This episode of 'The X-Files' became an early favorite of mine for two reasons - the fantastic performance of Brad Dourif, and the way the story utilized Bobby Darin's popular tune 'Beyond the Sea' to such mysterious, hypnotic effect. It's not even that kind of song really, more a romantic ballad of a man expectantly waiting for the next time he'll see his lover again. It's too bad more of the song couldn't have been used in the story.
As for Brad Dourif, I became an instant fan the first time I saw him give an equally incredible performance in his very first credited screen role as Billy Bibbit in 1975's "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest". He plays a very similar character in that story prior to committing suicide at the instigation of a domineering Nurse Ratched. Dourif was also quite brilliant as Doc Cochran in the HBO Western series 'Deadwood', and he's an actor I can watch again and again just because of the performance he puts on.
That's not to take anything away from Gillian Anderson's breakout here in the role of Agent Dana Scully. She takes the lead in the story after partner Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) takes a bullet during a chase, and it's an interesting juxtaposition the story takes when Scully becomes a believer in the paranormal while Mulder attempts to dissuade her gut instincts. Actually, I couldn't understand why the writing for the story didn't allow for Scully to confide in her partner more regarding her dead father channeling through Luther Lee Boggs (Dourif).
One has to take it on faith that Scully comes to terms with the relationship she had with her father (Don Davis). Her own answer at the close of the story sounds more like a rationalization than a certainty when the question of his being proud of her is broached by Mulder. 'He was my father' sounded more like an attempt to bury the issue rather than confront it head on, and so, I felt that left an unresolved question mark for Scully. There's that, and Scully's apprehension at becoming convinced of forces out there that can't be explained, because even though she experienced Boggs's uncanny ability to tap the beyond, she's inclined to remain the ever vigilant skeptic when she proclaims - "I'm afraid to believe".
As for Brad Dourif, I became an instant fan the first time I saw him give an equally incredible performance in his very first credited screen role as Billy Bibbit in 1975's "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest". He plays a very similar character in that story prior to committing suicide at the instigation of a domineering Nurse Ratched. Dourif was also quite brilliant as Doc Cochran in the HBO Western series 'Deadwood', and he's an actor I can watch again and again just because of the performance he puts on.
That's not to take anything away from Gillian Anderson's breakout here in the role of Agent Dana Scully. She takes the lead in the story after partner Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) takes a bullet during a chase, and it's an interesting juxtaposition the story takes when Scully becomes a believer in the paranormal while Mulder attempts to dissuade her gut instincts. Actually, I couldn't understand why the writing for the story didn't allow for Scully to confide in her partner more regarding her dead father channeling through Luther Lee Boggs (Dourif).
One has to take it on faith that Scully comes to terms with the relationship she had with her father (Don Davis). Her own answer at the close of the story sounds more like a rationalization than a certainty when the question of his being proud of her is broached by Mulder. 'He was my father' sounded more like an attempt to bury the issue rather than confront it head on, and so, I felt that left an unresolved question mark for Scully. There's that, and Scully's apprehension at becoming convinced of forces out there that can't be explained, because even though she experienced Boggs's uncanny ability to tap the beyond, she's inclined to remain the ever vigilant skeptic when she proclaims - "I'm afraid to believe".