Shapes

I think this episode is underrated. It was interesting and really different as far as the monster stories are concerned. The Native American aspect was cool and it was an exposition of the conflict between three different entities.

Werewolves are admittedly not my favorite classic horror monsters, although there have definitely been some great portrayals in movies and TV (I think it's great when there's a fun spin put on it, like in "Dark Shadows", and even the more traditional "The Wolf Man" and "An American Werewolf in London" are terrific films). The problem is that they are SO overused that just about anything involving them, unless written especially well, is going to be so-so, and probably worse than that.

"Shapes" is definitely NOT especially well-written. There's a couple of good lines here and there, and some interesting background on the X-Files and their origin, and it's always nice to see Michael Horse from "Twin Peaks" make an appearance, and it's a nicely-shot David Nutter-directed episode so it never feels as taxing or boring as things like "Space" or "Teso dos Bichos", but it really isn't particularly good.

"Shapes" may put A spin on the traditional werewolf tale, by adding Native American folklore to the mix, but it's not an INTERESTING spin, which is what is needed to make a werewolf tale worthwhile. It's a generally poorly-written episode with some horribly cheesy moments, but not nearly as intolerable as the very worst episodes of the show are.

4/10

This is one of those episodes that has a historically bad reputation and, while it has its flaws, it's a pretty good episode all told.

The plot moves along at a good pace and it has a nice and tangible atmosphere.

As indicated, there are some flaws in the plot which I won't detail because I would prefer to avoid spoilers, but there are instances where evidence simply isn't looked into in any great detail, and that's frustrating. I'm referring to evidence that could be obtained with plaster casts, photographs, impressions and the like.

I also felt like the episode could have been longer, the ending seemed far too abrupt.

All that aside, I enjoyed it.

Honestly my favorite episode from season 1. The pacing is amazing, the mystery is great. ( even tho extremely predictable ) and i'd say what truly held this in place like a perfect glue was the atmosphere, the build up, the tension... it was all too good.

A different take in the Werewolf as we know, choosing a different name from an older legend, so clever.

Btw i've seen some people confused about Scully in this and all i can tell you is DENIAL. She is in extreme denial, she saw a Poltergheist in the other episode and was still in denial, i can't fathom people not realizing this about the character in season 1.

Anyway you look at it, Shapes is an episode about a man turning into a werewolf. It's a standard werewolf story, with no real twist to it to make it more interesting. Having it be set among American Indians is the only thing that makes the story unique. As always, I try to find a silver lining even in the not-so-great episodes. Good things to look for in this episode includes some good Mulder and Scully dialog. I especially like when Lyle Parker describes how things around the ranch have been giving him the creeps lately. Scully says, "The creeps?". Lyle responds, "Yeah, the creeps. Don't you ever get the creeps?". It's funny because it makes Scully look like she's out of touch with the common man because she apparently doesn't recognize this common term. She's so used to using these huge vocabulary words, she doesn't recognize common slang words. I also like the special effect of the man transforming into the werewolf. I think it was well done. So, if you're into werewolf stories, Shapes is a passable episode for you.