"Unruhe"

October 27, 1996 was the night The X-Files moved to Sunday, where it would stay for the next 5 and a half years, and the move was a slam-dunk. I originally watched The X-Files for its neat standalone plots and this episode reminded me why I was hooked years ago. "Unruhe" had one of the most creative plots I've seen out of these early seasons since I started this season-by-season routine.

I've seen plenty of tv shows that use the gimmick of a camera that predicts the future. It was done "humorously" on The Twilight Zone with burglars that stole a camera and then each photograph revealed that the criminals would kill each other one at a time. There was also an episode of Are You Afraid of the Dark? in which kids discovered a camera with similar unhappy endings. "Unruhe" takes that in a different direction, where its not the device itself but the photographs that are being psychically manipulated. I dug that "twist."

There's more to the episode than just creepy Polaroids. Mulder and Scully are tracking down a serial killer and this is the only evidence they have to go on, well, other than boyfriends with their ears pierced in a deadly fashion. I wonder if they came up with the photographs idea first, then decided to use that as a link to a serial killer. Or did they decide on the killer, then came up with the photographs as a creative way to lead them to him? Either way, it turned into one of the more interesting chases for Mulder and Scully.

Another notable part of the episode was that the killer said Scully had "howlers" in her head. I suppose we should assume he's mentally disturbed but I already thought that the images in the photographs looked like ghosts, so now this makes more sense to me. Mulder had the FBI digitize the photos and it revealed the killer's face but I would rather believe the shapes in the background were those "howlers." Whether that's what Vince Gilligan was going for or not, this was still a great episode and I'm giving it a 4.5.

This sure looks like a "howler" to me, especially the red eyes.

"Teliko"

I'm sorry Howard Gordon but this was nothing more than a typical hour of The X-Files. These episodes are always the hardest to write about too. It had the typical Mulder humor, Scully's science, cool visuals, and then a cover-up of the crimes. At times it even reminded me a bit of "Squeeze" because of the way the guy could fit into tiny spaces like air ducts. I felt the episode was saved by its ending sequence where Scully crawled into his nest and found his stash of bodies. The villain's red eyes were neat effect and looked creepy when he was peeking out from drawers or through cracks in doors. Although the guy pulling his little pipe or stick out of his throat was kind of weird.

Another thing to note is that this is the final Friday night episode of The X-Files. It moved to Sunday nights, starting with "Unruhe", so I'll also move when I watch each episode to Thursday. For its Friday farewell, "Teliko" scores a 2.5, which is probably the lowest score I've given since Season Two. It wasn't bad, just like I said before, it has a "been there, done that" feel to it.

Home Sweet "Home"

Originally Aired 10/11/96

 

Nothing about this home is sweet. It may appear to be a nice, peaceful all-American town but it has an old farm house on the edge of town where three brothers have a secret hidden under their bed. Morgan & Wong returned to The X-Files with a bang after a season-long absence. This is a really dark episode about evil, inbred hillbillies but it also has touches of humor and heart, as Mulder and Scully discuss motherhood. I don't think its supposed to be presented as "funny" but what I picked up on this time while watching the episode is that Mulder repeats dialogue from the nature show he was watching the night before while witnessing the Peacocks killing the deputy. But my favorite moment of the episode is this:

You know whats actually a scary thought? This family was caught because they buried that deformed baby where kids play baseball, which brought Mulder and Scully to town. My guess is that they've tried making deformed babies before, they were just more successful at hiding them. That whole field could actually be full of dead Peacock childen. YIKES!

The only fault I can find is that Mulder and Scully should've called for back-up in their raid of the Peacock residence, especially after Scully witnessed the deputy being killed by a booby trap. She was even the one who asked if bullet-proof vests were necessary! I guess Scully doesn't have a good short-term memory. Although if they had called for back up and taken the house by force, it would've deprived us of the suspenseful revealing of the mother on her wheelie cart and then the open-ending where they get away with her in the trunk. You don't just lock-up mutated people and call it a day, that's not The X-Files' way!

