The Hallowed Files

Happy Halloween, everyone. Well, it's the 31st here in Japan. I wanted to watch a horror movie last night but there was no time so I just watched another episode of The X-Files instead, "Tooms" from season one. It's a sequel to an episode earlier in the season called "Squeeze" that introduced the character of Eugene Tooms, a man who can stretch and contort his limbs to fit through any space and who eats human livers to maintain his immortality. "Squeeze" was not as solidly written but it was more satisfyingly weird. "Tooms" seems to run out of ideas for Tooms himself and ends up focusing on show mythology and the relationship between Mulder and Scully.

They actually have a flirtatious moment when Scully convinces Mulder to let her take a shift staking out Tooms.

It's really amazing how natural and effective their chemistry already is at this point. The whole "will they or won't they" tension is different from so many other series because there's kind of no tension in it. They're so comfortable with each other and neither one seems especially driven to seek a physical relationship. There's a kind of serenity in their acceptance of whatever permutation their relationship is set to take, perhaps because the problems they routinely deal with seem so big in comparison. Or perhaps they're just so damned cool. I like the artfully placed curl of hair by Scully's mouth.

The X-Files is available on Disney+/Hulu.