"Herrenvolk"

Herrenvolk

Season 4 Premiere (10/4/96)

I'm starting to feel like the fantastical elements of The X-Files are becoming nonsensical. I know this is a sci fi tv series but where it has really excelled are those moments between characters, such as in this episode when Scully arranges a meeting with X. He warns her to not open doors she's not prepared for. Once again I enjoyed the secondary plot with Scully doing research and discovering the small pox database, while Mulder's alien encounters seemed a bit far out.

That's not to say I don't enjoy the Bounty Hunter. He's an unstoppable force of destruction, yet they give him one weakness and immediately ignore it. If they're going for excellent visuals and giving a backseat to the story, then they succeeded here. I love how seems down and defeated only to come out of nowhere, like The Terminator. At least he serves his purpose unlike the new character introduced within the story. We still don't learn more about Jeremiah Smith and then he adds even more variables to this unsolvable equation. By the end, he disappears, then its the Bounty Hunter who ends up being the healer. It felt like there was supposed to be a pay-off with Smith that never came. Don't get me wrong though, I loved the scene where the Bounty Hunter and The Smoking Man share a moment together. Its just like the earlier scene with X and Scully; I enjoy the intense, foreboding dialogue.

CIGARETTE-SMOKING MAN: You see... the fiercest enemy is the man who has nothing left to lose. And we both know how valuable Agent Mulder is to the equation.

Another moment worth mentioning involves Mr. X. Though one of my favorite characters has been eliminated from the series, he did get an excellent ending. I liked how Scully was telling Mulder that their "friend" would give them a place to start, while showing X leaving a final message to Mulder. I suppose just like "Talitha Cumi", it has its share of strong and weak moments, so it earns the same score. 3.5/5.