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"I was raised a Catholic. I have a certain familiarity with the scripture, and God never lets the devil steal the show."
The X-Files plays their religion card in a significant manner for the first time in the Gordon and Carter penned "Miracle Man" with mixed results. While being careful not to offend, the script skitters randomly between the profound and the self-indulgent (as is often the case when Carter explores religion). For instance, while I find this early episode refreshing in the fact that they did not feel so hamstrung to clearly delineate between themes in the mythology episodes and the monster of the week variety (thus allowing for more continuity), the inclusion of the visions of Mulder's sister just seemed so heavy handed and out of place. I'd have much rather kept in the conversations about Samantha between the two men and ditched the overly dramatic Mulder visions of her - especially that last one which was a groaner complete with bad "looking for miracles" dialogue. I think they also falter in their attempt to obfuscate whether or not Samuel was indeed divine by tossing in a glowing risen from the dead apparition instead of something more subtle which could have been more easily mistaken for Vance's guilty conscience.
One of the things I most enjoyed about this episode (especially in retrospect) was the dichotomy between Samuel's and Scully's faith. The defining moment for me was the exchange "God has given me a special gift"/"Did he buy you all that jewelry too?" between the two of them. Indeed, Samuel's faith is based on pride. He hides stigmata amongst the gold adorning his hands. Even when he is convinced that God is punishing him he reacts in a self indulgent manner complete with drinking and fighting and the unwavering knowledge that he is once again RIGHT in his proclamation that he has been wrong. Scott Bairstow did a fabulous job of bringing a real depth of pain to Samuel and convinces us that right or wrong he believes everything he says with a fierce conviction. Scully, on the other hand, has always approached her faith with an internal strength but a questioning and humble nature when faced with spiritual crisis. She sincerely tells us that she does not doubt the power of God, but does doubt the veracity of the claims of this messed up messenger. I like the idea that she has enough faith to wonder if she is wrong about things, while Samuel proclaims to always know the truth even when he is wrong. We also see in this early version of Scully all the markers of the compassion we are familiar with, from handling the crowd of mourners with respect, to convincing the grieving parents to allow an autopsy, to kindly acknowledging the Reverend's loss.
As far as the other supporting performers were concerned, I was less impressed. I found R.D. Call's Sheriff to be rather one note - it seemed every time the camera lingered on his face he had the same expression struggling to get out. George Gerdes as the Rev. Hartley went to the stereotypical southern preacher well too often for me with his drawled out "Gaaaawwwwwddd" or "Heeeeaaaaalll" and was better in the quieter moments. I imagine acting under those dark glasses and makeup was a challenge for Dennis Lipscomb as Leonard Vance, but by the time we got to his dramatic death scene I just found it comical.
There was a real freshness to the interplay between Mulder and Scully in this episode that gave their interactions depth. It's nice to see them without the weight of years of disagreements when they played and parlayed off each other's ideas and theories. The ease with which Scully introduces and Mulder jumps on the case mixed nicely with the irreverent humor Mulder always tossed at her early on. These were the days when Scully would even crack a sly smile at Mulder's comments or come back with a joke of her own. I especially liked the scene at the motel where they discussed the case obviously rejuvenated rather than discouraged by the opposing ideas - each building off the other, conceding points and questioning. I miss that type of interaction between them. There is also a pervading kindness in their interaction. Scully clearly is uncomfortable with Samuel playing the sister card with Mulder and it's effect on him, and when she brings this up to Mulder it is in one of those delightful and intense whispered conversations over the power of suggestion. Duchovny and Anderson expertly reel the audience into this moment as only they can, leaving us as interested in their chemistry as what they are actually saying.
From a technical standpoint this episode had its ups and downs. Director Michael Lange conspired with the always wonderful John Bartley to give us a few cool atmospheric shots. Most notable were the graveyard scene where the candle vigil emerges from the fog, the shadowed crucifixion beating in the jail, and the slightly slow-mo shot of the badly burnt hand grasping young Samuel's in the teaser. From an editing perspective, I was less than impressed mostly because it became so obvious that all the tent scenes on the three different days were shot at the same time. Close-ups of the same extras sitting in the same places wearing the same clothes were used for different revival meetings and you can even clearly see the woman who later dies sitting in the front row at an earlier prayer meeting. In combination with the fact that they did not even bother to change Rev. Hartley's costume (he has a car for every day of the week complete with cheesy plates like "B HEALD" and only two suits?) either of the three times made for an episode that looked like it was skimping on the production budget.
