"The Red And The Black"

"I was sent by a man, a man who knows as I do, that resistance is in our grasp and in yours."
Originally Aired 3/8/98

Before I start reviewing this week's episode, I'd like to bring up something I forgot to mention last week. There were so many great things to say about "Patient X", that I forgot to do my usual nit-picking. I even made sure I presented evidence for my complaint. Chris Carter's poor geography skills were a focal point for "The Host" back in Season Three and they also played a part in this mythology story. Carter having poor skills is the only way I can rationalize the amount of times Mulder flies to faraway places. This time is by boat.

Now in "The Host" episode, the Flukeman was a radiated stow-away on a Russian cargo ship that somehow sailed from Russia to New Jersey, while this time Krycek and his stitched-up face companion travel nearly the same distance. I drew a red line to show the actual distance and the green line to show Chris Carter's wacky continental sailing.

Onto "The Red and The Black", this episode is actually better than last week's, and it's one that makes me so proud to call myself an X-Files fan. "The Red And The Black" is one of the most satisfying hours of the conspiracy because it not only ties together the black oil episodes from Season 4 that seemed like a disconnected plot thread with Scully's abduction/cancer saga, and even advances the mythology further. While I liked those Russian episodes ("Tunguska" and "Terma") for being action-packed and fast-paced, they did seem to be a case of The X-Files conspiracy spinning it's wheels. This two-parter brings back the oil and presents a cure for it, which raises the stakes. I like how there's even a race of the familiar bounty hunters that have actually mutilated their faces to resist being possessed by the oil; it's frightening imagery that this series is known for. What's a neat wrinkle with those aliens is that while they are against the bounty hunters and the aliens that plan to take over Earth, it's not clear whether they are really good guys. In order for them to ruin the colonization plans, they had to murder innocent citizens. Well, not just murder; they set them on fire.

I really wish this development had led to the Syndicate splintering into factions just like the alien race. It would have been neat to stretch it past this episode, with The Well-Manicured Man and Krycek trying to woo Mulder (and maybe even Scully) to their "resist" side, since that's something that not even The Cigarette Smoking Man could do. Instead, the Elders decided way too quickly to stay on the "serve" side. I even pointed out back in "E.B.E." that it would have been cool if Mulder would be forced to follow in Deep Throat's footsteps and shoot an alien to keep the conspiracy quiet. So it would have been awesome if Mulder actually had a flashback to Deep Throat's scene when he is about to become a stow-away on the Bounty Hunter's truck carrying the captured rebel. Then in a future episode, maybe Well-Manicured Man serves as a mentor like Deep Throat to Mulder. It seems like this season they have set up a few interesting directions to take the series, yet they only tease them briefly within the episode.

I can't review what I didn't see though, but what they did do with the characters was very engaging. I felt like the Well-Manicured Man was very awesome to watch, as he looks hopeful for the vaccine to work, scolds Krycek, and then questions his associates in the Syndicate. The actor who plays the Elder and the actor who plays the Well-Manicured Man are polar opposites, but not even the lame, montone Elder can hold back the Well-Manicured Man from acting circles around him. I really liked watching Jeffrey Spender, too. The character has so much potential (especially once you see the closing seconds of the episode) and I even feel sorry for the guy. He just wanted to protect his mom by keeping the X-Files away from her, only to end up that she actually becomes an X-File. Also notable is how frustrated Mulder is. He's trying to deny aliens and abandon those beliefs because that is what caused Scully to be abducted and resulted in her cancer, yet now she's actually starting to believe in that along with Skinner! Another character returns from last week, Marita Covarrubias, yet both Krycek and the Well-Manicured Man shrug it off; guess the b*tch got what she deserved. Something I noticed after seeing Quiet Willy again is that he is like a doppleganger for Terry O'Quinn, who actually shows up in the movie. Would have been cool if they had actually cast Terry for the role of Willy, then kept him alive for that part in the movie; more wishful thinking.

While some of the characters have reverted to the status quo after "The Red and The Black", the mythology is anything but that. I really love how this took a few previous episodes and laid them as a foundation for what happened in this two-part story. We have the Syndicate revealed as not just responsible for the government experimenting on humans, but now it's actually for the purpose of serving an alien race. Well-Manicured Man is on the verge of becoming a good guy (like Deep Throat?), Agent Spender is introduced, Cigarette-Smoking Man has returned, and Cassandra Spender has disappeared. As much as I love "The Red and The Black", I can't stop thinking that this is the beginning of the end, rather than the beginning of a new chapter.

