Sestra Amateur:
This week we travel to good ol’ Maine in the month of February. A mother, her daughter and the daughter’s doll are at the grocery store. They don’t seem very happy about it, you’d think they were walking to the electric chair. The girl’s doll says it for both of them -- she wants to go home. Everyone in the store stares at them and Mom starts seeing strange things in the frozen food aisle. Then all of the people in the store start hurting themselves and bleeding from their eyes. Fortunately, the butcher is armed with a knife when he sees the doll in a reflection. Or rather unfortunately, he is armed with a knife when he sees the doll in a reflection … and ends up stabbing himself in the face. Clearly this isn’t going to be one of those comic relief bottle episodes.
Scully is enjoying a weekend off, cruising around Maine in a convertible, when Mulder calls to harsh her buzz. This is exactly why I don’t answer my cell phone when coworkers call on my off days. After hanging up, Mustang Scully gets cut off by the mother/daughter duo in the grocery store parking lot. Dana goes inside to try and help. The store manager directs her to the butchered butcher in the back. Scully then calls Mulder. I’ll bet her X-file trumps his. Then she is saddled with the stupidest police officer I think this show has ever had … and that’s saying a lot. Can you imagine being able to identify the mom on camera by name (Melissa Turner), seeing she is unaffected while everyone around her is trying to harm themselves, and thinking it’s not a clue that can possibly explain everything?!? Officer Buddy Riggs definitely isn’t detective of the year.
Captain Jack Bonsaint gives Dana a little more of the back story. It turns out Melissa is involved with – was involved with – Dave the butcher. Buddy Boy makes things worse by calling Melissa to tell her about Dave. Melissa’s daughter, Polly, tells Mommy to hang up the phone while the doll dances to the "Hokey Pokey," because, you know, that’s what it’s all about.
Scully and Bonsaint arrive at Melissa’s house, but she's already bolted. Someone also had hammered the windows closed. Was that to keep something out or to keep something in? Dana learns Melissa is a recent widow, Polly is autistic and the butcher ruined his marriage over Melissa. Maybe she cast a spell on him since townsfolk think Melissa's a witch. Polly’s former teacher, Jane Froelich, isn’t fond of the daughter either. She once slapped Polly in the face because she couldn’t control the child. Riggs buys the little girl an ice cream sundae and tries to convince Melissa to let him take care of her. Melissa claims she saw her husband, Rich, dead before he died -- just like Dave. Maybe you should listen to her, Buddy. Meanwhile, Polly and her doll want more cherries, but the cashier won’t give them away for free. The poor woman gets her long hair caught in the ice cream machine while Melissa takes Polly and dolly out of the restaurant.
Dana and the captain meet with Froelich, who claims Melissa needs to be burned just like witches from hundreds of years earlier. Melissa and Polly head to Riggs' cabin to hide out. Polly continues to throw a tantrum, which wakes up the doll and results in another of Melissa’s visions. This time, she sees Froelich with a slit throat. Melissa bolts and almost runs over a ranger. The "Hokey Pokey" starts playing in the teacher's house. She threatens someone – something – with a broken record, then proceeds to slash her own throat.
Meanwhile, Scully is back in vacation mode. She’s taking a nice bubble bath and eating room service cuisine. She manages to ignore the phone for a bit, but then gets a visit from Captain Jack. They head to the latest murder (suicide?) scene where Fox tracks Dana down by phone. Clearly he doesn’t handle his days off as well as Scully does. Dana concedes to Bonsaint they should keep themselves open to extreme possibilities. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, Scully is “the Mulder” this time. Melissa, who is back home with Polly and dolly, is being tortured by the "Hokey Pokey" record playing over and over again. She also sees a vision of a dying Riggs. Dana and the captain discuss the case over dinner, during which Scully learns Rich died after a grappling hook went through his skull on a boat. Buddy confronts Melissa about almost running over the ranger. And dolly wants to play again, which doesn’t bode well for Riggs.
Dana interviews Rich’s fishing partner, who was on the boat when Polly's dad caught the doll in one of the traps. They heard weird noises afterward and Rich later died horribly. When Mulder calls again, Scully asks him about possessed objects. Fox seems a little too eager to explain the concept of Chucky to her. Polly starts freaking out because her mother isn’t making popcorn quickly enough. Sorry Polly, but it’s hard to concentrate when your friend (in this case, Buddy) is lying dead on the floor and getting blood everywhere.
After her daughter finally goes to sleep, Melissa starts hammering the windows closed again, but the noise wakes Polly and dolly. Melissa then sees a vision of the hammer claw lodged in her own forehead. Dana and Jack arrive at Melissa’s house and Bonsaint spots Riggs' car outside. Melissa tries to burn down the house, and Scully and Bonsaint naturally attempt to stop her. Then Melissa bashes herself in the head several times with the hammer while Dana strives – not aggressively enough, I might add – to wrangle the doll from Polly. Scully finally wins and tosses the doll into the microwave, breaking the hold it had over Polly and Melissa. On Monday morning, Sculder are back in their office engaging in lame post-weekend chatter. And somehow a fisherman pulls the barbecued doll from the ocean. She still wants to play…
Sestra Professional:
Well, if the Master of Horror can't deliver a top-notch episode for The X-Files, I guess I shouldn't be too tough on the likes of Larry and Paul Barber ("Gender Bender, Season 1 Episode 14); Marilyn Osborn ("Shapes," S1E19) and Kim Newton ("Revelations," S3E11). There's something so awkward about Stephen King's presentation and even the script massaging by executive producer Chris Carter doesn't do much to alleviate that.
We're on King's turf in New England, but he doesn't seem too at home. It's like one of his film adaptations that doesn't live up to the book, like Children of the Corn. This offering has moments when it's like The Stand -- some good, some meh overall -- but probably it's most like Dreamcatcher, basically feeding off the talent of an actor truly invested in a character.
The teaser does seem to sorta have something going for it, even if the death vision inside the frozen-food case seems kinda lame. Some of the extras were definitely better at dealing with doll terrorism than others. That's probably another reason why "Chinga" never seems quite balanced. (By the way, I've never been quite sure about the title of the episode, even before people took offense at every little thing they consider offensive on social media.)
Let's have fun: I can't determine whether Dana's vacation selection is perfect, out of character or just perplexing. Whatever the case, I'll utter one chuckle for Scully's choice of bedside reading material -- Affirmation for Women Who Do Too Much -- and major points for her choice of ride (although the Maine t-shirt is a little over the top, so to speak).
I'm also on the fence about the Sculder phone conversations here. Maybe it's a good time in the series for Dana to be asserting herself, to be more than just the sounding board for Fox. However, it feels really awkward how it plays out here. That might just be because we saw something similar done to better humorous effect in "War of the Coprophages" (S3E12). Do the shippers really get off on Mulder saying "Scully, marry me" after she shows some knowledge of buzz words in the black arts? Their connection is so much better than that, so much deeper than that. To detract from it with a line that any ol' wisecracking lead male in a series can say to his counterpart comes off supremely lame to me.
We've had a lot of great creepy kids in the series to this point. Polly (Jenny-Lynn Hutcheson) ain't one of them. I sorta wonder if this episode might have played better with someone who could have coaxed some sympathy out of the viewers. Basically I wanted to put her into the blender instead of ice cream ... and a cashier who wouldn't cough up more cherries. They deemed Polly autistic, although her story didn't seem to really play that way -- a teacher whose response to the girl's behavior would be hitting her? That's against some scholastic oath, I'm sure. They could have gotten more mileage out of the overall story if Polly's history factored into it better. The way it ultimately aired, the doll had more dimension than the child.
