Season 3, Episode 21
Director: James Charleston
Writer: Howard Gordon (Based on a Story by David Duchovny and Howard Gordon)

So, the story goes something like this: David Duchovny became weary of the persistent expectations of him to carry the brunt of the series. So, given Assistant Director Walter Skinner’s (Mitch Pileggi) growing popularity with fans, Duchovny recommended an episode that focused on Skinner, someone we actually know very little about as a character. Thus, “Avatar” was born, although completely lacking any of James Cameron’s giant blue people. As an exploration into Skinner’s character, the episode offers more detail on the man but is also still maddeningly opaque in terms of character details. Ultimately, the end result is a mediocre episode that doesn’t really forward anything memorable, despite offering a nifty 70s horror allusion.

Surprisingly, Skinner is a married man at the beginning of the episode. We know this because he’s in the process of signing the final divorce papers as we open. Reluctant to finalize the deal, Skinner retreats to a bar where an attractive blonde comes on to him. Sealing the deal upstairs, Skinner falls asleep and dreams of an old woman on top of him in bed. He screams and awakens to find the blonde dead, her head twisted all the way around. Mulder and Scully are naturally drawn into the investigation and begin to explore the case, finding damning evidence against Skinner along the way. Scully performs an autopsy on the dead woman, who turns out to be a prostitute, and finds a mysterious phosphorescent glow around her nose and lips.

Meanwhile, Skinner repeatedly sees the old woman of his dreams standing nearby in a red coat. Mulder hypothesizes that Skinner has become attached to a succubus, an old woman who viciously attacks any woman in direct competition for her man. In the end, Mulder and Scully determine that Skinner appears to have been set up, but the who and the why are never clear. Skinner kills the man operating against him in the end and effectively tells Mulder the rationale is none of his business. We close with Skinner putting on his wedding ring, recommitted to his wife.

My number one complaint with this episode is that I have no idea what ultimately happened. Skinner claims to have seen the red coated-woman in Vietnam, so was she really a succubus as Mulder speculated? Was she a figment of Skinner’s drug-addled Vietnam brain? Is this a really bad case of PTSD? What was the phosphorescent substance around the prostitute’s mouth? Was it a sedative to knock Skinner out so that someone could come in and kill her? What was the point of the overall plot? Was it really to discredit Skinner with the ultimate rationale to discredit the X-files? If so (and it certainly seemed that way since the Smoking Man was seen spying on him), then it feels like an incredibly elaborate scheme. There are undoubtedly a dozen additional unanswered questions that detract from the other benefits of the episode.

On the plus side, this episode is a strong opportunity for Mitch Pileggi to make a stronger impression than he has through the series. The point is to crack the secretive shell that Skinner has formed around him, and they are successful at giving Skinner some additional coloring. You experience his touching and troubled relationship with his wife. You see him open up to Mulder about his days in Vietnam. These are two valuable aspects of his personal life that help us understand more about the man that has become such an important part of the series. Another positive about this episode is the horror-geek cred of employing the red coat conceit, lifted straight from 1973’s Don’t Look Now. True, it’s just a sneaky allusion and has little overall meaning or resonance in the episode, but it’s still super cool.

Overall, “Avatar” is well intended but a little flat. The introduction of the old woman in the red coat ultimately feels like an extraneous plot point, tossed in to spice up a Skinner-centric episode with some supernatural flair.

And thank God there were no blue people.

Season 3, Episode 20
Director: Rob Bowman
Writer: Darin Morgan

I thought about starting this piece off by writing something (admittedly pretentious) like “Memory is a fluid and elusive thing.” Then, I thought better of it given The X-Files episode I was writing about – “Jose Chung’s From Outer Space,” an excellent oddity that quickly ranks as one of my very favorite episodes of the entire series. A comic take on the overall series mythology story line, “Chung” parodies and yet idolizes all the hallmarks of the series: Scully’s persistent skepticism, Mulder’s unwavering belief, government conspiracies, and aliens. Yes, lots of aliens. It’s a brilliant episode – one that is so great that even non-fans of the series should watch it just to absorb the brilliant writing used here.

