Gender Bender is weird. As an atmospheric moody piece of television, it’s pretty phenomenal – the script manages to tap into a whole bunch of basic nineties fears and uncertainties, while director Rob Bowman layers on the sense that something is not quite right here. On the other hand, as a narrative, the episode comes up short. From the cop-out ending to the laziness of putting Scully in peril twice, the story for Gender Bender is nowhere near as tight as it needs to be.
And yet, despite that, there’s a pervading sense of dread and unease that makes it far more compelling than it should be.
In the woods…
Filed under: The X-Files | Tagged: Alejandro Jodorowsky, alien, Bender, Bowman, Dana Scully, Frank Herbert, Gender bender, H.R. Giger, John Bartley, Kindred, Mark Snow, Michel Seydoux, Nicholas Lea, Pez, Rob Bowman, Ryan White, sexuality, tom hanks, X-File | 4 Comments »
