AIR DATE:  October 20, 1995
Written by Chris Carter
Directed by Chris Carter

	"The List" is one of those X-Files episodes where Scully and
Mulder are basically there and not instigating anything because of their
presence. Though not as good as last week's episode it was still a good
episode in the way it depicted the deaths and the interaction between the
two main characters.

	This had to be one of the more graphic episodes in showing us
things that would normally be implied.  There isn't anything I hate more
than bugs of any kind so seeing these little white/yellow worms crawling
over dead bodies did not sit well with me.  There most likely will be some
discussion on the need of showing us so much, from the headless body to
the executor body, but I thought it was great because this isn't something
you usually see on tv and I thought it demonstrated a lot of guts to show
these things. 

	The reactions of the characters to these dead bodies were great
because after all Scully and Mulder have seen these past two years this
stuff really bothered them.  We get some of that understating acting from
Anderson and Duchovny that we all are used to on the show, but there was
much more to it this time.  You can see through their deadpan looks how
much this case is disturbing them from how the people's dead bodies are
ending up to how out of their control this case seems to be, and you see
the frustration in Mulder's face throughout the whole episode.  The acting
Duchovny gave each time they found a body was terrific especially when
they found the headless body and the executer's body.  In the headless
body scene Mulder's voice is whispering and cracking under his breath when
he tells Scully she'll be able to do that autopsy.  He's cracking a joke
so as to not show how much this is upsetting him.  One interesting thing
about this scene was that Scully left the room after he said that to her,
and she didn't go rush over and examine the body as she normally does.  It
was as if she wasn't looking forward to it, and maybe the whole situation
was scaring her a bit because the question that had to come to her mind
was how did the body get there. A bit spooky if you ask me.  When they
find the executer's body, right before it fades to commercial Duchonvy has
Mulder turn away in disgust as if he's going to vomit.  It displayed that
Mulder isn't as emotionless and unaffected by the things he sees as it
appears on the show.

	Now with Scully it appears this case was bothering her on two
levels:  1) it brought back memories of the last time they had to deal
with a death row inmate and 2) the implications of the case of a man being
able to come back to enact revenge from the grave in grotesque ways.  It
seems as if she didn't really want to deal with it and she realizes that
there isn't much they can prove if Neech Manley has truly been
reincarnated and it grounds Mulder down to the reality of their situation.
The last scene on the road says a lot about Scully and Mulder when she
tells Mulder to just let it drop and he goes along with it.  Once again
Scully tells Mulder not in so many words that she will only go so far with
him in investigating these strange occurrences. The scene in the car when
they were staking out Neech Manley's wife's house and she tells Mulder
they should go tell the Warden about her affair with one of the guards you
can see the disappointment in his face because Mulder is confused as to
how to proceed in the investigation so he lets Scully take the lead in the
case. Something that doesn't usually occur on the show. 

	Anderson was excellent in showing the conflicting emotions of
Scully since it seemed as if Scully didn't really want to be there.  The
first time they are in the prison Scully had to deal with being there on
two different levels:  1) she has to take the taunts of the prisoners who
don't get out too often and 2) she has to deal with her own emotions of
being back in a prison with a dead prisoner people believe has the ability
to reincarnate himself.  Touching somewhat onto memories of what happened
to her in "Beyond the Sea" and "Irresistible".  After Parmelly tells her
about the list by grabbing her from behind it had to bring home to her how
vulnerable everything still is, especially when we see her in the shower
alone in the dark. 

	It was interesting to see the Warden wasn't at all afraid when two
federal agents came to investigate a guard's murder.  He didn't treat them
with any disrespect, in fact he helped them out whenever he could, which
showed a real fearlessness in him.  It told us who really ran the show at
the prison.  The fact he would beat a prisoner to death than report it to
Scully and Mulder without being afraid that they could find out it was him
behind it reveals he wasn't much better than the prisoners. 

Odds and Ends:

- Mulder jokingly asking Scully if he remembers her birthday this year
when she said you only get to kill five people if you get reincarnated.  A
funny thing to say to break the tension of the situation. 

- Mulder brings out his slide projector for the first time in a long time. 
Good to see he still knows how to use it though he should have been more
efficient and had the dead prison guard's picture in the projector from
the beginning.

- April Grace acting as Neech Manley's wife showed a wife who was scared
to death of her husband even from the grave.  The scene with her husband
and with Scully and Mulder showed a woman who was fighting a losing battle
to keep her sanity. 

- Having the executioner found dead in a chair tied up as a person who has
been executed by electricity, and having Scully and Mulder find the body
by having those worms falling out of the light fixture was a great idea.

- The tragedy that Neech Manley might have been a remarkable man if only
he hadn't made that one mistake in life of driving a getaway car.  It kind
of questions the wisdom of executing a man who only drove the car and
didn't actually do the killing.

	"The List" wasn't a great episode, but it had a lot of what we
expect from X-Files: things that gross us out, good acting, writing and
directing.  Chris Carter did a good job of directing the episode.  For
some reason I really like the shot at the end when we see Mulder getting
into the car from the Warden's rearview mirror.  It was predictable that
the Warden would be a sadistic person, but it was unpredictable that
Scully and Mulder didn't pick up on this, though why should they?  The
prisoner's murder looked like it had to be someone who wanted to shut him
up.  Mulder figured out he wasn't the third person to die, but couldn't
figure out who did it which was nice to see that even Scully and Mulder
can't figure out everything. 

	I just wish I understood this reincarnation bit because am I to
believe Neech Manley came back as a fly then was able to change back into
human form to kill these people.  I think it would have worked better if
Carter had killed the Warden in a different way than in a car crash, and
not show us Neech Manley in the backseat.  The episode would have been
better if Carter had kept it a mystery as to what was truly behind the
murders.  I have to admit I thought it was pretty funny that after Manley
killed his victims he would land on them and plant those worm things on
the bodies knowing what they will do to the body.  Yuck. 

	I have to give this episode an overall grade of B.  Good
interaction between the two main characters, it shows how they really work
well together.  But the show lacked any suspense as to what was going to
happen next because one could pretty much predict who was going to get it
next and the overall story was iffy in a way. 

Season Grade Overall
====================

The Blessing Way - B+
Paperclip - A-
D.P.O. - C+
Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose - A


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

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