It would be easy to draw up a list of the various monsters that have shambled their way through three and a half seasons of the X-Files leading up to "Unruhe" and compare them to Gerry Schnauz. One can identify the beast in the Jersey Devil, the freak in Tooms, and the fiend in a character like Paddock. But there are certain qualities that make a true monster and, by applying these as a yardstick, it is apparent that Gerry can never measure up. The first would be the possession of a special power. It could be argued that seeing the howlers in his victims was a power that Gerry possessed, but it might have also been a figment of his disturbed countenance. A special power would be one like Darren Peter Oswald's in "D.P.O.", or Robert Patrick Modell's in "Pusher". Each of these individuals had a power that was used for their own amusement or gain at the expense of others. Gerry, on the other hand, never used a supernatural power as a weapon. He could project his own disturbed visions and impressions onto film, but the howlers that he saw may or may not have been real. Even if we admit their existence, Gerry's ability itself did not directly cause deaths and his intentions were always good, if a bit misdirected.

Which leads into the next criterion...were the individual's actions self-serving? Consider Tooms, Incanto, and Aboah. Each of these monsters could be labeled as such since their actions directly lead to their victim's death and their crimes were totally self-serving. They did not stop to consider the life of the victim, only how it could serve in prolonging their own. It could be argued that they had no choice...that they were mutants or freaks that were driven by their needs. But regardless of their unfortunate position in our society, they fall under the mantle of monster. But what of Gerry? Did he capture and treat his victims for his own needs? Quite the opposite. He saw in them an unrest, a disturbance that he thought only he could identify and relieve. His intentions were, from his perspective, benign and for this reason, he cannot be lumped together with the X-Files monsters who roam in search of our precious bodily fluids.

As a final litmus test, the villain should be scrutinized for signs of remorse. In the episodes "2Shy" and "Hell Money", Scully faces off against two very different monsters who preyed on innocents. In both cases, she finds her suspects to be entirely without remorse. Although Incanto is much closer to the nightmare vision of a monster in our collective psyches, the Chinese CSM is a more abhorrent monster since he travels under the guise of a "normal" man. The outward appearance is deceiving. Gerry Schnauz has all the makings of a compassionate man...quite unlike the unrepentant types that Scully loathes. In her attempt to connect with Gerry, Scully becomes aware of his reasons and intentions, and even as her own sense of self-preservation drives her forward, it is clear at the end that she regrets the outcome. Gerry was sorry...sorry to cause his victims pain, but convinced that the alternative would be further suffering and unrest. This compassion was also seen with Leonard Betts, who seems to fall under the self-serving monster category, but was always apologetic to his victims. Gerry is even more of an innocent in that he truly thought he was doing more good than harm.

By using the above criterion, I would clearly put Gerry Schnauz outside the bounds defining a monster. Gerry's past lead him to a disturbed future...one in which he replayed the father/sister scenario again and again, trying to set things right. When he encountered a person in whom he saw unrest, he saw his sister and felt compelled to help them by removing the howlers and providing them relief. It cannot be overlooked that in this mission, he was lobotomizing women and killing the unfortunate men who stood in the way, but Gerry's misguided intentions were good. He did not use his power or gift for an evil purpose. He did not act for personal gain at the expense of his victims. Most importantly, he did feel remorse for his actions. Gerry Schnauz wasn't a monster. But I would not volunteer to stand in front of Scully, duct-taped in a dentist's chair with an awl pointed at her forehead, and explain that Gerry was an all-around nice guy. I may fashion myself a critical thinker, but I'm not an idiot.

Monstrous, adj. -- 1. Deviating greatly from the norm in appearance or structure, abnormal. 2. Exceptionally large; enormous. 3. Hideous, frightful; shocking.

We have watched a veritable parade of monstrosities over the last several years of X-brand entertainment: mutants, parasites and demons of all sizes and styles. And yet when I consider the mutants like Toombs and Incanto, the Flukeman and especially the Jersey Devil and parasites from Ice or Firewalker I am forced to apply the definition #1 above and consider that we must define the norm before we can apply the term monster. For the purposes of our species I would suggest that humanity is the norm, and so while we do not find cats and dogs (which deviate greatly from human appearance) to be monstrous, we would consider the Flukeman a monster because of his humanoid appearance (although I greatly suspect that average flukes found him even more abnormal and terrifying). I think we have to expand the definition above somewhat though in order to fairly encompass the psychological deviations (not just physical) that are as, or even more decidedly anithuman. For example, most of us would happily agree that a child predator is a severe human abnormality and therefore easily assigned the label monstrous. And so while the mutants Incanto and Toombs are definitely monsters because of their physiological deviations, Phaster was also a monster based upon his severe and predatory psychological aberrations. Gerry Schnauz is also a monster then, and indeed meets all three of the criteria above for monstrosity.

