I Saw Elvis In A Potato Chip Once 14 - The X-Files 1.14 - Gender Bender

Oh dear. Another season one clunker, which ends so suddenly it's almost as if they didn't so much run of of airtime as think "Right that's quite enough of that...".

The X-Files 1.14 - Gender Bender

On the face of it, a case involving death by sex should be right up Mulder's street. Not only that but it looks like the killer is a shape shifting genetic mutant too. Fox must having been wetting himself with excitement - and to be honest there is the kernel of a good idea here. The problem is that the whole way it's presented made me feel slightly uncomfortable. I know it's probably a bit unfair to compare the morals of a 1990s show with the more enlightened attitudes of today (for goodness sake don't look at some 1970s British sitcoms), but there is a thinly veiled undercurrent of sexual and religious intolerance going on here - both towards the body-swapping killer and the Amish-like Kindred society.

There is lots of prolonged, meaningful staring. Scully getting incredibly aroused by just a touch. Mulder being completely unable to read a map or follow a compass. Some nasty looking goo. What appeared to be a sudden shot of Princess Diana. It all gets bogged down under the weight of its own ridiculousness. Plus there's that ending. Is it a genius shock twist - or just mad? I bet we never hear of the Kindred ever again.

To be fair there are a few good points. The episode is directed and shot very well and there is a nice organic vibe going on with the fleshy pulsating walls. Duchovny and Anderson are great and the actor who played Brother Andrew manages to keep things just the right side of the creepy serial killer line - but only just.

Other thoughts and facts:

• Just what the hell is a "Chippy"? As if there wasn't enough sexism going on.
• There's a large picture on the wall near the start that looks very H.R. Giger. Someone's a fan.
• The music cue in the caves sequence is very "Tubular Bells" (or "The Exorcist" if you must). Someones's head turning right round would have pepped things up no end.
• I wonder how the Amish society felt about the episode? Oh wait - they don't watch television, so the writers could be as rude as they liked.

So far "The X-Files" season one has been wildly varying in terms of quality with only a couple of standouts - and I'm not really feeling the love. Saying that, the same could be said of a show like "Star Trek: The Next Generation" in it's premiere year, and look how that turned out. With ten episodes left I'm hoping things start to step up a gear as the creative team find their feet at last.