'The X-Files' Season 11, Episode 5: 'Ghouli'

As the episode opens, we see two girls playing an odd variation of "hide and seek".  They're on a decrepit old ship that seems tailor made for monsters or serial killers to lurk and they inquire as to whether the other is "ghouli".

It instantly gives off a "Slender Man" vibe, somewhat mirroring that tragic incident where a girl was "sacrificed" to the internet phenomenon.  The episode's opening scenes further reinforce this, having "Ghouli" be an internet monster meme with plenty of fanfiction behind it.  There was an interesting twist in that the girls weren't so much attempting a sacrifice as trying to defend themselves.

While a part of me would have liked to see the investigation into this monster play out, the episode decides to do something different.  It could, arguably, be for the better as I could have sworn that this show already did its spin on Slendy.  I know that "Supernatural" did, and like that show, this one makes a point to say that, even in worlds inhabited by all sorts of monsters and bizarre occurrences, this thing isn't real.

Instead, the episode decides to build more on emotional connections.  It's even somewhat foreshadowed by Mulder's lament that modern monsters don't have any pathos to them. 

It turns out that the "monster" in this case has a rather personal connection to our agents, as it is none other than William. 

It was a bit strange seeing Scully immediately jump to the conclusion that "Jackson" was William, but she turned out to be right, so good on her.  This assumption also gives us one of the episode's highlights, as Dana has a confession of sorts with Jackson's corpse.  She apologizes and lets him know that she gave him up, not due to lack of love, but a desire to see him safe.  Anderson does a stellar job with the scene. 

It's a good thing that the scene is there, because we don't really have a connection to William. He's mentioned occasionally as an afterthought, but while Dana says that she never forgot about him, I have a feeling that viewers certainly have on occasion.

This is William's first real debut into the story proper and it has its problems.  In addition to being a somewhat new character, the direction the episode goes with him doesn't exactly elicit sympathy.  He has one or two nice scenes, but his "game" is a tough pill to swallow.

The grisly opening scene is explained as a prank gone wrong.  William admits that it was an elaborate "Boo!" deal, but even that makes little sense.  Why bring his two girlfriends to the same place?  If he can make people see or hear what they want, why not just have them think they see the monster with no person in its stead.  That way, even if they do grab a knife and start swinging, they only hit thin air.  The episode brushes it aside, with even the two girls who were nearly killed as a result not really giving him much grief over it. 

Like "This", the episode starts off as a one-off but eventually becomes more connected to the ongoing story.  This one is more blatant about it, but it does allow us to touch on the looming apocalypse that both William and Dana had seen.  It also follows up on the human/alien hybrid stuff that had been brought up prior but seems largely forgotten about.

Wait a minute, why did Mulder need to be told that by Skinner? Hasn't he known about that for years now?  Even the connection to William seems like something he had already figured out back when the kid was first born.  Huh...very peculiar. 

The episode is light on humor, acting as a counter-balance to its predecessor.  There was one bit where Mulder used "Bob" as an alias.  That in and of itself wasn't that funny, but Mulder's explanation and Scully's later declaration that this was an alternate reality and that "Fox" doesn't exist in this one were both fairly amusing.  The latter also made for a nice callback to the preceding episode. 

All in all, this episode was a mixed bag.  There was potential for more creepiness in regards to the monster, but the emotional moments hit their mark and we got some progression in regards to the overarching story. 

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'The Punisher' Episode 5: 'Gunner'

This episode manages to not only follow up on the events of last episode, but also shifts its focus back to the larger arc that makes up the season's focus.

Madani now has a lead as she knows that Frank is alive.  Of course, there are a myriad of reasons why she can't tell anyone.  It does give her a reason to bring Karen Page in for questioning.

This was a bonus for several reasons.  I've already praised Woll, and she's as good as always here.  It also allows for some nods to the events of other shows.  The biggest perk, however, is seeing an inquisitive journalist with a potential scoop go up against a federal agent attempting an interrogation.  It was an interesting setup as both parties try to fish for information, but sadly, the scene doesn't live up to its potential.  It isn't long before Karen more or less acquiesces.  She lies, of course, but there could have been more back and forth with that one.  Also, Karen's not a good liar.  It seems obvious that she's covering.  I don't know if Madani knows this and is just playing along, but I'd hope so.  There were some pretty obvious tells there that a seasoned agent should have picked up on. 

This also prompts Page to meet up with Frank one more time.  It's a much stronger scene with quite a bit of emotional power behind it.  Karen sympathizes with Frank, but doesn't want any more bodies piling up.  She even asks the question of what Frank plans to do after, which he doesn't seem to have an answer for.  As such, she pitches using an alternate strategy: letting the truth come out either by talking to Madani or letting Karen run a story and exposing what happened through the press.  She did make some good points, but Frank isn't convinced.  Still, points for trying. 

