User Reviews

If you divide the X-files into those which deal with extra-terrestrial phenonema and those which deal with the unexplained events and evil here on earth,then Irresistible falls into the latter category.Indeed it could be considered as one of the 'monster'episodes,except here instead of a Jersey Devil or a Flukeman,the monster is human.An evil predator. Donnie Pfaster looks unremarkable on the outside.Though tall and ruggedly handsome he is not someone who would demand a second look should you pass him on the street.However all is not as it would appear at first with this guy.This becomes apparent very early in the episode when he is dismissed from his job at a funeral parlour,after being caught cutting the hair of a young dead girl.After several dead bodies are uprooted and desecrated,in particular hair and fingernails are missing,M&S are called in to investigate and to catch whomever is committing the crimes,before he graduates to killing victims for the purpose of mutilating them afterwards,which they suspect he will do. This episode is bleak and distressing as you would expect watching an evil perverted killer at work would be.However all the same it is riveting viewing.Nick Chinlund really has this character down to a tee.He talks slowly and deliberately,he stares intensely at the pretty young women he sees and he moves stealthily,someimes seeming to appear from nowhere.The idea of having him switch jobs during the episode was a good one by the writers,as real life predatore are often known to drift between jobs.The producers also show him appearing as a demonlike form in silhouette to emphasise his evil nature,but this seems a bit gimmicky and unnecessary to me.Oh and btw,i don't want to spoil the episode for you,but lets just say this would not be one of Scully's favourite X-files!

By the time this episode ended, the X-Files had truly established how utterly brilliant it could get and why it was going to become one of the most well-known shows of all time.

This episode was both extremely emotional and very disturbing. Probably the second most disturbing episode of the show besides Season 4's 'Home'.

What makes this episode so unique is the realness of the case. I know that Donnie isn't exactly 'normal', I mean, a couple of people saw his demon face in this episode. But even so, this is a case that actually happens in real life.

Although it's not the most perfect episode, it is my favorite so far. Gillian did a truly magnificent job showing the Scully character at her most vulnerable. The final scene was just beautiful.

FIVE stars for sure.

Irresistible the Limerick:

Evil is embodied in Donnie

Whose fetish was to love a dead bonnie

He cuts off nails and hair

And gives hookers a scare

And took Scully to the house of his mommy.

This is truly one of the front runners for what has grown into a fascination in our society of shows about criminal psychology and serial killers. Granted the fascination with serial killers was big in the 70's but it wasn't as prominent as a venue of entertainment on television. Irresistible is also a front runner for that other great Chris Carter show Millennium which is (like Criminal Minds) about a different serial killer every episode. The episode begins with a very good teaser. The use of the song Gymnopedie No 1 in the funeral is a great choice as a haunting yet soothing element. Then we meet Donnie Pfaster. At first he seems just kind of weird but we soon find out that he really is a freak. The final shot in the teaser is a great way to leave a kind of signature on the episode and is used again in the sequel later in season 7. Scully is quite disturbed by this case understandably. I mean who wouldn't be? This episode is really I think one of the first moments that I began to see Scully as more than just a character on a show I liked. And Donnie. Could you really ask for a creepier character? The scariest thing about this episode is the fact that there is nothing paranormal about Donnie and what he does. And there are people like him out there. I think one of the scariest things in the episode is the lady who he goes to deliver the groceries to who lets him into her house cheerfully and tells him that they always leave the backdoor open like he is one of the family. Little does she know that if Donnie hadn't been caught her and probably more likely her daughter would have been killed. I find two elements of the episode that really kind of sum up what Chris Carter was trying to do with this episode in my opinion. The first is what Donnie's professor is teaching as Donnie stares at his wouldbe victim.

TEACHER: The necessity of the story, the myth or the legend in a culture is almost universal. We think of myths as things that entertain or instruct, but their deeper purpose is often to explain, or make fanciful, wishes, desires or behavior that society would otherwise deem unacceptable. Myths often disguise thoughts that are simply too terrible to think about, but because they are conveyed in a wrapping of untruth - the story - these thoughts become harmless fiction.

