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.

Jessica Jones Netflix Show Details & Logo

Edited by Robert Beach

Marvel’s new Netflix show Jessica Jones has finally made some tangible progress with a premiere date slotted for October and this spiffy new logo debuting. We’ve also started getting some detail as to the focus of the show and how it will adapt the groundbreaking Alias comics where Jessica Jones first appeared. For those of you who’ve never heard of Jessica Jones or Alias, her story is that she’s a woman with super powers who acted as a low-level superhero for a time before retiring to the role of superhero private investigator after a traumatic experience when she had her mind enslaved by the villainous Purple Man. The mind enslavement stuff was part of what made Alias a groundbreaking work in the early 2000s and walked hand-in-hand with author Brian Michael Bendis’ other popular early superhero comic Powers, which was itself turned into a PlayStation Network streaming show. 

The crux of the matter was Jessica Jones was raped by Purple Man using his mind-control abilities, and the experienced cause her to leave superhero life but still bring justice simply as herself, no secret identities required. It was an important work then and still is now given it’s an instance of rape in comics where it's actually used well and not just for cheap shock value. Though the attack itself doesn’t take place during the series, it hovers over the proceedings in a non-intrusive manner as Alias balanced a tone between harsh grittiness and some lighter tones. As for the show Jessica Jones, let’s take a look at what we know: