* * ½ / * * * *
I was waffling and seesawing back and forth on “Improbable”,
an episode of X-Files that will be quite baffling and jarring for some fans
while others will fully embrace it for its quirky charm and clear turn to a
more clever, tongue-in-cheek presentation. Burt Reynolds, as a type of Creator
who uses numerology (the “theory of everything” mentioned by Scully when
discussing this with Reyes when she uses the much-debated philosophy to tie
serial killings together) to try and urge the human race towards enlightenment
(or, in this episode’s case, inspire Scully and Reyes—and eventually Doggett—to
eventually locate and stop a serial killer). Wayne-O (Ray McKinnon) is at a
casino, not doing well at the cards table, drawn to a woman playing slots he
later kills despite Creator’s efforts to offer the option of choosing a
different path than what he had done other times before (the previous killings Reyes
eventually links together through birthdates and names, seemingly forming an
equation that makes sense to her). Creator uses games of different types
(cards, checkers, dominos) in the hopes of inspiring mortals to select a
particular path.
Wayno-O seems like a lost cause but Creator won’t relent from trying to inspire him to do the right thing instead of kill…Creator does see promise in Reyes and Scully, the agents chasing Wayne-O into a parking garage after he follows them up in an elevator with Scully pulling her gun in an attempt to arrest him when she recognizes his ring. This ring left the impressions of his female victims when attacking them. Carter shoots the film in a very noirish fashion, with John Kapelos (being a “Forever Knight” fan, this was especially cool seeing him guest star) often in conversation pieces as FBI head of the serial killer taskforce, Fordyce, with Reyes and Doggett, refusing to believe in her numerology explanation in linking all the “equation victims” together, using the traditional profiling methods (his complete profile to Doggett is hilarious in its satire of the classic FBI profiling method that is just too standard for this extraordinary case). The way Fordyce seems to be this figurehead while those on his team sort of serve as bowling pins behind him, following his lead, while Doggett is taken aback (but eventually does concede that there is something to Reyes’ numerology method) by Reyes’ use of numerology to explain behaviors and traits of individuals like him (and eventually Scully) both visually and thematically by Carter (he directed and wrote this episode) is startlingly different than anything else in the ninth season. The tonal shift for this episode (Reynolds does the Cha-Cha-Cha in the parking garage while Reyes and Scully play checkers!), with the Italian music sort of playfully opposing the often unsettling actions of Wayne-O—who would otherwise be a dopey menace with a scowl—and Reynolds’ God-like Master-Of-Games, disarmingly light-hearted and spirited despite his failures to stir the killer away from his violent outbursts, will probably be quite surprising to any X-Files viewer who makes their way through the often depressing ninth season. I remember reading a critical take that this episode could be seen as “self-contained” and agree with that. When the camera pulls away from the city until you see a more global view, Burt’s face forming from the lights and buildings, Carter’s episode is definitely so different from anything else in the ninth season.
The dialogue between Reyes and Scully and Reyes and Doggett on numerology as Reyes states her case and they try to argue against it, eventually forgoing their doubt when nothing else works, I must admit was quite brilliant. Fordyce just disregarding Reyes altogether, unwilling to even give her numerology a single thought, dismissing her outright despite her success in getting the FBI closer to the killer cracked me up. All Reyes can do is accept his rejection and yet continue on using numerology regardless. Doggett looking at how all the deaths link on a map into a number six (and reading the map seeing 9, sending him to the parking garage when he accesses that the two other victims would be Scully and Reyes), while Fordyce won’t even humor him, you can see how Carter is toying with the typicality of investigative research, profiling, and pursuit of serial killings. When Reynolds passed I was admittedly in mourning (a female friend at work poked fun at me for being so melancholy) and watching him in this episode was a lot of fun. On the street with his little table and locals / tourists walking past, sometimes lip-synching to Italian and French romantic fluff, while Wayne-O goes about looking for another victim, Reynolds is such a joy to behold. And his interactions with Scully and Reyes at the end top it off in cheery fashion. I would certainly suggest perhaps watching this as an alternative to the X-Files cannon that brought us to the series, separating it as its own animal. “Improbable” just isn’t like any other episode in the series. That does make it special in its own way. I don’t think every X-Files fan will embrace it. I can’t help but wonder how cool it might have been had Burt appeared in an earlier episode when Mulder was still around. And yet he’s just perfect for this wistful, larger-than-life God, particularly when he’s next to Reyes, rooting for her against the more cynical Scully when both argue the merits of numerology as an explanation device for the murders.
