1X05 JERSEY DEVIL

"I am woman, hear me roar."
Helen Reddy

SYNOPSIS

ATLANTIC CITY, NEW JERSEY
Scully needs a life and accepts a date. Meanwhile, Mulder's drawn into a case involving a 40 year mystery of a creature found in the woods outside of Atlantic City.

SCULLYVISION

Once again, we see Scully as soon as the first set of commercials are over, as she enters the X Files office and seems to be more embarrassed by Mulder's porno mag he's reading than he is. Once again, she tells him of a current case and Mulder pulls out an old unsolved X File.

Cordial, mannered Ms. Scully introduces both Mulder and herself to local law enforcement, just as she did in the previous episode Conduit. Bad mannered Mulder? He ditches her instead of driving back to DC with Scully. Granted it's to investigate what he thinks is the X File, but that's beside the point.

We also see into Scully's personal life in this episode, for the first time. She has a great friend in Ellen, and Scully sees a little jealous of the homemaker lifestyle, although she has to know it isn't for her, or us the audience. When talk turns to men, the only man in Dana's life that Ellen can come up with is Mulder, or as she put it, that guy you work with. She can't even remember his name so Dana obviously doesn't often talk about him. Ellen suggests that maybe he could be her Mr. Right, to which Scully quickly states, "He's a jerk." Then she qualifies it that he's not a jerk, just wrapped up in his work. Hm. Sounds like a match made in heaven.

Talk of Mulder, and needing a man, makes her exchanges glances with Rod, a father of one of her godson's friends at the birthday party. She gets the first call from Prince Charming, Mulder, in the episode, when he needs someone to bail him out of the drunk tank and buy him food. Talk about your knight in shining armor.

She again has to try and get him to see the 'folklore' in the events he saw the previous night. The audience saw what Mulder saw, but Scully didn't. Her scientific mind is once again reeling him in, only less forceful than in Deep Throat or Conduit.

Demure Dana is a little embarrassed to admit to Mulder that she has to get back to DC because she has a date, and that "Unlike you Mulder, I want a life." His forceful denial that he did have a life of his own makes her bite her lip and pause. Classic!

Then, just to make him know that she's on his side as in the previous episodes where he questioned her loyalty, she takes Mulder to a professor she had in college for more information on creatures in folklore.

In Jersey Devil, a show about a female beast, we get a rare look at the romantic side of Scully. She puts her hair up and goes out on a date. What a lucky guy that accompanied her. Who has ever been on a date with someone who apologized when their beeper went off? Even though Mulder called, just to interrupt her date, Scully is all class, to both her date and her partner.

We can't be sure if it's the feminine side of Scully or the beast side of Scully that attracts Mulder so much, but he is clearly attracted. He is curious as to who is phoning her and who is dating her, and it's not just idle curiosity. This sexual chemistry is sublimated into work much to the disappointment of shippers everywhere.

Even in the midst of tension, while looking for the beast woman, Scully can joke with Mulder when they talk about the creature being female. He asks, "Does she feel emotion? Or are her days just spent looking for food?" to which Scully rightfully replies, "Maybe, she spends her day shopping". The beast woman is grocery shopping.

OH COME ON!

There isn't a state park within a mile of Atlantic City, New Jersey, as one road sign suggests.

The cops pick up Mulder in the alley the first night he saw the creature. Now.... he's wearing a nice suit and would surely pass a Breathalyzer test! For once Mulder didn't break the law, and he gets busted?

Why did Scully have to bring her big ol' briefcase into the jail to bail out Mulder? Doesn't she have a purse? They just walked right back out to the car. Couldn't she have left it in the trunk?

Scully chose to wear red, bright red, when going on a search for a beast? Well, at least she was wearing pants and sensible shoes instead of a skirt and high heels.

How could the beast woman have ripped Mulder, when we clearly see when she's dead that she has stubs for fingernails, and they aren't at all bloody?

During the ending, with the father and son hiking, the boy looks to be about 6 and the voice dubbed in was obviously older than that. And, their lips don't match what they're saying.

THINGS LEARNED
or All I Ever Needed to Know I Learned From the X Files

Forget Vegas and Native-American casinos, Atlantic City slots are hot!

The homeless are wonderful witnesses, but don't show a cop the drawing you get from a homeless guy... it won't work to convince him of anything but you're nuts.

A visit to an ethnobiologist with Mulder ... Cirque De Soleil with a date ... with kids... pick your partner.

80 million years out of Africa, and women are still opening the door.

Jack's MonsterVision

The Monster of the Week in this episode is the Jersey Devil, which is a popular folktale to anyone living on the East Coast. There have been more interpretations of it than one could possibly list here, but they range from large flying lizards to the East Coast Sasquatch. In a movie, a man even used the legend as a cover for his serial killing tendencies. Chris Carter made his creature to resemble the missing link, probably to save money on costuming as it was played by a naked woman with long hair.

