It
seems that my release schedule for the X-Files season eleven
reviews has been derailed by my being sick. So, without further ado, here's "Ghouli". This time, I
decided to write a longer synopsis, so if you've already seen the episode, you
can skip right to the part that says "Jackson".
"Ghouli"
Written
and directed by the show veteran James Wong, “Ghouli" may be the most
important episode of the season so far. In fact, as far as our characters are
concerned, this may be the most significant episode since the season nine
tearjerker that was "William".
The
episode opens in Norfolk, Virginia. It's late night, and two teenage girls are
sneaking around in a decommissioned boat, cryptically named "Chimera".
The girls are looking for the Ghouli - the latest in the long row
of Creepypasta monsters. When the girls see each other, they both mistake
the other one for the Ghouli, and start knifing each other, nearly dying in the
process.
The
episode proper beings with Scully telling Mulder about her sleep paralysis
during which she had a vision of following a dark figure inside of a strange
house. In that vision she saw a snow globe with a boat inside - a miniature
copy of the "Chimera".
Both
Scully and Mulder believe that her visions are somehow leading her Norfolk.
While there, the agents find out that it was an anonymous male caller that had
called the ambulance after the girls had nearly killed each other. It turns out
that the two girls don't even know each other, but they do have the same
boyfriend, Jackson van de Camp. Coincidentally, van de Camp is the name of the
couple that had adopted Scully's son William seventeen years ago.
Scully,
spurred by her visions now believes that Jackson is William,
and that he has been sending these visions to her. Mulder is skeptical, but
when they go to the van de Camp mansion, they hear three gunshots, and find
both the parents and Jackson dead. It looks like Jackson killed both his
parents before shooting himself in the head, but Mulder is suspecting that
these deaths are not what they seem. Meanwhile, the agents are being stalked by
two bots from the Department of Justice.
In
Jackson's room, Scully and Mulder are looking for anything that can help them
shed some light on who this boy really was. What they find is a Malcolm X
poster, a collection of snow globes, a copy of The Pickup Artist,
by author Peter Wong (I see what you did there) and a variety of prescription
antipsychotic drugs. For some reason Scully takes one of the snow globes - the
one with a windmill inside with her.
In
the hospital morgue, Scully takes a hair sample from Jackson's body for a DNA
test that will answer her questions once and for all. What follows is a scene
that literally cuts to the heart of the episode. Scully breaks
down in tears as she is apologizing to her son for abandoning him. She is
interrupted by Mulder who comforts her.
After
the couple has left the morgue, we see the body bag zip open as the formerly lifeless
body of Jackson sits up straight. It's a chilling scene and I was reminded of
Billy Miles' transformation into an alien supersoldier in season eight
(naturally, I was worried).
While
waiting for the test results, Scully is taking a nap, and has another one of
her visions, where she is once again chasing the dark figure. She is woken up
by the coroner that says that Jackson’s body is missing. Meanwhile, the DNA
results are in, and Mulder delivers the bad news to Scully.
While
exiting the hospital, Scully bumps into an older gentleman, who accidentally
breaks her snow globe. They have a friendly chat, and he tells her to not
"give up on the bigger picture".
Scully
refuses to believe that her son is dead, and though Mulder is less optimistic,
he and Scully begin their search for Jackson. Their investigation is hijacked
by the Department of Justice, who are following the orders of - surprise,
surprise! - the Cigarette Smoking Man.
Skinner
comes to Norfolk to make Mulder drop the investigation by telling him about the
top-secret project to create alien-human hybrids, implying that Jackson may
have been one of the subjects, and that the DOJ will not stop until they find
his body. Mulder tells Skinner that Jackson was in fact his and Scully's son,
leaving Skinner speechless.
Skinner's
reaction is a genuine one and it reminded me why I love this character so much.
One of the minor quibbles I've had with this season is the turn that Skinner's
relationship with Scully and Mulder has taken. It seems that he's gone from the
ally and confidant of the later season to be the same cowardly double agent we
first got to know in the early seasons. As I am writing this review, I've
already seen the latest episode, which deals with Skinner’s backstory, so I
have a better understanding of Skinner's arc this season. But before the events
of ”Kitten", this little scene was a warm reminder of where Skinner
and his two special agents used to stand.
Mulder
later theorizes that it was the DOJ that killed Jackson's adopted parents, and
that Jackson used his psychic powers to make everyone believe that he was dead.
