Friday, February 10, 2017

X-Files Episode Guide: Theef

Written by Vince Gilligan, John Shiban & Frank Spotnitz
Directed by Kim Manners

Considering the generally half-assed level of the episodes that we've been getting this season, its almost refreshing when we get handed one which is more back to basics than anything we've seen so far. I guess we could be thankful for it, if not for the fact that 'basics' seem to be taking us back to Season 1 or 2 as far as the story goes, with very little in the way of actual story.
Ignoring the fact that we're in California for the fourth straight episode (I realize we've transferred to Hollywood, but that doesn't mean all the episodes had to be set here), what we have is an episode that is more old-fashioned than anything we've seen so far. It's another supernatural revenge story a la Howard Gordon, but it has a little flavor that's all its own.  Indeed, the Gordon comparison is fitting, since at least a couple of episodes dealt with this kind of black magic. Mulder and Scully get called into investigate what seems to be a traditional murder, and find out that there's a fair amount of old-school voodoo being involved. What gives it slightly more of a kick is that it seems to be dealing with the kind of voodoo involving modern medicine versus folk medicine, with the latter being used to afflict Dr. Weider's family with illnesses that have been extinguished from the medical community. It's an intriguing idea, and lands us with a couple of decent set-piece which have been absent from the series for awhile, MRI's of a patient's brain showing 'Theef', and the Dr. Weider's wife being nuked in a medical X-ray. The idea that somehow even now Peattie's folk medicine still has a value in the day of gene therapy is a refreshing subtlety as well.
For the most part, the episode works servicebly, and that's part of the problem. At this stage of the series, rather than have some of the same old stories, we expect there to be some kind of twists. And while the performances by James Morrison as Wieder and Billy Drago as Peattie are mostly very well done, there isn't a lot of new stuff around to be admired. Why exactly has Peattie decided that this man deserves to be targeted should be a question that deserves a good answer, and when we finally get it - well, this is where the story breaks down. The writers go to such lengths to make it clear that Dr. Wieder had no choice in performing euthanasia on a patient that was clearly about to die. And rather than deal with the possible moral quandaries that this idea brings about, they make it so clear that it was the only thing he could do, that any residual sympathy the viewer might feel for Peattie is completely gone. The grieving father is no different than any other rampaging monster of the week. The legitimate possibility that her father could've saved her is swept away.
It's a shame because there are so many interesting ideas in this episode. A lot of it has to do with Scully, who manages to play a more involved role than she usually gets. One of the more intriguing themes that has been present in a season that has been sorely lacking in them, is how after seven years, Scully is finally starting to come around to Mulder's way of thinking. While the viewer of the series might be a little frustrated that she's only starting to catch on now that the X-Files (we think) is about to ride into the sunset, it shows a level of growth in her character that was mostly absent from television in general. She seems willing to accept the idea that Mulder is probably right more often then not, and has actually reached the point where she's actually being a little playful about it.  So when Scully admits at the end of the episode that as an agent and as a doctor she would've agreed with Wieder's treatment of Peattie's daughter, but can't help but wonder whether there might be a chance that he might have been able to save her, it actually seems like a revelation. It's a pity it comes in such a run of the mill episode, but still its there.
There was no way that Theef was ever going to be considering one of the great episodes in the lexicon, even in the slipshod manner that we've been getting through most of Season 7. But the acting within it, and some of the character development we actually see is pretty good for the show at this point. One can't help but think that maybe this is another one of those episode that would've benefited from a little less writing -  have Shiban and Spotnitz really reached the point in their stories that they are incapable of writing without each other or Gilligan? Had they tried just a little less, this episode probably would've at least have risen to the level of the above average instead of just being normal.

My score: 2.75 stars.

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