11.6 Kitten
(SPOILERS) A couple of first timers on the show in their
respective roles show the old hands how it should be done, with one of those
rare supporting player-focused episodes that can prove indulgently misplaced or
surprisingly assured depending on the assembled elements. Skinner takes his
place in the spotlight for the first time since… S.R. 819? And there’s a fine supporting turn from Haley Joel
Osment. Not ground breaking, perhaps, but a cut above most of the fare of late,
and equipped with a suitably cogent coating of conspiracy lore to bed it in.
Writer Gabe Rotter has produced the show since its return,
and worked as an assistant on Lone Gunmen,
for which Carol Banker also directed an episode. So they aren’t exactly fresh
blood, but they’ve been around long enough to know what they’d probably like to
see done better or added to the mix. Throwing young Skinner into Nam filmed in
Vancouver is a little on the Tour of Duty
side of realism for my tastes, but Banker avoids dwelling on the shortcomings
of the scenery and rather concentrates on the Jacob’s Ladder horrors of a government unbashful about
experimenting on its troops.
I might begrudge that this is the third in four episodes
where hallucinations form a key part of the X-file, but since they’re only
central to one of them, the overall effect doesn’t whiff to strongly of writers
stirring and repeating. Ironically, given this is Skinner-centric, Mitch
Pileggi is off screen for quite a while – Cory Rempel acquits himself well as
his ‘Nam version – and when he is, he spends a wedge of time stuck in a hole.
Kersh: Have you ever wondered why, after 35 years
in the Bureau, Walter Skinner isn’t sitting on this side of the desk, or even
perhaps running the whole damn agency, for that matter?
It’s nice to see the return of nasty Kersh (James Pickens
Jr), the kind of germane reappearance I can get behind, one that doesn’t seem
like it’s raking over the show’s dying embers. He’s exactly the guy to give a
rundown of Skinner’s shortcomings at the FBI, and the reluctant Mulder a wakeup
call to the fact that his AD has had his best interests at heart all along,
even if he’s been frequently hamstrung in his work. What’s been missing is why,
and this retconning is mostly fairly coherent, giving a guy who keeps what he
believes and thinks generally close to his chest; it’s a motivation that works
reasonably well (particularly good, when Dana notes they know nothing about
him, is Mulder’s comeback from rooting around in a cupboard in Skinner’s
apartment with “It appears he may suffer
from moderate to severe constipation”).
Mulder: The monsters are here.
Scully: Does that get your juices
flowing, Mulder?
Mulder: As much as I appreciate any reference to my
juices, Scully, my only concern here is Skinner.
I have to admit, I was expecting Davey to be revealed as a
non-aging John “Kitten” James – due to the toxin he’d been exposed to – until
quite late on, the point where we saw flashbacks to John in the veterans’
facility (the narrative of why he was let out doesn’t quite pull together, nor
the fact that we never really find out what has
happened to him: plus, he’s played by a stuntman). Osment makes the most of his
performances, though, and seizes the story in a manner Karin Konoval wasn’t quite
able with her dual roles in Plus One
a few weeks back.
Davey’s narrative of the injustices committed upon his
father, and his putting forward the kind of conspiratorial mutterings that are
Mulder’s lifeblood, makes for good meaty grist. It’s nice to hear the
conclusion – after I expressed my doubts about a programme being shut down last
week – that this time such protestations are deemed unlikely (“Thirty years research and development and they
just throw it in the trash?”). Davey believes the government can control
minds by exposing the populace to this experimental toxin, via water, food
supply and chemtrails, which admittedly isn’t the most popular of chemtrails
theories, but it’s gratifying to have two references to the conspiracy theory
in as many episodes, this time even ending with their proliferation.
Nevertheless, it’s clear Davey’s a wrong ‘un, because he thinks cats are
creepy.
Sheriff Stenzler:
People are swearing they’ve seen some
kind of monster out in the woods.
There are a few elements here left hanging, such as MK-NAOMI
– MK-ULTRA in releasable form – causing people’s teeth to drop out; why are
they releasing it in that area, specifically? Because they’ve let John back out
so there’s a readily available scapegoat for any adverse consequences? And why
was Skinner called Eagle back in the day if he wasn’t bald? An ironic reference
to his eyesight? Generally, though Kitten
satisfies as a character-based episode and
a conspiracy one.
Agree? Disagree? Mildly or vehemently? Let me know in the comments below.