I never ever want to hear the "Hokey Pokey" again. I don't wanna hear a doll say "I want to play" or "Let's have fun" again. I'll probably be able to accomplish that just by avoiding "Chinga" on future rewatches and not hanging around talking dolls. Sorry, Betsy Wetsy. ... I also could do without another character named Melissa. Can't Scully even flinch at hearing the same name as her deceased sister, who was wrongly killed by someone who thought she was Dana?
Meta manuscript: Sculder show some knowledge of pop culture with a reference to Chucky. Brad Dourif -- the memorable Luther Lee Boggs in "Beyond the Sea" (S1E13) voices that character in the Child's Play films. ... Mulder's penchant for tossing pencils in the ceiling first were displayed in this episode. ... David Duchovny lost to King on Celebrity Jeopardy in 1995. But the writer told Duchovny he loved the show and wanted to pen one. ... Although they're both credited for the script, Carter and King never met in person, according to the official episode guide.
Guest star of the week: Larry Musser, in his fourth and final appearance on the show finally garners the honor. His previous eps were anchored by other powerhouse characters -- "Die Hand Die Verletzt" (S2E14), "Jose Chung's From Outer Space" (S3E20) and "Requited" (S4E16). In this one, it's either him or the creepiest moppet since the title character in The Twilight Zone's "Living Doll." Musser complements Gillian Anderson nicely, and he has far better manners than Jose Chung's Detective Manners.
Sestra Amateur:
Strange things are afoot in Coats Grove, Michigan where a stepfather is berating his vacant, videogaming teenaged stepson Bobby. OK, that part is pretty standard. The kid decides he’s mad as hell and not going to take it anymore. He threatens stepfather Phil with a shovel before running off into the woods. Phil chases him but trips on a root and falls to the ground. Patti -- Phil’s wife and Bobby’s mama -- comes upon them and sees Bobby on top of Phil, who is being sucked into the muddy ground. Looks pretty incriminating to me. The next day, Scully gets to handle Phil’s autopsy which confirms the dude had an awful lot of mud in his stomach. He was also buried in a standing position, meaning the hole was more than six feet deep. Dana thinks Bobby, whose nickname around school is “Dorkweed,” intentionally murdered Phil. Tell me, why is this a federal case?
Mulder interviews Bobby while Scully talks to Patti, who denies Phil had a history of hitting Bobby. Patti thinks Bobby was struggling to help Phil, not kill him. Bobby tells Fox that Phil shoved him in the past and he didn’t kill Stepdaddy Dearest. Apparently Phil was under stress because of “the blight,” which was killing his hazelnut trees. And apparently Bobby is unable make friends, which rules out the accomplice angle. Sculder wander through the woods where Mulder trips on a root and Dana sees someone watching them.
Dorkweed lied, he does have a friend. Can’t believe they expected a suspected murderer to be honest. He tells schoolmate Lisa that he finally stood up to his stepfather. Other boys in school taunt Bobby and call him Psycho Killer (fa-fa-fa-fa, fa-fa-fa-fa-fa). How come death of an immediate family member doesn’t get you an excused day off from school, even if (especially if) you’re the suspect?
Sculder then talk with Karin Matthews, played by Sarah-Jane Redmond who hit the rare trifecta cast as three different X-Files characters -- she's also the young mom in Season 2 Episode 12 "Aubrey" and a special agent in I Want to Believe. Karin seems to be working on Bobby’s self-defense argument. Bobby meets Lisa at night and tries to convince her to stand up to her own father the way he stood up to Phil. Lisa refuses but goes home and ends up yelling at her father anyway when he tells her not to hang out with Bobby. Then something -- not Lisa -- causes him to fly through the window and die. Problem solved, new problem created since Eugene was a single parent.
Karin preps Lisa on avoiding Sculder then explains to Fox how she helps the teens break the cycle of abuse through therapy. Mulder analyzes the broken window and determines Eugene was pulled out of the two-story window – you know, the type without a balcony or trellis or anything else for a would-be murderer outside the second-story window to hang on to.
The coroner determines Eugene died from a broken neck. Fox thinks it was blood loss, but the overly defensive coroner doesn’t agree with Mulder's assessment. Fox then finds something unusual in Eugene’s neck. Dana and the local police pull Bobby out of class. She looks for proof of a struggle on Bobby’s arms, but there’s not a single imperfection to be found. The Fox shows up with the “evidence” removed from Eugene’s neck. Karin gives Lisa a place to stay until her aunt arrives and Lisa later hears a man berating Karin.
Sculder return to Lisa’s house, where Mulder has the urge to go tree climbing. The man who was watching them earlier is standing behind Scully with an axe. He claims to be the one who takes care of the trees. Dana shows him the piece of splintered wood the coroner obtained from Eugene’s neck. Axe Man says it came from the same tree Fox was just climbing. He confirms the trees are dying and a similar situation occurred 20 years ago. Axe Man hits this one with his ax and the tree starts “bleeding.”
Lisa snoops in Karin’s basement and the berating voice locks her in. The next morning Sculder show up at Matthews' house to ask about her father, who died 20 years earlier in an orchard. The good news is his death ended that particular blight. Karin claims Lisa was already picked up by her aunt, but the poor girl is still in the basement. Looks like she had a long night too. Why can’t she break that window? There are so many things down there she could have used. Karin tells Lisa she can’t let her out of the basement until it’s “safe.”
Mulder decides to exhume Karin’s father, Charles, without a court order. He opens the coffin, but it’s full of roots instead of a rotting human body. Aunt Linda shows up at Karin’s house, but Matthews claims Lisa went to the bus station. The girl finally breaks a window and gets Linda’s attention. Too bad someone impales the aunt with a root before she can call the police.
Fox decides nature – or someone controlling nature – caused the deaths of the three men who worked in the orchards: Phil, Eugene and Charles. Mulder goes to the weak link – Bobby – who reveals Karin influenced his hatred of Phil, who was not abusive. Sculder end up in Matthews' basement where they find what’s left of her father. The agents locate Lisa, but Karin gets away. Fox chases after her, but a tree blocks his path and a branch tries to impale him. Good luck explaining that one to the car rental agency. Hope Mulder signed up for the insurance option.
Karin shows up at Bobby’s house, but Patti tries to keep her away from him. Dorkweed panics and runs through the woods, then decides to take a stand against Karin, who is possessed by … her father? A spirit? The woods? Deadites? The ground starts to swallow Bobby, but Fox shows up. He tries to pull him out, but gets sucked down with him. Axe Man takes care of everything in a very predictable and efficient way. Yes, he chops off Karin’s head. Mulder and Bobby are fine, but their dry cleaning bills must have been astronomical. On the upside, I think the blight is over. Can we have a spinoff show called Tales of the Axe Man? The guy gets things done.
Sestra Professional:
The kid's apathy rubbed off on me in this episode. I wanted to sit around playing video games instead of blogging ... and I don't even play video games.
Chalk that up to the one-dimensional nature of the story and the characters within. Even Mulder and Scully have been reduced to stereotypes. Fox is making his usual wild assumptions (rather boringly) and Dana is explaining everything away under the guise of science (ditto ad nauseum). Give credit for that to co-writers Jessica Scott and Mike Wollaeger, who never got a second chance to make an impression as X-Files writers. (They went on to pen kids' fare for Goosebumps and Animorphs, where perfunctory characterization probably went over better. We certainly don't appreciate that in our Sculder.)
