LAZARUS Episode 15 Season 1 of The X-Files

And stay dead 2/10

Synopsis: An FBI agent and a bank robber are gunned down at the scene. The robber dies while the FBI agent is revived however Mulder suspects the agent of not being who he appears to be.

Raising of Lazarus is a biblical story of a miracle performed by Jesus in which he raises Lazarus of Bethany from the dead. Unfortunately the story on offer here is less than divine and plainly insipid.

If you were a bank robber shot whilst on the job and in death you were given a second chance what would do? Would you catalogue your mistakes and misgivings in your first life and act upon them in a way of redemption in your second learning to appreciate that the error of your ways may be related directly to your untimely demise and perhaps learn to change them?

Or would you clumsily hunt down your ex-husband murdering, FBI fugitive, double crossing wife and once finding her abduct a federal agent?

My point being that at the very least you would keenly prevent attention being draw to yourself. This is not for bank robber Warren Dupree, who spends no time what so ever on considering his options. I am not going to pretend that The X-Files is always believable, after all it is Science Fiction, but it is when palpable human behaviour is so blatantly disregarded that I find myself rolling my eyes.  I see little reason to look further into this MOW impractical behaviour. Well maybe I could say he was driven by passion which is the only argument but really? Yawn. It seems like lazy storytelling to me.

The lack in character depth does bother me somewhat although it is not all bad and as you know I am not one to kick an episode whilst it is down. It’s a fun story, having the mind of a criminal jump to that of FBI agent Jack Willis a man whom he’d been hunted by for two years. Dupree recklessly gets up close and personal with the FBI. A little more focus on his interactions around other FBI agents and inside the FBI headquarters could have added a touch of sophistication to this episode. Regrettably it wasn’t to be as I believe this would have made for a more invested storyline.  Mulder was the only one within the FBI suspicious enough of Willis’ new behaviour to show enough concern. Which is odd really given the common knowledge that Willis inexplicably cut the finger off a corpse in a scene that makes me wince, and yet still manages to pass a physical and perhaps more surprisingly a psychological exam.

Believe me I am not intentionally ripping holes in this episode it is just inescapable.

I will move on. Another small portion of Dana Scully’s past was offered up to us. Her relationship with FBI Jack Willis was confirmed to be more than just friendship when Scully revealed to Mulder that the two had dated for almost a year. It seems Scully has a habit of mixing work and pleasure and this time with a man she appears very incompatible with. We also learn of her birthday, February 23^rd, but not the year.

I’m sorry if my take on this episode conflicts greatly with your views on it. There just aren’t enough redeeming features on show.  As much as I dislike low scoring I have to be realistic. A lowly 2/10 and a big look forward to the next episode Young at Heart.

Musings;

The biblical story of Lazarus will again be the source of inspiration in season 7 episode HOLLYWOOD A.D.

Scully has the inconvenient habit of being abducted which begins and certainly does not end with this episode.

We know Mulder has at least one colleague within the bureau apart from Scully that defends him, agent Bruskin.

GENDER BENDER Episode 14 Season 1 of The X-Files

GENDER BENDER Episode 14 Season 1 of The X-Files

Remember Gender Bender? 5/10

Synopsis: Several deaths that occur after sexual intercourse lead Mulder and Scully to investigate an Amish like community known as the Kindred.

I have a strange affiliation to Gender Bender and no it is not what you’re thinking. 18 years ago I remember sitting round my Grandma’s house watching GB with my dad, mum, Nan and sister. I remember where I was sat where they were sat, I remember it like I remember yesterday. The reason I remember that night so vividly is because we sat and enjoyed the show together, The X-Files brought us all together. It was a show we all could enjoy watching.

One thing that drew me to GB when I was younger was the Amish influence. I had no idea that there were groups that had wilfully detached themselves from modern society for hundreds of years. I could remember thinking to myself that I would not be able to live without my Super Nintendo or Power Rangers for one week let alone a lifetime.

You must realise I was eight years old but even so, many adults of the time knew next to little about these sects. Today it’s a different story; we have films, documentaries and even reality television show based on their way of living. They no longer seem alien to us.

1994 however was a different time; their existence was alien to the general population. Here the writers play on that but maybe missed a trick. I found the back story missing and in place it found sex scenes, they may have tied into the story but really were unnecessary. Don’t get me wrong I like a sex scene as much as the next red blooded male but if the producers ideas of sexing up the show where having a women that was really a man or vice-versa, changing sexes right after the doing wild thing then they are clearly mistaken. Unless it is me who is mistaken?

If only they substituted the sex story line parts of this episode with more mystery surrounding the ‘Kindred’ and the farm on which they lived. The farm was a marvellously atmospheric setting and could have played host to a real spooky episode.

I see that maybe the writers were looking to show the contrast between the two different worlds but it was hardly done in an imaginative or thought provoking way.

All we were left with were horny transsexual chick and dude magnet aliens that for some reason travelled across time and space just to settle down into an Amish way of life and ban themselves from the fruits of the forbidden tree without any explanation what so ever. Somehow I don’t think this is the ‘truth’ Mulder had been expecting to find.

I do like to draw some of my own conclusions from each episode but come on not all of them!

Other noteworthy episode points include:

Scully’s disbelief that a person would have sex with perfect stranger, such a prude. Scully’s Profile of the killer: indeterminate height, weight, sex, unarmed but extremely attractive. A funny prude no less.

Enter player Nicholas Lea. Before his appearance in the next season as Alex Krycek he had a role in this episode having, sex with brother Martin.

