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.

X-Files S11E5: Coming to the Crossroads

Sestra Amateur: 

I’m sure you’ll be very disappointed to learn this episode is not a prequel to the mid-80s horror movie Ghoulies. Considering that cult flick made seven times its budget, shouldn’t there have been a sequel or two?

A teenage girl wanders around an abandoned ship filled with jump scares. She finds another teen but thinks the girl is a monster known as a Ghouli. The other girl thinks the same thing and they end up stabbing each other nearly to death. Do you know why? Because writer/ director James Wong makes you see what he wants you to see. (Hey, it’s in the teaser, so it must be true, right?) I’m more concerned because Wong is making me hear what I don’t want to hear: a voiceover.

Special Agent Dana Scully is asleep in her bed. She thinks she can’t move but manages to grab her gun and then get up and chase whatever she thinks was in bed with her. The next morning, she tells Special Agent Fox Mulder about her dream. Apparently Scully's getting visions related to an X-file about the abandoned ship Chimera. 

Team Sculder drives to Norfolk, Virginia, where Detective Costa tells our intrepid heroes about the teen girls, Brianna Stapleton and Sarah Turner. Both have been hospitalized and are asking about Ghouli. The agents interview the girls separately and learn they’re dating the same boy, Jackson Van De Kamp. Dana and Fox go to Jackson’s house and hear shots fired. They enter and Scully recognizes the interior of the house from her visions. Sculder find Jackson and his parents dead from gunshot wounds. Dana is tormented by her inexplicable connection to the apparent killer.

Mulder confronts two unidentified government agents outside the crime scene. He doesn’t seem amused by their presence. In the hospital morgue, Scully thinks she’s related to Jackson Van De Kamp and arranges for a DNA test. Then she apologizes for failing William and giving him up for adoption. (We know Gillian Anderson has the acting chops for this kind of scene, but it still felt like the writers were trying too hard to get her an Emmy nom.) Fox arrives and comforts Dana. After they leave, Jackson unzips his body bag and sits up. I guess he heard Scully too. Dana falls asleep on a hospital couch but experiences sleep paralysis again. The doctor wakes Scully to ask where she put Jackson’s body since it's missing. Dana is now convinced Jackson was – is – William.

Scully leaves the hospital and runs into author Peter Wong, who advises her to not give up on the bigger picture. Back in Jackson’s bedroom, Dana reads his journals while Fox searches the kid’s computer and comes up empty-handed. Luckily, Scully finds the real laptop with hundreds of posts to Ghouli.net and some minor activity involving the Department of Defense. (That explains the unidentified government agent involvement.) The DOD arrives to hijack Sculder’s investigation so Fox sabotages the incriminating laptop. They complain to Assistant Director Walter Skinner, which gets us some Mitch Pileggi screen time. Unfortunately, that also means we have to endure the return of Cigarette Smoking Man and his cryptic chatter about “Project Crossroads.”

Mulder and Skinner meet to discuss the case. Walter wants Fox and Dana to drop the investigation and ties it back to Project Crossroads, which involved alien technology and hybrid DNA back in the 1970s. The lead scientist, Dr. Masao Matsumoto, disappeared 15 years earlier after his project was defunded. Mulder says he tested Jackson’s DNA against Dana’s to confirm Jackson was – is – William. Meanwhile, Scully interviews Jackson’s psychiatrist. She isn’t forthcoming herself until she brings up the kid’s vision of the Season 10 finale ("My Struggle II") in which the UFO hovers over Sculder in a pandemic-riddled future.

Mulder catches up with Scully in a coffee shop. He thinks the DOD agents murdered Jackson’s parents and framed the kid, who created an alternate reality to escape from the DOD agents. Meanwhile, Jackson goes to the hospital to make up with Brianna and admits he projected Ghouli into her and Sarah’s heads because he thought it would be a funny prank. He talks about his seizures and sharing visions with his birth mother (Scully) but the cops arrive before he can leave. Turns out, Sarah called them because she caught him kissing Brianna. (I guess he’s truly not Mulder’s son because Fox never had two women interested in him at the same time. But neither did Cancer Man so … disregard.) 

Sculder arrives at the hospital to try save Jackson/William from the DOD agents, but Dana gets into a shootout with one of them and they both go down. Or do they? Jackson used his power of projection and made the DOD agent think he shot Scully, but he really shot his own partner so they killed each other. Cool, huh? Jackson uses the resulting confusion to escape.

The next day, Fox and Dana are driving home. They stop for gas at a station with a windmill similar to the one in a snow globe Scully has been clinging to during the entire episode. She again runs into Peter Wong, who leaves her with words of wisdom that link him to evidence Sculder found in Jackson’s bedroom. Dana tells Mulder and they review the surveillance footage -- finally getting to see “their” son talking to his mother. Apparently, that’s what he wanted her to see.

