X-Files 7x16, "Chimera"

Jun 23, 2015 11:32

Hunh... an actual demon of domesticity.


The episode hit a couple of my buttons enough that I'm not sure if it was a good one or not (though I'm kind of thinking not). I was already pretty irked even before sheriff-guy started mansplaining about his wife all "Don't encourage her, she just THINKS she saw it, she didn't ACTUALLY see it." With use of the word "imaginings." Jesus, dude, she's not five. Though it turns out he was the reason it was all happening.

Button #1: Corvids as evil, or consorts of evil. Whatever.

Button #2: Aforementioned domesticity, though in the context of another side of the "perfect" suburban life seen in "Dreamland" and "Arcadia." The literal ugly side of the illusion of the American dream. The half-assed summary on Amazon says something about Mulder experiencing the comforts of the traditional home and family while Scully is stuck on stakeout, which I'm sure is deeply symbolic in some way but I can't be arsed to dig deeper right now. (Which reminds me, another irritant--this is a Separated Agents story.) Though part of me can't help but wonder if this is some kind of backhanded something regarding David forcing the production to move to LA to accommodate his family situation. (...and this is the second episode in a row that actually DOESN'T take place in LA.)

...and due to sheer numbers we HAVE to be getting close to where the William debacle starts. Speaking of domestic cultural bullshit.

It seems that we're also to the part where Carter starts really fucking with the audience:

Main character: Do you have a significant other?
Mulder: Not in the traditionally understood sense of the word.

The supernatural part of the plot doesn't gel for me; vague mentions of corvids accompanying evil entities, and the shattering mirrors, but it doesn't really cohere into anything solid, like they threw some random vaguely mythological elements together and called it a day.

I rather did enjoy the resolution of the B story, however. And when Mulder's almost been drowned and he's all wet it hearkens back to David's hilariously bad hairdos from Beethoven and Don't Tell Mom, The Babysitter's Dead. Hee.

Recently I've been seeing headlines and such about fans analyzing leaked call sheets and such. I enjoy the occasional twitter photo from David and Gillian and all, but overall, I don't want to see too much of the new show before I actually watch it. Possibly because I've spent almost my entire time watching the show well after being spoiled for every single thing ever (which happens when you show up thirty years late to the party and then dive into the deep end of the fanfic pool when you're two seasons in), and I'd like SOMEthing of the canon to be a surprise to me.

This entry was originally posted at http://spinner-atropos.dreamwidth.org/212586.html. You may comment at either location.

cultural bullshit, marriage children and all that crap, demons of domesticity, fannish rambling, the x-files

Previous post Next post
Up