This is how he was able to escape leaving none the wiser.
Later
that night, Jackson visits both his girlfriends at the hospital, explaining
that he made up the Ghouli as a joke and that he used his psychic powers to
make the girls see the monster. The incident at the "Chimera" was
thus a practical joke gone very wrong.
One
of the girls, being all jealous tips off the police. Scully and Mulder are
bested by the DOJ agents who are now after Jackson himself. In a nail-biting
and confusing chase scene at the hospital Jackson uses his powers to make the
DOJ agents shoot each other by making them see the Ghouli. He then escapes,
"disguised" as a scared nurse. It seems that Mulder and Scully have
lost their son forever.
As
the FBI agents are driving back, they stop at the gas station that has the same
windmill roadside attraction that Scully saw in Jackson's snow globe. They stop
for gas, and this is where Scully meets the same older man from the hospital.
They have another friendly chat, and he tells her that he will be driving
cross-country. Finally, before driving away, the man tells Scully that "If
you stand for nothing you'll fall for anything". Mulder recognizes it as a
Malcolm X quote, and the two of them realize who this man really was. In the
gas station store they demand to see the security camera footage, where they
see that the older man is actually Jackson.
 |
| Too cool for the Bureau |
Jackson
In
his interview with Syfy Wire, James Wong said that it was his own experience
with sleep paralysis that inspired him, prompting him to explore this
phenomenon. He was also looking for ways to have a monster of the week that
would lead us to William.
The
result is an incredibly emotional and suspenseful hybrid episode that is very
significant not just for the mythology, but the characters as well. It is a
culmination of three seasons worth of questions, theories and heartbreaks.
"Ghouli"
is the second mythology-standalone hybrid of the season. It drives the
mythology forward and contributes plenty to the character’s growth and their
relationships. It's a continuation of William's arc which began in season
eight, as well as Scully's arc which began all the way back in season two.
There isn't much in terms of subtext or metaphor. It's a very honest and simple
story that centers around characters that are so well-developed and so familiar
that we know exactly what they’re feeling without them having to say one word.
It's
an episode that is very sure of itself. The X-Files formula is
strongly present here, but it has a purpose and is employed to the best
possible result. There must be a reason for the DOJ to mess with Mulder and
Scully's work; there must be a reason for big bad government guys to do big bad
government stuff. There must be a reason for the CSM to smoke menacingly in the
background. Otherwise, the show can easily become a parody of itself and not in
a clever Darin Morgan kind of way.
The
highlight of this episode is that we finally get to meet William. Weirdly, the
whole thing felt a little anticlimactic to me. Because I knew that we were
going to meet William at some point, and that it wouldn't be the Hallmark
family reunion we all want it to be. The saddest part for me is that William's
life is now sufficiently ruined. His adopted parents are dead, and he's on the
run from the law for a crime he didn't commit. Scully once said that she was
tired of being an object in a never-ending X-file. It's ironic (though in a
tragic way) that her only son is now himself an X-file.
"Ghouli"
is an incredibly heavy episode that is loaded with all the unaddressed emotions
and all the baggage that our heroes have been dragging with them all these
years. Scully's speech at the morgue is a painfully human moment but it's also
a culmination of almost eighteen years of unanswered questions, and unhealed
wounds.
And,
yes, the first time I watched the morgue scene I did cry. It's physically
impossible to not tear up when Gillian Anderson is crying on screen (try it, I
dare you!). And the final shot of Scully and Mulder looking at the footage of
their son did put a smile on my face. But while I appreciate what this episode
does for Scully and Mulder, and its significance in the show's mythology, I
don't have any emotional investment in this story. For some reason, I never
really cared about William's arc, even during my first run-through of seasons
eight and nine. But I know that a lot of fans do.
A lot
of fans want nothing more than to have that Hallmark family reunion that our
characters undoubtedly deserve. If "Ghouli" brings them one step
closer to that moment is up for debate. What it does is give William's arc a
much-needed boost. After all these years things are finally starting to move
forward.
 |
| According to some Youtube commenters, Jackson looks suspiciously a lot like Alex Krycek. Hmm... |
William
Staying
true to the show's philosophy of not giving us any definite answers, the
writers provide us with some answers regarding William's
conception, his life after his adoption, and his role in the conspirator's
grand scheme. But as always, these answers only produce more questions, and now
that William has driven off into a most uncertain future, he took the answers
with him.
