"Redrum"

"If you don't remember, how can you be certain that you didn't?"
Originally Aired 12/10/00

This is an episode that I loved upon my first viewing of Season 8 years ago. I was drawn to this show because it felt like each story was much like The Twilight Zone, with a different creature or freaky happening every week, it's just that The X-Files had two people investigating those instances. The Twilight Zone's favorite scenario was to take everyday men and place them into extraordinary situations, like when Burgess Meredith portrayed a nerdy vacuum salesman who was suddenly given great strength by aliens. Another scenario was famously spoofed on Seinfeld:

Jerry: "You know, this is like that Twilight Zone where the guy wakes up and he's the same and everyone else is different."

Kramer: "Which one?"
Jerry: "They were all like that."

The X-Files would have many that ventured into Twilight Zone territory, especially in Season 6 where Mulder swapped bodies with a Man In Black from Area 51, and later when Mulder and Scully were stuck in a fatal time loop. "Redum" is much like that doomed fatal time loop episode, however it flipped the scenario. This time it's centered around a man who has been charged for the death of his wife, yet he's living the week in reverse, with Scully and Doggett acting as background characters. That man is guest actor Joe Morton, famous for his role in Terminator 2, which also starred The X-Files' Robert Patrick. Morton plays his role of "Martin Wells" convincingly as he lives each day of the week in reverse, leading up to the moment when his wife is murdered. The mystery isn't the why and how he's in the time loop, but instead, "Can he prevent his wife from being murdered?" In fact, it almost feels closer to being a freaky episode of Law & Order. The X-Files even had John Munch from Homicide: Life On The Street (and later Law & Order SVU) as a guest start in Season 5, so it might have been cool to see one of the many Law & Order judges presiding over the hearing to further the connection between these tv shows.

One of the best scenes occurs roughly half-way through when Martin explains to Scully and Doggett what is actually happening, and that he doesn't remember his wife being murdered because to him, it hasn't happened yet. Doggett refuses to believe and walks away, while Scully asks him why he thinks it's happening. I really like Scully a lot in these brief moments in this season, as she is walking the line between science and supernatural. The 7 years she's spent on X-Files cases has given her this sage-like knowledge. Martin is left wondering why this is happening, when Scully tells him maybe the answer is already inside of him. Young grasshopper Martin Wells isn't quite ready to snatch the pebble from Master Scully's hand just yet. When he does snatch the pebble, he realizes that he's responsible for his own situation and accepts the consequences of his actions, for better or worse.

Aside from Joe Morton guest-starring as Martin Wells, there's also another famous face present that I actually forgot about. Danny Trejo guest stars as the villain, who is probably the king of these types of villainous roles over the last 20 years, with appearances in Con-Air, Predators, Spy Kids, From Dusk Til Dawn, and even the starring role in Machete.

A minor notable moment worth mentioning about "Redrum" is that we see that Doggett is actually a homeowner. Mulder had an apartment, where we typically saw him sleeping on his couch or taping an "X" to his window. Scully has her own apartment, or maybe even a condo, I can't be sure. This could actually have been done to distance Doggett from Mulder and Scully since he was married before and had more of a stable life, such as owning a home, while Scully and especially Mulder have become too engrossed into their work to have any kind of life resembling normal. Or this could be just a fan "over-thinking" a minor detail like a house.

While some fans may be upset over the supporting appearances of Scully and Doggett, with "Redrum" centering the story around a guest character, I think "Redrum" is much like the great episodes of Seasons 5 and 6, which stretched the series beyond it's formula. This installment in Season 8 puts a darker spin on it, unlike those lighter episodes of previous seasons.