Fic Recs: 2x21 The Calusari
Sep. 9th, 2017 10:43 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
wendelah1 posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
xfilesficrecsThis was a stinker. Depicting the violent death of a two-year-child in the teaser was nothing less than a flagrant attempt to play on the audience's emotions. You have to earn the right to portray that kind of death in any medium and this episode doesn't come close.
"The Calusari" isn't structured like a typical TXF episode. There's no real investigation, at least none that matters, and no discussion of what these unexplained events might mean to either character. Even during the climatic scenes, Mulder and Scully only stand by passively and watch events unfold. Mulder is supposed to be an expert on the paranormal but he's clearly out of his depth. Scully has at least seen The Exorcist so you would think that would give her some insight being that the plot is so similar. Argh. It's probably just a coincidence but I just realized this is the second episode in a row featuring an Evil Twin.
The offensive stereotyping of Romanian culture would be bad enough, but with the supporting characters being depicted so unsympathetically, it's hard to care about their fates. They're just stock figures from bad horror movies, not real people who matter to the audience.
The Calusari Elder's final words to Mulder are ominous: "It is over, for now. But you must be careful. It knows you." But there's no followup, no continuity, so the warning is meaningless. I wish some fic writer had taken those lines as a prompt and run with it.
Because people love to be frightened, and it is a scary episode,"The Calusari" is watchable, though just barely.
FANFICTION RECS:
I liked the one by David Hearne. I like most of the fic in his never completed series of post-eps. He didn't try to write them in order which means that there are stories for every season, but no complete seasons.
"Under Your Bed, In Your Closet, Behind You" by David Hearne
Rated PG | 5K | Archived 00-12-1
Spoilers: The Calusari
Keywords: Post-episode.
Summary: none provided by the author. Wendelah's summary: Mulder can't sleep. He calls up Scully on the phone.
"The Calusari" isn't structured like a typical TXF episode. There's no real investigation, at least none that matters, and no discussion of what these unexplained events might mean to either character. Even during the climatic scenes, Mulder and Scully only stand by passively and watch events unfold. Mulder is supposed to be an expert on the paranormal but he's clearly out of his depth. Scully has at least seen The Exorcist so you would think that would give her some insight being that the plot is so similar. Argh. It's probably just a coincidence but I just realized this is the second episode in a row featuring an Evil Twin.
The offensive stereotyping of Romanian culture would be bad enough, but with the supporting characters being depicted so unsympathetically, it's hard to care about their fates. They're just stock figures from bad horror movies, not real people who matter to the audience.
The Calusari Elder's final words to Mulder are ominous: "It is over, for now. But you must be careful. It knows you." But there's no followup, no continuity, so the warning is meaningless. I wish some fic writer had taken those lines as a prompt and run with it.
Because people love to be frightened, and it is a scary episode,"The Calusari" is watchable, though just barely.
FANFICTION RECS:
I liked the one by David Hearne. I like most of the fic in his never completed series of post-eps. He didn't try to write them in order which means that there are stories for every season, but no complete seasons.
"Under Your Bed, In Your Closet, Behind You" by David Hearne
Rated PG | 5K | Archived 00-12-1
Spoilers: The Calusari
Keywords: Post-episode.
Summary: none provided by the author. Wendelah's summary: Mulder can't sleep. He calls up Scully on the phone.
(no subject)
Date: 2017-09-10 02:50 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2017-09-10 03:03 am (UTC)