The X Files / Our Town / Notes

 Being right before the second season finale, I was anxious to see if "Our Town" felt like one of those lesser-thans sort of filling in the gaps between the very best episodes. The plot is grisly enough for sure: cannibalistic rituals in Dudley, Arkansas, where a chicken processing plant produces famous Chaco Chicken, investigated by Mulder and Scully when a health inspector for the government goes missing. It seems the locals of Dudley are much older than their youthful appearances might make you think. This episode was even a bit much for me, quite honestly. Seeing a town of folks gathered together to feast on the remains of a health inspector's wife and watch without blinking when Mr. Chaco (John Milford) is beheaded and his body is carried away was quite a bit laughable and outrageous to me personally. As a ghoulish horror story, it has that diabolical DNA one might expect from a sinister secret a town is harboring familiar theme. The cannibalism aspect is handled with a straight face and no tickling the funny bone black humor, although Scully with a bucket of fried chicken under her arm while in her lab featuring the skeletal remains of a number of victims while Mulder talks to her about the case comes close to that. Lots and lots of chicken might convert some viewers to vegetarianism. I did groan at poor Scully, yet again, in danger; this time, her head is locked in a neck brace as the town plans to lop off her head! And, once again, Mulder rushes in to save her in the nick of time. It was fun to see Gary Grubbs as the sheriff, who seems quite accommodating and friendly until the tribal mask comes off...it is proven he wields a mean battleaxe. I could see how this episode might just feel a bit problematic to newer viewers. Timothy Webber as the plant operations manager gets trampled by hysterical locals when Mulder rushes in shooting the ax-chopping sheriff, once aligned with Mr. Chaco's philosophy, feeling he was no longer needed. I did ask myself how Webber's Jess Harold would be able to explain away the missing Chaco and Scully had she went missing. too.x