Soft Light (The X-Files)
"Soft Light" | |
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The X-Files episode | |
Episode no. | Season 2 Episode 23 |
Directed by | James A. Contner |
Written by | Vince Gilligan |
Production code | 2X23 |
Original air date | May 5, 1995 |
Running time | 44 minutes |
Guest appearances | |
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"Soft Light" is the twenty-third episode of the
The show centers on
"Soft Light" was the first The X-Files episode written by Gilligan, who would go on to write several acclaimed episodes such as "Pusher", "Bad Blood" and "Memento Mori". "Soft Light" was one of the first episodes written by someone not on the main writing staff for The X-Files. Originally, the script called for Banton's shadow to be able to move independently, but it was rewritten to save on animation costs. In addition, the character of X (Steven Williams) was not in the script initially. His character was added to give Banton a legitimate fear of the government.
Plot
At a hotel in Richmond, Virginia, Chester Ray Banton (Tony Shalhoub) reaches a room and frantically knocks on the door while shouting the name ″Morris″. Banton's shouts attract the attention of Patrick Newirth, a guest in the room across the hall. When Newirth looks through his door's peephole, Banton steps back, causing his shadow to slip beneath Newirth's door. Newirth suddenly evaporates, leaving a strange burn mark on the floor. Banton realizes what has happened and flees the scene.
The case of Newirth's death, the latest in several of its kind, is assigned to local detective Kelly Ryan (Kate Twa). She seeks help from
The following day, while reviewing the station's surveillance tapes, Mulder sees footage of Banton staring at the floor. After blowing up the frame, Mulder sees the logo for a company called Polarity Magnetics on Banton's jacket. At Polarity Magnetics, the agents meet scientist Christopher Davey (
The agents find Banton at the train station, but he runs to a poorly lit area. He indicates that walking into his shadow will kill the agents, so Mulder shoots out the overhead lights. Banton allows himself to be taken to a
Banton returns to Polarity Magnetics and is confronted by Ryan, whom he reluctantly kills with his shadow when she tries to arrest him. Banton orders Davey to destroy him with the particle accelerator, but Davey reveals that he has been helping the government hunt him down. Davey locks Banton in with the particle accelerator, but is shot by X. Mulder and Scully arrive soon after, seemingly too late to save Banton from being vaporized by the accelerator; Mulder realizes that X has betrayed him, and tells X to never contact him again. The case is considered closed, but Mulder notes that Davey disappeared after the incidents. At a research facility, X watches as experiments are being performed on a despairing Banton.[1]
Production
"Soft Light" was written by Vince Gilligan and directed by James A. Contner. Prior to writing this episode, Gilligan, who had long been a fan of the show, learned that his agent was a relative of series creator Chris Carter. Thanks to this connection, he was allowed to meet Carter. During this meet, Carter asked Gilligan if he had any episode ideas, to which Gilligan quickly noted that he had been observing his shadow and thought it would be "creepy" if it began moving independently. Carter asked Gilligan to develop a script based on the idea as a freelance project (although when the episode was finished, Carter offered Gilligan a job as a permanent writer).[2] This episode was thus one of the first episodes to be written by someone from outside the main writing staff of The X-Files.[3]
Originally, the script called for Banton's shadow to be able to move independently; Carter and writer
The episode guest stars
Both the Pacific Central Station and the Pacific Marine Training Institute in Vancouver stood in for the train station featured in the episode. Initially, the Pacific Marine Training Institute would only give the series permission to film after 5pm, but the show's producers eventually talked the dean of the station into letting production begin at 2 in the afternoon. Because he was a fan of the series, Gilligan traveled to Vancouver and video recorded the filming of "Soft Light".[7]
