THE X-FILES So, Scully. You look... different.
  • THE X-FILES "So, Scully. You look... different."


SEE? Told you! Last night's X-Files was one of the best X-Files, and I'm not even grading on a curve—true, the last two X-Files ("My Struggle" and "Founder's Mutation") were totally serviceable X-Files, but they weren't GREAT X-Files. "Mulder & Scully Meet the Were-Monster," on the other hand, is a great X-File, belonging right alongside some of the other highpoints of the series like "Humbug," "Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose," and "Jose Chung's From Outer Space"—episodes that, probably not coincidentally, were also written by "Were-Monster"'s writer/director, Darin Morgan. Fun fact: Darin Morgan is also the guy inside the Flukeman suit in "The Host"! And he played the shapeshifter with the tail in "Small Potatoes"! Darin Morgan is a very talented individual, and he also has the best headshot in the business.



A few quick thoughts about "Were-Monster." Spoilers, obviously.


• The humor. Three episodes into this mini-series, and we finally get an episode that reminds us how goddamn funny David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson can be. (To be fair, it took the original series a while to figure this out, too.) The easiest way to think of The X-Files, I think, is as a dark, paranoid, alien-filled thriller; just as appropriate, though, is to think of it as a show that's goofy as fuck and happily knows it. This episode, in particular, had more memorable, laugh-out-loud moments than most straight-up comedies do; from Mulder desperately waving his phone at Scully, to the zipping dialogue, to the whip-smart sight gags, this episode was consistently, deeply hilarious. (It helps that it boasts great turns from Flight of the Conchords' Rhys Darby and Silicon Valley's Kumail Nanjiani.) So many of The X-Files' most memorable episodes tread this line—taking advantage of the silliness of the show's concept, while simultaneously digging into heavy undertones—that I think they're the series' true sweet spot. But oh, right. Those heavy undertones....

• THE SADNESS. Oh god, the sadness. Despite its monster-in-a-rubber-suit, Oregon huffers, and slapstick pratfalls, "Mulder & Scully Meet the Were-Monster" is actually about the brutal, existential certainty that modern life is not worth living—that, with just about any examination at all, it proves to be little more than an excruciating parade of bullshit and disappointment, with each of our pointless, desperate gestures serving only to momentarily distract us from melancholy and loneliness. Make no mistake: "Mulder & Scully Meet the Were-Monster" is fucking sad, and much of that sadness is bound up in the flailing travails of Guy Mann (Darby, awesome as always), a pathetic beast whose name is generic for a reason. This episode's also about Mulder exploring the distance between wanting to believe and actually believing—a distance that's greater than he's ever realized—and, to a lesser extent, even more mopey people trying to find some small reason to keep living, whether it's a drunken motel owner creeping on guests (Alex Diakun), a depressed shrink embracing mortality and prescriptions (Richard Newman), or a beleaguered animal-control worker who's outclassed and outsmarted at every turn (Nanjiani). Hell, even tough-as-nails Scully seems lonely here—she doesn't even think twice about stealing that dog to replace Queequeg. (RIP, Queequeg.) The only ones who find happiness in this tale are, ultimately, the were-monster—who finds it, notably, by giving up his humanity—and Mulder, who (Mulders gonna Mulder) somehow convinces himself to burrow even deeper into his insane worldview, which is, of course, the only thing that's kept him going through a lifetime of confusion and disappointment. SO IN CONCLUSION, "Mulder & Scully Meet the Were-Monster" is one of the funniest and most charming X-Files ever, but that's at least partly because it has has, at its core, an uncomfortable, overwhelming truth. I'd say this is one of the darkest X-Files, and its humor all the more remarkable for it. For all the self-conscious ugliness of an episode like "Home," the cursed life of Guy Mann is far more terrifying.


• That trans thing. Guh. That awkward exchange stands out because the rest of the episode is so good, so smart, and so funny, and this part just... isn't. It was the only part of last night's episode that caused someone in my viewing party to blurt out "Okay, that's just dumb." She was right—the exchange in which Mulder tries to talk about gender fluidity with Guy was a weird, tone-deaf speed bump in an episode that otherwise sped along smoothly. I don't think it was malicious, but it did come off as clunky and outdated. Weird thing is, the exchange almost works—I can see why the show's creators thought it was good, and smart, and funny. But its a tricky subject, and—however brief that exchange was—they screwed it up. In another episode, this bit might not have even stood out that much; in this one, where every other scene was so goddamn good, it did.


• OKAY BONUS THING. The gravestones were very sweet. Easter eggs are usually kind of obnoxious; these were clever and earnest.


• OKAY ANOTHER BONUS THING. Nanjiani talked to Anderson and Duchovny on the set for The X-Files Files! Worth a listen, for obvious reasons.


That's all the things and bonus things I have! We're now—already!—halfway through these new X-Files, and the show seems to have found its footing. (So much as The X-Files ever will—by it's nature, it's a cobbled-together Frankenstein of a thing, always stumbling between self-serious mythology and dudes dressed up as lizard monsters. God bless you, X-Files.) After last night's episode, to say I'm looking forward to the final three is an understatement.