Reviews

I think this episode is one of my favorites but I can also say that I too am troubled by the rape aspect of this story. I know it isn't meant to be taken seriously but I am bothered by the fact that no one seems to mind or actually use the word "rape". I think one can still like this episode while at least mentioning this troublesome aspect of the story. Implicit messages are important to detect in any story and the message here seems to be "because I am so pitiable and isolated, that makes it OK or exusable for me to force myself sexually on unsuspecting people". Really? Would Scully and Mulder really take him to a Cher concert rather than jail? Nevertheless I liked the photography, the music, the B movie aspect of it, and the reference to sensational pop culture.

For me this was the worst myth episode. Where do I begin? How about a list.

1. Tired of a depressed watery eyed Scully. She used to kick ass and throw her intellect around. Now she mostly engages in solemn monologues while she is on the verge of tears.

2. Tired of trying to find Mulder AGAIN. I really wouldn't care if they just dropped him all together and moved on with the new folks.

3. I liked it better when Scully and Mulder were respectful colleagues exchanging quips with one another instead of this depressed love sick separated couple.

4. Supersoldiers. Every time I hear them say that word I cringe. Just when I was already accustomed to shape shifters and black oil I have to accommodate yet another addition to the mythology that doesn't fit in.

5. Who is babysitting her son while she is out running around chasing bad guys or lecturing at Quanico?

6. What happened after she took multiple vehicles to her phone caller's destination where she changed her clothes? Suddenly its the next day and she is talking to her colleagues. Perhaps I missed something.

7. The exchange between her and the strange woman seemed unwise for Scully and the dialog sounded cheesy. "You have no one do you?" "You have no where to stay do you?" Really? Instant trust. Just like that. Yeah spend the night although I don't have a clue as to who you are.

I think the myth gets worse as the series progresses. Scully is no fun. Mulder is always gone. There are so many plot holes and new additions that don't add up.

Nevertheless I liked the team work at the train station and I liked watching the super soldier destruct. That was good stuff.

All in all I am surprised at how good season 8 and 9 are as a whole. I think Scully and Mulder were just too good to last or follow up on and all good things must come to an end. Once the main characters fall in love and/or a baby is involved that is a series kiss of death. I am still going to stick it out to the very end!

I just finished the film. I watched it on DVD over a period of a few days. I refused to watch it all at once. I know some will criticize my method of viewing. I also know nobody in my social circle who would watch this with me. Sadly I am not able to talk about with this film with them so I came to this website yet again. I am not one of those people who are going to claim the film a masterpiece and the most amazing film I've ever seen. Nor am I going to be one of those people that call this film a boring self indulgent mess. I can see both sides and I think both opinions have some merit. I like art cinema but I too have limits. I didn't sit through an entire Tarkovsky film at a theater and I found David Lynch's Inland Empire excruciating. But I saw Werkmesiter Harmonies and I was so mesmerized that I had to check out Satantango. The movie is basically a series of beautifully stark and minimal black and white photographs that move. The heavy atmosphere is quite palpable and I appreciated visiting this world where no technology, cars, or plumbing exist (and when you see a static laden TV later in the film you will be startled by it's seemingly alien presence in this film's environment). I liked the score which was alternately eerie, pretty, and even zany. I was impressed by images of tumbling windswept litter, roaming cows in what appears to be an abandoned farm village (perhaps my favorite shot), the gradual emergence and gradual dimming of light, a stark journey by foot into darkness and rain by a character who seems to border on death more than once, and an owl spying on some sleeping newcomers. I also loved the same periods of time being revisited from different points of view. This film was indeed boring in places. Anyone telling you that they were not bored at all during this film is not an ordinary person. For the most part, the long tracking shots and real time pacing create a hypnotic effect or give you a heightened sense of really being in the "here and now" with the film but there were many scenes that were simply mundane (getting dressed, breaking for lunch, packing for a trip) or absurd (long silences with actors simply looking into each others eyes before finally speaking). Finally, I absolutely hated the cat torture scene which lasted much longer than I expected. I almost quit viewing the film as I felt privy to a feline snuff film. The director has told people that the cat did not really die and he actually owns the cat as a pet. Be that as it may, you will still be watching a vulnerable and innocent animal being brutalized for an extended period mind you and I can't abide by that. This part of the story was indeed one of the more fascinating elements but the treatment of this animal for the sake of the film was rather inhumane. I wish more people would criticize this directorial choice but many don't even bring it up. I'm glad I made it through the film. I wanted to test my patience. I wanted to meditate on the images and the unique sense of time. But I can't say that I was moved by the story or it's characters. It was a fascinating exercise for me and nothing more. I enjoyed Werckmeister Harmonies much more and consider it a superior but less ambitious film.