"I had admired the perfect forms of my cottagers -- their grace, beauty, and delicate complexions; but how was I terrified when I viewed myself in a transparent pool! At first I started back, unable to believe that it was indeed I who was reflected in the mirror; and when I became fully convinced that I was in reality the monster that I am, I was filled with the bitterest sensations of despondence and mortification. Alas! I did not yet entirely know the fatal effects of this miserable deformity." (103)

Gerry Schnauz was born with physical and mental deformities but I believe that it was not his biological destiny to become a monster. Rather he studied witlessly under his father's evil tutelage -- the sickness, the depravity -- and finally when confronted with the devastation of his own sister* rose up against his creator, seeking to punish and destroy him. It was at this point that Schnauz was transformed into a monster. Did his father actively involve him in his acts of illness? There is a suggestion that he did since Schnauz was all too familiar with his father's methods and potions. Also in an act of complete imitation Schnauz uses the chair from his father's office in order to recreate his own monstrosities.

"`Accursed creator! Why did you form a monster so hideous that even you turned from me in disgust? God, in pity, made man beautiful and alluring, after his own image; but my form is a filthy type of yours, more horrid even from the very resemblance. Satan had his companions, fellow devils, to admire and encourage him, but I am solitary and abhorred.'" (112)

Like Shelley's creation, Schnauz wanders through his twisted life wreaking destruction in a mimicry of justice. It is typically held that Gerry believed that he was healing the women he abducted, but I'm also going to go out on a limb and disagree, at least to an extent. The fact that Gerry had a strong sense of his own self-preservation and avoided capture strenuously leads me to wonder if his acts against women weren't as aggressive as they were a delusional intervention. Was Gerry acting out the salvation of his sister or indeed was he punishing her over and over again for the accusations laid against his father (the ones that led him to an act of violence against _his_ creator)? Gerry reports that the Howlers _made his sister _say bad things, and yet clearly Gerry believed these things to be true enough to act upon them in retaliatory violence. I think that Gerry's fantasy was more of a self-delusion -- that he knew he was destroying women to punish his sister and exonerate his father but excused his acts with the self-forgiving notion that he was releasing their Howlers. Indeed it was always Gerry's Howlers that he saw in everyone else, a projected vision of his own rage and disturbance.

And yet ironically, by lobotimizing women and rendering them mentally incapacitated, Schnauz had inherited his father's skill as a monster *and* a Creator. By destroying the normal minds and abilities of these women and marking them with his violence, like Victor Frankenstein and his father before him, Gerry too was creating progeny is his own image.

"I gazed on my victim, and my heart swelled with exultation and hellish triumph; clapping my hands, I exclaimed, `I too can create desolation; my enemy is not invulnerable; this death will carry despair to him, and a thousand other miseries shall torment and destroy him.' "(124)

* If memory serves, it is not clear as to the fact that the dentist actually abused his own daughter. Indeed it may have been Gerry himself and his lashing out as his father was retaliation against what he had been "caused" to do.

If we assume that events are occurring according to some cosmic plan, then we must also assume that the events spinning out over the last four seasons are part of that plan. Whether or not our heroes prevail in the final act is irrelevant. Their destiny will be played out. If this were not the case, then Mulder and Scully would only have to outlive their enemies, then take advantage of time travel in their future to go back and change everything to their satisfaction. Since most of the consortium or syndicate or Smoke Ring are nearing their golden years, this shouldn't be too hard to do if our dynamic duo can dodge bullets, fists, and flukemen, to stay alive until the scientists perfect their time travel technology. This being the case, we should expect to tune in Sunday to watch Scully and Pendrell carpooling with Mulder and Bambi to the wedding of Samantha and Max. Yeah, right...and on that day, CSM will ice skate to work. The reason is simple. If enough people have access to time travel, then their schemes for altering the past will undoubtedly run at cross purposes. Enough people zipping back to the past changing events, will have key points ping-ponging back and forth from one outcome to the next. As an example, take that fateful World Series homerun by Gibson for the Dodgers which seemed to seal the fate of the superior team, the A's. If I was to go back in time, I would make sure that gimpy Dodger only singled at most, knowing that in his condition he could have never made it to first base in time. But then, some Dodger fan would just go back and reverse my handiwork, and Gibson would be gimping his way around the bases again to my extreme dismay. If the homerun was the hand to be dealt by the cosmic dealer, then no matter how many fans went back to "fix" the game, it would be played out according to its destiny. Any important event would have the attention of multiple time meddlers ensuring constant conversions from one outcome to the next. The only changes that might sustain themselves would be unimportant events that wouldn't cause a ripple in the overall fate of the timeline.

