Static Thoughts - X-Files: Pusher

One of the majorly anticipated events of 2016 is the return of the X-Files, a genre show from the ‘90s that lasted 9 seasons, 2 movies, and served to dominate the sci-fi landscape in that decade.  Seriously, Star Wars may have been king in the ‘80s and Terminator was an early wonder of the ‘90s but it was X-Files and Star Trek that truly ruled the ‘90s sci-fi conversation and with good reason.  X-Files managed to grow from a ‘90s curiosity revolving around conspiracy theory Americana like big foot and Area 51 into an incredibly tight and well written horror sci-fi series that was the first time cops and the paranormal were combined in the mainstream. 

The entirety of genre TV has been impacted by the X-Files, with some additional points even into mainstream television, like how Breaking Bad creator Vince Gilligan got his start on X-Files.  One of Gilligan’s episodes is my subject for today’s review, a season 3 installment called ‘Pusher’ that revolves around a disaffected sociopath with the power to psychokinetically impose his will on people.  Basically, the titular Pusher is like the first draft version of Kilgrave, the villain of 2015’s hit streaming superhero show Jessica Jones.

The curious thing about this episode for me is that I was technically aware of all these component parts well before now.  I’ve known about Zebediah Killgrave, the Purple Man, from Marvel comics for quite awhile and ‘Pusher’s long been one of my favorite X-Files episodes due to how unnerving and shockingly harsh it is.  A lot of X-Files episodes made great use of ambiguous victories and the show is overall emblazoned with a kind of cynicism that was atypical to the decade that spawned but ‘Pusher’ always stood out in my memory.  A lot of that has to do with the framing of the mind control at hand and the nature of the episode’s villain, Bob Model AKA Pusher. 

Where most X-Files bad guys, the more cognizant human ones anyway, tended to favor a more psychotic and unhinged approach to villainy Model is kind of unique due to his more cat and mouse tactics.  Other episodes like Fire, The Walk, Brand X, or Lazarus have creepy crazy villains out for revenge or some other psychotic whim but Model is the only X-Files bad guy that’s out for attention more than anything else.  As the episode unfolds it becomes clearer and clearer he’s a villain cut more from the cloth of a Batman foe than the standard array of X-Files rogues, someone who hurts and kills people specifically to taunt the heroes, Agent Mulder in particular. 

This makes most of the episode much more of a cat and mouse game between the Agents and Model than you’d normally get from the X-Files, including some very weird scenes for the show.  For instance, this episode is one of the only instances where we see the agents actually try and prosecute one of their suspects when they take Model into custody and are forced to go through a preliminary hearing.  It’s a weird sequence given how often the X-Files would twist and contort excuses to not have the Agents sit through courtroom antics, they even lampshaded this in season 1. 

It is especially weird to see Agent Mulder take the witness stand and lay out his theory to a federal judge that Model can psychically will people into killing themselves.  We’re used to Mulder having more facts than everyone else as the slick, cool guy of the duo with Scully as more of the audience stand-in but in this scene it’s very much flipped and Mulder really does come off as crazy as everyone else keeps saying. 

The highlights of the episode are undoubtedly the handful of sequences when Model uses his abilities to incredibly creepy effect.  It helps that his powers are never made fully clear so we, the audience, are never really sure when someone is safe from him or not which leads to a great reveal at the end of the 2^nd act when Model compels an officer to have a heart attack.  Though the violence of the crimes is creepy what really makes the whole thing deeply unsettling is the lead performance by Robert Wisden as Model.  The only thing we know about Model’s power is that his voice is tied to his abilities, which gives Wisden plenty of chances to eerily monologue in this flat affect as he talks people into committing horrible acts of violence upon themselves and others. 

