yes, killed.
23:43
Mulder and Scully arrived too late to save him, but the
23:46
incident confirms their suspicions.
23:48
The disturbance of the Shyman's remains is the catalyst for the
23:51
violence. The urn is eventually returned
23:54
to Ecuador, and the attacks cease.
23:57
Who would have thought? Unbelievable.
23:59
In the final scenes, Mulder and Scully debriefed the case.
24:03
Mulder suggests that the Shyman spirit, angered by the
24:06
desecration of her grave, used the cats as instruments of
24:09
vengeance. Scully counters that
24:12
environmental contamination and human error created a perfect
24:15
storm of animal aggression. Neither convinces the other
24:20
completely, but neither needs to.
24:22
Their partnership isn't always about agreement.
24:25
It's about balance. Look, let's get to the chase.
24:31
Perhaps there is merit in the episode.
24:34
I didn't find any. It is a tough ask to bring
24:38
another people's beliefs into an episode of a show like this and
24:41
do it justice. Past episodes of The X-Files
24:44
have managed to do that, but this just never raises any
24:48
tension to stop the yawns from occurring after the 10 minute
24:51
mark. The storyline is predictable.
24:54
We all know our heroes will escape and the urn will
24:57
eventually be returned to its rightful place, and that when it
25:00
does, the killings will stop. The death scenes might be
25:04
slightly creepy but not scary, and the chase through the
25:08
catacombs at the end, discovering the missing but dead
25:11
bodies and the onset of first of the rats and then the cats,
25:16
comes to an abrupt end once our agents crawl their way back to
25:20
the main level. There's very little exciting
25:23
about this episode, and I was prepared for this honorary
25:27
watching. I mean, I guess I could have
25:29
passed on it, but I did watch again to see if I could find
25:33
something on a serious, hard look at the episode, the
25:36
characters and the connection between them that would make me
25:39
change my mind about this episode, and I didn't.
25:45
You can honestly give this episode a miss if you're going
25:48
back to rewatch it, and you won't have missed anything.
25:51
I give this a very grudging 1.5 out of five, and that's probably
25:56
only because I do know that unfortunately, there are actual
25:59
episodes that are less enjoyable than this one.
26:09
Which brings us to episode 19 of Season 3, titled Hell Money,
26:14
Hell Yeah, an episode written by Jeff Fleming and directed by
26:18
Tucker Gates. And once again, we're heading
26:21
into the territory of looking into another people's culture,
26:25
and how working against that culture can provide problems for
26:28
those who should know better. Hill Money opens in San
26:33
Francisco's Chinatown, where a man flees in terror through
26:36
narrow alleys before being dragged into a furnace and
26:40
burned alive. The crime draws Mulder and
26:43
Scully to the city, but from the moment they arrive, they find
26:46
themselves outsiders in a community bound by secrecy, fear
26:50
and cultural traditions that they don't fully understand.
26:55
Scully conducts, conducts yes let's try that again conducts
27:00
the autopsy, noting that the victim was alive when he was set
27:04
on fire. The dynamic here between Mulder
27:07
and Scully is familiar. Scali grans the investigation in
27:11
the physical evidence available, while Mulder looks for the
27:14
unseen forces, social, psychological or possibly
27:19
supernatural, that might explain the cruelty of this this
27:23
victim's death. The first major lead is
27:27
Detective Chow, played by BD Wong, a local officer who acts
27:31
as both guide and interpreter. He is polite but guarded,
27:37
clearly reluctant to let two federal agents pry into the
27:40
affairs of Chinatown. Mulder senses that Chao knows
27:44
more than he's saying. Scully, meanwhile, tries to
27:47
build rapport, asking procedural questions and showing respect
27:51
for cultural boundaries. The contrast with Mulder pushing
27:56
and Scully just easing becomes essential as they navigate a
28:00
community that obviously distrusts distrusts outsiders.
28:11
I couldn't tell you what any one of these.
28:12
Things are well, the roots mostly.
28:15
A ginseng, turmeric when you got your more exotic stuff, bare
28:20
gallbladder, snake, shark fin. Usually prepared in a soup or a
28:25
tea. What have the victim been using?
28:40
He didn't want me something like buck cake.
28:43
She says that it's skullcap root and Chinese Angelica.
28:47
They're used for painkillers. Does she remember Johnny Lower?
28:51
Remember selling it to her? Nay sig duck Johnny Loma nayomo
28:56
migo. Yup.
28:56
Bakery Yowa. Ask her if she knows he's dead.