Is it possible that he took the term "mud pie" literally? I'm not too sure whose side we're supposed to be on. We're watching a stereotypical standoff between a father and his stepson. The kid's an empty-headed probable drug addict who apparently has never heard of John F. Kennedy. He has anger issues but can be easily bullied at school. And the dad is so heavy-handed and belligerent. It's hard to reconcile that with what we later hear about him being a man who could tell a joke and was well-liked around town. Even with a hazelnut blight.
So Karin Matthews enters the picture. And since she's played by Sarah-Jane Redmond, who had just given the second season of Millennium a huge boost as the epitome of evil, it's kind of obvious she'll be doing more than playing the plain Jane trying to help out the troubled kids at school. Karin's philosophy that all you have to do is stand up to the person hurting you seems rather misguided. It's an unrealistic theory that might cause more harm than good.
You little piece of garbage: There's not a lot of nurturing going on in this town. Lisa's dad suffers from the same malady as Bobby's stepdad (although he can't be blamed for wanting to keep his daughter away from a suspected murderer, I suppose). Thusly, he suffers from the same fate as Farmer Hazelnut after his daughter yells at him to shut up. Having a quiet girl deliver a verbal outburst doesn't exactly qualify as character development. And then there's the guy walking around with an ax on foggy nights under the guise of watching over trees.
The same goes double for our heroes. Fox and Dana play their believer-doubter roles as we've seen 100 times before. And Mulder can usually do a lot better in the flirting department than climbing a tree and quipping "Is this demonstration of boyish agility turning you on at all?"
I think she's the killer and the victim: There are some theories here that don't take root. Someone's able to control nature because they were abused? And why is Bobby suddenly cleaned up? If the kid really was trying to save his stepdad, how could he be cured of his insecurities when Phil died in front of his eyes as he tried to help? Bobby should have been falling even deeper into his doldrums and self-loathing. And poor Karin, said to be so consumed by her past and the fact that she didn't use her silly trope of standing up to her own father that it's all right for the Axe Man to get rid of the stupid concepts in her head the hard way.
Meta mulch: Ridiculousness of plot aside, the effects of those pulled into the mud are striking. According to show's special effects coordinator, David Gauthier, in the official episode guide, the mud was heated for the comfort of the actors. A hydraulic elevator was used in one scene and an air-powered ramp in another to draw the characters deeper into the bog. The tough part was Karin's headless body. Gauthier said a stunt woman was fed oxygen so she could breathe as she slowly went under. ... Also props to Mark Snow for a different kind of score on this episode. The composer used all-too-appropriate woodwinds for the right sound, he said in the guide. ... "Dorkweed" was originally scripted as "Dickweed," according to the guide. ... Katharine Isabelle, who played Lisa, is the daughter of the show's production designer, Graeme Murray.
Guest star of the week: As previously mentioned, Sarah-Jane Redmond had already made an indelible impression in a couple episodes as Frank Black's best and brightest nemesis on Millennium by the time of "Schizogeny." (The Ten Thirteen Productions favorite later starred in the ill-fated Harsh Realm as well.) They can take away all Redmond's makeup here, but they can't subdue her talent. She speaks volumes with her eyes, much more than the written words on the page. If it wasn't for her, this one would be even worse than it is. Hard to fathom, but completely true.
Sestra Amateur:
Today’s episode puts us back in Monster-of-the-Week mode, but with a twist -- it’s a follow-up to "Pusher" (Season 3, Episode 17). And if you’ve ever seen a movie called The Fury (or read the book), then you have a general idea how this one is going to go. Remember Robert Patrick Modell, who killed several people but made the deaths look like suicides or accidents? Mulder shot him and left him in a vegetative state after a rousing game of Russian roulette. Well, Modell is undergoing physical therapy in a Virginia correctional facility. Most people think he’s a vegetable, but at least one guard/orderly sees Robert Patrick (no, not the future series regular) for the horrible man he is. Too bad Chuck, the younger orderly, doesn’t heed the wise one’s warnings. Chuck tells him that Modell “had to go.” Too bad he never gets his “I told you so” moment. Watch out, Fox! He probably wants payback.
Assistant Director Skinner is debriefing the feds and marshals assigned to the manhunt. Hope Walter doesn’t get beaten up by a mind-controlled employee again. Of course there are a couple of doubters in the group of government agents, so things are likely to get a little rough for them. Scully learns RP simply woke up six months earlier and his brain tumor is still killing him. Shouldn’t the penitentiary have warned Mulder that Modell woke up? Watching Dana work this current investigation, you’d never even know she found and lost her miracle alien child so recently.
Pusher is torturing bike store employee Todd, who was unfortunate enough to be watching the news story right when Modell walked into his shop. After convincing Todd his baseball bat is a poisonous snake, RP starts chowing down on energy bars. Pusher calls Mulder, who manages not to fall under his influence. They trace the call to the bicycle store where Fox sees Modell walking away. Mulder chases him, but it’s just Todd in RP's prison clothes. So that’s two people Pusher could have killed but didn’t. Prison has softened him.
Speaking of, Modell is staring at a picture of a blonde woman. There’s also a man sitting in a living room covered in cerulean blue paint. Sculder and company arrive and find dead, blue Nathan Bowman – Pusher's prosecutor -- and learn the Japanese word "Kitsunegari" is written all over the man’s walls. In case you still questioned whether or not RP was coming after Fox, "kitsunegari" means “fox hunt.”
Mulder tries to locate the man’s wife, Linda, played by Diana Scarwid -- best known for portraying Christina Crawford to Faye Dunaway’s over-the-top Joan Crawford in Mommie Dearest. Luckily, Linda’s secretary is disturbingly forthcoming, especially when talking to a stranger who has not even identified himself as law enforcement. The Falls Church Police Department responds, but apparently didn’t get the memo on Pusher’s psychic ability and one officer holds another one at gunpoint until the agents arrive on the scene. Two more survivors of Modell’s power.
Lucky for Linda Bowman she was running late, because she didn’t arrive until after all the excitement. Fox manages to find RP across the street. He calls for backup, but Pusher desperately wants to tell Mulder something. Then Fox tells Dana that Modell “had to go.” Mulder also says RP warned him not to play the game. Skinner suspends Fox and takes his gun.
In interviewing Linda, the agents learn she married Nathan two months ago after a really brief courtship. Her words convince Mulder she arranged her own husband’s death and may be a pusher herself. (Pushette?) Fox returns to the penitentiary to question the therapist about Modell’s visitors. Unfortunately, she can’t see the picture Mulder shows her of Linda without her glasses on. The therapist takes a phone call then casually electrocutes herself to death.
Falls Church police arrive at Linda’s safe house with RP, who pushes the marshal to go home. Skinner realizes something is up, breaks into the apartment and catches Modell with Linda. Pusher creates a suicide-by-cop situation by convincing Walter he has a gun. Skinner shoots Modell in the shoulder. Of course, Walter sounds crazy when he later tries to explain it to Sculder. Mulder waits patiently for Modell to come out of surgery and regain consciousness. A nurse arrives to change RP's bandages, but it’s just Linda with the word "nurse" pinned to her shirt. Fox, seeing an actual nurse, leaves and Linda pushes Modell to a painless death. Dr. Kervorkian would be proud.
