Case 05, File 05: The Post-Modern Prometheus

AKA: Ceci N'est Pas Une Frankenstein

While I like to think I have a pretty unique way of approaching The X-Files, I don't think most of my opinions would cause an uproar among fans. Yes, I have episodes I like or dislike for personal reasons, but you usually won't catch me calling Space an underappreciated masterpiece or saying that Home is overrated. There are exceptions to this rule however, and we have hit one of the big ones.

The Post-Modern Prometheus opens with a kid named Izzy, who lives in a small farming town, going to a comic convention and his mom giving him shit. That night the mom's house is invaded by a mysterious figure, who knocks her out with gas and listens to...Cher? Anyway, it turns out this happened to her before and the first time she woke up pregnant (this time too) so she calls in Agents Mulder and Scully! And they proceed to do...not a lot.

Specifically, after checking out the house and discovering some odd but minor things, and that the lady's description of the intruder matches the character from her son's comic (and that the comic is based on a local legend of a monster named Mutato) they decide to go out and try to find the monster. Instead they find an old man who initially says there's no monster but then says his son is a monster, so he's not super trustworthy.

Anyway, it turns out his son is a more or less literal mad scientist who is doing some...science stuff (I didn't totally follow the explanation), where he alters genetics to create monsters, including altering some flies to have legs growing out of their mouths. Gross. Anyway, Mulder thinks the same thing could be done to humans, but both Scully and the mad scientist deny it.

The comic book thing doesn't really go anywhere, but it leads to some neat shots.

But then there wouldn't be an episode as the scientists' wife, who was fighting with him about having a baby, is also knocked unconscious in her house and Mutato shows up to do the thing he did already to Izzy's mom. Mulder and Scully discover the house and get knocked out by the gas, and when the awaken, they find that the gas used to knock everyone is used to knock out horses. This makes them suspect the scientists' father, who is also a farmer. But the scientist gets there first, confronts him and then murders him. Whoops.

After Mutato buries the father and some more futzing about getting evidence that the father has the chemical (plus checking in on a subplot where the town is getting manipulated by the press, which ties in with the recurring bit with Jerry Springer but doesn't actually go anywhere, so I'll just drop it), they go and check the old man's house, but the reporter who has been hanging about shows up and says she say Mutato burying the old man. 

They get to meet Mutato, but a mob (led by the scientist, ironically) shows up and intends to kill him, but the monster talks about how the scientist created him, the old man raised him, he meant no harm and they change their minds. Mulder is not satisfied with the ending where both the scientist and the monster are arrested though, and thus we get an ending where they take Mutato to a Cher concert and Mulder and Scully dance. Yes it is important I mention that last part.

"No more of this baby talk. Now, I'm off to Burma. You most likely know it as Myanmar, but it will always be Burma to me!"

This episode is well regarded among the fanbase but it's one I've always had issues with, and as I've gotten older, those issues have only gotten worse. It's not that I think it's a bad episode, and there is a lot about it that I like. But to see it get usually lavished with praise has always kind of irked me, and now that I have my own X-Files review blog where I can write whatever I want without anyone stopping me (insert episode appropriate evil laugh) I can finally articulate why.

I suppose the first and biggest thing is how the episode addresses, or rather fails to address, the actual crime committed in it. I've said, as far back as Season 2, that The X-Files isn't very good at addressing sexual assault and this really is the nadir of that. It's not just that Mutato is committing sexual assault (he is, I'm sorry) it's that the episode doesn't seem to think it's a problem. Indeed, the tone of his crime is more quirky than anything else and in the end everyone just flat forgives him. At least in Excelsis Dei or Small Potatoes they realized it was wrong, even if they had their own issues. It's always been a gross element of the script that hangs over the entire plot.

But it's more than just the tone deaf sexual politics, the episode also feels very forced to me. This is the first real attempt to replicate the Darin Morgan style with Darin himself (I'm not counting Small Potatoes because he was there in the cast) and something feels off in the tone. Between the black and white, the very self conscious ominous thunder and the score that Danny Elfman could sue over, it seems to be trying just a little too hard to be funny and quirky, and while it has some funny lines, being funny is one of those things that has to be effortless or it gets exhausting quickly.

"How come you're wearing a gas mask and Mutato isn't?"
"Cause I'm a big fan of Darth Vader, don't worry about it."

But it's more than just the overly-quirky tone. As I've said before, Darin Morgan's scripts are very good at communicating themes and having interesting things to say about their characters, Mulder and Scully in particular and that's just not here. The plot is all over the place (the reporter lady got completely excised from the plot summary on Wikipedia) and Mulder and Scully don't actually do much or get any real insight. I get that expecting anyone, even Chris Carter, to measure up to Darin Morgan is asking a lot, but at least they could have let Mulder say a revealing line or two.