Take for example stories that we recite for children, such as Snow White or Alice in Wonderland. The subtextural themes where the Queen orders "off with her head", or the prince wakens Sleeping Beauty with a kiss, are what Freud would describe as death/wish imagining.

To me this sounds like a kind of commentary on the fact that we watch these things on television as a form of entertainment, but we often tend to look past the fact that these things but they are real. I don't know that it is good or bad. Its just a fact. And this episode's goal really is to make us feel vulnerable to reality and Scully is the mechanism through which this is done.

The second part that explains the episode is Mulder's final commentary.

MULDER'S VOICE OVER: The conquest of fear lies in the moment of its acceptance. And understanding what scares us most is that which is most familiar, most common place. That boy next door, Donnie Pfaster, the unremarkable younger brother of four older sisters, extraordinary only in his ordinariness, could grow up to be the devil in a buttoned-down shirt. It's been said that the fear of the unknown is an irrational response to the excesses of the imagination. But our fear of the everyday, of the lurking stranger, and the sound of foot-falls on the stairs. The fear of violent death and the primitive impulse to survive, are as frightening as any x-file, as real as the acceptance that it could happen to you.

The message is pretty clear. I like the episode. 10 out of 10.

I'm probably not the only X-Files junkie that watches re-runs of the show on TNT or Sci-Fi Channel. Late at night, curled up under my blankets, I love finding new things in episodes I haven't seen in a long time. But, I've come to the conclusion that I can't watch this episode anymore simply because it's too well-done, too creepy, and it causes major insomnia.

The actor playing serial killer Donnie Pfaster is a little too convincing in this one, so much so, that when I see him on Law & Order or some other show, I catch myself gasping. Donnie Pfaster has a grotesque obsession with fingernails and hair, and he's compelled to worship both, at the expense of local girls in his path.

****Spoiler**** There's a follow-up episode to this one, though the title escapes me at the moment, and it's equally nerve-wracking to watch. If you're not a fan of episodes where Scully is left vulnerable at the hands of a murderer, this one is not for you, and neither is the sequel episode. ****Spoiler****

However, if you crave tension and scary moments, this might be your cup of tea. I think I'll be content watching Humbug or Clyde Bruckman instead.

"You think you can look into the face of pure evil. And then you find yourself paralysed by it." – Dana Scully.

Episode 13, 'Irresistible', original air date January 13th, 1995. Written by Chris Carter, directed by David Nutter. Monster of the week episode count, 25. The X-Files takes a side step from the paranormal this week to focus on a more personal, character driven story. For the first time since the Duane Barry incident, Gillian Anderson is given a chance to explore the effect that this event has had on the character of Dana Scully. Working through her post-traumatic stress, allowing the full weight of her experience to penetrate her psyche reveals that Scully is at her most vulnerable and this makes her feel very uncomfortable. As evidenced through her characterisation thus far, Scully is an empowered, independent person capable of standing toe to toe with her male counterpart. Unwavering in her convictions with a methodical and logical approach to her work, she is the epitome of professionalism. Which is why it's so difficult for her now to concede to the fact that she is struggling to move past her ordeal without outside intervention. Too proud to admit to Mulder that she might actually need his support and also unwilling to place that burden upon his shoulders, she persists in dealing with her issues on her own. And up until now she's managed to persevere, however when faced with this new case involving death fetishist Donnie Pfaster (Nick Chinlund), who harbours a deep seated hatred towards women, her strength of mind is pushed to breaking point.

