Fox in the Hell House

You know what? We had too much to say about this absolute trashfire of an episode of primetime 90's television, so we decided to just record us doing just that. Now eat your peas, dammit! You're gonna hear us talk about weird death fetishism, and you're going to LIKE IT. Cohosts: John Watson (they/them) Bill Eldridge (he/him) Mae Barnes (she/her)

What could be better than spooky Romanian folk religious practices and les enfant terribles? Mulder and Scully investigate the death of a young child of a state department worker, and the supernatural phenomenon surrounding his older brother Charlie. Wacky Romanian Grandmas, family secrets, and improper ritual sanitary practices abound. Cohosts: Bill Eldridge (he/him) Mae Barnes (she/her) John Wat...

In the final part of John's 3-part analysis on modern profiling and serialized/mass violence, we finally come to their favorite episode. A spate of strange necrophilic activity catches the attention of Mulder and Scully, and this hits Scully particularly close to home due to her recent abduction and resultant PTSD. Probably one of the darkest episodes of the season, but also it is X-Files at i...

We are BACK in the good old Aubrey, Missouri! That is probably the first time anyone has ever thought that particular idea. Anyways, this is part 2 of our conversation about this car crash of an episode, in which we talk more about serial killers, genetic memory, and the eugenics of it all. I know it's probably a bit predictable -- take a drink every time we mention eugenics on the show!-- but...

You smell that, boy? That's the smell of Midwestern Gothic. It smells of cornfields, rusted farmhouses, and psychosexual trauma. Mulder and Scully are called in because the body of an FBI agent from the 30's is found, unraveling a mysterious cold case involving a serial murderer... and a pregnant cop with visions? Let's add in a bit of the spice melange to that mix, while we're at...

This week, Mae is at the helm for a not-quite-Syndicate arc two-parter! A shapeshifting alien bounty hunter is after a mysteriously identical cadre of doctors... and oh right, SAMANTHA MULDER IS BACK?? OR IS SHE??? She emerges out of nowhere, and Mulder is on the warpath to figure out just what the hell is going on. We have clones. We have family trauma. We have Skinner being a badass. What more c...

Wait a minute. Small town? Meat-processing factory floor? Creepy cult? No, this is not a repost or a rerun; it is in fact a completely different episode from Our Town! Indeed, it is a far BETTER episode, because it doesn't have a lot of the racism that made that episode so terrible. Join Mulder and Scully as they investigate a town with a big secret, and a surprise callback to the season final...

Welcome to the second half of our episode on One Breath! This time we go deeper into the conspiracy of the syndicate, the grim reality of what the Cancer Man's life is like, what Skinner's whole deal is about, and the rich vein of Catholicism in Scully's resurrection. It's a good talk, come hang with us! Cohosts: Bill Eldridge (he/him) John Watson (they/them) Mae Barnes (she/her)

Scully is found alive in a hospital, and nobody-- not even hospital staff-- knows why. Mulder crashes out, and there is a lot of meditation on the metaphysical nature of life and death. This is the first half of our exploration of this episode--more next week!

Who ordered all these vampires, because dude, these vampires SUCK. No, really. Mulder, missing his one true bestie Scully, is really sad and decides to go hunt vampires in LA for a bit. Nothing of substance occurs, least of all the X-Files's exploration of the subject of vampirism. There is so much meat left on that bone, and we are SALTY about it. So come listen to 3 weirdos talk about the wa...

We got us a heap of trouble with this one: Mulder and Scully are called into a Haitian refugee camp to investigate some mysterious shenanigans... which means that we need to talk about Haitian Voudon. To do that, we needed some help from someone who knows what he's talking about. We have special guest Medene Presley on to investigate the history and culturally prescient aspects of this bizarre...

This is the second half of the Duane Barrie saga in a nutshell: Scully gets abducted by Duane, and then Duane lets the aliens abduct Scully for like, another episode. Meanwhile we investigate the meaning of art criticism, interrogate the thesis of this show, and also make jokes about what a demon twink Krycek is. We dub Skinner "The People's Daddy," too. Cohosts: John Watson (they/th...

Oh, Duane, you poor guy. Getting abducted will ruin your life, apparently, and then one day, you get fed up and start a hostage situation in a travel agency so your psychiatrist will FINALLY listen. #relateable. Anyways, this is the first of a two parter, very plot heavy, so we just kind of roll with it and enjoy the ride. Your hosts: John Watson (they/them) Bill Eldridge (he/him) Mae Barnes (she/...

