"The Truth Is Out There" Re-Watch: "F. Emasculata" & "Soft Light"

 The X-Files

We are winding down with season 2. Even with its second season wrapping up, the show is still introducing us to pieces of the puzzle both in front of the camera and behind the scenes. "Soft Light" is the first episode to be written by Vince Gilligan. Vince will write more prolific episodes and he will go on to create the critically-acclaimed "Breaking Bad." Pretty impressive.

"F. Emasculata"

Scully: "According to the briefing, the prisoners escaped while hiding in a laundry cart."

Mulder: "I don't think the guards have been watching enough prison movies."

Notable Guest Stars: Dean Norris as Marshall Tapia & John Pyper-Ferguson as Paul

Mythology or Monster of the Week: MotW

X-File of the Week: Special Agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully are sent to assist US Marshalls in the hunt for two escaped convicts. The agents are initially unsure why they were called in on this particular case. Scully soon discovers that a strange viral outbreak has hit the prison killing 10 out of 14 inmates. And the escaped inmates are both infected.

Big Pharma.

I have to say that I've never been a huge fan of movies or episodes of television that focus on some sort of large outbreak or contagion. I'm even less interested in them now. With the COVID-19 pandemic still happening and now the monkeypox virus spreading watching people have to deal with a fictitious disease that causes gross pustules that pop and spurt are not the tea. I tried not to let this new bias creep in while I was re-watching this episode.

I have to really give it up to the make-up department for this episode. They definitely make the infected look extra gross. The pustules and sores on the faces of the infected are super freaking disgusting. Every time that a pustule popped and sprayed someone's face I literally gagged. 

I really like how this episode is set up. The cold open with the researcher in the forest transitioning to the package arriving at the prison that holds the infected pigs hoof. This segues to the prison break and Mulder and Scully arriving. You aren't sure where exactly its heading and the viewer is as off balance as the agents are. I don't usually love episodes that Mulder and Scully up for most of them, but this episode has them apart but utilizing their individual skills. Mulder heads on the hunt with the US Marshall's including "Breaking Bad"s Dean Norris while Scully sticks around at the prison to put that medical degree to good use. 

Usually in these scenarios, Scully ends up getting the short end of the stick. Mulder is the action hero while Scully is just left behind to offer up exposition over the phone for Mulder when he needs it. Not this time. Scully is the hero here. She's finding things out. Busting down doors and not taking shit from the shifty folks who are clearly the bad guys. She discovers the bodies that are full of sores and being burned, definitely because of a flu outbreak. After Dr. Osborne is infected, he reveals to Scully that this is all the work of Pinck Pharmaceuticals. They were researching a dilating enzyme found in an insect that is really a parasitic entity that is what is infecting and killing the people and was sent to the prison on purpose to fast track the human trial portion of things. Who's going to care about some dead convicts, right? 

The show hasn't really taken a look at the evils of big pharma so it's kind of cool to get that perspective. The episode also shows how things aren't as cut and dried as you'd think. You might think that you'd want to know if there was a deadly virus potentially on the loose, that could kill you, but if it was contained, would you? Would you be happier knowing it was out there and panicking? Mulder is very gung ho but Scully sees the other side, particularly after being up close and personal with things. It's troubling to see Scully on the same side as the Cigarette Smoking Man. 

Mulder's stuff with the escaped convicts and the one's family ending with the mini hostage crisis on the train is not as compelling as the stuff with Scully. It all feels pretty perfunctory, particularly the climax with the convict getting shot. Plus, him taking that kid is all pretty telegraphed so there's no real sense of actual danger. Also, it's never made completely clear the reason why Skinner sent Mulder and Scully to the prison in the first place. To teach them a lesson? To ensure the situation didn't get any worse? I get that things in the world of "The X-Files" can be deliberately muddy, but not usually the purpose of the mission in the first place.

Grade: B

"Soft Light"

Scully: "There's no sign of him, Mulder. Maybe he's moved on. What are you looking at?"

Mulder: "On the videotape, Dr. Banton kept staring at the floor. I've been trying to figure out what he might have been looking at."

Scully: "Well, maybe the exposure affected his mind. Nonsensical repetitive behavior is a common trait of mental illness."

Mulder: "You trying to tell me something?"

Notable Guest Star: Tony Shalhoub as Dr. Chester Ray Banton

Mythology or Monster of the Week: MotW

X-File of the Week: Special Agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully are called to Richmond, Virginia by a former student of Scully's from the academy, Kelly Ryan. Ryan is now a detective and asked for their help with some mysterious disappearances. Based on the evidence and similarities to previous x-files, Mulder initially believes it to be cases of spontaneous human combustion. He soon abandons this theory when clues lead the agents in the direction of Dr. Chester Ray Banton who seems to be experiencing strange powers after being bombarded with subatomic particles due to a particle accelerator accident.

Monk has seen better days.

I love it when "The X-Files" goes full sci-fi. When I first heard the words dark matter and particle accelerator, I knew that this was the episode for me. If you break it down, the episode is about a man who's shadow can kill which is true, but there's a lot more going on here. Not only is there this sympathetic character on the run, but we are able to weave the show's patented government conspiracies into it as well. 

The show did a great job casting Chester Ray Banton. Tony Shalhoub has always been a fantastic actor and he brings the right amount of empathy and paranoia to Banton. This guy could very easily have devolved into a caricature especially when he started going off on the government stuff, but Shalhoub keeps him grounded even in the midst of all that. It's another great example of the show bringing out the very best in it's guest stars and really playing to their strengths.

I love when the show uses the informants in other than mythology episodes and I think it's a great idea to get X back into the mix. We haven't spent a lot of time with him and so far we don't have the emotional connection with him that we had with Deep Throat. I don't necessarily think that is a bad thing. And let's not forget that Deep Throat routinely deceived Mulder much like X does in this episode. He tells him that that the government has absolutely no interest in Banton and then immediately goes to the hospital where he's being kept to abduct him. It turns out that Banton's paranoia is legit and you're not crazy, if they are really out to get ya. Even his partner is working against him, but all Dr. Davey gets for his trouble is a bullet to the brain. I read somewhere there was a draft of the script where X doesn't appear and I honestly can't imagine what that episode would look like. Banton really would have looked like a nut job.

The episode really does Kelly Ryan dirty. She's the catalyst for the agents coming to Virginia and what does she get for her trouble? Vaporized by Banton on purpose because she's just trying to do her job. It's the one part of the episode that rings a little bit false to me. I don't really believe that Banton would willingly commit murder, no matter the reason, after he has actively worked the entire episode to avoid killing people. Ryan just gets done dirty this whole episode. She's barely fleshed out. She's made to look spineless and incompetent and Scully's moment at her grave doesn't hit as hard as they probably want it to because you don't really care about her at all.

All in all though, this is a solid standalone and a nice debut for Vince Gilligan. It may be the weakest of the episodes he wrote but I'll blame that on Chris Carter and Howard Gordon who re-wrote a large chunk of the story after the couldn't make the story beat of Banton's shadow moving independently of his body work.

Grade: B+

Next up, we wrap up season two with a visit to a poultry factory and a meeting with the Anasazi.

What do you all think of these episodes? Which was your favorite? Let me know in the comments.