The Grand X-Periment Day 7

10/7/11

18) Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose- Season 3, Episode 4- The third non-mythology entry in my marathon, this one is really the first funny episode of X-Files we get. Although Duchovny is the master of dry humor and snark, Peter Boyle (Young Frankenstein himself) is cranky and hilarious. The premise is that a young man is going around murdering people who profess to be psychic. Peter Boyle is a real psychic who can see how people are going to die.

One aspect I found kind of funny in the whole thing that is never addressed is how Mulder scoffs at the Amazing Yappi (a psychic brought in to produce leads). Yappi makes statements so vague that one of the detectives on the scene is left saying, "I have to put out an APB on a white male, aged 17 to 34, with or without facial hair, who may have a tattoo and is impotent." We all get a good laugh at how silly psychics are (and they are) but no one mentions that FBI psychological profiles (like the ones Mulder does professionally) are just as vague and useless. Not one crime has ever been solved using a profile (is what I learned in grad school) so, really, Mulder shouldn't throw stones.

Another nice bit in this is when Clyde tells our heroes how they are going to die (Mulder: autoerotic asphyxiation, Scully: she won't die at all- cryptic). Yet another thing I like as a consumer of narratives is a nice juicy prophecy. Clyde sees a vision of the killer sneaking up on Mulder and slashing his throat. As we get back around to that moment and see the same footage, it creates a nice feeling of dread. Just an all around stellar episode and one I would probably show to a non-fan if they were tolerant of the Amazing Yappi's overacting.

19) Nisei- Season 3, Episode 9- We literally get back on board the mythology train here with an episode that has finally lost me in terms of how I understand the conspiracy. I tried to watch the first part of the Threads of Mythology documentary that they put in the Myth Box Sets but it seems like they are assuming you have seen the whole show through at least once...which I have not. So, I am saving it for the end.

In this one, yet another downed UFO is recovered in the ocean and the ship plus the pilots are turned over to a team of Japanese scientists who are the equivalent of the Nazi scientists in the Paper Clip episode. They conduct experiments on alien human hybrids and seem like part of the whole conspiracy. Unfortunately, the government seems intent on wiping them out and taking back the merchandise so I have no idea what is going on here. Mulder sees the same damn thing he saw in Fallen Angel (a UFO being hosed off by guys in white suits).

My confusion comes in when we see that the 731 team is using US government secret railroads to travel on but are getting killed by the government also. I think maybe the conspirators are just covering their tracks but it seems rather pointless. Maybe the resolution will clear it up? Sometimes the big picture is hard to keep track of between all the fights and chases.