X-Files Episodes 15-17
2015-Nov-20, Friday 10:52![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dorchadas
Maybe I need an X-Files specific user icon?
Episode 15: Lazarus
I would have liked this episode so much more without the stupid tattoo. They keep bringing up that Willis was obsessed with Dupre, that he had been chasing him for over a year, that the case had been his life...it would have been perfect to keep a little ambiguity and leave the viewer wondering if it was some kind of soul switching or if Willis just had a psychotic break under the stress of being shot by the man he was trying to capture.
But we can't have that! Therefore, body-hopping tattoos.
I think my favorite part was how they did house-to-house checks with the guy disguised as a door-to-door missionary. Bothschoolpsychnerd and I commented on how brilliant that was immediately after it happened. Other than that, and Mulder's surprising lack of gloating at the end, I don't think there was much here that was particularly memorable.
And pro tip, Mulder--maybe Scully would have an easier time believing if you weren't so fucking spooky all the time.
Episode 16: Young at Heart
I think this episode suffered for me for having a magical serial killer. I really hate the magical serial killer trope, even in a show that already has murder ghosts.
It'd be different if the experiments done on Barnett had given him telepathy or super speed or even just the ability to squeeze through tiny spaces like Tooms could--I was okay with it in "Squeeze" because he legitimately had mutant powers--but a salamander hand isn't going to do any of that. It doesn't give you super stealth, it doesn't let you strangle people one-handed, it doesn't make you a super-hacker or give you super information-gathering abilities...ugh.
And then he gets hired on as a piano repairman despite clear vision problems? Maybe he demonstrated that he can perform the job...in the twelve or so hours that he probably had to get hired, get his shifts worked out, and get in place.
No more magical serial killers.
I did like how Dr. Ridley apparently fucked off to go work for the Karotechia for a while. They'd certainly be interested in his research. I mean, Galt doesn't need it and it's too late for Frank, but Bitterich would certainly be willing to hack off a couple body parts and put salamander limbs there as long as it doesn't impede his ability as a mathematician.
(shoutout to The Unspeakable Oath for the nomenclature!)
Also I would have appreciated some kind of twist, but as soon as I saw the flashback and I knew that they'd set up a scenario where Mulder took the shot this time. And yeah, spoilers make you like media more, but I'm not sure if heavy-handed foreshadowing falls into that category.
Episode 17: E.B.E.
Alright, another MOON DUST operation!
...or so I said when this started. The truth is, I think it suffers for being entirely setup. There's a lot of chats with Deep Throat, a lot of MAJESTIC using semis to haul greys around the country, and tepid revelations like that there's a multi-country agreement to murder any aliens who survive a crash. And we wonder why they want to conquer the Earth. Though I'm curious how that squares with "Fallen Angel" where we learn that humanity have the ability to stop the aliens, so why would they let their own die?
It's a bit like Signs where I have to start speculating about what the hell they're thinking. Like, the aliens there clearly have some kind of adulthood initiation ritual where they go down to the acid planet and kidnap the fauna to be accepted into society, which is why they show up naked and weaponless--if they came in sealed environment suits with energy weapons, it would prove they weren't ready for adult responsibilities[1]. Maybe the greys think that anyone stupid enough to to be shot down by a pre-interplanetary civilization deserves what they get?
Deep Throat can't be trusted! Maybe not to the point of deliberately setting Mulder up to act as a disinformation campaign like I originally thought, but enough that he's willing to try to set him on a wild goose change. And Scully was right! Sometimes you shouldn't jump straight to the crazy explanation.
schoolpsychnerd was excited when the Lone Gunmen showed up, and even more when I told her that the X-Files Files episode about "E.B.E." has Dean Haglund of said gunmen as the guest. It doesn't mean anything to me, but it's a good podcast.
[1]: Another explanation I've heard for the way aliens behave in Signs is "they're demons," which fits all the religious allegory but isn't that exciting.
