X-Files S7E5: A 'Rush' to judgment

Sestra Amateur: 

It’s a monster-of-the-week episode, and this week, the monsters are teenagers -- figuratively and literally. In Pittsfield, Virginia, 16-year-old Anthony Reed is hanging in the foggy woods with “cool” kids Max and Chastity (Supernatural’s original Meg Masters). A local deputy interrupts the fun, so “Maxtity” leave Tony by himself. Then something quickly and messily kills Deputy Foster when Tony isn’t looking. OK, that’s two weeks in a row the local cops are killed. (The P.I. from Season 7, Episode 3: "Hungry" doesn’t count.) Hopefully, law enforcement will fare better next week.

The next morning Sculder arrive at the local hospital where Dana is in typical skeptic-mode (it’s not an X-file) and Fox is in typical believer mode (it is an X-file). The metaphysical blunt-force trauma seems to lean toward Mulder’s argument. Sheriff Harden (Die Hard 2’s Marvin!) sides with Scully. He’s convinced Tony is the killer, despite the unusual way Deputy Foster died. Sculder meet with an agitated Tony and he covers for “Maxtity.” 

Dana convinces Fox to treat it like a typical murder investigation, so they interview Tony’s friends at the high school. Max proves he has some type of supernatural ability when he successfully completes his scantron midterm exam in record time. Did I mention Max’s last name is Harden? Sculder try to interview Chastity, but Max intervenes and spirits her away. Meanwhile, Sheriff Harden tells Scully the murder weapon has disappeared. Mulder views the video surveillance recording in the evidence room and sees a streak. The Flash did it! The X-Files takes place in the DC Universe! I know, I know, it could be in the Marvel Universe. After all, they have Quicksilver. But I’m a DC girl at heart.

Tony is released from jail and returns home, but his mother is not happy. Of course, she doesn’t exactly ground him. Max shows up and takes Tony for a ride, then abandons him in a speeding car. Luckily, Max pulls him out right before it crashes. I guess Tony now has an idea of what is happening. The agents have the video analyzed at FBI headquarters. Their expert, Chuck Burks (last seen in S6, E22: "Biogenesis"), tweaks the video enough to support Mulder’s theory that a super-fast high-schooler stole the evidence. 

Back at school, Max gets an F on his 100-percent-correct test, so he kills the teacher (Buffy the Vampire Slayer’s Cheese Man!) in a crowded cafeteria without anyone seeing him do it. When Sculder arrive, Max collapses and is taken to the hospital. The Sheriff/his father knows Max is involved but refuses to assist with the investigation. Tony, who still wants answers, follows Chastity into a cave in the woods. He stands in a well-lit area and start shaking uncontrollably.

Scully reviews Max’s test results and realizes he has the body of a pro-football player … not the muscular part, just the injuries. Meanwhile, Chastity takes Max out of the hospital just as Mulder puts two and two together. She finds Tony in the woods but seems genuinely upset to learn he was exposed to ... whatever is making them move so fast. Sheriff Harden searches Max’s bedroom and finds a dozen pairs of the same sneakers and the flashlight murder weapon. He confronts Max and he admits to committing murder. Luckily, Tony’s newfound super speed allows him to stop Max from killing his own father.

Chastity and Tony head back to the cave so they can recharge, but Max is already there with his father’s gun. Max drops it because he doesn’t think he needs it. Chastity shoots Max in the back, then walks in front of the bullet so it kills her too. Sculder, of course, arrive too late. Same can be said for the experts who find nothing in the cave that could cause the physiological effects exhibited by Tony, Max and Chastity. Maybe it only affects teenagers. Meanwhile, the cave has been sealed off with concrete, so I guess the investigation is officially over. 

Sestra Professional: 

For something that is supposed to move so fast, I've always though of this one as kind of dawdling. Maybe it's because 1.) high-school kids aren't the show's forte and 2.) Mulder and Scully just investigating things doesn't carry the same emotional weight as Mulder and Scully finding themselves in the middle of everything.  

I'd say that Tony eats his Wheaties: But my resolution has been to give the bulk of Season 7 another chance, so the same applies for "Rush." Scully's reaction to seeing the dead body was priceless, as was her innate ability to snap back into investigative mode faster than Chastity taking a bullet.  

There's something to be said for Tony pointing out it's been a long time since Sculder was in high school. Fox takes that pretty badly, retorting the 16-year-old needs to explain things more clearly because our heroes are old and stupid. But writer David Amann keeps going back to that well to pound his point home. So Max tells Dana she must have been a Betty back in the day. Of course, she doesn't really understand that pop-culture reference -- not because she's older, just because that's not her frame of reference. Tony's mom also gets a taste of ageism.

The sequences of Max testing his elders -- first with his teacher and then his father -- fall pretty flat. Mulder's right, he does have problems with authority obviously precipitated by his dad, the sheriff. The kid could have gotten away with a lot more by keeping it quiet. On the other hand, was his reaction to the mysterious alchemy causing him to overreact because of his body chemistry? Or was it just him feeling invincible because of his ability? If the former, Amann shows some real insight, if not perfect, follow-through. If the latter, it's less powerful.

I dig a mystery with layers: The exact opposite holds true when Chuck Burks comes in to give the agents the lay of the land. It's not just kids who have energy to burn after all. Thanks to him for discounting everything from a ghost to someone from a Soviet Akula-class submarine. Chuck's spectral-whatever-generator enables Sculder to realize they're dealing with a teenager. That's when Dana points out everything about kids' bodies changes during this time of their lives, and faster than Max can move, Fox leaps to psychokinetic Carrie ability. Then again, we have seen a previous X-file on this, "Syzygy" (S3, E13). 

Gotta admit, that was a cool shot of Tony affected by the force in the cave. The whole scenario literally makes it more difficult for Sculder to get a grip on what's going on. But Dana closes in on it when viewing the X-rays showing the deterioration of Max's body as being akin to that of a race car driver or football player. And Fox didn't take his own advice last week in "Millennium" (S7E4) about how no one likes a math geek. He determines Max's movements through the law of motion --  force equals mass times acceleration.

And it all leads up to Matrix-y technology when Chastity shoots Max and then steps in the way of the bullet herself. Why can't she go back? That's a little unclear in favor of a cool-looking set piece. In my opinion, the whole fish-out-of-water plot of Tony wanting to fit in with Maxtity flops. Surely a good kid like him could have found someone else in an  entire school to pal around with.

Meta movements: The Complete X-Files backs up Sestra Am's DC Comics assertion, stating the script was Amann's take on "The Flash." ... According to the official series episode guide, Standards and Practices made the show take out the shot of the table crashing into the teacher. Supervising producer John Shiban thinks that had the opposite effect on the scene. "But what they did not realize is that when you take out the impact, the audience's imagination is 10 times worse," he said in the guide. ... "Rush" was the lone series ep directed by Rob Lieberman, who helmed 1993's Fire in the Sky. 

Guest star of the week: Bill Dow's been on the show nine times -- six as Chuck Burks, ranging all the way back to "The Calusari" (S2, E21). The sixth time -- his fourth as Chuck -- really was the charm. He really sparks what otherwise might have been a drab scene, and episode, as a result.