Sestra Professional:   

However it began and ended, there were promising signs in Season 11, signs the show's concept was not only still valid but could still be intriguing. Black Mirror was all the rage at the time, and The X-Files fit nicely into that paranoid supernatural milieu. And not only that, but it was able to advance the ongoing emotional story as well.

So this one slots perfectly into the framework of the final season. To be sure "Ghouli" can be a little ghoul-ish, with the teaser teens cutting each other to ribbons. But there was a far greater emotional component at work, one that required some voiceover for explanatory purposes. I may not have been previously familiar with hynagogia, but I could understand Scully's paralysis upon thinking someone or something was in her bedroom. Maybe not so much the part in which she gets up and tries to chase the figure. 

Dark figures are usually meant to be avoided: If dreams are today's answers to tomorrow's questions, my first question would be how did Mulder jump to a lizard brain thing? And what is a lizard brain thing? Oh, nevermind, I don't really want to know. I can, however, get behind his problem with modern-day monsters, there indeed is no opportunity for emotional involvement. 

Throughout the series, we've had evidence of Scully actually being the one not more open to the paranormal, but who the paranormal is more open to. She doesn't particularly want or strive for that, but James Wong's vision shows she has more of a proclivity for it. And that really works for our continuing story. Fox may be more analytically intuitive about the who, what, when, where, why and how, but Dana's the one showing signs of metaphysical insight.

I wish I could have been there to ease your pain: Gillian Anderson just rocks this episode, from Scully's immobilized start to the far more debilitating personal realizations. I didn't realize this was what I was waiting for out of the William story, but it was. The autopsy confession voiced the sentiments we all knew already but wanted to hear from her, even if it did seem contrived for academic recognition.

After that emotionally draining monologue came the rising of Jackson's supposedly lifeless body. Yeah, nothing fishy about Van De Kamp, except that fact he's able to get up and around a lot easier than Dana in hypnagogic states. Hope doesn't need a fact, Mulder, when it comes to Scully's connection to her young 'un.

Fox has come to the crossroads. Project Crossroads, that is. That means deep-fried CSM re-enters the mix, and he's talking to Skinner about Mulder's activities, not realizing that Scully is the actual key. That leads to Walter popping up in the scenic ship environs to tell Fox to back off while recapping scientific activity. Mulder's got the corker, though, with the info that Jackson is long-lost William. 

If you don't stand for something, you'll fall for anything: In my opinion, Wong does the best mythology writing we've seen in some time in "Ghouli" -- commandeering of Malcolm X/John Cougar Mellencamp's quote aside. Fox gets to put things together in an order that makes sense, even though we haven't previously ventured into Project Crossroads terrain. And William/Jackson starts to be fleshed out in a most interesting manner. The dude's clearly messed up and not just because he was adopted. He's toting some serious supernatural ability that helps him stay out of the wrong hands.

All this leads to a really fine final moment in which Dana gets to see that she was, in fact, talking to her son when she thought she was just conversing with a familiar stranger. The open-ended story really could have gotten even better from here. If only we had a snow globe to tell us that was not in the cards.

Guest star of the week: This must have posed quite the challenge for casting, but they happened upon an excellent option. Miles Robbins deftly handles the clutch role as long-lost William/Jackson, giving us empathy for a character who has been through so much off-camera and whose on-camera activities haven't been above board.

X-Files S11E4: It's always Something

Sestra Amateur: 

Good news: We’re spared more "My Struggle" nonsense and get to experience another comedic episode. Added bonus: it’s not only written by Darin Morgan but he’s also the director! In a Twilight Zone-y time and place, a very sweaty man is freaking out over the existence of Martians. He’s trying to tell a diner cook what he saw but it turns out, HE’S the alien! And the cook is an alien too!

Special Agent Dana Scully phones Special Agent Fox Mulder, who has been Sasquatching out in the woods. She confirms their dinner plans then wisely hangs up when he starts babbling like …well, Mulder. After the call, Fox realizes someone is trying to meet with him using the ol’ X-marks-the-spot trick on his window. Mulder meets with a sweaty stranger in a parking garage. The man, played by a very entertaining Brian Huskey, thinks Fox should know who he is but “they” got to Mulder and now he -- Fox -- doesn’t remember. They talk about the first Twilight Zone episode Mulder ever saw, "The Lost Martian," but the man claims that episode doesn’t exist.

Fox returns home to prove the man wrong, but it’s true: "The Lost Martian" doesn’t exist but Mulder still remembers it. Scully shows up while Fox is going through EVERY videotape in his house. While he babbles on about the first time he saw the episode -- complete with creepy CGI flashbacks -- Dana again chooses not to listen. She also finds the sweaty man in the parking garage and he affectionately calls her “Sculls.” Too bad Dana doesn’t recognize him either. 

