X-Files Rerun: "Fresh Bones"

"In case you haven't noticed Agent Mulder, the Statue Of Liberty is on vacation."
Originally Aired 2/3/95

For the past decade, zombies have been all the rage, with comic books having mash-ups like Marvel Zombies, motion pictures like 28 Days Later and a remake of Dawn Of The Dead, and a hot cable TV series called The Walking Dead. The popularity of The Walking Dead rivals that of The X-Files in it's heyday, with it's cast members having celebrity-like "rock star" followings at conventions where they sign autographs and meet with fans.

With the popularity of zombies, many are familiar with the type that rotting, re-animated corpses that feast on brains. There's another variant that are created by a virus and the zombie outbreak is spread like a disease, mirroring social commentary and how the human race would react in the face of armageddon. I like how this X-Files episode follows the voodoo version of zombies, through their use of black magic. The writer of "Fresh Bones", Howard Gordon, grounded the black magic with a plot involving Haitian refugees that taps into the political side of The X-Files conspiracy. This was back during the early stages of the series where the "alien mythology" wasn't fully formed, so the distinction between a standalone episode and the conspiracy episodes wasn't always clear. The mysterious informant X makes an appearance, which blurs that line even more. It always raises the bar when that guy shows up, well he's usually half-hidden by shadows, and he spouts cryptic warnings to Agent Mulder.

Speaking of Mulder, it seems like Mulder and Scully take a backseat here, as they're along for the ride just like the viewer. This is definitely an episode that's gotten better with age, and I especially like the creepy visuals. One such instance is when Scully hallucinates that a man's arm is tearing through the palm of her hand, which reaches out and strangles her. I should have known this episode would have strong visuals since it comes from the skilled hand of Rob Bowman, who would later direct many conspiracy episodes and even the first feature film. This is a solid script among the many great ones in Season Two, though I often overlook it due to it's placement between "Irresistible" and the next two-part installment of The X-Files conspiracy.