German title: Der große Mutato
translation: The Great Mutato
Italian title: Prometeo post-moderno
Japanese title: Prometheus
Spanish title: El Mutante
translation: The Mutato
US Airdate: November 30, 1997
writer: Chris Carter
director: Chris Carter
STARRING:
David Duchovny as Special Agent Fox Mulder
Gillian Anderson as Special Agent Dana Scully
Guest Cast:
John O'Hurley as Dr. Francis Pollidori
Patti Tierce as Shaineh Berkowitz
Stewart Gale as Izzy Berkowitz
Chris Giacoletti as Booger
Chris Owens as Mutato
Dana Grahame as Reporter
Jean-Yves Hammel as Izzy's Friend
Tracey Bell as Cher Impersonator
Lloyd Berry as Old Man Pollidori
Miriam Smith as Elizabeth Pollidori
Xantha Radley as Waitress
C. Ernst Harth as Huge Man
Jerry Springer as Himself
Vitaliy Kravchenko as J.J.
TOWNSPEOPLE IN RURAL INDIANA BELIEVE A FRANKENSTEIN-LIKE CREATURE
ROAMS
THE COUNTRYSIDE.
In a rural Indiana neighborhood, Shaineh Berkowitz watches a daytime
talk show on television. So entranced is she by the interview, that she fails to notice
someone covering the home with termite tenting. A dark figure enters the kitchen and drops
a white cake into a skillet, triggering a chemical reaction that produces a gaseous white
cloud. Sensing a presence in the house, Shaineh investigates. Suddenly, a horribly
disfigured, Frankenstein-like face emerges from the misty darkness. Shaineh gasps in
horror.
Later, as the agents drive through the Indiana farmland, Scully
reads aloud a letter addressed to Mulder. In it, Shaineh describes how, eighteen-years
earlier, a presence entered her smoke-filled bedroom as, strangely, the voice of singer
Cher filled the air. Three days later she woke up pregnant with her son, Izzy. Shaineh
explains that she saw Mulder on the Jerry Springer show, and hopes he will investigate her
case. The agents do, indeed, drive to Shaineh's home. There they discover a comic book
bearing the exact likeness of the creature Shaineh claims attacked her. Shaineh explains
the monster is called The Great Mutato, a creation of Izzy's fertile imagination. Izzy
claims he, and many others in the community, have seen the creature--who apparently has a
penchant for peanut butter sandwiches. Izzy and his friends lead the detectives to a
wooded area, and using sandwiches for bait, lure the creature from its hiding place. The
group gives chase, but the creature disappears into the darkness. Mulder then encounters
an Old Man, who claims the real monster is his own son, renowned scientist Dr. Francis
Pollidori. The agents visit Pollidori, who describes his experiments in genetic
manipulation. He displays a photo of a fruit fly head... with legs growing out of its
mouth. Later, Pollidori bids good-bye his wife, Elizabeth, as he embarks on a trip out of
town. Moments later, termite tenting falls past Elizabeth's window.
When the agents stop by a country diner in downtown Bloomington,
they are feted with heaping plates of food. It turns out that the entire town believes
Jerry Springer will do a story on the creature... the result of a newspaper article in
which Mulder is quoted as verifying the monster's
existence. The agents realize Izzy secretly tape recorded their
conversations.
As the agents drive along a country road, Mulder spots Pollidori's
tented house. The pair race inside, where they discover Elizabeth's unconscious body.
Shortly thereafter, the agents also lose
consciousness. The Old Man, Professor Pollidori's father, steps from
the smoke, a gas mask covering his face. When the agents regain consciousness, Elizabeth
describes her attacker as a hideously deformed man with two mouths.
The Old Man brings the Creature a peanut butter sandwich as it
watches the movie Mask, starring Cher, on television. Pollidori confronts his father, and
in a rage, strangles him.
A mob of townspeople forms around the local post office as a mail
clerk proclaims he's found the monster. He pulls someone wearing a rubber Mutato mask from
the back room, then yanks off the mask, exposing Izzy. The postal worker then displays a
box he intercepted, which is filled with identical masks.