Pfaster in his first of two appearances in the X-Files, he will return in season 7 'Orison', is a death fetishist who unearths corpses of young attractive women and removes their fingernails and locks of their hair. He is soon driven to commit murder in order to procure his corpses, as predicted by Mulder, and with the assistance of Agent Bocks (Bruce Weitz) the F.B.I agents attempt to develop a profile and hunt him down. Mulder has experience with this type of case and as such is prepared for the horrors that they bring. Scully on the other hand has never witnessed first hand a mutilated corpse, particularity that of a young woman, and is deeply affected by the experience. The case is stirring up emotions that Scully had been trying to ignore up until now. While usually so confident in her autonomy, she finds herself requiring, but unable to ask for help. Clearly suffering from post-traumatic stress following on from her abduction, her faith has been severely tested and she desperately searches to find it again. The episode culminates in her abduction once again, this time by Donnie and even following her rescue by Mulder and Bocks she valiantly attempts to reassure him that she's fine, before breaking down in Mulder's embrace. A touching moment of genuine affection for two characters who as yet have maintained a rather rigidly platonic relationship.

Carter's script, while certainly an engaging thriller with a well developed sinister antagonist, is at it's heart a character study on Scully. Dana's resistance to exposing her vulnerable side to Mulder is understandable. Her unwillingness to openly express her emotions is born out of a sense of pride in her work and her role as an F.B.I agent who needs to focus on cases with a clinical mindset. As mentioned, her independence is a point of pride for her. Adding to that, being a woman in a predominantly male work environment, with a male partner and supervisor, it's understandable that she wouldn't want to appear weak and succumb to the unwarranted stereotype placed upon her gender by the patriarchal society in which she exists. Having her break down at the episode's conclusion is not played as a failing of her character or a comment on gender, but simply an acknowledgement that she is human and fallible. Her ordeal was traumatic and her response justifiable. The characters struggle is treated with dignity and she is never portrayed as weaker than Mulder or less capable, simply as a person who has undergone a life altering event and needs to consciously deal with her pain before moving on. This episode allows her to let go slightly and, without verbalising it to her partner, admit that she could benefit from his support.

David Nutter's direction is very enjoyable to watch as he uses light and shadow to great effect in order to enhance the already creepy performance by Nick Chinlund as Donnie. It's quite a dark episode, visually, with some scenes played almost totally in blackness. Often we can only see part of the character's faces, particularly Donnie. He uses the camera in interesting ways as well, having Donnie walk directly towards camera in the opening scene, or with the various low angle shots that create an unsettling feeling. The direction and camera work definitely make us feel uneasy right from the start and this helps us empathise with Scully and her sense of discomfort throughout the show.

It's been said that this episode is notable for being one of the few in the series that contained no paranormal references. As Mulder iterates in the closing monologue, the fear derived from this scenario is that evil need not always come from some otherworldly entity, rather the danger can often originate from something much more real, more close to home. This is perhaps why Scully is so affected by this case, as compared with previous ones. It's easier, particularly for someone as skeptic as Scully, to develop a detachment from the dangers of alien abduction, monsters or spectral entities. It's much more difficult however to remain desensitised when the evil is so much more real and personal, as with Donnie Pfaster, who is simply a man with hatred in his heart.

"Irresistible" is dark, bleak, and nasty, the story of a "death fetishist", mutilating the dead post mortem as a means of gratification, before later going looking for the dead themselves. All well and horrible, but then he fixates on Scully.

Make no mistake: this is psychological, rather than showy. Apparently the demonic images surrounding the killer - in which, at times, he morphs into another person - were added to the show very late on in the proceedings, when they realised that there was nothing technically paranormal about the story. The agents are called in to investigate the mutilations as evidence of UFOs, something which Mulder dismisses off-hand early on, and other than that, our killer is just a bad, messed-up person. It's frustrating, because without those images, the show works fine as a stand-alone, and we know the characters well enough by now for them to do a show about them, without having to crowbar some paranormal element into it.

