Insane, aware of itself, and hilariously self deprecating, Mulder & Scully Meet The Were-Monster is an X-Files fan’s holy grail, and proves the series deserves a renewed run beyond the current miniseries.
SPOILERSÂ INCOMING
Where do I start? Last night’s episode of The X-Files was a glorious and triumphant return to the series’ classic monster-of-the-week format. For the unaware or too young to remember, about half of the original X-Files series focused on the conspiracy storyline (the capital M Mythology), while the remainder tackled other paranormal topics — usually, a monster of some kind. Mulder & Scully Meet The Were-Monster embraces the most endearing aspects of classic episodes like Clyde Bruckman’s Final Repose and José Chung’s From Outer Space while unapologetically poking fun at the series itself. This is The X-Files at its absolute best, and is some of the finest television I’ve seen in several years.
The story begins with paint huffing in rural Oregon. A couple of gold-faced stoners are admiring the night time scene, when suddenly(!) they see scaled and horned creature attacking a man. The creature takes off into the woods, leaving the man (an Animal Control Officer called Pasha) shaken but largely uninjured.
Back in the X-Files office, Mulder is having a crisis of faith. He’s been poring over hundreds of case files that have piled up during their absence from the FBI. As it turns out, a lot of them have been explained by perfectly ordinary circumstances. It’s causing Mulder a great deal of distress: does he really want to spend his life chasing wild Geese? Scully introduces the lizard-man case to Mulder and he reluctantly agrees to investigate, if only for the opportunity to save a few lives.
As the pair check out the crime scene, we get a fun bit of Mulder playing the skeptic. He’s not even slightly swayed by the consistency of the wounds, the fact that one victim is naked, or any other possibly paranormal clues, and watching that role reversal makes for an interesting bit of storytelling. I also chuckled at Mulder’s annoyance that no one got a picture of the beast, since he and Scully spent 9 years investigating the paranormal, and never took a photo.
Later that evening, the creature attacks a transgender lady of the evening at a truck stop. Mulder and Scully of course investigate, and interview the witness who states that the FBI drawing looks nothing like the creature, which had 2 eyes, not 3. Pasha the Animal Control guy also shows up, looking for a small dog and providing some comic relief. Mulder also goes absolutely nuts with his phone camera documenting the search for the creature, and it’s nothing short of hilarious. While Pasha and Mulder try to figure out his camera app, they’re blindsided by the monster and knocked about. Scully rushes over to help the temporarily stunned Mulder. Pasha states that he quits, and drops his hat like it’s a microphone.
But the dynamic duo catch sight of the beast and chase it into a portapotty, only to find a very surprised New Zealander (Rhys Davies – Murray from Flight of the Conchords) attempting to do his business. As Mulder and Scully depart confused, the suspicious man exits the john and we see horns disappear from the back of his head. The whole sequence is very directly poking fun at the old monster-of-the-week formula (to great effect), but still manages to implement that very formula successfully. It’s a brilliant piece of storycraft, and I was grinning like an idiot the whole time.
As Scully attempts to autopsy a fresh victim, Mulder is trying to make sense of his photos. None of them are in focus or of much obvious value, but Mulder’s interest in ‘wanting to believe’ has clearly been renewed by the experience. Of note is Mulder’s video of the creature, which is just a selfie of him screaming. “It’s a new app” he quips. Scully looks to be having a great time, and says what the audience is undoubtedly thinking: “I forgot how fun these cases can be.”
At a classically shady motel, Mulder is awakened by someone screaming about a monster. As it turns out, the motel owner has a network of tunnels to spy on the patrons (queue flashback of creepy old guy watching Mulder sleep above the covers in some VERY red underpants), and he observed the monster in one of the rooms. He saw a man turn into the monster, and trash the room screaming “this will be the last time”. Mulder investigates the room in question, and finds a prescription for an anti-psychotic medication made out to Guy Mann.
Mulder brings the new evidence to Scully in a fantastic scene. Mulder shows his new evidence and runs through the whole conversation the two would typically have in such a situation, answering the questions Scully presumably has about the situation. Scully smiles and lets him finish his rant – the chemistry between these two is still electric – before telling him he’s “bat crap crazy”.
From there, the path is clear, visit the doc who wrote the prescription. Mulder does so, and has a very weird conversation with the psychiatrist in a brilliantly acted scene. The stand out clue? The doc told our monster (Guy) to go walk in the cemetery when he was feeling an episode coming on.
We’re racing towards the climax now, and Mulder finds Guy in human form at the cemetery. The story takes an abrupt turn as the ‘monster’ explains the situation in ridiculous fashion. The details are absurd even to Mulder, but Rhys Davies’ comedic timing and pacing is absolutely on point, nailing each point for maximum effect. He claims to have always been a monster, who then suddenly transformed into a human and began to pick up human traits like desiring steady employment and lying about his sex life (at one point, he describes a sexual encounter with Scully that he wishes had happened). Classic comedic bait and switch happens several times during the conversation, with laugh out loud results, and I won’t spoil them for you. Mulder desperately wants to believe Guy, but is also hoping for a confession. He’s conflicted in a way we haven’t typically seen, but it adds additional depth to his already complex character.
With no more leads, Mulder decides to get hammered. He takes a nap, and is awoken by his phone playing the X-Files theme (NICE touch). Mulder tells Scully his tale while sadly deleting his photos on his phone. Scully is at the Animal Shelter waiting to interview Pasha, and while on the phone, Pasha sneaks up on Scully and ambushes her – it’s the classic monster-of-the-week Scully’s-in-trouble scenario! Mulder races to the scene of the crime.
By the time he gets there, Scully has the suspect in cuffs. What? The bait and switch continues here as Scully is able to fight for herself! When Mulder was on his own quest, Scully had discovered signs of strangulation on the murder victims that matched the animal control pole-device, and that the bite marks were post mortem. Mulder rushes out the door with his mind working overtime – was Guy telling the truth? Scully, missing Queequeg, sneakily takes the puppy she’d been admiring.
Back in the woods, Mulder finds Guy stripping down to return to the woods. It’s time for his kind to hibernate for 10000 years. Mulder says that’s impossible, and Guy accuses him of not believing again. Mulder pauses, and dramatically states “I want to believe.” Satisfied, Guy and Mulder shake hands, glad to have met each other. The look of wonder on Mulder’s face as Guy scampers into the woods indicates his renewed belief in the paranormal.
This is an incredible hour of television. The pacing is perfect, the comedic elements are natural, and Mulder and Scully have settled back into their roles nicely. I’d rank this right up there with the very best silly episodes in X-Files history. Viewership willing, Fox would be nuts to ignore the undeniable excellence in filmmaking on display in the X-Files revival. Give us a full season of this!
Paul will recap each week’s episode of The X-Files – so stay tuned right here for more. Be sure to also check out our recent recaps of Arrow, Legends of Tomorrow, and The Flash!