Miracle Man Episode 18 Season 1 of The X-Files

Beware false prophets 7/10 

Synopsis: Samuel a supposed miracle healer is tried for murder, Mulder believes in more than just the boy’s innocence.

With the paranormal, evolution and/or aliens the ever present subject matter of The X-Files, it is inevitable conflict and amity with religion developed on a regular basis. Miracle Man represents season ones first and only head on foray into religion. That is if you are wiling to except that ‘The Kindred’ from episode Gender Bender are not a religious sect.

Christianity is first in the firing line, or maybe more the false prophets that exploit the faith instilled in people who are made vulnerable by their lame limbs, old age or prevalent mourning. There are religious television channels that run all day that film these false prophets placing their hands on members of their congregations and ‘heal’ them of their physical and mental burdens using the power given to them by God. If you can’t tell I’m sceptical, although this boy Samuel, he has me believing.

I watched with my very own eyes this young boy put his hands upon a dead man, a man burned alive minutes before in a fiery car crash, I watched as he asked this man to rise, rise up and heal using the power of faith and the power of God. I saw that man rise from the ashes as if he were Lazarus himself.

Make no bones about it this boy is the real deal, and if we are to believe the blatant New Testament imagery he is also the second coming of Jesus. While running the risk of patronising you I shall lazily list these metaphors:

• He performed Miracles.
• He was arrested and wrongly accused.
• He was beaten to death whilst in the ‘crucifixion’ pose.
• He forgave the man that had him killed.
• He rose from the dead and disappeared.
• He drank beer and got into fights.

The writers cleverly used Samuel divine powers to reignite the interest in the story line surrounding Mulders abducted sister. First Samuel envisages Samantha’s abduction he then shows visions of Samantha to Mulder. This not only gave Mulder reason to belief in Samuels’s powers and thus find the real suspect but also re-opened the book on Fox’s hunt for his sister for the first time since episode Conduit.

With Miracle Man following E.B.E, an episode that really kicked started the alien conspiracy mythology, there was a lot to get excited about and it was no coincidence that household ratings went in to ascendency following them.

With the exception of the first episode Pilot, this is the first episode that leaves you guessing on the suspect. I’m not saying that it is or is not difficult to figure out (I didn’t have a clue), what I am saying is that we normally know who the perpetrator is before we are treated to Mark Snow’s eerie score. This will become a more established template for future MoW episodes as we watch The X-Files evolve.

An enjoyable episode that offers up a surprise killer and small amount of early Samanthology. 7/10

Musings;

• Mulder already knows of the Reverend Calvin Hartley and of his son Samuel’s healing powers before Scully show him the case. He doesn’t explain why, perhaps he read about it in The Lone Gunman or maybe he previously looked into seeing Samuel about his sister. Or maybe he just saw him on the GOD Channel.
• Scully refers to her catholic faith saying that ‘God never lets the Devil still the show’ Reference to Sully’s faith is few and far between in the first season but are later established frequently.
• I found the trail of food left on the roof to the ventilation shaft for the locus is hilarious. They are insects not Hansel and Gretel.
• Vance went a little far with the Locus thing as it left a paper trail back to him, not that it mattered in the end.
• Best quote undoubtedly goes to Mulder ‘Remember, the boy did rise from the dead. That kind of thing happens only once or twice every two thousand years or so.’
• Sheriff Daniels wrongly persecuted Samuels and had him beaten to death in his cell. He then got arrested and most probably imprisoned, leaving his paralysed wife to a life of solitude and himself to a life behind bars with criminals he would of helped to send there. What was this guy’s motivation or am I missing out on some New Testament imagery????