Familiar

After the atypical episode that was "Rm9sbG93ZXJz," The X-Files revival season returned more to form with "Familiar."

Mulder and Scully investigate the death of a young boy in a small town. Though the local police are quick to chalk it up to wild animals, our heroes suspect abduction and murder. And as both strange evidence and a second death rack up, Mulder begins to suspect a witchcraft angle -- the victims are all being lured to their death by a beloved television character.

This episode essentially plays things for straight horror, and does an effective job of it in a few ways. The two TV characters brought to life, "Mr. Chuckle Teeth" and a Teletubbies homage, are truly terrifying in appearance. (Actually, too much so. It's hard to imagine a small child ever liking them and not being scared to death of them.) They're brought to life with great costume design, great performance, great editing, and great music composition. They will absolutely give you the chills.

The mystery itself is somewhat intriguing, if you set aside the unlikelihood that Mulder and Scully would ever be sent to investigate this in the first place (as all outward evidence initially suggests it's not even a crime, much less supernatural in nature). There's a tangled affair at the core of it: two spouses and an "other woman" who is also married. This serves up many suspects along to way to favor and dismiss.

There's also a brief parable woven in about the difficulty of an ex-con getting a fair shake. For a time, the eye of suspicion falls on a former sex offender, and this ends very poorly. Though the episode doesn't really spend much time on the social commentary, the fact of his innocence and of his treatment by an unruly mob and vengeful cop paints a recognizable picture.

But the episode doesn't fully dig into many of the angles it sets up. It's not really a show built for social commentary, nor is "whodunit" its bread and butter. So all these elements sort of meander by at a surface level, with a creepy monster showing up occasionally to make your skin crawl.

As such, the episode really doesn't stand out. This isn't a highlight you'd remember if it had aired in the show's original nine season run; it would be one you'd dimly recollect until it clicked for you 10 minutes into the rerun. I give "Familiar" a B-.