The X-Files, “Founder’s Mutation,” was written and directed by James Wong. In fact, each of the episodes in this season is directed by the writer. This episode felt very much like vintage
X-Files me. What didn’t feel quite like a return to form was how bright things looked. Even the requisite blue flashlight scene didn’t actually give us the blue flashlights. I’m attributing this to the loss of Kim Manners from the equation. A similar brightening occurred on
Supernatural after his death as he was the one responsible for the distinctive palette of both shows.
The voice over also mentions them giving their son up for adoption in 2001 – which beautifully ties the episode together – the episode is about the children and we see both Scully (Gillian Anderson) and Mulder (David Duchovny) daydream about their own son. I also liked that after the initial scene that introduces the case, we get the original credits for the show! This week’s case involves Sanjay (Christopher Logan) hearing a high-pitched noise. After running out of a meeting, he locks himself in his lab and then horrifically stabs himself in the ear with a letter opener!
Our first shot of Mulder is as the clean-shaven, suit attired FBI agent we remember. Scully suggests the most likely explanation for Sanjay’s actions – he had a psychotic break and killed himself. The Department of Defense is there to quickly shut them down, however. Mulder steals Sanjay’s phone, which Scully points out he can’t do.
Mulder follows up on a lead from the phone and sets a meeting with Gupta (Vik Sahay) while Scully performs the autopsy on Sanjay. Hilariously, they meet in a bar and Gupta suggests they take their conversation somewhere more private. Mulder thinks he’s going to tell him something sensitive, but Gupta thinks that Mulder wants a blowjob! Gupta points at Mulder’s chest and tells him, “the truth is in here!” He thinks Mulder is denying his own sexuality, but of course it’s a beautiful play on the show’s tagline. He does tell Mulder that Sanjay talked about his kids dying. Mulder points out that Sanjay didn’t have any kids, but Gupta counters that Sanjay was leading two separate lives.
Scully’s autopsy reveals the cause of death to be the letter opener to the brain – not really surprising. The real clue is on the palm of Sanjay’s hand, however. Scully has to break his fingers to reveal “Founder’s Mutation” written on his palm.
The two break into his house – flashlights out! They discover a wall with pictures of children taken in a clinical setting. The cops arrive just as Mulder is incapacitated by a high-pitched sound.
The next we see of the two, they are in Skinner’s (Mitch Pileggi) office. There are files on children with grave genetic anomalies, but Murphy (Ryan Robbins) tells them they’ll have no access to the files. Skinner tells them the case is closed. As soon as Murphy leaves, it’s clear that the case isn’t really closed. Skinner says he assumes they made copies of the files – and of course they did. Mulder says the children are failed experiments, and Scully adds that there are many troubling details to the case.
Back in their old office, Scully is busy syncing up all the surveillance cameras and it’s clear – to us – that the mail guy is the same guy they almost hit with their car and we later find out this is Kyle (Jonathan Whitesell). Scully asks Mulder what happened at Sanjay’s house, and he tells her that he heard “Find her.” Scully is worried about Mulder because of what happened to Sanjay, but of course, Mulder knows more than Sanjay did about what’s causing the noise. Infrared sounds would drive worms to the surface and explain the birds congregating on the lawns – something that has been creepy since Hitchcock’s
The Birds. I love the way the show can always play on classic horror tropes.
The case leads them to Our Lady of Sorrows – where Scully has been working for seven years! This is another nice loop back to the first episode. The biggest donor is Dr Augustus Goldman (Doug Savant) and that’s who they are investigating. Scully gets them in to the ward and they meet Agnes (Kacey Rohl). She begs them to get her out, saying she doesn’t belong there. She doesn’t care what she signed, she’s not giving up her baby even if it is sick. Sister Mary (Christine Willes) tells them that the women in the ward are homeless, damaged with no men in their lives. It’s beautifully shot as
Planet of the Apes plays in the background. A nice echo of how the “scientific” evolution of a species can back fire. Mulder gives her his card. . The next time they see her, she’s been killed by a hit and run and her baby is gone.
Mulder is scandalized. He remarks that the women are no more than incubators. Scully then asks him if he thinks she was just an incubator. He tells her she was never “just” anything to him. I love when he’s adorable with her! She then asks if he ever thinks about William (played by Hannah, Aiden, and Rowan Longworth). And we get the proof of his answer at the end of the episode. He tells her yes, he does think of their son, and he also answers her unasked question. They did the right thing. They did what they had to to protect their so. Mulder tells her all they can do is pull the thread and see what unravels.
