“The X-Files” has returned to FOX. Join Mieke Zamora-Mackay as she recaps episode three, “Mulder and Scully Meet the Were-Monster.”
Being back on the job is proving to be uneventful for Mulder. It seems that all the mysteries he’d sought to figure out while working on the X-files have been solved or reasonably explained during his absence. Until they get the call about some mysterious murders in the forests of the Pacific Northwest, where they encounter what seems to be a giant lizard-monster. A “were-lizard” … well, actually “were-man” is the more apt made-up word.
It turns out that the monster of the week, Guy Mann, was actually a lizard living peacefully in the woods. After being bitten by a human, he curiously transforms into a human during the daytime, and returns to his true form at night. As a human, he finds himself compelled to do what humans perceive they need to do: find a job and hate it, drink coffee, and feel unconditional love from a pet. Guy hates being a human.
The murders attributed to Guy are actually being committed by a human serial killer. He just seems to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
This episode is one of the most meta-type episodes the show has ever had. Through out the episode, the show self-references Scully’s ability to explain away any of Mulder’s monster theories, Mulder’s penchant for red underwear (harkening back to his red Speedos in one of the early episodes in season two), even Mulder’s own ringtone is “The X-Files” theme song. The show even paid tribute to some of its producers and directors, the late Kim Manners and Jack Hardy, in the cemetery scene.
I enjoyed this episode a lot. It flowed very much like a traditional Monster-of-the-Week episode. It was funny and light-hearted. A welcome reprieve from the rather dour first two episodes. Mulder’s mojo is back, and Scully’s dedication to hard scientific facts is still in tact. The aging of the characters is bothering me though. I keep wondering why it’s necessary to make Mulder look wrinklier and paunchier than David Duchovny actually looks in real life. Same goes for Gillian Anderson, as Scully, her forehead lines seem deeper and more pronounced. It keeps pulling me out of the story, making me wonder whether these are hints of a plot twist in the end of the season.
We’re now halfway through the new season, and I’m wondering how the mytharc will be tied together in the end. Will Mulder and Scully reunite? Will they find their son? Will they live happily ever after? Is the truth really still out there? Will they find it?
This was my favorite episode of everything so far for 2016