With all our favorite shows taking their usual break in the summer months, this opens up an opportunity to watch some of our old favorites. That’s where the Multiversity Summer Binge comes in. Last year, I took a look at the entire first season of my favorite show ever, The X-Files and this summer, I’m back with a vengeance covering season two. The first season of this show was more of a prelude. It teased all the things that were to come and spent a lot of time doing the ground work. In the second season, the show really kicks into gear. Truth be told, of the 11 seasons, this is easily top three for me. I’m really excited to be writing about these episodes, particularly the middle of the season. This week I’m looking at “Sleepless,” an episode that introduces us to one of the most important antagonists in the history of the show.
1. The Premise
“Sleepless” tells the story of what happens to a group of soldiers when they’re experimented on with the end result being that they can’t sleep. The episode begins with Dr. Grissom, the leader of this experiment being killed by one of the soldiers. He’s not stabbed or shot but instead he sees fire and thinks that he’s being set on fire. The person committing the murders is a victim of this sleep experiment and he’s using the anniversary of an important fight in Vietnam to get revenge for everything that has happened. Mulder and Alex Krycek, his new partner, begin to investigate this sleep study and find something far more upsetting than they could imagine. “Sleepless” as a concept is really good but it gets a little lost in the shuffle because of what this episode begins to tease for the rest of the season going forward.
2. What If You Couldn’t Sleep Though?
I struggle with insomnia and have often wished that I could just not sleep. I would love to not have that be something we have to do. Think of all the time I’d have. What I like about this episode is that it takes that idea and makes it terrifying. One of the best things about The X-Files is that it makes the desirable and/or mysterious actually scary. The way that the elimination of sleep is addressed here is actually kind of terrifying and that really works for the episode. Insomnia is scary and lack of sleep can mess with your mind in a really troubling way. To take that, add super powers to that and this kind of unhinged thing that comes from being in so much combat, makes for a really good concept. The darkness in the episode itself in the way that it’s shot magnifies all these things and really hits home that X-Files vibe.
3. Alex Krycek, I Hate You
This episode introduces the worst person in the whole world, Alex Krycek. Alex Krycek is introduced here as a rookie partner for Mulder on this case but in reality, he’s the worst person and I hate his dumb face. Alex Krycek is basically evil Mulder. He’s smart, motivated, he knows about conspiracies and such but he chooses to be evil and work with Cigarette Smoking Man. He chooses to hurt Mulder and Scully because he’s the worst. I love to dunk on low rent Mulder any chance I get and everything bad that happens to him as the show goes on is totally deserved. He’s an opportunist and I can’t wait to get into some later episodes so I can keep telling you how he’s the worst.
4. Mr. X Comes Through Again
Mulder doesn’t get involved with this case until he’s given the 911 tape by Mr. X, the new Deep Throat. He’s the one who gives Mulder the information about the experiments that Grissom was conducting. He gives him the name of “Preacher” and helps Mulder get to the bottom of this case the way that Mulder desires. Mr. X is still just a mysterious figure and he ultimately doesn’t become as vital to Mulder as the first Deep Throat. With that said though, he does help Mulder in ways that keeps this part of the season going in a really meaningful way once Mulder gets kicked off the X-Files.
5. Heavy Foreshadowing
At the end of this episode, we see Alex Krycek revealed for what he really is – a mole for Cigarette Smoking Man. He’s reporting back to him and his associates about what he’s learned with Mulder. Krycek points out that Mulder is still dedicated to his cause and work but also points out that separating him and Scully has only strengthened their bond. He goes so far to say that Scully will be a problem going forward. Without getting too far ahead of myself, this scene at the end is huge. The next 4 episodes are all about the major thing that is about to happen to Scully. What happens to Scully ends up being a major part of the whole series’s overarching mythology and it’s why I consider this season to really be the start of all that. One of my favorite things about watching the show again is that I catch different things and other things feel differently to me on a rewatch. This scene was very chilling to me knowing what’s coming next week.