The X-Files was always top notch when it came to villain casting and Gilligan nails the writing for Model’s character even though a lot of his key traits are established through exposition.  That’s one of the many little cheats X-Files tended to finagle, using Mulder’s role as a behavioral psychologist and the trend for profilers at the time to excuse the agents blatantly stating the villain’s character motivations.  It’s a cheap trick certainly but when coupled with a strong performance there’s no denying its effectiveness.  The episode describes Model as a little man who saw his tumor as his one chance to feel big and you believe it with every petty action he takes and the way he relishes the attention he’s called down on himself.

Getting back to the Jessica Jones comparison, obviously Kilgrave and Model aren’t exactly the same type of villain but they’re on harmony if not melody.  The big difference is intent and framing more than anything else, simply put Model isn’t meant to represent anything more than a threat for the episode.  He’s a very well realized and terrifying threat but that’s all he is as opposed to Kilgrave, who exists as a sort of calcification of casual sexism, entitlement, and rape culture.  Kilgrave is definitely the more fascinating character to dissect but, in a funny sort of way, he’s the more appealing character too, mainly due to the casual nature of his abilities compared to Model. 

I maintain that Kilgrave’s creepiest quality is how mundane his evil actually is, to the point of being creepily desirable in a lot of ways.  Every time he commands someone its out of impulse and base emotions, safe in the knowledge he can do whatever he wants to whoever he wants and suffer no consequences but at the same time he’s not overtly sadistic either.  Kilgrave’s whole identity and power is based around his own laziness more than anything else, empathy would require too much effort from him but so would sadism. 

Model, on the other hand, is decidedly sadistic in his actions mainly because his powers require so much more effort.  When Model compels someone to set themselves on fire or causes a heart attack he can’t just say the suggestion, he needs to slowly and coercively talk the person through his demand.  As mentioned it’s an eerie scene and a big part of that is how much visible effort he’s putting into horribly mutilating and killing people. 

Aside from both being sociopathic egocentric bastards the other big overlap between the characters is how unsettling the aftermath of their actions even when it’s not the result of self inflicted wounds.  Early on in the episode Model compels an officer whose captured him to drive in front of a truck before forcing the man to release him even as the officer bled to death. 

This scene, of all Model’s cruelties, always stuck with me as the sickest and creepiest, because of just how much he views this officer as not a person.  It really helps that the scene isn’t actually shown, we just hear about it second hand, which forces your brain to fill in just enough blanks to realize how sick and twisted the scenario is.  It’s especially sickening that the officer in question could’ve survived if Model hadn’t used him up like an old rag. 

Kilgrave actually has an extremely similar moment in Jessica Jones, in episode 2 when Jessica visits a paramedic who was one of Kilgrave’s victims.  He’s not dead but he’s suffered a severely debilitating stroke after Kilgrave compelled him to give up both his kidneys.  It’s eventually made clear that Kilgrave didn’t actually need both kidneys, he could’ve just taken one and survived, but chose both because well, why wouldn’t he?  Even though that decision follows Kilgrave’s pattern of self-indulgence and satisfaction with “other people” as little more than obstacles to his own gratification it’s still extremely chilling because of how little he considers the aftermath of his events. 

The paramedic is left barely able to move, completely unable to feed himself or speak, and the only thing he manages to convey to Jessica is a desperate plea for her to kill him.  The whole scene works off the same sickening unnerving nature as Model’s act only in reverse, it’s creepy because Kilgrave DIDN’T kill the paramedic, didn’t think enough of the guy to consider what his life would be like after he was done with him. 

One of the fundamental keys to horror is inhumanity being somehow forced upon the audience and these two acts, though motivated by thoroughly different characters, perfectly embody the idea of forced dehumanization in the most complete and devastating way possible.  I doubt Jessica Jones creator Melissa Rosenberg specifically set out to draw from this episode of the X-Files but it’s certainly striking how similar the two are and how well they tap into one of the most primal and universal fears of dehumanization.  Between the two, Jessica Jones is a lot more  nourishing given how well it touches on broader subjects but ‘Pusher’ is still very much worth your watch as an exploration of similar emotions through a more compact and lurid lens. 


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