So, you see a preview for Brand X and see that it's going to be about cigarettes. The Cigarette Smoking Man will be involved, right? Wrong. It shocked me that good ol' Smokey didn't make an appearance, but it doesn't detract from this episode.
Brand X is a fine episode. I'd forgotten how much Skinner is featured in this episode. He carries the episode once Mulder goes down with a bad case of tobacco beetles.
Kim Manners shoots this episode masterfully. He does a lot of low shots looking up at actors from below, giving it a different look, almost as if it's the tobacco beetles' perspective.
Skinner balks at the idea of killer bugs when Mulder suggests it. He must have forgot about the killer bugs from season three's 'War of the Coprophages. But they turned out not to be killers. Also, it is unfortunate that when Scully mentions an entomologist she knows, it doesn't turn out to be Dr. Bambi Berenbaum. What a shame.
Tobin Bell plays the part of Darryl Weaver, the test subject who is immune to the effects of the engineered tobacco. He does so well, just as if the part were written with him in mind. That can be said of so many X-Files guest stars.
One thing that bothered me is that after Mulder leaves Dr. Voss' house after telling him of Thomas Gastall's death, Voss receives a phone call from someone watching him and Voss tells him that there was another death - downtown. Mulder didn't tell him where the murder occurred. He couldn't of known where, unless he already suspected it was in Weaver's apartment. Also, when Skinner charges into Morley's headquarters with a search warrant, he only brings two agents with him. That seemed like a pretty big building for only two agents to search. And my final gruff with this episode is when Skinner busts into Darryl Weaver's apartment after being tipped off my Dr. Voss. Skinner's been told that the larvae is in the smoke, yet he enters the apartment of the known smoker without even a mask over his face. Very careless and risky.
But each of those are minor inconsistencies and don't detract much from the episode. The acting is great and the story is taut and suspenseful, with Mulder's life hanging in the balance. So, sit back, relax, watch Brand X, and smoke 'em if you got 'em.
Brand X is a fine episode. I'd forgotten how much Skinner is featured in this episode. He carries the episode once Mulder goes down with a bad case of tobacco beetles.
Kim Manners shoots this episode masterfully. He does a lot of low shots looking up at actors from below, giving it a different look, almost as if it's the tobacco beetles' perspective.
Skinner balks at the idea of killer bugs when Mulder suggests it. He must have forgot about the killer bugs from season three's 'War of the Coprophages. But they turned out not to be killers. Also, it is unfortunate that when Scully mentions an entomologist she knows, it doesn't turn out to be Dr. Bambi Berenbaum. What a shame.
Tobin Bell plays the part of Darryl Weaver, the test subject who is immune to the effects of the engineered tobacco. He does so well, just as if the part were written with him in mind. That can be said of so many X-Files guest stars.
One thing that bothered me is that after Mulder leaves Dr. Voss' house after telling him of Thomas Gastall's death, Voss receives a phone call from someone watching him and Voss tells him that there was another death - downtown. Mulder didn't tell him where the murder occurred. He couldn't of known where, unless he already suspected it was in Weaver's apartment. Also, when Skinner charges into Morley's headquarters with a search warrant, he only brings two agents with him. That seemed like a pretty big building for only two agents to search. And my final gruff with this episode is when Skinner busts into Darryl Weaver's apartment after being tipped off my Dr. Voss. Skinner's been told that the larvae is in the smoke, yet he enters the apartment of the known smoker without even a mask over his face. Very careless and risky.
But each of those are minor inconsistencies and don't detract much from the episode. The acting is great and the story is taut and suspenseful, with Mulder's life hanging in the balance. So, sit back, relax, watch Brand X, and smoke 'em if you got 'em.