The pathetic attempt at a crop circle at the end. They didn't have to call in experts but jeez guys that was rubbish!

When questioned on the possibility that the show might be met with disapproval from Amish communities Chris Carter simply stated that he was not worried as the Amish do not watch television. Hahaha

This episode is flawed and feels incomplete but it is a fun ride and bring back fond memories for me, I could never say I dislike it or skip it during a Season watching marathon. 5/10 for me. 

Beyond the Sea Episode 13 Season 1 of The X-Files

Beyond the Sea Episode 13 Season 1 of The X-Files

Ground breaking 10/10

Synopsis: The agents are hunting down a kidnapper; Scully’s scepticism is put to the test when their only help comes in the guise of a death row inmate claiming psychic abilities who is looking for a pardon.

Beyond the sea raised the bar. The template set the standard that took The X-Files from an unassuming paranormal cop show to a celebrated worldwide phenomenon. An episode so rich in thought and feeling that can extend to nearly all that watch. Most of us have lost somebody. I myself have recently lost a friend and found comfort in what Scully learns.

This episode focuses squarely on Dana Scully, so much so that the writers had to hospitalise Mulder. This allowed Scully to open her mind to the possibilities of paranormal phenomenon, for the first time on an X-File she had no one off which to bounce her conflicting ideas. She alone must walk the line between the realms of distinct possibility and unconceivable probability. It is a lesson in growth for our sceptic agent. Can she let her guard down and allow herself to believe?

I like to think Scully’s mind has already been open to the possibilities of the paranormal. I don’t think her father’s silent spirit would have been able to reach out to her if she hadn’t, in a scene that I find as chilling as any other. We see what we allow ourselves to see and perhaps she is too stubborn to admit that she believes, why? Does it conflict with her work as a doctor, would it jeopardise her career within the bureau or more to the point would it bring further unrest to her father who has already casts doubts over her choice of career path?

Scully returns to work on the day of her father’s funeral. Mulder asks Scully how she is, calling her Dana for the first time which is something that resonates with her. After all she has not come to work looking for sympathy. She politely answers him then immediately turns the conversation towards the case the pair will be working on.

A teenage couple have been abducted by a killer believed to be replicating a crime he committed exactly a year previous, if the killer stays true to form the agent have exactly five days to find the teenagers before they are killed. The only lead they have is Luther Lee Bogs, a death row inmate with only one week before he is put to death. Bogs believes he has a psychic ability which will allow him to help the agents find the couple and the killer, in exchange for his life of course. Mulder is perceptibly sceptical about Bogs claim.

After Mulder has filled in Scully on Bogs and the case he leaves the room. I noticed Mulder owns a NICAP hat identical to the one worn by Max Fenig in the episode Fallen Angel. It is sitting on the coat stand and you can clearly see it when Mulder retrieves his jacket. I love the fact I can re-watch the series over and over and still find new bits to fascinate me.

With Mulder gone Scully hastily moves over to the X-Files cabinets and removes a document entitled VISIONARY ENCOUNTERS W/ THE DEAD. She instantly puts it back and slams the cabinet closed. Scully’s emotions are labouring here yet she remains stubborn. In the Next act a priest scatters Scully’s father’s ashes out at sea whilst Bobby Darlin’s Beyond the Sea plays out. Scully turns to her mother to asks her if her father was proud of her knowing that he had wanted her to go into medicine and not the FBI, and I presume for chasing monsters. Her mother replies simply ‘He was your father’.  This is a telling scene as we further explore the toil Scully is going through.

The agents interview Luther Lee Bogs. Bogs is clearly a scared man and desperate to prove his abilities to Mulder, it is the only way of saving his own life. I feel bogs could channel the emotions of the kidnapped couple without the need to touch an item of their clothing. Touching the clothing was for show and had more to do with humouring Mulder into believing his powers as he didn’t want to reveal his true connection to the kidnapper. A plan which backfired, well in the case of Mulder at least. Maybe Mulder was trying too hard to dispel Bogs claims and so found them too easy to dismiss.  Scully, having recently lost someone was easier for Bogs to reach. As she left the room he began to sing Beyond the Sea. She turns back to be confronted with another vision of her father. Bogs then says did you get my message Starbuck. These are all signs towards the paranormal ability of Bogs that Scully can surly not refute.

Scully happens across the area of which Bogs describes in his channelling. Scully finds the bracelet belonging to one of the kidnap victims and the coat hanger the killer used to whip them with. Do not be fooled into believing that finding this crime scene was a coincidence simply applied to allow the story to continue. Bogs can see the past the present and the future in his channelling and he asserted it in such a way that it could lead Scully. She saw what she allowed herself to see.

Mulder is upset by Scully’s gung-ho attitude in the acceptance of Bog authentication, which can only be viewed as hypocritical on the part of the FBI’s principal advocate for paranormal phenomenon. He is also upset that Scully lied in her report that it was paranormal phenomenon that lead her to the crime scene which it more understandable, but just goes to show Scully is not yet ready to commit herself to any other realms of possibility then that of science.

Mulders scepticism almost gets him killed. Following Bogs direct instructions to a boat house the agents Mulder and Scully and fellow FBI agents find the one of the kidnap victims gagged and bound. Whilst Scully tends to the victim, Mulder and other FBI sweep the surrounding area. Mulder in pursuit of the perpetrator is shot by a white cross. He was warned by Bogs to stay away from the white cross, a warning he disregarded. Was he shot because he didn’t see the cross or he didn’t want to see it? Maybe he never saw because he wouldn’t allow himself to see.

