Squeeze (The X-Files)

"Squeeze"
The X-Files episode
Tooms squeezing himself through a chimney. Many of the scenes featuring Tooms' abilities were created via computer graphics.
Episode no.	Season 1 Episode 3
Directed by	Harry Longstreet
Written by	Glen Morgan James Wong
Production code	1X02
Original air date	September 24, 1993
Running time	43 minutes
Guest stars
Doug Hutchison as Eugene Victor Tooms Donal Logue as Tom Colton Henry Beckman as Detective Frank Briggs Kevin McNulty as Fuller Terence Kelly as George Usher Colleen Winton as Lie Detector Technician James Bell as Mr. Johnson Gary Hetherington as Mr. Kennedy Rob Morton as Mr. Kramer Paul Joyce as Mr. Werner
Episode chronology
← Previous "Deep Throat" Next → "Conduit"
List of season 1 episodes List of The X-Files episodes

"Squeeze" is the third episode of the first season of the American science fiction television series The X-Files. It premiered on the Fox network on September 24, 1993. "Squeeze" was written by Glen Morgan and James Wong and directed by Harry Longstreet. The episode featured the first of two guest appearances by Doug Hutchison as the mutant serial killer Eugene Victor Tooms—Hutchison would reprise the role in the later episode "Tooms". "Squeeze" is the first "monster-of-the-week" episode of The X-Files, a stand-alone plot which is unconnected to the overarching mythology, or fictional history of the series.

"Squeeze" sees FBI special agents Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson), who work on cases linked to the paranormal, called X-Files, investigating a series of ritualistic killings. In each murder, the killer seemingly capable of squeezing his body through impossibly narrow gaps; and the agents soon learn that their suspect may be a genetic mutant who has been killing in sprees for ninety years.

Production of the episode was problematic, with Longstreet being replaced as director and missing scenes needing to be shot after the initial filming; this turbulence led to the episode relying on post-production techniques to be completed. However, "Squeeze" earned a Nielsen household rating of 7.2, being watched by 6.8 million households in its initial broadcast; and has received positive reviews from critics, mostly focusing on Hutchison's guest performance and the resonance of his character.

Plot

In Baltimore, George Usher, a middle-aged businessman, arrives at his office building to work late. He is watched from a storm drain by someone with strange green eyes. The assailant sneaks into the building by climbing through the elevator shaft and the ventilation system, then kills Usher by removing his liver.

Usher's murder—the latest of three—is assigned to careerist FBI agent Tom Colton (Donal Logue), who turns to academy colleague Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) for help. The case baffles Colton, in that the only common elements in the murders is their lack of entry points and the removal of the livers with bare hands. Scully's partner Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) looks over the case and notes their similarity to earlier murder sprees from 1933 and 1963. At the crime scene, Mulder finds an elongated fingerprint on the air vent. He comes to believe that because five murders occurred during the earlier sprees, the investigators should expect two more.

Because Scully believes that the killer will return to the scenes of his earlier crimes, she and Mulder wait in the parking garage of Usher's office building. There, they catch a man named Eugene Victor Tooms (Doug Hutchison) climbing through the air vents. When Tooms is given a polygraph test, Mulder questions him about whether he was involved in murders dating as far back as 1903. Colton dismisses Mulder's queries and lets Tooms go. However, Mulder shows Scully that Tooms' fingerprints match those from past cases if elongated and thinned, believing that Tooms is able to stretch and squeeze his body through narrow entry points. That night, Tooms demonstrates this ability by squeezing down a chimney to claim another victim.

Mulder and Scully research Tooms, finding no certificate of birth or marriage. They visit Frank Briggs (Henry Beckman), a former detective who recounts his experiences investigating the 1933 murders. He shows them old pictures of Tooms—showing he has not aged—and gives them the address to Tooms' old apartment building at 66 Exeter Street. The agents head there, eventually finding a "nest" constructed out of newspaper and bile in the building's crawl space. They also find several trophy items taken from past victims. Mulder suspects that Tooms is a mutant who can hibernate for thirty years at a time after consuming five human livers. As the two leave, Tooms, who is hiding in the rafters, takes Scully's necklace from around her neck.

Mulder and Scully stake out at the apartment, but Colton has them taken off the job. Scully tries to call Mulder to inform him of the situation, but her phone line has been cut. Tooms breaks into her apartment through a tiny air vent to attack her. However, Mulder has visited Tooms's apartment and found Scully's necklace there, causing him to race to her apartment and apprehend Tooms before he can kill her. Tooms is put in an institution for the criminally insane. While outside Tooms's cell, Scully informs Mulder that medical tests on Tooms show an abnormal skeletal and muscle system, as well as a rapidly declining metabolism. When a guard slides food for Tooms through a slot in the door, Tooms stares at the thin slot and grins.

Production

Pre-production

Like in the episode with the liver-eating squeeze guy who could elongate himself through chimneys, the director wanted me to be mad about this horrible serial killer. I was like, 'No, this is an amazing discovery! He's not morally culpable, because he's genetically driven.' I judge no one.

