X-Files Episode Guide: Hellbound

Written by David Amann

Directed by Kim Manners

We've had some gory episodes in the X-Files history (within the limits of what's 1990s network TV was capable of), but seeing some of the murders that take place within Hellbound might turn the stomach of even those who watched Dexter and True Blood. It's not just seeing the bodies that have been skinned alive, it's how willing the series seems to be to traffic in this level of blood and gore. Perhaps it was some effort to make the X-Files seem relevant again (if so, it wouldn't have luck). What makes Hellbound work, however, is not the level of gruesomeness that we associate with it - that's actually something of a misdirection. It actually seems to work better because it's dealing with something different.

Admittedly, the idea behind Hellbound starts out slightly labored. That Reyes finds herself drawn to this case when Doggett and Scully don't see an X-Files might be more potent if the series hadn't spent so much time developing Reyes as incline to feel a pull to certain cases. The episodes manages to pull out things fairly quickly, though, because it has an interesting pull. The victims are essentially people who society has given up on, and who are desperately trying to atone. What Amann makes part of the episode is the fact that this atonement is something that they will never be allowed to complete. It's one thing to dismiss Victor and the rest as people unworthy of a second chance, but no matter how hardened the criminal, no one deserves this horrible a fate. The scene where one of the victims is found in a slaughterhouse still alive may be the most horrifying scene the X-Files has done in quite some kind.

What makes Hellbound work a lot better is how well it begins to unfold. It isn't until the second act that we realize that this a string of murders, and that this is the equivalent of a series that took place in 1960. But its not until the episode is more than half over that we finally realize its origin story - its not connected to something like Home or Squeeze; rather it bares a resemblance to The Field Where I Died, where apparently the same souls are being sent back to live the same lives over and over again.

And this is where Hellbound is far more effective. In The Field Where I Died, there were some intriguing ideas as to the transmigration of souls, but that mostly seemed as an excuse for Duchovny and that week's guest star to regress emotionally and overact. There was a crime that needed solving, but it got lost under the hypnosis. Here, Amann manages to tie it far better to something more potent -- the four people that are being killed and reincarnated are being punished for a far more horrific sin that took place in 1868. The man who was the victim of these crimes - played in this incarnation by Detective Van Allen - has been spending 130 plus years killing these people, then himself for the sole purpose of vengeance. And somehow Reyes is linked to the crime - she tries to stop the murders, but always fails. The fact that she seems to have broken the cycle this time - the last incarnated victim, Dr. Holland is spared - may not be enough to stop the killing. Van Allen still dies at the end, and the indication in the final scene is that he has been reborn.

Where the episode comes up short is that is never clarified where exactly Reyes comes into all this, not even to her. Yet in a bizarre way, that works to Hellbound's advantage. That the episode is willing to set up this bizarre puzzlebox and not really try to solve it may be the most unsettling part about it. Revenge can be a cycle that carries on forever is one of the messages of the episode.

Hellbound for the most part works exceptionally well. Gish gives her best performance so far on the series. At first, she seems far more compassionate than anyone else willing to approach this kind of case, and her level of determination is key in her  level of development so far in Season 9.  The fact that she seems linked to the case doesn't seem as focused on a certain level of flakiness, but ultimately as a desire to understand. The fact that she manages to solve the case, but never does fully understand is powerful, too, and it actually seems the first real character development we've had for her so far. Manners also does a superb job of directing, not only in the sequences of the skinned victims, but also in the scene in the slaughterhouse and the coal mine.

Hellbound isn't a perfect episode by any means, but it is a definite step forward for the X-Files as a whole. One is slowly getting  a picture as to how the show could now proceed with Doggett and Reyes in the lead roles. It's rather a pity that around this time Chris Carter decided to give the show the axe before Fox could. It makes a lot of the upcoming episodes seem a lot paler. (Perhaps in the next incarnation we could see a sequel to this episode)

My score: 4.25 stars.