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It is possible to enjoy "Darkness Falls" if you can look beyond its plot holes and cliches. Believe me, I do know that can be a difficult task, but I've found simply yelling at the screen "Build a friggin' fire you idiots" or "What? Does shutting the vents in the car take all the challenge out of this for you folks?" to let out all that negative energy at the start helps. You can then try to sit back and enjoy the good things the episode has to offer - and there are a few - hidden in this average outing.
Let's get the cliches out of the way first - even the teaser boasts that horror movie tried and true favorite as one of the loggers stumbles and hurts his leg while they all run willy nilly through the woods. It's pretty obvious who is going to be the first to go here. Then there was the annoyingly written and annoyingly acted part of NRA poster-boy Steve Humphreys as Tom O'Rourke chews through more scenery than the loggers did. Personally, I couldn't wait for him to die - and you knew it would have to happen to this predictable character.
I find the cocoon scene troubling as well. Yes, it is creepy and effective as, once again, Scully gets to find out why it sucks to be the smaller partner because it is she who gets the unenviable task of being hoisted up to what appears to be some sort of HUGE insect nest. Herein lies the problem for me. Maybe these folks just aren't scared of "itsy bitsy spiders", but I'd be more than a little nervous to be poking around in something like that in such a vulnerable position. Even after they discover the mass contains a dead body they seem to have no qualms about digging through the nest with bare hands. Maybe it is just me, but I'm always shocked by the cavalier attitude of this.
As I mentioned earlier, there were good things about this episode. I enjoyed Jason Beghe's performance as "freddie" Larry Moore, and from a production standpoint I loved the look of this episode - the rainy, gloomy Vancouver weather managed to really work well - painting the picture of a lush wet forest. What is nice about this episode is that, while it is definitely has a "message", this message isn't pounded into our skulls with quite the propensity it can be on this show. Maybe it helps that both sides of the environmental issues are explored - or maybe it is just that there are no Spanish subtitles.
"Darkness Falls" also does a good job of focusing on a basic human fear - that of the dark - and what beasties might come out at night. "You don't want to go out in the night" we are told, and in this case, just as it is for a child, their "night light" is their salvation at keeping the monsters at bay. There is a strong and palpable tension that runs through the episode catching the viewer up in the fear along with the characters. Even the normally cool Scully freaks out from her fears when she sees the insects on her arm - though her staged bat of the remaining bulb was a bit much. Later, the hopelessness of their situation sinks in as Mulder and Scully sit together and Mulder weakly offers "We'll think of something" to her incredulous sigh. I also found it surprising that in the end they were actually attacked - I must admit I was not expecting that turn of events - though, predictably, our heroes miraculously survive.
And of course, as usual, I enjoyed the banter as Mulder teases Scully about a boyfriend, but especially their back and forth about bigfoot and flannel to which Scully gives Mulder a rare smile at his jokes. This scene is important for another reason as its lightheartedness really offsets the argument that they have later concerning Agent "Trust no one" Mulder's selfish choice to make a dangerous decision for the group. A guilty Mulder snaps at Scully's protests with "Oh will you cut the sanctimonious crap" (apparently not yet aware, as we are, that she is indeed a saint) before they put their frustrations at the situation aside.
-Frank's Fashion Spot: This episode boasts a rarity - almost an entire episode in casual togs. I can't say much for Scully's forest fashion choices - she's swimming in that denim shirt so bad most times you can't even see her hands, and without heels on her hiking boots she barely comes up to Mulder's armpit.
-I know it is just to make the shot work, but when the foursome travel to the logging camp in the car together Mulder and Scully are practically sitting on top of each other in the center of the back seat, both as far away from the car doors as possible.
-Could Scully be less thrilled at the prospect of a hike through the wet cold forest? She's so tired by the time they get to the camp that she runs right into Mulder's backpack.
-Some "rugged manly men in the full bloom of their manhood" - judging from the food they left on the table these tough loggers were all sitting around drinking milk.
-Even more disgusting is the fact that when Humphreys walks in on Spinney when he is in the middle of chowing down Spinney is in the process of drinking that milk - which has, by this point, sat out on that table for a long long time. It's one thing to eat an old muffin, but that milk has to be downright chunky by this time.
-Anyone else think Mulder seemed to have an appreciation for the quality of the "party favors" he found? Maybe he was just thinking about getting Scully stoned.
-If you look carefully you can see that the top shot of them standing around the cut up cocoon doesn't match at all what the body looks like in the close-up shots.
-You know, I appreciate the fact that the writer has to educate the audience sometimes on certain topics, but cut us a little slack. It really is not necessary to make scientist Scully look stupid by having her ask the painfully obvious. Scully: "Those center rings are the older rings, right?". DUH!
-Those "containment" suits are a riot. All that trouble and yet you can see bare arms where the sleeves don't quite meet the latex gloves. I'm not sure how much protection that is going to offer.
-I bet Scully likes Spinney - he has that habit of hers of even calling people he doesn't like "sir". The polite monkey-wrencher.
-200 million bugs per person? Now that's a fun fact I didn't need to know. Yuck.
Autumn
"Oh, a brain sucking amoeba."