29:04
Nay, T&T Casseto. Esker She recognizes those
29:09
characters that were painted on this door.
29:12
Lady Tito, Lady T Team Kai home dot what?
29:27
Was that about? She says that the house was
29:30
branded the Home Top, a haunted house.
29:35
Haunted. You mean by ghosts?
29:37
Yeah, it's hard to give an exact translation, but it's what I was
29:41
telling you about before. The Chinese Ulanji, a festival
29:47
of the hungry ghosts. You see, on the 15th day of the
29:52
7th moon in the Chinese calendar, it's believed the
29:57
gates of hell are opened and the ghosts of unwanted souls roam
30:02
the earth. Now believers protect themselves
30:07
by leaving gifts of food and hell money outside their homes
30:11
to appease the ghosts to keep them from coming inside and
30:16
causing trouble. But for some spirits, the ghosts
30:22
most feared by the Chinese, and there's no buying them off the
30:28
Preta, the ancient ghost of a murdered man who wanders the
30:32
earth exacting his revenge on the living, or the Wujianguai,
30:39
who collects the souls of doomed men and drags them down to Taiyu
30:47
to the Chinese. Hell, as they dig deeper, Mulder
30:53
and Scully uncover a clandestine lottery in which desperate
30:57
immigrants gamble for money, medical care and, in some cases,
31:01
survival. The stakes are pretty
31:05
horrifying, really. Participants draw tiles from a
31:08
ceremonial urn. Some tiles grant wealth, which
31:11
is shown in the case in each instance.
31:15
Others condemn the player to organ harvesting.
31:18
Your beauty. And the victims Mulder and
31:20
Scully have encountered were not random.
31:22
They were players who drew losing tiles.
31:26
This revelation highlights partly the strength of Mulder
31:30
and Scully's partnership, because Mulder's instinct that
31:33
the crimes were part of a ritualized system proves
31:36
correct, while Scully's insistence on following the
31:39
physical evidence leads them to the medical exploitation at the
31:43
heart of the scheme. Their approaches, though
31:46
different, are complementary. Each fills in the gaps left by
31:49
the other, which is when their characters and the show works at
31:54
its best. Their dynamic is especially
31:57
clear in the interactions with Detective Chao.
32:00
Molda confronts him directly, accusing him of protecting the
32:03
lottery. Scully, however, recognizes
32:06
Chao's internal conflict. She sees that he is torn between
32:10
his duty as a police officer and his loyalty to his community.
32:14
When Molda pushes too hard, Scully steps in, softens the
32:18
conversation, and gives Chao space to hopefully reveal the
32:22
truth. And it is Scully's empathy and
32:25
not Mulder's pressure that ultimately earns Chao's
32:28
cooperation. The emotional core of the
32:31
episode emerges through Hassin, an elderly man played by Michael
32:35
Yama, who participates in the lottery to pay for his
32:38
daughter's medical care, played by a very young Lucy Liu.
32:43
Mulder and Scully interview him after discovering he has
32:45
willingly allowed his eye to be harvested.
32:49
Chow, who has been paid to protect the discovery of the
32:51
organ lottery, has a change of heart as his conscience gets the
32:55
better of him. He disrupts the next lottery,
32:58
one that his sin has already lost, to discover that,
33:02
surprise, surprise, it's rigged with all of the tiles to be
33:05
drawn being the exact same tile and with none a chance of being
33:10
a cash winner for the participant.
33:13
Mulder and Scully save his sin by halting the ceremony from
33:16
taking place, and the episode concludes with his daughter
33:19
being placed on the transport transplant list, which is good
33:23
news. Unfortunately, this is balanced
33:26
by bad news for Chow as he awakes in the crematorium, about
33:30
to become the next victim of being burned alive.
33:33
Tazar. Now, now that we've got all that
33:37
out of the way, the problem with this episode is where is the X
33:41
file in it? So yes, we do see ancient
33:44
spirits apparently ducking in and out of the shadows, helping
33:47
to bring their victims to a fiery end.
33:50
But are they spirits or are they just people working with these
33:53
guys? It could so easily be
33:55
interpreted as the straight up organ lottery being held in
33:59
secret, with the lottery being loaded in favor of the house and
34:02
that being tracked down. It's just a normal everyday
34:06
police case. The episode doesn't really do
34:08
enough to suggest that it is really spirits burning people,
34:13
or at least being involved in this.
34:15
It has a couple of moments where you might get caught up in the
34:18
story and be a little on the edge of your seat, but overall
34:22
it doesn't act like an X-Files episode at all.