The man tries to get her to prove he is real and he gives her a box of gelatin with his fingerprints on it. Of course, with the way Scully's holding the “evidence,” the box should have her prints probably overlapping his. She tells Mulder about this particular gelatin dessert which she thought she enjoyed during her childhood but was later told didn’t exist the way she remembered it. Fox starts babbling about the Mandela Effect, and for the first time in this episode, she’s actually listening to him. Scully also learns the sweaty man’s fingerprints were not in the system.

Sculder go on stakeout in the parking garage, waiting for the sweaty man to return. He arrives, calls himself “Reggie Something” and tells a tale of false memories which began while he was caring for his ailing mother. Reggie claims the Mandela Effect is actually known as the Mengele Effect. He learned from a vintage resale store owner about the intentional creation of the Mengele Effect to manipulate people’s memories. Mulder thinks it’s a parallel universe situation, but Scully quickly poo-poos it in favor of Occam’s razor (aka Ozzie’s razor). Reggie presents his high school yearbook which doesn’t contain any evidence he attended the school. He also reveals the store owner died by lawn dart. Too bad Dana doesn’t know what a lawn dart is. Then it gets weird.

Do you want to know who “they” are when it comes to conspiracy theories? Introducing Dr. Thaddeus Q. They, the man who knows how to manipulate collective memory. Dr. They, played by character actor Stuart Margolin, has had his finger in every known mental manipulation pie over the past several decades. Scully isn’t impressed with the Darknet video of Dr. They’s exploits so Reggie mentions Grenada. He was there as a med student when Dr. They tried to save an alien who crash-landed nearby. Unfortunately, the soldiers arrived and took the telepathic alien away. Good thing he spoke and thought English, huh? Reggie claims this was why HE started the X-files! (Dun dun dunn!!!!) 

Now we get to see the “original” series intro featuring Fox, Dana and Reggie Something. I’ll let Sestra Pro have fun with all of the early episodes that have Reggie scenes inserted in them. But the fun has to end somewhere. When Reggie starts talking about Sculder-Something’s last case together, other FBI agents chase him away. Younger agents insult the aging Mulder and he doesn’t take it well.

Back in their office, you-know-who goes old school with his conspiracy theory analysis while Scully sits there quietly. Luckily for a flailing Fox, Dr. They calls him to arrange a meeting in a park with some of the strangest metallic sculptures you’ve ever seen. Doc claims it shouldn’t have been so hard for Mulder to learn of his existence; after all, the good doc is listed in the phone book. But people today cannot tell the differences between the truth or lies, and they choose to believe only what they want to believe. 

Afterward, Reggie waits for “Foxy” in the FBI parking garage. “Sculls” surprises them both by revealing the sweaty man’s identity as Reggie Murgatroid, a U.S. government employee. From which branch, you ask? Well, pretty much all of them. That’s how he ended up bugging Mulder’s home, listening to his babbling conversations with Scully (see paragraph 2) until being recently committed to a mental institution. (If Murgatroid really worked for all of those agencies, then his fingerprints should have been on file several times over.) Reggie admits defeat and stops running. He regales Sculder with the tale of their last case together – aliens really don’t like earthlings and they have good reason – before being carted away to the Spotnitz Sanitarium (yes, really). That’s when Assistant Director Walter Skinner enters with the episode’s best line.

Sestra Professional:   

When Darin Morgan came aboard The X-Files, he became part of its very fabric. It started with his casting as one of the most memorable "Monsters of the Week" -- the title character in "The Host" (Season 2, Episode 2). He was buried in latex as Flukeman, but then helped brother Glen craft the next episode, "Blood." That led him to a staff writing position, and "Humbug" (S2E20) expanded the boundaries of what could be done with a script for the show.

In the third season, he and The X-Files took huge leaps forward -- "Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose" (E4), "War of the Coprophages" (E12) and "Jose Chung's From Outer Space (E20) were fan and critical darlings alike. And I'm guessing a fair amount of the best lines in "Quagmire" (E22) came from his uncredited assistance on that episode. Even though those were his last contributions during the regular run, they opened up the canvas for everyone from Vince Gilligan to show creator Chris Carter to expand upon.

Morgan returned in front of the camera for another memorable character, Eddie Van Blundht, in "Small Potatoes" (S4E20). As a shapeshifter who impregnated unknowing women by assuming the form of someone they would want to sleep with, he deserved nothing but enmity, yet somehow inspired a measure of pathos. Morgan then delivered two thoughtful-yet-fun episodes for sister show Millennium.

Submitted for your approval: When it came time for the X-Files revival, he graced us with another pair of shows that he also directed. Morgan's trademark has always been well-developed ideas stemming from concepts that seem so obvious, but rarely get voiced in the field of entertainment. He has been a touchstone for the series, and his final effort wraps up his work in symmetrical style. We've come to expect nothing less from him.

