Spoilers

“Musings of a Cigarette Smoking Man”

“Life is like a box of chocolates. A cheap, thoughtless, perfunctory gift that nobody ever asks for. Unreturnable because all you get back is another box of chocolates. So you’re stuck with this undefinable whipped mint crap that you mindlessly wolf down when there’s nothing else left to eat. Sure, once in a while there’s a peanut butter cup or an English toffee. But they’re gone too fast and the taste is… fleeting. So, you end up with nothing but broken bits filled with hardened jelly and teeth-shattering nuts. And if you’re desperate enough to eat those, all you got left is an empty box filled with useless brown paper wrappers“

This monologue came from the season four, episode seven of the X-Files, out of the mouth of the Cigarette Smoking Man, and I loved it. It was not the kind of monologue one expected, taking a famous quote from Forest Gump and warping it into a view of life considerably more negative.

The episode featured a telling of the back story of CSM, played by William B. Davis (and a younger version played by Chris Owens). In the show, CSM is given credit (or blamed depending on how you look at it) for the assassination of JFK and Martin Luthor King Jr, as well as many other historical moments. However, it is implied that the story may or may not be accurate, as Lone Gunman Frohike stated that he found this story in an old magazine of his.

This article is a fictional tale written by CSM himself, though, as he said, the ending had been changed. Exactly what was changed was not included keeping us uncertain about the accuracy of the episode.

I liked the way they leave it uncertain as it felt sort of doubtful that one man could be behind all of the things CSM was given credit for.

The main purpose of the episode is to show just how dangerous Cigarette Smoking Man was and continue to set him up as the big bad for the series, while potentially humanizing the character a touch. Imagine the pain and death that could have been spared had the magazine just published the story he wrote as he had intended it.

The episode also gives the actual cigarettes as a symbol for the evil that CSM does, as he was preparing to resign, he crumpled up the cigarette pack and once he realized that his life was not changing, he purchased a new pack right away.

I had always wanted CSM to be killed by Mulder, multiple times over the series so far. This provides even more context to the villain.

Spoilers

“Sanguinarium”

The opening scene of this episode was so disturbing, it gave me literal chills. It has been a long time since a TV show had done that to me.

Combining plastic surgery with black witchcraft is a bizarre choice, but it makes sense throughout this episode. The story itself is not as strong as some others that we have seen during thee monster-of-the-week episodes, but the horrific visuals made up for that.

Plus, Twin Peaks’ own Benjamin Horne, actor Richard Beymer, appeared as Dr. Jack Franklin, the driving force behind the black magic at the hospital. In fact, Dr. Franklin was able to escape and set up shop in another hospital at the end, showing the failures of our protagonists.

The scene where Ben errrr Dr. Franklin, I mean, started peeling off his face, well, that was extremely disturbing as was most of the surgical scenes involving the patients and the doctors which are mesmerized.

There were some twists that did not make much sense.

Spoilers

“The Field Where I Died”

My memory of this episode from when I originally saw it was that this was a really good episode. Now, during this rewatch, I have found that I am not a big fan of it.

This episode dealt with past lives, of a character of the episode named Melissa, as well as Mulder. Scully believed that Melissa was suffering from multiple personality disorder. There is also a local cult called the Temple of the Seven Stars with its leader Vernon Ephesian.

Kristen Cloke was the actor playing Melissa and she was a standout of this episode with her ability to play the different personalities. David Duchovny had an extended monologue under hypnosis where he was retreating into a past life, but that scene was not the best scene I have seen. I did not enjoy that section and it really sent the episode off the track.

I also did not love the ending, with the tragic deaths of everyone in the Temple of the Seven Star, including Melissa, having killed themselves by taking poison.

Most of this episode just did not feel like it hit the most effective emotional beats.

Spoilers

“Teliko”

The X-Files does have a tendency to have episodes that are similar to previous episodes. “Telika” reminded me of “Squeeze” and Eugene Tooms. Sadly, this copy is pale in comparison, and not just for the lack of pigmentation.

It was cool to see Carl Lumbly in a role in this episode. I loved Lumbly in The Falcon and The Winter Soldier series, and he is a exceptional actor.

I also enjoyed how Scully wound up saving Mulder in the finale of this episode. She came through like a boss here. It seems that she is usually on the other end of the rescuing and seeing her as the kick ass that she should be is cool.

The rest of the episode was mild, very uninteresting and repetitive. It was done better in past episodes that are considered X-Files classics.

Spoilers

“Home”

One of the greatest X-Files episodes of all time, plus one of the most disturbing hours of television you are ever going to see is up next in the X-Files rewatch. This episode was not repeated after its initial broadcast because of the content. This is “Home.”

Mayberry it is not, even with a sheriff named Andy Taylor and a deputy named Barney.

The Peacock family has to be one of the most horrific TV show characters/antagonists in television history. Yet they held some tightly believed ideals about family that, while perverted and creepy, actually present the concept of family in the highest regards. Mrs. Peacock loved her boys and was proud as their mother, despite the horrors they engaged in.

The use of the song “Wonderful, Wonderful” during the murder scene of Sheriff Taylor and his wife by the Peacock boys is forever etched into my brain and I cannot hear that song even today without picturing the episode. Johnny Mathias, the song’s singer, did not want his version of the song on the episode because of the violence involved, so a cover version was recorded.

There was such an isolation to this setting that one could understand Mulder and Scully’s decision to not wait for backup when they believed that there was a kidnap victim inside the Peacock house.

That house, by the way, is just as unsettling as everything else on the show. The mood of the episode was just tremendously disturbing and the entire episode had plenty of moments that led to a moment of disgust. For example, when Mrs. Peacock said that she was hungry and one of her boys put some bread into his mouth and fed it to her like a bird… seriously, my own stomach turned a bit.