Mulder returns too late and realizes Linda played him. She also left a clue to her whereabouts. (I wonder if she “pushed” her secretary to give all of that information to Fox when he first called looking for Linda. That actually makes some sense.) Mulder encounters Scully, who is pushed to point her gun at Fox. Dana then shoots herself in the head. She falls to the ground and the blood pools around her. Linda arrives, armed and claiming to be Scully, listing Mulder’s family members to prove she’s not Linda. Believe her, Fox! Gillian Anderson is under contract, Diana Scarwid is not!
“Linda” then shoots behind Mulder and hits … Linda, who goes down for the count. Dana calls for an ambulance and Linda is (unfortunately) saved. Turns out, she and Modell are fraternal twins and she has the same type of brain tumor. They still don’t really explain why Pusher isn’t so murderous this time around. Was it his choice not to kill or did Pushette prevent him from being able to kill? It’s not like she was opposed to killing anyone. In the end, Skinner actually praises Fox for a job well done. Maybe Linda “pushed” him to say nice things to Mulder.
Sestra Professional:
"Pusher," the original episode written by Vince Gilligan, stands as one of the highlights of the entire series. "Return of Pusher," penned by Gilligan with Tim Minear, isn't quite as strong but fits nicely into the fabric of the series.
Keep pushing. No pain, no gain: As Sestra Am pointed out, it's tough to figure out what to make of Robert Patrick Modell this time around? The enemy of law enforcement didn't show any remorse after killing 17 people. Has the vegetable roasted into a rutabaga? Didn't expect that to turnip.
"Pusher" worked as an episode because he was the worthy adversary he imagined himself to be for Mulder. It wasn't just a case of Fox making wild guesses to solve a supernatural case. Even when Sculder had evidence of Modell's abilities, it wasn't easy getting him off the streets, although Pusher's ailments didn't have him operating at 100 percent efficiency. Mulder may be smart and strong, but even he fell under the smooth talker's spell.
Two words. It's alive: That gives "Kitsunegari" a strong jumping off point. Ah, the miracles of medicine that kept Robert Patrick alive long enough that he was able to ply his wares once again. Having Robert Wisden back in the role provides another carbo boost for the show. He pushes us to want to know what's going on with Modell. And Fox, Dana, Walter ... they all suffered at Pusher's hands in the first episode, so it's intriguing to bring that back story into the latest go-around.
But it's not really Modell's story this time around. Sure, he's the catalyst, but his murderous impulses have been tempered and it's Linda Bowman driving the action this time. Even with the same abilities as Robert Patrick -- the character -- she doesn't cut quite as charismatic a brutal swath through "Kitsunegari." Which is not to say she and the story fail. I guess it's just tough for her to navigate in her sibling's shadow.
Mulder, no: Pusher's kills gave us thrills and chills. We don't see Linda's hubby get the blues, we only see the cerulean outcome. Pushette doesn't have quite the flair as her fraternal twin. But she does have the capacity to put Fox and Dana/Walter on opposite sides of the same issue. And that's where "Kitsunegari" gains some traction.
It does make a lot of sense from the Scully/Skinner viewpoint. Would an escaped killer really just be diverting suspicion away from the real estate lady? Even though we know Mulder's right, common sense dictates looking at the situation a different way. And it does set up the harrowing standoffs between faux Scully and Mulder and/or Fox and faux Linda.
But poor Mel Cooley, I mean, Walter. He doesn't get a tiny high heel in his face courtesy of his secretary, but he does fall victim to the old "I have a gun" trick. Even on his last legs, Modell's able to draw Skinner's fire. Maybe he should have suspended himself too.
Meta-minded: Tim Minear -- who wrote for Lois and Clark before The X-Files and produced Angel, Firefly and Dollhouse afterward -- originally pitched the idea of a criminal who truly was a changed man. It was X-Files co-executive producer Frank Spotnitz who came up with the idea of using Modell to that end, according to the show's official episode guide. ... "Kitsunegari" was director Daniel Sackheim's first effort for the show since "The Host" (S2E2). ... And can't forget the reprise of the use of longtime X-Files director/producer Rob Bowman's surname for Linda and her husband, the Blue Man Group reject.
Guest star of the week: It was spectacular to see Wisden back in Modell's skin, and under ours. But it's Diana Scarwid's episode. She does the heavy lifting, er, the heavy pushing and a fine job playing Scully for a couple minutes, almost as tough a task as following in her on-screen brother's footsteps. (By the way, Sestra Am, I know her best from Psycho III. Think she used a thing or two gleaned from Norman Bates?)
Sestra Amateur:
Last week, you were either thrilled, annoyed or creeped out to learn Scully had a 3-year-old daughter named Emily. You probably were also thrilled or annoyed after realizing Mulder was practically nowhere to be seen. But worry not, David Duchovny is done Playing God and back earning his weekly paycheck. Unfortunately, we first have to endure that age-old narrative crutch -- the voiceover -- with Dana in a bleak, metaphorical dream. At least in the dream she gets back her gold-cross necklace.
Fox finds Scully and Emily at the San Diego Children’s Center and tells his partner Frohike identified Emily’s surrogate mother as Anna Fugazzi. The last name means “fake.” Mulder is worried for Dana's safety since anyone who takes care of that little girl dies. His need to protect Sculder may overshadow her desperation to adopt Emily.
The Scully family and Fox testify at a hearing at which presiding Judge Maibaum is this week’s non-believer, because he doesn’t even buy Dana's abduction and ova removal story from years earlier. Too bad we can’t give him the blogs of those episodes as references, but I do appreciate his Michael Crichton crack about the unprecedented science experiments performed on Scully and other women. Bottom line, Fox comes through in support of Dana's adoption petition.
Scully gets a phone call which Mulder traces back to the Children’s Center. They hurry over there where Dana finds Emily burning up with fever. There’s a strange green cyst on the back of her neck. Sculder rush her to the hospital where emergency room Dr. Vinet asks if they are Emily’s parents. The awkward momentary silence could have been a good first use of the phrase “It’s complicated.” Dana steps up with Emily’s medical history. Another doctor punctures the cyst over Mulder’s objections and releases toxins in the air which take down the physician but leave Emily unscathed.
Fox suggests putting the doctor in an ice bath like Scully did for him to save his life (End Game, Season 2 Episode 17 … no, I didn't remember on my own and yes, I had to go back through the blogs and research it.) Dr. Vinet is unable to get medical records from Dr. Calderon, Emily’s medical trial physician.
Mulder goes to the pharmaceutical company in charge of Emily’s medication. After getting nowhere, Fox beats and threatens Dr. Calderon with a gun. Security just lets Mulder walk away. Fox then follows the “good” doctor to the two men in suits from the previous episode. Calderon gets stabbed in the back of the neck with a silver ice pick-like weapon and a green acidic substance bubbles out. The men in suits are bounty hunters! They morph into Calderon and one leads Mulder on a wild goose chase.
Back at the hospital, Emily undergoes an MRI. Scully learns her medical prognosis is pretty bleak. Dana finds “Dr. Calderon” leaving Emily’s room but the bounty hunter changes his looks, so it appears Scully just mistook him for someone else. Dana doesn’t know what her “Dr. Calderon” injected into Emily, but she calls Mulder, who is still tracking the "other" one. Fox thinks Scully’s Calderon might be trying to help Emily. Detective Kresge arrives at the hospital with local police to help protect Emily. Mulder follows his Calderon to a nursing home where he stumbles across 71-year-old Anna Fugazzi. Maybe the medical miracle the government has been secretly working on is using elderly females as surrogates to carry babies to term. Or, as Mulder said in the beginning, the name on Emily’s birth certificate is a fake.
