"One picture is worth a thousand words."
-- Old Cliché
This week's episode was the first of the season from newly promoted Co-Producer Vince Gilligan who gave us last season's "Pusher." It was originally scheduled to be aired as the second episode of the season, but was wisely (IMHO) moved to become the first X-Files offering in their new Sunday night time slot. Good choice.
As in "Pusher," Gilligan once again explores the power of the mind and how little we know of its untapped resources. This time he delves into something referred to as "psychic photography." This is purported to be the ability to project the images in one's mind onto photographic film, and it forms the basis for the best episode of Season Four.
Mulder and Scully are called in after the abduction of a woman from Traverse City, Michigan. Incidental to their investigation is the murder of her boyfriend/accomplice. A passport photo taken moments before her abduction, with her yellow rainslickered-stalker near by, depicts her in screaming terror, surrounded by a host of ethereal images. M & S drive to the drugstore and begin following a trail that eventually leads them to a formerly institutionalized construction foreman.
Gillian Anderson shines as the affected Scully in this episode, and David Duchovny plays Mulder with a low-key intensity not seen since "Talitha Cumi." Director Rob Bowman paces the story well, and the Director of Cinematography, Ron Stennett, actually gives us a story with real daylight scenes. Even the horrific scenes between the psychotic Jerry Schnauz (Pruit Taylor Vince) and his victims had enough lighting so that you could actually see what was going on. And what was going on was sheer terror for the abductees, who are eventually subjected to a "trans-orbital lobotomy." That's Doctorspeak for "He shoves a sharp object into your brain through your eye sockets. The imagery is haunting.
But Gilligan doesn't dwell on the disgusting and shocking. Instead, he uses the subtlety of menace rather than the sledghammer of shock, and it works to great effect in "Unruhe." While the secondary supporting characters were pretty much two-dimensional cutouts (the local police, your friendly neighborhood druggist, etc.) this episode was a real 50-50 deal, with Duchovny and Anderson sharing the spotlight along with the eye-rolling, scene-stealing Vince. Scully once again offers what seem to be almost ludicrous explanations for the unexplainable, while Mulder takes that step beyond, from the unexplainable to the possible, however implausible.
Great detective work runs through the entire episode. Mulder starts off by searching for a camera in the first victim's house after noticing the Polaroids of her and her boyfriend on the refrigerator. Scully counters with her observation that both abductions took place near construction sites owned by the same company. Mulder takes the original photo to D.C., where computer technology enables him to discern that the killer/abductor had elongated legs in the picture. Scully, not to be outdone, has the owner of the construction company generate a list of the men who worked on both sites and zeroes in on the foreman. When Mulder calls with news about the killer having unusually long legs, Scully immediately reaches for her firearm, chases the stilted Jerry and subdues him by herself. Brave woman, that Scully.
This episode is somewhat reminiscent of the fabulous "Irresistible" in many ways. Scully clearly has empathy and sympathy for the victims of Schnauz's atrocities. Her look of horror when she realizes what had happened to the first victim was matched only by her dismay when the second victim is found dead. Her abruptness with Mulder revealed a troubled soul, one who could not bear the thought of remembering what it was like to be an abductee at the mercy of a madman. Unrest indeed. Ms. Anderson has a knack for saying more with one look than most actresses can with 10 pages of dialogue, and in "Unruhe" she was at her best. The internal struggle she had trying to maintain her composure while facing the terrifying prospect of a lobotomy at the hands of Tim Allen on an acid-flashback was evident. I really believed that she was trying to be cool while she was talking to save her life, even to the point of remembering her college German. And her closing sequence, where she waxes philosophically about how the only way we can understand what goes on inside the mind of monsters is by getting inside their heads comes right out of Michael Mann's "Headhunter." The warning about the monsters getting into our heads is from the same work and, more recently, from Season Three's "Grotesque."
I did have a few minor problems with the episode. Why, I wondered, did Jerry let the first abductee go? Was the second abductee killed, or did she just die from another botched exorcism by Schnauz? Why was the subsequently killed policeman alone in the booking room with Jerry just prior to the escape?
But these are minor flaws in what was ultimately the most satisfying episode of the season to date. When you have a good story, wonderful acting, skillful direction and adequate lighting, combined with Mark Snow's impeccable score, you have a winner.
My Score: 9.7 out of 10