1.13 - Beyond the Sea
Chris Carter says on the Blu-ray he needed to get permission from the studio to spend more money in order to sign Brad Dourif to play Luther Lee Boggs. He called up Peter Roth, to whom Carter originally pitched the X-Files, right as Roth was sitting down to eat Thanksgiving dinner with his family. Carter claims that timing helped the decision come out in the show’s favor. Whatever the reason, we’re lucky Roth said yes. Dourif delivers the performance of the episode, and in fact of the season. Maybe one of the best in the series (I’ll report back).
Don Davis appears as Captain William Scully, Dana’s dad, and might have wandered onto set straight from filming Twin Peaks (leaving a trail for Michael Horse to follow).
Captain Scully and his wife Margaret are visiting their little girl for Christmas. It’s heart-warming and normal for right around two-and-a-half minutes. Scully wakes up on her couch and sees her dad sitting opposite her, in an armchair. He’s talking, or at least moving his mouth. No words can be heard.
She’s confused, thinks he’s there (Andrea and I call this the Nap Weirdies), asks him where mom is. When the phone rings she turns to look, turns back to her dad, except he’s gone.
It’s her mom on the phone. Dana’s dad is dead.
This episode is absolutely the best of the first season, no doubt. Written by Glen Morgan and James Wong, directed by David Nutter, we are given what could have easily been a throwaway Monster of the Week but is so much more.
Mulder is shocked to see Scully at work, so shocked he calls her Dana which sounds like when a student comes across a teacher outside of school.
Our first introduction to Luther Lee Boggs is Mulder describing the murderer’s past close call with execution. Boggs was literally in the gas chamber and strapped down to die when he received an executive stay.
“I believe in psychic ability without a doubt,” Mulder says, “but not this case. Not Boggs.” Boggs then claims his coziness with death unlocked his “ability to channel spirits and demons.” Mulder, however, thinks he’s full of shit and is just your ol’ off-brand psycopath (which reminds me: the X-Files characters all drink “Shasa” cola).
Frank Spotnitz, who writes and executive produces for the show, says on the Blu-ray the studio and the network thought the episode was too much like The Silence of the Lambs. I’ll admit I had one or two moments where that crossed my mind on the initial watch, but I can also confirm it disappeared almost the second Dourif hits the screen.
The script, the directing, and honestly I think just the existence of Dourif in this episode elevates everyone around him. David Duchovny also gives one of his best performances because of that, as does Gillian Anderson.
Obviously this episode expertly reverses the roles of Mulder and Scully, she witnessing firsthand some real spooky and inexplicable shit, he digging his heels in and white-knuckling onto skepticism.
Mulder’s pride and self-righteousness is unsettling, especially when he whispers “I tore this off my New York Knicks t-shirt” to Boggs.
Honestly, I don’t want to spoil this episode for anyone, so that’s all I’ll say about the plot or the intricacies of the character work. So much of the dialog is fantastic, so much of Mulder and Scully together is memorable, I could easily just transcribe it all.
The episode deserves more than that. Seriously. If you go watch any episode, maybe as a start to getting into the series, make it this one. It’s legitimately an incredible piece of television, a remarkable and memorable story.