X-Files Episode Guide: Pusher

Written by Vince Gilligan

Directed by Rob Bowman

Vince Gilligan had written just one teleplay before this. This season he would write fewer stories than Jeffrey Vlaming, John Shiban or Kim Newton. How on earth is that possible that this story already demonstrates a far better command of the X-Files universe than any of them, and a much better grip on the world of Mulder and Scully as well?. I once saw a website refer to Pusher as simply 'a bloody classic', and even now nearly twenty years later, it ranks as one of the great episode of the series.

The idea of someone being able to talk someone into doing one's will was a cliché before it ever got to this point in episodic TV, so it's amazing Gilligan was able to take such a concept and make it fresh and sparkle. There are many ways he does this, starting with the character of Robert Patrick Modell himself. Robert Wisden plays him as if he has charisma to burn, but what is so amazing is that it doesn't seem like its really his.. Modell comes off looking like the most terrifying opponent, but Gilligan is equally quick to paint him as something of a little man with nothing particularly remarkable about him other than his ability to make his victims do horrible things to themselves. This is keeping within a trend within season 3 of having many of the villains be small men with small lives, and a degree to humanity to his villains that will become even more apparent in future seasons, and indeed in much of Gilligan's writing for TV in particular.

Of course, you don't realize after the episode's over and done with that Modell's such a loser---- also a critical element of Gilligan's scripts is the fact that the villains deeds leave you absolutely astounded.. The ways he convinces his victims to kill themselves are among the most horrifying set pieces the series will ever do--- few moments are as frightening as watching an FBI agent who has doused himself with gasoline, begging Mulder and Scully to stop him even as he flicks a lighter. It's even more terrifying to see the fate of poor Frank Burst being literally talked into a cardiac arrest while the FBI runs a trace on the call--- you can tell that Modell is pushing the entire room except Mulder and Scully, and what makes it  even more appalling is that Modell cheerfully gives up the number after he's finished, probably just to twist the knife in the men who were just trying to do their jobs.

All of this would be brilliant enough on its own. What rises Pusher to the level of classic is how perfectly Gilligan seems to have a read on Mulder and Scully. For much of the middle third of this season, Mulder and Scully have been on opposite ends in almost every story. This episode demonstrates what brilliant agents they are, and how well they work as  a team. (And no, I'm not just talking about the shipper moments, including the one at the end where Scully takes Mulder's hand, although for them, that's practically third base.) Throughout the episode, the two of them are supportive of each other, acting in concert not merely when it comes to theorizing about Modell, but in all the other elements--- the way Scully rushes for a fire extinguisher, and Mulder removes his coats, seconds before the poor agent burns himself, and the way they seem absolutely desperate to get Burst off the phone before his heart gives out. This perhaps becomes leads to one of the most frightening sequences--- the Russian roulette climax at the end of the episode. We can see how desperate Mulder seems to be fighting Modell, how much he wants to resist---- and it's very telling that given the choice between killing himself or Scully, he has a far greater problem doing the latter. After all the episodes with them at each others throats, it's illuminating to show that they can prevail when they work together, as Scully figures out just how to break Modell's hold on Mulder.

This is as absolute masterwork as suspense, and as an added bonus, it is very clear that Gilligan has a great idea on dialogue, developing a byplay that to date has only been mastered by Darin Morgan. (This too, will become apparent in Gilligan's writing in Season 4.) Some of the dialogue is crackling and darkly funny. (Scully: Please explain to me the scientific nature of the 'whammy'.  Mulder: "Tropical mango swirl. Proof were dealing with a madman.) More importantly, he also has a good grip on it when it comes to other characters, including Skinner. (Though it is a shame that the poor man has to get whaled on by a tiny FBI secretary in order for that wit to show itself. Everybody just loves to beat on the guy.)  

All in all, this is perhaps the most suspenseful and gripping story that Season 3 will produce, and just the first of many, many Gilligan masterpieces to come. If everyone was alert to his abilities in Soft Light, the X-Files universe was awake to the possibilities after this script. the rest of the world would soon follow.

My score: 5 stars.