"The Lost Art of Forehead Sweat" starts with that Twilight Zone/Outer Limits-style show and leads Mulder down a rabbit hole that perhaps many of us will admit to being familiar with. I've done that with X-Files episodes alone! Trying to remember what episode Fox gave a particular saucy response in -- and I thought it was in a comedic bottle ep, but it turned out to be from a mythology two-parter. Or there's the other option of looking for something and finding it, but then realizing it's only tangentially like what you thought it was. Morgan reminds us that memory is such a tricky thing, subject to a myriad of influences that can alter it -- not just talking anal probes and memory wipes in a Dusky Realm.

One of the treats Morgan gave the show was the opportunity for its leads, David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson, to show different shadings as Mulder and Scully. In Morgan's hands, Fox is a little less strident and a lot more ridiculous. Duchovny has always feasted on those opportunities. ("Confuse The Twilight Zone with The Outer Limits? Do you even know me?") Here, he gets to bounce off Brian Huskey too, and that's a treat for them and for us. 

Wait, what? I kind of wish Reggie Something had been around the whole time, but maybe that's just my brain creating a false impression of what that would have been like and it's just perfect to have him merely encapsulated here. Eagle-eyed viewers like Sestra Am may have noticed the reference to him in "This" a couple episodes ago. Just an Easter egg courtesy of the Darin Morgan machine that can impact the show in ways great and small.

The machine gave us some truly wacky bits in "Lost Art," starting with that missing episode and continuing with Mulder recounting watching his first Twilight Zone at age 8. The oversized Foxy head on the kid's body makes you think something here isn't quite right -- and it's not supposed to be, Morgan is visually able to show us the awkwardness of trying to recall something from so many years ago.

You're having a Mengele Effect about the Mandela Effect: It makes sense that Sculls' memory quest doesn't focus on something of a cult nature like Mulder, she's just looking for alternative Jell-O that forms three different layers with three different textures when it cools because it brings up memories of family vacations, fireworks, America, God and love. Foxy is right, that's some Jell-O.

Reggie's memory crisis of faith about Dr. Wuzzle's books takes him to the coolest repository of vintage garbage that has ever been seen on television. How long had Morgan been trying to get that Nixon poster into an episode? Even Darin probably can't tell us because of Mengela Effect. (Yes, I gave it a smush name.)

We were made of sterner stuff back then: Leave it to sci-fi gobbledygook nerd boy to hypothesize that the difference in collective memories should be attributed to parallel universes. Cue more random memories about watermelon slices that tasted like coconut, kids playing with the mini-javelin lawn darts and the invasion of Grenada. It had been a couple of decades, Morgan must had had a lot of random thoughts to tuck into one last X-Files episode -- like Reggie going through social feedback comments about the Dr. They video: "This jerk just says, 'Meh.'"

The subsequent recasting of the show's history -- even Mark Snow's sacred theme! -- is priceless to me. The origins of Mulder's "I Want to Believe" poster, Season 1 repeat baddie Tooms, Clyde Bruckman's Grenada callback, the killer cats of much-reviled "Teso dos Bichos" (S3E18), the in-bred Peacock family of "Home" (S4E2) and even Eddie Van Blundht ... let's just say if the whole series never addressed what happened to Mulder's sister or the end of the Syndicate, I'd be fine with this Reggie reveal montage as end game.

So Dr. They is revealed to bust the post-coverup, post-conspiracy universe in a very atmospheric setting, and he again catches us up on years of ideas that must have been rolling around Morgan's noggin. Everything from people not admitting when they're wrong even when caught on tape to the spread of online disinformation is covered. It no longer matters if the truth is out there and if Foxy can uncover and reveal it, making Mulder more obsolete than any of us (except maybe Sestra Am) are willing to believe.

I want to remember how it all was: Poor Foxy, the details of Reggie's last case with him and Sculls was an even harder burden to bear. He gets all the answers to everything in the universe in one hefty volume, but that same universe wants nothing to do with Earth any longer. Oh well, at least Mulder's free to explore Uranus all he wants. It takes Morgan (through Reggie) to say maybe the point wasn't to uncover the truth, but to find each other. The shippers certainly buy that.

I talked with Mitch Pileggi about his cameo at X-Fest in 2018. Pileggi said he talked Morgan into finally putting him into an episode. "He said, 'You're in it, but it's only one line.' I said, 'OK.' He said, 'But it's big.'" During filming, he recalled Darin saying, "'Do it really big' and I was like, 'Really?' But it worked."

One memory I do have that still holds up -- whew -- is that when "Lost Art" aired in 2018, I read an insightful Entertainment Weekly review. Darren Franich felt a bit overwhelmed by the "Trumpian art" amid the "clip show," but he still deemed the ep to be his personal X-Files series finale. While I have no problem with the dense Morgan narrative, and in hindsight with what I now know is coming up, I'm eager to agree. There's more to enjoy about upcoming episodes, but I could easily slide this to the end of the season, remember it how it all was and more joyfully consider it a wrap.

