The X-Files: Piper Maru (Part 1/2) Rewatch

April 30, 2020 7:20 PM - Season 3, Episode 15

Mulder and Scully investigate the case of a diver from a French salvage ship called the Piper Maru who discovered a World War II fighter plane and, upon the ship's return to San Diego, proved to be the only member of his crew not exposed to harmfully extreme levels of radiation.
posted by orange swan (2 comments total)

That's the creepy thing, an ultra high pressure armoured diving suit ought to be impermeable, right? How did the black oil get into Gauthier?

Great restraint by Scully, dipping into cynical sarcasm (like Fox routinely does?) to avoid breaking (like Fox did on Skinner and got his ass handed back to him). Given a taste, though, cynicism has infected her and sets up a recurring internal conflict. She all growed up now.

"If I may say so sir, it has everything to do with interest. Just not yours, and not mine."

Scully's camelhair was on fleek, but her black over burgundy over black works for me a little better.

Krycek's vented shoulder leather jacket, otoh, is vintage early 90's taking cues from the 80s. Like, chrome fins on cars.

The cynic in me suggests that Mulder having to chase a black info broker to Hong Kong was at least partially due to the availability of Cantonese extras and plausible locations in Vancouver. It didn't really work for anyone with a passing familiarity with HK, though. The imagery/ iconography was all wrong, like 'Killing Zoe' shooting locations in LA are definitely not Paris, under the fig leaf of "seedy underbelly" or not, especially given the rich cinematographical styles of saids. Still way too many non-Asian extras/ henchment (and not super plausible that they were all imports).

It... reveals some of the Skinner character that Scully is (one of the) contacts in case Skinner was in medical peril? And no one else responded until they hit her down the list?
posted by porpoise at 9:53 PM on April 30, 2020 [1 favorite]

They never showed the actual transition of black oil from one carrier to another, at least in this episode, so I don't know what the logistics of transferal are.

Something that hasn't rung true for me is that Mulder and Scully both lost an immediate family member to murder five months ago, and that neither has been shown to be grieving. Come on, they'd both be wrecks.

I have never liked the combination of black and burgundy, so I'm hoping for a return of the camel coat, or if that one's completely ruined as it probably is, a new one. Mulder and Scully probably go through quite a few suits and overcoats given the rigours of the job.

I think Skinner would be likely to put Scully down as a contact whatever his personal life was like. He's been threatened/pressured because of his support of the X-files, and he would want Scully to be notified right away if anything happened to him, because she's both a medical doctor and would be aware that there might be a X-files-related plot afoot. But also... yes, he's going through a divorce, so he might not have any personal contacts to put down.

Krycek damn well DID kill William Mulder, so it was gratifying that Mulder just called him a liar when he said he didn't do it.

What the hay, Michael Bublé is apparently an extra in this episode! He plays one of the crew in the flashback sequence. Did anyone else recognize him? I didn't at the time, but I believe I did notice him and know which one he was -- he got locked in the sick bay with the radiation victims and the infected captain.
posted by orange swan at 12:43 PM on May 1, 2020