Theef

After an idyllic night at an Awards ceremony, a prominent Doctor's world is turned upside down, when he finds his father in law hanged, and a bizarre message sprawled on the wall.

I thought this was a pretty awesome episode, I loved it, I'm quite surprised by the relatively average score it has, for me, it's much better than that, particularly after the previous, dismal episode.

An out and out chiller, this one really does provide the fear factor, as the snakes did a few episodes back, the voodoo does the same here, a more Earthly adversary for Mulder and Scully, but equally as terrifying. I'm loving the variety we're being treated to on this seventh series.

Billy Drago was phenomenal here as Orel Peattie I thought, a spine chilling performance, he's creepy, he's sinister, but best of all, he's believable, I totally bought into that guy's mission.

The makeup, throughout this episode was astonishing, sheer talent went into the visuals of this one, I'm in awe of what they accomplished here.

9/10.

Theef is a solid episode with plenty of creepiness. The teaser reminds me of The Sixth Sense opening, where the doctor comes home after receiving a prestigious award, then something bad happens to him. Another thing that is similar to the beginning of the Sixth Sense is that the offended person asks the doctor about a patient that he can't recall at first. Very slight similarities, but they could have inspired the teaser. Mulder and Scully, as was common in seasons 6 & 7, poke fun at themselves. This time with Mulder mocking Scully saying, "Mulder, why are we here?" Also, they do a running theme throughout the episode of Mulder telling Scully, "You keep me guessing." I liked the shot of the voodoo doll hanging, showing that Peattie used voodoo to have the father-in-law hang himself. The deleted scene was quite interesting, with Peattie gathering a token. It also shows the excellent guest acting on the part of Billy Drago. He's excellent in the rest of the episode, but it really shows in the deleted scene. It was as if he was made for the part. Special effects have come a long way. Nan's face instantly showing the disease was cool. It was interesting seeing the sales lady talk so matter-of-fact about voodoo, as if it's an everyday occurrence. Of course, Scully doesn't believe a word of it, and Mulder is a sucker for all of it. Umbrellas make a very rare post-Vancouver appearance in this episode. It's very interesting to see how Scully doesn't believe in voodoo or black magic, yet she goes along with Mulder and his theory for helping the family, because she trusts him to know what he's doing. And even though Mulder believes in the voodoo, he alters his words to say, "well, the murderer believes in it. So we'll play along with his belief." So that Mulder doesn't sound like a complete crackpot. Scully was made blind, and Mulder shows her the voodoo doll with its eyes poked out. Scully doesn't answer Mulder definitely about being able to save Peattie's daughter, leaving you wondering if Scully believes in the voodoo now. Mulder remarks by saying, "You keep me guessing, Scully." Theef is a great episode. It was creepy throughout and very well-acted, except for the few lines by the daughter. But other than that, it's a solid contribution to the X-Files catalog that "keeps you watching".

We're the writers on vacay for this episode ? My cat could have hid this family better than they did on this show ! Voodoo hillbilly using dead daughters body to cast spells on doctors family b/c he thinks he killed her. >So they decide to hide the family from the killer, where....in a cabin in the closest Forrest they could find. How about somewhere he can't travel to with the body, no body,no spells. Like someplace you have to fly to, can't take body parts thru airport security. Or across the border to Canada? Bringing a head thru customs would be tricky. Really stupid and lazy and unrealistic.

This was interesting episode because whilst the pacing felt a bit slow there was still a lot to enjoy about this particular X File.

The hexcraft storyline has been done before and slightly more effectively in previous X Files episodes and whilst this story did not reinvent the wheel it was made all the more enjoyable by Billy Drago. He's a very reliable character actor who tends to play sinister villain types and is probably best known for his turn on Charmed as Barbus the demon of fear.

As always the chemistry between Mulder and Scully is excellent and it was nice to see Scully hop aboard the X File theory train by her own admission although after all she has seen and been through it would be a little strange if she was in full sceptic mode.

Overall a fairly by the numbers story elevated by good casting. Oh and throwing a mention of charmed was nice, not the show obviously but I feel there was an emphasis placed on the word when it was used as a nod to Drago's part in the show. That might just be me though....

Five years after Mulder & Scully dealt with black magic in Season 2's disappointing Fresh Bones, Vince Gilligan, John Shiban and Frank Spotnitz write a spooky X-File dealing with Oral Peattie, an old man who practises hex craft on a doctor's family for revenge. I really enjoyed this episode because it features some horrifying scenes (rag dolls being burnt in the microwave resulting in victims dying under similar circumstances etc.) and for the chilling climax right at the end.

Definitely one of the most scariest episodes of Season 7 and one of my all-time favourites. My advice: Don't watch it alone in the dark!