Case 04, File 18: Max

AKA: He's The Man Who's Name You'd Love To Touch

Each individual X-Files episode is, ultimately, futile in the grand scheme of things. Mulder and Scully can't prove the existence of aliens, capture a supernatural being or otherwise accomplish their goals, or else the series would be over, or at least the dynamic would change a lot. It's part of the contract with the audience, and how well we agree to take that futility depends on how well the episode presents it.


Our episode kicks off where Tempus Fugit ended, with Mulder underwater and Scully getting shot at. Mulder gets attacked by military guys as he comes out of the water and arrested, while Scully shoots the guy who attacked Frish and hits him, but he bolts before they can capture him. Skinner arrives to tell them that the military has taken responsibility for the plane crash, telling them it was a collision and also that they want Frish turned over to them.

So Scully pops over to military prison and springs Mulder (surprisingly easy, given that he used to get mind wiped when the military arrested him) and she tells him that Sharon wasn't Max's sister, that she's in a mental institution and that Pendrell died from his gunshot wound. They head to Max's old trailer where they find video tapes of him talking about finding proof of alien life, while the military pulls the alien craft out of the lake Mulder was diving in.

So they head back to the NTSB meeting and Mulder tells the leader his theory about what happened: Max had some proof of alien life on the plane with him, but a UFO showed up to abduct him. Things would have been fine, with Max returned and all memories wiped except the military, in true military fashion, decided to shoot down the UFO and caused the plane crash. Nice going, assholes. But the NTSB guy knows he can't sell that story, so he wanders off.

"This would be a dumb outfit to die in!"

So, desperate to make Max's and Pendrell's deaths mean something, Mulder returns to Max's trailer, while Scully goes and visits Sharon. Sharon tells Scully that she and Max stole some alien tech, while Mulder finds Max's trailer trashed and gets a piece of mail from his landlord containing a baggage claim ticket. So Mulder heads down to the local airport and picks up the bag.

But, dun dun dun, the military guys have stalked Mulder to the airport and when he bolts onto the plane, the mustachioed henchman who shot Pendrell follows him on board. Mulder recognizes him and holds him at gunpoint but when the aliens show up at the plane, the henchman gets the advantage and takes the tech, only to be abducted with the tech and the entire plane's memories are erased. And thus, the episode ends with Mulder and Scully musing on how to give Max, Pendrell and all the other people who have died's deaths meaning.

Max is, at best, the last act of Tempus Fugit stretched out into a full episode, and thus needs to find a way to extend its plot out to a full 45 minutes. A less secure series might decide to fill that time with extraneous action bits or red herrings, Max spends most of that time examining its characters, why they do what they do and while not all of it works, it's an interesting attempt to make an episode more about the characters than the conspiracies.

"You should consider yourself lucky Mulder, the last time I rescued you from the military you got mind wiped."

I suppose there is something to be said about an episode that builds itself around mourning the deaths of two recently deceased characters, actually spend some time asking themselves if they can give their deaths meaning. Too many shows just sort of skip past it when a character dies (which is okay when it's say, Seinfeld, not so much when it's Angel) so having the characters acknowledge and deal with their grief, even briefly, is good writing.

There's a lot of good direction in there too. I know this is an odd thing to focus on, but there's a lot of good sound direction and editing. The shot at the end of the episode cutting from the light of the abduction to the light of the plane landing is really good, and I'm pretty fond of the scene of the conspiracy pulling the space ship out of the lake overlaid with Max's monologue. None of it is complex, but it's noticeably interesting, and it elevates the scenes it's in.

Honestly, I just kind of wish we'd gotten to know Pendrell more. We only get a little bit more out of Max in this episode, but I do feel like we got to know him well enough in the single episode he showed up in to make him memorable, Pendrell is mostly just a wash. Which isn't to say I feel nothing for his death, just that it isn't as memorable as it could have been. But there's not really not anyone else the series could drag in for this role. Maybe one of the Lone Gunmen but the fanbase would never forgive them for killing one of them (and yes, I know about Season 9, I know what I said).

"Hi, my name is Scott, I'm a henchman for the conspiracy and I'm terrible at my job."

