Wine and an X-Phile #X-01003: Squeeze

“Is there any way I can get it off my fingers quickly without betraying my cool exterior?"

Air Date: September 24, 1993
Directed by: Harry Longstreet
Written by: Glen Morgan & James Wong

Filed Under: Monster of the Week

Synopsis:

A former academy classmate of Scully’s asks her and Mulder to help with a serial killer case that has proven to be strange with the lack of clues. The investigation leads to a century-old killer who can squeeze his body through narrow areas to attack without trace.

Review:

It’s our first proper Monster of the Week! And our first introduction to one of the best writing team duos, Glen Morgan and James Wong. As a creature feature lover, the MOTWs have always been my favorite of the episodes. While I do think The X-Files does some good storylines that are fun when connected with the greater conspiracy arc, these types of episodes with weird creatures are always just fun and a little spooky - right up my alley. I had forgotten how creepy this show really got and it really honed in on why I still look back on the series in fondness. I’ve talked about this previously on the blog and elsewhere but I’m not one to get scared, so my judgment of what is truly is scary and what isn’t is non-existent, but this episode starts us off spooky from the very beginning showing Tooms from the sewer grate, his eyes really the only thing you can see.

The episode focused on Mulder’s outcast (and spooky) status within other members of the FBI. Up until this point we’ve only heard these stories in passing and never got a true sense of how the rest of the agents felt about him and it was an interesting insight. The episode also focuses more on the dynamic of the relationship between Mulder and Scully and how it’s already starting to strengthen and solidify. While Scully doesn’t believe everything that Mulder does, she does back him up throughout multiple parts of this episode despite not believing what Tooms is and knowing Colton for a lot longer than Mulder. When Colton calls off the stakeout, she’s angry and vowes to back him up against the bureau.

It also is the begining of Mulder truly believing in Scully’s skill outside of her medical status. Up until this point, the show has focused on Mulder being a good agent and profiler (which is probably the main reason he’s allowed to keep on the X-Files Project, because they can’t afford to lose him as an agent), but we haven’t gotten to see that in Scully outside of her medical skills. When they are at the first initial stakeout, one that Scully has profiled the perpetrator to be at, Mulder doubts he will be there and questions Scully’s profile. When Tooms is caught, you can see Mulder’s shift in his view of Scully. I don’t think Mulder thought of her less before this point, but I do feel that Mulder being forced to have been regulated to the basement and partnerless has clouded his judgement because he has to constantly put up a defense knowing that the person he’s around could be there to spy on him, find him weird, or not be there for him for long and he wasn’t expecting someone to be his match. It’s a small point, but I think it’s a greater defining point for the series in showing Scully as an equal. And with it being only the third episode not just for Mulder, but the viewers.

Or maybe it’s just Mulder falling in love with her. Either way works.

Another plot I really loved during the episode was the juxtaposition of Colton and Frank Briggs, the retired police officer who worked on the original cases involving Tooms. It is established fairly early on in the episode that Colton is only there to ‘win’ solving the challenging case, using other people on his way to the top. He really only called Scully to help him on the sidelines, and maybe make an ally for later on as he continues to climb the ladder as well as potentially using Mulder’s known profiling skills. Briggs is saddened by the case, and after decades of it not having been solved and the families not having answers, it has affected him. Briggs also mirrors Mulder in a way, as we’ll see a little bit more in the next episode, Conduit. Mulder’s pursuit for solving cases is based on his own personal story of being a victim that has yet to be given answers. He is in the unique position to understand what the people in these cases have to deal with. Colton stopping the investigation is the same as Briggs being regulated to a desk job after the murders started again. The officers who stop Briggs from trying to solve the case could be seen as the reason Tooms continued to kill, just as Colton stopping Mulder’s stakeout could be seen as effectively allowing Tooms to almost kill Scully.

A lot of the episode is focused on the creepiness of Tooms in the way that he moves and the way that no area is safe, and I think it portrays that uneasiness well. The thought of knowing that no matter how safe you have made your own space and it still not being enough is a horrific thought. I think the added elements of focusing on Tooms as a serial killer also add to this uneasiness, as he is then viewed as a home intruder - a real and tangible threat to everyone watching. I think that’s also why this episode in particular is always labeled as one of the scariest episodes. It combines not only the fake monsters, but the real ones as well.

Extras:

Morgan and Wong were inspired by Jack the Ripper and Richard Ramirez actions, specifically Ramirez who despite his size was entering homes through the small window in the shower. The episode had some issues with production, as the director and the duo clashed on the direction the show was being taken. Because of this, and Carter’s respect for their work and dedication on the episode, they were able to follow up the story with the later episode in the season, Tooms.

Favorite Prop(s):

One of my favorite graphic props to work on has always been newspapers. I don’t know if it’s because I can zone out and just focus on the creation of a repetitive object, or that the prop itself is an interesting one. Newspapers aren’t generally thought about, they are mostly used as something for the actor to hold in their hands but it can contain so much information. It can tell of a further plot, or clue into when and where the drama is set without saying a word. It was prop I created frequently, and have always appreciated how impactful it truly can be. The newspaper in the episode is obviously used in the most known way - as the nest that Tooms creates - but it also is the reason we learn that Briggs can finally start to heal.

MSR:

I don’t like to give “boy rescues girl who’s perfectly capable but randomly isn’t so the boy can become the hero” tropes attention, but this episode I may have to give an exception tp. Mulder rushing to save Scully is great, but I personally love how it shows them working together, physically, to fight off the intruder. They truly work well together. I would also be remiss if I didn’t mention Mulder and Scully’s library date looking at the microfiche as it works perfectly with my favorite prop. Just a couple of love birds watching the pages fly by.

Rating:

4/5 wine glasses. Squeeze has the unintended problem of being a little bit of a harder rewatch because of what has happened with the actor playing Tooms, Doug Hutchison (who is very much more spooky than a being that can squeeze itself in tight spots), and so the rewatch wasn’t as a good as it could have been. Despite that, it still lives up as a pretty solid first Monster of the Week and reliving the story of the monster I always think of when I look at a/c vents was fun. It was also the perfect episode to ring in the spooky season.

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