A
burning question is the one of his psychic abilities. It's a fact: William can
alter people's perception of reality. This is of course proof that he is part
alien. Or is it? William has been sharing his visions with Scully and
communicating with her telepathically as first shown is "My Struggle
III". At first, I didn't like the idea of Scully having visions. I thought
it was a rather cheap plot device on Carter's part.
That
was until I remembered, that this wasn't the first time that Scully was shown
to have psychic abilities. In season eight, Scully was having visions of Mulder
being tortured on board of an alien spacecraft. Interestingly, she was having
these visions while being pregnant with William. Does that make Scully psychic,
or is she just a receptacle for William's messages? Or is William simply taking
after his mother? It's also worth remembering that in the season one episode,
"Beyond the Sea" Scully had a vision of her father right before he
died.
While
"Ghouli" is very much a Scully episode, it is Mulder who I find
fascinating here. He is his usual sarcastic and quippy self, but you can see
the grief weighing him down, as his sarcastic quippy facade cracks a few times
throughout the episode. Whatever the CSM may say, William is Mulder's
son. That is, Mulder believes William to be his son, and he takes the initial
loss just as hard as Scully does. But he has the extra burden of supporting
Scully. We're used to Scully being the strong one of the two, ever the rock for
Mulder to lean on. In "Ghouli", it's Mulder who is being the strong
silent type. This is the Mulder that I want to see more of: the supportive and
emotionally mature partner, and not the rebellious man-child who needs his
Mommy to bail him out every time. It's such a joy to see how much these
characters have grown over the years.
In
terms of Easter eggs and hidden messages, there are several details that inform
the nature of this episode. First, there’s the ship's name:
"Chimera". In the ancient Greek mythology, Chimera is a creature that
is a hybrid of a lion, a goat, and a snake. The name of course refers to the
episode itself, which is a mythology-standalone hybrid. But it can also be a
not-so-subtle clue about William's true nature. There's also the windmill snow
globe which according to X-Files Wiki is an allusion to The
Wizard of Oz. Finally, William's book, The Pickup Artist: Memoirs
of a Wolf in Sheep's Clothing could be a hint to William not being who
(or what) he thinks he is. It could also be a reference to the CSM who is using
the DOJ to do his dirty work.
As
always, we have to dig for callbacks to the original show. Looking for Easter
eggs, callbacks and even visual tidbits that bear resemblance to old episodes
is something that we old school fans are always going to do, whether these
moments are intentional or not. My favourite moment is the visual parallel
between "Ghouli" and the Pilot. In both scenes, Scully and Mulder are
driving to a mysterious location. Visually, the scenes are nearly identical,
except that the file folder in Scully’s hands has been replaced with an iPad.
It's a cute little comparison that shows us how far we've come, and it makes me
grateful that we got these two new seasons.
 |
| Started in the basement and now we're here |
The
most important parallel we can draw here is the one between Mulder's search for
his sister that had been his driving force for the first six and a half
seasons, and Scully's search for her son. Her almost irrational need to believe
that William somehow survived being shot in the head reminded me of Mulder's
own approach to dealing with the loss of Samantha. Note how Scully doesn't even
bother to look for some logical scientific explanation to the events
surrounding William's "resurrection". This is Scully at her most
vulnerable, and I wonder if she now has a better understanding of Mulder's
plight during those first six and a half seasons. Remember that the tagline for
the show is "I want to believe" and not "I do believe".
Also, Mulder being the skeptic to Scully's believer is not only a refreshing
change of roles, but it also tells us about where the characters are
emotionally.
I
only have one quibble with this episode. And that is the teenage drama part of
it. Perhaps it's my own personal bias, because with very few exceptions I was
never a fan of the teen drama stuff. Miles Robbins who plays William/Jackson
does a good job and he's very charming, but he doesn't have a lot to work with.
At this point, William isn't yet a fully fleshed-out character. We spent ten
seasons and two movies getting to know these characters, to the point where we
know all their ins and outs. So, William has a long way to go.
Sources and links:
Well,
this is it for now. As you may know, The X-Files is taking a
mid-season break, and it returns to the Swedish screens on March 1st. This will
give me plenty of time to write my review of "Kitten".
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