There’s then a hard and disorienting cut to Scully with a little boy on his first day of school. She tells him that the most important thing to remember is that she loves him. We then jump to him having broken his arm. The lighting has switched to a sickly green overlay. Scully is there to comfort him. Next we jump to the two back at home. There’s something wrong with William and he’s calling for Scully. She arrives to see his eyes turn black. Her biggest fear is that he’s not human. We then see Scully with a picture of baby William.
Jumping right to the end of the episode, I really liked how this episode echoed the scenes with Scully with Mulder with their son. In this episode, it seems much clearer that Mulder is simply daydreaming about their son as he looks at a copy of the same picture that Scully was looking at. Like Scully, the images move from pleasant – Mulder explaining the monolith from
2001 (and of course, that's the year they gave him up for adoption), Mulder and Will letting off rockets with Will wearing a NASA hat and saying one day he’ll go into space – to the nightmarish – Mulder running into Will’s room to find him levitating and being abducted, much like Mulder’s sister. They gave him up for adoption because they were afraid of what would happen to him if they didn’t. I also loved how each had different hopes of what they might have shared with their son and each had a different fear.
The two interview Dr Goldman. He tells them that “founder's mutation” sounds very dramatic but it’s actually meaningless. He takes them through the ward, showing them all the kids with their various mutations. What really impressed me here was that last week when I googled born without ears as a birth defect, I got pictures of virtually every child we see in the ward – try it, it’s fascinating!
Mulder and Scully are allowed to talk to Adam (Jaiven Natt). He tells them he’s been there forever when they ask him how long he’s been there. He has no parents. Scully wants to know why he’s in a sealed room. Goldman tells them he’s undergoing cutting edge treatment and they have to eliminate all environmental factors. Scully asks if the treatment involves alien DNA, and Goldman replies that he was told she was the rational one! After seeing a girl with telekinetic powers freaking out in the hallway, the two are called to Agnes’ hit and run.
Scully’s autopsy reveals that the baby was surgically removed and Mulder points out that every new species begins with a founder’s mutation. In this case, the baby might have survived the impact because of a mutation that would allow it to survive the impact that killed Agnes.
Next, the two interview Goldman’s wife, Jackie (Rebecca Wisocky). She’s been incarcerated as insane for killing her baby. Much like the daydreaming of Scully and Mulder, we get a flashback to Jackie and her daughter Molly (Megan Peta Hill). She tells them that when Molly was two she was underwater in the pool for over two minutes – she was fine because she could breathe there! Jackie was sure that her husband did something to the embryo she was carrying. She decided to save herself and her baby by running away. There was an accident. The baby wasn’t killed but spoke to her to let him out. She cut open her own belly – I loved the gross and creepy image of the baby crawling out of her!
When she woke up in hospital, the baby was gone and she never saw him. Goldman worked for the government and took Molly away, incarcerating her. Jackie says she thinks of her son often. Scully agrees that a mother never forgets.
Mulder and Scully connect Kyle the janitor to Sanjay and track him to his house. Cynthia (Alison Wandzura) his mother tells them he’s simple and she doesn’t like to expose him to stress. Mulder tells her they know he’s not her son and wants to know how soon after the accident she found him. When the birds start to gather Cynthia freaks out as that’s when bad things happen. Mulder is once again incapacitated by the noise. Cynthia insists Kyle’s just trying to protect her.
Kyle insists that he wasn’t trying to kill Sanjay. Sanjay was helping him to find his sister. Scully tells him they know who knows where she is and they take him to Goldman. Goldman wants to take some blood, but agrees to take them all to Molly. He tries to pass off another girl as her, but Kyle knows it’s not her and runs to the real Molly. The two shatter the glass between them. Molly knocks out Scully and then pushes Mulder all the way down the hall. Goldman starts bleeding from every orifice.
The scene hard cuts to Mulder and Scully briefing Skinner. Mulder says he blacked out after Goldman’s eyes popped out of his head – “You can’t un-see that!” UGH! Mulder! Horrible pun! Neither saw where Kyle or Molly went – but would they say if they did? After all, this could be the very fate of William.
I thought this was a terrific second episode. It was a nice tie in to the myth arc, but also worked well as a monster of the week. I suspect that we will come back to this theme of the children and the alien DNA and what the government really knows, however. What did you think of the episode? Creepy enough? Gory enough? I thought the Mulder/Scully chemistry was awesome. Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!
About the Author - Lisa Macklem
I do interviews and write articles for the site in addition to reviewing a number of shows, including Supernatural, Arrow, Agents of Shield, Agent Carter, The Walking Dead, Game of Thrones, The X-Files, Defiance, Bitten, Killjoys, and a few others! I'm active on the Con scene when I have the time. When I'm not writing about television shows, I'm often writing about entertainment and media law in my capacity as a legal scholar. I also work in theatre when the opportunity arises. I'm an avid runner and rider, currently training in dressage.