Broadcast and reception
"Soft Light" was originally aired in the United States on the
"Soft Light" received mixed to positive reviews from television critics. Entertainment Weekly gave the episode a "B−" and noted that the episode "gains points for the obscure subject matter" but "loses them for the strained conspiratorial element".[10] Zack Handlen of The A.V. Club also gave it a "B−". He praised the cold open for its strangeness and X's involvement, but thought that the explanation for Banton's shadow was not satisfactorily fleshed out.[11] Robert Shearman and Lars Pearson, in their book Wanting to Believe: A Critical Guide to The X-Files, Millennium & The Lone Gunmen, rated the episode four stars out of five. The two wrote positively of the episode's case, calling it one wherein "Mulder and Scully get to investigate properly, coming up with theories that they later build on or retract."[12] Shearman and Pearson also wrote positively of the episode's conclusion, noting that "there's no better illustration for distrusting the government than the brilliant closing scene" which features Shalhoub "fixed to a chair, bombarded with flashes of light, as one single tear rolls down his terrified face."[12] Other reviews were decidedly more critical. John Keegan from Critical Myth awarded the episode a 5 out of 10 and wrote, "Overall, this episode falls short due to a completely ludicrous central concept, only partially countered by an interesting resolution highlighting the more sinister side of Informant X. Much like last season’s final few episodes, this season is ending with plenty of hints that Mulder and Scully are pushing the wrong buttons."[13]
Critic A.J. Black compared Banton to Vince Gilligan's later creations, such as Walter White from Breaking Bad and Saul Goodman in Better Call Saul: "Banton feels, intriguingly for Gilligan’s first X-File, like the end of the writer’s exploratory road, certainly in the kind of tragic masculine figure he is so fascinated by. Banton is exhausted, worn out, paranoid and anxious about anyone who gets too close to him. “Please, I’m warning you! I’m a dangerous man!” He feels more equivalent to Walter or Jimmy/Saul (the latter, perhaps, in his future guise as the broken Gene Takavic) at the point they have lost their souls."[14]
Footnotes
- ^ a b Lowry, pp. 219–21.
- ^ Ryan, Maureen (11 July 2013). "'The X-Files' Turns 20: 'Breaking Bad' Creator On What He Learned From Mulder And Scully". Huffington Post. Retrieved 13 July 2013.
- ^ a b c Lowry, p. 221.
- ^ Hurwitz and Knowles, p. 66.
- ^ Edwards, p. 308.
- ^ a b Eramo, Steve (30 January 2011). "Sci-Fi Blast From The Past – Tony Shalhoub (The X-Files)". SciFi and TVTalk. Retrieved 24 July 2012.
- ^ Gradnitzer and Pittson, p. 77.
- ^ Nutter, David; et al. (2000). The X-Files: The Complete Second Season (booklet). Beverly Hills, California: 20th Century Home Entertainment.
- ^ a b Lowry, p. 249.
- Time Inc. 29 November 1996. Retrieved 31 March 2012.
- ^ Handlen, Zack (27 June 2010). "F. Emasculata/Soft Light/Our Town/Anasazi". The A.V. Club. The Onion. Retrieved 31 March 2012.
- ^ a b Shearman and Pearson, p. 52.
- ^ Keegan, John. "Soft Light". Critical Myth. Retrieved 23 July 2012.
- ^ Black, A. J. (2022-08-12). "The X-Files | Better Call 'Pusher': Vince Gilligan's Tragic Men & Monsters". The Companion. Retrieved 2022-08-15.
Bibliography
- Edwards, Ted (1996). X-Files Confidential. Little, Brown and Company. ISBN 0-316-21808-1.
- Hurwitz, Matt & Knowles, Chris (2008). The Complete X-Files: Behind the Series the Myths and the Movies. New York, US: Insight Editions. ISBN 978-1-933784-72-4.
- Lowry, Brian (1995). The Truth is Out There: The Official Guide to the X-Files. Harper Prism. ISBN 0-06-105330-9.
- Shearman, Robert; Pearson, Lars (2009). Wanting to Believe: A Critical Guide to The X-Files, Millennium & The Lone Gunmen. Mad Norwegian Press. ISBN 978-0-9759446-9-1.
External links
- "Soft Light" at TheXFiles.com
- "Soft Light" at IMDb