Mulder goes for a little tongue in cheek at the beginning of this episode when he spoofs himself for being a believer in the paranormal and, dare we say it...Monsters! There's a bit of carry over from the prior episode, 'The Pine Bluff Variant' when Mulder got his fingers broken by a goon working him over; he's still wearing a finger splint that Scully comments on.
As if on cue, as I'm writing this review I get a call from a telemarketer who's going to save me a couple hundred dollars on car insurance, but like Scully, I don't have the patience for this stuff. Sometimes it's hard not to be rude, my standard line is 'Thanks for calling but I'm not interested'. Well, maybe not thanks for calling.
This episode's monster of the week isn't as well defined as some of the ones we've seen in the past, as it changes size and shape throughout the story. The creature effect of crawling along the ceiling and on a rooftop reminded me somewhat of "The Exorcist", lending some credence that this might be some kind of devil or demon at work. Then there was the zombie effect on the workers at Vinyl Right Siding, with employee Gary Lambert (Brian Markinson) the only one who could see what was going on with boss Pincus (John Apicella). Except for Mulder, who could see through any of these kinds of paranormal events.
The upshot of this episode, as we've seen with other stories like 'Quagmire' and 'Bad Blood', is that even after Mulder and Scully are done with their investigation and have explained things the best they can, the evil that existed beforehand is still at large and left to pursue it's deadly agenda. In the real world that would be a problem because victims would still be dying, so the closure for a story like this has to rest with the viewer's acceptance that the case is over and done with. And if you go with that, have I got a deal for you.
As if on cue, as I'm writing this review I get a call from a telemarketer who's going to save me a couple hundred dollars on car insurance, but like Scully, I don't have the patience for this stuff. Sometimes it's hard not to be rude, my standard line is 'Thanks for calling but I'm not interested'. Well, maybe not thanks for calling.
This episode's monster of the week isn't as well defined as some of the ones we've seen in the past, as it changes size and shape throughout the story. The creature effect of crawling along the ceiling and on a rooftop reminded me somewhat of "The Exorcist", lending some credence that this might be some kind of devil or demon at work. Then there was the zombie effect on the workers at Vinyl Right Siding, with employee Gary Lambert (Brian Markinson) the only one who could see what was going on with boss Pincus (John Apicella). Except for Mulder, who could see through any of these kinds of paranormal events.
The upshot of this episode, as we've seen with other stories like 'Quagmire' and 'Bad Blood', is that even after Mulder and Scully are done with their investigation and have explained things the best they can, the evil that existed beforehand is still at large and left to pursue it's deadly agenda. In the real world that would be a problem because victims would still be dying, so the closure for a story like this has to rest with the viewer's acceptance that the case is over and done with. And if you go with that, have I got a deal for you.