The X-Files - Gender Bender
Written Tuesday night
Tackling two topics—gender change and a culture isolated
from society living simply—“Gender Bender” juxtaposes them interestingly, even
going so far as to include the show’s usual wink to their extraterrestrial
theme with a conclusion that might seem to be a bit of a reach.
As if those involved in this plot couldn’t help themselves when perhaps the use of crop circles was unnecessary. Just the same, The X Files allows Mulder and Scully to investigate a culture similar to the Amish or Mennonites. They are an inclusive society that harbors a unique secret…and one among them has fled the coop and is murdering folks by causing them to have coronaries after sex! Yep, as Mulder calls the killer a “walking aphrodisiac”! And there you have it.
With just a thumb caress the victim is caught in a spell and becomes inert, unable to resist the seductive powers of the killer. The path the killer makes, too, from Boston to Washington is in a line, with Mulder deducing that his/her origin could be linked to “The Kindred”, living on the outskirts of a small town. Mulder and Scully meet them in the middle of the woods and are invited to dinner if they hand over their weapons as violence is not allowed in their world.
Soon Scully attracts a member of the group and is nearly molested by him, only interrupted when Mulder arrives in the nick of time! He tells Scully of Marty, a member of the group who left the fold to experience the lust of the world, lured by the magazines of the outside. This Marty is the gender bending sex fiend out killing folks. The episode shows Marty alternate between a woman and man, mostly as a female predator stalking guys in bars. When the guys’ hearts explode and they suffocate, she transitions to a man almost immediately.
The farmland home of the Kindred really stood out to me with its moody grey skies and cold, sterile dead-of-winter atmosphere. It looks so depressing and oppressive, quite workmanlike and emotionally controlled. It is almost as if we can understand just why Marty would want to leave and perhaps is so unstable…oppression gives way to freedom and the ability to forgo control allows Marty to abandon the handcuffs his culture apply. The dinner table where a member of the Kindred has a loss of temper when Mulder and Scully ask questions regarding their murders, with him scolded by the woman leader of the group; tightly controlled, this society keeps their emotions at a flatline.
Although the Kindred plot and Marty’s odyssey eventually converge, the episode really does feel like a tale of two stories. It really only comes together at the very end. Marty sure does take it to Mulder and Scully, though. He almost gets free until being intercepted by the Kindred who halt Scully from firing upon them. Admittedly, the ending where they just kind of vanish and roadblocks / law enforcement fail to catch any of them rather left me quite a bit “yeah, right.” I did personally find Mulder and Scully’s route into a different world quite fascinating, as they are determined to uncover just what secrets the Kindred might be hiding. Mulder’s visit into the cellar where the Kindred “bury” an aging member of their group, seeing them dousing the body with this peculiar substance that seems to cause him to “transition”; Mulder gets a peek into their process of “preservation” and “change” for those that might appear to be ill or maybe even dying. Scully unable to defend herself against the pheromone influence, nearly raped by a member of the Kindred is quite an unsettling scene.
Brent Hinkley as Brother Andrew appropriately makes the skin crawl and before returning to star as the dangerous Alex Krycek later, Nicholas Lea is a lucky survivor of the killer.
As if those involved in this plot couldn’t help themselves when perhaps the use of crop circles was unnecessary. Just the same, The X Files allows Mulder and Scully to investigate a culture similar to the Amish or Mennonites. They are an inclusive society that harbors a unique secret…and one among them has fled the coop and is murdering folks by causing them to have coronaries after sex! Yep, as Mulder calls the killer a “walking aphrodisiac”! And there you have it.
With just a thumb caress the victim is caught in a spell and becomes inert, unable to resist the seductive powers of the killer. The path the killer makes, too, from Boston to Washington is in a line, with Mulder deducing that his/her origin could be linked to “The Kindred”, living on the outskirts of a small town. Mulder and Scully meet them in the middle of the woods and are invited to dinner if they hand over their weapons as violence is not allowed in their world.
Soon Scully attracts a member of the group and is nearly molested by him, only interrupted when Mulder arrives in the nick of time! He tells Scully of Marty, a member of the group who left the fold to experience the lust of the world, lured by the magazines of the outside. This Marty is the gender bending sex fiend out killing folks. The episode shows Marty alternate between a woman and man, mostly as a female predator stalking guys in bars. When the guys’ hearts explode and they suffocate, she transitions to a man almost immediately.
The farmland home of the Kindred really stood out to me with its moody grey skies and cold, sterile dead-of-winter atmosphere. It looks so depressing and oppressive, quite workmanlike and emotionally controlled. It is almost as if we can understand just why Marty would want to leave and perhaps is so unstable…oppression gives way to freedom and the ability to forgo control allows Marty to abandon the handcuffs his culture apply. The dinner table where a member of the Kindred has a loss of temper when Mulder and Scully ask questions regarding their murders, with him scolded by the woman leader of the group; tightly controlled, this society keeps their emotions at a flatline.
Although the Kindred plot and Marty’s odyssey eventually converge, the episode really does feel like a tale of two stories. It really only comes together at the very end. Marty sure does take it to Mulder and Scully, though. He almost gets free until being intercepted by the Kindred who halt Scully from firing upon them. Admittedly, the ending where they just kind of vanish and roadblocks / law enforcement fail to catch any of them rather left me quite a bit “yeah, right.” I did personally find Mulder and Scully’s route into a different world quite fascinating, as they are determined to uncover just what secrets the Kindred might be hiding. Mulder’s visit into the cellar where the Kindred “bury” an aging member of their group, seeing them dousing the body with this peculiar substance that seems to cause him to “transition”; Mulder gets a peek into their process of “preservation” and “change” for those that might appear to be ill or maybe even dying. Scully unable to defend herself against the pheromone influence, nearly raped by a member of the Kindred is quite an unsettling scene.
Brent Hinkley as Brother Andrew appropriately makes the skin crawl and before returning to star as the dangerous Alex Krycek later, Nicholas Lea is a lucky survivor of the killer.
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