X-Files--"Chinga"

Poor Scully. She cannot even go on vacation without getting mixed up in a X-File. She must be some sort of cosmic magnet for such things. It is a wonder Mulder never hooked on to that theory. Would that have ruined the mystique?

“Chinga” (Spanish slang for sexual intercourse, which I can only assume is unintentional.) is the famous episode penned by harbormaster Stephen King. The x-Files creator Chris Carter earns co-writer credit for having re-written the by phone interactions between Mulder and Scully because he felt King did not have a grasp on their characterization. Do appreciate the cajones it takes to tell King he has failed an aspect of writing so badly, correcting it merits co-writing credit under Writers Guild of America rules. I salute your bravery, Chris Carter.

Scully decides to spend a weekend in New England. You may recall the last time she went on vacation she wound up spending the night with a guy who was under the influence of psychosis inducing tattoo dye who convinced to get a tattoo with the same dye. While it sounds like she may face the horror of Barry Manilow this time around, she instead runs into a little girl’s devil doll that is sadistically killing those who do not do the spoiled brat’s will.

The episode features many classic King elements. It is set in small town Maine. Ordinary folks are put into horrible situations. Mundane items become the death of people. I imagine if you are a big fan of King, “Chinga” is right up your alley. I like King more for his writing outside of horror, such as Stand By Me, Misery, The Shawshank Redemption, and Apt Pupil. I am already lacking in enthusiasm right off the bat, then. What is worse, “Chinga” is basically a King horror short story with Scully thrown in to make it an X-File.

She is completely incidental to the story. Mulder, who communicates with her by cell phone from Washington on several occasions for comic relief, is even more so. Scully is perpetually one step behind the little girl leaving behind a trail of corpses and the mother desperate to appease her daughter while brainstorming some way of getting rid of the doll. I dare say the mother and daughter got twice as much screen time as Scully.

The only time Scully is anything other than reactionary to the aftermath of the doll’s murderous acts is in the climax when she throws it in the microwave to stop it from compelling the mother to beat herself to death with a hammer. How she can do this uninhibited is never explained. One is to presume the doll can only control one person at a time, but it compelled an entire grocery store full of patrons to claw their eyes out in the teaser, so you have to wonder why the doll never made any attempt to save itself from Scully while it was controlling the mother. For that matter, self-preservation is a wee bit more important than homicide. If the doll could only control one person at a time, why not stop with the mother, get rid of the pesky FBI agent, then go back to killing at its leisure? Tiny plot hole, that.

“Chinga” does not feel like a unique King story, either. Yes, I did list the elements he usually uses in his stories used here, but I did not know he had written it, I would swear it is a homage to The Twilight Zone instead. The little girl is flat out Anthony from “It’s a Good Life” in the way she makes adults cater to her every whim or else. The difference being the aftermath of Anthony’s punishments are left to the imagination. In “Chinga,’ we are treated to eye gouging, stabbings, slicing one’s throat with the jagged edge of a record, and beating oneself in the head with a hammer. The doll is right out of “Living Doll,” right down to the voice reminiscent of the great June Foray.

(I have looked through every search term I can think of at all the usual sites, but cannot find who voiced the doll in “Chinga.” I thought it might actually be June Foray. Considering she was the voice of Rocky the Flying Squirrel and there have been the occasional references to The Bullwinkle and Rocky Show, it seems plausible it could be her. I cannot confirm, however. She is still doing voice work on animated series at 90, by the way. She is as sharp as ever, too.)

I t may sound like I am down on “Chinga.” I am not. It is an entertaining episode in spite of a plot hole or two. It just does not fit in well with the series outside of the banter thrown in by Carter, which is amusingly funnY:

Mulder: It sounds to me like that's witchcraft or some sorcery that you're looking for there.

Scully: I don't think it's witchcraft or sorcery. I've had a look around and I don't see any evidence of anything that warrants that kind of suspicion.

Mulder: Well, maybe you don't know what you're looking for.

Scully: Like evidence of conjuring or the black arts or shamanism, divination, wicca or any kind of pagan or neo-pagan practice. Charms, cards, familiars, bloodstones or hex signs or any of the ritual tableau associated with the occult. Santeria, Voudun, Macumba or any high or low magic.

Mulder: Scully.

Scully: Yes.

Mulder: Marry me.

I do not think it meets the expectations one normally has for King. “Chinga” is definitely worth watching, but it could have been far better.

Rating: *** (out of 5)