"The Walk"

[Guest MillenniumIsBliss]

I've been skipping all over the place with my new S3 X-files DVDs, and last night I was in the mood for "The Walk". Like anything else, I guess you could find some flaws in it if you think about it long enough, but I really consider it to be one of the best episodes of season three, as well as one of the better in the series. The story manages to grab my attention and continue to keep me riveted all the way to the end. It really had some well done effects with the phantom and Ian Tracey is convincing as a quadruple amputee. This was the first role I ever saw him in, and I think he did a great job, as did all the actors. I would probably give it about a 9 out of 10 for excellent effects, good acting and great entertaining fun, but I reserve 10 out of 10s for some of the more brilliantly written episodes, such as a Clyde Bruckman. Still, it is a classic stand alone episode and an example of X-files at its best. As previously mentioned, I am somewhat partial to the stand alone's, and season 3 has more than its share of great ones.

[Guest ZeusFaber]

Interesting. I wouldn't regard it as one of the best of S3 myself, thought not among the worst either, but to each their own.

[Guest MillenniumIsBliss]

Interesting. I wouldn't regard it as one of the best of S3 myself, thought not among the worst either, but to each their own.

Yes, for some reason I thought it wouldn't be one you would be crazy about. I'm not sure why. Maybe it's because it was well written, but not a complex story. The idea behind it was somewhat simple, but I think they did a good job with it. It managed to keep me glued to the screen from start to finish.

[Guest ZeusFaber]

A decent enough debut for John Shiban, for sure, but I think his greatest achievement was probably "Elegy", followed by "The Pine Bluff Variant".

[Guest ModernDayMoriarty]

I don't consider Season 3 to be a strong season for standalones. Pretty much the only ones I liked were 'Clyde Bruckman's...', 'Oubliette', 'Grotesque' and 'Pusher'.

'The Walk' is one of those episodes where you wonder why you don't like it more. I love the idea of an astral projecting assassin, and the swimming pool murder is particularly good. But it's just so gloomy and hateful, that it's hard to enjoy.

It's a thin line to tread obviously, because I like 'Grotesque'. I think the difference is that it feels slightly awkward to know what to feel towards Rappo. He's had a hard life, but the sheer misanthropy and hatred he feels towards people is sickening.

I'm not saying that is a bad thing to show, because it is absolutely in keeping with the mindset such a character would have. But it makes the viewer confront the issues of vets and indeed all people locked away in hospitals away from the public eye, because we can't deal with it, don't want to know about it. It also makes the point that they don't want our sympathy just so we can feel better about ourselves.

It's difficult viewing for me. I definately think it's one of Shiban's better episodes. He never really got a break from the fans after 'El Mundo Gira' and 'Teso Dos Bischos' but he did do some decent episodes.

[Guest betweenthelines]

Season 3 has some of the best X-Files episodes . . . and some disappointing ones. Despite that, I liked it better than Season 4. To be honest I thought 'The Walk' was only okay. Better than 'Teso dos Bichos' but not as good as 'The Pine Bluff Variant' or 'Milagro' (which Shiban helped cowrite). It didn't help that the episode aired not long after 'The List', which is probably one of my least favorite episodes from the third season.

[liberty]

Mulder: "Amputees sometimes feel the pain of phantom limbs. Ghosts of hands still clenching, legs still aching. Is it not possible that Trimble developed a phantom soul. A malevolent psyche that took its violent revenge on those he held accountable... It was war that destroyed Leonard Trimble's body, but his wounds went deeper than the loss of his limbs. What destroyed those parts of him that make us human beings, those better angels of our nature. I cannot say."