"This creature could only be brought to life by the power of
the word."

The X-Files track record on ethnic based stories has been
dismal. I offer "Hell Money", "Teso dos Bichos", and "El Mundo
Gira" to support this case. Thankfully, I cannot add Howard
Gordon's "Kaddish" to the list. I found it to be surprisingly
free of the overwrought, heavy handed nature that has plagued
episodes of this type in the past, and instead a pleasant, solid
and interesting journey into the folk tale of the golem. Maybe
the fact that it did not become mired down in subtitles and
translations helped, but this one worked for me. Not a great
episode, and not without its weaknesses, but certainly an
engaging outing.

While not really part of the sweeps month extravaganza
"Scully-Fest '97", Scully introduces this case and takes the
lead in the investigation as Mulder seems to be occasionally
tongue-tied during the interview process. Whether his reticence
has to do with religious issues of his own or some other reason
is sadly never explored. It is fun when Scully gets to explain a
case, as Mulder loves it when she gets to the actual "X-File"
part - his face lighting up like a kid in a candy store. The
case is lined up - spectral fingerprints for Mulder,
resurrection hoax for Scully, toss in a Casper joke and it's
off to the Big Apple for the dynamic duo.

The teaser took more of a leisurely pace than usual - a slow
discovery filled with mud, death, and tears that director Kim
Manners told with atmospheric shots: the father's tattooed arm
as he grasps his daughter's dirt clutching hand, the winding
progression around the tree from light to night, and that
wonderful last bit as the mudman breatheth. I liked the casting
of Justine Miceli as Ariel - she was very successful in drawing
the audience into her story and pain. In lesser hands the tale
of the ring that she relates to us could have come across as
maudlin. 

A very interesting theme pervaded the episode here in the power
of the word when used for hate and love - to destroy and create.
This is one case where it is really unclear who the monster is -
the golem created from love that is avenging death or the human
monsters created from hate that it is killing. It is clever in
the context of this show that the word "truth" brings the creature
to life and when you take something away from the word you get
"dead".

The best scene in this episode was the interview of the neo-nazi
printer who hid behind words that instigated others to execute
the hateful acts that he had not the courage to do himself.
There is a wonderful tension as Mulder and Scully strive to
remain professional despite their internal revulsion towards
the man. Mulder, taking in stride the "you look like you might
be one yourself" comment gets off a great comeback in "A Jew
pulled it off 2000 years ago" that Scully clearly appreciates.
Their attitudes towards the man are clearly conveyed as Scully
slams her business card on the counter and Mulder leaves with a
"Bless you".

I know that there are some that find the SRE (Scully Rational
Explanation) annoying, but after four years I must admit that
I find it rather endearing and just *so* Scully  - especially
when it is as fantastic as one of Mulder's theories. How hard
she must have to think as she tries so diligently to come up
with these things such as contaminated groundwater leeching into
a coffin to create a combustible mixture - I just have to laugh.
I think it is funny the way they play these moments anymore as
well. It's almost as if Scully feels obligated to offer up one
of these ridiculous theories (and you can tell that she knows
when one is particularly weak) and Mulder just nods slightly
and moves on. It's become a delightful bit of interplay between
them.

Random Musings
-------------------------

-Did anyone else get a laugh out of that cutting down the
hanging man scene where Scully was left to hold up the guy
when Mulder cut him down. I'm surprised she didn't fall over
backwards when he was released.

-So how come in episodes like "Grotesque" Scully manages to
get across town in under two minutes using superhuman speed
and yet here she takes forever to climb a flight of stairs
after she hears her partner unload his entire clip from his
gun? I thought she would never get there.

-We do get a classic Mulder gun drop when they are both knocked
down. Scully does manage to hold on to her piece and fire a
shot though.

-I'm not Jewish, nor am I overly familiar with orthodox customs,
but I was really shocked that there wasn't more of a brouhaha
over Scully entering the men's portion of the synagogue. I thought
that was a big no-no. Also, is there anyone who can explain about
the headbands the men were wearing with the box on it? I don't
think I've ever seen that before.

-Well, they were certainly playing up the corpse smell in this
one. The kids have been known to wrinkle their noses at decay
before, but this non-embalmed corpse must've been a real stinker.

-I was surprised to see the tattoo on the hands of the corpse.
I thought that manifestation was supposed to be on the golem,
not the actual corpse. 

-I'm guessing from Mulder's "there goes your theory" comment
that Scully had thought somehow someone had stolen the corpse's
hands. Um.... OK.

-I thought that the ending mudman effect was very cool as his
features gradually altered.

-No word that I have seen yet on who the Lillian Katz is that
the show is dedicated to.

Autumn
"Mud?"