"The X Files" Teso dos Bichos (1996)

User Rating:

5.8/10   

Director:

Kim Manners

Writers:

Chris Carter (creator)
John Shiban (written by)

TV Series:

"The X Files" (1993)

Original Air Date:

8 March 1996 (Season 3, Episode 18)

Genre:

Drama | Horror | Mystery | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Plot:

A team of diggers who are rescuing ancient Indian artifacts from otherwise certain destruction uncover...

Plot Keywords:

FBI | FBI Agent | Alien | X Files | Conspiracy

Cast

David Duchovny	...	Fox Mulder
Gillian Anderson	...	Dana Scully
Vic Trevino	...	Dr. Alonso Bilac
Janne Mortil	...	Mona Wustner
Gordon Tootoosis	...	Shaman
Tom McBeath	...	Dr. Lewton
Ron Sauvé	...	Mr. Decker (as Ron Sauve)
Alan Robertson	...	Dr. Carl Roosevelt
Garrison Christiohn	...	Dr. Winters (as Garrison Chrisjohn)
Frank Welker	...	Special Vocal Effects

Runtime:

Argentina:60 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Spanish

Certification:

Argentina:13

Company:

20th Century Fox Television

Quotes:

Mona Wustner: [horrified] Yaje? You're drinking yaje?

Movie Connections:

References Ben (1972)

Soundtrack:

Piano Sonata 8 Op 13

Cats and Rats

After watching Pusher, arguably the best episode of season three, the viewer is then thrust upon Teso Dos Bichos, a poor excuse for an x-files episode. It's easily the worst episode of season three and quite possibly the entire series. First of all, the title is Portuguese, yet the episode begins in Ecuador, where Spanish is spoken. The episode starts off on the wrong foot with the teaser. First, there is snow at the dig site. Then, everything is dry. Minutes later, there is snow on the ground and it is snowing heavily. Bad continuity error. The guest acting is bad, starting with Dr. Roosevelt, continuing to Dr. Bilac, and finishing with Mona. The story is convoluted and confusing. Is the killer a jaguar spirit, Dr. Bilac, a bunch of cats, or rats? Are the killings related to the curse, or is it just sewer cats on the rampage? Mulder and Scully are in the sewers trying to find Dr. Bilac and they show a shot of a bunch of cats, seemingly calm. If they are killer cats, why are they so calm? Did the jaguar spirit transform into several cats? The story is too disjointed to make any logical sense. The music in some parts is quite interesting and there is some good Mulder/Scully dialogue which is what allows this episode to have a couple of points. This is John Shiban at his worst. Luckily, Jose Chung's "From Outer Space" is coming up shortly, so the pain from watching this episode won't last too long.