The killer is positively ID as Lucas Jackson Henry. It transpires that Henry was thought to have been partner to Bogs in a list of crimes although it was never proven. Scully’s internal conflicting beliefs rage on. Confronting Bogs Scully screams raw emotion at him angry that he had set her and her partner up or maybe more angry at herself for lowering her guard. She shuts her eyes and covers her ears shouting ‘no I don’t believe you!’. Bogs soon brings Scully back round to believing when he tells her of a story from her past that only she could have possibly known. At first she dismisses this as a story from any kid’s life but she is lying to herself still and she knows it. Teary she then requests to speak with her father; she wants to know what it was her father was trying to tell her after he had died. Bogs appears to hold back from channelling him and requests a deal.

Unable to broker a deal for Bogs life Scully lies to him to get the information. Bogs reveals that Henry and the last victim can be found at a condemned brewery. This, Scully believes compounds Bogs lies and concedes him to being a fraud. She questions Bogs on it and confronts him about being a liar in what is my favourite moment from the episode;

SCULLY: Luther, if you really were psychic...

BOGGS: I would have known you lied. That there never was a deal. I know you tried.

Wow just as Scully and us as viewers thought we had him! Just before Scully leaves the room Bogs warns her to stay away from the devil.

Scully and fellow FBI agents reach Henry as he was about to smash a hatchet into the skull of the remaining kidnap victim. Scully fires one shot to the torso of the axe wilding Henry who then runs. Scully gives chase. Henry sprints across a wooden platform next to which is a painting on the wall of a devil. Scully, heeding the advice of Bogs stops in her tracks. The platform is rotten and Henry falls through to his death.

Scully believes. She admits it to a man facing death yet cannot face it herself. Bogs offers her father’s message but she declines.

She knows what in death her father’s words would be. They are simply ‘I am proud of you’ I found this thought so moving, so true and so comforting.

I have other thoughts on this episode away from what we learn about Scully. I believe that Bogs was given his gift in order to redeem himself from the devil. He was given a second chance; the week prior to his death he prevented three deaths. The scene when he was walking to the gas chamber is remarkably brilliant and spooky.

Blogs ability to channel Henry and his victims came from his contact with Henry in previous crimes that the two were paired up on. A fact he had no intention of letting Mulder know, hence the Nicks jersey fiasco.

I cannot rate this episode any lower than a 10/10. The depth it added to Scullys character allowed her to become a main stay in show and in turn help cement The X-Files in television history for ever.

FIRE Episode 12 Season 1 of The X-Files

This episode is hot 7/10

Synopsis: An old flame of Mulders asks for his assistance in apprehending a psychopathic pyro-maniac

Another Strong MOW (monster of the week) offering that offers a little more. On top of the Pyro maniac with a demonic ability that is matched only by his demonic view on the world, we have the first exaggerated nod towards Dana’s secret affection towards Fox and Mulders clumsy affection towards Dana. A term X-Philes coined as ‘ship’, Short for relationship. The shippers had X-Philes around the world speculating heavily on forums, blogs and chat rooms and caused a phenomenon in itself possibly the biggest, away from any story arch the series had to offer. It is safe to say that this subject remains the strongest of all topics of conversations on any thing X-Files. Kept stronger by stars David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson real life will they won’t they relationship. Well, let the shipping continues.

Scully’s instant distain for Mulder’s college year love interest Phoebe Green is instantly recognisable. Phoebe whispers in Mulders ear ‘She hates me’ somewhat blatantly to show of her dominance over Scully for Mulders instant affection. Mulder seems aware of this and immediately deflects the unwanted tension by questioning Phoebe of the reason to her visit.

Phoebe asks Mulder to help in catching a narcissistic pyro maniac who kills members of the upper classes by burning his victims alive. The only lead is a potential target of the attacker, Sir Malcolm. Mulder agrees to assist, upon leaving his office Phoebe turns to Scully rather nonchalantly and says ‘Oh, good bye’ as if she forgot of her presence in the room.

Scully is wary of Phoebes control and possible manipulation over Mulder. She remarks to Mulder how she had just witnessed him drop everything to help Mulder who defends himself by stating ‘I was merely extending her a professional courtesy’ to which Scully quips ‘Oh was that what you were extending?’ A funny line that is rife with jealous undertones. Scully displays further acquisitive emotion as, against Mulders wishes she goes to the hotel to where he and Phoebe are staying.

The role of Phoebe was originally designed to be a recurring role with a view to replacing the enigmatic Dana Scully. Luckily for us this wasn’t the case. I found her simply irritating and I would just like to say we don’t all talk like that!

Our MOW Cecil L’lvely’s awaits the visit of Sir Malcome Marsden and family to the vacation home. He poses as the grounds man for the estate having killed and buried the real one in a shallow grave. Cecil kicks the Marsden’s family dog and threatens to skin it alive. Cecil is not joking he would skin the dog alive he feels no remorse for his actions he is a loaner cold and callous. He is intelligent and has a confident demeanour; he is a psychopath in every sense. He is a psychopath with the penchant for murdering aristocrats, not for political or financial gain. He kills these powerful men to validate his own beliefs that he is all powerful. Cecil is a man that really is geared towards world domination.

He is also a voyeur that spies on the wife of his targets. He watches Mrs Marsden through a window his attention drawn primarily to her body. His affection towards these women is most probably perverse although it is not explored in too finer detail.