The point being made, all the way through, is that the human "monster" can be as dark and disturbing as any ghoul or ghost. Personally... I'm not so sure it comes across. It seems a little unfair to criticise Scully's reaction to the desecrations of the bodies - her fear and disgust is palpable and perhaps intended to indicate an innate understanding of the evil which Mulder is able to dismiss - but the scheduling of the show precludes the depiction of a real monster. Pfaster is horrible, sure, but no more horrible than a lot of the monsters the show has depicted (personally I found the guy from "Young At Heart" a lot creepier). I'm not sure if there was something screwy with the sound, but he always sounds slightly too loud when he talks, which is more disconcerting than a lot of his more ghoulish behaviour.

The "sequel", surprisingly, works a lot better, so this is worth watching if only to make that better. And it's not a bad little episode. But a few little flaws - the unnecessary morphing being a major one - undermine it really badly.

Recently I enjoyed watching some old episodes from The X Files. In the 13th episode of the 2nd season named Irresistible I discovered what is for me a directing mistake and a funny thing for the fans of the series.

At the end of the episode, when Scully fights Pfaster and they fell down the stairs, an unknown hand enters the screen from the left, dropping or grabbing something. The funny thing is that in the scene no one was supposed to be in the house beside the two. Mulder enters the house with a police squad a moment later, which proves the fact.

I wonder whose hand is that? And what was it really doing in the scene?

Well, I'll tell you what - the actor Nick Chinlund in the Donnie Pfaster role was one creepy looking dude wasn't he, even apart from the role he was playing here as an X-Files villain. He reminded me a lot of Eugene Victor Tooms from the first season and for a while there I thought it might have been the same guy, realizing of course that the series wouldn't have used the same actor for two such high profile roles.

The thing I had to wonder about in this story was why Scully was so squeamish about the disfigured bodies of Donnie's victims. In the very next episode, 'Die Hand Die Verletzt', she handled the same sort of situation with relative equanimity. The only difference being that in this episode, the bodies were desecrated after they were dead, which lent a bit more of a surreal aspect to the case.

The other thing I noticed about this episode was the frozen, nail polished finger of one of Donnie's victims mixed in with the brussel sprouts. Come on, everyone knows you don't mix meat and vegetables together because of cross contamination. What was he thinking?

Anyway, as difficult as it might be to raise the creep factor for the X-Files once the series got going, this one is almost in a stand by itself category as one of the creepiest. Donnie Pfaster really was a demon when you come right down to it, and as evidenced by Scully's vision of him when she came close to becoming a victim. Or, could she have been influenced by working with Mulder for so long, and thought she was dealing with an alien presence?

So, as far as I gather, this episode is trying to make a statement about how real-life villains are very bad people, and this is just as scary as the paranormal. The "paranormal" imagery associated with the villain, Donnie, is purely symbolic. He's actually just a normal human being.

The problem is that I just don't buy it. Donnie is simply not scarier than the paranormal. He's not even that scary at all. As a guy who seems confused and weird rather than malicious, likes dead girls and hair, and has only newly become a murderer, he's significantly less disturbing than most well-known real-life serial killers (eg: he's like a VERY watered-down version of Ed Gein). Which is why Scully's horror at seeing nothing but bodies with hair and nails cut off (something not too different from a normal personal hygiene routine), before anybody has even been killed or hurt at all, is completely out of character. She sees things a hundred times worse in almost every other episode and hardly flinches.

So, as Comic Book Guy says... "worst episode EVER!"

Irresistible is about Mulder and Scully on the look out for a fetishist who collects trophies from the dead.

Brilliant creation and characterization, the mannerisms of Donnie Pfaster perfect. His timorousness, from his head wobble stuttering when trying to communicate, to backing down to a raised voice, Chinlund strikingly convincing. The ever fearless Scully shaken by the inhuman monstrosity that is Pfaster. He's an iconic villain, greater than the episode alone, though exceptional.

Nightmares... Scully has them. She recenlty started to remember probably because we did not see at earlier episodes.

It was nice episode. It was not x-file but in the end, mulder said this is horrible as a x-file.

Scully was so brave despite lots of thoughts and hallucinations coming to her mind.

