“All I know is… normal is not what I feel.” – Fox Mulder.
3 [Mythology] November 4, 1994
Episode: 2×07 / 31 Overall
Director: David Nutter • Writer: Chris Ruppenthal, Glen Morgan & James Wong
While Agent Scully is still missing, Agent Mulder embarks upon an investigation involving vampires in Los Angeles, subsequently becoming involved with a sultry female vampire who yearns to escape her lifestyle.
Chris Ruppenthal, who also wrote season one’s Roland, is a freelance writer who submitted the script for 3, which was then edited significantly by Morgan & Wong. It’s the first show that explores the classic vampire myth and is also the first of four episodes to not feature Gillian Anderson. The mythology takes a break this week to explore a side of Mulder we haven’t seen before. 3 is an erotic thriller that received heavy criticism from fans who reacted against the romantic scenes between Mulder and guest star Kristen (Perrey Reeves, Duchovny’s girlfriend at the time.) I find 3 to be successful at handling Anderson’s absence by focusing heavily on Mulder’s sense of loss and hopelessness at his current situation. The vampires in this episode can be seen as a metaphor for Mulder’s sleepwalking, anaemic state, in which he no longer sleeps, devoid of the soul that has been ripped from him along with Scully’s presence. We are witnessing him in a vulnerable and weakened state, it’s common for grief stricken people to look for comfort in the form of physical affection and thus it’s justifiable that he would be lured in to Kristen’s embrace. This intimate connection is helping him to cope with the loss he feels. It’s arguable then that even though we see the character in the arms of another woman, this episode only serves to strengthen the bond between the two agents. It’s never been clearer the value that Mulder places on his relationship with Scully. The angered response from some fans is a typical knee jerk reaction towards what appears on the surface to be a betrayal by the writer’s. However, one only needs to look just below the literal surface here to understand what the writer’s are trying to convey with this story of heartache and mourning.
David Nutter’s direction helps to bring life to this familiar tune. The red lit interrogation scene is a memorable moment that’s both visually arresting and thematically appropriate. The guest stars this week, particularly Frank Military as the enigmatic ‘Son’ delivers captivating performances. Vampire stories are probably the most common monster tale in Western literature, with Zombie’s a close second, so it’s a testament to the writing and direction that this doesn’t feel like a stale or unnecessary monster of the week. With shows like True Blood, The Vampire Diaries, Being Human and Buffy The Vampire Slayer, these stories have in recent years been done to death, pardon the pun. At the time that the X-Files was airing though, these sorts of monster tales where actually quite rare for network television. Certainly there have been a multitude of cinema releases that have tackled the subject well before the 90’s but mainstream television had not yet reached the saturation we see today. Duchovny has stated that he felt vampire stories where some of the more ‘lame’ monster stories that the show covered at the time. Of course now it seems that audiences can’t get enough of the blood sucking undead.
It’s somewhat surprising that I don’t miss Scully in this episode, though of course her presence is felt within the narrative. We’re treated to another side of Mulder, a more desperate and broken shadow of his former self. Even though we know Scully’s return is imminent we still feel for the character. What could have easily been a filler episode designed to give Anderson a quick reprieve turns out to be a thoroughly entertaining vampire story that feels significantly different from the MOTW episodes we’ve seen so far, but in a good way.
★★★☆☆
The X-Files Retrospective Project 