Hey, everyone, remember '3'? That was the last time this show tried to tackle vampire mythology, and it did not go so well.
That is so not the case with 'Bad Blood', which is, I think one of the best episodes of the series, and definitely of season five so far.
So I'll start at the end. I wasn't expecting the final reveal. Even after the sheriff turned out to also be a vampire, it never even occurred to me that this town of 361 was a town entirely populated by vampires. And yet, there are so many hints throughout the episode! The 'repeat business' at the mortuary, the fact that all of the victims were from out of town, the obvious friendly relationship between the sheriff and Ronnie, and probably even more that I'm missing.
What I really liked about 'Bad Blood' is the interaction between Mulder and Scully, specifically the fact that we got to her both of their versions of what happened, only we found out in the very final scene that even that was a product of their joint testimony to Skinner. "I arrived and Scully told me the story of what she saw, then I told my version, then you sent us back to Texas," is how I imagine it went.
There are similarities between this and 'Jose Chung's From Outer Space' in terms of how the story is being told, and here the narration is even more unreliable because Mulder's and Scully's perceptions of each other are so highly exaggerated. Well, and of themselves, but mostly Mulder's perception of himself. I think Scully is fairly honest. But Mulder thinks very highly of himself, and as a result continually demeans Scully by insinuating that he's perfect and correct and she just refuses to listen to him. It's rather harsh.
And of course, Scully's perception of Mulder reflects this, as well. She sees him as overbearing and pushy about his beliefs in paranormal activity. Oh, well, and he kind of is a lot of the time, isn't he? The disagreement in their perceptions is reflected both in their stories and their reactions to each other's story. Mulder is upset that Scully portrays him as so harsh, and Mulder is so jealous of the sheriff that he portrays him as an exaggeratedly unsophisticated redneck. He also portrays Scully as schoolgirlishly infatuated with him.
Though at least given what we learn about vampires in the episode, it's no wonder the vampire sheriff would be so charming. Assuming he's one of the types of vampires that would be expected to be that charming, since I'm not sure we ever saw the real sheriff, having only been told the story in Skinner's office at the end. I still suspect Mulder's portrayal of him was exaggerated, though.
Like several of the other comedic episodes, this also had some random elements that didn't really make a whole lot of sense in the context of the show or the characters, but were perfectly amusing within the episode. Scully's indignation at Mulder needing her to do an autopsy right after she put fifty cents into the vibrating bed (do those even still exist? what kind of motel are they even staying at in a vampire town?) was comedy gold. Something about her delivery on the line, "Tonight? I just put money in the magic fingers!" was just perfect. Also, she's upset over fifty cents. Priorities, Scully!
The other - well, one of many, really - really amusing note is that these vampires weren't very good at it. They may have been immortal, or close to indestructible, even, but they didn't have actual fangs, just fake ones, and they couldn't really overpower their victims without the use of heavy drugs hidden in pizza or coffee. Terrible at being vampires, I tell you.
And the other completely random and bizarre elements added another level of absurdity to an already pretty absurd episode. The runaway trailer? The discussion between Mulder and Scully about prison? Mulder almost cursing?
I think this episode was pretty much perfect. I'll definitely be looking forward to this one on every future rewatch. (Because did I mention I'm a fan of this show now and fully intend to acquire the DVD set when I'm done? No? Well, I intend to buy it, because it's awesome, and this episode is a pretty big part of that.)
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