The X Files - Kaddish

 I want to say the last time I watched this episode was during a marathon on BBC America. I want to say BBC America had the X-Files in 2018. I sort of went in and out of the show, as the now-defunct Chiller was showing it Sunday nights, I want to say 2016-ish. It would always depend on what had caught my attention at any given point and time. "Kaddish" focuses on Mulder and Scully arriving at Brooklyn to investigate a victim who might have been killed by someone associated with the death of Isaac Luria, a Hasidic Jew. Isaac was attacked by three Anti-Semitic cretins, influenced by a repulsive Neo Nazi who runs hateful brochures to spread to all of his clients (Curt Brunjes (Jonathan Whittaker)). When a Golem is conjured through the wet mud of Isaac's grave, a book left behind by his body assisting in its form reanimated, those who killed Issac are themselves murdered. While Scully believes someone is getting revenge for Isaac, Mulder believes its possible that the killer isn't exactly altogether human. I loved how Scully tries to use science to describe how the book Mulder finds in Isaac's grave just goes up in flame, seemingly combusting on its own. The heart of the film is Isaac's grieving fiance, Ariel (Justine Miceli), who might actually have something to do with Issac's "return", while her father, Jacob Weiss (David Groh), is a suspect in the Anti-Semite racists' murders. Mulder's contempt (and rightfully justified) for Curt can barely be contained when he and Scully interview the dirtbag. Curt's brochures often have racist depictions of a stereotype Jew for his particular brand of reader. Channon Roe is the worst of his trio of vermin, the one with the gun shooting Isaac when he's beaten on the floor. Roe's Derick confronts Curt about how he talks but is too cowardly to physically act.

This is one of those episodes about the tragedy of racism, how its spread can have violent consequences. A young woman loses the man she loves, while her father just hurts for his daughter, feeling powerless to comfort her during her grief. I like that Mulder realizes the Golem wasn't created to kill but out of love. Scully arrives at the end when Ariel has "undone" the "spell" that had animated the Golem and the "form of Isaac" had deteriorated into a mound of dirt within clothes he was wearing. So, as the show often did, Scully only got to where the supernatural was happening after the fact, even as Mulder was almost strangled by the Monster of the Week. I thought the acting in the episode was especially good, particularly from Groh as the aching father who can't abolish the (rightful) hard feelings against the Anti-Semites. 

I really thought the episode took a fascinating and sympathetic visit into a particular section of New York with this Jewish community enduring racism and worse, as Mulder and Scully try to navigate carefully due to what Jacob and Ariel have been through, knowing that the idea they are searching for the one responsible for their beloved's murder is practically a slap in the face. But with Isaac's fingerprints found on the body, but Isaac's body found in the grave where he belongs, Mulder and Scully's investigation takes some real twists and turns. The use of the a book with mysticism and a "marriage ring", the episode really takes us into the Jewish culture. There is even a scene where Mulder is discussing the book with a scholar, frustrated because he doesn't know Hebrew...you can tell Mulder is really working to understand what is going on. I was reminded of "Genderbender" and "Red Museum", with how Mulder and Scully enter a religious world where they seem almost alien, and yet they are always conscious of these people and their beliefs, always respectful even when they don't believe. 3.5/5