So what sort of changes and alterations would be permissible and sustaining? There are multiple examples that can be picked out of the XF universe right now. Consider the Mulder children's birthdays. These have subtly altered in the course of the four years we've been paying attention. The changes were small enough and unimportant enough in the cosmic plan to persevere. What about Scully's haircolor? Despite the insistence of some that it is subtle differences in hair dye, these changes are actually proof that there is some force at work from the future. To those of you who scoff at these suggested examples, there are items that even the most doubting of Thomases could not overlook. One need look no further than Mulder's apartment. His fish seem to be moving through time...sometimes alive, sometimes presumed dead, other times simply missing in action. Coincidence? I think not. And how could the observant viewer miss the most obvious of signs in the brass numbers on Mulder's apartment door? From week to week the numbers have been known to appear and disappear, and more disturbingly, to change from one number to another. And these changes are not limited to our daring duo. It has been noted that Skinner's wedding ring appears and disappears at will, not to mention the existence of his middle initial. His nameplate had always claimed "Walter S. Skinner" only to lose the "S" for several weeks before its mysterious re-appearance. Mulder even had a sudden claim to colorblindness that was seemingly absent in the previous three years. And in the manner of many of these conversions, he seems to be free of any such handicap at the present. The fact that these changes are frequent and easily identifiable confirms my theory on the ever-changing future that represents the altered past of those traveling through time.

Now that Mulder and Scully know the future of time travel technology, they can begin making a list of things to alter. Keeping in mind the idea of major events being off limits, what would their schedule contain? There are a few things that might top both of their lists...mainly their participation on some cases. Just think of the cases they've been on when it seemed their participation saved no lives or had any impact on the outcome. Why not toss that X-File in the circular file and spend a week visiting Carlsbad Caverns, taking an Alaskan cruise, or trying their hand at fly fishing in Montana? Probably wouldn't cause a ripple in the fabric of time. There are several small changes that each partner might make individually that wouldn't effect history but might give them some satisfaction. For Mulder, I think a look back on the past might inspire him to cancel the hair appointment that left him looking like the loser in a fight with a weed whacker in season 2. Scully might ponder her wardrobe and decide that 'Beige Heaven' wasn't the best specialty shop to be spending her paycheck at for so many years. I'm sure there are a myriad of possibilities, but it's late so I'll leave it to your collective imagination.

Harmonic conversion. Not convergence, since this isn't a matter of varying points rushing to the same conclusion. Rather, this is a case of one fated outcome, undergoing conversions that will inevitably conform, or become harmonious, in their finality. Personally, I don't like this idea of a constant timeline and history that will continually straighten itself from the minor changes that attempt to lead it astray...always righting itself to rush on to its predetermined conclusion. This idea provides no motivation for creating change. It leads to apathy. I suppose one would have to think in terms of an ultimate outcome that is the combined effort of all who participate, so going out on a limb and trying new things, believing in your worth as a participant in life, and attempting to make a difference are the components that shape the future...fated or otherwise. I don't believe the idea of time travel is at odds with the X-Files universe as we know it. The Truth that Mulder searches for is still out there...no matter how many men in black might try to come back and alter the past. If they are as incompetent as the Old Jason, Mulder and Scully's quest is in no danger of failure. If the technology for time travel exists in Mulder and Scully's future, it will not be a tool they can use in their work. Minor changes might sustain themselves but for every attempt they make to go back and see an alien or retrieve evidence, there would be a MIB who would go back and reverse their actions. Major events would be of interest to too many parties to avoid additional tampering. So Mulder and Scully's quest will have to continue in the present with trivial concerns in the past their only targets for conversion. Morphing styles and colors...the hair is out there.

Since H.G. Wells charged up his fantastic machine we have been fascinated with the concept of a cyclical time, or at least, a linear time that continues to exist beyond our experience of the present. Perhaps the one way in which time travel is most consistent with the X-Universe involves my favorite theory of ET visitations to earth: the time travel/portal theory.

Now bear in mind that the thing about this theory that I enjoy most details that the beings we know and love as various ETs are not extraterrestrial at all, but rather are evolved humanoids using time travel to revisit human history. The theory continues that evolved humans at a very advanced stage of physical and technological evolution travel back into time to study or intervene somehow in early human development.

Many of the commonly debunked or irreconcilable problems with current ET visitation are much better addressed by this theory. The medical experiments that are often reported as part of alien abduction are often scoffed as irrational. Why would an advanced ET race sneak around our skies, furtively stealing or borrowing people from their beds to perform bizarre and invasive medical experiments? Rather this theory holds that *we* -- our human descendants -- are traveling back in time to study "ourselves". Perhaps the future human race loses their ability to reproduce, perhaps they seek antibodies to fight off killer diseases. In any case, it is certainly -- to me -- more logical that humans would need to study themselves than an advanced and highly superior other-species traveling light years to study humans.