The episode revolves around two teenagers – Chrissy and Harold – who may or may not have been double abducted by aliens. Sounds strange, I know, but it’s really the tip of the iceberg here. The prologue shows the typical alien abduction setup: the two teens are riding down a dark country road when their car suddenly dies. A bright light appears from the sky, and two classic aliens (grey skin, skinny body, massive head and eyes) appear from nowhere. The teens seem to pass out but remain slightly conscious as the aliens drag them from their car. Then, and this is where it gets weird, a second alien appears, beamed down from a second spaceship, and seems to bark orders at the other two confused aliens – one of whom refers to the other as “Jack.” The rest of the episode is framed by Jose Chung’s (Charles Nelson Reilly, shockingly good) attempts to whip diverging and contradictory versions of this story and its aftermath into “a non-fiction science fiction novel.” The parade of characters that follows illustrate something of a kitchen sink approach to writing. Everyone has a quirk. Everyone has a version of the story. Nothing makes sense. And it’s fantastic. That’s all I’m going to say about the basic plot. It’s too good to spoil.

The brilliance of the episode lies within is exploration of eccentricities and what ultimately appears to be another government conspiracy. Yet, rather than make another routine government story line, the writer of “Jose Chung” chose to tell it with a sense of humor of which there is an abundance on display. The local sheriff who curses freely but is re-told using words like “blippity” and “blinging.” Aliens who smoke and speak English. Alien autopsy videos. The abductee wannabee who eerily resembles Buster from Arrested Development. Mulder’s love of sweet potato pie. The “men in black” played by Jesse Ventura and Alex Trebek. The frequent references to classic sci-fi like Star Wars, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, and Communion. The script is so ripe with science fiction love and a playful attitude that it’s impossible not to love it.

And that’s all I’m going to say about “Jose Chung’s From Outer Space.” If you’re following my series, then you’re likely already a fan of The X-Files and know what I’m talking about. But if by some miracle you’ve never seen this episode, then please stop reading this right now, log into Netflix, and watch it. Hell, even if you’ve seen it before, watch it again. It’s a fantastic hour of television, and the perfect example of the brilliance that occasionally touches The X-Files.

The only danger in producing an episode like this is that viewers may never look at The X-Files the same way again.

Season 3, Episode 19
Director: Tucker Gates
Writer: Jeffrey Vlaming

The X-Files takes a break from the supernatural in “Hell Money,” an episode where the rich literally prey on the internal organs of the poor. While the episode feels fairly generic according to today’s standards (it takes on the feeling of a potential C.S.I. San Francisco episode), it doesn’t really qualify as an X-file, per se, since there was no unexplained event involved in the wrap-up of the plot. Still, “Hell Money” is a quality entry in the series thanks to its frequent usage of stark Chinese imagery and the opportunity to showcase three very strong Chinese-American actors.

Mulder and Scully arrive in San Francisco to investigate the latest in a West Coast-trend of Chinese men burned alive in funeral home crematoriums. They partner with SFPD detective Glen Chao (B.D. Wong) to explore the recent victim’s past, finding many Chinese characters referring to “ghosts” and a partially burned scraps of paper called “hell money” which is used to ward off spirits. Running in parallel to this story is the story of another Chinese immigrant Hsin who cares for his leukemia-suffering daughter, Kim (Lucy Liu). He becomes involved in the central gimmick of the episode – a lottery of sorts where participants pay money into a pot and a name is drawn. The individual who draws the name must draw again with the hope of winning the pot instead of selecting a token that indicates the body part he will lose.

As the investigation proceeds, Chao is revealed to be something of a double agent, helping Mulder and Scully while protecting the lottery at the same time. Conflicted, Chao enters the facility where the lottery takes place and reveals the entire thing to be a massive scam. Mulder and Scully follow and arrive just in time to stop the orchestrator of the game/chief surgeon (James Hong) from taking Hsin’s heart. They arrest him, but no one will testify against him. Chao goes missing and is seen at the end of the episode being burned alive in a crematorium, punishment for his crimes against the Chinese mafia.

