X-Files Episode Guide: Kitsunegari

Written by Tim Minear & Vince Gilligan

Directed by Daniel Sackheim

It would have taken a miracle to make any sequel to Pusher as extraordinary as that particular episode was. Even with the brilliant writer of that episode behind the process on the credits, Kitsunegari can not do anything but fail to measure up. It also makes a certain amount of sense if you know that the co-writer Tim Minear had a completely different kind of story in mind for his first piece for The X-Files, and that after it became clear that the production team just couldn't pull it off that they tried  adapting the story and making Robert Patrick Modell the center of the story.

Even if you didn't know that, there's the plain fact that there are some elements of the story that just don't add up. That no one would perform any kind of surgery to remove the brain tumor that was killing him in Pusher (and by the way, gave him the power to force his will on to other people) doesn't seem to really make much sense from a purely logical point of view. Neither does it make any real sense that the state would attempt to prosecute a man who clearly couldn't participate in any meaningful defense of himself--- it would be ripe for appeal, even if the man was in a coma. And the idea that the exact same kind of brain tumor would be present in fraternal twins is something that makes no medical sense whatsoever, even to the casual viewer of medical dramas.

So, we've established that the story plain doesn't make sense if you look at it logically (but then, how many X-Files would make any sense if you tried to rationally explain the plot?) That doesn't mean that Kitsunegari is a waste of time, or even a particularly bad episode. On the contrary, there are many good things about it, some of which were actually missing from Pusher. Most of them involve setpieces, but the fact is they're all very good setpieces. The bit where Modell walks into a sporting goods store where his picture has just flashed across the television screen, and then convinces the poor clerk that he's holding a snake is very effective, as is an exceptionally well done bit where it seems like Modell is leading a cop directly to him, only to find when the backup's finally arrived that the poor man is holding a gun on his partner. And the bit where Modell's physical therapist takes a phone call, and with a bunch of "mmhmms" calmly electrocutes herself is one of the more frightening bits we've had on the show in some time.

Then too, the guest performances are very good. Robert Wisden doesn't try to hit the same notes that he did in Pusher; instead he comes across as someone who seems to be taking a new approach to how he handles his gift. Indeed, he's now doing his pushes so cleverly, it comes as much of a shock to us to realize that the only person he actually hurts in the entire episode is himself.  We're so used to approaching Modell as the villain, it doesn't even occur to us until Mulder suggests it that there is a genuine change in his method. Diana Scarwid is equally good as Linda Bowman. Even given everything we've seen for the past five seasons, we still expect that the villain in the teaser is the villain. So when Bowman starts baiting Mulder in his questioning of her, using 'paint' and 'brush' and  most effectively asking for something to drink, we actually begin to think that despite our own impulses, Mulder might actually be right. One might be frustrated to think that Mulder might deserve to be given the benefit of the doubt by Scully and Skinner, but given how we've seen Modell operate in the past, it actually comes across as almost forgivable. And as a result, Skinner ends up being fooled, and nearly does his job for her.

The climactic scene is very good, because we've almost come to expect it from what we've seen in the past, and when Bowman is shot, her repetition of the famous phrase "You think you can hold me" that Modell famously used when he was captured is actually. But one of the better scenes comes when Linda walks up to her brother in the hospital, and quietly pushes her brother into a painless death. Even if you know that it's a variation of a scene from Carrie (the book, not the movie), the fact remains that there's something very sweet and almost moving about, demonstrating a gentleness that we haven't come to expect from this series.

So sure, Kitsunegari isn't anywhere near as good as Pusher. And it's not nearly as good a sequel as we get for some of the few X-Files episodes that could have sequels. But the fact is, its a pretty good episode in its own right. And even if you understand why, at the end of the episode, Mulder is so downtrodden despite the fact that he managed to win the game, it's definitely one of the better episodes that we've had so far.

My score: 3.75 stars.