Guest star of the week: Why Brian Huskey, of course! He gives one of the most indelible comedic performances of the entire series. At X-Fest 2, he told us Morgan wanted him to deliver his lines "in a bunch of weird ways." It wound up being as satisfying for Huskey as for the audience. "This is one of my favorite life experiences I ever had," he said.

X-Files S11E3: 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 is...

Sestra Amateur: 

This may be the first X-Files ep that starts at a rock concert. Enthusiastic stage diver Arkie Seavers literally sees himself but loses him/it in the crowd. Arkie drives away but his doppelganger is with him and causes a near-fatal accident. Should’ve worn your seatbelt, kid. Special Agent Fox Mulder somehow gets the call and learns several people had reported seeing themselves right before they committed suicide. Arkie is the only survivor of Doppelganger Syndrome (my term, not Chris Carter’s). Mulder and Special Agent Dana Scully interview Arkie – with his lawyer, Dean Cavalier, present – at the Henrico County Jail in Virginia. Seavers admits to driving drunk but claims he’d been seeing his double for a week. Team Sculder go out to the crash scene and the evidence supports Arkie’s version of events.

Scully and Mulder go to the hospital and interview Dr. Babsi Russel. She admits the previous victims were never treated for psychological issues but they weren’t fine upstanding citizens either. Fox is intrigued by a schizophrenic patient named Little Judy Poundstone (no relation to Paula). She’s a Hangman enthusiast who plays telepathically with her brother. She’d also played a game with Arkie’s name as the answer. Meanwhile, Arkie gets transferred into a cell where his doppelganger silently waits. Since it's getting late, Fox and Dana check into a motel room. She initially asks for two rooms but there’s only one available. (I guess they’ve regressed back to separate corners.) Too bad Mulder wakes Scully for work and nothing more; Arkie’s dead.

The next morning, Mulder interviews Chucky Poundstone (no relation to Paula), who is not only Judy’s twin brother, but was the trustee at the jail who found Arkie’s body. Chucky says some raunchy things about Scully and accuses Judy of cheating at Hangman. Chucky also has a Hangman puzzle with Arkie’s name and seems to have possible schizophrenic tendencies as well. Meanwhile, Scully meets Demon Judy, who claims Seavers killed himself. She attacks Dana’s self-esteem with words and her body with flying poop. Sculder meets at the motel to share information. It looks like Demon Judy’s mental illness may have gotten to Scully after all. And Chucky, not happy with attorney Dean Cavalier, starts a new Hangman game with his sestra.

Fox baits Chucky while Dana interviews Little Judy about her power to cause death. Judy claims she has pills to keep people safe. The nurses say they’re only pieces of bread but they take them like medication “just in case.” They encourage Scully to take them too. Meanwhile, Arkie’s attorney keeps seeing his doppelganger. He’s trying to rid his house of all lethal weapons: guns, knives, gardening tools, belts. (Wouldn’t it be easier to just leave the house, Dean?) He accidentally slashes his arm with a sword, then his doppelganger finishes the job. (Does that mean Chuck or Judy won Hangman?) 

Mulder again wakes up Scully with gruesome news. Unfortunately, Dana spots her doppelganger in the crowd outside the crime scene. She has trouble sleeping and wakes up Fox to ask him to hold her. Of course he complies. They talk and she utters my favorite line in the series, “And I’ll always be around to prove you wrong.” Scully starts worrying about hypothetical futures for their hypothetical private lives. The rest of their conversation is actually pretty frustrating: DOCTOR Scully will always have a career even if she gets fired by the FBI. DOCTOR Scully can take steps to have another child even without a boyfriend or Mulder. Then Dana’s double is there, staring at her with hatred in her eyes. Maybe the doppelganger knows their history and is also annoyed.

Team Chudy (Juck?) are playing Hangman with Fox's name now. He doesn’t react well when he sees his double in the motel shower. He wakes Scully, who’s sleeping on the other side of the bed and wearing a lot less clothing than she was during cuddle time. Dana reveals she’s also seen her doppelganger. It’s amusing how Chuck-Face is spelling Mulder (--UL--) but Judy thinks it’s Scully (--UL--). No wonder they’re both seeing doubles. But unlike Fox, Dana has a magical bread pill to keep her “safe.” 

Mulder arrives to arrest Chucky but ends up fighting himself. Luckily, Team Chudy have turned on each other and write each other’s names on the Hangman game. Scully and the nurses get terrorized by Demon Judy one last time before Dana finds Judy’s lifeless body. Fox finds the same situation with Chucky. Back in the motel room, the door is figuratively – and literally – still open for Fox and Dana’s personal relationship.

