Irresistible (The X-Files): Difference between revisions
I really think episodes should be mentioned explicitly in the prose, not hidden behind links - see WP:PIPE |
m →Plot: seems intrusive to note episodes in plot summary, have relegated them to footnotes instead of piped links |
||
| Line 38: | Line 38: | ||
Pfaster crosses the threshold into violent crime as predicted by Mulder as he brings a [[prostitute]] to his apartment. When the prostitute discovers a collection of funerary [[wreaths]] in Pfaster's bedroom, he kills her and removes her fingers. Later, Pfaster—having been hired as a [[frozen food]] delivery man—meets an appointment at a house, where he steals cut hair from the bathroom. He attends a night class at a [[community college]], where a female classmate defends herself when he makes threatening and unwelcome advances. He is arrested and is placed in a jail cell across from a suspect being [[interrogation|interrogated]] by Mulder, Scully, and Bocks. Pfaster learns Scully's name from the suspect after they leave. He is later released. |
Pfaster crosses the threshold into violent crime as predicted by Mulder as he brings a [[prostitute]] to his apartment. When the prostitute discovers a collection of funerary [[wreaths]] in Pfaster's bedroom, he kills her and removes her fingers. Later, Pfaster—having been hired as a [[frozen food]] delivery man—meets an appointment at a house, where he steals cut hair from the bathroom. He attends a night class at a [[community college]], where a female classmate defends herself when he makes threatening and unwelcome advances. He is arrested and is placed in a jail cell across from a suspect being [[interrogation|interrogated]] by Mulder, Scully, and Bocks. Pfaster learns Scully's name from the suspect after they leave. He is later released. |
||
Scully—who has had unsettling visions about the case—returns to [[Washington, D.C.]], where she meets with a [[social worker]] for [[counselling]]. She shares her anxiety about the case, which the social worker partially attributes to the death of her father |
Scully—who has had unsettling visions about the case—returns to [[Washington, D.C.]], where she meets with a [[social worker]] for [[counselling]]. She shares her anxiety about the case, which the social worker partially attributes to the death of her father<ref name="Beyond the Sea">{{Cite episode |title=Beyond the Sea |episodelink=Beyond the Sea (The X-Files) |series=The X-Files |serieslink=The X-Files |credits=Director: [[David Nutter]]; Writers: [[Glen Morgan]] & [[James Wong (producer)|James Wong]] |network=[[Fox Broadcasting Company]] |airdate=7 January 1994 |season=1 |number=13}}</ref> and her recent abduction.<ref name="Ascension">{{Cite episode |title=Ascension |episodelink=Ascension (The X-Files) |series=The X-Files |serieslink=The X-Files |credits=Director: [[Michael Lange]]; Writer: [[Paul Brown]] |network=[[Fox Broadcasting Company]] |airdate=21 October 1994 |season=2 |number=6}}</ref> After the session, Scully learns that an agent from Minnesota had called for her. When she contacts Mulder, she learns that neither he nor Bocks made the call. Tracing a [[fingerprint]] to Pfaster from his arrest, Bocks and Mulder raid his apartment, finding one of the prostitute's fingers in his [[refrigerator]]. Meanwhile, as Scully arrives in Minneapolis, Pfaster follows her and forces her car off the road. He kidnaps Scully and brings her to his mother's abandoned house, where she is tied and gagged in a [[closet]]. |
||
Mulder and Bocks discover that Pfaster's late mother owned a car which matches paint found on Scully's car, and track down her former residence. Meanwhile, Scully escapes from Pfaster as he prepares a bath for her, resulting in a pursuit through the house. Scully and Pfaster have a struggle that sends them falling down the stairs onto the [[foyer]], where a [[task force]] led by Mulder and Bocks breaks in moments later and apprehends Pfaster. Scully initially insists that she is okay, but then breaks down and cries in Mulder's arms. In a voice-over [[narration]], Mulder traces Pfaster's [[pathology]] to his childhood, when he was raised in a family of three older sisters. Mulder also reflects on Pfaster's nature and the nature of [[evil]] in general.<ref name="plot1">{{cite book | year=1995 | author=Lowry,Brian | title=The Truth is Out There: The Official Guide to the X-Files|pages=188–189|publisher=Harper Prism }}</ref><ref name="plot2">{{cite book | year=1996 | author=Lovece, Frank| title=The x-Files Declassified|pages=141–142|publisher=Citadel press }}</ref> |
