The X-Files
I've said a million times that this season of "The X-Files" is the best season of the show. I stand by that, but I just want to remind everyone that when you're producing 22-24 episodes of television, not every one can be a winner. Let's get to it.
"Pusher"
Fox Mulder: "Modell psyched the guy out, he put the whammy on him!"
Dana Scully: "Please explain to me the scientific nature of the whammy?"
Mythology or Monster of the Week: MotW
X-File of the Week: A man named "Pusher" who admitted to a series of contract killings that were made to look like suicides is arrested by the FBI in a supermarket. Pusher is able to escape by seemingly hypnotizing the officer driving into crashing into an oncoming semi truck. Soon, FBI agents, Fox Mulder and Dana Scully, are brought in and are caught in a cat and mouse game with this man who seems to have some sort of psychic power.
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| Scully has had it. |
Vince Gilligan returns to "The X-Files" for his second episode and a great episode of the series in general. You are probably most familiar with Gilligan's series, "Breaking Bad," but he cut his teeth writing prolific episodes for "The X-Files." Not only is "Pusher" a great episode, but it introduces a character that we will see again in a future episode. Most times these "monster of the week" episodes are one and done, so it's kind of a big deal when a villain makes another appearance. We haven't seen that on the show since the first season with Eugene Tooms.
This episode has all the things that make for a great "monster of the week" episodes. It starts with a compelling central antagonist. From the moment that we see Robert Patrick Modell aka Pusher strolling down the aisle of the supermarket, filling his basket with canned protein drinks, you're hooked. You want to know more about this guy. He's clearly an intelligent guy who knows that there are FBI agents following him throughout the supermarket. Modell is confronted by Agent Frank Burst and arrested but by repeating a phrase to the deputy he's able to cause a car crash and escape.
Modell is a great villain because he feels like he could be a family member or a neighbor. He might be a small man with a large ego, but he clearly knows what he is doing. Whenever Modell starts talking to someone, it's legitimately scary. He's alone with another FBI agent and the next thing we know the man is self immolating in front of Mulder, Scully and the other agents. When Burst is trying to track him, he incites a heart attack and the whole time he knows what is going on. Mulder and Scully shouting at Burst to get off the phone, trying to unplug the phone, while Modell is basically killing someone over the phone is extremely intense.
Modell is an agent of chaos. He's manipulating people every chance he get. When Agent Holly is introduced early in the episode with her black eye and story of purse snatching in Georgetown, you know that she is going to be important later in the episode. She is "pushed" into getting into the FBI database to retrieve Mulder's file. Modell uses his powers to make Holly believe that Skinner is the man that attacked her so she goes after him. I was concerned that Modell was going to hurt this poor woman physically more but he doesn't. Modell tells Holly that he wishes that he could find the man that mugged her and make him pay and the weird thing is, is that it feels genuine.
Modell is a formidable opponent for Mulder. We don't get that a lot on the show. Modell is getting under Mulder's skin and he's doing it by doing the same things that Mulder does. He is doing the snarky thing. The jokes. I think that while this clearly annoys Mulder, he is also kind of amused by it in a weird dark way. This leads to the intense confrontation between Mulder and Modell in the hospital with Scully as a witness. This Russian roulette scene is tense and each party plays it really well. You are walking a fine line between dramatic and melodramatic and I don't think anyone really crosses the line into melodrama, which is very impressive.
The episode ends with Modell seemingly in a coma due to his untreated brain tumor that was seemingly causing his powers. I'd say do you think we'll see him again, but I kind of already spoiled that. Whoops.
Grade: A-
"Teso Dos Bichos"
Dana Scully: "Label that."
Policeman: "As what?"
Dana Scully: [duh look] "Partial rat body part."
Mythology or Monster of the Week: MotW
X-File of the Week: At the teso dos bichos dig site in Ecuador, a burial urn is found containing the remains of an Amaru, a female shaman. The native people are adamant about leaving the urn here including Dr Lonnie Bilac. He is overruled by Dr Roosevelt who is seemingly killed overnight by a jaguar after Bilac and the other natives working on the site perform some sort of ceremony. The urn is brought to the United States and when Dr Lewton from the museum goes missing aside from lots of his blood, Special Agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully are brought in to try to figure out what happened.
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| What's new pussycats? |
I am sure I will say this again, but this might be my least favorite episode of "The X-Files" ever. And, it seems like the makers of the show would agree. The production of this episode was apparently plagued with issues that made it loathed by cast and crew alike. Apparently the climax was supposed to feature hordes of common house cats menacing Mulder and Scully, but cats, shockingly, wouldn't perform on command and aren't scary. Add in that Gillian Anderson has a pretty sever feline allergy and it was a recipe for disaster. Famed television director, Kim Manners, had shirts made for cast and crew that read "Teso Dos Bichos Survivor." I would kill to get my hands on one of those t-shirts. And, this script is the most re-written script in the history of "The X-Files."
Let's start with that climactic scene. Mulder and Scully are in the bowels of this museum. They find the mauled corpses of these museum employees. You have a feeling that you are really going to be in for something. The whole episode there is this talk of a jaguar spirit. So, you're kind of led to believe that this is what is going to be menacing the agents. They are scared. It's dark. They are hearing things. And then the next thing you know... cats. Just common cats. And the agents are terrified. Scully gets scratched in the face. It's really funny to watch, but I'm sure that is not what they were going for. The "cats" look like bad puppets that were mind by blind children. It's a hot ass mess.
The plot of this episode is extremely generic. We've seen it a million times before. Condescending white people desecrating native sites and relics and believing they are doing the right thing. And then being proven wrong in violent ways by a native legend coming to life and taking vengeance. I don't think there is anything wrong with using a tried and true concept, but if you aren't going to reinvent the wheel then what you're doing really needs to be impeccably done or has to be tilted in a way that fits the show. And neither of that happens here.
This episode is just extremely ho hum and boring. "The X-Files" has been on for two and half years at this point. It has it's own vibe and style so writers should be writing towards that and they aren't here. You could have put this episode in any genre show of the time, made very few changes and it would have fit. That's not great.
In a lot of ways, at moments, it felt like we were seeing things that we've kind of already seen this season, but we'd seen done better. The rats are a good example of that. The idea of rats coming up out of a toilet is genuinely terrifying, especially for someone like me who has a genuine fear of rodents. But the only thing I could think of was the cockroaches that did basically the same thing in "War of the Corprophages." And you definitely don't want to think about that brilliant episode while you're watching... this.
Grade: D
Next up, Chinese immigrants are missing internal organs and we meet famous author, Jose Chung.
What did you all think of these episodes? Are you ready for a Pusher part 2? Does anyone gag over "Teso Dos Bichos?" Let me know in the comments.
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