AIR DATE:  November 10, 1995
Written by John Shiban
Directed by Rob Bowman

	Okay, lets just get it over right from the start on what other
X-Files episodes "The Walk"  could remind us of so that we can look at
this episode on its own merit.  We somewhat have "Shadows" where an
apparition appears to be around for revenge, "Born Again" where we get a
reincarnation of a murdered cop who gets revenge on his former co-workers,
"Excelsis Dei" where we have the evil spirits of patients killing the
wicked caretakers, and "The Calusari" where we have an evil dead twin
brother who kills anyone who threatens him.  "The Walk" touches upon all
of these in some way or another, but that is just a given, that we can
look at any X-Files episode and see how it can relate to another episode,
movie or book which can seem like a retread, but it would be just as hard
to believe these types of phenomena only happen once in a lifetime.

	Now that's out of the way lets look at "The Walk" itself as an
episode.  It could be of consequence this episode was shown on the eve of
Veterans Day making it poignant to the plight of veterans when a war is
over.  Rappo could have been one of the people who joined the army to get
money to go to college, but who came out on the short end of the deal when
the US went to war to defend our right to buy cheap oil. As "Excelsis Del" 
touches upon how we dispose and forget our elderly, "The Walk" touches
upon how we dispose and forget the people who sacrifice themselves for
their "country".  Notice there wasn't any mention of Rappo's family until
the end of the episode.  They disposed of him at the VA when they couldn't
deal with his problems, and the Army wouldn't let him be buried in
Arlington Cemetery even though he sacrificed himself to save Roach and who
knows who else during the war. 

	"The Walk" is the first episode in X-Files where the military
wasn't used as an evil, mindless presence.  Here we get to see the human
face of the military, caring about their families and the people they work
with.  At first we get the typical tough military who will treat Scully
and Mulder with contempt when Capt. Draper tries to tell them firmly they
are not welcome and they have to leave.  Once Draper gets killed, Gen.
Callahan turns to Scully and Mulder for help when he realizes his family
is in danger and he sees them as the only ones who can help him. It was
refreshing to have the military portrayed in a different light.

	Let's get away from the positive on this episode and get to some
of the problems with the episode.  Once again we get another one of those
X-Files episodes where Scully and Mulder are just observers and do not
initiate any of the action.  Whenever this happens it always lessens an
X-Files episode because we watch the X-Files to see Scully and Mulder do
things and how these things affect them, but when we get one of these
observant episodes it sometimes feels as if you could replace them with
anyone else and it wouldn't make a difference.  There is nothing wrong
when this type of episode is done just occasionally.  The problem is that
about 3 or 4 episodes this season have been like this and it makes it
somewhat boring since we expect more from them rather than running from
one place to another.  Hell, it was the Lt. Col. who took care of the
problem and not Scully and Mulder.  It makes me even more anxious for
"Nisel" and "731" since we know in these two episodes Scully and Mulder
will be the main focus and initiating the events. 

	The good, the bad and the ugly of "The Walk".

The Good:

- Scully bringing out the military brat in her when she basically told
Capt.  Draper that they will go as high up as they can to continue their
investigation.  She knew just what to say to get Draper to back down most
likely from her observations of her father at work.

- Mulder not flinching when Rappo tries his usual guilt trip speech on him
about what a sorry life he has been stuck with since the Gulf war and how
no one could possibly understand what it is like to be him.  For once
Mulder's ability to keep a deadpan look on his face is to his advantage
when dealing with someone like Rappo.  Best part was when he told Rappo
"No Sleepwalking" just as they were about ready to leave the room.  It
showed how fearless Mulder was of Rappo even though he believed he had
these abilities to leave his body and kill people.  Another good part was
Mulder deciding to sit over Rappo's body after Rappo made a comment and
looked suggestively at Scully as to what he would like to do if he had
such an ability as they were claiming.  By doing this Mulder showed Rappo
he wasn't afraid of him and conferred onto Rappo how helpless he truly was
no matter what abilities Rappo might have. Great body language.

- The ironic way they had Callahan's son die by having him killed by
burying him in sand since Rappo was injured in the desert. 

- The acting by the guest stars was superior.  Thomas Kopache as General
Callahan gave a great performance as a man who has seen too many deaths
and feels for his men.  He showed the conflict in himself when he couldn't
kill Rappo, even though Rappo had killed his wife and son, because Rappo
was one of his men, and he would not go down to Rappo's level of revenge.
Andrea Barclay in her brief appearance as Callahan's wife was good in
showing how she was trying to cope with her son's death.  I have to say I
felt for her.

- I don't know about anybody else, but I was quite touched by the story of
the other amputee and his dream of being able to run and play ball with
his son as his father used to with him.  In that little scene so much was
said about how dreams are destroyed by war.  Another good performance by
of someone who had a small part.

The Bad:

- Some out of characteristic moments for Scully in this one: 

a) Why was she telling Mulder, a person who supposedly has a degree in
Psychology, that the Lt. Col was displacing classic syptoms of PTSD?  It
didn't seem like Scully to do something like that or for her to quickly
dismiss the Lt. Col's story.  If she was going to suggest this it should
have been done at a later time.

b) When Mulder mentions the Gulf War sydrome as the cause to everything
going on, Scully quickly points out the govt. has disproved any connection
between the war and the problems some veterans of the Gulf War claim to be
having since the war ended.  This is an interesting comment from Scully
considering that she has seen how the govt. will lie and cover up things
to protect itself.  Did she forget about all those files in the mine
shaft?

- it seemed the only reasons these were done was to have her still playing
the skeptic, but it didn't work because the things she did didn't seem in
character.  This season we have seen her skepticism work well and in
character such as in "Clyde Bruckman" and "The List".

The Ugly:

- Oh boy, we got some techoblabber in this episode when Mulder started to
explain to Scully why he'd been holding onto those dental things.  I was
like "whoa slow down Mulder" you're going too fast for me about radiation
and what those things are showing.  It was confusing and questionable
whether it was necessary to the story.  I will give Duchovny credit for
being able to say all that in one take though I wonder how many takes it
took for him to say it all without messing up.

- The real mystery to the episode was the killing of Capt. Draper.  It
didn't have any real logic to it though it appears the writer was trying
to justify it by having the General say the army was her family i.e. she
was family to him, but we never got to see they were closer than a
professional relationship.

- Oh yeah, why is it in every TV show or movie when people go swimming
alone late at night in a pool it usually means instant death.  It seemed
odd that Draper would be allowed to swim so late at night because I'm sure
they have certain hours the pool operates with life guards on duty.  It
just didn't seem true that she would be allowed to swim so late even if
she is the General's adjutant. 

	"The Walk" was another average X-Files episode which seems to be
the norm this season.  Not that there is anything wrong with that. So far
this season has been pretty good and it should turn out to be another fine
season overall though they need to get away from the type of episodes
where Scully and Mulder observe the events as they unfold.  In "The Walk" 
we get the typical portrait of an embittered, resentful veteran in Rappo
who has so much bitterness he can no longer tell right from wrong since he
blames everyone for his predicament making them the enemy who he believes
deserve to die. The twist is he could act upon his hate in ways other
embittered veterans couldn't.  Also, "The Walk" displayed the other side
of the military as not always being made up of cold hearted people. 

	"The Walk" gets an overall grade of B-.

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

Back to Top of Page

3rd Season Episodes List

1st Season Episodes List
2nd Season Episodes List
4th Season Episodes List

Back to Main X-Files Comment Page