While Herrenvolk didn't feel up to par, Home more than makes up for it. I have a lot of brand new episodes this season to look forward to and I'm glad Morgan & Wong have a few more left. I'll give their first effort of Season 4 a score of a 4.5

"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.

Talitha Cumi (Season 3 Finale)

Aired 5/17/96

Five months later and my feelings about this finale are still mixed. I didn't want to review it back in May for several reasons, with the first being that it felt I had absorbed too much plot and needed to see the second half of the story. With these mythology episodes I've learned to just enjoy the ride and ask questions later, yet this one just threw in too many questions. Also, I felt let down by the cliffhanger ending. It didn't feel like a "To Be Continued Next Fall" ending but rather "To Be Continued Next Friday." Maybe I expected too much or its because its the other two parters set the bar far too high with Mexican standoffs, jumping onto speeding trains, and Krycek with his swirly, oil-filled eyes. The other reason is because I wanted to make this image:

I felt like it did start off interesting with the mysterious healer in the diner, then Mulder's mother suffers a stroke, so he wants to bring that man to heal his mother. In the meantime, The Smoking Man has him (revealed to be Jeremiah Smith) captured and interrogated. Meanwhile, it appears that X (sent by The Smoking Man) urges Mulder to look for the object that kills aliens so he can give it to his superior. Still happening is the Bounty Hunter returning to also kill Smith after he impersonates him, most likely to get the heat off Smith after he fled a crime scene. OK! So I kept up with all of that yet things are still complicated. How did the Bounty Hunter know where to go? Does he watch CNN? And why was Jeremiah Smith no longer being held prisoner? Further throwing a wrench into the episode is Scully discovering multiple Jeremiah Smiths. I was actually hoping this episode would be something simple: the guy who tried shooting up the restaurant was tied to the conspiracy and suffered a nervous breakdown. I'm foolish to think that; nothing is ever simple in The X-Files Mythology!

Now to the good stuff. What did interest me in this episode was the dialogue between The Smoking Man and Jeremiah Smith. It was almost like hearing a debate between politicians where they say so much about public policies, yet never really say much at all. Yet it kept my eyes and ears glued to the television because there's so much tension in their words. Then you get the morphing sequences where he transforms into Deep Throat and Bill Mulder and I liked seeing the Smoking Man get a little dose of his own medicine.

The brawl between X and Mulder was also an intense moment. You can tell we're nearing the end of the line for X, so I'm glad he's going out with a bang rather than a whimper. They're implying that he needs that weapon from Mulder to save his own ass and he could take it easily, yet he doesn't. I thought Mulder was just "his tool"? Anyways, despite a few weird moments that made me scratch my head, it was a fast-paced hour of The X-Files that didn't have any dead spots. I'll give it a 3.5/5 to wrap up Season 3.

X-Files Rerun "Fire"

I couldn't locate the review for "Fire", so I wonder if it was lost during my original move from livejournal to Facebook notes. As part of my marathon leading up to "Herrenvolk", I have decided to re-review it. 

"Fire"
Aired 12/17/93

This episode started off really "hot" with a favorite Mulder line of mine which he tells Scully, "That's one of the luxuries to hunting down aliens and genetic mutants. You rarely get to press charges." After discovering a cassette tape in their car that informs them of a recent car-bombing, we meet an old "flame" of Mulder's named Phoebe Green. From this point on, the episode can die in a fire.

Ok, its not that bad, but Phoebe Green does ruin an otherwise decent episode. Throughout the first season we got to know the agents better through people in their past, with episodes like "Squeeze" and "Lazarus", yet Phoebe has zero chemistry with Mulder. I cringed almost as much as Agent Scully did every time she attempted to flirt with Mulder. The less said about her the better. Mulder's fear of fire is a little too convenient, as its a way to attempt extra drama within the episode but its forced. I expected something like this out of a hired writer who was just paid for one script, not out of the creator Chris Carter who gets the writing credit. The fear of fire is fortunately never referenced again.