34:25
There are well known actors here who do their job really well,
34:29
but they are given little opportunity within the script to
34:32
push this beyond an average episode with a little bit of
34:36
paranormal about it. And that's what ends up being so
34:40
disappointing about it. I give this three out of five,
34:44
but it's really only very average and again, not an X
34:48
file. So now we come to Darren
34:56
Morgan's final input into this season and sadly for many
35:00
seasons to come, with episode 20 of season 3 titled Jose Young's
35:06
From Outer Space, which was directed by Rob Bowman.
35:10
And once again, it contains all of his Darren Morgan's great
35:14
stuff, including the great storyline that is punctuated by
35:17
his ability to create humor without desecrating the
35:20
characters or reducing them to parodies of themself, which we
35:25
have seen in a couple of other episodes.
35:29
Charles Nelson Reilly plays the title of character and does so
35:32
brilliantly. The author that Scully is
35:34
enamoured with as he approaches something different, as he calls
35:38
it a new genre, non fiction, science fiction.
35:43
It's his attempt to chronicle a supposed alien abduction in a
35:47
way that captures the truth, even though, as he laments, how
35:51
can I possibly record the truth? Everybody has a different
35:55
version of what happened. That line becomes the episode's
35:59
thesis. What follows is a kaleidoscope
36:02
of conflicting testimonies, unreliable narrators and wildly
36:07
contradictory memories, all orbiting around a single event,
36:11
the alleged abduction of two teenagers, Harold and Chrissy,
36:16
in the small town of Class County.
36:19
The episode is framed through Scully's interview with Jose
36:22
Chung. Because Mulder refuses to
36:24
participate, he considers Chung a hack, a sensationalist who
36:29
will twist the case into something absurd.
36:32
Scully, ever the professional, agrees to recount the events,
36:37
even though she is clearly skeptical of Chung's entire
36:40
project. Her version of the story becomes
36:43
the backbone of the episode, but even her account is filtered,
36:47
cautious, and tinged with her trademark rationalism.
36:51
The episode deals with the recollection of the events of
36:54
the 48 hours of these events occurring.
36:58
So without trying to put the whole plot together for you,
37:02
because it's one that you really need to watch yourself to not
37:06
only try and follow what is happening but also to enjoy and
37:10
laugh along with, there are some memorable plot points and scenes
37:14
along the way. The Men in Black is a great plot
37:17
point played superbly by Jesse Ventura.
37:21
His appearance on three occasions to suggest caution in
37:26
believing the series of events taking place are wonderfully
37:29
entertaining and equal parts logical and menacing.
37:33
His insistence to Rokie, who has written a screenplay of what he
37:37
saw, that if he tells anyone then he will disappear, mirrors
37:41
that later to Mulder and Scully in Scully's hotel room, which
37:45
later only Mulder recalls and Scully has no memory of.
37:51
Even the former leader of your United States of America, James
37:57
Earl Carter Junior, thought he saw a UFO once, but it's been
38:02
proven he only saw the planet Venus.
38:09
I'm a Republican. Venus was at its peak brilliance
38:12
last night. You probably thought you saw
38:14
something up in the sky other than Venus, but I assure you it
38:20
was Venus. I know what I saw.
38:25
Your scientists have yet to discover how neural networks
38:29
create self consciousness, let alone how the human brain
38:33
processes 2 dimensional retinal images into the
38:36
three-dimensional phenomenon known as perception.
38:41
Yet you somehow brazenly declare seeing is believing.
38:50
Mr. Crickenson, your scientific illiteracy makes me shudder, and
38:56
I wouldn't flaunt your ignorance by telling anyone that you saw
39:01
anything last night other than the planet Venus.
39:06
Because if you do, you're a dead man.
39:09
You. Can't threaten me.
39:16
I just did. The alien autopsy, which was
39:27
eventually a man in a rubber alien suit that went viral, is
39:31
another great plot point. And the way Chung goes back and
39:35
forth during his interview with Scully to reference what the
39:38
other people in the story have said gives the necessary
39:42
misinformation that is required to make this episode as fabulous
39:46
as it is. As the events unfold over time,
39:50
more layers are peeled back to reveal the mistruths or missteps
39:53
taken and stated by almost everyone in the plot, and
39:58
Morgan's ability to infuse humour and other influential
40:02
scenes into this story is brilliant.
40:06
The return of the stupendous Yappy from Morgan's previous
40:09
episode, Clyde Bruckman's final repose is just terrific.
