The X-Files Reopened! - Mulder & Scully Meet the Were-Monster

The Joy of "X"

Ah, the joy of "X" or the X-Files I should say.  For episode three entitled, "Where Mulder & Scully Meet the Were-Monster" we were treated to the X-Files at it's kinkiest, humorous best.

What a joy indeed.  

As it ended I reminded we are at the midway point of this miniseries and my joy was tempered by the fact there are only three episodes left.

Nooo!

This is the episode where the X-Files revival really hit it's stride.  I've noticed on the web it's been fashionable to criticize Chris Carter for the slow start for season 10.  Now that Darin Morgan has delivered this gem I'm sure that criticism will actually continue.  "Why so late X-Files?"

Let's remember folks, there would be no X-Files without Chris Carter.

This episode was so replete with frivolity and merriment I scarcely know where to start.   But I tell you what, despite all the hilarity there was a touch of sadness.  It came from the endless search into what it is to be human.  How comfortable we are in our our own skin with all it's vulnerability and the existential crises we face on a daily basis.

 

First and foremost we have the sad tale of one Fox Mulder who went to great lengths to poke holes in his own belief system.  The poor man was definitely suffering from a crisis of faith.

One X-File after another was tossed to floor as Mulder elucidated the futility of his life long pursuit.   From Big Foot to Nessie to the Moth Man and beyond.  All had a rational explanations.   
Fortunately, there is nothing like another monster to snap Mulder out of his despair.


Oh the Humanity

Like manna from heaven we are introduced to Guy.  Whom, after painstaking research, I've identified at a "T.O.A.D.I.E" or "Totally Original Amphibio-reptilian Dude of Indeterminate Existence." (Look it up.)

Guy, in all his Kolchak like glory, is the perfect elixir to Mulder's  existential malaise.

Here we have a creature who is perfectly happy in his own skin.

It's when he has to inhabit the skin of a human when things go awry.  The daily grind of humanity is anathema to him.  From mortgages, to jobs, pets and sex.   Poor Mulder grinds against the tide of unmet expectations while Guy gambols in a life free of them.  

Like Guy, Annabelle, our trans-gender truck stop girl, also breathes life into an existence she is now happy with.  She too has shed her previous skin and now lives a life she is comfortable with.

(Oh, and I'm declaring victory in the age old war of Boxers versus Briefs.    If Guy, Annabelle and Fox Mulder all are brothers in briefs then the guys with the tighties win.)

The object lesson this episode provides in these two creatures exemplifies what is is to be truly human.   If we could only just learn to shed the burdens of life that we have chained ourselves with, we'd be happier people.

Skin Deep

This episode went to great lengths in exploring how we, as humans, are vulnerable in our own skin.

From the naked Guy in the glen.

 To the sleeping Scully.

 To Mulder in repose.

The only one truly free from intrusion (like that from the creepy motel clerk) was Guy.  It was an interesting study that in our nakedness or near nakedness how vulnerable we really are.  Despite being at the top of the food chain we are just like other animals that could easily fall prey to some predator.


The Animal Collective

We are custodians of our world and responsible to both man and beast.  

So I found it interesting that we could examine our humanity from the perspective of our animal brethren.

As noted by the many animal trophies in the motel, we are not doing a very good job.

If we could only inhabit the skin of our animal brothers (Fox as a fox, see that?) we could perhaps gain new perspective into our own existence by how badly we care for the animals around us.

 

Make note the real killer in our story is one that first preyed on the small and weak and eventually turned to humans as he matured.

 

Our T.O.A.D.I.E. friend Guy Mann knew the value of animal/human bonding.  Pity it was lost when Guy shed his original skin and Daggoo ran away.

Daggoo!

Hopefully our furry friend will find the right home with Scully.


To Die, To Sleep, Perchance to Dream

 

To escape the crushing weight of humanity poor Guy Mann chose not to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune  and sought solace in death to end the heartache and the thousand natural shocks the flesh (skin?) is heir to.  What a sad testimony to the human condition that was.

Is there happiness to be found?

 
Yes.

Thankfully for Mulder at least there is.  It took a once in 10,000 year event to do it.  Dreams can come true.  Perseverance is it's own reward.  Futility is not the ultimate barrier.

To thy own self be true!

Happily there are more things in heaven and earth that can be dreamt of in our philosophy!

This episode proved to be a terrific allegory for the burden of human existence.  But more than that it provided a lesson in the triumph of the human spirit.  Now with his faith renewed Mulder can venture forth into that vast undiscovered country from whose bourn no traveller returns.  

Well, unless you're Mulder and Scully and we all know she'll always come back because she's immortal.

I'll drink to that!

  

 No "Odds and Ends" for this entry.  That's be coming up soon.  Publish or perish baby!