X-Files S11E6: The Eagle has landed

Sestra Amateur: 

It’s a Skinner ep. Have you noticed his are never the funny ones? 

Back in 1969, Walter Skinner and two other young Marines were on a mission in Vietnam: Deliver a crate and don’t leave it for any reason. Well, Walter leaves it with one terrified jarhead in an occupied hut while he goes to help the other injured one. Enemy fire hits the crate and it starts emitting a yellow cloud that works like Dr. Crane’s fear gas in Batman. The scared Marine, played by The Sixth Sense’s Haley Joel Osment, sees monsters -- I’m not doing the quote; it’s way too much of a softball -- instead of civilians and stabs everyone in the hut. Even Skinner briefly sees a monster but he manages not to let the vision get the better of him. (This is reminiscent of last week’s "Ghouli" ep but I never get to write about Batman here. Managed to throw in some Star Wars references over the years though…)

In the present, Deputy Director Alvin Kersh asks Agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully about the location of Assistant Director Skinner, who’s gone AWOL. He blames Walter’s allegiance to Team Sculder as the reason Skinner’s career stalled as an AD. (Some people would be proud to reach that level in the FBI chain of command.) Kersh has a funny way of asking for their help, but that’s precisely what he’s doing. Sculder arrive at Walter’s apartment and find a human ear that was mailed to Lance Cpt. Walter Skinner. The message enclosed: The monsters are here! 

Scully attempts to obtain more information about Skinner’s time in Vietnam but it’s highly classified so that’s a no-go. (Where are the Lone Gunmen when you need them? Oh yeah…) Mulder learns about a dead guy missing an ear so off they go to Mud Lick, Kentucky. The ear belongs to Matthew Wegweiser, the town doctor. He’s also missing some teeth, but so are some residents who claim they’ve been seeing monsters. Sculder learn Wegweiser was killed with a punji stake. Local sheriff Mac Stenzler mentions a government-run mental hospital in nearby Glazebook. Some answers may be found there.

Out in the woods, a man is hunting monsters. His dog, Pippet (nice subtle Jaws reference) alerts him to the presence of … something. The man falls into a trap and dies. Skinner later stands over his dead body. The next morning, Sculder meet with the sheriff at the crime scene. The dead man has been identified as Ozzy "Banjo" Krager, a Vietnam vet. Luckily, there’s a nearby deer cam; unluckily, it shows Skinner at the crime scene. The sheriff thinks Walter is his “monster” since the FBI guy didn’t follow proper protocol and report Banjo’s death. Fox continues watching the footage and sees the “monster.” Dana thinks receiving the ear in the mail may have set off a PTSD situation for Walter. Mulder talks to a homeless man outside the morgue who claims he told “Eagle” where to find “Kitten.” In this scenario, Eagle is Skinner and Kitten is the scared Marine, John James.

Walter finds a house in a wooded area and evidence that John James lives there. After flipping through a photo album filled with Vietnam pics, we flash back to Kitten telling a story to other jarheads. He’s much less scared now; in fact, it’s not an overstatement to say he – and his necklace of human ears – have become scary. Their platoon is about to be killed by a suicide bomber but Lance Cpl. Skinner saves them all. 

Back in the present, Skinner meets Kitten’s son, Davey. Turns out, Walter testified about the atrocities John James committed during the war. Kitten was court-martialed and institutionalized at Glazebook for 38 years. Skinner tries to explain to Davey about the gas Kitten was exposed to in Vietnam but Davey is livid because Walter never mentioned the gas during the trial. Unfortunately, that Skinner was following orders. Davey agrees to take Walter to see Kitten. Too bad it’s a trap; Skinner falls into a hole and ends up with a spear through his side and Kitten’s dead body beside him. 

Sculder arrive but Davey covers the makeshift grave to deal with them. He tells them about his father being forced to undergo exposure to the gas for experimentation purposes. (So much for non-disclosure agreements.) While Davey rattles off some of the more commonly known conspiracy theories, Fox sees Skinner’s pics in the photo album and he quickly leaves with Dana. He arranges for her to get to a location with cell phone service so she can call for help, then doubles back to find Skinner. Mulder finds Walter and is about to save him when the Davey -- as the monster -- shoves Fox into the hole. Davey prepares to burn them alive but Scully comes to the rescue. The agents chase Davey through the woods until he gets hoisted by his own petard. At least, that’s what I think happened; this episode is so dark during the “outdoor” scenes, I’m not really sure what I saw after Walter found Kitten’s body. But Skinner and Sculder are alive and Davey isn’t, so that works for me.

