X-Files: The Jersey Devil

X-Files, Season 1, Episode 4: The Jersey Devil

It's telling that this episode begins with a scene from 1947.  So much of this series is about the importance of history, the ways that the past shapes the present and continues to resonate like seismic activity beneath the surface of life.  Mulder is, in many ways, not just a detective but also a historian – the guardian of personal and social memory.

This episode toys with notions of human ancestry and evolution.  We are presented with scenes from modern life that evoke our animal heritage.  Most notably, the children at a party seem savage and wild.  Scully observes, “I was just thinking about my godson’s birthday party.  Eight little six year old boys running around… talk about primitive behavior.”  The scene is quickly juxtaposed with a homeless camp – perhaps a place more closely connected to “the truth” than the suburban madhouse that Scully is visiting.  The opening shot on the street suggests this poverty is “backward” and “primitive” yet Mulder finds a homeless man who is far more honest and helpful than the local police.  Later we see Scully all dressed up on a date but perhaps uneasy with the situation – not least because the cannibal case she’s involved with makes the meat on the plate less appetizing.

Mulder want to extend the human family further back into its roots, to empathize with the “beast people” who have been mistaken for the Jersey Devil.  Scully, of course, is skeptical: “Mulder, listen to yourself, you’re already ascribing it a motive and an alibi.  This thing chewed somebody’s arm off, it’s not exactly a defensive posture.”  As with most good science fiction, the mythic/alien “other” becomes an opportunity to meditate on the human condition.  Reflecting on modern life, Mulder notes,  “Maybe we’re just beasts with big brains.”

We have strong teasers about a possible relationship between the protagonists.  I had forgotten how early in the series this began:

“What about that guy you work with?”

“Mulder?”

“Yeah, I thought you said he was cute.”

“He’s a jerk.  He’s not a jerk.  He’s obsessed with his work.”

I have to note Gillian Anderson’s consistently marvelous performances.  Watch Scully’s face as she tells Mulder, “I have a date.”  It’s a subtle mixture of pride and… embarrassment?

Mulder, stuffing his face, simply replies, “Can you cancel?”  “Unlike you, Mulder, I would like to have a life.”  Mulder, earnestly, but still unshaven from his night in the drunk tank, counters, “I have a life.”

Later, when Scully passes on another date, Mulder asks, “Don’t you have a life, Scully?”  Her reply:  “Keep that up, Mulder, and I’ll hurt you like that beast-woman.”  And she delivers it in perfect deadpan!  So cool…

Image: American Museum of Natural History