This is all sounding extremely negative, so I want to say, there's a lot I like about the episode. John O'Hurley is an inspired casting choice, his mix of incredible presence and Radio Announcer Voice doing more to sell the Frankenstein homage than the black and white. It's also very well directed, with a lot of stylistic flourishes. And I do like the implication that the overly happy ending is simply an invention of Mulder and Izzy, given the depressing nature of normal reality. Honestly, more done with that, the subjective nature of reality and fiction, might have given the episode a stronger theme to build itself around.

Am I wrong about this episode? I don't think it's a bad episode but it's one that has always rubbed me the wrong way and seeing it get praised so heavily by the fanbase has made me a little more sour on it. I'm open to being convinced either way but for now, I'm devoted to making sure I deliver my opinion to you guys even when you might now like it.

Might not read the comments on this one though.

Case Notes:

• The score is so Danny Elfman from the word go, I'm pretty sure Danny could sue.
• Again, I'll get more into this in the review proper, but does the episode really not recognize that Mutato is a rapist?
• The implication that Mulder gets fanmail asking him for help opens a can of worms that I dunno if the episode is willing to work through. I know I'm not.
• "Do you think it's too early to start my own 1-900 number" is a solid Mulder line.
• The fact that Scully has to play skeptic to a sexual assault is really weird. At least in Excelsis Dei, she was the one who wanted to keep digging.
• I dunno how I feel about Mulder and Scully's discussion about media and pinning evils on unknowable monsters, it's setting up a lot of themes that the episode never really pays off.
• "Is there anything you don't believe in Mulder." Love it.
• The timing on the lab assistant accidentally letting the flies out is really solid.
• I do love the creepiness inherent in the fly with legs coming from its mouth.
• I like the habit the episode has of having people pop into frame. The waitress in the diner, Mulder and Scully in the doorway, it's good stuff.
• Mulder and Scully wandering into a gassed building with no filtration and no backup is kinda dumb for them. They're usually better than that, come on.
• I really like the scene with the still drugged up Mulder and Scully confronting John O'Hurley. It's a good showcase of how Duchovny and Anderson handle it and an opportunity for some great physical acting.
• I get that the townsfolk are mad at Mulder but throwing stuff at him and burning him is a good way to wind up in jail.
• I'm not totally clear why they're mad at Izzy, but the postman admits he opened some of his mail so that's like, a federal offense, right?
• I get what they're going for with the scene with Mutato buries his father, but it just doesn't work for me. Maybe it's cause we know so little about their relationship? Whatever.
• I feel like this town went from 0 to Mob Violence WAY too fast, but that's pretty accurate to real life, so what do I know? Plus they got that great John O'Hurley voice to lead them.
• The effects on the Mutato face are quite impressive, although I wonder how much of that is the black and white.
• I'm REALLY not sure what the barn being on fire adds, aside from the Frankenstein reference.
• "I never acted to harm another soul." Uh, you drugged and sexually assaulted several women man. 
• It is very clear the episode isn't clear on that actual implications of Mutato's crimes.
• I do feel like this episode ends very strong (even if it's heavily implied the ending isn't real), which is where reputation as a classic comes from. And that final shot destroys my little shipper heart.
• As always, these reviews are supported by my Patreon. Feel free to chip in, even if you don't agree with my opinion about this episode.

Current Celebrity Watch:

Our mad scientist is played by John O'Hurley, a veteran TV actor who has done a lot of stuff (including hosting Family Feud? Huh) but, to me, will always be J. Peterman from Seinfeld. Jacobo is one of my favorite characters, partially because my dad used to get the J. Peterman catalog when I was a kid and partially because he was just inspired casting, there and here. He's got amazing screen presence and his voice is very distinctive. He's one of the best parts of this episode.

Also we have a brief appearance by Jerry Springer from the eponymous show, but since he requires no introduction and I've never been fond of his show, I'm just gonna move on. Still probably put more words into this paragraph than he says in this episode.

Audio Observation:

There is a LOT of Cher in this episode, more than I remembered. We open the episode with The Son Ain't Gonna Shine Anymore, we get a brief appearance of Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves (you're not supposed to use that first word of title anymore, but that's the name of the song) during the middle part of the episode and we end on, of course, Cher's cover of Walking in Memphis. This is one of those elements of the episode that feels a little overly quirky, since we never get a reason why Mutato likes Cher so much although the lyrics of the first two songs sort of tie into his character? So there's that. I will admit to being disappointed when I found out that wasn't actually Cher at the end though.