Episode 15: Lazarus
I would have liked this episode so much more without the stupid tattoo. They keep bringing up that Willis was obsessed with Dupre, that he had been chasing him for over a year, that the case had been his life...it would have been perfect to keep a little ambiguity and leave the viewer wondering if it was some kind of soul switching or if Willis just had a psychotic break under the stress of being shot by the man he was trying to capture.
But we can't have that! Therefore, body-hopping tattoos.
I think my favorite part was how they did house-to-house checks with the guy disguised as a door-to-door missionary. Both
schoolpsychnerd and I commented on how brilliant that was immediately after it happened. Other than that, and Mulder's surprising lack of gloating at the end, I don't think there was much here that was particularly memorable. And pro tip, Mulder--maybe Scully would have an easier time believing if you weren't so fucking spooky all the time.
Episode 16: Young at Heart
I think this episode suffered for me for having a magical serial killer. I really hate the magical serial killer trope, even in a show that already has murder ghosts.
It'd be different if the experiments done on Barnett had given him telepathy or super speed or even just the ability to squeeze through tiny spaces like Tooms could--I was okay with it in "Squeeze" because he legitimately had mutant powers--but a salamander hand isn't going to do any of that. It doesn't give you super stealth, it doesn't let you strangle people one-handed, it doesn't make you a super-hacker or give you super information-gathering abilities...ugh.
And then he gets hired on as a piano repairman despite clear vision problems? Maybe he demonstrated that he can perform the job...in the twelve or so hours that he probably had to get hired, get his shifts worked out, and get in place.
No more magical serial killers.
I did like how Dr. Ridley apparently fucked off to go work for the Karotechia for a while. They'd certainly be interested in his research. I mean, Galt doesn't need it and it's too late for Frank, but Bitterich would certainly be willing to hack off a couple body parts and put salamander limbs there as long as it doesn't impede his ability as a mathematician.
(shoutout to The Unspeakable Oath for the nomenclature!)
Also I would have appreciated some kind of twist, but as soon as I saw the flashback and I knew that they'd set up a scenario where Mulder took the shot this time. And yeah, spoilers make you like media more, but I'm not sure if heavy-handed foreshadowing falls into that category.
Episode 17: E.B.E.
Alright, another MOON DUST operation!
...or so I said when this started. The truth is, I think it suffers for being entirely setup. There's a lot of chats with Deep Throat, a lot of MAJESTIC using semis to haul greys around the country, and tepid revelations like that there's a multi-country agreement to murder any aliens who survive a crash. And we wonder why they want to conquer the Earth. Though I'm curious how that squares with "Fallen Angel" where we learn that humanity have the ability to stop the aliens, so why would they let their own die?
It's a bit like Signs where I have to start speculating about what the hell they're thinking. Like, the aliens there clearly have some kind of adulthood initiation ritual where they go down to the acid planet and kidnap the fauna to be accepted into society, which is why they show up naked and weaponless--if they came in sealed environment suits with energy weapons, it would prove they weren't ready for adult responsibilities[1]. Maybe the greys think that anyone stupid enough to to be shot down by a pre-interplanetary civilization deserves what they get?
Deep Throat can't be trusted! Maybe not to the point of deliberately setting Mulder up to act as a disinformation campaign like I originally thought, but enough that he's willing to try to set him on a wild goose change. And Scully was right! Sometimes you shouldn't jump straight to the crazy explanation.
"The truth is out there, but so are lies!"If nothing else, "E.B.E." sets the mood that there are things going on out there that we have no idea about, right under our noses.
schoolpsychnerd was excited when the Lone Gunmen showed up, and even more when I told her that the X-Files Files episode about "E.B.E." has Dean Haglund of said gunmen as the guest. It doesn't mean anything to me, but it's a good podcast. [1]: Another explanation I've heard for the way aliens behave in Signs is "they're demons," which fits all the religious allegory but isn't that exciting.