Sestra Professional:   

The X-Files has always been the "Mulder & Scully Show," somewhat to my chagrin as I found the concept to be inherently viable beyond the relationship of those two seminal characters. I think the original run could have gone on in Season 9's Twilight Zone-esque fashion with Doggett and Reyes, but I realize I'm in the minority with that one. Nevertheless, even with these restrictions, there have been episodes across the landscape in which Mulder and Scully are really the sideshow, and either the guest actors (i.e., Peter Boyle in S3E4's "Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose") or the circumstances altogether (as in S3E20's "Jose Chung's From Outer Space") tend to relegate our heroes to the background.

Both of those ring somewhat true in "Plus One." Karin Konoval made a brief appearance in "Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose" and an unforgettable impression as Mrs. Peacock in "Home" (S4E2), but she's literally four times as good here. It's a performance to feast your eyes upon over and over (and over and over) again. But lest that turn off those tuning in for the "M&S Show," there's plenty to salivate upon for the shippers.

The opening is such a TV trope, no one has ever seen another person in a gyrating throng of people rocking out. Kind of like how a wronged woman gets her cheating husband back after he's forsaken the bombshell half her age all year until a ridiculous cliffhanger. (Sorry, just finished bingeing Season 1 of Loot.) But returning to the concert, when I'm at a packed show, I barely can see the person next to me, let alone make out a complete form way back in the pack. Series creator Chris Carter recovers a point, though, for using The Fendermen song "Mule Skinner Blues." Hey, wait a minute, is that how Walter got his last name in the first place?

This is a mass phenomenon: Nice to get back to a bread-and-butter investigation. Dana explains it in what would seem to be a logical matter if we didn't happen to see Fox's version in the teaser. That sets up for an old-school X-Files ep, since Arkie Seavers is not a one-off (or two-off) and there's lots more where he/they came from.

So initially Fox and Dana are back in their separate corners personally, and Scully doth protest too much. And then Dana explains the case away again -- that really sounded kind of logical to me. But again, we saw it happen so... best to let that version of events fade away. And it's easy to do that with Mulder meeting Chucky Poundstone. I remember watching this originally, and it took me more than a minute to figure out Konoval was rocking Chucky's belligerence.

Nothing hurts like the truth: It was just fun and games until the point that Konoval assumes Demon Judy's persona. That is just some next-level dookie. Scully may not buy the telepathic game playing, but DJ pushes all Dana's buttons in just a couple minutes. And while Scully says she can't be hurt by those words, we as the Dana faithful actually can be. Luckily, our champion is picking up on the psychic transferrence while my hackles are raised. And Fox is around to remind her that she has "scoot in her boot."

Chucky No. 1 baits the threatening Mulder by saying he's seen attorneys with better cases take it on the chin in court, but good for Fox for rising to the occasion again and bringing on Chucky No. 2 in the process. Scully's doing the same with Judy No. 1 and we see some shadings of Judy No. 2, but that's circumvented by the handing over of the bread pills. Two questions spring to mind: What happened to them working on cases together and why would Dana be about to throw away evidence before the nurses stop her on a flimsy pretense?

Scully's all over the map. She makes complete sense when she explains that mass hysteria is just fear running wild. Less sense when she claims there's no such thing as ghosts or evil, two entities we've watched her experience. Another mark in the deterioration of Dana column ... and I can't figure out why in the world that would be done by someone who created the character to be an inspiration to a generation. That's a bigger mystery than the psychic transference.

Put a dimmer on that afterglow and get yourself to the hospital: We knew we'd get to the point when one or both leads would start to see his/her doppelganger. Oh well, whatever gets them in closer proximity, right? Scully seems to be having kind of a Loot crisis of conscience. Dana, I don't think you have to ever worry about Fox leaving you behind. Well, unless he starts to freak out about seeing another him. Didn't seem to get to him quite as much when it was Eddie Van Blunhdt ("Small Potatoes," S4E20) or Morris Fletcher ("Dreamland," S6E4-5).

It gets a little "Fight Club" (S7E20) in resolution -- and that was one of the series' real low points -- but at least it's more entertainingly so with actual suspense over what's going to happen to all the Mulders, Scullys and Poundstones. Consider it a real "Punch & Judy Show."

Guest star of the week: Quite obviously, it's Konoval. I don't think "Plus One" would play half as well with someone else in the roles. There's something subtle in Karin's work amidst all the flashiness required at the same time. And I'm not just saying that because she's one of the show's biggest champions, a woman who is wonderful to the fan base and works equally hard on personal pet projects such as raising awareness of the plight of orangutans and their conservation.

 

X-Files S11E2: 'This' is what we've become

Sestra Amateur: 

Whether “This” works for you or doesn't probably depends on your level of X-Phile nostalgia. Maybe this is the show’s way of saying sorry for the ickfest of the previous episode’s revisionist history. Well, maybe not a full-on apology, but here’s a bone for you/us.

