Suitably Stephen King-Esque this episode takes place in Maine and features a possessed doll, rumours of witchcraft and a creepy little girl. The perfect setting for this kind of a story. We can feel the history of the area rising up from the depths of the lake.
Scully can't catch a break. All she wants is one weekend away from Mulder's obsessive spook hunting to enjoy a relaxing bath and some classical tunes. Unfortunately for her, Mulder's spookiness magnet must be contagious as she soon finds herself embroiled in an X-File of delightful proportions.
The death and possession scenes are fabulous. This episode has one of the best openers I've seen in the whole series! A grocery store full of people overcome by head bleeding and stumbling around - no Mulder it's not the medieval "dancing sickness" - and a vision of impending doom in the freezer aisle. I love how the best episodes of X-Files strike this perfect balance of horror and humour.
The Hokey Pokey music is used to great creepy effect. Nothing like old timey records to set a mood.
Mulder as comic relief is fantastic here. It reminds me of an inversion of the "War of the Coprophages" where Scully would advise Mulder over the phone of the scientific and logical explanations of the deaths. Instead, here we have Mulder yammering on about witches, dancing sicknesses and whatnot. He is bored out of his mind without Scully around and is adorably dependent on her.
The inept police officer is great as a bumbling Mainer. It's adorable how he guilt trips Scully into helping him with the case, despite her best efforts. Their lobster date is a highlight too.
Microwave? I dunno how that set the doll on fire, but I'll accept it.
The Annabelle movies could have learned a lot from this episode. Mulder himself references Chucky in the episode - jokingly. As far as I'm concerned this is the gold standard for a creepy doll movie. I'm glad they didn't waste screentime explaining the origin story of the doll. We just get the good stuff.
Who in their right mind would give a little girl a creepy lake-dredged doll for her birthday? Hasn't he ever seen a horror movie before?
It might just be a personal guilty pleasure but I'm willing to overlook any faults here - I thoroughly enjoyed it from start to finish. Perfect 10 in my book.
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