–Duchonvy on his portrayal of Fox Mulder

Coming after two episodes focused on the series' "mythology", or fictional history, "Squeeze" helped establish the fact that the show could cover other paranormal subjects as well, and was the first "Monster-of-the-Week" episode of The X-Files. Series creator Chris Carter felt that the show could not sustain its momentum if it did not branch out from the previously UFO-centred plots. Co-writers Glen Morgan and James Wong were inspired to write the episode when they looked at a ventilator shaft outside of their office and thought about whether someone could crawl inside of it. Inspiration was also drawn from Richard Ramirez, a serial killer who operated in Los Angeles during the 1980s. The episode has parallels with the second Kolchak film, The Night Strangler, which featured a man who commits murders every 21 years. Carter came up with the idea to have the villain consume human livers after traveling in France. The idea to have Tooms eat livers and the nest used for hibernation came from Morgan and Wong. The two liked the hibernation idea, since if the agents were not able to catch him, he could return after weeks of hibernation.

Actor Doug Hutchison, although 33 years old when he auditioned for the part of Tooms, was initially viewed as too young for the role by the producers, with Glen Morgan feeling that he "looks twelve years old". He convinced the writers to hire him by impressing them with his ability to suddenly transition into an attacking behavior. Hutchison has stated that his portrayal of Tooms was inspired by the "stillness" of Anthony Hopkins' acting in The Silence of the Lambs. David Duchovny recalls being asked to play his role as being more emotionally involved in the case, although he decided that his character should seem more detached.

Filming

You must put the camera in certain places to scare people, and you must not put the camera in other places, because you will not scare them. There were many reshoots. There was a lot of editorial wizardry by Heather McDougall. And there was Jim and Glen, who worked on it tirelessly to make it right.

—Carter on the episode's filming.

The episode's establishing exterior shots, and those of Eugene Tooms' house, were filmed in the area around Hastings Street, Vancouver. When filming the initial shot of Tooms' eyes glowing from a storm drain, the production crew arrived late to secure the street for filming, and a nearby construction crew were temporarily drafted in to guard the area. The ventilation system through which the episode's first victim is attacked was intended to be that of a public multi-storey car-park. However, the scene was to be set at night, and to avoid a costly tenting operation to simulate this, an exact replica of the necessary parts of the ventilation system was built in one of the car park's lower levels. Exterior shots of Scully's apartment were filmed elsewhere in Vancouver, at the same location which had been used for the setting in the pilot episode. However, this location's use was later discontinued due to the limited range of shots it afforded, as most reverse angles would show a large car park across the street.

Co-writer Wong was disappointed with director Harry Longstreet's performance, claiming he did not have respect for the script. Longstreet had failed to film one of the script's scenes, and had not obtained additional camera coverage for the scenes which had been filmed. As a result, Wong and another director, Michael Katleman, later re-shot several scenes for additional coverage to complete the episode, as well as filming the omitted scene and some additional inserts. Hutchison also reported that he had difficulty with Longstreet's directing, finding the acting instructions he was given "ridiculous". Morgan, too, has claimed that the episode's production was problematic, adding that the episode "was truly saved in postproduction".

Post-production

For the shot in which Tooms slides himself through a chimney, the producers hired a contortionist, a man who could "squeeze" himself through small spaces. The producers filmed the shot standing below the contortionist. The chimney itself was made to simply look much narrower than it actually was, described as being "more like a belt than a pipe". With computer-generated imagery, they were able to make takes of his fingers and elongate them. Producter R. W. Goodwin believed that the contortionist who had been hired—known only as "Pepper"—would only be able to have limited success in fitting down the chimney set and would work mostly as a photo double. However, he was able to fit entirely inside the chimney, with the production crew only needing to add some sound effects "of bones snapping and cracking". When filming the scene in which Tooms enters Scully's home, the crew filmed the set without Hutchison present, filming his entrance using a larger blue screen set. These shots were digitally merged together to allow Hutchison to appear to be emerging from a much smaller hatch than was filmed. The effect was kept to a minimum, however, with Hutchison's footage not being "squeezed" too much, as both Beck and Carter have stated their belief that "less is more: just a hint of the supernatural is all that is required".

Themes

Although not directly impacting the ongoing storyline of The X-Files, "Squeeze" has been seen as introducing key thematic elements to the series. The developments between guest star Donal Logue's character Tom Colton and Dana Scully have been cited as "tethering another thread between her career and the rest of the FBI", highlighting a sense of "exasperation and derision" from her colleagues, who represent "institutionally accepted models of reality". This hostility has been interpreted as suggesting that the series' problems are "not epistemological; they are political"—the agents, Scully in particular, having to balance a search for "the truth" with the need to secure criminal convictions in their cases. This balancing act "between investigating to discover the truth and gathering evidence to support a court case" has been compared to the perceived stance of the real FBI prior to the September 11 attacks in New York City in 2001. The bureau had previously seen itself "as primarily law enforcement", "gathering evidence ... in order to charge and prosecute people in court"; this has led to a sense of public frustration "because [people] incorrectly believe that a courtroom is designed to discover the truth".

Broadcast and reception

"Squeeze" premiered on the Fox network on September 24, 1993, and was first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC Two on October 3, 1994. The episode's initial broadcast was viewed by approximately 6.8 million households, which represented 13% of the viewing audience during that time.

Glen Morgan was very pleased with Doug Hutchison's performance in this episode, calling him their "ace in the hole" and describing his work as "outstanding". Morgan would go on to write "Tooms", another first season episode which saw the character returning; whilst the Vince Gilligan-penned second season episode "Soft Light" would also make reference to the character. Hutchison also wrote a prequel script to the episode titled "Dark He Was and Golden-Eyed", and sent it to Carter; however, his script was returned unread for legal reasons. The plot for "Squeeze" was also adapted as a novel for young adults in 1996 by Ellen Steiber. "Squeeze" has been described as the first episode of the series to branch out into the genre of horror, which would come to be one of the defining genres of the series. The episode also served as the inspiration for "Folding Man", a first season episode of the television series Sanctuary.

In a retrospective of the first season in Entertainment Weekly, "Squeeze" was rated a B+, with it being called "an important episode" and Hutchison's portrayal of the villain Tooms described as "profoundly creepy". However, Thomas Sutcliffe of The Independent felt negatively about the episode, deriding its premise as "entirely ludicrous" and sarcastically describing Mulder's deduction of Tooms' abilities as being "clearly another triumph for the deductive method". An article in the Vancouver Sun listed "Squeeze" as one of the best stand-alone episodes of the show, saying that the episode started what would become the "creepy" nature of the show, and that it was among the "scariest things" ever seen on television. Connie Ogle from PopMatters ranked the episode amongst their list of the best "Monster-of-the-Week" episodes of the series. Keith Phipps, writing for The A.V. Club, praised the episode, rating it an A-, describing Hutchison's role as "the part that would launch [him] as a go-to character actor for creep parts". Phipps felt the climactic scene in which Tooms infiltrates Scully's home is "the scene that makes the episode", noting that there was "a real sense of peril" despite it being clear that Scully, a lead character, was not going to come to harm. Robert Shearman and Lars Pearson, in their book Wanting to Believe: A Critical Guide to The X-Files, Millennium & The Lone Gunmen, note that the episode's premise is the first in the series "not to rely upon accepted urban legends", and manages to convey its "absurd" plot through suggestion, leaving any special effects sequences of Tooms' abilities until the audience is "already suitably adjusted to the absurdity". However, Shearman and Pearson found a monologue given by a retired detective to be "not only unnecessary but tasteless to boot", ultimately rating the episode four stars out of five. Mumtaj Begum, writing for The Star, noted that "Squeeze" "was the episode that really sold The X-Files idea to the masses", calling it "simply brilliant".

The character of Eugene Tooms has also attracted positive criticism. Author Neil Gaiman listed the character of Eugene Tooms as one his favourite monsters in a guest column for Entertainment Weekly's 1000th issue; whilst UGO Networks listed the character as one of their "Best TV Serial Killers", describing Hutchison's acting as "uber-creepy". Writing for Den of Geek, John Moore listed Eugene Tooms as one of his "Top 10 X-Files Baddies", noting that the popularity of both "Squeeze" and "Tooms" proved to be "largely responsible for shifting the emphasis of the show" away from dwelling solely on alien conspiracy-based mythology episodes; whilst fellow columnist Matt Haigh felt that the character was "a skin-crawlingly brilliant villain", whose presence was "truly spine-tingling". IGN's Christine Seghers listed Hutchison as the fourth-best guest star of the series in a top ten countdown, noting his "brilliantly perverse" performance and praising his "dead, shark-like stare".

Footnotes

References

• Delsara, Jan (2000). PopLit, PopCult and The X-Files: A Critical Exploration. McFarland. ISBN 0786407891. 
• Edwards, Ted (1996). X-Files Confidential. Little, Brown and Company. ISBN 0316218081. 
• Gradnitzer, Louisa; Pittson, Todd (1999). X Marks the Spot: On Location with The X-Files. Arsenal Pulp Press. ISBN 1551520664. 
• Hurwitz, Matt; Knowles, Chris (2008). The Complete X-Files. Insight Editions. ISBN 1933784806. 
• Peterson, Mark C. E.; Flannery, Richard; Louzecky, David (2007). Kowalski, Dean A.. ed. The Philosophy of The X-files. University Press of Kentucky. ISBN 0813124549. 
• Lovece, Frank (1996). The X-Files Declassified. Citadel Press. ISBN 080651745X. 
• Lowry, Brian (1995). The Truth is Out There: The Official Guide to the X-Files. Harper Prism. ISBN 0061053309. 
• Shearman, Robert; Pearson, Lars (2009). Wanting to Believe: A Critical Guide to The X-Files, Millennium & The Lone Gunmen. Mad Norwegian Press. ISBN 097594469X. 

External links

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