(Season 1, Episodes 5-8)
I guess after three of four episodes with a “MythArc” element, the creators wanted to relax and go for some fun, non-connected episodes for awhile. So all four of this week’s episodes are of the “Monster-of-the-Week” variety.
5 – “The Jersey Devil”
(Original Air Date: October 8, 1993) The most disappointing thing to me was that the people from 1947 didn’t speak like 1940s movie stars. “What you got here, see, is da Joisey Devil. What’s it to ya?” You have to say it fast, and yes, that’s how I picture everyone in the ’40s sounding.
We did get introduced to Dana’s life outside of the Bureau in the form of a party for her godson — which left Mulder to go it alone in Atlantic City. I’m having mixed feelings about their working relationship so far. I like the perspective her skepticism gives us, but it seems so relentless considering what they’ve already seen, that it’s a hindrance to Mulder’s investigative style.
Besides, Mulder is doing fine. He’s traded a nice motel room with HBO to a homeless guy for a moldy blanket and a cardboard box with a view all so he could tango with a naked chick with long ratty hair. Actually, the point of this seems to be so we can see how much Mulder has given up in his personal life on his obsession into the paranormal.
While Scully struggles to have a normal life with parties and dates, Mulder can’t take his mind off of the next monster or the next case. And by the end of the episode, Scully is leaning toward making the same choices. At least by committing more to what they’re doing, she’s more involved and supportive of Mulder’s theories.
Other than that, this was a pretty lackluster affair. The Jersey Devil was a feral mother. *Yawn* Nothing paranormal or even threatening happened the entire time. It was all very sleepy and safe and boringly normal.
I do have a tip for Scully. If the latest batch of people who are trying to thwart your investigation are in the building looking for a “Mulder,” and you’re calling out to him, how about shouting “Fox” instead? I’m just sayin’.
6 – “Shadows”
(Original Air Date: October 22, 1993)
Poltergeist meets The X-Files, and as usual Dana Scully arrives on the scene just too late to see the truly supernatural over and over again. Whether it’s a thug floating in the air getting choked by no one or a ghost tossin’ the room she always misses it by that much. But she plays along in her best Melinda Gordon that she believes all this nonsense to try and convince Lauren that the right thing to do is to finish her dead boss’s work by putting his murderer away, and revealing his misdeeds.
Gillian Anderson was so earnest when talking to Lauren about this that I half expected her to do the half-smile-look-away move Jennifer Love Hewitt has patented on Ghost Whisperer. And I was waiting at the end for her to tell Howard Graves that he could now go into the light.
As for Mulder, for all his obsessions about the X-Files and the paranormal, I wouldn’t have expected him to get so pissy about Scully impeding his chance to examine spectral phenomenon. He’s not a bad agent or a bad person, so why would he not care about a real crime getting busted?
“Mulder, we have a chance to get this guy on selling illegal manufactured parts.” “But I wanted to look at the ghosts.” “Mulder, this is a serious crime and he’s already killed one person and tried to kill another.” “But gho-o-o-osts!!” “Mulder, do you want these deaths on your conscience?” “I wish I didn’t have a partner.”
7 – “Ghost in the Machine”
(Original Air Date: October 29, 1993)
Unfortunately, 2001: A Space Odyssey on television circa 1993 just comes across as quaint now. Exploring how computers might become self-aware and take over a “smart building” was fun stuff back then, but now it’s just kind of no big deal. As such, I don’t think this one holds up very well, if it was ever well received.
The COS, while murdering to keep itself alive, still didn’t come across as menacing as HAL or some of the other AI we’ve seen, but that may have been budget concerns. It would have been fun if it were taunting people. After all, it did give itself a voice synthesizer, so why give yourself a voice if you don’t want to mess with people.
Considering “Deep Throat” made a return here, I have to think that Brad Wilczek, who created COS, is pretty important. He’s basically been abducted by the government now so he can make artificial intelligence for them. Will we see him again?
It was nice to get some confirmation that Mulder is an excellent field agent, even before he found his way to the X-Files. It’s a shame that his former partner was such a douche. But I guess getting killed in a falling elevator is a just punishment for stealing Mulder’s profile, right?
8 – “Ice”
(Original Air Date: November 5, 1993) “We Are Not Who We Are”
If you’re going to do a non-essential episode, this is how you do it. Granted, I’m sure I’ve seen this same basic story a million times, but The X-Files still did it very well. Even though the threat of the parasite was real, it was the paranoia that nearly destroyed everyone. It also pushed Scully and Mulder’s trust of one another to the brink.
I think they came out of it stronger than they went in. Remember, they’ve only known each other maybe a few months by this point, but they’re really starting to work well together and gain that 100% total faith and trust that a true partnership needs.
It was fun seeing a young Felicity Huffman as the ultimately infected member of the party. And it was some nice misdirection making me think it was Hodge instead of DaSilva. He certainly was acting crazy enough. Good thing he was rational enough to see the worm moving on the back of her neck.
As we’re moving along, the relationship between Scully and Mulder is getting stronger, as is her faith in him. I’m glad to see this, as her doubting him constantly gets old. I’m sure she’ll still question his outlandish theories, considering she is the “non-believer,” but at least she’ll have his back regardless.
Previously on The X-Files Virgin’s Diary
Clacked by Jason Hughes 
on Jun 05, 2009 @ 09:00 EST5EDT
