"SKumm’s Thoughts" - X-FILES: WEEK III

"SKumm’s Thoughts"

X-FILES:  WEEK III

“The X Files” (FOX, 1993, 9 Seasons)

SEASON 4, 1995

Season 4 had an auspicious start to it.  Actually, it was downright depressing at times.  It got dark, emotional, and, in some instances, uncomfortable... just because it seemed like Carter & Co. were trying really hard to get everyone that wasn’t watching to pay attention.

Episode 1: Herronvolk

A disappointing start to the new season, really.  Sure, it’s action packed—that indestructible alien bounty hunter is still on the loose, there’s DEATH BY BEES (shudder), weird “Village of the Damned” kids, and kind of a pivotal moment for Scully.  But the end… hey, at least they followed it up with:

Episode 2: Home

This episode should be taught to screenwriters, actors, directors, lighting technicians, hell—make the damn gaffers watch it, too.  Seriously one of the most intense, not to mention creepiest, forty minutes of television ever created.  Controversial at the time, and hardly touched by any other copy-cat TV show since, this tale of small town inbreeding elicits too many emotions to keep track of.  And you will never listen to Johnny Mathis’s “Wonderful, Wonderful” the same way ever again. One of the most important non-alien episodes you could watch.  (Digital Drawback: Deputy Voice-over)

Episode 4: Unruhe

Veteran character actor Pruitt Taylor Vince plays “Gerry”, a creepy bastard with shifty eyes.  He was the ability to alter photographs, clues which Mulder has to decipher to rescue Scully.  Seems Gerry likes to kill pretty women… like I said, “creepy bastard”…

Episode 5: The Field In Which I Died

Like the season hasn’t been depressing enough: now we get to see Mulder cry, Scully yell at him, past life regression vs. multiple personality disorder, the World’s Worst Kool Aide, and a creepy cult leader with six wives.  Hell, gotta hand it to him—I couldn’t handle one, and he’s got six of ‘em?!?

Episode 7: Musings of a Cigarette Smoking Man

ALMOST everything you ever wanted to know about The Cancer Man.  Get a forty-minute peek into the brain of The X-Files biggest enemy, and learn why he ultimately has a thing for the Little Green Men.  The historical references make you hate him, but the rationale which drives him makes him (sadly) more human.  But it’s okay to still hate him… (Digital Drawback: seriously, other smokers on the show INHALE, pansy…)

Episode 8 & 9: Tunguska/Terma

He’s baAack!  Krycek resurfaces (wait, wasn’t he locked up in a missile silo with a space ship?!?), leading Mulder to a meteorite with that icky alien goo in it.  Lives are at stake.  There’s a gulag.  But on a high note, it also happens to be Abuse Alex Krycek Week! FOR TWO WEEKS!!

Episode 12: Leonard Betts

Important because an E.M.T. made of cancer (really, it happens) who has an awesome knack for diagnosing people with cancer (commonplace, really) lets Scully in on a little secret.  Far be it from me to reveal any spoilers here, though… but he doesn’t tell her she has The Clap…

Episode 13: Never Again

Mulder channels The King, and Scully bumps uglies with a tattooed killer.  Seriously.

Episode 14: Memento Mori

Okay, important episode.  Key words: cancer, multiples, The Cancer Man, mommies, and The Lone Gunmen.  Think that about covers it.

Episode 16: Unrequited

MOTW, in the form of a wrathful Vietnam Veteran who can become invisible.  This episode featured the Vietnam War Memorial, and a biting satire on how the U.S. has a history of treating its heroes badly.  One of the faster paced procedurals, with just a hint of conspiracy. (Digital Drawback: The Batman Goatee)

Episodes 17 & 18: Tempus Fugit/Max

Multiple Abductee Max is back—well, kinda.  Only this time, the poor epileptic RV dweller from the tenth episode from the first season gets sucked out of an airplane instead of a motor home.  Bad news for all the other passengers… plus, the military cover-up is in full gear.  (Digital Drawback: are you really trying to outrun a Hummer on the beach... ?)

Episode 23: Demons

What do three suicidal abductees, amnesia, and a Mulder with other people’s blood on his shirt add up to?  Weirdness.  (Digital Drawback: Scully absolutely cannot park a car.)

Episode 24: Gethsemane

Yes bartender, I’d like an alien, chilled.  An alien on the rocks?  How about an ETcicle? A scientist discovers an extraterrestrial frozen in Canada, Scully gets bullied, and the season ends on a slightly familiar note: MULDER IS DEAD.  HOW THE HELL WILL THEY GET OUTTA THIS ONE?!?  WHY DO I HAVE TO WAIT UNTIL NEXT SEPTEMBER TO FIND OUT?!?!!! (oh, yeah, Netflix…)

T.S. Kummelman