Red Museum

In narrative terms X-files has been an astounding failure so far; twenty-something episodes, nearly twenty hours of narrative time, and we basically know that Mulder lost his sister and wants to believe, and Scully lost her father and is sceptical.

It boggles the mind that we're only at around this time beginning to know a third character outside the two with any dimension at all, Skinner.

It boggles the mind that in place of sketching a broader world for the main couple, we've chased around the dumbest monsters for episode after episode. That Scully keeps asserting logical explanations in spite of the many encounters she's had, that we've seen vampires, ghosts, werewolves and alien hybrids and the show hilariously still tries to entertain some ambiguity.

Here, perhaps for the first time we have something of what the show may have been in capable hands. It's all in the prologue—a baffling disappearance and discovery, with someone watching from behind a mirror, responsible for some part of it but we're not sure which. I don't mind that we go on to stitch on that the usual 'secret experiment' and 'government cover-up' plots, because pieces of the larger narrative just fall from the sky as in a film noir.

But we actually seen nothing extraordinary, we are small pawns tossed about in a larger game of control. Hints of broader mystery. Why was the man watching, filming? This is never addressed in its sexual dimension, which only adds. Both leads in the show are so asexual, it is something they'd overlook. It is a powerful causality outside the detective plot, the disappearances linked to secret experiments linked to secret watching each one generating the next level because there is so much pent-up energy in the gears of this world.

About 31 minutes into the episode (sans commercials of course), we find the two teen males hanging out in a chester-van. Playing on the radio is some song that I've not been able to identify, but it's definitely one Pepper Keenan's voice, so I'm assuming it's Corrosion of Conformity. Back in 94 they only had 1 album released and they released their 2nd sometime during that year. You can only hear part of the song, and haven't been able to figure out which song it is. The song sounds more like something off of Deliverance which is the newer one.

I went through all the lyrics for the songs that were released before 94 and came up with nothing. I can clearly hear some of the words, enough that a string search should have found something, but no luck.

If anyone knows the answer to this, they should post it on here as some useless but interesting trivia.

Rumor has it that Red Museum was just going to be a monster-of-the-week episode. Certain things fell through, though, and some myth/arc elements were added to flesh out the episode. So Red Museum is a unique episode that stands by itself but has a little bit of the mythology in it. It's a really good episode that sees the return of Deep Throat's killer. Red Museum does a good job of misdirection. Unfortunately I can't elaborate on it, because that would spoil the episode. The resolution with the crew-cut man, Deep Throat's killer, is a bit disappointing. I was left wanting for a little bit more. I really like the story and the mysterious "S/he is one" that was written on the backs of the victims. It's funny to see Mulder and Scully hunkering down over a set of dripping barbecue ribs. You don't see them eating a whole lot in the series. It seems like it's humorous when they do show it. You don't need to have seen 'The Erlenmeyer Flask' to enjoy this episode, but viewing it beforehand will help you understand Red Museum more.

"Red Museum" is a unique episode in that it is structured like and feels like a standalone 'monster of the week' episode (small town+creepy elements=Mulder and Scully investigation) but has a mythology tie-in that comes late in the episode with Deep Throat's killer.

It's also a very, very good episode. I used to think that this script was all over the place, and that it had too many elements that were brought together too fast at the end. I mean, half-way through this episode you could be forgiven for calling it the "Brand X" of beef. In some ways it still is, but the focus of the episode changes. Still, upon this viewing I found a lot to appreciate in Chris Carter's script- it's intelligent, paranoid as the best of the X-Files tends to be, and creates a genuinely detailed and effective portrait of this small town in just 45 minutes.

"Red Museum" is atmospheric and creepy enough, the acting's good for everyone, the mythology tie-in is handled very well, and the script is strong. The general fan reaction to this episode seems to be 'meh, it's okay' or 'it's good', but I'd go a step further and say that this is an excellent episode, and very enjoyable.

8.5/10

I can't get enough of X-files in Hickville. It's the perfect combination: ultra-intelligent aliens with country bumpkins. The writers really cranked up the creepiness in this episode. Teens are found wandering around in the woods with mysterious messages on their backs. Meanwhile, a stranger is spying on a family through a peephole inside their house. That's some twisted stuff.

A cult of vegetarians exists in the middle of beef town. The writers excellently portrayed the bigotry against them, which exemplified the fear of the unknown. The cult could have been better utilized, so much potential for additional weirdness.

Towards the end the story begins tripping over its shoelaces. Various aspects are left unexplained by plot holes rather than authentic mystery. Luckily, the episode's strong feeling and great acting make the few story glitches entirely forgivable.