A distorted voice reaches out to Special Agent Fox Mulder on his smart phone. The image on the screen appears to be Richard Langly, who died along with the other Lone Gunmen back in "Jump the Shark" (Season 9, Episode 15). This Lone Gunman wakes a sleeping Mulder and Special Agent Dana Scully with a question most people don’t get to ask: “Am I dead?” 

Meanwhile, there’s also a home invasion in progress at Mulder’s house; three would-be robbers with cool taste in music enter with guns a-blazing. Sculder kill two, but one gets away. Langly cryptically points out, “They know that I know.” Scully calls in the incident while Fox hides his phone. Dana mentions that nobody saw The Lone Gunmen’s bodies after their deaths because they were exposed to the Marburg virus and incinerated. So their caskets in Arlington Cemetery should be empty? And now we’re supposed to believe no one – not even DOCTOR Scully, who performed so many autopsies during the run of the show – autopsied Langly, Byers or Frohike? And Scully took the government’s word for it that The Lone Gunmen were dead and burned? If we hadn’t seen it actually happen in that episode, then I would definitely assume their deaths were faked. The only “evidence” that convinces me: I don’t think Frohike could have stayed away from Scully for 16 years.

Two more sinister vehicles arrive at Mulder’s house. The Russian occupants demand Sculder disarm themselves. Scully calls Assistant Director Walter Skinner for help. He knows what’s going on and he tells her to surrender. Fox is resistant but he and Dana are outnumbered and quickly subdued. They want Mulder’s phone but he isn’t giving it up. Too bad Langly won’t stop talking; they find the phone in Fox’s oven. Sculder work together and escape from the distracted soldiers. After running through the woods they find Walter, who claims a private security contracting company that works directly for the executive branch of the U.S. government came after them. Scully asks Walter if Langly is alive. He roundabout answers her.

Sculder arrive at Arlington Cemetery. They notice some inconsistencies with the information on the headstones of Langly, John Fitzgerald Byers and Melvin Frohike which leads Mulder to Deep Throat’s headstone. I still have trouble believing Fox never did any research on Deep Throat after his death. Don’t you think that MIGHT have helped Mulder's ongoing conspiracy investigation even a tiny bit?! But it appears I griped about this same lack of storyline development way, way back in "Little Green Men" (S2E1)  so I’ll let it go. By the way, Deep Throat’s name is Ronald Pakula. (Maybe it’s an homage to Alan J. Pakula?) At the grave, Fox finds a memory medallion which contains a QR code to scan. Too bad the surviving assassin has found them and is trying to finish the job. They struggle and Mulder knocks him unconscious against Deep Throat’s headstone.

Sculder end up in an internet café to scan the QR Code. It relates to a building which Mulder once investigated as an X-file, thanks to a tip from … Langly. Sculder need to get into their office in the FBI building. They approach Skinner in the parking garage. He seems frustrated by the gluttony of “intelligence” agencies in the world these days. He takes pity on them -- probably because of what he learned in the previous episode -- and explains how X-files are now accessible via computer thanks to Director Mueller. By the way, I stumbled across the perfect example of how multitasking can be detrimental to these blogs. While typing during Skinner’s exposition, I almost missed the best FBI Special Agent ID photo EVER taken. But I digress. 

It appears the Russians trying to kill Sculder have access to all of the X-files. Fox starts searching the database and learns the information he seeks has been scrubbed from the system. There are no Langly files, but the Frohike and Byers ones are visible. Luckily, Frohike’s “spank bank” is still there and contains a clue which leads Sculder to Dr. Karah Hamby. They meet with her but she claims Purlieu Services (the private security contracting company) is watching. Her explanation is very Black Mirror, specifically the San Junipero episode; she and Langly planned for a “life eternal” together. She gives them her phone to help reach Langly. Too bad her days are over; the very determined hitman kills her and Scully takes him out, finally.

Sculder relax in a diner until Langly contacts them through the smart phone. He describes heaven but he knows it’s a lie. He -- and others -- are being used as digital slaves for their knowledge and abilities. He tells Sculder to destroy the digital afterlife and sends them to Titanpointe. Sculder arrive at the FBI office in New York. They use a charade to enter: Agent Scully is bringing in an “apprehended” Mulder. Somehow, it works for a while and they almost make it. Too bad the Russian and his cronies capture Fox in the stairwell and escort him up to the 29th floor. 

Guess who’s there waiting for Mulder? Erika Price from the previous episode. She’s amused that Langly could have reached out to any one of seven billion people but he picked Fox. Does that mean Langly knew Byers and Frohike were dead too? He had to ask Mulder about his own death so that might be another plot hole. Fox tries to trick Price into thinking he wants to be uploaded with Dana. In return, Price still wants Mulder to kill Cancer Man. Meanwhile, Dana has searched every 20-something floor until she finally reaches Fox. He finishes his conversation with Erika, subdues the Russian assassin and rejoins Scully. While she disables the simulator containing everyone’s consciousness (No battery backup option? Bad planning.), Mulder fights for his life against the Russian. Eventually, Sculder escape and return with legit FBI agents. but Price is gone and so are the machines.