Although many have claimed to sight UFO's, the only explanation available for the lack of physical evidence from military or other recording sources are the Conspiracy Theories that are most prevalent in Our Favorite Show. Of course the military knows about the UFO's -- how could they not? They're HIDING the information. Because one would rationally presume (although anything is possible of advanced technology) that an aircraft that can be seen cruising the night skies would easily be seen around the world on any number of radar

screens. But what if the object travels in and out of a portal? Or what if, given the unreliability of eyewitness testimonies in general, what the witness really sees is the portal itself, and the small beings that emerge are passing from that other dimension, not the "Bridge" or "10-Forward". And finally, the greatest dispute of alien life visitation is that the beings witnessed are humanoid. While it is generally accepted by even the staunchest skeptic that given the size of the universe that life must surely exist elsewhere, it is statistically improbable that another life form would both closely resemble humans AND capably visit our earth. The possibility that the humanoids being witnessed are advanced forms of our own then, is again more palatable.

The plausibility of the incorporation of a time travel theory and ET visitation has not been unexplored in SF writings. Roddenbery's StarTrek has been especially fond of the themes, with an episode of ST:TNG having Riker and other crew members taken from their bunks and "transported" into another dimension. The show dealt with all the classic abduction scenarios and themes. Many other episodes feature the advanced StarTrek crew traveling back in time from their century to one far earlier where they inevitably must conceal their true identities and advanced technology.

Whenever time travel in general is explored in SF, it is usually with a realization that the owner of the technology has an absolute onus to not disturb the past time lines. Understanding as we do how intricately meshed and intermingled each human life and world event is, we know that even a slight tweaking of a past event could change the present dramatically. Given that we have that knowledge, awareness and respect of time and history today, I have to believe that out descendants would most certainly have strong moral and ethical guidelines for time travel, if indeed the technology were available. The stability of their own world (present time line) and indeed each and every existence would depend greatly on it.

And so, in terms of the X-Universe, time travel is (now) both within the realm of technical possibility and may even prove a more scientifically plausible explanation for the oft appearance of Mulder's little green men. Indeed one day he/we may look into the face of our nocturnally evasive enemy and see that it is us.

But other than that, this underwhelming episode was out of step with the series in a couple of important ways.

Time travel cannot exist in the X-Files universe. I don't mean the physical universe, I mean the moral universe. Time travel would change the very foundations of the show. There are certain assumptions that are common to all characters on the show, good and bad -- an X-Files worldview -- and time travel violates two crucial XF assumptions about the Truth.

There is an ongoing conflict between these two assumptions, a conflict that drives much of the show. The first assumption is that the truth is unknowable because of the limitations of human perception. Mulder's contradictory dreams about Samantha's abduction, inconsistent stories under regression hypnosis, M & S's continuing disagreements about things they've seen or not seen, all of Paper Hearts and CERTAINLY Jose Chung... these things tell us that those who witness an event get at best a small, biased shred of the truth, and that is all we can ever have. The "truth" is gone.

But the other assumption is that the truth is constant and immutable, and is waiting patiently to be discovered. Albert Hosteen says that buried secrets "make their way to the surface so that men may know them." Nothing disappears without a trace. Scully had a similar monologue, too, once: something about how death leaves its traces on a body, a story that can be read by one who looks. Once an event has happened, it can never be erased. The truth *is* out there.

Time travel reverses both these key assumptions, and creates a completely different conflict. With time travel, we can experience the truth directly. Not sure what happened? Go back and see. Bring along the person whom you disagree with, and you can both see whose version is better. But conversely, depending on which version of time travel you believe in, the truth is no longer unchanging. Events and people *can* disappear without a trace, removed completely from the stream of time. No more history, as Jason says.

So, CC should have stuck to his original pronouncement of "No time travel". He would have truer to the spirit of the show. Now, keep your eyes peeled for my next post, in which I discuss why time travel should have sent Mulder spinning out of control, rather than leaving him making cute little quips.

CODA to ESSAY#7 (Loligo Opalescens)

As promised (yeah, I bet you all were waiting with bated breath), I have one more thing to say about why Synchrony didn't really work: Mulder's reaction rang totally false.

We know that, if Mulder can take a case personally, he will, right? Conduit, Oubliette, etc... if something smacks even vaguely of Samantha, he goes into angst mode.

So here's this Jason guy, who is willing to give up his life in order to undo an event in the past that will lead to tragedy. And what has Mulder devoted his entire adult life to? Undoing an event in his past that has lead to (personal) tragedy.

Shouldn't the possibility of time travel shake Mulder to his core? Here is his chance to rescue Samantha! His chance to find out what really happened! Only he would have to give up his life to do so -- not that Mulder would *die* if he somehow prevented Sam's abduction, but that his identity would be erased. Her abduction made him who he is, and if it never happened, he would be a different person.

Shouldn't we have seen some sort of evidence of Mulder facing this type of conflict? At the very least, some avid fascination with the idea of time travel, rather than nonchalance.