Miss Chambliss from Child Services confronts Scully about Emily’s medical condition and Dana’s attempts to make medical decisions for Emily without proper authority. Scully continues to fight for her rights as Emily’s mother. Back in the nursing home, Mulder learns from Frohike that eight of the elderly women who reside there are listed as mothers for recent births. They’re also all on the same hormone medication. Lucky for Frohike, Mulder thinks he has a shot with these women.
Emily’s next painful test puts her in a hyperbaric chamber. Fox finds several elderly women enjoying their medicated beauty sleep. (Is this what our taxes are paying for??) He finds an embryo with Dana’s name and birth date on it. Oh good, Emily can have a sibling. After Calderon returns, Mulder steals several vials, but he gets caught by Detective Kresge and drops them. Fox very, very quickly explains the situation and the detective seems to be on board. Unfortunately, he doesn’t listen when Mulder tells him not to shoot Calderon. Should have briefly mentioned the alien stuff, Fox. Kresge shoots Calderon twice and gets overcome by the toxins. “Calderon” then morphs into the detective and gets away.
Mulder joins Scully at Emily’s deathbed, but she’d rather be alone so Fox leaves. He still has one vial in his possession, though. Epilogue time: Emily’s funeral is short but sweet and Dana pontificates over what has happened. Detective Kresge is luckily still alive; maybe next time he’ll listen to Mulder. The nursing home has been cleaned out and there is no evidence of Calderon’s work. All of the evidence is literally gone -- Emily’s body has dissolved into sand, but at least Dana gets her gold cross back. Oh, and Tara Scully finally had her baby, probably with a lot less trouble.
Sestra Professional:
So as interesting as last week's build proved to be, the second part seemed to back the show into a corner. There wasn't a great way to extricate Dana from this story, so it's tough to blame our three-headed monster writing machine -- Vince Gilligan, John Shiban and Frank Spotnitz. Of course, I deemed them "amazing" last time and monsters this time, so maybe there's a wee bit of residual blame still hanging in the air.
The ridiculousness of the opening monologue does nothing to alleviate the situation, and in fact, exacerbates it. I'd be all right with pointing the finger at show creator Chris Carter for at least the concept of the teaser, that kind of pretension tends to fall into his purview on a regular basis.
How did she come into this world? So when Scully introduces a 3-year-old to Mulder, she just can't call him Fox? That might have been a little bit easier for a young girl to remember. Not that Emily could even do that for very long since she falls violently ill very quickly. So violently that she reminds me of a sweat-soaked Drew Barrymore in Firestarter when the doctor examining Emily tries to get a sample of the cyst on her neck.
Now it's true we didn't want Emily clinging to Dana's trenchcoat forever. It might have been easy to saddle her with Mom Scully and see her occasionally during holiday episodes. But it was thirtysomething enough watching Fox and Dana discussing the attempt to get custody of Emily. In short, the air went out of this episode long before its denouement.
She's just a lab rat to you: But it was sharp of our writing trifecta to raise the tension between our leads, even in the slightest of ways. Mulder kept the fact children were being created through genetic experiments from Scully. And even though that's just a moment passing in the context of this particular episode, it's still serving a greater purpose in their ongoing story. We see how much Dana means to Fox several times in the context of "Emily" and keeping that kind of information from her does seem true to his character.
Also brought up in this episode is a concept that we see time and again in the show's run -- medical rape. It's something that's woven through the tapestry of the story, even in a couple of light-hearted episodes. Given the current landscape and one particular series injustice we'll get to later on, The X-Files taken some hard hits on this front of late. At least we have Fox front and center proclaiming the very notion is wrong at this juncture.
The decisions I make are reasonable and right: It's tough -- and slightly annoying -- to see judges and Child Service agencies disregarding Scully's advice. She's a medical doctor and the girl's mother. Neither of these things seem to carry much weight. But then again, not a lot comes up Dana's medical or maternal instincts during this episode either.
Whereas "Christmas Carol" packed emotional punch, "Emily" fails to do so. It's not the fault of Gillian Anderson or David Duchovny, there's just not a lot of meat on this story's bones. Maybe for that reason, ultimately it's easy for us to let this little girl go. We can ponder at a later date why she's not factored into the telling of the ongoing narrative.
Guest star of the week: Lauren Diewold. It's not because she delivered an amazingly poised performance for her age. As revealed in the series' official guide, another actress originally cast as Emily freaked out when put in the hyperbaric chamber. Almost two episodes worth of scenes had to be restructured and reshot. Brava to Diewold for saving the day. Twice.
Sestra Amateur:
It's too bad we didn't get to this one next month, when we would be more accepting of a Christmas-themed episode. Halloween is only four days away, so my focus is obviously on that now. Maybe I can find a way to have the best of both worlds, like The Nightmare Before Christmas.
Dana and Margaret Scully are visiting Bill and his pregnant wife, Tara, on a San Diego U.S. Naval base for the Christmas holidays. (Bill has a wife? Bill’s about to be a father? Did the writers just throw that out there or did I miss something in previous Bill eps?) Margaret quickly gets lost in memories of her deceased husband.
At the Scully homestead, Dana answers the phone. A woman is requesting her help. Maybe it’s a Halloween prank. Oh yeah, it’s not Halloween. Maybe the call is coming from inside the house!! Okay, it’s not. … Scully uses her FBI connections to try and get the call traced. I don’t know about you, but I started using the *69 feature to call back the last number sometime in that mid '90s, so maybe Agent Scully should have tried that before utilizing costly federal resources.
Bill and Dana go to the address and then learn the occupant, Roberta Sim (nice Christmas Carol homage), committed suicide hours before the phone call. Local police detective John Kresge seems skeptical. I’m really hoping the meaning of his last name is not foreshadowing, but The X-Files writers always seem to have a reason when they use unusual surnames. (Don’t blame me for checking, blame George Lucas and his Vader-means-father nonsense.) Bill catches up to Dana, who claims the voice sounded like their dead sister, Melissa. Detective Kresge confirms Scully’s impossible phone call but assumes it was a computer glitch. Roberta’s husband and young daughter are present, so he’s ready to wrap his the suicide investigation.
Back at Bill’s house, Dana calls Mulder, but hangs up without talking. Man, I wish he had *69’d that call! Also, why would she do that to him knowing how paranoid he gets? Speaking of Halloween, even Fox looked like he was in costume. When he ran into the apartment to answer his phone, I thought he was dressed as a pirate. That’s a weird way to wear a scarf. Also, I hope you got your Mulder fix, because that’s all you get in this episode. In San Diego, Dana’s clearly affected by her sister-in-law’s pregnancy and upset about her own infertility issues.
Later that night, she dreams about younger versions of herself, Bill and Melissa. Then “Melissa” calls Scully and directs her back to the Sim house to check on young Emily. Marshall Sim, who now has two unknown men in suits inside the house, reacts badly to Dana’s presence and orders her to leave. Scully asks Det. Kresge to show her the case file and notices a strong resemblance between Emily and a picture of 3-year-old Melissa. Dana continues her investigation and learns Emily was adopted … and born about a year before Melissa’s murder.