40:14
Pilot Jack Schaeffer moulding his mashed potatoes into the
40:16
version of Devil's Tower from close Encounters of the Third
40:20
Kind. Jesse Ventura is the Man in
40:22
black, performing a perfect Backbreaker slam on one of the
40:26
townsfolk. And of Moulder believing his
40:29
offsider was Alex Trebek, who did star in the role as himself.
40:34
And the line from the Nerdist of Nerds.
40:36
Blaine, when he says I didn't play all those years of Dungeons
40:40
and Dragons and not learn a little bit about courage, is
40:44
just perfect. As the layers pull back, the
40:48
episode reveals A darker undercurrent.
40:51
A UFO is indeed downed, and a mysterious pilot, the human
40:55
discovered in the rubber suit early in the episode, is
40:57
recovered by shadowy forces, the pilot's bodies whisked away,
41:02
never to be seen again. This detail, delivered almost
41:06
casually, hints that beneath the absurdity lies a genuine
41:10
conspiracy. There is so much to unpack on
41:14
this episode, and once again, Darren Morgan has done a superb
41:18
job in creating an episode that deals with the show at hand.
41:22
Either a UFO cover up or a government conspiracy or a
41:26
little of both. But done.
41:28
He's done it while utilizing the various reactions of different
41:32
people remembering an event differently from each other,
41:36
which then helps to spread misinformation and in the long
41:39
run, perhaps helping to protect the truth behind the incident.
41:44
In doing this, Darren Morgan has offered us all sides of the
41:48
argument, along with the obligatory fuzzy ending.
41:52
I have deliberately not gone into a lot of details here so as
41:57
not to spoil what the episode brings, but believe me, it is
42:01
one you should definitely watch. Is it a 5 out of five?
42:06
That's a difficult question. A decade ago, a decade ago, even
42:10
when I ranked these episodes last, I gave it 4 out of five.
42:16
But I think that it's better than that.
42:18
But while it doesn't quite reach the true heights that this
42:22
series reaches on occasions, and that could be because of the
42:25
humour involved and the fact that we are seeing our
42:29
characters in a different sort of set of circumstances.
42:32
And that it's going to be hard to really track down the Alien
42:38
mythology arc episodes when it comes to giving 5 out of five
42:41
for an episode. So for me, this time along, I'm
42:45
going to give it 4 1/2 out of five.
42:48
But you can absolutely take this to the bank.
42:51
It is a great episode that needs to be watched.
43:00
So that's all from me this episode and we are fast closing
43:04
in on the conclusion of season 3 which we will get to on the next
43:08
episode. So for everyone who is stuck
43:12
with it, thank you so much for your patience in getting to this
43:15
point. And as I've said before, these
43:17
episodes are now generally out every fortnight, which gives you
43:21
plenty of time to go out and rewatch the next 5 episodes
43:25
before the next episode. So you can listen to what I'm
43:28
saying and hopefully come up with your own ideas on what you
43:32
think before you hear mine. Three of these 5 episodes of
43:36
season 3 are truly classics. Well, two of them are a little
43:40
bit of a let down, but as I keep saying, despite the fact that
43:43
the show occasionally turns up a few turkeys, they are generally
43:47
few and far between. So thanks for listening and for
43:51
being a part of this. And if you'd like to get
43:54
involved and give your thoughts on this episode or give me any
43:57
sort of feedback you'd like, there are a number of ways you
44:00
can do it. You can find me on X as Metal
44:03
Bill with the handle at Real Metal Kevin.
44:06
I'm on Blue Sky as Metal Bill under the handle at Metal Kevin
44:09
dot B sky dot social. You can leave a comment on the
44:13
episode page on Spotify. If you're listening to this
44:15
podcast on that streaming service or if you'd like to
44:19
check out my Patreon page, you can find that at the creation of
44:23
me, a lifetime retrospective or look up at Real Metal Kevin at
44:28
Patreon. Go to the podcast Revisiting The
44:31
X-Files, which is on there, and you can leave a comment on the
44:34
page for this episode. And if you know anyone who may
44:38
be interested in going on this little journey with us, please
44:41
pass on this episode to them and let's get them on board.
44:45
All right, enough from me. Thank you for listening once
44:48
again, as always, I appreciate the fact that you guys are here.
44:52
And we will return soon with the next episode, the concluding
44:56
episode for Season 3 on revisiting The X-Files, where
45:00
the truth is most definitely still out there.
45:04
Cheers. None.