Grotesque (The X-Files)

"Grotesque"
The X-Files episode
Fox Mulder investigating the paranormal crime in John Mostow's house
Episode no.	Season 3 Episode 14
Directed by	Kim Manners
Written by	Howard Gordon
Production code	3X14
Original air date	February 2, 1996
Guest stars
Mitch Pileggi as Walter Skinner Kurtwood Smith as Bill Patterson Levani Outchaneichvili as John Mostow Greg Thirloway as Agent Nemhauser Susan Bain as Agent Sheherlis Kasper Michaels as Young Agent Zoran Vukelic as Model
Episode chronology
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List of season 3 episodes List of The X-Files episodes

"Grotesque" is the fourteenth episode of the third season of The X-Files television series. "Grotesque" features a serial killer who claims a gargoyle spirit committed the crimes. When Mulder joins the case his obsession with solving it causes Scully to question his sanity.

Plot

At George Washington University, a group of artists sketch a nude male model. However, one of the artists, John Mostow, draws a demonic creature in the model's place; he hurriedly leaves as the session ends. When the model reaches his car soon afterward, he is attacked and killed by an obscured assailant. The following morning, Mostow is arrested in his apartment by an FBI task force led by Agent Bill Patterson, who finds the utility knife used in the murder.

Mostow, a formerly committed immigrant from Uzbekistan, is charged with killing seven men and mutilating their faces. Agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully become involved in the investigation when Mostow insists that he was possessed during the killings; his claims are given credence when another murder occurs after his arrest. Mostow draws a gargoyle and claims that it was what killed the victims. Mulder meets with Patterson, his former mentor, who spent three years on the case. The two no longer get along, with Patterson skeptical of Mulder's theories. Later Mulder heads to Mostow's studio, finding corpses within his sculptures.

Another murder occurs. Nemhauser, another agent on the case, tells Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) that Patterson may have been responsible for getting Mulder on the case and that he may admire him after all. Patterson finds Mulder in the library studying gargoyles and tells him he's wasting his time and is a disappointment to him. Scully heads to Mulder's apartment finding the place covered with gargoyle drawings. Mulder awakens in Mostow's studio and chases a figure in the darkness that slashes at him with a blade. Mulder tells Scully of the attack but refuses to admit why he was staying in Mostow's studio. Scully confronts Patterson who tells her to let Mulder continue to do what he's doing. Mulder goes to see Mostow again who won't tell him how to find the creature that attacked him.

Scully finds a disassembled utility knife at the latest crime scene with Mulder's prints on it and discovers the murder weapon is missing from the evidence room. She meets with Assistant Director Skinner who is also worried about Mulder's behavior. Mulder has a nightmare about being attacked by a gargoyle, which ends up being himself. He then wakes up and heads to Mostow's studio again, finding a new murder victim there. Scully calls Nemhauser, but his phone is answered by Mulder who denies taking the knife. He searches Mostow's studio and finds Nemhauser's body inside a new sculpture. Mulder now believes that Patterson is the killer due to his three year obsession with Mostow and his request for Mulder to join the case so he could stop him. Mulder confronts him, but Patterson flees when Scully arrives. Mulder pursues him and the two fight. Patterson is shot and apprehended. He is jailed for the murders, despite claiming innocence.

Production

Writer Howard Gordon originally came up with the idea for the episode when he was walking the streets of New York and noticed some stone gargoyles on the corner staring at him. Gordon developed the idea into a story about possession and the spirit of a gargoyle involved in an X-File. He wrote a draft script for the episode but had to turn to series creator Chris Carter three days before production began to rework the draft. The two worked on the script over the weekend to add more psychological aspects to the episode. Gordon claimed to be very proud of the final product. The producers originally planned to film the teaser sequence by a Catholic hospital, but the hospital was reluctant to affix a gargoyle to the building, so the shot was relocated to the site of an old post office instead. Some last minute scrambling was required when city workmen tore up the sidewalk on the very spot where the producers planned to film the scene. Assistant Art Director Gary Allen drew the gargoyle sketches used in this episode.

Kim Manners praised David Duchovny's performance on this episode, saying "Duchovny drove himself, and he was brilliant in that show." Manners also said of the episode "I think 'Grotesque' is a frightening show. I think it is a disturbing show, and I think that's why - for me - it's such a good show. We pulled it off making the viewer feel uneasy. I even found it a difficult show to watch. Yeah, it was a pretty dark hour of television and I would like to do more of those." Manners called the episode his favorite of the third season. Manners also theorized that the episode may have been the template for the show Millennium, which premiered on Fox the following television season.

Reception

This episode earned a Nielsen rating of 11.6, with an 18 share. It was viewed by 18.32 million people. The episode had the third highest ratings of the third season. Author Phil Farrand was critical of the episode, rating it his fourth least favorite episode of the first four seasons in his book The Nitpickers Guide to the X-Files. Entertainment Weekly gave "Grotesque" a D, labeling it as "ponderous, oblique, and featuring one of Mulder's always annoying, easy-way-out soliloquy summations". Cinematographer John Bartley received an Emmy nomination for his work on this episode.

External links

• "Grotesque" on The X-Files Wiki, an external wiki
• "Grotesque" at the Internet Movie Database
• "Grotesque" at TV.com