Again, “Hell Money” doesn’t contain any of the standard X-Files supernatural / alien elements, which works at times. Aside from the minor complaint that the case doesn’t really qualify as an X-file, it’s an effective turn to have more realistic events serve as the source of horror rather than the more improbable. The immersion in the Chinese culture, art, and imagery also makes an effective diversion from the norm of the series. The real success of the episode, though, is the exploration of the wealthy literally taking the heart and soul of the poor, highlighted by Liu’s heartfelt and emotional subplot. These are the kinds of detours from the supernatural that are effective and welcomed from time to time.

One of the most unsettling aspects of the episode comes at the end when Wong, a relatively big name at the time thanks to his brief appearance in Jurassic Park, is burned alive. Granted, it’s not an iconic character of the series, but it’s the kind of late-inning surprise the show should take more often.

Season 3, Episode 18
Director: Kim Manners
Writer: John Shiban

First lesson of… well… of anything, really, is that archeological excavations in the horror / supernatural genres never dig up anything happy.

Raiders of the Lost Ark. The Exorcist. Even The Ruins to an extent. Nothing good there. Seemingly a great idea on the surface, The X-Files ventures into that territory with “Teso Dos Bichos,” a title that I thought meant “three bitches” thanks to my rudimentary grasp of the Spanish language. Unfortunately, the episode focuses on silly cliches and an unfocused storyline rather than the eerie archeological dig. By the end, “Teso Dos Bichos” devolves into the television equivalent of a hairball – best coughed out and swept away.

The opening sequence features one such archeological dig in South America where a team uncovers the remains of a burial urn that contains the sacred remains of an Amaru – a female shaman. After the urn is removed despite the locals’ objections, the leader of the expedition is mauled by what is later referred to as a mysterious jaguar spirit. Flash forward to Boston where an archeologist working in a history museum goes missing leaving behind a pool of blood in his office, an office which just so happens to contain the same urn from the prologue. Mulder and Scully investigate and are pointed to Dr. Bilac (Vic Trevino) who worked on the original dig. After questioning him and finding Bilac suspicious, Mulder and Scully continue their investigation, and the Boston museum’s curator, Dr. Lewton (Tom McBeath), is mauled by the same jaguar spirit. They later find an elegant array of Lewton’s intestines hanging from a nearby tree, draped over a branch like a crimson snake.

Back in the museum, a graduate student seemingly involved with Bilac hears a noise in the women’s restroom and is attacked by a toilet full of rats. Mulder and Scully investigate the museum and find Bilac cowering in the same bathroom stall, telling Mulder that the graduate student has died. Questioning from Mulder and Scully reveals nothing (Bilac claims a spirit is attacking them while Scully thinks he’s high), and Bilac manages to disappear from a seemingly fool-proof holding room. Following a trail into the labyrinthine steam tunnels that exist beneath the museum, Mulder and Scully find a stash of recently missing and mauled bodies (including Bilac’s) and are comically attacked by dozens of really pissed off cats. They escape, and the Amaru’s remains are returned to South America where they are reburied over the watchful – and catlike – eyes of a local shaman.

“Teso Dos Bichos” has a ridiculous concept with ridiculous execution and must have been exceedingly difficult to film with a straight face. The “hunting camera” effects of much of the episode – meant to represent the killer jaguar spirit – are effectively creepy and unsettling. That is the episode’s best aspect hands down. The rest is mostly garbage because it lacks a defined villain or relatable force on which to focus. The human aspects are a letdown and rather boring because the characters aren’t very well conceived, and the bodies start piling up before we really even start to care. Finally, the episode ends with a completely ridiculous cat sequence where Gillian Anderson has to fake being attacked by a cat, and cats are seen trying to claw their way through a wooden door a la Jack Nicholson in The Shining.

“HEEEERRREEEE’S TOONCES!”

Sorry, don’t mean to be catty… Couldn’t resist that one.