If
I were compiling my top ten list of X-Files episodes, the second season installment
“F. Emasculata” would definitely make the cut.
Not coincidentally, it would also take the number one slot for “most disgusting episode” of the long-lived
sci-fi/horror series.
In
this episode, Mulder and Scully battle a deadly, incredibly contagious disease,
and most not only stop its transmission, but make some tough choices about how
much information the public has a right to know in times of an emergency.
What
makes this episode by Chris Carter and Howard Gordon such a visceral,
throat-tightening entry is the grotesque appearance and nature of the
disease. Those infected develop a
high-fever and almost instantly develop throbbing,
mushy pustules on their skin.
After
a time, roughly thirty-six hours, these pulsating sacs actually explode -- like overripe zits -- ejaculating the
disease into the air. In one of the most
disgusting scenes I’ve ever witnessed on network television, a suburban wife
and mom is seen here tending to a sick man when a pustule ruptures, and
splatters the toxic materials in her open mouth, and all over her face.
On
a personal note, my wife still hasn’t recovered from the scene in which an
infected convict holds a little boy hostage on a bus, and his pustule-deformed
face edges perilously close to the child’s angelic visage. This moment captures the horror of contagion
perfectly, and expresses the fear that we’re all vulnerable to disease.
Of
course, gore is one (wonderful) thing,
but the creeping terror of “F. Emasculata” is more than special effects. Rather, the disease scenario played out here
is frighteningly plausible and, in fact, based on a real incident from the
1980s.
After
a scientist named Torrance is killed by a virulent disease in South America, a
package is sent by a mysterious mailer to an inmate in jail, in Dinwiddie,
Virginia. Inside is a diseased animal
leg which soon causes the spread of the deadly disease inside the facility.
When
two murder suspects escape from prison carrying the fatal contamination and
therefore the possibility of mass infection, Mulder (David Duchovny) and Scully
(Gillian Anderson) must track down the fugitives and prevent further spread of
the terminal contagion.
Soon,
Scully uncovers evidence that the government and a large pharmaceutical company
engineered this “test” as part of some secret operation, but Mulder’s first
order of business is to catch the last surviving fugitive before he
contaminates a busload of innocent people…
In
the mid-1990s, the virus or contagion was the new pop-culture boogeyman, one even displacing serial
killers for a span.
Films
such as Outbreak (1995) tracked the progress of Ebola through a
heavily-populated American town, and by 1997, UPN aired a (ridiculous) “disease”
or “virus”-of-the-week series titled The Burning Zone for a season.
Hazmat
suits were suddenly in vogue, and the de
rigueur attire of the 1990s horror genre.
All
of this disease-oriented material likely originated with a best-selling book: The
Hot Zone (1994), by Richard Preston. A “terrifying
true story,” this book explored in nauseating but meticulous detail the
outbreak of a deadly Ebola virus in a monkey storage facility, Hazelton
Laboratories, in 1989. The facility,
much like the prison in The X-Files, was located in
Virginia, but in Reston rather than Dinwiddie.
In
real life, the CDC investigated the outbreak, and the book also details the
author’s exploration of the lab building where it occurred, later demolished in
1995. Now…it’s a KinderCare.
The
details of the Ebola Virus as recounted in The Hot Zone (on page 24) are enough
to make anyone sick or simply scared to death.
Preston writes of victims vomiting blood, the sound of a “bed sheet being torn in half” (the noise
of bowels opening and “venting blood from
the anus”), and other body horrors that make vampires, werewolves, and
other every day monsters seem innocuous by comparison.
What’s
rather amazing about “F. Emasculata” is not only that it follows in
broad-strokes the details of The Hot Zone (in terms of location),
but that it is actually far gorier and disturbing than Outbreak, which was
released theatrically. This episode is
extremely graphic and forthright about its depiction of disease in a way the
movie simply isn’t. Because it pulls no
punches, “F. Emasculata” has long been a favorite of mine. It brilliantly explores the notion of a genie
loosed from the bottle; of a danger that, once uncorked, is difficult to
catch-up with and contain.
Also,
I like the no-bullshit resolution of “F. Emasculata.” In movies such as Outbreak and TV series
such as The Burning Zone, a miraculous cure is always found in the nick
of time, and major characters are spared agonizing and disgusting death. Life
rarely turns out so neatly. In “F.
Emasculata” no cure is developed…the outbreak simply is contained while the
disease burns itself out. I much prefer
that dramatic resolution to any nonsense about discovering some cure to a
deadly disease on the spot. I’m glad
this episode doesn’t go there. The
X-Files is a brilliant series precisely because it always keeps one
foot grounded in reality.
Although
the government is a crucial player in this particular conspiracy, “F.
Emasculata” reserves its greatest contempt for Pinck Pharmaceuticals, the big
company which has orchestrated the outbreak to determine how the toxin affects
human beings. Why? So the company can circumvent
years of FDA testing.
In
other words, the company couldn’t wait to make money…and so people had to
die. Not surprisingly, this big business
chose the population with the least power and freedom to use as guinea pigs:
prison convicts.
So
in this case, unregulated, irresponsible Big Business is the enemy, though
certainly the government’s role is a crucible for debate.
Is
it right for the government to hide the truth of the disease from the American
public, knowing that the truth could cause a panic and costs lives? Or should the government reveal all in the
name of disclosure and public safety? “Controlling the information,” as the
episode points out, is about who possess power, and who doesn’t.
This
debate relates to Mulder’s journey. He wants the public to know the truth, and
for the guilty to be held to account.
But,
of course, there is no evidence to support his story, and so he risks becoming
the story, himself.
The
question becomes: how much does the public deserve to know, and when does it deserve
to know it?
I’m
of the mind that the truth in situations like this must come out, but if
reporting it as “breaking news” causes a panic -- and costs lives – it’s best to tread carefully, and get all the
facts first. That’s not a paradigm our
current mainstream press is very good at.
In
simple horror terms, “F. Emasculata” is an exploration of subversion by micro-organism; of the way that tiny invaders can
reshape our bodies and threaten our very lives.
A disease is not a monster that can be fought with guns or knives, but
one that multiplies and spreads, and enacts its monstrous work without
conscience or even consciousness. It’s difficult to fight an enemy like that,
one that can pop up, like a multi-headed Hydra, and can transform the most
healthy person in the world into a disease producer.
I
find this idea absolutely terrifying, which is no doubt why “F. Emasculata” remains
such a visceral viewing experience. Even
today, this episode plays more like science fact than science fiction.
In
two weeks: “Our Town.”
John engaging review of a horrifying subject dramatized in “F. Emasculata”. I still remember as a boy in the mid-'70s, when I first saw The Omega Man(1971) on television, a plague is truly a scary thought.
ReplyDeleteUpon examining the cast of this episode at imdb, on a sad note, the actor that played the boy held hostage Myles Ferguson was killed in a car accident in 2000. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0272557/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1
Truly sobering thoughts regarding this episode's narrative and life in general.
SGB
Funny thing is I didn't remember this episode from the title or the description on Netflix. But my wife saw it and said, "Oh that one. It's pretty gross, but it's a good one." And of course once we started it, I saw Charles Martin Smith and it all came rushing back.
ReplyDeleteReally great episode, and one that is very disturbing because they don't find a cure, as you point out. I never made the connection to "The Hot Zone" or "Outbreak", but it makes perfect sense. Strange how we get these little trends in entertainment. We got several asteroid crashing into earth movies. We got a trio of underwater adventures around the time of "The Abyss". Now we're in some kind of zombie-mania trend... but this one seems have some legs.