Oh boy, another day, another deceptively dark episode of the X-files... this time guest starring Tony Todd of Candyman fame! A string of murders with unusual circumstances leads to Mulder and new """friend""" Alex Krycek to uncover a Vietnam-era experimental program to eliminate soldiers' ability to sleep, leading to Todd as a kind of psychic Freddy Krueger, or pe...

X-Files sure is a show, huh? Because you can go from a campy, monster-filled romp in the sewers with a worm mutant one week... and then a harrowing, poorly handled, and frankly disturbing take on American mass shootings the next. The gang tries to take it more seriously this week, because this is some heavy content. CW for anyone with trauma involving mass shootings, because this episode really di...

THE EPISODE YOU (HAVEN'T) BEEN WAITING FOR IS HERE! That's right, we're talking about the infamous episode with hideous, mind-scarring FlukeMan! There's some weird stuff going on in the sewers, and Mulder is sent to scenic New Jersey to investigate. What follows is a disgusting and visceral experience that warped our fair hosts into the people they are today. Enjoy! Cohosts: Mae Ba...

While Mae is gone, Bill takes the helm this week as we venture forth into the Ozarks for a real hootenanny of an episode. I say "hootennanny," because what I really mean is "an extremely racist piece of hot garbage." Bill and John go down the rabbithole of Arkansan lore, unnecessary orientalism and racism against Polynesian peoples, and some finger-licking good cannibalism. You...

You thought it was done? You fool. We have so much more to say about the season premiere of X-Files season 2! This time, we attempt to give Dana Scully her flowers as "The Only One On the Show Who Gets Things Done." We discuss feminist theory, spycraft, and all sorts of other wonderful things. Join us on the queerest X-files podcast of all time. Cohosts: John Watson (they/them) Mae Barne...

We're back! The second half of our discussion on the season 2 premiere of the X-Files, in which we talk about Skinner, the Cancer Man, and all kinds of conspiratorial intrigue. Cohosts: John Watson (they/them) Bill Eldridge (he/him) Mae Barnes (she/her)

WE'RE BACK, BABY! New season, hot and fresh! We start off with the season premiere: the X-files are closed, and Mulder and Scully are picking up the strands of the existing conspiracies that drew them together. Mulder takes a trip to Puerto Rico and gets evidence of extraterrestrial contact. We had to split this up into 2 parts, so stay tuned for the THRILLING CONCLUSION, NEXT WEEK! Cohosts: J...

Since we finished season 1, we needed a palate cleanser, so we decided to watch a really excellent southern gothic noir thriller from the fifties: Night of the Hunter, starring Robert Mitchum! A false preacher terrorizes a couple children for the location of stolen money. In the ensuing fracas, we discuss the many sins of American flavored evangelicalism, racism, patriarchy, and the darkness that...

What a long strange ride it's been... In the season 1 finale, Scully and Mulder get set on the hunt for a person who has been infused with alien DNA. Monkeys were involved. Multiple east coast cities were disparaged. I'm pretty sure we went to Spencer's Gifts at some point in the episode, because this prop work is top notch. Everything comes up to a thrilling climax, and makes us ask:...

CW: this episode contains discussions about self harm/suicide It's a tale as old as time: Girl is grieving the loss of her father figure boss, and wouldn't you know it, his ghost is protecting her from muggers and handsy employers. Don't worry, Mulder and Scully are on the case to do... well, not much of anything, save offer some theories about either paranormal psychic events, or polt...

The gang takes on perhaps the most terrifying topic of all time: Gender?? In this episode, Scully and Mulder are on the hunt for a gender-morphing serial killer, and in the process, investigate a sect of totally-not-Amish people called the Kindred. In the process, we go into the politics of gender, the exploitation of religious communities, and also anti-Luddism. We go a lot of places, is the thin...

You know that paranoid feeling you get when you feel like you're on the edge of something great, only for the rug being pulled out from under you? That's what watching this episode feels like. The gang talk about a Syndicate episode involving everything from internet weirdos to Gulf War syndrome, and the multiple red herrings on offer. I wondered why it smelled like fish in here. Cohosts:...