The detective authorizes an autopsy for Roberta Sim and Scully learns the medication in Roberta’s system was injected, not ingested. The cops return to the Sim residence and find a bloody needle … in the garbage can … in the backyard during a crime scene search. This sure is making San Diego PD look bad. Dana somehow also arranged a DNA test on the girl and learns Emily may be Melissa’s daughter. Scully tells her mother, who is in denial, even after seeing the girls’ pictures and the test results. Dana next dreams about the Christmas when her parents gave and Melissa their gold cross necklaces. Kresge wakes up Dana and updates her on his investigation. They learn Emily is in medical trials for a rare autoimmune condition. The detective finds enough evidence to arrest Marshall for Roberta’s murder. Emily is enthralled by Scully's gold cross necklace, so Dana gives it to her before Child Services takes her away.
Back at the Scully holiday party -- could be a Halloween party since half the guests are dressed as Naval officers -- everyone is enjoying themselves but Dana, who is clearly bringing down the room. Bill confronts his sister and sides with Margaret. Both of them think Dana is turning the Emily situation into something personal. Kresge calls Scully with news of Marshall Sim’s full confession, but now Scully isn’t buying it. She arrives at the jail as the two men in suits leave. They got inside Sim’s cell by claiming to be his lawyers. And now Marshall is dead … another “suicide."
Still trying to prove Dana wrong, Bill shows her a photograph of a non-pregnant Melissa taken a month before the day Emily was born. This feels exactly like "Redux Part 2" (Season 5, Episode 2), when we understand Bill’s point of view but don’t sympathize with him at all. Right now, he just comes off as a jealous brother who thinks his infertile sister is stealing his soon-to-be-a-father thunder. Dana has started the paperwork to adopt Emily, but Child Services rejects her application for several reasons. Alien abduction is not one of them -- she’s single, no long-term relationships, long hours, dangerous job. Scully’s down, not out entirely just yet. She goes back to sleep and dreams about adult Melissa in the days before Dana started the FBI Academy.
Are we sure Melissa isn’t haunting this house? It’s really not too late to turn the story into Poltergeist or The Amityville Horror. The next morning, Christmas morning, mind you, an FBI courier arrives at Bill and Tara’s home with the more extensive DNA test results. (Trick or treat? At least offer the guy working on Christmas Day some egg nog.) Turns out Bill and Margaret were right; Emily is not Melissa’s daughter ... she’s Dana’s! (Insert gasps of disbelief here….) Boy, now I’m sorry I wasted my Maury Povich reference in the last episode. We’ll get more answers next week, but for now it’s a Halloween (OK, Christmas) miracle!
Sestra Professional:
I don't know about Dana, but I certainly recognized her sister's voice right away. I was kind of surprised she didn't. It would be like me not knowing Sestra Am when she calls me on the phone. Deeming the mystery person a garden-variety woman is pretty bizarre. Of course, Scully has a history of supernatural occurrences with her family. Remember, she had the vision of her father passing on just before her mother called with the bad news in "Beyond the Sea" (S1E13).
But maybe that's why Dana didn't fight it as hard as she usually fights the unexplained things she and the guy who isn't in much of this episode investigate on a regular basis. (Nope, David Duchovny wasn't again working on the summer blockbuster, Fight the Future. This time, he had obligations for another film, Playing God. Remember that one? Didn't think so.)
I've always admired most of the setup and execution of this one by the amazing writing team of Vince Gilligan, John Shiban and Frank Spotnitz, puzzling appearance of Bill's pregnant wife aside. But Scully's brother just can't get out of his own way. He doesn't do himself any favors with the fandom by constantly butting heads with Dana and never taking her side. He picked the right wife too, droning on and on about how life is less without a baby. That's not gonna make her barren sister-in-law feel too good, is it?
It's a great mystery, hearing the voice of Melissa (still Melinda McGraw, so it resonates with the viewers) urging Dana to try to help the little girl. Even aside the supernatural jingles she's getting on the phone, Scully has great reason to suspect what's going on in the house of the woman who allegedly committed suicide. The way she lays out the facts to get the autopsy -- such as the phone being off the hook -- show how smart Dana is, even in the face of interfacing with an inhabitant from the great beyond.
There's the DNA evidence that skillfully leads Scully (and us) to believe she's on the right track. And that mysterious period of time when Melissa was on the road, finding herself? She very well could have had a baby during that time, it's not one of those ridiculous conjectures Scully often has to come up with in response to the fantastical Mulder suppositions that usually prove to be correct. It's pretty easy to follow along with that reasoning ... and then blammo! John Gilnitz hits us right between the eyes with that little surprise.
That startling piece of news fits even better into the framework of the show. We know Scully was appropriated early in Season 2 and that tests were done on her during that time. We can believe it was by aliens or by the government or some unholy alliance between the two. But now it's three years later in Dana's life, in the journeys all of us have taken through the X-Files. What are the ramifications of that? This poor little girl suffering from an autoimmune disease could very well be one of the -- to put it harshly -- byproducts of the abduction machinations.
According to Resist or Serve, Volume 4 of The Official Guide to The X-Files, this particular story came about because Gilligan, Shiban and Spotnitz needed to 1.) do a Scully-centric episode that 2.) would air around the holidays. Rather trot out the old Christmas Carol allegory, the triumvirate decided to go with self-examination of another sort for Dana. With the cancer scare in the rearview mirror but still in mind, Scully again confronts her choices in the wake of fresh remembrances that she'll never be able to have the same kind family unit as Bill and his bride.
Another sterling performance from Gillian Anderson really ties the whole episode together. She's strong as an investigator and smart as a physician. Then we get that other look at her outside of the power suits and scrubs when she talks with the representative from Child Services about adopting Emily. And finally ... the big surprise. The most shocking news an infertile woman would never expect to get.
In The Complete X-Files, Gillian Anderson credited the crew for helping her get the job done. "It's great when you get a crew that really respects the work that's being done by the actors," she said. "That makes a world of difference when you feel safe to go where you need to go as an actor, day in and day out. A crew is everything."
Guest star of the week: Two young Danas, one young Melissa and one young Bill -- that's a lot of youth actors asked to help move the story along through flashbacks. The 1976 version of Scully getting the trademark cross from her mother stood out. And if the remarkable resemblance to Gillian seemed obvious, that's probably because that young Dana was played by her own sister, Zoe Anderson. Sestras are doing it for themselves.
Sestra Amateur:
Just like the announcer says during the introduction to The Outer Limits: “There is nothing wrong with your television set” (tablet, computer, smart phone, whatever). “Do not attempt to adjust the picture.” This one is supposed to be in black and white. Chris Carter decided to write an homage to Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein instead of continuing with his frustrating character mythology. So let’s sit back and enjoy the bottle ep.
Teenagers Booger and Izzy head to a comic book convention, leaving Izzy’s mom, Shaineh Berkowitz, all alone to watch Jerry Springer’s show about a werewolf baby. (I’m almost positive that was a fake episode, but with “reality” TV you really can’t be too sure.) Meanwhile, someone tents the family home and sets off a smoke bomb. Cher’s cover of The Walker Brothers’ song "The Sun Ain’t Gonna Shine Anymore" plays in the background while a disfigured person approaches Shaineh.
Mulder is driving to the Berkowitz home while Scully reads a letter from Shaineh describing how she became pregnant with Izzy. Shanieh claims the same thing happened to her again. Turns out, Fox met with the werewolf baby mama who name-dropped Mulder on TV. Shaineh claims she couldn’t be pregnant because her tubes were tied. She was unconscious for three days, so maybe her attacker performed a reversal procedure before impregnating her. Dana searches the house for clues while Fox uses his "woe is me" tone to articulate how he doesn't believe in aliens anymore. Shaineh’s description of her attacker matches Izzy’s comic book about a character named The Great Mutato, lumpy dual faces and all.