Looking at just the facial expressions changes that whole conversation.

"Patient X"

"Well, I guess I'm done here. You seem to have invalidated your own work. Have a nice life."
Originally Aired 3/1/98

More than "Redux" and "Redux II", this feels like the biggest episode yet of the series. There are role reversals, new layers to old characters, even new characters on the scene, and a possible new direction for the mythology. I think when watching the Redux Trilogy for the first time I was too hung up on the series taking on a new direction. I now see that it's purpose was to close a chapter on not just Scully's cancer, but her abduction, and even Mulder's quest to unravel the government conspiracy on aliens. This next chapter of the mythology is actually where the new direction takes shape; at least that's what I am remaining skeptical about.

First off, the biggest development is the role reversal of Mulder and Scully. We have had standalone episodes where Scully was a believer and Mulder wasn't, like "Beyond the Sea", but never an installment of the series' mythology. He refuses to believe in an abductee's story while Scully is much more open and sympathetic to her, especially since they seem to have a connection. I like how this even goes way back to Season Two and references "Duane Barry", showing that The X-Files still has a lot of back-story that they can mine. That abductee is named Cassandra Spender, who also has a son named Jeffrey who is a fellow FBI Agent. At first he asks Scully to stay away from his mother but later orders Mulder and Scully to stay away when he sees them in his mother's room. That scene struck me as unintentionally funny because he showed up to his mother's room but never once even acknowledged her being there. Jeffrey came off as a jerk but he instantly endeared himself to me when he said his mother believed she would be taken away by a "flying mother wheel."

Returning characters, possibly due to the absence of the Cigarette-Smoking Man and Skinner, are Krycek, Marita, and The Well-Manicured Man. Krycek hasn't been seen since the previous story in Russia and it seems he is still working for them to develop a vaccine to the black oil; that is until he goes rogue again. I like how this even referenced the gulag and brought back the evil, bald doctor character. Sadly, no arms were severed nor were any horses present. The last time Marita was seen it was revealed that she is in fact a shady character, though I wasn't really begging for her return unlike Krycek. Laurie Holden is no doubt the weirdest actor I have seen on the series thus far because of her odd whispering and helmet hair. At least this time they are playing up her role as a vixen since she seems to have seduced Krycek in order for his Russian guinea pig kid to escape. Well, he was dumb enough to leave the door open.

I always watch these a few times through before starting my review and it allows things to sink in or so I can pick up on something I may have missed. To be honest, the first time watching this I groaned during the opening narration by David Duchovny. It seemed to be another of those ridiculously worded Chris Carter narrations but in fact it actually sums up the episode and offers a few clues. I interpreted it as the Syndicate could have seen the aliens as Gods and that's why they allowed themselves be colonized, just like how a UFO cult would offer themselves up for being sacrificed at one of these abduction sites. Except they are actually working in secret to prevent Colonization while those UFO people are just crazy. Also, now that I have reached this crucial point in the Colonization story, I can now listen to the commentary tracks on the "Colonization" Mythology DVD that I bought exactly for this occasion. It came in handy because Kim Manners' commentary revealed the reason for Cassandra Spender leaving her greasy fingerprints on her window. She was making the stars of a constellation that Scully ended up seeing, which proved Cassandra may not actually be as crazy as Mulder believed. The constellation was even in the opening sequence, which I totally missed the first time.

I am remaining skeptical for "The Red and The Black" because this episode has set a solid foundation for a dynamite hour of The X-Files. With so many new and old characters appearing, I hope it won't crumble under its own weight.

"Bad Blood"

"Begin autopsy on white male, age 60, who is arguably having a worse time in Texas than I am, although not by much."

Originally Aired 2/22/98

Having completed the autopsy, I checked into the Davey Crockett Motor Court.

The usual “Winter Blues” have struck again. I seem to always fall behind around the middle of the season and it’s not for lack of quality X-Files episodes, it’s just the weather makes me so cold that I don’t want to take my hands out from under the covers to type reviews. The most I can do is reach out quickly and press “play” on a remote. I fell behind starting with “Kill Switch”, since I watched it two weeks ago but just now posted a review on the weekend where I should have watched “Patient X.” However, “Bad Blood” seems to have zapped me back to life. It’s hard to not want to write about this episode immediately once the credits have rolled; I actually wanted to write this episode as soon as the teaser ended! Seriously, that is the best 90 second teaser in the show’s entire run.

