The X Files - Shapes / Werewolvery
What happened to Parker, in a land dispute with the Trejo tribe (the one he killed he thought (and correctly) was a Manitou possessed Joe Goodensnake), is probably the most chilling moment in the episode, with how the glass of his booze shakes on the wooden-plank porch as a blur of a creature strikes at him with this animalistic fury. Good to see Michael Horse, since being a Twin Peaks mark just brings a smile to my face. He's very intense (understandably since as he says, the FBI only come around when they want something) and cold-shoulder to the agents, but when Parker is killed, and it appears the son is responsible (since he was struck by Joe in an attack), Charles Tskany (Horse) must join forces with Mulder. As usual, Scully is in danger as Lyle transforms in a cool sequence. Credit to the show for giving that to us. And that idea remains pervasive that with one claw to the flesh, either Mulder or Scully could be cursed with werewolvery. Jimmy Herman and Duchovny really play off each other well...you can definitely see when going back through the series how "Running" Fox or "Sneaky Fox" (as long as it isn't "Spooky Fox") would not be done with Native Americans.
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A rancher finally kills the culprit behind the slaughter of his cattle, a beast which attacks his son, Lyle(Ty Miller), which turns out to be a Native American who had been in a land dispute with them. What seems like an ordinary homicide investigation has Scully(Gillian Anderson)curious as to why Mulder(David Duchovny)would even be interested. Fox, it turns out, has files by J Edgar Hoover himself detailing murders on an Indian reservation occurring over a pattern of 8 years, and he ponders whether or not the myth behind lycanthropy actually exists. The Indian's body shows the sign of fangs and a healed scar containing vicious claw marks on his chest. Unable to convince the reservation sheriff, Charles Tskany(Michael Horse)in the allowance of an autopsy, due to Native American ritual, the case seems stalled for Mulder and Scully..that is until the rancher himself is torn apart by a beast himself.
Every now and then, the show would take a break from governmental conspiracies over the possibility of extra-terrestrial life and provide us with an atmospheric, spooky tale, and SHAPES is such a case. The werewolf itself is really never fully visible which could invite anger from those feeling deprived of a good look of the monster, but I'll tell you SHAPES sure was suspenseful enough to me. Even though I(..and you)know that Mulder and Scully were gonna escape without harm, director David Nutter sure understood how to build tension in the finale when it's discovered that another has been passed the curse of the werewolf. Good use of the Manitou legend as a story-telling device, wonderfully established in a lengthly monologue effectively by Jimmy Herman, as a wise Native American who has excellent chemistry with Mulder, understanding that the white man is willing to listen while others are indeed skeptical. The straining relations between whites and Indians is properly handled, without the usual ham-fisted approach. Good setting, refreshingly moves away from city life, with Scully and Mulder incorporated into another "fish-out-of-water" scenario. A really good(..if short)shape-shifting sequence. There's a very creepy camera set-up(..the action in the background is slightly off-focus, letting us know what is happening without the explicit, gory details) as the rancher is being clawed by his predatory attacker. -- June 29, 2009
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