Twice this season, TXF has reminded me of why I am so grateful to be a vegetarian! First of all, the chicken processing plant here is effing gross, especially when the chick from Corner Gas falls into the chicken-leftover goo that they feed to their chickens (not fiction BTW). And second of all, until the end of the episode, the chicken goo is determined to be how the disease is passed on to everyone in the town. Just like BSE in cows. Uhh.. exactly like BSE. Nasty.
S: I just came up with a sick theory, Mulder.
M: (very intrigued!) Ooh, I’m listening.
So what the hell is Scully doing eating their chicken after they have come up with that hypothesis??
Knowing from the beginning this isn't a paranormal case, Scully is defensive again about why they have it. Just like in F.Emasculata, she feels their work is being undermined because of an obviously ordinary case.
Mulder begs to differ. He thinks it's foxfire. Scully thinks it's a bonfire. Scully's right. Sorry Mulder.
They get a lucky break when their car is run off the road. They are inspired to dredge the disgusting plant-runoff river for body parts. They find tons of bodies.
Upon closer inspection, the bones reveal they have been boiled. Mulder's new theory is cannibalism! And the whole town is in on it!
I like the man who owns the chicken plant. An interesting fellow, but also seemingly reasonable. Very matter-of-fact, even about autopsying his own Granddaughter. Even more interesting is that he's leading the town in a cannibalistic ritual he's imported from New Guinea.
So they aren't necessarily getting the disease from eating chicken, but from eating each other (or at least their rotten, cheating husbands!).
And eating outsiders. It becomes clear M & S have to be taken care of. Scully's kidnapped and is brought to a huge bonfire for slaughter!
Scully says: This is the worst season ever! Let Mulder play victim for a minute! Can't he get shot or something? ;)
Mulder to the rescue once more. It's a shame I'm getting a bit sick of the formula, because it's a great rescue scene. Mulder pries Scully's head from a vice, then to demonstrate how hot duct tape is, Scully uses her best 'oh!' face. What I need here is an animation, actually...
Mulder touches her head and pulls her hair out of her face, a surprisingly tender moment for such an otherwise ordinary episode.
You're right, the damsel in distress thing is not only played out by this point, but seriously undermines Scully as a character. She's a smart, tough FBI agent, but by this point seems more Princess Toadstool than Magnum PI.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed this episode. It's a special (if recurring) X-Files formula of "dangerous cult whose practices give special powers but also has a fatal flaw" that has resulted in some fun eps.
The chicken feed was a special case of red herring - you're clearly meant to think someone is using it to dispose of bodies, which isn't the case - but then the end *strongly implies* that's indeed what happens to Chaco. Actually, that seems far-fetched, as he was killed moments before Mulder showed up, and unless the townspeople dragged off his corpse and, uh, "processed" it during the night, it probably stayed in the field.