X-Files S2E9: Journey to silicon valley

Sestra Amateur: 

We’re back in Monster of the Week mode. No Skinner, no Cancer Man, no Lone Gunmen. But that doesn’t mean it won’t be a good episode, right? (Sestra Pro note: Wrong.)

Scully is back and ready to jump into a new case, almost literally. Scientists with the California Institute of Technology Cascade Volcano Research Team learn their robot, Firewalker, descended into a volcano. They activate the camera remotely and see the dead body of their chief seismologist. They also see a moving shadow right before someone – something? – disables the camera. But what can withstand the 130-degree temperature? Nothing human, of course. 

Dr. Adam Pierce reaches out to Sculder, showing them a videotaped interview of volcanologist Daniel Trepkos taken before the expedition. Trepkos comes across as dramatic and condescending at the same time. Maybe we’ll get to see an interesting debate between Mulder defending outer space exploration and Trepkos obsessing on the origins of the Earth. Pierce said he left the project six weeks prior because Trepkos was going mad, but Pierce is worried about public perception since the project was funded with $20 million in taxpayers’ money. It’s hard to consider any unit under the FBI umbrella as an unofficial channel, even the X-Files, but we'll see where the day takes us.

The facility in Washington is without power and looks like Mulder’s apartment after covert government agents trashed it. While searching inside the building, Fox gets jumped by robotics engineer Jason Ludwig, who claims he thought Mulder was Trepkos. The rest of the team comes out of hiding. Ludwig refers to Trepkos as a prophet. Doctoral candidate Jesse O’Neil claims he suffered from bipolar disorder. Jesse says Trepkos trashed the site to destroy his own work. But she, Ludwig and systems analyst Peter Tanaka are clearly hiding something. 

Mulder thinks the research team is acting weird, Scully chalks it up to them suffering from post-traumatic distress syndrome after being isolated there for the better part of a year. Fox is probably closer to the truth since Tanaka has this nagging cough -- with The X-Files, that always means something more than a cold. Meanwhile, Trepkos breaks Pierce’s neck. Sculder and the scientists find Pierce’s body and bring it back to the site. 

Mulder thinks the "prophet" found a silicon-based life form in the volcano. Scully argues that all life forms on Earth are carbon-based and claims he's talking about science fiction, not science. Still Mulder holds fast that the idea that silicon is the closest element to carbon and the idea isn't so far-fetched. It sounds like the basis of a book I read years ago called The Hollow Skull. Yeah, I guess that might fall under science fiction. You know, it’s nice the writers were able to get the Sculder rhythm back on track so easily, but their argument is one we’ve heard several times before – episodes "Ice" and "Darkness Falls" come to mind. Scully can still be the skeptic but after everything she has seen, it’s almost unreasonable for her to be so steadfast about it. At some point, her denial is going to make her look like a poor agent and doctor.

O'Neil tells Scully that Trepkos changed after his first descent. That’s when he stopped taking his bipolar medication. Jesse, who clearly loved Daniel, just wants to go home. Meanwhile, Tanaka’s nagging cough has Mulder worried. Scully calls for Search and Rescue to evacuate Tanaka, but Mulder notices something moving around in his throat. Tanaka runs away, but doesn’t get too far. We might have expected the chest burster from Alien, but the creature comes off more as the tequila worm from hell in Poltergeist II. The parasite bursts out of Tanaka’s neck and kills him. 

Scully analyzes the spores from the fungus in the late systems analyst's neck while Ludwig and O’Neil continue to act suspiciously. There’s a sweet Sculder moment when Fox lets Dana know how much he’s counting on her. Ludwig convinces Mulder to take him along while Mulder searches for Trepkos. Those guys were really roughing it up there -- $20-million project and they’re forced to drink Shasta? Sounds like poor budgeting. Dinner probably consisted of Ramen noodles. 