Frank, meanwhile attempts to track down the guy who filmed the execution back in Kandahar.  Like the AVClub, I'm not sure why it took them this long to think of it.  Frank is able to instantly identify who the cameraman is too.  If his memory were foggy due to the passage of time, maybe they could've made it more believable, but as is, it's just strange. 

Despite the cameraman (the titular "Gunner" who ironically seems to prefer a bow and arrow) taking great efforts to stay hidden, it seems like everybody does a pretty easy job of finding him.  It makes for a convenient action beat as a squad of troops are deployed to take the two out.

I'm torn on the "First person shooter" thing that the climax used.  On the one hand, I wasn't digging it.  Credit to the show for justifying it to some extent (the troops are wearing cameras on their helmets) but at the same time, I don't know if the show did enough with it.  We would occasionally jump to the POV shot, but then jump out again.  Considering Frank and Gunner's guerilla tactics, seeing it from first person could have been a cool, immersive trick.  On the other hand, if they had done more, viewers might have complained that they didn't get to see enough of Frank in action. It's a double edged sword.

It was kind of surprising to see Frank killing the soldiers the same way he would a gang of criminals.  You'd think that being innocent and fellow troops, that Frank would at least try to incapacitate them in a nonlethal fashion.  Such was not the case.   

In addition to action, the episode does provide some strong character moments.  The bickering between Frank and Micro is fun, but the more family oriented scenes are some of the real stand outs.  It was nice to see Frank bonding with Leo.  It makes the later scene where he unintentionally stands the family up rather sad, as everybody was anticipating his company.  With everything going on, I kind of forgot about that plot point, but it made for a nice emotional sucker punch when it did come up.

All in all, this was a decent episode.  It still seems like its trying to pick up momentum and find its focus, but that could feeling could also be due to my sporadic viewing of the show.  I've been mulling doing a rewatch of the MCU from the beginning.  If I do that, perhaps a more "binge"esque strategy would work better for a show like this, we'll see how things play out.  In any event, we're coming up on the season's halfway point so things should start to get interesting. 

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'The X-Files' Season 11, Episode 4: 'The Lost Art of Forehead Sweat'

After the massive success of "Mulder and Scully Meet the Were-Monster", it was pretty much a given that Darin Morgan would be brought back to write another episode.

True to form, he gives us an episode that stands out from the rest of the pack.  It's goofy, but also incredibly well-written.  The dialogue and banter between the characters deliver just as much laughs as the cheap Twilight Zone knock-off and the montage of events where Reggie, an on-the-run conspiracy theorist who thinks he's been mind-wiped and is seeking the agents' aid, is supposedly shoe-horned into the show's past history.

It's a good thing too, because this episode is mostly dialogue driven.  A majority of it is just Mulder, Scully, and Reggie in a parking lot talking about a potential plot to gaslight the populace for some potentially nefarious end.

As a result, we get a trippy discussion that incorporates faulty memories, subjective news sources, and a possible overlap of parallel realities.  Oh, and there's a mysterious scientist who is actually named "Dr. They", thus answering the question of "who is they?" that inevitably arises whenever conspiracy theories are brought up.

It all culminates with Mulder and Scully (supposedly) meeting an alien who declares that humans are to stay put, that the rest of the universe wants nothing to do with them, and has decided to build a "wall" around our solar system to keep us from "infecting" it.

Granted, the scenario is so goofy (not to mention heavy handed, but I'll get to that) that you can't take it seriously, but it still felt like a pretty valid "the reason you suck" speech.  Even just presented as a hypothetical, that's a heavy revelation. 

Of course, it's somewhat undercut by the fact that the whole thing is written with sledge-hammer style metaphor.  The alien refers to the "wall" as "big and beautiful" and that we're all rapists and drug dealers.  Morgan is usually a sharper writer, but these kinds of not so subtle allusions to the president are more eye-roll inducing at this point.  Even IGN noted that it robs the episode of any potential timelessness and the AVClub (which would normally eat that sort of thing up with a spoon) calls out the lack of subtlety.   

Despite its flaws, this was still a strong entry in a season that seems to be shaping up rather well.  As noted, the script was strong for a vast majority of it, the cast seemed to be enjoying themselves, and it had a rather trippy mind-screw vibe that made you tilt your head, but also remain captivated by what was being discussed.  It's weaker than "Were-Monster' in my view, but still, this was an entertaining chapter.

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