Mulder was there to find her very quick, help of minnesota fbi guy.

I cant forget what that guy said: "here is not new york. We dont have such incidents here, we cant frighten people.".

The episodes are showing me different states of USA. That is good also.

This episode is absolutely brilliant. I give it 9/10 instead 10/10 only to some personal feelings during the watch and some things about the plot that could've possible ended the whole case a bit faster.

Other than that, the episode is so outstanding. I gotta admit, I'm such a sucker for episodes where we get to see characters development, break downs, get a chance to see them from different sides, from human ones. And here we see Scully being vulnerable, we see how much things, that happened to her, affected her. The worst thing possible happened, she started to doubt her ability to be able to save the world from bad guys, to be able to do her job and succeed at it in order to protect innocent people. The fact, that she decided not to try to deal with all of it by herself but went to a psychologist instead, is even more important. Person needs to be really strong to admit problems, weaknesses. And Scully is probably one of the strongest female characters I can think of. A real inspiration.

I also liked it how Chris Carter showed and developed the dynamic between her and Mulder. No matter what happens next, so far I can tell that Carter really knew his characters at the time of season 2. It was really understandable that Scully tried to play cool with him, look strong and hide her fears, her emotional struggle. After she had been brought back, Mulder was so over protective towards her and extremely caring, which wasn't something she wanted to. She wanted them to be partners, equals, not one protecting the other. Besides, even here she tried to stand for herself till the very end despite everything. And the moment she broke down and let Mulder in was made beautifully from any point of view I can think of. Such a great performance. Besides, this episode shows really great the nature of their partnership. Knowing, how uneasy the case was for Scully, Mulder didn't directly try to leave her out of it but gently tried to let her know that he understood. He respected her enough to let her decide for herself. Deep respect and caring is definitely something that makes these two and their relationships so special aside from all the other aspects. I can't even recall something similar on TV these days and it makes me appreciate it all even more.

Finally, I'd really like to say how amazing the story was. It's such a simple but yet true idea that the worst monsters are humans themselves. Especially people that you might not even notice before it's too late. It was so creepy to realize that a simple man, with no that much of the traumatic experience from the childhood, is capable of something so terrible. Such a deep closeness to reality and realization, that this is something that can happen anywhere, anytime on our planet, is exactly what scares the.

Also, all the scenes looked terrific and created a perfect atmosphere. Setting, acting, light, music, directing and every other aspect were very good.

In conclusion, I guess I once again want to say that this one is a pretty fantastic episode. It has a good story and such a strong development for both Scully and her relationships with Mulder.

Great, brilliant from the word go, there are people out there blending in with society like this guy, scary, like jeffery dahmer who really knows, i've watched all these a million times fantastic gillian and dave do the business for me, one of my top 5 for sure, forget the actors name in this main guy but wow, makes the episode what it is, i suppose this does contain spoilers although not specific...if you haven't seen it and watch the x files then watch this, he's a real charmer

Scully being creeped out by dead bodies with hair and nails removed? In medical school, I'm sure she saw things like that. NOT good. Especially since in the next episode, she easily shrugs off a victim with heart and eyes removed.

If the whole point of the episode was to show that humans are capable of just as much evil and cruelty as any alien or paranormal being, then the morphing was just plain silliness.

On the other hand, Scully fighting through her fear of Donny to manage to fight back was excellent, and Donny was a great villain. The point was appreciated - it's easy to blame things going wrong on supernatural causes, but to accept that human nature includes cruelty and malice is far more difficult.

