Four episodes in and three of them are alien-related, however this one takes a different approach. Rather than government cover-ups, this is a more personal story that Mulder becomes attached to because it relates to his sister's disappearance when they were kids. It brings out a side of Mulder that they barely scratched the surface of back in "Deep Throat."
To me the case feels a lot like something you'd see on Unsolved Mysteries. A woman had a close encounter with a UFO as a girl scout and now nearly 30 years later her daughter is thought to be abducted by aliens, with her son having some type of link to the occurrence. I was never a fan of this episode until recently, mostly because of some unintentional humor. The way the mother cries out for her daughter at the start of the episode, "Ruuuuuuu-BAY", makes me laugh as well as any mention of Lake Okobogee.
The episode does feel severely dated as being purely 90's "based on true story" events, yet I can't dismiss it as being a weak episode. The emotional side of the episode I mentioned before which strikes a raw nerve with Mulder is what makes it worth watching again. The case nearly pushes him over the deep end and shows us just how his sister's disappearance has altered his whole life. The partnership with Scully continues to strengthen because she tries to snap him out of it. She was supposed to talk him out of taking the case, but now he's pissing off the government again, so maybe she feels a bit responsible for that.
I'm not sure if it was intentional but when I re-watched "Conduit" this time, the episode reminded me a lot of Twin Peaks. The subplot with Ruby's boyfriend who was cheating on her and got the girl pregnant, the setting with the lake surrounded by woods, weird bikers, and just the general "feel" of the episode felt inspired by Twin Peaks. That's not a bad thing, though.
Hey, are you a Twin Peaks fan? I love that show, although Bob scares the hell out of me. True, there is definitely a Twin Peaks vibe to the forest, the lake and the storyline, and I like it. I mentioned this in my own review, but did you notice that the episode centres around several characters we barely get to know. Ruby doesn't come back until the episode's climax and Greg is only seen when he's dead.
ReplyDeleteYou're so right! This episode does have a very Unsolved Mysteries feel to it. In fact, that's probably why I have always liked it. I haven't watched Twin Peaks yet, but I have it on my Netflix queue. I'll look for similarities when I start the series. I think this episode is classic X-Files. Good review!
ReplyDeleteLove, B