2.13 - Irresistible
Written by: Chris Carter
Directed by: David Nutter
Aired on: January 13, 1995
Cold Open: 4:28
Visuals: Holy shit you guys, this one is unsettling and it's because of Nick fucking Chinland. That's the actor who plays Donald Addie Pfaster but I'm also not ruling out that Nick Chinlund is not an actor at all, he posed as one for years so he could reveal himself as the creature we see here.
The funeral this opens on is fine, it's feels slightly like the production of a high school play but only right up until Pfaster shows up. He joins Tooms as one of the creepiest fucking weirdos this show produced, a magical combination of writing, acting, and special effects. As my wife and I say, he produces a feeling that is worse than the willies, this dude gives you the Williams. It’s properly unsettling.
All of that is before we see the brief glimpse of Pfaster in his true form, in shadow yes, but that's intentional and oh so impactful.
Unfortunately, after such a great opening, Agent Bocks shows up (Bruce Weitz) and he sounds like someone's confused uncle they fed lines to. He gets a MUFON reference in but it's not fun because the corpse they're there to peek at is gruesome as hell.
This does make three episodes in a row built on sexual violence toward women. Bocks drops a reference to Dahmer, though he doesn't say his name, which is nice and strange because it seems like Chris Carter, who wrote this episode, maybe didn't want to sensationalize it? All while still writing an episode doing just that. Or maybe Fox (the network) said no. That seems unlike them, at least now, anyway.
Pfaster talks through the whole episode with breathy ease, somehow passionately relaxed while also sounding psychotically interested in you. Which is kind of even creepier when juxtaposed with how Agent Bocks talks? That guy delivers every line like he's surprised he's talking and also kind of inconvenienced by the act.
Scully is having a hard time this whole episode, which actually does its job and elevates the horrors on display. We see her vacuuming a woman's forearm (that sounds like a euphemism or joke, but no, she’s literally using a vacuum, not exactly like this one, but similar) searching for forensic clues. It also gives us a chance to see how professional she is. She doesn't flinch, doesn't flee, doesn't do anything but calmly record her findings.
Pfaster, all the while, sniffs at a girl's hair from a couple of rows over in his adult education class. That's after he delivered some groceries and sifted through the homeowner's trash to find some hair, which, wouldn't ya' know it, he sniffed.
Donnie Pfaster, seen here mid sniff, is a buttoned-up psychopath waiting to consume your hair.
I think this is one of the best episodes of the second season and the conversation Mulder and Scully have in the jail showcases one of the reasons why. They're lit in alternating shades of gold and blue, Dutch angles broadcasting how off kilter Scully is as she tells Mulder she ought to take the body back to Washington to do some more forensics. That sets off Mulder's Hero Alarm, so he asks if she's okay.
It's a wonderful scene because she stands strong, she leans into her experience and won't let him carry her away over his shoulder, away from the "pure evil"...like she tells the FBI therapist she ends up chatting with in the next scene.
"You're a very strong person," the therapist says. "You probably thought you could handle every problem by yourself."
Oh, but what about, say, a fox as a companion?
"Is it your partner? Is there a problem with trust?" The therapist asks.
Scully, then, spikes the football straight into all of our hearts.
"I trust him with my life," she says, softly.
On their next phone call he tells her he knows it's a pretty "horrific case" but she doesn't hesitate, again.
"I'm okay with it, Mulder. Anyway, you can use my help."
And what's he say?
"Always."
Since Carter decided to not use Dahmer's name we're instead treated to the next best thing: body parts in the freezer.
A lot more happens, plenty to comment on, but this is one of the best episodes, and in scene after scene it's despite Agent Bocks, which stops the whole package from achieving "perfect" status. Only just.
Scully sees Pfaster's true form as he closes the closet door and gives us one of the most powerful visuals of the entire series. Part of the episode's success hinges on one of the things that made 2.10 feel so wrong: this case is left open and unsolved. That is in fact the premise of the whole damn show, obviously, but this is just an amazing episode to showcase how successful it can truly be when all the pieces (apart from Agent Bocks) are clicked together perfectly.
Mulder doesn't even get a chance to guess what the monster is, Scully has no moment to yell "Objection Your Honor, Unscientific," which means the horror goes without even a temporary name other than Donald Addie Pfaster. Which makes it way more unsettling.
Sift through my trash and decide what to do with it as casually as possible on the Donate page.
-Austin