His malevolent behaviour is explored brilliantly in one scene where he befriends the two young Marsden boys with magic using cigarettes which he then uses to tempt the boys to smoke as if he were the Devil himself. He also tricks the Marsden’s driver into drinking rocket fuel and sets him alight, so he could assist the Marsden’s more closely. Personally I think this MOW is far too easily overlooked he holds many of the cards over some better established MoW in terms of his evilness, maliciousness, intelligence and all over anti-hero vibe over .

Other noteworthy points to take from this episode are Mulder admitting to having a photographic memory and pyro-phobia. The pyrotechnics used I find impressive to this day. The X-File case number Scully retorts at the end of the show, 11214893 includes the number 1121 the birthday of X-Files creator Chris Carters wife. This number along with 1013, Carters birthday and name of his production company are used with regularity throughout the show. The original script of this episode includes a conversation near the end in which Scully comments, ‘Well, never let it be said that you wouldn't walk through fire for a woman, Mulder’, to which he answers, ‘And never let it be said that I wouldn't do it for you again, Scully’.

I think this episode is overlooked by some and for me I think 7/10 does it justice.

EVE Episode 11 Season 1 of The X-Files

EVEil Genius 10/10

Synopsis: Mulder and Scully investigate two identical murders that happened at the exact same time only miles apart.

EVE is an amazing episode full of red herrings and twist. From start to finish the unfolding plot keeps Mulder and Scully guessing on the potential suspects. The likelihood that a sophisticated Murder could be carried out by an eight year old girl was beyond the realms of thinking even for Mulder. As a viewer it was nice to see a tightly woven story unravel in front of my eyes.

There is no denying that twins in horror works as for some reason they are able to possess a certain unnerving quality much like a china doll. The younger EVE twins are murders are evil and genius, a scary group of attributes to hold. They are capable of killing without feeling regret but instead share jubilation in their methods homicide, gleefully watching as their self-cultivated poison terminates the closes thing the girls could ever come to calling a mother. This gives much reason behind the elaborate ways in which the fathers of the two girls met their demise. Exsanguination is a word I had to look up not a method of murder, least that is what I thought. The creativity involved in the murders inevitably contributed to the girls undoing as it was quickly passed down as an X-File due to its oddness in nature and without Fox Mulders intuitive observance the girls break for freedom would have been successful.

Harriet Harris turns in some credible performances playing Dr Sally Kendrick, EVE 6 and EVE 8. As the psychotic EVE 6 she was very convincing, chattering her teeth whilst telling stories of biting a guard eyeball and I really wouldn’t like to be locked in a cell with her. She had an air of unpredictability about her and played unhinged very well. Another of her scenes is also rather thrilling. Cindy Reardon lies in bed when her wardrobe doors begin to open, we then see from Mulder and Scully’s view point that she is then quickly snatched. Scully runs to Cindy’s aid entering the house she doesn’t know what she will find and neither do we. Whoever or whatever it was that snatched Cindy had to have been waiting in that wardrobe for two days as the house was under surveillance. The music adds to potential scare we’re about to receive. Scully makes her way up the stairs and is knocked down by EVE 7 who then bursts through a patio window and escapes the waiting Mulder by holding a gun to Cindy’s head. A top sequence in the episode of which there are so many highlights. My favourite sequence of the lot has to be the rest stop scene. The girls poison the agents drink only to be thwarted by Mulders intuition. I thought it was filmed really well and showed Mulders at his think ‘outside the box’ best.  Not many agents would evaluate the evidence in such a way as to suspect little girls.

Deep Throat makes an appearance here, divulging the project that created the EVEs called the Lichfield experiments. These experiments were designed to rival that of the Russians attempt of creating a super race at the height of the cold war. They created a group of genetically modified children, the boys were called Adam and the girls were called Eve. We know from meeting Eve 6 that the experiments still continue and that these children grew to be psychotic. We learn from EVE 7 that the young EVEs; Cindy and Teena have developed at a greatly accelerated speed, meaning they’re very dangerous. On their capture they are returned to the Lichfield experiment.

Quotes I have picked out for this episode are:

Mulder’s unwitty quip to Scully whilst she reads from the autopsy report.

Scully: Death by hypovolaemia. 75% blood loss. That's over 4 liters of blood.

Mulder: I'd say the man was running on empty.

Mulder’s and Scullys banter. He also points to the sky and says that maybe their looking in the wrong place.

Mulder: One girl was just abducted.

Scully: Kidnapped.

Mulder: Potato, potahto.

Two psychopathic girls that have never met murder their fathers in exactly the same bizarre manner at exactly the same time on different sides of the country. Psychotic clones run amok. Exsanguination, poisoning and biting eyeballs. A supposedly expired highly classified experiment continues. Creepy twins that may in-fact be cloned to create more of the little murderers. This episode had a lot I think I enjoy it more than any other in this series and as I realise I can be stingy with my scoring I feel it is only right to slap a 10/10 on this one.

Join me once more for the next episode ‘FIRE’ coming in the next couple of days. Thank you for reading.

FALLEN ANGEL Episode 10 Season 1 of The X-Files

Max Power 8/10

Synopsis: Mulders attempt to infiltrate a U.F.O crash landing cover up is thwarted by the military leading to a chance meeting with an eccentric UFO fanatic with a history of past abductions.

Townsend, Wisconsin. A spaceship crashed in the woods, or as UFO reclamations expert Colonel Calvin Henderson puts it ‘confirmed Fallen Angel in sector 87’. Operation Falcon is put into action. An operation not only intent in the salvage and cover-up of the downed spacecraft, but also in the extermination of any and all extra-terrestrial life found at the wreckage site.