Max is an episode I wish I liked more than I do. It's got its moments, it's never bad and it occasionally flirts with being really good, but it's just not all it can be. I'm actually kind of reticent about the decision to split the episode in two, as I think there might be too much fat in this episode, but then I don't know if you could fit the events of both episodes into one. This is one of those episodes that might benefit from binging, since there would be less space between this episode and Fallen Angel, but as is, it's a good episode I feel somewhat distant from.

Case Notes:

• Mulder getting the boat lights flashed at him to imitate a UFO is such an obvious fakeout that the episode can't even keep it up for more than a few seconds.
• Mulder is apparently an expert swimmer that can evade a military boat. I'd whine about that, but they have established he likes to swim, so carry on.
• I love how they don't even try to disguise the massive city in the background of the lake. The largest town near Great Sacandaga Lake is just under 7,000 people by the by.
• I'm sorry, Mulder looks incredibly dumb running from the truck in the wet suit.
• The mustachioed henchman got shot in the leg and managed to not only get outside but get away so fast he was out of sight seconds later. That's impressive.
• The military orders Frisch arrested seconds after they tried to have him assassinated. Come on dudes, keep your plans in order.
• The military's story is kind of overly complicated and since we're not even supposed to pretend to believe it, I have trouble caring enough to remember it.
• I reported last episode that it was revealed last episode that Sharon was not Max's sister, but given that Scully reveals it to Mulder this episode, I'm having trouble remembering if it was actually revealed last episode or if I got my the information from the episode and my vague memories of these two episodes mixed up.
• Both Mulder and Scully react with shock and sadness to Pendrell's death but they barely knew him, right? Am I underestimating their relationship to him?
• Mulder says Max knew the plane was in danger before it even took off, but why didn't he drive then? It's like an 6 hour drive from Syracuse to Washington DC.
• Max's semi-rambling voice over over the footage of the military recovering the downed alien craft is pretty good sound editing, if I'm being honest.
• Mustachioed henchman didn't even change his pants after being shot. He's pretty intense.
• The NTSB group seems so depressed over the fact that their investigation is ending without a proper explanation.
• I also like the scene where Mulder, in voice over, explains what happens to Max as we watch it. It's much more interesting than simply hearing it from Mulder, or even just seeing it as we did at the start of the last episode.
• Max gets immediately pulled out of his seat and into the alien craft. This is why you gotta buckle your seat belt guys.
• The assassin is using a improvised firearm on the airplane and it fails to go off. This is supposed to be because the aliens are interfering, but I choose to believe it's because most improvised firearms are garbage.
• The plane crash sequence is actually really really good.
• Mulder saying he'd go with Scully to the mental institution but he's afraid they'd lock him up (as is Scully) is exactly the sort of cute interaction that I love.
• Trailer park owner just hands Max's mail over to Mulder on the basis that he's with the FBI and he knew Max. Come on dude.
• The Agents stalking Mulder are really really bad at blending in.
• Mulder looking at the item in the bag via the X-Ray machine is clever and I like it.
• The mustachioed henchman is STILL wearing his bullet-holed pants. It even gets him ID'd by Mulder. It's been over a day dude and you are bleeding, change your pants!
• The speech mustachioed henchman gives Mulder about "Would you care if one of those lights went out" is pretty good, but it's also a near word for word ripoff of a speech Orson Welles' character gives in The Third Man, just with dots replaced with lights and the future instead of money.
• Mulder locks the henchman in the plane bathroom with the drink cart which is almost clever, but it's on wheels Mulder.
• Edit from the light of the abduction to the airplane light? That is Chef Kiss good.
• Scully didn't even know Pendrell's first name. That's kind of sad.
• I absolutely love Scully's final speech and Mulder's joking response to it. Goddamn do I love these characters. I mean goddamn.
• As always, these reviews are supported by Patreon, so please consider donating cause I like writing about The X-Files.

Audio Observations:

Unmarked Helicopters by Soul Coughing plays briefly on Max's radio. I remember hearing it when I was younger, but it could have just been on the Songs in the Key of X CD I had when I was a kid.