AIR DATE:  February 2, 1996
Written by Howard Gordon
Directed by Kim Manners

	"Grotesque" is an X-Files episode where we get all the elements we
expect from the show:  darkness permeates throughout, vague indications
that something supernatual is happening and we get to see how the case
affects Scully and Mulder. 

	In "Grotesque" Mulder is called in to help in the investigation of
some murders when they continue after the person the F.B.I. believes
responsible is arrested.  Here we get to see Mulder become obsessed with
finding out what is truly going on in the case with us asking the question
does Mulder have a tendency towards these emotions and feelings Mostow had
as he's trying to get into Mostow's head which might explain why he is so
good at doing this type of job.  The darkness within Mulder is shown by
the darkness in every scene and by filming Mulder with his face half lit
to show the conflict within him.

	This is why Mulder shut off Scully during his investigation
because he knew she would be able to see right through him and would try
to ground him from getting too stuck on Mostow madness.  By keeping his
distance from her he believed he would be able to get into what was
driving Mostow towards these murders i.e. was Mostow mad or was he
possessed by a demon.  The irony of him doing this was it didn't get him
any closer toward the second murderer, instead it was slowly driving him
crazy as could be seen by his nightmare of seeing himself being the
attackee and attacker, and by his hitting Mostow.  Mulder by allowing
himself to become so obsessed with Mostow's madness never would have
figured out it was Patterson doing the murders instead it had to be
someone who knew Patterson which is why Agent Nemhauser suspected it was
Patterson.  Scully had her own suspicion's about Mulder, somewhat
wondering if Mulder could be capable of doing these kind of acts.  She
knows Mulder and what makes him tick so when he answers Nemhauser's cell
phone from Mostow's apartment she has to wonder if he hadn't finally gone
over the edge with this case because she had to ponder where Nemhauser was
if Mulder had his phone. Was he becoming the monster Patterson said he had
to become in order to catch killers like Mostow?

	At first during "Grotesque" I thought we were going to get the
continuation of the tension between Mulder and Scully especially after the
confrontation between them outside Mostow's apartment when Mulder was
attacked there.  It wasn't until I watched "Grotesque" for a second time
and saw that it wasn't tension between them, but one, Scully was upset and
concerned about Mulder's behavior and two, Mulder didn't want to face it
so he just blocked her out.  He hadn't contacted her for two days, she
sees he has "wallpapered" his apartment such as Mostow did his and when
she finally hears from him it is after he was attacked in Mostow's
apartment. It isn't any wonder she confronted him like she did in that
scene, it wasn't out of any animosity towards him but out of a genuine
concern for his mental state.  Of course, Mulder, being Mulder, doesn't
want to see what she's telling him about his behavior so he drives off
instead on continuing the discussion.

	For all of this there still seemed to be something missing with
this episode that I haven't quite figured out.  It wasn't the direction
because I think Kim Manners did a great job of getting the mood of the
episode across or the acting from the principals and supporting actors. 
"Grotesque" just didn't do for Mulder's character what "Revelation" did
for Scully's character.  In "Revelation" we have Scully confronting her
feelings towards her religious beliefs and how it affects her relationship
to her job and towards Mulder, who if we remember wasn't too tolerant
towards Scully when her religious beliefs became involved in the case. 
While in "Grotesque" we get Mulder becoming obsessed with the idea of
Mostow being possessed and along the way having Mulder confronting his own
demons. What were those demons Mulder was trying to keep at bay, we never
get a clear look into it all and the story itself was a bit confusing on
what was going on.  We've have seen Mulder become emotionally involved in
cases before such as in "Oubliette" where we got more insight into his
character, but in "Grotesque" we only get a little glimpse into it. 
Cannot quite explain it, but there was just something missing to make this
an above average X-Files episode.

A few general comments:

- Mulder shows his disrespect and contempt for Patterson by calling him by
his first name.

- The scene between Scully and Skinner was touching in what it said about
their feelings towards Mulder.  By saying nothing when Skinner asked her
off the record if she was worried about Mulder was an excellent way to
convey these feelings.

- Having the one surviving victim start going nuts when Patterson came
into his hospital room was a good way to indicate to the audience it was
Patterson who was the killer and not Nemhauser who we were giving hints to
thinking as the killer by having Scully asked him about his stitches on
his hand from Mostow's biting him.

- Whoever would have guessed that not only is Mulder a crack F.B.I. 
agent, but he's an artist and sculptor as well. 

- This episode draws some parallels from "Anasazi", another episode where
Mulder's sanity was questioned.  These parallels come from Scully's
conversion with Mulder over the phone in Mostow's apartment when you can
tell from her tone she's wondering if Mulder might have killed Nemhauser
and the conversion she has with him when he calls her after his father is
murdered.  The final scene where Mulder has his gun on Patterson and
Scully comes in telling him to drop his gun such as she did when Mulder
had his gun on Ratboy.

- Scully staying back while Mulder goes looking into the dark back room in
Mostow's apartment was kind of weird because you wouldn't think Scully
would be intimidated entering into a dark room.  Maybe the psychic in
Scully was coming out in that she felt something evil inside the room.

- I like the scene in the library between Patterson and Mulder when Mulder
asks Patterson why Mostow was still drawing gargoyles, and Patterson
responds it was because Mostow was insane.  It was funny with Patterson
telling Mulder that sometimes it is just plain madness and nothing else.

- As with most universities parking's a bitch since the Model had to park
his car in a back alley. 

- The scene in Mulder's office when he is showing Scully the slides of the
victims was done great.  Basically all we were allowed to see were bits of
the slides without getting a direct look at the mutilation done to the
bodies and from the reaction on Scully's face it told us enough about what
happened to the victims.

	"Grotesque" was a fine X-Files episode with the elements we come
to expect from the show and we get to see a little into Mulder's psyche. 
There was just something missing to make it a classic X-Files episode
though it was still a very good X-Files episode.


Claudia
E-Mail:  Claudia.Cauchon@unh.edu

2/4/96

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