The List
- Episode aired Oct 20, 1995
- TV-14
- 45m
IMDb RATING
7.1/10
4.3K
YOUR RATING
Enemies of a prison inmate who was executed in the electric chair begin dying one by one.Enemies of a prison inmate who was executed in the electric chair begin dying one by one.Enemies of a prison inmate who was executed in the electric chair begin dying one by one.
Craig Bruhnanski
- Guard
- (as Craig Brunanski)
Mig Macario
- Tattooed Prisoner
- (uncredited)
Don MacKay
- Oates
- (uncredited)
Bruce Pinard
- Executioner
- (uncredited)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaReal maggots were used in the shooting of some scenes, much to Gillian Anderson's displeasure.
- GoofsWhen Mulder and Scully are walking into the executioner's house, in the room to right of the main door, you can see a person sitting and going through papers.
- Quotes
Sammom Roque: How does it feel to be on death row, Warden?
- ConnectionsReferenced in Cult Legends and Rising Stars: Cult Legends: Bokeem Woodbine (2016)
Featured review
A woman gets lonely
sometimes she can't wait around for a man to be reincarnated
"The List" is a competent but ultimately less-than-memorable episode from the early part of season three. Although it holds its own as a relatively straightforward revenge drama, the episode is perhaps most notable for its adroit direction, helmed by Chris Carter himself, who had previously proved to be a capable cameraman in last season's "Duane Barry." Much like that episode, this one profits from tightly-packed claustrophobic settings: the corridors of a prison that appear to be as humid as a rainforest, a dark house with a similar ambiance that, instead of cell bars, is caged in Venetian blinds. Certainly in terms of look this is one of the most impressive excursions in the series up to this point.
Unfortunately the story doesn't quite live up to the visuals. More specifically, everything that happens in the teaser more or less spells out what's going to happen in the next forty-something minutes. Neech Manley (who, though seen only scarcely, is played powerfully by the late Badja Djola), a prisoner on death row, vows to return from the dead and seek retribution to five men who have wronged him. When a prison guard inexplicably turns up dead in Neech's cell, Mulder and Scully are called on to solve the case.
The problem is they never really solve anything. This is one of those infamous episodes (though far from the more egregious offenders) that relegates Mulder and Scully to audience members instead of participants. So while both provide insightful theories of their own to the nature of the crimes, neither of them walk away having learned anything (On a side note, if anyone can paraphrase that loquacious discussion at the end, please let me know just what the hell is going on!). Poetically speaking the script is as much of a prison as the plot's environs - we know, since this is of course The X-Files, that we probably haven't seen the last of Manley and that five men probably will end up dead by the episode's end. In the end it's all a matter of getting from point A to point B.
So what we end up with is an impeccably-acted, exquisitely-directed hour of television that's just a bit too linear to stand up to the upper echelons of the series's catalog. That this episode immediately follows "Bruckman," widely regarded as the pinnacle of the show's nine-year run, doesn't do it any favors. Still, "The List" is enjoyable, nice to look at, features a better-than-average cast, and gets better with repeated viewings. Carter would write better episodes as the series progressed, but in terms of aesthetics, this may be very well be his opus. 7/10
Unfortunately the story doesn't quite live up to the visuals. More specifically, everything that happens in the teaser more or less spells out what's going to happen in the next forty-something minutes. Neech Manley (who, though seen only scarcely, is played powerfully by the late Badja Djola), a prisoner on death row, vows to return from the dead and seek retribution to five men who have wronged him. When a prison guard inexplicably turns up dead in Neech's cell, Mulder and Scully are called on to solve the case.
The problem is they never really solve anything. This is one of those infamous episodes (though far from the more egregious offenders) that relegates Mulder and Scully to audience members instead of participants. So while both provide insightful theories of their own to the nature of the crimes, neither of them walk away having learned anything (On a side note, if anyone can paraphrase that loquacious discussion at the end, please let me know just what the hell is going on!). Poetically speaking the script is as much of a prison as the plot's environs - we know, since this is of course The X-Files, that we probably haven't seen the last of Manley and that five men probably will end up dead by the episode's end. In the end it's all a matter of getting from point A to point B.
So what we end up with is an impeccably-acted, exquisitely-directed hour of television that's just a bit too linear to stand up to the upper echelons of the series's catalog. That this episode immediately follows "Bruckman," widely regarded as the pinnacle of the show's nine-year run, doesn't do it any favors. Still, "The List" is enjoyable, nice to look at, features a better-than-average cast, and gets better with repeated viewings. Carter would write better episodes as the series progressed, but in terms of aesthetics, this may be very well be his opus. 7/10
helpful•131
- DWilliams1089
- Dec 3, 2010
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