Mulder and Bocks discover that Pfaster's late mother owned a car which matches paint found on Scully's car, and track down her former residence. Meanwhile, Scully escapes from Pfaster as he prepares a bath for her, resulting in a pursuit through the house. Scully and Pfaster have a struggle that sends them falling down the stairs onto the [[foyer]], where a [[task force]] led by Mulder and Bocks breaks in moments later and apprehends Pfaster. Scully initially insists that she is okay, but then breaks down and cries in Mulder's arms. In a voice-over [[narration]], Mulder traces Pfaster's [[pathology]] to his childhood, when he was raised in a family of three older sisters. Mulder also reflects on Pfaster's nature and the nature of [[evil]] in general.<ref name="plot1">{{cite book | year=1995 | author=Lowry,Brian | title=The Truth is Out There: The Official Guide to the X-Files|pages=188–189|publisher=Harper Prism }}</ref><ref name="plot2">{{cite book | year=1996 | author=Lovece, Frank| title=The x-Files Declassified|pages=141–142|publisher=Citadel press }}</ref> |
||
Revision as of 21:02, 13 May 2011
| "Irresistible (The X-Files)" |
|---|
"Irresistible" is a 1995 episode of The X-Files television series. It was the thirteenth episode broadcast in the show's second season. "Irresistible" features the agent's investigation of a death fetishist who begins kidnapping and killing women to satisfy his obsession.
Plot
In Minneapolis, Minnesota, a funeral is held for a young girl. The ceremony is observed by Donnie Pfaster, the eerie assistant director for the funeral home. Later that night, as the girl's body is being stored for burial the following day, Donnie's boss finds him cutting off the corpse's hair. Donnie is promptly fired.
FBI agents Mulder and Scully are summoned to Minneapolis by Agent Moe Bocks, who is investigating the exhumation and desecration of a body in a local cemetery. Mulder discounts Bocks' theory that this act is a variation of extraterrestrial cattle mutilation, and suggests they search for a human culprit. Scully is disturbed at the sight of the disheveled corpse. Two more bodies are found exhumed, with their hair cut and fingernails removed. Mulder develops a psychological profile of the criminal, believing him to be an escalating "death fetishist" who may begin to resort to murder to satisfy his desires. Scully keeps her discomfort with the case to herself, and writes up a field report on necrophilia.
Pfaster crosses the threshold into violent crime as predicted by Mulder as he brings a prostitute to his apartment. When the prostitute discovers a collection of funerary wreaths in Pfaster's bedroom, he kills her and removes her fingers. Later, Pfaster—having been hired as a frozen food delivery man—meets an appointment at a house, where he steals cut hair from the bathroom. He attends a night class at a community college, where a female classmate defends herself when he makes threatening and unwelcome advances. He is arrested and is placed in a jail cell across from a suspect being interrogated by Mulder, Scully, and Bocks. Pfaster learns Scully's name from the suspect after they leave. He is later released.
Scully—who has had unsettling visions about the case—returns to Washington, D.C., where she meets with a social worker for counselling. She shares her anxiety about the case, which the social worker partially attributes to the death of her father[1] and her recent abduction.[2] After the session, Scully learns that an agent from Minnesota had called for her. When she contacts Mulder, she learns that neither he nor Bocks made the call. Tracing a fingerprint to Pfaster from his arrest, Bocks and Mulder raid his apartment, finding one of the prostitute's fingers in his refrigerator. Meanwhile, as Scully arrives in Minneapolis, Pfaster follows her and forces her car off the road. He kidnaps Scully and brings her to his mother's abandoned house, where she is tied and gagged in a closet.
Mulder and Bocks discover that Pfaster's late mother owned a car which matches paint found on Scully's car, and track down her former residence. Meanwhile, Scully escapes from Pfaster as he prepares a bath for her, resulting in a pursuit through the house. Scully and Pfaster have a struggle that sends them falling down the stairs onto the foyer, where a task force led by Mulder and Bocks breaks in moments later and apprehends Pfaster. Scully initially insists that she is okay, but then breaks down and cries in Mulder's arms. In a voice-over narration, Mulder traces Pfaster's pathology to his childhood, when he was raised in a family of three older sisters. Mulder also reflects on Pfaster's nature and the nature of evil in general.[3][4]
Production
The episode's initial script where Pfaster was a necrophiliac was rejected by the Fox Broadcasting Company for being "unacceptable for broadcast standards".[5] As Chris Carter described it, "When I handed the script in, it was really for a necrophiliac episode, and that just didn't fly. You cannot do the combination of sex and death on network television."[6] Carter was forced to tone down the script by changing Pfaster from a necrophiliac to a death fetishist and diminishing Pfaster's sexual obsession.[5] The episode's original title was "Fascination".[7]
The episode is one of the few in the series that has no paranormal elements to it.[5] Carter said of the episode's conception, "My first chance to work with David Nutter in a long time, and I wanted to give him something he could sink his teeth into. It's a little bit different for us. It doesn't really have a paranormal aspect, except for Scully's perceptions of her deepest fears. I felt that I had to figure out what she is most afraid of, and she is most afraid of those things that most of us are afraid of. The idea of dying at the hands of someone - creature or not - and she is helpless to do anything about it. I thought it was a very good way to explore Scully's character."[8] The scene where Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) imagines Pfaster appearing as a devil was influenced by real-life accounts, as described by Carter: "There are reports of people who had been under the spell of Jeffrey Dahmer, who actually claimed that he shape-shifted during those hours when they were held hostage; that his image actually changed."[6] Nutter said "In many ways, Chris wanted to sell the idea that, as established in Mulder's closing dialogue in the show, not all terror comes from the paranormal. It could come from the person next door."[8]
Carter said of the casting of Nick Chinlund as Pfaster, "I thought it was a wonderfully creepy villain. The casting of that show was very difficult. We saw many actors, but there was a quality I was looking for and I couldn't put a name on that quality. I finally figured out what it was when Nick came in and he had a kind of androgynous quality that worked. I thought he looked like Joe College, but he could scare the hell out of you."[8] Producer Glen Morgan said Chinlund's performance was outstanding.[8] Nutter stated "Nick Chinlund was wonderful to work with. The guy was like putty in my hands. He was great. If you're looking for someone to underline the weirdness and strangeness of the character, he did that."[8]
Nutter said of the episode "I really worked hard to make it a special show, because I thought it was special. It was Gillian's post-traumatic stress episode, because she had not really had the opportunity to vent her feelings about the whole Duane Barry situation. This was an opportunity to sit back and let all that happen."[8]
Reception
This episode earned a Nielsen household rating of 9.2, with a 15 share and was viewed by 8.8 million households.[9] The character Donnie Pfaster was eventually brought back in the season seven episode "Orison".
Footnotes
- ^ Director: David Nutter; Writers: Glen Morgan & James Wong (7 January 1994). "Beyond the Sea". The X-Files. Season 1. Episode 13. Fox Broadcasting Company.
{{cite episode}}: Unknown parameter|episodelink=ignored (|episode-link=suggested) (help); Unknown parameter|serieslink=ignored (|series-link=suggested) (help) - ^ Director: Michael Lange; Writer: Paul Brown (21 October 1994). "Ascension". The X-Files. Season 2. Episode 6. Fox Broadcasting Company.
{{cite episode}}: Unknown parameter|episodelink=ignored (|episode-link=suggested) (help); Unknown parameter|serieslink=ignored (|series-link=suggested) (help) - ^ Lowry,Brian (1995). The Truth is Out There: The Official Guide to the X-Files. Harper Prism. pp. 188–189.
- ^ Lovece, Frank (1996). The x-Files Declassified. Citadel press. pp. 141–142.
- ^ a b c Lowry,Brian (1995). The Truth is Out There: The Official Guide to the X-Files. Harper Prism. p. 91.
- ^ a b Hurwitz, Matt, Knowles, Chris (2008). The Complete X-Files. Insight Editions. p. 60.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ Lovece,Frank (1996). The x-Files Declassified. Citadel press. p. 143.
- ^ a b c d e f Edwards, Ted (1996). X-Files Confidential. Little, Brown and Company. pp. 111–112.
- ^ Lowry,Brian (1995). The Truth is Out There: The Official Guide to the X-Files. Harper Prism. p. 249.
External links
