"Signs and Wonders"
Airdate: January 23, 2000
Snakes! Why did it have to be snakes? Better yet, why did it have to be Jeffrey Bell, and why did he have to return to the nether regions from whence "Rain King" came? Just when I was beginning to like this guy, thanks to the entertaining "Goldberg Variation", he has to go and make an improving show drop right back into the suckdom-heavy Monstrosity-of-the-Week episodes that propagated the series in seasons five and six. Shouldn't "Alpha" have taught this man to stay away from animal episodes? (And shouldn't "Tesos dos Bichos" and "Fearful Symmetry" have encouraged all to stay far, far away from the non-human, non-alien, non-unidentifiable black ooze-type organisms to begin with? Let the mammals and reptiles be, 1013!)
"Signs and Wonders" -- so named because it's a sign of the series' impending demise and a wonder that I didn't chuck my remote through the screen -- is one of the worst episodes to hit the series in a long while. The story of a small Southern community plagued by this strange disease that makes everyone talk like a stereotype from a Z-grade exploitation flick -- oh yeah, and there are killer snakes there, too - the episode is notable only for its final scene, featuring a long, slithering snake disappearing down a man's thrust-back throat which looks exactly like what you think it does. "Signs and Wonders" is the Bill Clinton of X-Files episodes: Southern, slimy, and full of, you know, that.
Tracy Middendorf, recently a helpless blonde on Angel (is it me or this girl trying to get on every genre series possible?) plays Gracie, a pregnant helpless blonde with a severe case of Chinatown "My sister! My daughter!" syndrome. Or at least I think this is what happened. I got the impression that, like all rural folk in the world of The X-Files this clan was yet another incestuous breed, not only sucking down snakes but their own kin, if you catch my drift. Then again, I could be wrong, as the plot is so rambling and shaky it's impossible to make any fast conclusions as to what actually occurred (besides a bunch of super-cheesy snake shots). Gracie is the daughter/lover of the Reverend Enoch O'Connor, who, despite his odd name, is not nearly as much of a bastard as is the Reverend Samuel Mackey, who does these weird things with snakes that makes a lot of people die and get all crazy and stuff. Or something along those lines.
Sense a trend here? The X-Files used to be a pretty smart show when dealing with religious themes; episodes like "Revelations" displayed a willingness to take on spiritual issues with a seriousness and sense of wonder rarely conveyed on network TV. "Signs and Wonders" is a significant step backwards in this regard, asserting that, indeed, religious Southerners are a bunch of raving freaks. While my knowledge of Southern revivalism is largely limited to the film The Apostle (and if you want to see an intelligent, non-bigoted perspective on the subject, rent that), I can't help but get offended by the umpteenth X-Files portrayal of rural, lower-class people as simpering, easily roused fools with a penchant for homicide.
Plus, the snakes just sucked. "Signs and Wonders" -- like pretty much all X-Files episodes -- was well-directed with overall fine production values, but the FX were ridiculous. Aside from the aforementioned scene of the reptilius Lewinskyus, the episode featured numerous shots of the slithery creatures waking the cast from their walking comas, emerging from darkened corners, and looking far more like something that could be bought at the local CVS than portents of otherworldly evil.
-- Sarah Kendzior
The X-Files airs at 9pm EST/8pm MNT, Sundays on Fox.
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