Mulder is loosely informed by Deep Throat that the quarantined area of a reported train crash in Townsend, Wisconsin was in fact a UFO crash site and that he had only 24hrnbefore all evidence was removed. That is all the information Mulder needs. Begin the defiant agents’ one man quest to uncover the truth. I love episodes where our two heroes go behind enemy lines as they normally always uncover something and this episode is no different. Mulder’s endeavour pays of and he is confronted by one hell of a spaceship and for the first time he remembers to bring a camera to collect photographic evidence. This preparation proves futile as he is soon caught by military personnel and dispossessed of is camera. He is brought in front of Colonel Henderson where his work on the X-Files is severely threatened, more on that later.

After the encounter with the Colonel, Mulder is placed in a holding cell which leads to his meeting with fellow detainee Max Fenig played by unknown Scott Bellis. I think this guy played the role superbly and I am not surprised he was given the opportunity to redeem his role in future episodes. He nailed the traits that one may expect of an obsessive loner. He had the equipment and knowledge to track U.F.O phenomena and mainly acted alone having little face to face contact with others and none with persons from outside the U.F.O fanatic circle. I could imagine that the investigative group he claims to be a part of N.I.C.A.P. consist of only a handful of awkward individuals. I think it is safe to say we have Scott Bellis to thank for the concept of the Lone Gunman. He demonstrated to the writers that informants to Mulder didn’t have to be shady two faced G-Men but could also be allies fighting for the same side. Mulder himself realises this. When he asks Max ‘What makes you so sure there is something out there’ Max replies ‘the same thing that makes you so sure’ Indicating that they both have encountered U.F.O phenomena and thus both want to get to the truth.

Scully’s comes to release Mulder from the holding pen not knowing the reasons for his actions. She rejects Mulder idea of a crashed U.F.O in belief of a highly classified story of a downed Libyan Fighter Jet carrying a nuclear pay load. A story Mulder dismisses as ‘a highly classified lie’. Scully has the attitude of a mother telling off her son, this may be due to the impending closure of the X-File brought about by Mulder’s exploits. Is she growing attached to department she works in or the partner she works with?

Scully regularly denounces Mulders theories throughout the episode I think in attempt by the writers to revert her back to her original purpose in the show. After all she may have been too willing to entertain Mulders wild notions of the paranormal in recent episodes and there is a need to re-establish her strong independent stance.

Meanwhile it is not enough that Colonel Henderson has to deal with an insubordinate FBI agent, he also has to track down and kill an extra-terrestrial capable of cloaking itself to its surroundings and destroying its adversaries using potent amounts of radiation. A task that it is fair to say he has no grasp on.

This alien creature is only interested in one thing, finding Max Fenig. It was recurring abductee Max that drew the craft to Townsend. He wasn’t aware of this or his previous abductions, He was only aware of blacking out and reawaking in strange places. It was Mulder noticing a scar behind Fenig’s ear that lead him to the conclusion that Fenig was an abductee, as that same scar came up in X-Files cases involving other abductees.  Another spaceship came down to Townsend to retrieve their fellow alien and Max Fenig disappears with them, for now.

Later back at FBI headquarters, agent Scully’s attempts to support Mulders actions appear to be in vein. The Office of Professional Responsibility Hearing run by Section Chief McGrath is not going well. Mulders turn defends his actions, but his evidence and field report are suppressed by conflicting reports from Colonel Henderson to which Mulder proclaims ‘How can I disprove lies that are stamped with an official
seal?.... You can deny all the things I've seen. All the things I've discovered, but not for much longer. Because too many others know what's happening out there. And no one, no government agency has jurisdiction over the truth.’

Although Mcgrath has Mulder banged to rights and makes the decision to disband the X-Files and probably remove Mulder from the bureau. The decision is overturned by Deep Throat. In a secret meeting between the two men Deep Throat explains his actions as keeping his friend close and enemies’ closer. This is the first time we see Deep Throat’s involvement away from Fox Mulder and he comes across as sinister and scheming and maybe more powerful then we previously thought.

Before I wrap this post up I just want to add a couple of my favourite bits from the episode.

·        Mulders reconnaissance mission, hanging on to the bottom of that truck.

·        The downed UFO and the fact that Mulder brought a camera.

·        That intrepid soul in search of a closer encounter that is Max Fenig

·        Scully: ‘we have a plane to catch in under an hour’ (It takes longer than an hour to get through security nowadays)

·        This little back and forth at the US Space Surveillance Centre;

CAPTAIN KORETZ: Sir I have flash traffic at 24-18. Repeated calls for ID go unanswered. And it’s not in the orbital or suborbital inventory.

MILITARY OFFICER: 24-18. Isn't that where...

CAPTAIN KORETZ: Same exact spot sir. Although I am reading a much larger craft his time.

MILITARY OFFICER: Meteor, Ms. Koretz.

CAPTAIN KORETZ: A much larger Meteor, sir. Hold on a second.(Putting hand to earpeice) We have a confirm. Whitmarsh Air Force Base is tracking...

MILITARY OFFICER: Where is it?

CAPTAIN KORETZ: Well, sir. The meteor, seems to be hovering over a small town in Eastern Wisconsin.

·        Various Mulder quotes; ‘a highly classifies lie.’ ‘Enigmatic Dr Scully.’ ‘You don’t seem to understand Scully, Max doesn’t believe he was abducted by aliens I believe he was.’  ‘no government agency has jurisdiction over the truth.’

I like this episode and could go on but maybe you can fill in the gaps or add your take, feel free to use the comment box below. For now I will leave you with my score 8/10

Thanks for reading.