Records indicate that the residue from the white cakes is a
substance used to anesthetize herds of animals. Its use is monitored by the FDA, leading
the agents back to the Old Man's farm. When the agents arrive at the scene, a diligent
newspaper girl, who had been recording notes about the case, describes how she witnessed
the creature burying the Old Man. Shortly thereafter, an angry mob makes its way towards
the farm. The agents realize Pollidori killed his father. They befriend the frightened
Mutato and attempt to escape, but they are spotted by the mob and retreat into a cellar.
Pollidori and the townspeople burst into the basement. There, Pollidori claims the
Creature was brought to life by his father. The Creature claims he never harmed another
soul. He explains how, 25 years earlier, the Old Man realized his son was conducting
secret experiments--of which he (Mutato) was an unfortunate product. The Old Man grew to
love the Creature, and then set out to create it a mate. As the Creature continues his
tale, the agents, putting together two and two, look around the cellar at the
townspeople... one of whom resembles a horse, another a Billy goat and so on. The mob
concludes Mutato is not a monster after all. A police cruiser transport Pollidori from the
scene. The agents take the Creature into custody, but instead of transporting him to jail,
they head for a Memphis nightclub, where Cher sings to Mutato, her biggest fan.
Notes
If somebody tries to take my place
Let's pretend we just can't see his face
In this world there's nothing I would rather do
'Cause I'm happy just to dance with you
from The Beatles', "I'm Happy Just To Dance With You"
Who cares about pigs and chickens and mad scientists with deformed
sons? They danced! No, not the pigs and chickens, Mulder and Scully! And you'd think the
previous 58 minutes hadn't happened from the newsgroups and mailing lists. It _was_ a
lovely moment, watching them dance to Marc Cohn's "Walking in Memphis" as sung
by a Cher impersonator (probably male) attending a concert with a freak of Nature and Man
... yeah, really warmed the cockles of my heart ;-) That's romance for ya, X-files style.
Do I get some bonus points for the song quote? "Let's pretend
we just can't see his face" ... the Mutato? Huh? Not bad for an old gal, eh? ;-)
The title is a play on the full title of Mary Shelley's classic
novel, "Frankenstein: Or The Modern Prometheus". And the name
"Prometheus" comes from greek mythology, he was a demigod who made man from
clay. Both fit the role of the evil scientist here.
If you know anything about the origins of the novel
"Frankenstein", you may know it was written during a party attended by Polidori,
Byron's doctor. That night everyone had to write a horror story as part of a contest.
Polidori ended up writing "The Vampyre", a novella, very popular before Bram
Stoker's "Dracula" came out a few years later. Well, stick with me now .. a
movie of that immortal party, "Haunted Summer", costarred Eric Stoltz as Percy
Shelley (and Laura Dern as Clare
Claremont, Mary Shelley's stepsister) .... Eric Stoltz is seen in
this episode in scenes from the movie "Mask" .... Cher played his mother in
"Mask". Whew! Is that like the X-File version of the Kevin Bacon game, or what?
For the record, the other songs that Cher sings in this ep are
"The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Anymore" (originally a hit for The Righteous
Brothers, I believe) and her own smash hit, "Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves". One
not used which I figured would have been a perfect choice, Cher's own "Half
Breed"!
Fans of "Seinfeld" will recognize John O'Hurley (Dr.
Pollidori) from his role as J. Peterman (sure sounded like he called his mutant fruit fly
the BOSCO-pedia to me, cute Seinfeld injoke). Chris Owens (The Great Mutato) may be
familiar to XF fans as the young Cancer Man in Musings of
a Cigarette Smoking Man and Demons. And if you don't recognize the
name Jerry Springer, then you need to get out more :-) I added him to the official cast,
so I'm pretty sure it wasn't an impersonator!
The first episode filmed entirely in black and white, giving it the
proper spooky old movie look, might I add.
This makes the third episode written and directed by Chris Carter,
the other two were Duane Barry and The List.
