Chris Carter and the X-Files team came up with an amazingly wacky concept: "Let’s shoot the X-Files as if it were an episode of COPS." Ilt Jones, the man who scouts the locations for the X-Files, had warned me that they were up to something, and he wasn’t wrong. I kept wondering how this would translate: the matter of fact day in the life of the street cops with the otherworldly
exploits of Mulder and Scully. An odd combination plate, but wild enough to work. I laughed in recognition when I saw an opening sequence shot Cops style with the obligatory reggae music.
Our two stars ride along with the L.A. County Sheriff’s to track down a
mysterious criminal/creature/pathogen that is terrorizing an urban Los
Angeles neighborhood. An embattled resident swears she was attacked by
Freddy Kruger, and a charmingly wise ass deputy comments, "No matter how many times we kill him he keeps coming back." In the meantime, the camera bounces outside to find an injured deputy, with several bee stings, swearing he was attacked by Wasp Man. Even Mulder couldn’t resist smiling at this one. Wasp Man! Beware! He will make you eat Wonder bread & rubber chicken, wear a funny little hat, and name your child Buffy (sorry, that’s another show).
Mulder and Scully are followed as their various musings are caught on tape documentary style. Scully looks intensely
mortified this episode. It’s as if she realizes just how crazy Mulder really sounds without the moody lighting and haunting music. It’s a fun tip of the hat to the audience. Indeed, the incidents from the show would sound crazy in the rational, stark light of a video camera. This was a risky episode for this reason alone.
Plus, the warmth and intimacy of the camera wasn’t there in the same way we have come to expect. It’s hard to warm up to a camera that bounces on its way, runs into walls and frames everything over a back seat and through car windows. It caused me to feel, at various times, that nothing was going on (not unlike Cops, the show to which it paid homage).
Is it a werewolf? Is it Freddy Kruger? Is it Wasp Man? Several strong guest actors were featured as either the victims or the deputies including Judson Mills, Dee Freeman, Michael Maher, and Perla Walter. It’s a testimony to their acting talent that anyone tuning in might believe this was a real episode of Cops. Judson Mills was great as the decent deputy Weitzel who was easy going, but had enough of a sense of wonder to actually believe something supernatural was at work after talking to
Mulder. Was the unearthly attacker ever captured? Nope!
However, with such a fun story to distract us, who cares? Mulder and Scully have tripped upon an assailant that appears in the image of the worst fears of its victims. Is this a good story or good television? Must have been. I didn’t see a Nielsen Box chasing the show’s producers down the street.
|
"X-Files/Cops:
Whatcha gonna do when they come for you?"
