The X-Files has always been a show built on four legs. The conspiracy leg, like the 10th season opener ‘My Struggle’, the scary monster leg, like second episode ‘Founder’s Mutation’, the disturbing leg, like next week’s ‘Home Again’ and the goofy leg, like episode 3, called ‘Mulder and Scully Meet the Were-Monster’.
Lizard
Two people getting high in the woods. Suddenly, they encounter a man in a lizard suit, running past them. Welcome to one of the silliest X-cases of the entire series. Without a dead body, there’s no reason for the FBI to investigate. Next to gamekeeper Pasha (Kumail Nanjiani, Silicon Valley, Franklin & Bash), who doesn’t have a scratch, lies a dead man with his throat eaten away. Time for another trip to the forest; Mulder and Scully’s most favorite destination. Fox Mulder (David Duchovny), who just got back to work, is already doubting his decision to have done so. Going through dozens of case files in which the seemingly supernatural suspects are all either pranks or crazy people, he’s hit a rough patch. Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) has to almost literately pull him from his office and convince him the lizard man might actually be a real lizard.
Adjusting to Modern Times
Mulder finds it hard to believe. He wants to believe, of course, but some days it’s easier than others. When they go down to check things out, meet with Pasha, he’s occupied most of the time with his phone – and a new app, to take pictures as soon as they spot something. It’s been a running gag, and it hasn’t gotten tired yet; Mulder and Scully adjusting to the world of fast internet, smart mobile phones, speaking of which, have they befriended each other yet on Facebook? This would’ve been the perfect episode to address that.
Distinguished Gentleman
They do get lucky pretty fast. Before Mulder’s found out how to take proper pictures, they’re attacked by a lizard-like creature. It steps into a port-a-john, but when Mulder and Scully open the door, a distinguished gentleman’s inside. They must’ve made a mistake. We all know they haven’t, of course. This is another case of shapeshifting, and we were right. When the man, simply called ‘Guy Mann’ (Rhys Darby, Hot in Cleveland), gets out, a few horns are still sticking out of the back of his head. They quickly retract and Guy walks away.
Twist
Mulder does eventually get on the trail of Guy and finds him at a cemetery. There, the twist is revealed. Guy tells him it’s precisely the opposite of what Mulder thinks is going on. It’s not a human turning into a lizard, it’s a lizard – who got bitten by a human – that turns into a man, including all of the strange human behaviours that come with it. Now all they’ve got left to do is track down the one who bit; and I think you know who that is, since there’s hardly any supporting cast.
Special/Spoof
It’s an original idea, in an overly goofy X-Files episode, and I like it. However, it’s a huge departure from the first two episodes of the tenth season, that it doesn’t quite feel like ‘X-Files canon’. More like a MTV Movie Awards Special/Spoof, or something. That said, ‘Mulder and Scully Meet the Were-Monster’ is very enjoyable. O, and there’s a very nice sex scene between Scully and the lizard guy.
Wait, what?!
The Black Ox 