By Nia Edwards-Behi
If you missed Nia’s review of the first two episodes of the new X-Files, click here.
If there’s one thing that always made The X-Files stand out, it was its sense of humour. Not just the vein of dry and sardonic humour that ran throughout the series, which worked thanks to both Duchovny and Anderson boasting excellent comedic acting chops, but also the out-right comic episodes. Some of the best of these were written by Darin Morgan, who here returns to the series, and doesn’t disappoint. While Morgan’s brother, Glen (of Final Destination fame, amongst a lot more besides), is known for some of the series’ best frights and tension-builders, Darin Morgan is the man behind the astutely funny and Emmy Award-winning Clyde Bruckman’s Final Repose, and here returns in full force, twenty years after his final episode, the classic Jose Chung’s From Outer Space.
Back at the FBI after a long period away, Mulder is suffering something of a mid-life crisis. Times have changed, and much of what he once believed has been explained away. When Scully brings in a new case, he’s reticent to approach it with his usual enthusiasm for the unexplained. Soon enough, though, he finds himself face to face with monsters, and one in particular that might give him a re-invigorated sense of wonder for his work.
This episode contains a wealth of satisfying throw-backs to the original series, not only in its tone and structure, but through familiar characters, references to past events and an exceptionally sweet tribute to series stalwart Kim Manners, who passed away in 2009. It also brings Mulder and Scully bang up-to-date, while maintaining all the reasons we love them in the first place. Their dynamic is the same, even if the world they inhabit has vastly changed.
What’s always been best about Morgan’s writing is his ability to be satirical and funny while always being very sympathetic (aptly demonstrated by his acting appearances in the series too, particularly as Eddie Van Blundht). In this episode Morgan’s very sympathetic eye is turned primarily on Mulder, and his double in the episode, Guy Mann, played by Flight of the Conchords’ Rhys Darby. Just like previous Morgan episodes, Guy Mann is a comedic character who ultimately allows for a satirical depiction of human nature, at once critical of what we do and sympathetic towards us. Notably, Mulder and Scully Meet the Were-Monster is a much lighter episode than either Clyde Bruckman’s Final Repose or Jose Chung’s From Outer Space, but there is a certain hopelessness to Guy Mann’s human experience that keeps the episode from being total fluff.
In addition to the tone of the episode, there’s a reassuringly lo-fi nature to the special effects here – the Were-Monster’s transformation relying on good old-fashioned make-up and editing trickery. Mulder’s inability to handle a camera phone makes for great comic effect, and Scully’s patient, exasperated, but-secretly-enjoying-herself-routine is still a wonder to behold. While Mulder contemplates the meaning of life, Scully’s taking care of business and wrapping up the case, just as things should be.
All in all, Mulder and Scully Meet the Were-Monster is grade-A X-Files, and even if nothing else of note was to come from this mini-series, that it’s provided us with another Darin Morgan episode means it’s an absolutely worthwhile endeavour.