Marred by comparisons to "Duane Barry", Chris Carter's previous directorial effort, "The List" used to get a bum rap. It's not perfect, by any means, but there are some nice ideas here.
The basic concept, of the reincarnation of a death row inmate, possibly involving flies although we're not entirely sure how or why, is fairly standard X-Files fair, and not particularly any great advance upon the first series episode "Born Again". Indeed, it's not hard to see this as "Born Again II", but it's a far more considered product.
The green of the prison scenes, compared to the more "normal" lighting and colour of the outside world, creates a nice sense of two worlds, one kept separate and inferior to the other in every possible way, and foreshadows the brutality and nastiness of J.T. Walsh's character, one of those genuinely love-to-hateable figures that can make episodic TV so appealing. Where some X-Files are, intentionally or not, a little more morally ambiguous, "The List" works in binary, sledgehammer strokes.
It's a little obvious, perhaps. Almost from the second Walsh appears on-screen, you know he's going to be "the bad guy". Almost as soon as we see Neech (the condemned), we know that he's not going to be a clear-cut bad guy. We know how the show works by now. But really, all this means is that the show is about Walsh, and his desperate attempts to prevent his own imminent demise, his fear and horror. We know what's going to happen to him, there's never any doubt, and there's an appeal to our dark sides as we watch him panic and bargain and generally refuse to accept that he might have it coming.
If there's one thing that "The List" really gets across, it's how much of a loss J.T. Walsh was to television. For this alone, it should never be dismissed.
The basic concept, of the reincarnation of a death row inmate, possibly involving flies although we're not entirely sure how or why, is fairly standard X-Files fair, and not particularly any great advance upon the first series episode "Born Again". Indeed, it's not hard to see this as "Born Again II", but it's a far more considered product.
The green of the prison scenes, compared to the more "normal" lighting and colour of the outside world, creates a nice sense of two worlds, one kept separate and inferior to the other in every possible way, and foreshadows the brutality and nastiness of J.T. Walsh's character, one of those genuinely love-to-hateable figures that can make episodic TV so appealing. Where some X-Files are, intentionally or not, a little more morally ambiguous, "The List" works in binary, sledgehammer strokes.
It's a little obvious, perhaps. Almost from the second Walsh appears on-screen, you know he's going to be "the bad guy". Almost as soon as we see Neech (the condemned), we know that he's not going to be a clear-cut bad guy. We know how the show works by now. But really, all this means is that the show is about Walsh, and his desperate attempts to prevent his own imminent demise, his fear and horror. We know what's going to happen to him, there's never any doubt, and there's an appeal to our dark sides as we watch him panic and bargain and generally refuse to accept that he might have it coming.
If there's one thing that "The List" really gets across, it's how much of a loss J.T. Walsh was to television. For this alone, it should never be dismissed.