SPACE Episode 9 Season 1 of The X-Files

Huston we have a problem 2/10

I feel as if I have just spent 45minutes watching Mulder and Scully watch a NASA space mission that was in jeopardy from paranormal forces. Paranormal forces whose inception came from the famous 'face on mars' photograph taken from by the Viking 1 Orbiter during the 70’s. The famous photograph is shown at the beginning of the episode when it is questioned by a reporter over its possible indication to life on mars. Chris Charter must have seen the photo and drew all his inspiration for the episode from it and I mean all his inspiration. Maybe he thought it such a novel idea that he could run with it for an entire episode. Unfortunately it didn’t have the legs to carry the episode and without any added dimension the whole thing came across as lazy as if Carter put no real thought into it at all. A clever background story to the face’s origin might have had me salivating and an injection of Deep Throat conspiracy theory may have supplemented the story.

Sure had it not been for Mulders interjection in the last ten minutes the Space Shuttle Orbiter may not have re-entered Earth’s atmosphere without bursting into a big ball of flames, apart from this Mulder and Scully were left redundant throughout. Like voyeurs they observed as a confused mission control tried to regain some sort of grasp on what was happening to the sabotaged shuttle. Mulder appears to be quite struck with meeting his boyhood idols in Lieutenant Colonel Belt yet that old adage ‘never meet your heroes’ rears its head as Belts decision making is reckless and void of compassion for the men aboard the shuttle. It is in the end Mulders desire to believe in the greatness of the man that draws the real Belts away from alien control to receive the instruction to bring the shuttle in at a trajectory of 32 degrees thus saving the lives of the crew members and preserving the life of the space program. This episode shows how strong and unique Mulders faith really is as any normal man would have given up their belief in their hero under similar circumstance.

Another noteworthy point is the convincing mission control set. Ok maybe we might expect to see a larger room with technicians running all sorts of varying equipment. Nether the less it manages to pull it off and it is not impossible to believe. The techno jargon between mission control and the ship seems plausible and the NASA footage of the shuttle in space and landing offer nice touches.

I find it funny; I always thought Ghost in the Machine was my least favourite episode of the series until I wrote this post. GITM succeeds in bringing us a delightful conspiracy undertone that not only breaks up the episode but also give it a point. Space on the other hand is almost entirely pointless and that’s why I can only award it 2/10.

After that nonsense I am really looking forward to sinking my teeth into the next episode ‘Fallen Angel’ Thanks for reading.

ICE Episode 8 Season 1 of The X-Files

A Ice episode that doesn't quite reach its Peak 9/10

This episode sits proudly atop many X-Philes’ favourite episode lists, not mine though. Don’t get me wrong it is not far off, for me there is just one subtle tweak that could have catapulted this episode to the top of the pile.

It is not hard to understand why this episode is so popular amongst the X-File community. The successful method of the story for one thing is a tried and tested platform. Most recent inspirations to the broadcast of this 1993 episode were from John Carpenters 1982 Horror/Sci-Fi classic The Thing. Of course there are other inspirations but The Thing is the one I’m most familiar with. Ice borrows some of the finest fragments from the film and successfully repackages and delivers them back to us in a 43 minute slot.

The very opening scene of the Arctic Ice Core Project shows us a shot of just how isolated the facility is. A Snow storm blows in; the whistle of the swirling winds is all that can be heard. Inside the facility seems no more hospitable the outside. Its dark a, thermometer hangs on the wall measuring -34 degrees Celsius. A dog forages for scraps the camera follows; we see body on the floor and then a lifeless arm hanging from a desk.  A man armed with a hand gun interrupts the scene he looks exhausted and is shirtless and bloodied. He turns on the ham radio equipment and then a lamp and the video camera below it. He slouches down on a chair placed in front of the camera and breathing heavily utters ‘we are not who we are….we are not who we are….it goes no further than this….it stops right here right now…’ with that another man grabs him and pulls him from his chair. They fight as if their lives depended on it. They both end up pulling a pistol. They stare into one another eyes as the stand-off. Slowly they lower their weapons only to draw them again only this time it is to their own temples. The filming of the scene switches to outside the facility. The winds that are still whistling are accompanied by two loud gun shots.

This post is not a novella of the episode but I feel as if I have to give this remarkable opening sequence it due. It builds up a tense atmosphere full of dread and solitude that carries on throughout the episode.

The episode is set almost entirely inside the facility. When a show or film is shot in such away I believe it is called bottling. When done in the correct manner it can evoke strong emotions in the viewer and considering there is only a 43min run time, I think they have done well to see that we the viewer share the intense suspicion and claustrophobia of the characters. Here we are not left outside in the cold looking in, we are stuck inside hoping to get out. We are not merely roped into casting aspersions over each character but forced. This is not comfortable, as this is the first time in the series that we are obliged to make that choice. You ask yourself who is being deceitful and who is telling the truth? And then it hits you, without Mulders help we would never know. Trust no one.

Agents Mulder, Scully, physician Dr. Hodge (Xander Berkeley from ‘24’ fame); toxicologist Dr. DaSilva (Felicity Huffman from ‘Desperate Housewifes’ fame); Pilot Bear (Jeff Kober from ‘China Beach’ fame) and geologist Dr. Murphy (Steve Hytner from The X-Files episode ‘Ice’ fame) all full into the same traps we do. There is only one worm controlling one host at any one time during their time at the facility. Yet the reaction of the team and their hostility towards each other appear to become magnified under the claustrophobic conditions the facility places them in. Even Scully suspects Mulder of murder to some degree. When she finds Mulder with the body of Dr. Muphy throat slit, Scully accusingly asks her partner what he is doing.  Pulling a gun on him shortly afterwards and forcing him into solitary confinement, although this I suspect is just as much for his own good as for hers. Dr Hodge’s narcissistic, malevolent and somewhat misogynistic attitude makes him prime suspect through most of the second half of the episode. Looking back he was an obvious red hearing as he had been unpleasant from the very beginning of the show. And as it turns out timid Dr. DaSilva is the one with the little beastie in her. She goes into a state of hysteric anger but Dr Hodge and Scully are on hand to save her from the extra-terrestrial parasite using X-File science.

