By Chris Snellgrove | Published
X files it's a lot for a lot of fans. For others, the show is a fun way to explore the possibilities of the unknown, to explore the truths hidden from us. For some, the show is an opportunity to enjoy good sci-fi and horror storytelling. Of course, for some people, the show is just a chance to watch David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson, no doubt. it's very hot people to love 90s television. While I enjoy all of those things, it's my favorite feature X files paranoia at its core. This is a show that constantly reminds us that it is very dangerous to trust the government and the military.
Surprisingly, the forgotten episode of The X-Files connects this show to one of the strangest and most famous anti-war movies of all time. In the Season 2 episode “Firewalker,” Mulder meets a brilliant researcher who is driven mad by his haunting surroundings. Author Howard Gordon later confirmed that Mulder's relationship with the man was inspired by the relationship between Marlow and Kurtz in Joseph Conrad's novel. Heart of Darkness. Meanwhile, that book inspired one of the greatest movies ever made: the Francis Ford Coppola classic Apocalypse Now.
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“Firewalker” is the 2nd season X-Files an episode about a volcano research project gone wrong. A robot (the titular Firewalker) finds evidence of a possible murder, and Mulder and Scully are sent to investigate. As it turns out, researchers in this project discovered a new silicon-based life form that can infect and kill humans. Mulder spends time with project leader Daniel Trepkos, a man who has been haunted by the horrors he has witnessed. At the end of the episodes, he chooses to stay behind and face certain death rather than return to civilization.
In accordance with The Truth Is Out There: The Official Guide to EX Files“Firewalker” author Howard Gordon compared Mulder's collaboration with Trepkos to Joseph Conrad's novel Heart of Darkness. In that book, a man named Marlow is hired by a Belgian trading company to find Kurtz, who has been exporting Ivory from the Congo. Kurtz is reported to be a brilliant man with ideas about how to improve the lives of the natives. But when Marlow finds him, Kurtz is completely gone and has enslaved the locals with his religious-like will. Kurtz also falls ill and, while reluctantly being brought back to civilization, dies on the way.
Horror, Horror
You may not have read or heard about it Heart of Darkness. But you may be more familiar with the film it was inspired by: Apocalypse Now. This Coppola movie changes some of the details. Instead of being a hired gun, Marlow's character is Captain Willard, an Army soldier. Kurtz is transformed into a colonel gone rogue, sending an army of sycophants who worship him against enemies like the Viet Cong. Willard's goal was to end Kurtz's order with “great prejudice.”
Now, X-Files writer Howard Gordon was clear that “Firewalker” was very inspired Heart of Darkness than Apocalypse Now. Thus, Mulder has a sympathetic relationship with Trepkos, someone (like Kurtz) who was a brilliant man driven mad by the insanity of his environment. He intended Trepkos to be a kind of cautionary tale for Mulder, explaining that “the natural end of this quest for truth is madness.” Yes, Mulder is known for his relentless pursuit of the truth. This episode shows that this crusade, regardless of whether it succeeds or not, may drive the FBI agent crazy.
However, the author has successfully created a surprising connection between X files again Apocalypse Now. Although both the show and the movie offered strong criticism of the military and the government, many people never closed the real connection between these two very different projects. That connection is very relevant, though. Well, when I think about it X-Files Revival, all I can do is utter the same iconic phrase that Kurtz utters in both the novel and the film: “fear! Fear!”
