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Saturday 3 February 2018

The X-Files 11.5 "Ghouli" Review

                                           Image result for x files season 11 episode 5

New tagline: "You see what I want you to see."

Scully (Gillian Anderson) has a dream which she puts down to sleep paralysis when she explains it to Mulder (David Duchovny) or rather he comes up with that, since she uses more scientific names for it.  Where she's in a big house and a stranger in black watches over her.  She manages to each for her gun and chase after him and he disappears through the door.  Scully finds a snowglobe with a ferry inside it.  Two girls potentially stab each other in an abandoned ferry and claim they saw a monster attacking them.  Recounting their own versions to each of the agents, the two girls,Sarah (Madeleine Arthur) and Briana (Sarah Jeffrey) were both seeing a boy named Jackson Van de Kamp (Miles Robbins).  Referring to the monster as a 'Ghoulie.'  Which Scully looks up in a cafe and where Mulder orders his coffee under the name of 'Bob' cos no one will get 'Fox' in this town and he doesn't want to explain it.  Also he kinda yawns at the thought of investigating a monster given credence by the Internet.

Later they hear gunshots at Jackson's house and his parents too as Scully recalls this is the same house from her dream.  Detective Costa (Louis Ferreira) thinks Jackson killed his parents and then himself.  But Scully notices the back door is open so he didn't necessarily do the shooting or kill himself.  In the hospital, she takes a lock of Jackson's hair and opens her heart to him saying she didn't want to give him up, but it was for his own protection.  She wishes she could have known him and he could've known her.  They are hindered by the DOD in their investigation and were followed the entire time to the town.

Talking with Jackson's doctor, Scully recounts what he used to talk about.  The pandemic where a specific drug needed to be made using alien hybrid DNA and ending with a UFO on the 34th Street bridge, but the doctor isn't able to tell her anything more.  At the hospital, Jackson's DB disappears as he wakes up and leaves through the open window.  Scully has another dream and this time finds a snowglobe with a windmill in the hospital room.  Telling Mulder who asks her if she took it.  As she leaves the hospital she runs into an oriental man, who makes her drop the snowglobe and asks if she likes windmills.  Oh no Scully didn't get the 'William' connection here as he's her son.  That much was obvious.  Getting into her dreams and giving her clues as to where they will meet. They investigate Jackson's room and find a book by a writer with references to Malcolm X.  Mulder also finds a memory stick which has redacted info on it and some DOD files.  He needs another computer to access the stick which Scully finds under the bed.  Plugging into the 'teen girls have secrets too' line.

Here he finds several files on the DOD again and as they hone in on them with a warrant, Mulder accidentally on purpose spills the so ad onto the computer in a, 'oops shouldn't have that near a computer' kind of way.  Jackson is reported at the hospital by Sarah as he says goodbye to Brianna since he needs to go away and kisses her.  She's sorry she did it and as Scully and Mulder arrive, the DOD agents are already there.  As they try to get to Jackson, he causes the agents to shoot each other after shape shifting himself as Scully.  He then hides behind the nurse's station when they say they only want to talk with him.  Seems he's not ready for this and he disguises himself as a nurse who runs out.

Mulder tells Skinner (Mitch Pileggi) to come down who wants Mulder to report in cos he's been getting nothing but complaints about him from the agencies and that's the only way he finds out what he's up to.  There's CSM (William B Davis) sitting in his office lighting up as always.  Skinner meets Mulder at the ferry and Mulder tells him about William.  He's sorry to hear that and gives Mulder a heads up and Mulder mentions Project Crossroads too. 

As they leave Scully sees the windmill and stops for gas.  Here she sees the man again and she asks him if he's a doctor.  He didn't even finish high school, perhaps a reference to Jackson/William himself.  He says he would have liked to have known her, again she didn't get that since she said the same to William at the hospital.  As well as saying that "if you don't stand for something, you'll fall for anything."  Mulder tells her that's a Malcolm X quote.  But it's too late, he's already gone and she thinks he was the man who wrote the book. On the station's CCTV they can see Jackson/William on the recording! 

This one brings together the clues, so to speak from My Struggle II which was where William shared his visions about the apocalypse and the pandemic virus.  Still hard to stomach that CSM is William's father for a lot of fans and how hard it is for Scully to carry on without having more contact with William as his mother.  However William is the one who can stop the Spartan virus mentioned earlier on this season. 

Lots of funny lines this ep to steer away from the tension including Mulder saying that William's set up a false reality for himself, especially following hot on the heels of last ep.  With Scully quipping, "it's an alternate reality, Fox Mulder doesn't exist in coffee shops."  Nah he doesn't text either ordinarily!!  Yet it's a whole new world and reality this season!  At the half way point of season 11 now.

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