I will talk about the positives though, since there are a few, mostly thanks to the episode's villain. I did like the imagery with the fire effects, like Cecil L'Ively setting his finger, and finally his entire arm on fire while seated at a bar. Another is the transition in scenes when Scully sees the fax of the police sketch and discovers the identity of the killer, which then flips to a close-up shot of Cecil smoking a cigarette. The final scene is also a bit chilling, as we discover Cecil actually survived and is in custody in a type of iron lung-looking container. He's burnt to a crisp, just the way I like my marshmallows that are roasted over a fire.

"Fire" is my definition of an average X-Files episode. It isn't totally unwatchable because its saved by the great production crew, but its just not something I care to revisit. This episode gets a 2.5/5.

Season 3 Recap

Here's my first official X-Files blog post after trying out livejournal and Facebook Notes. I did watch "Talitha Cumi" this past spring, though I didn't review it at the time. I'm planning to rewatch that along with "Herrenvolk" so I can get the full effect of the story. In the meantime, here's what I thought of the amazing Third Season, but first!

With grading episodes, I've tried out giving them a letter grade as if I was making a report card for the season, then switched to a number score out of 10. I think I'm going back to a 5 star/letter grading scale similar to movies that way I can stay consistent. It seems like everything stays in the 7 to 9 range with few episodes falling below that. For now I'll post the original score, then the new 5 star grade in parenthesis.

"The Blessing Way"- 7 (3.5)
"Paper Clip"-9 (4.5)
"D.P.O."- 7 (3.5)
"Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose"- 10 (5)
"The List"- 7 (3.5)
"2Shy"- 7 (3.5)
"The Walk"- 7 (3.5)
"Oubliette"- 7 (3.5)
"Nisei"- 7 (3.5)
"731"- 8 (4)
"Revelations"- 7 (3.5)
"War of the Coprophages"- 9 (4.5)
"Syzygy"- 8 (4)
"Grotesque"- 9 (4.5)
"Piper Maru"- 8 (4)
"Apocrypha"- 8 (4)
"Pusher"- 9 (4.5)
"Teso Dos Bichos"- 6 (3)
"Hell Money"- 6 (3)
"Jose Chung's From Outer Space"- 10 (5)
"Avatar"- 7 (3.5)
"Quagmire"- 7 (3.5)
"Wetwired"- 9 (4.5)

Wow! Looking at all of those rankings at once, this really was an amazing season of The X-Files. Everything finally came together behind the scenes to create a great balance of mythology episodes and standalones. Season Two is, well maybe was my favorite, since its hard to really compare the two. Season Two's peaks are higher but Three is much more consistent, which makes it a close call. Now I know the general opinion is the "Hell Money" and "Teso Dos Bischos" are two that stick out like a sore thumb and hurt the season but I don't think they do. "Teso" might have a poor straight to video horror movie plot but the special effect work and creepy visuals (like the rattling toliets) elevated it. The same goes for "Hell Money", which was saved by the Chinese version of The Smoking Man.

My favorites for this year were "Jose Chung's From Outer Space", "Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose", I was really suprised by "Wetwired" (which unfortunately might be the last of this kind of episode), "War of the Coprohages", and "Paper Clip." Though it is difficult to pick "Paper Clip" as this season's best myth episode since all of 3 of the conclusions were loaded with moments like Scully confronting Luis Cardinal, Mulder's train ride with X coming to the rescue, and Krycek being locked away in the missile silo.

I can't wait for Season 4, which I begin tomorrow with "Herrenvolk." There are so many episodes I haven't seen from this season like "Memento Mori", Krycek & Mulder in that Russian two-parter, "Paper Hearts", and "Musings of a Cigarette-Smoking Man." STAY TUNED!