Wayno-O seems like a lost cause but Creator won’t relent from trying to inspire him to do the right thing instead of kill…Creator does see promise in Reyes and Scully, the agents chasing Wayne-O into a parking garage after he follows them up in an elevator with Scully pulling her gun in an attempt to arrest him when she recognizes his ring. This ring left the impressions of his female victims when attacking them. Carter shoots the film in a very noirish fashion, with John Kapelos (being a “Forever Knight” fan, this was especially cool seeing him guest star) often in conversation pieces as FBI head of the serial killer taskforce, Fordyce, with Reyes and Doggett, refusing to believe in her numerology explanation in linking all the “equation victims” together, using the traditional profiling methods (his complete profile to Doggett is hilarious in its satire of the classic FBI profiling method that is just too standard for this extraordinary case). The way Fordyce seems to be this figurehead while those on his team sort of serve as bowling pins behind him, following his lead, while Doggett is taken aback (but eventually does concede that there is something to Reyes’ numerology method) by Reyes’ use of numerology to explain behaviors and traits of individuals like him (and eventually Scully) both visually and thematically by Carter (he directed and wrote this episode) is startlingly different than anything else in the ninth season. The tonal shift for this episode (Reynolds does the Cha-Cha-Cha in the parking garage while Reyes and Scully play checkers!), with the Italian music sort of playfully opposing the often unsettling actions of Wayne-O—who would otherwise be a dopey menace with a scowl—and Reynolds’ God-like Master-Of-Games, disarmingly light-hearted and spirited despite his failures to stir the killer away from his violent outbursts, will probably be quite surprising to any X-Files viewer who makes their way through the often depressing ninth season. I remember reading a critical take that this episode could be seen as “self-contained” and agree with that. When the camera pulls away from the city until you see a more global view, Burt’s face forming from the lights and buildings, Carter’s episode is definitely so different from anything else in the ninth season.
The dialogue between Reyes and Scully and Reyes and Doggett on numerology as Reyes states her case and they try to argue against it, eventually forgoing their doubt when nothing else works, I must admit was quite brilliant. Fordyce just disregarding Reyes altogether, unwilling to even give her numerology a single thought, dismissing her outright despite her success in getting the FBI closer to the killer cracked me up. All Reyes can do is accept his rejection and yet continue on using numerology regardless. Doggett looking at how all the deaths link on a map into a number six (and reading the map seeing 9, sending him to the parking garage when he accesses that the two other victims would be Scully and Reyes), while Fordyce won’t even humor him, you can see how Carter is toying with the typicality of investigative research, profiling, and pursuit of serial killings. When Reynolds passed I was admittedly in mourning (a female friend at work poked fun at me for being so melancholy) and watching him in this episode was a lot of fun. On the street with his little table and locals / tourists walking past, sometimes lip-synching to Italian and French romantic fluff, while Wayne-O goes about looking for another victim, Reynolds is such a joy to behold. And his interactions with Scully and Reyes at the end top it off in cheery fashion. I would certainly suggest perhaps watching this as an alternative to the X-Files cannon that brought us to the series, separating it as its own animal. “Improbable” just isn’t like any other episode in the series. That does make it special in its own way. I don’t think every X-Files fan will embrace it. I can’t help but wonder how cool it might have been had Burt appeared in an earlier episode when Mulder was still around. And yet he’s just perfect for this wistful, larger-than-life God, particularly when he’s next to Reyes, rooting for her against the more cynical Scully when both argue the merits of numerology as an explanation device for the murders.
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