The monster had super human strength and incredible agility, enabling it to scale a building in less time it took Mulder to climb a flight of stairs. The down side to this monster is that her mental capacity doesn't live up to her strength. Her motives weren't evil, her focus was to only gather food, to protect herself and offspring, much like a mother bear.

Nature, as it is, doesn't allow mammals to produce offspring alone. The teaser showed us the male of the species who had attacked a family man, only to be shot at by a posse of Park Rangers. Fifty years later, in this episode, the carcass of a male creature was found, having been dead for about 6 months. Because the male, the hunter, died, also the modern world eclipsing their forest, the female is forced to scavenge the slums of the city for food, opting for the limbs of homeless people.

After the beast is killed and autopsied, Scully announced that the creature had given birth. Sequel? The monster is still out there. So take my advice, while in Atlantic City, go play those loose slots and don't go anywhere near the forest, or back alleys.

Because it had good abilities, but was killed too easily and had a small mind and natural motive, the Jersey Devil gets 3 out of 5 Gnawed off Limbs.

SFX

Moody at night, the homeless area at night even had steam, although it was pretty brightly lit.

Excellent makeup on the beast woman, and kudos to her acting too.

WRITER
Chris Carter

He wrote another X File who's roots begin with a folktale. Mulder again uses the tactic of being a skeptic to get information from the believers. Does that really work in real life? Nice interchanges and relationship between Scully and Mulder in the beginning and end. He ends the episode with the thought that the case isn't closed after all.

DIRECTOR
Joe Napalitano

Nice segue, Scully tells her friend that Mulder's obsessed with his work. The next thing we see is Mulder, in a suit, rummaging through an alley looking for the creature. Nice direction of our first glimpse of the beast. Loved it when they're looking for a creature, and Mulder jumps out of the window and crawls on his hands and feet a bit before running.

RUNNING TALLIES
Flashlights - Paul in teaser, cops, SWAT team, Scully
Guns - Police, Scully has it when jumping out the window
Mulder wears glasses
Cell Phones - Scully, and she has a pager

SCORE CARD FOR SAVING EACH OTHER'S ASS

Scully - 2 Mulder - 1
Scully scared the Beast Woman away before she could take out Mulder's lungs

POINT/COUNTERPOINT

Scully,

I haven't been able to shake off your comment about my not having a life. You were kidding, right? Just because I don't flaunt it at the office doesn't mean that I don't have one. I might work long hours, but don't be lulled into thinking that I'm not a party kind of guy. I do have my moments, you know. Spooky isn't my only nickname.

But what about you? You go out once with some guy who wines and dines you and then that's it? What's up with that? You're not one of those afraid-of-commitments kind of girl are you?

Come to think of it, why doesn't someone like you have a boyfriend? A redheaded doctor who packs heat? It doesn't get any better than that.

Well Scully, you should expand your horizons. Get a life. You know that you're not getting any younger. And you know what they say about the truth, it hurts.