The episode stirred up controversy, but it remains one of the best X-Files monster-of-the-week episodes of the series’ run.

Spoilers

“Herrenvolk”

The conclusion of the season three finale brought some weird truths to light only to pull them away at the end. In all honesty, the X-Files seemed to only dole out a few nuggets at a time when dealing with the show’s mythology and also change many of the things that we knew before.

The episode was tense, but the use of Samantha Mulder as a ‘clone’ at these farms in Canada with the bees was really one more idea that tried to use the disappearance of the girl. It did not seem to make a lot of sense. Mulder’s sister always felt like a MacGuffin that the series just tossed out when it needed a boost.

The alien bounty hunter was all over this episode too as he tracked down Mulder and Jeremiah Smith as well as, for some reason, let Scully live, twice and healed Mulder’s mother.

It is a decent episode, but it did not feel as if it measured up to the season three finale. One wonders at this point in the series, did the writers and creators of the show know what their overall mythology was or did they just add and adjust as needed with little plan to ever give out the truth?

The death of X was dramatic and powerful, but it seemed as if he was replaced as an inside informant before the episode ended with the arrival of Marita Covarrubias at the SRSG.

Spoilers

“Avatar”

This is an episode featuring Assistant Director Walter Skinner. We get to learn some details about Skinner’s life, such as that he was married, a marriage that has been on the rocks for many months now.

Skinner is also being visited by a spirit of an old woman, who had helped protect him during his tour in Vietnam, and who was referred to by Agent Mulder as a succubus. Honestly, the paranormal aspect of this episode was a little slipshot.

The use of Skinner’s sleep troubles as a weakness for the secret government group to manipulate is better for the episode, to me. The way Agent Mulder found the culprit was quite clever (with the use of the airbag).

I am glad that they put Skinner front and center in this episode, but it did feel like the episode needed some more attention overall. Still, it was a decent X-Files contribution.

Spoilers

“Hell Money”

The X-Files head into the world of Chinese culture with a odd game played that is involved with harvesting body parts for money.

There are some creepy people in scary masks, but not much for paranormal activity. There was some talk about ghosts, but it felt more like an idea shoehorned into the story to involve Mulder and Scully.

The setting was Chinatown in San Francisco and you could see many of the typical Chinese stereotypes.

So much so that we see James Hong, an actor who has been in countless films and TV shows over the years. He even received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

B.D. Wong as corrupt detective Glen Chao was one of the more interesting characters on the show. Mulder and Scully did seem like arrogant outsiders.

Overall, this was not my most favorite episode, but it was fine.

Spoilers

“Teso dos Bichos”

Well, it was only a matter of time.

I did not remember this episode, but, last episode, I spoke about how great season three had been. This one put a stop to that talk.

“Teso dos Bichos” is not a very good episode of the X-Files. It’s a ‘monster-of-the-week’ entry that does not come anywhere close to the typical episode.

I am a cat person so making them the big bad of this episode did not appeal to me.

And, I’m sorry, but when Scully had a fight with a vicious cat that scratched her face, it was the kind of scene that could destroy a show. Laughable is the term I would use. They were very fortunate that the season had been so amazing up to this point.

It was a cursed urn with some jaguar power of some sort that led to the vicious cat attacks. Or there was something with rats coming out of the toilets.

This was a wasted episode. Surely one of the worst X-Files episodes of the series so far.

Spoilers

“Pusher”

I have always believed that the most dangerous power to have would be some kind of mind power, whether that be mind control or telepathy or telekinesis. This episode of The X-Files did nothing to persuade me otherwise.

“Pusher” is the story of a man named Robert Patrick Modell who could make people do what he wanted them to do by simply talking to them. Not just simple things either, but horrible things such as setting themselves on fire.

This episode was written by Breaking Bad creator Vince Gilligan and you could see the touches, especially with the extremely tense, final confrontation between Mulder and Scully and Modell in a Russian roulette showdown between them which is easily the standout moment of the show.

David Duchovny was amazing in that final scene with Robert Wisden, who played Modell, and with Gillian Anderson. Duchovny played the anguish Mulder was facing with the chance that he could shoot Scully against his will. And Gillian Anderson matched the intensity with her own fear over her partner’s struggle.

Season three of The X-Files continues to be an excellent compilation of stand alone episodes mixed with mythology episodes.

Spoilers

“Piper Maru”

“Apocrypha”

A two-part X-Files episode that reignites the government conspiracy into UFOs and introduces us to one of the series’ best recurring ‘creatures’, the Black Oil virus.

It served to do several key storyline developments too, including the return of Alex Krychek, the case of Scully’s sister’s murder, and the secret cabal that included Cigarette Smoking Man and Grey-Haired Man.

These mythology-based episodes tend to be fairly strong, even if they are frustrating. I have never had a TV villain that I would like to see shot in the head more than CSM and it amazes me that Mulder hasn’t done it by now.

The addition of the Black Oil is awesome. It ties directly into the UFO stories that the X-Files made the cornerstone of the series and kept the mystery of the truth and the eeriness of the creature a major component. The image of the black oil swooping across the eyes of the infected is a cool visual.

Gillian Anderson was excellent again in this two-parter. Her pain over the loss of her sister and her desire for justice controlled her actions and yet she still made time to protect Skinner with a ferocity of a parent. The shooting of Skinner led to the apprehension of Scully’s sister’s shooter, even if the end results were less than ideal.

Season three has been top to bottom, excellent. It has featured some of the best mythological episodes while tossing us some of the best in the humor episodes. I know some big time episodes are still coming in season three, which, so far, is my favorite season of the show.