“Did you really think you could call up the devil and ask him to behave?” – Fox Mulder.
DIE HAND DIE VERLETZT [Standalone] Aired January 27, 1995
Episode: 2×14 / 38 Overall
Director: Kim Manners • Writer: Glen Morgan & James Wong
The agents investigate a murder in a small town populated by devil worshippers.
Kim Manners joins the X-Files team as director, and later producer, while Morgan and Wong bid farewell with their final episode. The writing duo left The X-Files at this time to pursue their own project, the short lived Space: Above and Beyond in which they’re credited as co-creators, producers and writers. They will return however in the X-Files fourth season and pen arguably their most well known and controversial episode. Manners will go on to direct an impressive 52 X-Files episodes, including the two part finale and he starts his X-Files career with a bang. Looking back on the series I would place Manners alongside David Nutter and Rob Bowman as the most influential X-Files directors. Their combined efforts comprise many of my personal favourites as well as numerous critically acclaimed entries that span the entirety of the series. Die Hand Die Verletzt is a visual powerhouse of an episode from the opening shot to the thrilling climax.
In keeping with the established tone of the series Manners works with an appropriately grim colour pallet. As the actors and crew have commented many times, the Vancouver climate was an integral component in developing the shows dark imagery. When production moved to L.A in season 6, many feared that it would be difficult to replicate the naturally gloomy atmosphere imbued in Vancouver’s weather within L.A’s clear, sunny climate. Although I disagree with the criticism that the series lost some of it’s charm as a result of this move, there is still an obvious shift in tonality between seasons 5 and 6, especially with the lack of outdoor settings like the British Columbia forest. When the teens conduct their night ritual in the forest, the cinematography is gorgeous. The white light of the moon streams through the darkened trees, casting shadows contrasting light and shade to create a wonderfully ominous atmosphere. A shot like this would have been far more difficult to replicate in the concrete jungle of LA. Another visually striking image is the use of light streaming through the door frame, this motif is used throughout the episode as some have theorised is meant to represent the metaphor of opening a door to an evil not born of this world. Mulder and Scully being dragged away by their feet in the school gym is another noteworthy shot that really grabs our attention for both the subject matter and style. The opening scene mixes the genres of horror and comedy well, as what appear to be devout Christians suddenly start chanting devil worship as the camera pans back from the door as red light shines through the door frame. This is something the episode does well, mixing genres.
The episode begins in a rather comical way. A high school staff meeting sees a group of people concerned over the inclusion of the ‘F’ word in the musical Grease, and citing Jesus Christ Superstar as an inappropriate production for the school. This assumed sensibility is then turn on it’s head as they begin devil worshipping prayer to the light of a burning red candle. You wouldn’t be wrong to laugh at this point, as well as feel slightly uncomfortable at the subject matter. Morgan and Wong have intentionally brought comedy in to the episode’s first act, possibly as a way to catch the audience off guard for the dramatic shift that comes later. Frogs raining from the sky, Mulder remarks, “Guess their parachutes didn’t open,” a clearly intentional comedic moment. Compare this with the young Shannon Ausbury tearfully recounting the horrific physical and sexual abuse she and her sister were subject to at the hands of their own father while Mulder and Scully listen helplessly. It’s a striking contrast to say the least but it works as the underlying subject matter was always dark from the beginning. Another particularly gruesome scene is where Shannon imagines the half dissected pig corpse in front of her to be writhing and squealing in pain as she attempts to cut open it’s heart. Susan Blommaert was an inspired casting choice as Mrs. Paddock. Her intense, piercing eyes and deep groans of pain as she holds her hand over a flame in order to cast rituals is decisively unnerving.
Mulder and Scully are more like pawns in her game as they both fail to prevent any deaths or amass any hard evidence to convict someone. This is a rare episode in that the writers make no pretence to obscure the true nature of Paddock. It’s insinuated very heavily, beyond a doubt that Paddock is the devil in disguise and is murdering these staff members because they have lost their faith and are only paying lip service to the religion. One of the groups members expresses the need to act now, “If it’s not already too late.” As Paddock takes control of his body in order to murder his colleagues and force himself to commit suicide, with a shotgun to the face no less, she remarks, “You’re right, it is too late.” This is uncharacteristically explicit for the X-Files to be so clear, we’re usually used to some degree of mystery but Morgan and Wong have laid it out clear as day, don’t mess with the devil.
★★★★☆
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