This page is not complete yet, but will be soon, thanks for your
patience. Some links you may be interested in:
<http://www.xs4all.nl/~danhf/burton/title.html> Dan's
Definitive Tim Burton Page
Due to the Burton homages in this ep, namely the music and you can
see Jack Skellington's face in the opening scene (right after we see the picture of Izzie
and his pig).
<http://www.inch.com/%7Eharbur/cher/index.html> The Official
Cher Homepage
Usually crammed with great Cher info, seems to be undergoing
renovation right now.
Quotes
____________________
Scully is reading a letter aloud as Mulder drives
Scully: "Dear Special Agent Mulder, I'm writing to you for
help. Several years ago, I had an
experience I could not explain. I was lying in my bed when I felt a
presence in the room.
Though I was awake, I felt that something had taken control over my
body. I don't
remember much else, but I woke up three days later _pregnant_ with
my son, Izzie. (she
looks up at him, he looks back at her, her tone tells him she's not
amused) That was 18
years ago, but now it happened again. I was in bed and could swear I
heard Cher singing.
The one who was married to Sonny. (she looks at him again) (TD note:
may he rest in
peace) Then the room got all smokey and I saw some kind of monster.
he had a really
gross face with lumps all over his head. I was too scared to scream,
then I got all groggy
and conked out for three days. Guess what happened when I woke up? I
got your name off
the TV, some lady on The Jerry Springer Show who had a werewolf baby
said you came to
her _house_. (she looks up again, exasperated) Well, I got her story
beat by a mile, so
maybe you'll want to come and see me too. Sincerely, Shaineh
Berkowitz." (she puts down
the letter and looks at Mulder)
Mulder (in all seriousness): "Scully, do you think it's too
soon to get my own 1-900 number?"
Scully and Mulder come to on Dr. Pollidori's living room floor after
being gassed, the doc and a police officer are looming over them as they lay on the floor
Dr. Pollidori: "What are you doing in my house?"
Elizabeth Pollidori (seated, shivering, covered with a blanket):
"He had this awful face, with these
hideous tumours and ... (we see Mulder and Scully now seated at the
kitchen table,
both look very groggy. The headline on the newspaper Scully is
holding says, "FBI
AGENTS WHEREABOUTS UNKNOWN") ... well, not one mouth, but
two!"
Dr. Pollidori: "Oh my God!"
Mulder: "Dr. Pollidori. Is there something you'd like to tell
us?"
Dr. Pollidori: "Are you accusing me of knowing something that
I'm not telling you?"
Mulder: "I'm accusing ... that your wife may have been
impregnated." (Mrs. Pollidori stops crying
and pops up her head, grinning madly and the Chicken Lady Reporter
is taking notes)
Dr. Pollidori: "Impregnated? By whom?"
Mulder: "Oh, I think you know ... (he stands up too quickly,
still groggy, his chair knocks into some
dishes behind him, he stumbles to catch his footing, puts out his
hand to steady himself
and his hand lands on a frying pan, which he picks up and begins
studying intently)
Scully (stands up to face Pollidori, not wavering on her feet at
all, what a gal!):
"Sir, with all due respect, I think that this is all part of a
hoax."
Dr. Pollidori: "A hoax."
Scully: "A shameless publicity stunt."
Mulder (from behind her, the pan still in his hands):
"Scully..." (she turns)
Dr. Pollidori: "What? What is that?"
Mulder (motioning to Scully with the pan): "The other victims,
they had their frying pans ... violated.
(she takes the pan from him, angrily) Do you know what that
is?" (he steps backwards,
setting off the lid-release step on the garbage can, the lid opens
and he looks inside,
quizzically)
Dr. Pollidori (Scully hands him the pan and he studies it):
"No. No, I don't."
Mulder (reaches into garbage, pulls out jumbo-sized peanut butter
jar, empty, he holds it up):
"I think we found our smoking gun." (Scully close her
eyes, hoping it's all a bad dream!)
Ich saß wieder einmal stundenlang vor dem PC um zu chatten. Ich ging dann hoch zu meiner Partnerin und sagte: "Heiii, s'hat etwas länger gedauert als eine Stunde klammer auf grins klammer zu". Da merkte ich: Dass war heute zu lange! Anonymous