It feels strange to revisit questions of good and evil within the context of Christianity so soon after “Orison”, but that is what we get in “Signs and Wonders.” Stranger still, Mulder is more open to some of the more charismatic aspects of Christianity than he ever has been with scully finding the more fundamentalist aspects appalling to her interpretation of Christianity. A role reversal there from the positions they usually take on the instances in which Christian belief are part of an X-File. But the most unusual twist of all is the fundamentalist side wins out over the Laodicea, and it is considered good that it did. How often do you see Hollywood accept that as a resolution?
The agents head to Tennessee to investigate the apparent ritualistic murder of Jared Chirp, who died from multiple snake bites while locked in his moving car by snakes who should have been hibernating at the time. Evidence points to her father, Rev. Enoch O’Connor, the pastor of a snake handling church. Jared married O’Connor’s daughter, Gracie. They left the church for a more moderate one in town run by Rev. Sanuel Mackey. The agents assume O’Connor killed his son-in-law in revenge for leading his daughter astray.
During the investigation, the agents learn Jared was not the father of Gracie’s baby, and assume she was sexually assaulted by her father. That must be the reason she left him and his church in the first place. We as an audience are not given any reason to suspect otherwise. He is presented as a fiery Bob Jones university type who demands snake handling as a test of faith--at one point nearly forcing Scully to hold a rattler--and passing round the offering plate at will. However, he is a red herring. It is enlightened, tolerant Mackay who is the father of Gracie’s child and the man who controls the murderous snakes. The whole mystery hinges on Gracie, who is a prominent character from the beginning, not telling the truth from the beginning. Outside of allowing for enough material for an episode, there is no reason for her to keep this stuff to herself.
I am certainly not claiming, enough O’Connor eventually saves his daughter, that Christianity gets off easy here. There are no white hats. O’Connor is a complete nut obsessed with old Testament vengeance who holds Scully down in a snake filled terrarium as a test of her spiritual purity. He has little regard for either of the agents, suspecting them both of not being on the side of God. Even his rescue of Gracie, in which he creepily purges her of the snakes (?!) she is pregnant with, is a horribly forced baptism. But Mackay is presented as far worse--a man possessed by a real snake, most likely as a symbol of demonic possession. At least the villain is not presented as being devoutly Christian, though the “hero” certainly is not an enviable person, either.
I am going to guess that Enoch o’Connor is named for the Old Testament Enoch, a man who walked so closely with God he never tasted death, and Southern writer Flannery O’Connor, who often wrote about religion in the South. Her novel Wise Blood is an old favorite of mine. If the idea of searching for meaning among a religion over populated with charlatans and con artists appeals to you, I suggest reading it. Or more likely, seek out the film version. Whichever is more likely to put your paddles in the water.
“Signs and Wonders” is a very intense, highly disturbing episode. Certainly, I feel an added tension because of my own issues in finding a comfortable place between the fundamentalist and more spiritual sides of Christianity, not to mention my firm belief that the worst aspect of Christianity is the Christians themselves. I doubt you need such a personal stake to find the episode intriguing. It is the first episode of the season that truly feels like The X-Files. David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson are not phoning this one in, either. This is about as good as the late season installments get.
Rating: *** (out of 5)
It feels strange to revisit questions of good and evil within the context of Christianity so soon after “Orison”, but that is what we get in “Signs and Wonders.” Stranger still, Mulder is more open to some of the more charismatic aspects of Christianity than he ever has been with scully finding the more fundamentalist aspects appalling to her interpretation of Christianity. A role reversal there from the positions they usually take on the instances in which Christian belief are part of an X-File. But the most unusual twist of all is the fundamentalist side wins out over the Laodicea, and it is considered good that it did. How often do you see Hollywood accept that as a resolution?
