The X-Files
After a string of monster of the week episodes, we are diving back into the mythology. These two episodes introduce a classic "X-Files" element, so let's not waste anytime and get right into things.
Piper Maru
Dana Scully: "You know, it's strange - men can blow up buildings, and they can be nowhere near the crime scene. But we can piece together the evidence and convict them beyond a doubt. Our labs here can recreate out of the most microscopic details their motivation and circumstances to almost any murder. Right down to a killer's attitude towards his mother and that he was a bed wetter. But in the case of a woman... my sister... who was gunned down in cold blood in a well-lit apartment building by a shooter who left the weapon at the crime scene, we can't even put together enough to keep anybody interested.
Walter Skinner: "I don't think it had anything to do with interest."
Dana Scully: "If I may say so, sir. It has everything to do with interest. Just not yours and not mine."
Notable Guest Star: Michael Bublé as random submarine crew member.
Mythology or Monster of the Week: Mythology
X-File of the Week: A French salvage ship, Piper Maru, locates the wreckage of a downed World War II fighter pilot that has a mysterious secret. A mysterious black oil possesses a diver named Gauthier in order to get to shore. This leads Special Agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully on a trip that takes one of them to Hong Kong and one to a family friend who shares an unbelievable story from 40 years ago that links to the case today. And how does this all connect to Scully's sister, Melissa's, murder?
 |
| What are we seeing? |
Before we dive into the meat of the episode, a couple of fun facts. The name of the episode comes from the name of Gillian Anderson's daughter who was born while she was filming the show. Chris Carter loved the name and decided to name this episode and the titular salvage ship after her. The diver Gauthier is named after special effects producer David Gauthier. Canadian crooner, Michael Bublé, makes a blink and you'll miss it appearance as one of the crewmen of the Zeus Faber. I think I had seen this episode at least three times before I realized it was him. I had to pause it and really scrutinize it. Then I Googled it. And there he was. The first five seasons of "The X-Files" were filmed in Canada so it's great to play spot the famous Canadian as you watch back through.
I'm going to just come right out and say it. These might be the two best mythology episodes of the show's run. I know I've mentioned this and you know it if you're a fan, but the mythology episodes of "The X-Files" lost the plot towards the end of the series run. You would never know that watching these two episodes. You would never doubt that Chris Carter and fellow writer, Frank Spotnitz, didn't have a master plan that would take them to the end of the series.
There are a lot of moving parts to this episode. There are a number of plates spinning. All the analogies for a multi faceted plot but they all work together so well. Clues are laid out like breadcrumbs and the agents pick them up and follow them. Mulder follows the black oil infected Gauthier. It takes Mulder to a salvage broker named Jeraldine Kallenchuk who is buying secrets including the location of a downed UFO, what the French crew was actually looking for. Mulder ends up going to Hong Kong where he's confronted by Alex Krycek, the seller of said secrets.
Scully's military background takes her back to a base that she used to live on as a child and an old neighbor: Commander Johansen. He initially sends her away with no information but quickly calls her back and tells her the story of the Zeus Faber. A submarine who was tasked with searching for the UFO who ran afoul of the black oil. After a mutiny, Johansen became the crew's only survivor. The way they are able to connect these two stories is seamless.
I love the way that they weave back in Krycek and the digital tape from the season premiere. It's foreshadowed when Skinner tells Scully that they are closing her sister's murder case. Scully's impassioned speech to Skinner that I quoted at the beginning of this post is one of Anderson's finest acting moments on this show. She doesn't miss a beat. The anguish. The anger. The barely controlled rage bubbling right under the surface is all there. It's a testament to Gillian Anderson's prowess as an actor.
You would think that is enough for one episode but you'd be wrong! After kind of just popping in and out, Walter Skinner gets his own subplot with the Syndicate's Gray Haired Man threatening Skinner at a dinner about re-opening Melissa's case. His resolve ends with him getting shot by Melissa's killer, Luis Cardinal, in the same diner. As if that wasn't a good enough cliffhanger, we also get Mulder escorting a black oil possessed, Krycek back to the United States to get the digital tape.
Grade: A
"Apocrypha"
Well-Manicured Man: "Who gave you this number?"
Fox Mulder: "You probably know him. A man named Krycek."
Well-Manicured Man: "Alex Krycek?"
Fox Mulder: "Yeah, nice guy, killed my father."
Mythology or Monster of the Week: Mythology
X-File of the Week: Assistant FBI Director Walter Skinner is in serious condition after being shot by Luis Cardinal. Scully is trying to keep him safe and track down his killer. Her drive to bring the man who shot to Skinner to justice only increases when she finds out it's the same man who shot her sister. Meanwhile, Krycek gets away from Mulder and the envelope that was supposed to contain the digital tape is empty. The agents are in a race against time with the Syndicate to keep Skinner safe, find Krycek and the UFO that Mulder is convinced is being stored under abandoned nuclear missile silos in North Dakota.
 |
| We are going to fuck these corn kernels up! |
One thing I love about "The X-Files" that I don't think I've talked much about is the relationship that Mulder and Scully have with Skinner. He's kind of like their disapproving but proud dad. We've kind of seen that rebellious son and strict father relationship between Mulder and Scully but in this episode we really get to see the relationship between Scully and Skinner. Even though they had their disagreement at the start of "Piper Maru," Scully is the first one at the hospital when she finds out that Skinner has been shot. I love seeing Scully take charge. She is issuing orders to Agents Fuller and Caleca as if they are junior agents who don't know their asses from holes in the ground. And you know what? Maybe they don't.
When the Well-Manicured Man makes his threat against Skinner, Scully literally runs the streets until she finds the ambulance that is transporting Skinner. She rides with him and is the one who confronts Cardinal. It's a really great moment watching Scully chase down Cardinal and be the one to bring him to justice. She doesn't let her need for revenge get in the way of her oath to pursue justice. She does her job and it's a triumphant moment for Scully. It's not normally a position that we see her in so I really, really appreciate it. It's what makes the moment at the end of the episode where we find out that the Syndicate had Cardinal killed all the more heartbreaking.
We haven't really talked to much about the black oil. It's such a cool addition to the show's mythology. An extraterrestrial transfer medium that is trying to get the UFO wreckage that the United States recovered. One of the images from "The X-Files" that will stick with me for the rest of my life is Alex Krycek vomiting black oil all over that UFO. It's so freaking disturbing. It couldn't happen to a nicer guy though. I think I'd feel sorry for anyone else who was desperately banging on the door to an underground bunker that hardly anyone knew about. But not Krycek. Plus this dude's a cockroach. I have a feeling we haven't seen the last of him.
We get the return of the Lone Gunmen and man, have I missed these guys. They inject some much needed lightheartedness and levity into the proceedings. There is just something that makes me smile about watching the three of them ice skate that I can't really explain. Maybe it just highlights the differences between them. Maybe it's just such a normal thing for them to be doing. Who knows? I loved when they are going back and forth about these hugely complicated and technologically advanced ways to get the number off this package from the indentations while Mulder just shades it with a pencil. Never change guys.
I don't have a ton of stuff to say about these episodes, which in this case, is good. Just watch them. Enjoy them. And think about them when the mythology episodes get so complicated and convoluted you don't know what's happening and you don't really care that much.
Grade: A
Next up, a dangerous man can bend people to his well and... evil possessed cats?
What do you all think? Do you agree with me that these are two top tier mythology episodes? What is your favorite mythology episode? Let me know in the comments.
No comments:
Post a Comment