This episode pays great homage to previous episodes and to Mulder and Scully. It actually makes me kind of sad. It's like watching an old friend that is nearing his last breath and he knows it. The monster was pretty good for a minor character. I enjoyed the sudden leaps and it looked great scrambling around the grounds and up the side of the house. It was a fun monster of the week even when I predicted the outcome. Like other X File episodes I see some holes but they are holes nobody really cares about. For example, we don't know a lot about the victims and their relation to the monster. The X Files has been faithful in their throw away plot points. Agent Harris was rather annoying wasn't she? Remember the Chris Farely show from Saturday Night Live? That is who she began sounding like (e.g. "Um remember that time that Mulder and Scully were battling the man eating mutant under the escalator....? How about that time they.....). It is also nice to see Mulder and Doggett finally put their testosterone aside and work as a team especially since Kersh and Krycek are the only two people left to hate. Speaking of which....when is that annoying pretty boy Krycek going to die anyway? I guess the myth arc leaves me with something to hope for. But I digress...

The mythology arc lost steam for me a long time ago. I've grown weary of Scully's melancholia and Mulder's repeated resurrections. Nevertheless, this episode held my interest despite all of that. I am intrigued once more by the "aliens among us" theme and Mulder's medical condition fits into this somehow but apparently we don't know all the answers yet. My biggest disappointment is Mulder himself. After Scully's frequent longing and nightmares about his condition he can only respond to her with smug quips and acts like nothing happened to him at all. And after all the work Doggett did to find Mulder he greets with him with a degree of aggression that seems excessive. I never thought I would see the day where I would grow weary of Mulder and his smug attitude.

The best part was the atmosphere and the performances. I like the tension between the actors and I think Scully and Doggett really shine in their team work. The music was a bit overdone especially in the beginning. I like the atmosphere to creep up on me and not knock me over the head with a soundtrack basically telling me how I should feel.

Now on to the glaring plot problems: (1) the two men in the beginning seem like they are there just to throw us off and our questions never really get answered about them (perhaps it was just a thug and a security officer doing their thing which had nothing to do with the parasitic agent), (2) so this thing dies from tap water, electricity and/or alcohol?, (3) where did the young boy come from and why didn't he speak...was he mute?, (4) would someone really risk infecting a population just so the commuters could get home on time from work?

I loved the set up but hated the numerous distractions that amounted to nothing and the ending seemed a bit abrupt for some reason.

Another reviewer had posted that this episode was boring. The same reviewer, like me, is also watching the X Files on DVD from beginning to end in sequential order. I suspect that this is one of those episodes that held up well when it first came out but hasn't stood the test of time for those like me who are revisiting each episode. Like so many of the arc/mythology episodes the success of this episode seems to rely more on the excitement around the theme rather than anything that actually happens. You know it is bad when you watch Gethsemane and Redux I in a row and see the same scene repeated 4 times (Scully's testimony). Scully testifying again..... Mulder getting out of a pinch somehow yet again.... Implausible occurrences.... plot holes... and too many damn voice overs all with that slow, depressing and monotonous drivel. I am convinced that this episode was great when it first came out on TV and you had to wait a whole week to find out what really happened. Without the element of cliff hanger there isn't much going on here. A lot of it feels like filler.

This is a decent episode but stacks the deck in favor of morbid nastiness and ugliness as opposed to characters we care about or plot twists that surprise and amuse (e.g. Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose). The villain is so spiteful and mean that you will find yourself hating him with every fiber of your being despite the fact that he is a quadruple amputee that you would otherwise feel for. The episode is reminiscent of episodes like Shadows, Born Again, and Roland where someone is hell bent on revenge but seems to be physically unable to do so. There are also a lot of callous deaths reminiscent of episodes like The Calusari and for some reason Excelsius Dei (although in Excelsius it was more about callous attitudes instead of callous deaths). So this is one of the darker episodes. On a deeper level you could see this as a meditation on who is truly responsible for the ravages of war soldiers or a psychological examination into how an individual may convert their experience of loss into a tool of sadism and hatred. Ultimately, I would recommend you set aside your heart and concentrate on your morbid fascinations and desire for good special effects which the X Files is more than happy to satisfy.

So who cares if he slept with someone while Scully was away?! Scully and Mulder are NOT a legitimate couple. Their work comes first and this is the nature of their bond and respect for one another (not to mention why the potentially romantic tension between them works so well). Upon revisiting this episode I liked it better after not seeing it after so many years. I just don't get it entirely. Who was the third? The son is back? How did he escape the morgue? Oh he's not the third.....the strange woman is. Who is she? You have to be a believer and take a life to become a vampire? I also thought having him wait for the girl in her home was a bit silly. I wanted her to be more of a seductive bad ass instead of a poor misunderstood beauty who was just waiting for a man like Mulder to come along and save her. Speaking of damsels in distress. I still have a hard time believing that Scully could be taken. That woman was always a good ass kicker! Macho fantasies abound in the trilogy and in "3".

OK. So what was the fluke man doing in a psychiatric unit? What psychological assessments are they going to give to a creature that only has a human shape but is for all practical purposes- NOT human. If I worked at the mental hospital I wouldn't allow that thing to have a bed assignment or even allow it in through the door. Did it participate in group therapy with the rest of the residents? Did it have jello for dessert? I am willing to suspend my disbelief in all other areas except this one. Like "Stretch" and "Tooms" the idea is to play upon our fear of monsters, fear of the dark, and fear of contamination and filth all at the same time. You know when someone is tip toeing around sewage it will only be a matter of time before he or she falls in on an episode like this. A fun and good gross out episode through and through.