3X07 - The Walk

Summary

A story not unlike Unrequited, exploring how the unexplained might be attributed to those who have seen things that the rest of us hope never to see. There will always be questions over how we deal with those who survive the horrors of war, and obviously Rappo has issues. When such a man obtains powers of "astral projection", there'll be problems, no doubt about it. That said, it's actually not very difficult to identify with his concept of "taking away from you what was taken from me". And in fact, the not quite sympathetic portrayal of the military in this case makes us wonder all the more. Rappo the Madman aside, what would any of us do if we suddenly found ourselves capable of affecting other lives like he did?

I'd settle for some lucid dreaming

Just from the teaser, I have a couple of observations to make about trying to kill yourself when you “know” someone is preventing you from being successful. Intentionally covering your entire body with third degree burns is a hell of a painful way not to succeed in killing yourself. Mind you, I have a huge problem with why that hydrotherapy room tub has controls that would allow water to get that hot. Over the past couple of years, we’ve heard gruesome stories about seniors being scalded in similar circumstances in twenty-four hour care facilities.

Initial complaints aside, I have to say I was most impressed with the special effects in this ep. Back in the day when CGI wasn’t as widely used to create easy illusions, the TXF guys did a whale of a job here. Decent performances all around, too. But the episode played out with no great mysteries otherwise, as it unfolded predictably. Rappo has a point when he talks about how we don’t know anything about war by watching it on TV, but then we’ve been schooled on that lesson in various other episodes. To have his ability (astral projection) would be a blessing, you would think, but for him to use it to kill innocent people is a tad harsh.

The climax seemed unnecessarily prolonged due to the fact that Mulder and Scully (to an extent) were at least somewhat convinced of Rappo’s role in what was happening and yet they didn’t think to interfere with his “trance” the way Stans ended up doing.

Picayune Peculiarities

Never really paid attention before, but Scully’s pant length is cut for someone wearing flats and yet she almost never wears flat shoes. What we end up with is the odd look of her wearing flood pants.

Best or Worst Moment

I don't have a specific moment, but I'd like to pay tribute to the behind the scenes people for their work on the special effects. From what I've read, the amputee effects in this episode involved mostly physical devices rather than the more common CGI stuff used today (such as on Mulder in season five's Kill Switch) and I thought they did a great job.

Original Rating: * *
Revised Rating: * *