“ The worst episode of X-Files never made this frightening thing

During his original race on television, X-Files was a trend program that pushed the strange and unexplained under the spotlight. It was not surprising that the David Duchovny And Gillian Anderson The drama has become so popular, because the chemistry between the slopes was perfectly mixed with the air of the mystery that surrounded the overall intrigue of the series. Mulder and Scully have investigated everything, extraterrestrials and wizards with demons and sewer monsters, and each episode adds something significant to the global chronology – yes, which also includes bad episodes. Although there may be no episode of X-Files As terribly terribly terrible as “Teso Dos Bichos”, even the least effective time of Mulder and Scully does something good …

“Teso Dos Bichos” is “The X-Files” at its worst

While many consider the hours of rebirth seasons or Doggett (Robert Patrick) and Reyes (Annabeth Gish) Era to be the worst in the series (and indeed, in terms of wide range, they can be), there is an episode of the first years of the series still counted among the worst. Yes, Every self-respecting X-Phile knows that “Teso Dos Bichos” is an easily skipable episode during your last frenzy. This season 3 Détour takes a mysterious artifact of his home in South America in Boston, only for the Jaguar spirit attached to the object (a cursed amaru urn of the equator) to start killing those around him. Mulder and Scully investigate, as usual, and end up being in the middle of “action”. Although it is said, there is very little action here, and the real danger of this play does not reside in a possessed individual or a Jaguar creature, but in standard domestic cats. (And that does not mention the toilets full of rats.)

Although the case is somewhat closed, “Teso Dos Bichos” has become one of the most hated episodes of the series by fans (often cited alongside the “Fight Club” of season 7), and they were not the only ones to hate it. It turns out that even those responsible for the dull X-Files The adventure (if you could call it that) would defend this episode. In Brian Lowry‘s Do not trust anyone: The Official Guide to the X-Files, vol. 2He notes that the famous director of the series Kim ways T-shirts printed for the crew reading “Teso Dos Bichos survivor”, as the cast and the team had an equally miserable experience to do it as fans did. The problem, as Manners pointed out, is that The premise was not particularly frightening, perhaps partly due to the fact that there have been so many script revisions during the production process. However, a curse that means that domestic animals light those cursed by the mind are even less threatening on the screen than on paper. “When I read the script, I said:” The guys, the cats are not scary “,” said Manners about the episode. “The Jaguar is scary. Cats are not, and they are also stupid.”

The ways certainly knew how sugar things, right? He’s right, of course. While the Jaguar at the beginning is promising for this bizarre X-Files hour, It does not correspond to most of the best episodes of the show at all. “Teso Dos Bichos” was actively criticized by Duchovny and Anderson in the years that followed, and is still considered among the worst of the show. Of course, that does not mean that this mishap Mulder and Scully is wrong. Whether by accident or on purpose, there is one thing that is good.

Even this hour of dull “X-Files” obtains correct things

Despite the flagrant traps of the episode, which include lower performance, an unequal rhythm and a bad intrigue, there is an aspect in which “Teso Dos Bichos” prosperous. Yes, it’s a bit surprising, but even some of the worst cases of Mulder and Scully have brilliant moments. Whether intentionally or not, This infamous episode of season 3 firmly leans firmly and enough without subjugated in his horror shots. There is not a time when the episode, written by a veteran X-Files scribe John ShibanLet the public guess or wonder with anticipation, except perhaps what he does while looking at the episode. On the contrary, it pushes each new horror in your face in the same way as the images of horror B, almost making us ask us why “Teso Dos Bichos” – sandwich between the excellent “Pusher” and the “Hell money” – did not have a bigger cult. These are cats, right?

An accidental love letter to the films of horror B, the strange narration and the cliché script of the episode is ultimately mediocre. And yet, director Kim Manners fought to make the episode at least a little visually interesting, More specifically thanks to a camera technique that fans came to call “Jaguar Vision”. Use the camera as a window on the eyes (and perhaps the mind) of the Jaguar spirit behind these banal horrors (except for the real Jaguar at the beginning, which is the most scary X file never get), There is no better effect in this episode than the haunting movements of the old evil himself. Although this camera technique is perfected by the 1998 Denzel Washington movie FallenIt is quite well used here. It is disturbing and, associated with the bodies and intestines all around, gives the impression that something dark and sinister is under the foot.

It’s a shame that the episode does not look more at it. Instead of trying to make domestic cats frightening, he could have highlighted the power that the Jaguar spectrum has on its victims and showed Dr. Bilac (VIC TREVINO) Descent into madness. Instead, “Teso Dos Bichos” was content to wallow in his mediocrity as a bad episode of television. It’s crazy to think that sometimes there is much better X-Files Stories in derived comics than on the screen. Of course, this season, 3 failed is a bad X fileBut at least, he knew how to build anticipation with the camera, even if she fought with the way to reimburse him.

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X-Files

Release date

1993-2018-00-00

Network

FOX

Franchise (s)

X-Files