X-Files Episode Guide: Tunguska

Written by Frank Spotnitz & Chris Carter

Directed by Kim Manners

There eventually comes a time in any fan of The X-Files that they reach the point where you lose faith that Carter and company really know what they're doing with the mythology. This two-parter isn't quite the point for me, but we're getting pretty close. Which is something of a shame because for more than three-quarters of the episode, there actually seems to be a chance that we might be going somewhere.

The teaser is more interesting than usual, because the jeopardy that one of our heroes is facing isn't fatal, it's more basic than that--- Scully being held in threat of contempt of Congress is a major deal. Or it would be, you know, if we hadn't spent the last three years being told that our elected officials hold no power over the real evil in this world. Our heroes have faced far more vital threats to their lives; in that sense being threatened with indictment for treason seems... quaint, almost. Even the Smoking Man observing in the background seems more bemused than concerned.

What makes this episode work far better is the fact that we don't have so much of this double-talk that we have come to associate with the mytharc. In its place is violence and action, which for a change lends the episode a certain level of intensity that we are finding less and less often. It's not so much the fact that Krycek resurfaces---- having been liberated from his prison in North Dakota by a team of militia that he promptly turns on in order to get face to face with Mulder again--- its the fact that what he\represents is a genuine threat to the plans these men hold. (Though even here, there is a certain sloppiness. Krycek telling us "There is no truth. They just make it up as they go along" cuts a little too close to what we made be feeling about the writers at this point.)

Once again, we are promised major revelations and what we get is---- a rock. Yes, I know its a rock where the black oil seems to be hibernating, and that which we know is alien in origin. And yes, we know the fact it seems to be coming from diplomats would seem to indicate the international flavor of the conspiracy. We want to believe that it has the answers that Mulder is seeking, but at this point, I'm beginning to feel that Scully might have something of a  point when she comes to doubt what's in it.

Admittedly, the fact that Krycek seems to be taking a fair amount of abuse from everybody in this episode does add to the level of enjoyment. It's nice to see both Mulder and Skinner wailing on Krycek, and the scene where poor Alex is left to fend for himself when an attacker comes to search Skinner's apartment, and ends up hanging on for dear life is more exciting than usual. And I really think Mulder would've been better off if he'd left Krycek to freeze in his car. Maybe the mytharc would be better off too, because this is where things start to go off the rails.

The fact that Krycek seems to speak Russian just as Mulder is about to leave for his diplomatic flight to Siberia always struck me as a little too convenient, even when I saw it nearly twenty years ago. But the 'trust no one' Mulder decides to take Krycek with him to Tunguska where the cosmic event that took place in 1908 actually happened. It's an interesting approach, but in retrospect it again seems a little too convenient--- everything in our experience has let us think that the conspiracy was international in flavor. The fact that we seem to be getting back into Cold War mentality always seemed to be a step backward for the series. It was fun seeing it  in last week's episode, but that was clearly a satire of the genuine feel of conspiracies in our history--- once again, Carter seems to be taking a comic look at the mytharc and playing it as if it were straight. Someone's got to tell Carter what a joke is.

There are some other parts of this episode that work particularly well. Seeing CSM actually in a position of leverage over Skinner after the way he's been threatening him the last time they spoke in Paper Clip, lends a certain edge to him that has been lacking in the mytharc recently. Seeing CSM and the Well-Manicured Man have a very loud argument is also well done, as we've now begun to see that they represent two different factions in the Syndicate that are coming into conflict. But not that long after that Mulder and Krycek are taken prisoner, and once again the doubts are starting to circle, especially when the Prisoner in the gulag tells Mulder that Krycek is speaking formally to the guards. I'm sure that when Carter and Spotnitz did this, they thought they were adding wrinkles to the character. What they were doing was sowing the seeds of their destruction.

Oh, don't get me wrong--- Tunguska is a pretty good episode. There's a lot of tension and anger rather than the double-talk we usually get, and for once we have two genuine cliffhangers ---- Mulder being held prisoner in Russia, infected with the black oil, and Scully in D.C. trying to protect Mulder, and risking contempt of Congress. There are also some good performances by Pileggi and Davis, and the late Fritz Weaver adds a great deal of majesty to his brief appearance. But from hindsight, it's clear that this around the point where the rubber started to leave the road. It's not certain  here---- and maybe not even in the conclusion--- but there are dark signs ahead.

My score: 3.5 stars.