Upon his arrival back home, Izzy claims many people in their neighborhood have seen The Great Mutato. Izzy tries to entice G.M. with a peanut butter sandwich. Mutato eats and runs; Sculder can’t catch up to him, but they come across an old man and his pig. He steers them in the direction of his mad scientist son played by J. Peterman himself, John O’Hurley. Dr. Pollidori doesn’t really have the patience for the agents' interruptions until Scully threatens him with … reality TV exposure? Dr. P. takes the time to explain his manipulation of man and insect genes to a crescendo of Mark Snow B-movie score and some really (intentionally) fake-sounding thunder.
Here is where my storehouse of useless information really comes into play. The not-so-good doctor’s last name, Dr. John William Polidori (correct spelling) authored The Vampyre, the original modern vampire tale written decades before Bram Stoker’s Dracula. He was with Lord Byron, Percy Shelley and Mary Shelley during the hallucinogenic weekend that inspired Mary’s novel, Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus. (See how it all relates?) This slumber party was dramatized in several novels and at least two movies from the 1980s: Haunted Summer and Gothic. (“Based on True Events” is probably more accurate, it’s not like the movies are documentaries.) It’s amusing how the Shelleys and Byron were portrayed by some of the most attractive actors of the decade, but poor Polidori is seen as either goofy Alex Winter (Bill S. Preston, Esquire of Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure fame) or goofy Timothy Spall (Wormtail in the Harry Potter series). Although when you look at his portrait, he did resemble a young Rowan Atkinson. But, as usual, I digress. Back to the Great Mutato.
At the Pollidori home, Mrs. P. tries to convince her husband they want a baby, but he isn’t buying it. He leaves for his convention and his wife cries alone while someone tents their house. … The next morning, Sculder go to breakfast at the world’s creepiest diner, where Mulder sits by a reporter who moves like a bird. The circus-like music and tricky camera shots help encourage the freak-show feeling of the episode, even more so than in "Humbug" (Season 2, Episode 20). Scully reads the paper and is irked because Izzy apparently recorded their conversation in the Berkowitz house and told a reporter (Bird-woman??) Luckily, Izzy also has a recording of Cher’s song and The Great Mutato’s voice. Mulder’s definitely on board with the mad scientist theory, while Scully obtains medical proof of Shaineh’s pregnancy.
Our intrepid heroes then stumble upon the Pollidori residence, mainly because it’s still tented and Cher’s "Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves" is blasting from the home. Sculder search the foggy, smelly home and find Mrs. P. just before they lose consciousness. Dr. P.’s father is there, wisely using a gas mask. Mrs. P. and hungover-ish Fox and Dana eventually wake up to Dr. P. and the police hovering over them. Mrs. P. describes G.M. and the crime scenes indicate the same assailant. When Mulder suggests she might have been impregnated, Mrs. P. reacts just a teeny tiny bit too happily. Guess she won’t be pressing charges…
Papa P. is taking care of G.M. who is watching Mask, the true story of Rocky Dennis, a teenaged boy who suffered from a bone disorder which caused facial disfigurement. I’m probably stealing one of Sestra Pro’s meta moments here, but my mental storehouse must be accessed. Mask starred Cher – whose songs have played such a pivotal part in this episode – and Eric Stoltz who played Percy Shelley in Haunted Summer. Dr. P. confronts his father and a struggle ensues.
Back at the creepy diner, people are less appreciative of Mulder this time around because those pesky Feds think G.M. is a “hoax.” There’s an awful lot of spitting and coffee spilling going on this time. The townsfolk also turns on Izzy. Luckily there’s no lynching, otherwise Izzy would be a goner. G.M. finds Papa P.’s body in the kitchen and buries him in the barn. Sculder arrive and search the barn. The birdlike reporter woman arrives and shows them Papa P.’s photo album. Dr. P. leads the mob to kill Mutato, but our heroes find him in his Cher-decorated basement hideout.
Meanwhile, the mob burns down the barn – luckily the horses get away – and corner Sculder and Mutato, who finally provides some much appreciated exposition. Papa P. learned about Dr. P.’s experiments and rescued G.M. who he kept hidden. Papa P. wanted to create a mate for G.M. so he would not be left alone. The mob sees the error of their ways and stop trying to kill Mutato. The police take away Dr. P. and Sculder take G.M. to a Cher concert. But does G.M. really deserve his happy ending? He drugged, raped and impregnated Shaineh and Mrs. P. (I still want to know how he worked around the whole tubes-tied complication.) The new mothers appear on a later Jerry Springer ep with their Mutato-like babies. Of course, The Maury Povich Show would not have been the way to go because clearly Mutato, you are the father!
Sestra Professional:
"The Post-Modern Prometheus" is a favorite episode of show creator Chris Carter -- who wrote and directed this one -- co-executive producer Frank Spotnitz and legions of fans the world over. But truth be told, it's never been one of mine. I'm not a big fan of "on the nose" writing, in the tradition of Forrest Gump. I prefer a little more subtlety in my tributes.
This one is more than merely pays homage to Frankenstein, it drags the legendary horror icon through The X-Files grinder. Carter finds better ways of doing this as the series goes on, but this one just doesn't do it for me. So while I don't dole out the high praise it generally garners, I do think it's a good step for the show creator into a different realm of storytelling.
Well, yeah, but that don't mean it didn't happen: The black-and-white filming definitely gives the episode some style, the acting is on point with the tone and tempo of the story, Mark Snow's music slots in perfectly and it has the perfect ending -- Mulder and Scully become a comic book. That's what the show has been all along, a live-action comic book. It doesn't just fit the mold, it is the mold.
Thanks Sestra Am for providing all the Polidori back story better than I could. Maybe Carter and Spotnitz had that kind of Byron-Shelley weekend when this episode was concocted. If so, I'm quite sure a lot of Cher was played. Oh, and an addendum to all that information. Dr. P. has to deliver a speech at the University of Ingolstadt; and Victor Frankenstein comes up with the concept of creating a human while attending Ingolstadt U as a medical student.
Is there anything that you don't believe in, Mulder: Love how Fox is off alien abductions, but still prone to going along with any wild story he hears about. Meanwhile, Scully gets to overprocess her part in the proceedings by droning on about how those obsessed by pop culture just want to get on The Jerry Springer Show and are more willing to blame society's failings the ogre, the hunchback and a lonely half-breed -- hey, a sideways reference to an actual Cher song rather than a cover -- instead of admitting there's a predator among them.
Which brings me to the current state of the world and the subsequent re-examination of pop culture under the #metoo movement. Episodes like this and "Small Potatoes" (S4E20), which were truly beloved during original run, now seem subject to rampant overanalysis and subsequent rebranding as offensive to a growing portion of society. At the time, it did resonate with us on some level -- uh, The Great Mutato and Eddie Van Blundht obviously impregnated women without their consent -- but it doesn't cheapen the episodes for me now, it's just a factor in them. Like Dexter or Tony Soprano killing people, it doesn't mean you can't take the ride and even empathize on occasion while abhorring the behavior.
They're mewling little monsters: Carter does craft a nice variation on the small-town theme in the diner scenes, although all the denizens hanging out there look like they auditioned for "Home" (S4E2) and were brought back to fill the background of the restaurant as bizarre-looking and sounding creatures.
I don't think The Great Mutato gets a happy ending, Sestra Am, because he's still being escorted to a facility of some sort by the FBI agents. Yeah, he probably doesn't deserve front row at a Cher concert (or an incredible facsimile, at the least). But it wouldn't make as good of a last page for the comic book to see the dead half of his face squeezing through bars of a cell.
