Feb 10, 2018

PoCo Dreams

Dr. They: "Reggie is William's father."
I was blissfully dreaming of a rational post-conspiracy Sci Fi wind-down of The X-Files, then we got chemtrails in episode 6 of Season 11.

Previously on The X-Files... we had Chris Carter's fantasy about bees that would cause the end of civilization by spreading a virus (or alien DNA, or something).

So, Davey, what's your dad been up to?
Look Ma, No Teeth
"Kitten" could be meaningful if it is leading to an end-of-Season 11 showdown between 1) William and his ability to make people see things and 2) some dark government/Syndicate/whoknows? conspiracy to spray evil yellow gas from airplanes and make everyone see monsters/die from the Spartan Virus/whoknows? yada yada...

Hiatus
Really, officer, I lost my boss... Bald Eagle.
The Good. In preparation for the Grand Finale of The X-Files, we now have Skinner, Mulder and Scully all united and working together in their struggle to find the TRUTH™. Thankfully, we did not even have to suffer through another lame pushing match between Skinner and Mulder in episode 6.

The Bald Bad. I am so ready to be done with Chris Carter's endless conspiracy mongering. I wish episode 7 would arrive quickly (yes, I'm welcoming what looks like some absurd drone army chasing Fox and Dana, but I'll take anything just to get the disgusting flavor of episode 6 out of my mouth), but Dr. They is going to make us wait three whole weeks for the next X-Files episode.

Mitch finally learns the backstory of Skinner
The Ugly. I had a horrible thought during episode 6: what if "My Struggle IV" is not going to be about William's struggle, but rather, it turns out to be Skinner's struggle?! Eww. I hate the idea that Skinner is an essential element of the entire X-Files saga. I had no desire to learn more about Skinner's past as some sort of special operations grunt during the Vietnam War.

The Annoying. Of course, in "Kitten" nothing is explained about the idiotic chemical/biological warfare mission that Skinner and his buddy "Kitten" are given while in Vietnam. Don't ask questions, just go along for the conspiratorial fear mongering. All you need to do is set off enough explosions and kill enough extras and you have successfully satisfied the requirements for making a Hollywood television program.

The Anti-William
The vampiro monster, that can only
be killed by a bamboo cheek piercing
There's the perp, wearing a silly animal skull costume and looking into the surveillance camera that happens to be out in the middle of the forest right where it can capture the images of a murder and advance the plot of episode 6. Nothing need make sense because we are in Mud Lick, where anything can happen, such as everyone failing to care if their teeth are falling out.

Golly gee willikers, now that you mention it,
my wife and I were just discussing how everyone around
these parts has been loosing teeth.
It all started long ago when Skinner was ordered to carry an LSD-dispensing M44 generator cluster deep into the jungle of Vancouver, BC. The local Canadians objected to being used for chemical warfare experiments, so the experiments were moved to Mud Lick, Kentucky.

Project MKUltra
Apparently, vast numbers of documents related to U.S. government research and development of chemical and biological weapons were destroyed in order to hide illegal human subjects research carried out by the CIA. I would not be surprised if some research into psycho-active chemicals (such as anxiety-inducing drugs) remains classified. The murky history of such research and government use of chemical/radiological/biological warfare agents provides a good starting point for Sci Fi stories with a government conspiracy plot line.

X-Files: the next generation?
Somewhere between William and Davey is Tommy, a young boy who can put monsters into the thoughts of people and even his pet cat. I suppose Gabe Rotter was involved in writing "Scary Monsters" and he waited years for a chance to write "Kitten".

"Kitten" was a jumbled mess that excelled in the Chris Carter tradition of a plot that makes no sense. The severe sloppiness of this episode might simply arise from inexperience on the part of the writer and director, but it does not bode well if this was some sort of audition for new show runners who might bring us an X-Files the Next Generation.

Absurd and not explained.
Episode 666. This steaming pile strikes me as what you get from a producer who is too young to know anything about the Vietnam War and a writer who went to Wikipedia in an attempt to create a backstory for Skinner, and a writer who could not resist splicing into their X-File various gruesome scenes from old war movies like The Green Berets and Apocalypse Now.

What, me worry? (original)
Move Along
Mr. "Kitten" is experimented on for 40 years and then he finally gets released by his tormentors? And he then sends an ear through the mail to Skinner? Or was it Davey who sent the Ear? Never explained and it does not matter. "Never explained and it does not matter" is the motto for this kind of lame Hollywood dreck that simply rushes along from one disgusting scene to another. Skinner is pinned at the bottom of the hole by a stake through his abdomen, then he is unpinned, then he is trapped at the bottom of the hole, then he gets out, then Scully applies a band-aid and Skinner is ready to go back to his office. Davey gets shot by Scully then Davey is running around and fighting with Skinner then he falls into his own booby trap. Don't even try to make sense of it.

Next: telepathy in 1927

Season 11, Episode 7
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