In addition did anybody else notice the substance secreted by the worm after being pulled from the pilot’s skin. Possibly a tie in with the alien Black Oil that plays a large part in future episodes. It does have similar characteristics. It enters a host through an orifice in the head and makes them act differently then usual. It is found in ice estimated to be 250,000 years old. There are large reservoirs of Black Oil under the earth that have been there for millions of years. Personally I think the Black Oil is an evolved state of the parasitic worm or some kind of mutation from it. What are your thoughts?

This episode demonstrates what can be achieved when using inspiration from the very best that the Sci-Fi genre has to offer. I’m going to give this episode a 9/10. It could have so easily been a ten but for one minor issue I have. I would have liked to have found Mulder with the corpse of Dr Murphy just as Scully had rather then watch Mulder discover the body. I feel this subtle difference would have had a dramatic impact adding an extra psychological edge. Oh well you can't have it all I suppose.

Thanks for reading. Next post SPACE coming soon.

GHOST IN THE MACHINE Episode 7 Season 1

1993: space oddity 4/10 

Synopsis: The elaborate murder of a C.E.O to a large technology company gets pinned on the company founder, but Mulder believes it not to be as straight forward as this.

The creative vision in this episode makes 2001: a space odyssey seem like it was written by an oracle, which trust me is not a compliment by any stretch. At least HAL 9000 seemed plausible or for one of a better word convincing. Considering it was shot 25 years later there are no excuses here for C.O.S. to feel so dated, clunky so unfashionable.

Maybe I am missing the point, maybe it is less of a second rate rip off from the Stanley Kubrick classic and more a tribute to 70’s Sci-Fi adventure series Space 1999. A show that’s colt following has more to do with it being so much farther from the mark than on it. You may argue that 23^rd century man will laugh at the exploits of James T. Kirk but that point is moot. Why? The fact remains that the producers should of know better than to of half arsed it, being that in reality technology was not too far from something similar and that they could have drawn inspiration from this technology.

So rant over really and I have decided to focus my energies on the relationship between Fox Mulder and the ham-fisted Jerry Lamana.

Jerry calls over to Mulder and instigates a hug. Mulders first reaction is to shoot Scully an apprehensive glance. He sends another glance equal to the first in her direction when Jerry claims they were more than old work mates but partners in the violent crime division. The unease Fox feels around Jerry is quickly established by these looks and his less than confident demeanour.

In the next scene Jerry reveals his reason for his meeting Mulder; he needs help on a case. Mulder initially tries to side step the request by saying he is assigned to the X-Files but Jerry desperately pleads with him for assistance. Jerry needs this case to impress the attorney generals and help get his career back on track. A career that as it turns out ‘ran into a little bad luck’ when he misplaced evidence, resulting in a near fatal attack on a federal judge. It now seems evident why Fox felt dubious of Jerry’s presence. Jerry seems like the type of colleague who would have a detrimental effect on Mulders work at the FBI.

This proves the case as Jerry walks into the X-Files office steals the profile Mulder had been working on for the progress report and passes it off as his own work without shame. When confronted by Mulder he simply states that he asked for Mulders help and got it. To me Jerry seems to carry himself like a cornered animal swinging out, a broken man with a bruised ego who will do anything to rebuild his battered reputation no matter how ill advised that may be. I think Mulder recognises this and has genuine sympathy for the man.

Mulder forgives him and allows Jerry to bring in Mark Zuckerberg excuse me I mean Wilczek alone, on evidence Scully found that put Wilczek in the frame for murder. Unfortunately for Jerry this latest attempt at a short cut in restoring his status at the bureau back fired and proved to be his last. Being killed by probably the worse MOW ever was the cherry on top of a disastrous career for Special FBI Agent Jerry Lamana, R.I.P.

Deep Throat makes his second appearance in The X-File on Mulders terms. Mulder needs to know why Level 5 clearance needs to me granted to gain access to Wilczek’s property. It transpires that the DoD are after Wilczek software programing abilities.

The climax of the episode has agents Mulder and Scully trying to reach C.O.S in order to shut it down. Playing out like an episode of Krypton Factor Scully battles the physical challenges whilst Mulder the mental challenges. Claude Peterson, the buildings system engineer turns out to be an agent from a branch in the government (probably DoD) who for two years has tried to infiltrate the C.O.S. Paterson holds Mulder at gun point in preparation to seize the technology only to be thwarted by Scully who appears to have been dragged through a bush backwards.

Mulder and Deep Throat meet up for a second time with a somewhat more poignant discussion. It transpires that the government have taken Wilczek to force him to program software for them.  Mulder states that they can’t take a man like Wilczek without explanation to which Deep Throat replies ‘They can do anything they want.’ This proves the case over the course of the next eight seasons.

I have no problem with the story really. Looking past the horrible dated Sci-Fi style A.I. the episode give us two extra dimensions; the Jerry angle on which we learn more of Mulders backstory and of his compassion and the Deep Throat angle where we learn about the length secret government agencies are willing to go to. These two things save this episode form being erased from my files completely and I give it lowly 4/10

Catch my next blog coming soon, ICE one of my favourites.  

