"The Pine Bluff Variant"

"Is this the Pepsi Challenge?"
Originally Aired 5/3/98

I've read, and now have seen for myself how cinematic the series was through its film-making techniques, like tight close-ups and camera angles, and the talent of its actors. Watching this with my mom on my family's widescreen tv enhanced this even more, likely the true way they envisioned the series. Even though this episode was filmed after The X-Files movie, it serves as a teaser for the movie, because it plays out like a spy movie with its twist and turns. I could even tell it was filmed by the movie's director before his name appeared in the opening credits. It's a great episode that oozes coolness and is full of tension, which might even be the coolest episode I've seen from the series.

In this episode Mulder gets involved with a terrorist group that has a powerful chemical weapon that dissolves human flesh, but that isn't even the highlight of the episode. That would actually be the appearance of it's two guest stars who may be familiar to fans of the small screen. Sam Anderson was known for being the principal on Growing Pains, yet he's likely better known now as Bernard on Lost. The other man is Daniel Von Bargen, whom I instantly recognized as George's boss from Seinfeld and the eye-patch wearing drill sergeant from Malcolm in the Middle. Neither of these men would receive an Emmy Award nomination for their performance, unlike Lili Taylor in "Mind's Eye", but I certainly enjoyed seeing them. I have no idea if its a coincidence or intentional, but many actors from FOX sitcoms appeared on this show either before or during the run of their own series- Kurtwood Smith from That 70's Show, David Faustino from Married With Children, and Daniel Von Bargen and Bryan Cranston from Malcolm in the Middle.

Each season of the X-Files typically has an episode that is what I call a "runaround" episode, where they run around chasing something yet end up with nothing at the episode's end. "The Pine Bluff Variant" is the fifth season's version of that episode yet I like how they seem to find creative ways to mask this style of episode. Season Two used an explosive sore that appeared on people who were exposed to bacteria in "F. Emasculata", this time was a deadly flesh-eating chemical. To explain the twists and turns would be futile; I know this because my mom missed the last 5 minutes and seemed confused when I explained it. Yet if you watch it you know just how good this episode is. My only complaint would be Mulder hesitating to shoot a bank teller during the heist. We know Mulder would never shoot anyone but at least shoot the floor next to the guy to make it look like you're a bad guy; the endless stalling seemed odd to me. Despite that, I'm surprised this episode actually came from the mind of John Shiban because he isn't the strongest of the core writers for the series. Bravo, John.