Mulder and Ludwig enter the steam caves. Trepkos promptly shoots Ludwig with a flare gun, setting him on fire. Trepkos disarms Mulder, who realizes one of the parasites was inside in Ludwig. Daniel tells Mulder that Erikson accidentally released the spores when he cut open a porous rock. Trepkos, who was in a manic state at the time and had locked himself away from the group for three days, didn’t know what had happened until it was too late and everyone else was infected. Meanwhile, O'Neil handcuffs herself to Scully just as the parasite is trying to explode out of Jesse’s throat. Dana carries Jesse to the lab and shoves her into a contamination room. They’re still handcuffed together so Scully can’t lock the door, but at least she’s protected from the spores when the creature bursts out of O'Neil. The sweet Sculder moments continue when Mulder gets to Scully with his handcuff key. Trepkos is clearly affected by Jesse’s death. He chooses to stay behind when Sculder get rescued. 

Mulder’s voiceover discusses their month of required decontamination. We see the biohazard crew removing everything from the research team’s lab and the camera lingers long enough on one of the uniform patches to let us know it’s something important. Mark Snow even throws in a musical cue. Cool epilogue fact: Mulder listed the dates of the investigation as being 11/11/94 – 11/13/94. I watched this episode on 11/11, wrote the blog on 11/12 and will link it to my friends on 11/13. Conspiracy? Nah, just a nice coincidence. Unless Sestra Pro planned this all along...

Sestra Professional:

This is the polar opposite of the Season 1 episode "Ice" in every possible way, not just the obvious one. Everything that was done right in the first truly great show of the series is done wrong here. 

As my Dr. Who Pro saunters by during this episode, he mentions how similar it seems to the 1970 episode "Inferno." The symmetry would go a long way to alleviating the heavy-handedness this one displays in every milli-second. In the official X-Files episode guide, writer Howard Gordon (working without usual partner Alex Ganza) said he was inspired articles he'd read about Project Dante, the NASA-funded robotic explorer sent into a volcano. Still seems like overcooked "Ice" to me.

But I'll give props to Gillian Anderson, particularly strong in Dana's resolve to get back to work after her ordeal. She later recounted in The Complete X-Files, "It was still just a week after a C-section and I had a fight scene, which I just kinda laughed at and said 'Guys, this isn't gonna happen. Better get some pretty good stunt doubles in here, I can't lift my leg that high.'"

He saw things ... we only dream about and then forget when we wake up: The rest of it is all ca-ca. The dialogue isn't working. The genius Trepkos is characterized as a guy whose dreams, ambition and great luck converged, until his luck ran out. Pierce describes himself as always playing Salieri to Trepkos' Mozart. We can understand that analogy. Then we're introduced to a guy named Jason Ludwig -- OK already with the classical music references. Even Mark Snow gets in on the repeat action, seemingly recycling his score from "Ice." 

Sculder moments that seem promising also fizzle out. Fox is still understandably concerned about her in the wake of all that has happened, but Dana holds her ground. From there, they get into a trademark discussion in which Fox is looking for one of science's holy grails -- a silicon-based organism. Dana isn't really wrong when she describes the heightened level of emotional distress the isolated crew has been under. (Obviously Jesse is suffering some kind of stress if she keeps giving herself the most unflattering hair style ever -- inch-long bangs?) But Mulder and Scully getting into a prolonged argument over carbon isn't going to set too many fans' toes tingling.

Then they're back in the possible contagion arena with the airborne microbe and a desire not to risk infecting the population. Scully determines that if the spores aren't ingested or inhaled immediately upon release, they become harmless. But Mulder's prognosis isn't all wrong either, all the death and disorder has been caused by a parasite existing in those conditions that lives to find a host. 

Then there was the biggest eye-roller of them all. Mulder telling Trepkos that he's going to have to shoot him because he's leaving the steam caves to help Scully might not be the right thing to say to a guy who has not only killed other people but has descended into madness. Like he's going to think twice about taking him out. Just another false note in an episode full of them.

But we do get something new at the end, no, not the patch signifying conspiracy involvement. Since Trepkos wasn't infected and clearly can't rejoin society, Mulder doesn't mind leaving him behind and shading his investigation report to reflect that. Now you're getting into the spirit of the mythology, Fox.

Guest star of the week: Bradley Whitford actually does fine work in the face of Trepkos' madness. Is he an oracle or just a prophet of doom? Whitford's work gets progressively more impressive and effective when contrasted with the cringe-worthy performance delivered by Shawnee Smith. Was kinda glad the organism took Jesse out and even intrigued at the idea of outcast Trepkos surviving in the steam caves.