Inside the Jones’ house, Dr. Scully treats Walter’s wounds. He credits them with keeping him alive all these years then tells the story of idealistic, 18-year-old Walter joining the Marines. Assistant Director Skinner has every intention of finding out what the government did to John “Kitten” James, who didn’t choose to go to Vietnam like Walter did. At least Skinner knows he still has Team Sculder on his side. Too bad Walter is also going to need a decent dentist. Even worse, Davey might have been right.

Sestra Professional:   

Finally some time and space for Skinner! Save his one line -- the funniest one in "The Lost Art of Forehead Sweat" a couple of episodes ago -- the standout moment of the season for Mitch Pileggi to date had been his inclusion in the opening montage. Walter had been once relegated to early-series watch duty over his two charges, like he was Alvin Kersh or something. So if nothing else, "Kitten" provided a reminder of what an integral part of the fabric of The X-Files Skinner should be.

We already knew a little about Walter's background with the Marines. The teaser provided our first reminder that service doesn't end when military people are no longer in hostile territory. And for our purposes, evil is not as black and white as man vs. man.

It's safe to say the old Skinner has left the building: Speaking of Kersh, he's come out of moth balls for the first time since the regular series ended to berate Sculder for Walter's lack of advancement in 35 years with the bureau because of his blind loyalty to the "misguided search for some imaginary truth." For that reason above all, it's a little dubious that Mulder and Scully once again doubt whether they can trust Skinner. As Dana notes there aren't any personal items in Walter's abode, Fox cracks wise by saying he will keep his eyes peeled for CSM's cigarette butts. It only takes the severed ear for them to change their minds for the umpteenth time.

Our emotional investment in Skinner really heightens the intensity of this episode. If this had just been a story about a town losing its teeth with a monster in the woods, it might have been an interesting, albeit pretty boilerplate X-file. With Walter in the mix, it's truly creepy ... and thought-provoking. Scully's hypothesis that finding an ear in the mail may have set off PTSD doesn't seem implausible. 

I only want to make things right: Pileggi does an incredible job in this episode, particularly when Skinner meets John's son. We're feeling Walter's burden, and it fills in his back story nicely across the decades. The guilt Skinner feels over not revealing what he knew about the gas that caused John James to hallucinate into seeing a monster that led to him killing was the precursor to his willingness to go out on a limb for Mulder and Scully. It all fits, and fits nicely.

What doesn't work as well is Fox zigging when he should zag, with rationale more dizzying than usual. Dana picked up on Skinner's moral compass sooner than Mulder did, that's for sure. Then again, she was around a couple of years Fox wasn't and went through more with Walter. At least, Mulder flipflopped one final time to realize that Baby Face James didn't drive a shiny new SUV. 

This sounds like a dystopian novel: Gabe Rotter and Brad Follmer really make us think about the ramifications of biological weapons in this episode, just by tugging on loose threads and questions seemingly lost to time in the public consciousness. How long do the effects of weaponized gas last? What are the longer-term effects and can those be passed on in some way to others who come into contact with people who were infected? Some of this is starting to sound very similar to what we went through with the pandemic, by the way.

Ultimately, in another fine Pileggi scene, we learn Skinner has a quest much like Mulder's original one. Where Walter once had blind faith in the government and the sense that he was doing the right thing whenever carrying out orders, he's taken to heart Fox and Dana's mission of "shining a light in the darkest corners." The truth that is out there, the one he will be looking for, is about John James and what the military used him and others like him for.

Guest star of the week: Haley Joel Osment was nominated for an Oscar for his breakthrough role in The Sixth Sense when he was wise beyond his 11 tender years. It's generally tough for a child actor to shake that stigma, but Osment shows here with two completely distinctive roles as father and son that he had the talent to do just that.