I think we found our smoking meta: Still got plenty left for this one. According to the fifth-season episode guide, Cher was blown away by "Home" (S4E2), but declined to appear in "The Post-Modern Prometheus," because she didn't want to just sing on the show. She did the next best thing, approving the use of her covers and impersonator Tracey Bell for the episode. And on the documentary Reflections on The X-Files, Cher admitted, "Oh shit, I should have done that." ... The Academy sure appreciated the episode. It racked up seven Emmy nominations for writing, directing, art direction, cinematography, single-picture editing, makeup and music composition. Production designer Graeme Murray, art director Greg Loewen and set director Shirley Inget nabbed the art direction Emmy. ... The role of Shaineh Berkowitz was written for Roseanne, but she wasn't able to appear, according to The Complete X-Files. ... Count Gillian Anderson among those who consider this ep one of the series highlights. "I didn't always understand what (Carter) was doing while we were shooting it, but when it was together, it turned out wonderfully," she said in the episode guide.
Guest star of the week: Chris Owens does an incredible job under a ton of makeup. He actually makes us comprehend what The Great Mutato has been going through, particularly since the scientist who made him is more like the cold machine we might expect of a reanimated creature. He really sells lines like learning of the world by invading people's homes and checking out their books, records and home media centers. Owens, who also cut a mean figure as the young Cigarette Smoking Man in a couple of episodes, soon joins the cast under less auspicious circumstances with reduced time in the makeup chair. He's much preferred here.
This week we travel to good ol’ Maine in the month of February. A mother, her daughter and the daughter’s doll are at the grocery store. They don’t seem very happy about it, you’d think they were walking to the electric chair. The girl’s doll says it for both of them -- she wants to go home. Everyone in the store stares at them and Mom starts seeing strange things in the frozen food aisle. Then all of the people in the store start hurting themselves and bleeding from their eyes. Fortunately, the butcher is armed with a knife when he sees the doll in a reflection. Or rather unfortunately, he is armed with a knife when he sees the doll in a reflection … and ends up stabbing himself in the face. Clearly this isn’t going to be one of those comic relief bottle episodes.
Scully is enjoying a weekend off, cruising around Maine in a convertible, when Mulder calls to harsh her buzz. This is exactly why I don’t answer my cell phone when coworkers call on my off days. After hanging up, Mustang Scully gets cut off by the mother/daughter duo in the grocery store parking lot. Dana goes inside to try and help. The store manager directs her to the butchered butcher in the back. Scully then calls Mulder. I’ll bet her X-file trumps his. Then she is saddled with the stupidest police officer I think this show has ever had … and that’s saying a lot. Can you imagine being able to identify the mom on camera by name (Melissa Turner), seeing she is unaffected while everyone around her is trying to harm themselves, and thinking it’s not a clue that can possibly explain everything?!? Officer Buddy Riggs definitely isn’t detective of the year. 
Scully and Bonsaint arrive at Melissa’s house, but she's already bolted. Someone also had hammered the windows closed. Was that to keep something out or to keep something in? Dana learns Melissa is a recent widow, Polly is autistic and the butcher ruined his marriage over Melissa. Maybe she cast a spell on him since townsfolk think Melissa's a witch. Polly’s former teacher, Jane Froelich, isn’t fond of the daughter either. She once slapped Polly in the face because she couldn’t control the child. Riggs buys the little girl an ice cream sundae and tries to convince Melissa to let him take care of her. Melissa claims she saw her husband, Rich, dead before he died -- just like Dave. Maybe you should listen to her, Buddy. Meanwhile, Polly and her doll want more cherries, but the cashier won’t give them away for free. The poor woman gets her long hair caught in the ice cream machine while Melissa takes Polly and dolly out of the restaurant.
Meanwhile, Scully is back in vacation mode. She’s taking a nice bubble bath and eating room service cuisine. She manages to ignore the phone for a bit, but then gets a visit from Captain Jack. They head to the latest murder (suicide?) scene where Fox tracks Dana down by phone. Clearly he doesn’t handle his days off as well as Scully does. Dana concedes to Bonsaint they should keep themselves open to extreme possibilities. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, Scully is “the Mulder” this time. Melissa, who is back home with Polly and dolly, is being tortured by the "Hokey Pokey" record playing over and over again. She also sees a vision of a dying Riggs. Dana and the captain discuss the case over dinner, during which Scully learns Rich died after a grappling hook went through his skull on a boat. Buddy confronts Melissa about almost running over the ranger. And dolly wants to play again, which doesn’t bode well for Riggs.
After her daughter finally goes to sleep, Melissa starts hammering the windows closed again, but the noise wakes Polly and dolly. Melissa then sees a vision of the hammer claw lodged in her own forehead. Dana and Jack arrive at Melissa’s house and Bonsaint spots Riggs' car outside. Melissa tries to burn down the house, and Scully and Bonsaint naturally attempt to stop her. Then Melissa bashes herself in the head several times with the hammer while Dana strives – not aggressively enough, I might add – to wrangle the doll from Polly. Scully finally wins and tosses the doll into the microwave, breaking the hold it had over Polly and Melissa. On Monday morning, Sculder are back in their office engaging in lame post-weekend chatter. And somehow a fisherman pulls the barbecued doll from the ocean. She still wants to play… 
We're on King's turf in New England, but he doesn't seem too at home. It's like one of his film adaptations that doesn't live up to the book, like Children of the Corn. This offering has moments when it's like The Stand -- some good, some meh overall -- but probably it's most like Dreamcatcher, basically feeding off the talent of an actor truly invested in a character. 
Let's have fun: I can't determine whether Dana's vacation selection is perfect, out of character or just perplexing. Whatever the case, I'll utter one chuckle for Scully's choice of bedside reading material -- Affirmation for Women Who Do Too Much -- and major points for her choice of ride (although the Maine t-shirt is a little over the top, so to speak).
We've had a lot of great creepy kids in the series to this point. Polly (Jenny-Lynn Hutcheson) ain't one of them. I sorta wonder if this episode might have played better with someone who could have coaxed some sympathy out of the viewers. Basically I wanted to put her into the blender instead of ice cream ... and a cashier who wouldn't cough up more cherries. They deemed Polly autistic, although her story didn't seem to really play that way -- a teacher whose response to the girl's behavior would be hitting her? That's against some scholastic oath, I'm sure. They could have gotten more mileage out of the overall story if Polly's history factored into it better. The way it ultimately aired, the doll had more dimension than the child.
Meta manuscript: Sculder show some knowledge of pop culture with a reference to Chucky. Brad Dourif -- the memorable Luther Lee Boggs in "Beyond the Sea" (S1E13) voices that character in the Child's Play films. ... Mulder's penchant for tossing pencils in the ceiling first were displayed in this episode. ... David Duchovny lost to King on Celebrity Jeopardy in 1995. But the writer told Duchovny he loved the show and wanted to pen one. ... Although they're both credited for the script, Carter and King never met in person, according to the official episode guide. 
Guest star of the week: Larry Musser, in his fourth and final appearance on the show finally garners the honor. His previous eps were anchored by other powerhouse characters -- "Die Hand Die Verletzt" (S2E14), "Jose Chung's From Outer Space" (S3E20) and "Requited" (S4E16). In this one, it's either him or the creepiest moppet since the title character in The Twilight Zone's "Living Doll." Musser complements Gillian Anderson nicely, and he has far better manners than Jose Chung's Detective Manners.