Thanks for reading.

SHADOWS Episode 6 Season 1 of The X-Files

Who you gonna call? 8/10

Synopsis:  The corpses of two men found dead in an alleyway have unusual post mortem abnormalities. Mulder and Scully are called in to investigate their deaths which lead them to Lauren Kyte, a secretary who appears to be protected by a poltergeist like force.

One thing I love about season one is this cluster of MOW shows from JERSEY DEVIL to SPACE. Granted there not all brilliant yet they are all (except one, can you guess which?) enjoyable to watch and there are some real gems pitched in there. This is one such gem of an episode the first MOW to feature the afterlife as its paranormal prerequisite. I do have a fondness for a good ghost story and for me this one dose not disappoint.

We start the episode with Mulder wilfully participating in a campaign of miss information with a couple of G-Men from some unidentified government agency. Mulder using his cunning, manages to obtain the finger prints of a dead man in the morgue whose identity is undisclosed to the agents and the story is underway. With these finger prints the pair ascertains the identities of the two corpses and where they died. Mulder is shown at his devious best here.

Fast forward a couple of scenes and we find Mulder and Scully searching through CCTV footage from an ATM machine near to where the two victims’ bodies were discovered. They spot what may be our antagonist, a shadowy figure but they cannot get a good look at whom or what it is because in 1993 ‘the resolution was to poor and it wouldn’t help much to enhance it’ Simply put the technology wasn’t about at the time so why the catastrophe that was the following episode GHOST IN THE MACHINE? (Have you figured out which episode it is I do not find enjoyable?)

Meanwhile timid secretary Lauren Kyte is threatened by her boss only for him to be attacked by some invisible force. Yes! Gotta be a ghost!

The CCTV video leads the Mulder and Scully to Lauren, the last person to have seen the two men alive. I cannot help but wonder where it is that I have seen this woman before. I typed her name ‘Lisa Waltz’ into goggle and the best answer I’ve come with is that I’ve seen her in Pet Cemetery 2, however I am not convinced by this. Can anybody out there name something more substantial she has been in, that I may remember her from? Things like this really bug me and I won’t be happy until my curiosity is cured. Anyway the agents ask Lauren if she had ‘seen this person before’ and hand her a picture of the ghostly apparition taken from the CCTV footage that looks more like The Flash. This made me giggle.

This spectre that is by now unmistakably guarding Lauren then sends Fox and Dana hurtling backwards in their vehicle and straight into a collision with another motorist at high speed. All involved, including the other driver are miraculously unharmed. In what can only be viewed as homage to a regular A-Team in-joke.

Can I just point out Scullys reference to the film Poltergeist in the following seen ‘They’re here’ said in a chilling voice, an genuine homage to one of my favourite films from my youth. Sometimes it seems the show was wrote, directed and shot just for me and that’s why I love it.

Back to the show and our agent begin surveillance on Lauren. They watch her in the car park preventing her ex-boss, Howard Graves name from being replaced on a parking space sign with that of Tom Braidwood, the guy who plays Melvin Frohike by the way. Anyways Mulder soon discovered that Howard Graves, whom committed an apparent suicide, is the poltergeist that has been protecting her. Although Scully is convince that Lauren has an accomplice in the murder of the two men at the ATM and the sabotage of the agent’s car causing it to crash.

Lauren is awoken that night by the macabre voice of Howard Graves pleading for his life and the sound of water dripping. She follows the noises to the bathroom armed with a baseball bat. Scared she cautiously walks in and flicks on the light. A curtain surrounds the bath, she reaches out pulls it back and reveals a bath slowly filling with blood that then drains away. From this we find out that Howard was murdered. A frightening scene that if you ask me, would have looked at home in any slasher film.

I’m going to fast forward past the Scully/Mulder theory exchange to the inevitable conclusion that Mulder is correct. With just a quick reference to an Elvis joke…:

Mulder: Do you know how difficult it is to fake your own death? Only one man has pulled it off...Elvis.

We’ll see how many Elvis in-jokes we can count through this season.

Suspecting she may be the target of a hit for figuring out the killer of Howard Graves, Lauren calls Mulder and asks him to come to her house ASAP. Mulder’s presence however turns out to be redundant as the two hitmen are killed by the poltergeist. He arrives just as the last hitman is being choked to death whilst being suspended in mid-air. Fox stops visibly stunned by what he was seeing. Scully comes in just after and characteristically manages to miss the paranormal phenomena. Not the first time Dana has missed the critical visual proof of the paranormal. Even if she had seen I still doubt she would believe.

Lauren sits in an interrogation room, Mulder one ups the G-Men from the beginning of the episode a second time and coax’s Lauren into talking about Graves Partner and how he was involved in illegal supplies to a terrorist group. The agents pair up with the G-Men to raid the office of Graves’ business partner. Where, with the help of Graves’ spirit none the less they find a floppy disk containing the sordid details necessary to put Graves’ business partner behind bars. Yippee!

I enjoyed that I could clearly see the inspiration taken from the film Poltergeist. I also like the reminders that this was made in 93’ a year that for me was a much simpler time when I was just a young boy. Now I come to think of it maybe I remember Lisa Waltz from watching this episode as an eight year old boy, curiosity cured?

Ah the nostalgia, lovely 8/10 from me.

Wow I hope you have had as much fun reading as I have had writing. Now bring on ‘GHOST IN THE MACHINE’ which promises to be a much shorter post (grumble, grumble).