The fun doesn’t stop with the teaser though, as Mulder and Scully spend the entire episode telling exaggerated versions of an X-Files case they investigated on vampires. An earlier episode named “El Mundo Gira” featured an ending where multiple sides to a story were told, but “Bad Blood” goes a step further by making an entire episode about it. This episode even references that past episode too, which I obviously didn’t get back in 2007 when I first watched it. “Bad Blood” doesn’t wear thin either, instead it’s a comical look at how Mulder and Scully view each other. Scully sees Mulder as being go hung to solve cases, while Mulder views Scully as being bored and even annoyed by her work on the investigation because it interfered with her chance to flirt with the town sheriff (played by a wonderful Luke Wilson.)

This is an episode that I appreciate much more today than I did when I first watched it in 2007 after purchasing the then-complete, uber, mega X-Files boxset. Back then I was an X-Files newb who wanted “monsters, monsters, and more monsters.” Now I think I have matured somewhat, especially after having grown with the characters for 5 years, and I appreciate the comedy of “Bad Blood.” David Duchovny seems to be much more suited for this goofy version of Mulder which we really only had glimpses of during one-liners about “little grey men” in the early episodes. So it’s really not surprising why he has been nominated, and even won awards, for comedic roles on Californication and The Larry Sanders Show. I wonder if maybe that’s why he grew bored with The X-Files after seven years and wanted to leave the show because he didn’t feel challenged in his role. One week he could flex his comedic muscles in an episode like “Bad Blood”, but then spend the next month or two in typical standalone episodes that didn’t offer much besides a funny quip or two. As much as I love the standalone nature of the series, maybe it also held the show back in some small way? Today’s tv shows are mostly serialized dramas, an example being The Walking Dead, that tell a story over multiple episodes or across seasons. Even many movie actors are making the jump to act on the small screen; and now my simple review has morphed into an analysis on the evolution of the drama series.

Back to “Bad Blood”, the comedy isn’t the only interesting feature of this episode. For some reason it seems “bluer” than usual, and I don’t mean my “winter blues.” The blue in Gillian Anderson’s eyes even seem to be deeper than usual. Even the wardrobe is full of blue, from Scully’s blouse and FBI badge to Mulder’s dress shirt. The cinematographer must’ve been in-sync with the wardrobe department on this particular week.

The name of it was actually the Sam Houston Motor Lodge.

"Kill Switch"

Originally Aired 2/15/98

"Hellooo, nurse!" Wait; "Helloooo, goth chick!"

I know this won’t be a popular opinion in X-Files fan circles, but this episode is so dated that it’s even painful to watch. It’s actually not the computer software that feels outdated when compared to an earlier episode with an “evil” computer called “Ghost in the Machine”. In fact, the computer that tracks Mulder and Scully is a form of GPS before there was GPS. (That’s probably not accurate but I didn’t know about GPS until a decade after this episode.) What makes this feel way too “90’s” is all of the techno-geek babble when Invisi-Goth explains the computer to Mulder and Scully, then later her conversation with the Lone Gunmen. Also, there's the fact that her name is “Invisi-Goth.” I wouldn’t normally think of the “goth” crowd being the same as the computer geek crowd but I guess they would be equally socially-awkward. Also her choice of music adds to the dated feel, since she seems to be jamming out to KMFDM while in her hide-out in a shipping yard. She reminds me of Angelina Jolie from that 90’s hacker movie, which I think was even called “Hackers.”

The highlight that somewhat redeems the episode would be Gillian Anderson. During all of the techno-babble scenes I felt I could relate to Scully, like when she rolled her eyes and mocked the computer’s choice to kill its creator in the middle of a gang shoot-out. I’m sure all X-Files fans love the sequence where Mulder is drugged by the computer and hallucinates that his arms have been severed, which is a great scene; especially when Kung Fu Scully saves the day. I personally loved Gillian’s hair flip when she blows her hair out of face after showing off her kung fu skills. 

Though I said this episode is severely dated, I think it’s actually a positive that so many episodes of this series don’t feel that way. After the first season’s bad wardrobe and hair style choices, the following seasons up to this point are everything but dated. The filming by the directors and cinematographers were excellent and even beyond most tv standards of that period. I don’t know if this is entirely true but to me it seems like they even made the jump to filming in widescreen before most of their television peers. So one “dated” episode is a pretty good track record and hardly spoils this season of daring episodes.