Autumn Tysko's X-Files Reviews

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Kaddish

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"This creature could only be brought to life by the power of the word."

The X-Files track record on ethnic based stories has been dismal. I offer "Hell Money", "Teso dos Bichos", and "El Mundo Gira" to support this case. Thankfully, I cannot add Howard Gordon's "Kaddish" to the list. I found it to be surprisingly free of the overwrought, heavy handed nature that has plagued episodes of this type in the past, and instead a pleasant, solid and interesting journey into the folk tale of the golem. Maybe the fact that it did not become mired down in subtitles and translations helped, but this one worked for me. Not a great episode, and not without its weaknesses, but certainly an engaging outing.

While not really part of the sweeps month extravaganza "Scully-Fest '97", Scully introduces this case and takes the lead in the investigation as Mulder seems to be occasionally tongue-tied during the interview process. Whether his reticence has to do with religious issues of his own or some other reason is sadly never explored. It is fun when Scully gets to explain a case, as Mulder loves it when she gets to the actual "X-File" part - his face lighting up like a kid in a candy store. The case is lined up - spectral fingerprints for Mulder, resurrection hoax for Scully, toss in a Casper joke and it's off to the Big Apple for the dynamic duo.

The teaser took more of a leisurely pace than usual - a slow discovery filled with mud, death, and tears that director Kim Manners told with atmospheric shots: the father's tattooed arm as he grasps his daughter's dirt clutching hand, the winding progression around the tree from light to night, and that wonderful last bit as the mudman breatheth. I liked the casting of Justine Miceli as Ariel - she was very successful in drawing the audience into her story and pain. In lesser hands the tale of the ring that she relates to us could have come across as maudlin.

A very interesting theme pervaded the episode here in the power of the word when used for hate and love - to destroy and create. This is one case where it is really unclear who the monster is - the golem created from love that is avenging death or the human monsters created from hate that it is killing. It is clever in the context of this show that the word "truth" brings the creature to life and when you take something away from the word you get "dead".

The best scene in this episode was the interview of the neo-nazi printer who hid behind words that instigated others to execute the hateful acts that he had not the courage to do himself. There is a wonderful tension as Mulder and Scully strive to remain professional despite their internal revulsion towards the man. Mulder, taking in stride the "you look like you might be one yourself" comment gets off a great comeback in "A Jew pulled it off 2000 years ago" that Scully clearly appreciates. Their attitudes towards the man are clearly conveyed as Scully slams her business card on the counter and Mulder leaves with a "Bless you".

I know that there are some that find the SRE (Scully Rational Explanation) annoying, but after four years I must admit that I find it rather endearing and just *so* Scully - especially when it is as fantastic as one of Mulder's theories. How hard she must have to think as she tries so diligently to come up with these things such as contaminated groundwater leeching into a coffin to create a combustible mixture - I just have to laugh. I think it is funny the way they play these moments anymore as well. It's almost as if Scully feels obligated to offer up one of these ridiculous theories (and you can tell that she knows when one is particularly weak) and Mulder just nods slightly and moves on. It's become a delightful bit of interplay between them.

Random Musings

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-Did anyone else get a laugh out of that cutting down the hanging man scene where Scully was left to hold up the guy when Mulder cut him down. I'm surprised she didn't fall over backwards when he was released.

-So how come in episodes like "Grotesque" Scully manages to get across town in under two minutes using superhuman speed and yet here she takes forever to climb a flight of stairs after she hears her partner unload his entire clip from his gun? I thought she would never get there.

-We do get a classic Mulder gun drop when they are both knocked down. Scully does manage to hold on to her piece and fire a shot though.

-I'm not Jewish, nor am I overly familiar with orthodox customs, but I was really shocked that there wasn't more of a brouhaha over Scully entering the men's portion of the synagogue. I thought that was a big no-no. Also, is there anyone who can explain about the headbands the men were wearing with the box on it? I don't think I've ever seen that before.

-Well, they were certainly playing up the corpse smell in this one. The kids have been known to wrinkle their noses at decay before, but this non-embalmed corpse must've been a real stinker.

-I was surprised to see the tattoo on the hands of the corpse. I thought that manifestation was supposed to be on the golem, not the actual corpse.

-I'm guessing from Mulder's "there goes your theory" comment that Scully had thought somehow someone had stolen the corpse's hands. Um.... OK.

-I thought that the ending mudman effect was very cool as his features gradually altered.

-No word that I have seen yet on who the Lillian Katz is that the show is dedicated to.

Autumn
"Mud?"

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