X-Files--"Tunguska"

“Tunguska” takes us back to the mythology with part one of a two part black oil thriller. Like most two part episodes for The X-Files, it features a lot of set up with very little pay off. There is a lot more action than usual for these sort of introductory episodes to hold our attention, but I do have one, minor gripe. The episode begins with what is the near conclusion of the story--Scully refusing to answer a Senate inquiry into the whereabouts of Mulder--then starts us on the journey to that point. The Sunset Boulevard is terribly cliché at this point.

The story revolves around the discovery of an extraterrestrial rock discovered in Siberia, the alien black oil that lives inside it taking over various hosts, and the deaths of two diplomats who have come in possession of it. The agents stumble across the plot involving the rock when they are tipped off to an anarchist group planning a series of bombing attacks similar to Oklahoma City. They discover Alex Krycek is with the group, but he is the one who tipped them off in an effort to gain their trust. The anarchists rescued him from the North Dakota missile silo, so he played along with them to get to this point. The story is a stretch on how to get Kryucek back in the gamer, but there you go.

Naturally, Mulder and Scully are not thrilled to work with Krycek, but their interest is piqued by the chance to snatch alien material from the Syndicate. They wind up taking the alien rock from a courier at the airport. The discovery it was found in Siberia sends mulder unofficially, thanks to his United Nations contact, to Russia with Krycek, whom we now discover speaks fluent Russian. The two wind up in a gulag. It appears krycek has betrayed mulder, leaving the agent to be strapped down by chicken wire and exposed to the black oil along with a dozen other prisoners. To be continued

As a tension builder, ’Tunguska” does a good job. While I do not feel the urgency I am supposed to over the disappearance of the rock potentially causing World War III (Seriously/) the personal mission of Mulder for the truth is compelling, not to mention more of an action movie plot we have since in quite some time on The X-Files. The personal animosity the main characters have for krycek, but doing little more than constantly beating up on him Three Stooges style is still amusing, but getting old fast.

I recalled much of this episode before watching it for this review even though I am quite certain I have not seen it in fourteen years. I recall nothing about the conclusion which I will review tomorrow. Hopefully, that is because it originally aired during the rush of fall semester final exams my sophomore year of college, so I did not pay much attention to it originally. Or it could be a big, forgettable letdown. Fingers crossed for ther former.

Rating: *** (out of 5)