Yours truly,

Party Marty

~~~~~~~~~~

Mulder,

Party Marty?

Anyway, I know you do have a life, and it's probably just like mine. We're both career orientated and spend one too many nights pouring over science and medical journals... or in your case, old X Files and footage of the Loch Ness Monster. It will only help our work on the X Files to be prepared, so it's not a bad thing.

A lady doesn't speak about her dating habits, so I will remain mum on the subject. Thank you for reducing me to a stereotype. I am packing heat, Mulder, and if you do that again, or have the nerve to say such a thing it to my face, I'll show you just how much heat I'm packing. And Mulder, I'm younger than you are.

Sincerely yours,

Dr. Scully

ATHENAEUM

Rod descended the stairs slowly. The fog shrouded basement gave him grave second thoughts of walking farther into the massive room, who's small pools of gaslight beckoned him. Emerging from the mist before him was a grand and ancient library.

A voice rang out, "Can I help you?"

Rod, startled, stuttered, "Oh, uh, yeah." He cleared his throat and pulled the crumbs of a parchment from his pocket. "I got a note that I should come here for information on the Jersey Devil myth."

"It's not a myth, pal," the voice said.

A figure emerged from the shadows allowing Rod to see him clearly. Who he saw confused him, "Are... aren't you Agent Mulder?"

"Or his spitting image," Mulder smiled.

"Well, I'm Rod," he stuck his hand out for a hand shake. Mulder only looked at it with disinterest. Rod continued, "I'm a friend of Dana's. I saw a picture of you in the newspaper, are you really Agent Fox Mulder, Dana's partner."

The figure of Mulder was silent, and he was completely uncomfortable, so he thought he'd make the conversation start, "I'm looking for information on..."

"Yeah, yeah, I heard you the first time bud. Here's the information. The Jersey Devil has haunted New Jersey and the surrounding areas for the past 260 years. It has been seen by over 2,000 witnesses. There are many versions of the birth of the Jersey Devil. One of the more popular was that Mrs. Leeds' thirteenth child disappeared by flying up through the chimney. There is no proof of course, but it had been said through the ages that the Leeds' devil infant grew up to be a winged creature with a ram or bull head. The Jersey Devil maintained it's ability to fly for a long time even acquiring the body of a bird and then it morphed into a flying lion.

"In the early 1900's, the longest sighting of the Jersey Devil was reported by Mr & Mrs. Nelson Evans of Gloucester. After being awakened by a strange noise, they watched the devil from their window for 10 minutes. Mr. Evans described the creature they saw. 'It was about three feet and half high, with a head like a collie dog and a face like a horse. It had a long neck, wings about two feet long, and its back legs were like those of a crane, and it had horse's hooves. It walked on its back legs and held up two short front legs with paws.' What did the terrified couple do? They opened the window and said, 'Shoo.' Upon which the devil barked at them and fled. Some devil."

Mulder summed up, "Other reports are certainly more sinister. But whether The Jersey Devil is a demon or a bird or the essence of pure evil is still open to debate. What is clear, however, is that something lurks out there."

"Well, okay, th...thanks," Rod politely smiled, then turned to leave.

"Not what you really need Rodney," Mulder told him.

"Pardon me?"

"Ixnay on the yadda factor. You don't need it."

"Yadda factor?"

"I know you want more information on Dana's work so you can get to know her better. Am I correct?"

Rod shrugged, then most whole-heartedly agreed.

Mulder said, "You can't talk your way to first base with women, Rod my boy. Talk is for lonely mike jockeys like Howard Stern."

"What?"

"Look, you're seeking a way to get Scully... Dana, to want to go out with you again, right?"

"Of course. That one date we had went really I think. Before you called and she hot tailed it out of the restaurant."

Mulder, pompous about that, continued, "Talk is cheap. Flirting is a sport. Think back to our beast roots. The male/female game predates our ability to communicate by vocalizations. It's what you do, or rather, don't do, that works. If you remember anything from this meeting, Rod, let that one word be this..."

Rod eagerly listened for the word. Mulder said, "Aloof."

"Aloof?"

"Smug, hard to get, you know the drill. Women respond to that. They don't respond to blubbering on about work topics."

"Agent Mulder, when is the last time you went on a date?"

"It's not the number of dates you go on that count, it's the number of dates that you turn down. I have women calling me all the time, women giving me their phone numbers. Women not responding to idle chit chat, but responding instead to my disinterest. Trust me Rod. Think aloof. Works every time."

"Well, thanks. I'll be going now. Aloof. I'll remember it."

"Good boy."

Rod hurried out of the building wondering if Agent Mulder was right or was he trying to get him to fail in his efforts to go out again with Dana. Or did Agent Mulder even have a clue how to succeed with women. He seemed kind of arrogant, lonely. Rod shuddered as he could hear Mulder laughing behind him. The laugh sounded like the cackle of an old woman.

QUOTES

SCULLY Working hard, Mulder?
MULDER (indicating the centerfold of a porno mag) This woman claims to have been taken aboard a space ship and held in an anti-gravity chamber without food and water for three days.
SCULLY (looking at centerfold he shows her) Anti-gravity's right.

MULDER You feeling lucky, Scully?
SCULLY Relative to whom?

SCULLY Just outside Atlantic City.
MULDER Not an uncommon place to loose a body part.

SCULLY Mulder, it's the same story I've heard since I was a kid. It's a folk tale, a myth.
MULDER I heard the same story when I was a kid too. Funny thing is, I believed it.

MULDER What? You got a date?

SCULLY He's a jerk. He's not a jerk, he's... he's obsessed with his work.

MULDER Are you hustling me?

MULDER Oh, is that your job, or is it to keep the dice rolling, keep the tour buses rolling in? You can't fill those casinos, this town disappears like a quarter down the slot.

SCULLY Well, it's not hard to see why they mistook you for a vagrant.
MULDER You going to rag on me or you going take me to get something to eat?
SCULLY Am I buying, or did you manage to panhandle some spare change while you were at it?

SCULLY I have a date.

SCULLY Unlike you Mulder, I would like to have a life.
MULDER I have a life!

SCULLY Humans are top carnivores, we sit at the top of the food chain and we reduce other species' chance of survival.
MULDER But what if something entered the food chain above us?

ROD I don't suppose you'd wanna hear about the finer points of the state planning and taxation.

MULDER Sorry to interrupt your evening. (Yeah, right...)

MULDER What if it is a female, Scully? How close is she to you or me? Does she feel emotion? Or are her days just spent looking for food?
SCULLY Maybe, she spends her day shopping.

MULDER You should've seen her, she was beautiful.
SCULLY Yeah well, she just about ripped your lungs out.

MULDER She was just protecting her children Scully, it all makes sense.

SCULLY Mulder, will you do me a favor? Will you just go out and have a beer?

MULDER Don't you have a life, Scully?
SCULLY Keep that up, Mulder, and I'll hurt you like that beast woman.
MULDER Eighty million years out of Africa...
SCULLY (holding door open for him) And look who's holding the door.