There is nothing paranormal in this terrible episode. (I couldn't believe the reviews on here!) Skully is totally out of character, and there are gaping wide plot holes. How did an unarmed foe capture an armed and trained FBI agent, after ramming her car??? That is totally skipped over, because we know she'd defend herself. Instead she is portrayed as this total WIMP throughout this episode. Why? So she can be saved by the other good guys? and be seen as having to rely on them, rather than be independent? The set up is so blatant, that it had me shouting at the screen! WTF! (Thank GOD the next episode is about devil worship! phew! (I had to check to make sure this was not a trend)... but this episode sucked!) Most episodes have Skully digging up dead people, and performing autopsies. That's her job. Suddenly she is portrayed as cringing over dead bodies? its ridiculous! If she can't handle it, it's time to call it quits, and get another job. It seems the writers wanted the audience to think she's suddenly so SENSITIVE, in order to excuse her getting caught by the bad guy. It just makes it seem like she's been sniffing some of her own chemicals, and is seeing things! (They COULD have come up with that angle, the killer uses some chemical to spray at his victims, (a-la Batman's Scarecrow), so much potential for including scary scenes she's see... but no. Nothing supernatural about this episode at all, and some scenes remind one of Silence of the Lambs. She SHOULD have shot the bad guy, but for some reason, she had to be saved by the cavalry, who stumble in, falling over themselves, at the last moment. Why did the gun fly out of her hand, again? Was it so she wouldn't be a "killer". Now THAT would be cause for Skully to have a "breakdown", but they may want to save that for later... but not over someone's dead fingernails! Get real! She's been digging up half decomposed stiffs the whole time. That's her job! This episode also comes across as overly preachy. Just missing an After School Special: "What have we learned today?" summary. Skully falling into Moulder's arms at the end was so CONTRIVED, and like the whole episode was building up to that, that it was a total anticlimax, instead of being the tender moment it was supposed to be. Ugh.

A dead girl. A fetishist working in a tanatory (or a morgue). The fetishist gets fired.

This is the setup for Irresistible.

In this chapter we'll see an affected Scully. In fact, the interesting part of the chapter is not the plot itself, but the conclusion you can get once analyzed. At first glance, this can seem a Monster Of The Week chapter, where a shape-shifter needs to collect the hair and the nails of dead women to keep alive. But if you look closer, you'll find some interesting reflexions: First of all, you can see that Scully is affected by dead. She even needs help from a specialist. Secondly, you'll see that Mulder is not wild as it could seem. He has feelings, feelings about Scully. The same way Scully has about Mulder. From the dialog, you can find that the reason because Scully watches the fetishist shape-shifting is because of the fear. The fear in the common, as many great writers/directors said.

Intense episode that has shed some light on how scully is really feeling after her abduction. Glad to see some story development after multiple filler episodes/ The case presented was harder than normal mulder to solve. But his instincts and the FBI's resources allowed him to be there at the right place and right time again.

The writers teased us as they almost had him earlier in the episode. But they needed him to get close to scully to dramatise her trauma to us. I hope we see the alien that examined her in future episodes.

There was some foreshowding done with the villain of the episode appearing in a alien like sillouhette as he was fired from his job for cutting the dead girls hair. Perhaps this monster is linked to the aliens that abducted scully somehow. Future episodes will tell.

Scully is tired of being saved and being the one to let down the team. Her trauma is weighing her down and it may develop into something worse.

The episode itself was quite exciting, but I'll get to the plot failing(s) right away: 1) They get a finger print, and manage to tie it to the perp, but with no explanation of how they had his prints on file. Presumably, he committed crimes elsewhere and his prints were in the database, but it's odd that they find the prints one scene, and magically they're in his house a scene later? 2) Scully fails to report for duty, then they find her car driven off the road. Somehow, this leads everyone to believe she's been abducted by the suspect in the killings. Despite the fact that they have no evidence of this whatsoever, and her disappearance could be the result of an infinity of factors. How can the writers (and by proxy Mulder and co.) just make the massive leap in logic that Scully's disappearance *must* be tied to this episode's case? Lazy.

Otherwise: X-Files once again falls into the trap of having its bad guy look and act totally insane all the time, yet never get noticed by anyone he/she interacts with. The only good idea was that although he may/may not be supernatural, it doesn't really matter for the story to move forward.