If you can get past the Carter/Gordon three ring revival, what saves this episode, and makes it one I do enjoy re-watching are the subtleties of character. As for the overdone parts, I'll just explain that as a "trick of the devil".
-Retread Alert: They were not retreads when it first aired, but "Miracle Man" may hold the distinction of being the episode with the most actors reused later. Almost all of the players with smaller parts are seen again. The hardest one I had placing was the man who played Judge Hamish Purdy (what a name!) who shows up again in "Unruhe". You'll find re-watching this episode like a who's who of Vancouver players.
-Date Stamp: From Scully's autopsy 11:21pm on March 7, 1994.
-The episode takes place in "Kenwood, Tennessee" and "Kenwood County". While there is a Kenwood in the Clarksville area, it is in Montgomery County.
-I especially enjoyed the fact that during a shot of the courthouse where you could read "DeKalb County Courthouse" (which is in Tennessee) they subtitled it "Kenwood County Courthouse".
-That woman in the video looked more like she was suffering from tragically three tone hair rather than a tumor. She would have been better off letting Miss Clairol "heal" her affliction.
-If Samuel had indeed been healing people in this way for ten years as the episode suggests, I think he'd have a much bigger congregation and people coming from a bit further than "pen-see-cola" Florida to witness the "Miracle Ministry". Maybe even his own "Heal Along With Hartley Hour" on TV.
-Well, in the tie war competition sadly Mulder once again loses even though a few of his choices did make it seem like he dresses in the dark. The Rev. Hartley and his passion for pink and purple was much more frightening.
-"Come as you are... leave as you always wanted to be." I hardly think that those people always wanted to be adorned in those hideous Miracle Ministry trinkets. The baseball caps were just plain ugly and the T-shirts were the cheap transfer variety. It's obvious we are leading up to...
-Frank's Fashion Spot: it's hit and miss in Scullywear in this early episode. Scully, firmly in her hair flip phase, looks fetching in her tan double breasted suit (well she almost always looks fetching in a double breasted suit), but strikes out with what I like to call her "Halloween outfit" of the orange top and black suit. Here's a hint: orange shirt + red hair = scary for everyone. She also wears that long black vest with the wide-collared-big-buttoned shirt underneath for I believe the first time this episode. Pity it was not the last.
-When Samuel says "just as I can see the pain on this man" I always want to say "No, that's just an unruly cowlick."
-The courtroom plague is pretty entertaining. When the first bug lands on Scully she sort of just stares at it with scientific detachment before swatting aimlessly at nothing around her head.
-I loved the juxtaposition of Mulder reading from the Bible to Scully as she stares at a grasshopper.
-Bad dialogue award: Goes to the exchange where Mulder says
he saw a girl outside.
Scully: "Who, Jessica Hahn?"
Mulder: "A little girl."
Oh the stupid joke, sniff, the Mulder angst. Puhleaze.
-Scariest extra: That twitching girl with glasses that they kept cutting to in the revival scenes.
-Yet another fumble on the "Doctor" Scully front. You've got to love the way she pushes through the crowd just so she can do her three favorite things: Ask for an ambulance, check a nonexistent pulse to proclaim someone dead, and totally neglect CPR. No wonder she's a pathologist.
-Speaking of that, this episode still has one of my all time favorite Scully autopsy shots as we hear the ssshhhhrrrrpp of Y-Incision!Scully and she sharpens that huge slice and dice knife.
-We also get Queasy!Mulder as Scully tosses internal organs around asking "do I have to?" in response to her attempt to get him to look at a lung.
-I guess the little girl who plays Samantha in this episode is best seen and not heard since they tossed her out for another actress as soon as they needed a speaking Samantha.
-It seemed like in the first season Mulder was munching down on seeds almost every episode and now they're a rare occurrence.
-Scully's penchant for horror films also makes an appearance here when we learn "The Exorcist" is one of her favorite movies. I've always found this an interesting character quirk.
-The notion that Mulder travels with a picture of Samantha by his bed is another example of where this episode went too far for a point.
-One of my favorite playful moments: Mulder and Scully investigate the courthouse. Scully asks what they are looking for to which Mulder replies "Clues". Take a look at the sarcasm on her face as she mocks surprise before they cut away inexplicably for a shot of Mulder's back.
Autumn
"Apparently miracles don't come cheap."