The X Files - Soft Light

Tony Shaloub gets guest star treatment in an X Files episode and his dilemma is a sci-fi horror dandy! He's a scientist experimenting with and researching dark matter, involved with a colleague (Kevin McNulty) who have built this chamber that uses this "particle accelerator" eventually causing subatomic particles to alter Shaloub's shadow(!), with anyone touched by it reduced to this "puddle of burn". Never has a shadow been more frightening or dangerous! Mulder considers spontaneous human combustion, but soon believes a series of deaths linked to Shaloub could be something far more scary. A killer shadow and X (Steven Williams) sees Shaloub as having potential to be studied and used. That was what Shaloub ultimately feared...that the government might take him away to be guinea pig for God knows what.

Unlike Deep Throat, X seems to be out for his own interests, and there has always been a suspicious aura surrounding his every appearance. By this point—especially after the ending seems to paint a dark portrait, the canvas unveiling poor Shaloub with sleepless eyes and an oozing tear down the face—X has been considered rather questionable, his motives worthy of scrutiny. When Mulder decides to end his association with X, X tries to ease his conscience by telling him he didn’t kill Shaloub. Mulder has continuously been told to be careful. Either by Skinner or, in this episode, by X, Mulder is warned to exercise on the side of caution. This episode has Scully doing a favor for a former student of hers at the academy, working her first case as detective, the “shadow murders”, named Kelly (Kate Twa). Kelly is quietly asking for their assistance, nervous that her superior will catch wind of it. Scully wants her to make a good impression on her first big case and Mulder is more than willing to help. Just the worst situation to find yourself in as a rookie, Kelly follows up on her instincts and meets a tragic fate…fear the shadow! Shaloub uses “black hole” to describe the shadow as it does seem to alter the bodies of those it “meets”. Soft light which causes no shadow is Shaloub’s ally, and Mulder tries to maintain this but to no avail. Shaloub wants to use the chamber to rid himself of the murderous shadow but his partner has other plans. As does X. X, at first, rejects Mulder’s request for help, but is soon at the hospital where Shaloub is being held, letting him go free when two of his “agents” meet the killer shadow. X learns from this, wisely using sneakier methods to secure quite a “property”. Shaloub’s weary and embattled scientist approaching Kelly, because she poses a threat to his plans to subvert the shadow, is a tragic figure, particularly by episode’s end. Scully’s “well it hasn’t been scientifically proven” comes up (right on cue) when Mulder ponders this when investigating the death of the victim shown early on but actually considers the possibility later when it does seem like a reasonable explanation for the burn marks left behind each crime scene. X has been quite sinister in times past but never quite as he is in this episode.

Vince Gilligan (Breaking Bad) having ties to The X Files I didn't realize until further research after writing reviews for the episodes. I typically will read a bit about the backgrounds of the episodes just out of curiosity. Gilligan has quite an incredible premise here (although he wanted this shadow to be "independent" and operate on its own!), and the direction certainly builds some real dread with that shadow, utilizing Shaloub's ability to give a pitiable victim of extraordinary circumstances. This also includes a nice wink to "Squeeze", regarding Scully and Mulder recognizing a vent as a possible means to get in or out!