Back at Fox’s house, Langly contacts them again and tells Mulder to destroy the backup. (See? Told you there would be a backup option!) Then Langly disappears and the silver-haired assassin -- the one Scully shot after he killed Dr. Hamby -- takes over the screen. Poor Langly. I hope he was able to connect with Karah and have some semblance of “happily ever after.” If Black Mirror managed to allow one happy ending, then so should The X-Files. But I guess they burned their happy ending during the end credits scene of I Want to Believe.

Sestra Professional:   

The ninth season of the regular run leaned heavily into The Twilight Zone territory, and the best episodes from that year came out of that distinction. Here we see Season 11 making a foray into Black Mirror terrain, and again, I do think the series is better for it. It's kind of a boomerang effect, The X-Files can be considered an influence on shows like Black Mirror, and here it comes full circle. This playbook opens up our show in a number of ways, as we see in "This" and other upcoming episodes.

We gotta take a trip to IKEA: The opening scene carries genuine tension. We're as taken aback as Mulder and Scully upon seeing the visage of the deceased Richard "Ringo" Langly on Fox's phone, and then they have to deal with a break-in on top of that. So we get engaged directly in two distinctive ways. Episodes in the "My Struggle" arc haven't had this kind of resonance, they're more like something we've been suffering through. From the opening, we're invested here.

"What world are you living in?" the Russian aggressor asks Fox, and it's a question we could use the answer to as well. If you've misplaced your scorecard, it's tough to tell who is on what side nowadays. Skinner tells Scully that the dynamic duo should just give up, but the Russian Cold War expert was prepared to end them right then and there. How well would that have sat with you, Walter? The last thing you told them was to give up.

Who needs Google when you have Scully?: Oh well, at least Skinner showed up to give his former charges money and to clear the air about this particular collection of gun-toting radicals working for an American security contractor. That sends Mulder and Scully off to Arlington for a whirlwind round of presidential trivia supplemented with a numbers game.

As if all this actual suspense wasn't enough, we get a nice slice of life between our leads, namely Sculder's exchange about the bran muffin. That was as tasty to me as it was to them, apparently -- Mulder says he's going to open an X-file to get to the bottom of why it's so good followed by Scully's claim that she doesn't care if it came out of an alien's butt. (The latter was reportedly an adlib by Gillian Anderson.) And so in the 11th season, we get evidence that they're normal people who eat and drink just like you and me.

The world is different: Count on Skinner (and writer/director Glen Morgan) to detail for us how the backdrop has changed since Fox and Dana originally met back in 1993. It's not just dark forces in the government any more. He explains that a lot of people -- including America's enemies -- have had access to the X-Files files since Sculder took off for parts unknown. Can you imagine someone having to pore over over all those files, running across people like Cecil L'Ively from "Fire" (S1E12) and the tulpa from "Arcadia" (S6E15?)

Then we get into the Black Mirror aspect of the case -- the simulation Langly planned with a hot professor. I'm trying to get past the fact that it's unlikely those two seemingly disparate people forged that kind of connection. But that's not too tough, because I'm distracted by the fact that Dr. Karah Hamby is played by Sandrine Holt, who co-starred with Nicholas Lea (Krycek) in the entertaining Once a Thief during the prime X-Files years.

Speaking of influences, Deep Throat's real name Ronald Pakula was indeed a nod to Alan J. Pakula, who directed All the President's Men (among other things). That 1977 film and its subject matter -- Watergate -- were huge influences on Chris Carter when he began developing the show.

This guy's like Hannibal Lecter-level psycho: It's intriguing that simulated Langly can discern those in the alternate universe are living a lie that needs to be destroyed. Fits right in with the recurring Black Mirror theme that as great as technology can be, there's an underbelly that often shows something entirely different.

So it's up to our heroes to find a way to save the day and get Langly out of his purgatory, even though they keep being told point-blank that they don't understand what's going on. We've heard that every day since the show started, but Barbara Hershey's Erika Price claims life on Earth is (again) about to be crushed, making computers necessary for the evolution of species. Mulder realizes they're playing God. (Haven't thought of that David Duchovny movie in a long time.)

Despite the constantly high stakes, Fox and Dana remain particularly quippy in this episode, culminating in an instantly classic moment when they get home from the adventure and decide against dealing with cleanup of the ransacked house. Take a break, you certainly earned it! Maybe have another muffin?

Guest star of the week: Apologies to Barbara Hershey, who delivers a more relaxed and confident performance in her second appearance, because come on, we got a Lone Gunman back! Dean Haglund does a nice job as simulated Langly in limited space and time, and we feel for the loss of Ringo once again when that world is shattered.