2Shy

At night, in a car on the deserted Cleveland quay, a man with a strange irritation of the skin on his neck kisses his companion during a romantic date, after which she begins to suffocate from a thick film in her mouth. In the morning, the police find the woman’s badly decomposed body in the car.

Called by Mulder and Scully, they are starting an investigation with Cleveland police, who is represented by an elderly detective Ross. Mulder had previously received information about four similar murders that occurred in Aberdeen , and suggests that the killer finds his victims through dating sites. Scully can not examine the body of the documents identified by Loren McAlvey due to the strong decomposition of the remains exposed to the enzyme with a high content of hydrochloric acid. The surprise of the agents also causes a small weight of the remains, although during her life Makalvi was a complete woman. Mulder interviews a girlfriend of McAlvey, who tells him about a man under the online pseudonym "2Shy", with whom Lauren spoke shortly before his death.

Meanwhile, 2Shy, whose real name is Virgil Incanto, hiding under a different pseudonym (Huggs), persuades Ellen Kaminsky in an online chat - a middle-aged woman to go on a date. Ellen agrees, but, frightened by disappointment, does not come. Incanto, whose skin is again partially covered with irritation, removes the full prostitute, but when he tries to kiss her, the prostitute, fighting off, peels off the skin on the back of his hand with his nails (pieces of his skin remain under her nails). Incanto kills a prostitute, whose body is then found by passers-by. Mulder and Scully conclude that the killer attacks fat women and somehow removes fat from their body, possibly trying to make up for their own deficit.

Repeatedly questioning McAlvey’s girlfriend, Mulder discovers that the killer has remarkable knowledge of Latin and is most likely a translator or university employee. Having compiled a list of suspects, Mulder, Scully and Detective Ross separate to check them out. Ellen agrees to go on a date with Incanto when he hears a knock on the door. Detective Ross, who came to Incanto, sees his bandaged hand, but Incanto kills him and leaves in the evening on a date with Ellen. The body of Ross is found by the mistress of the house of Incanto, who wanted to leave him his poems for professional evaluation. Incanto, who has already returned from a date with Ellen, sees light from her car in her apartment and hurries to leave, breaking Ellen’s heart. In the apartment, he kills the mistress of the house, and leaves for Ellen. On a 911 call from the daughter of the missing housewife, Incanto, Mulder and Scully match the address with one of those on Ross's list.

Having burst into the apartment to Incanto, agents find corpses. Technicians hack the Incanto online account and figure out a list of possible victims. Mulder and Scully go to Ellen's address, where Incanto, who had previously persuaded Ellen to let him in, is trying to kill her. Mulder runs away after the man on the street, deciding that it is Incanto, and Scully remains to help Ellen, but then Incanto, hiding in the bathroom, attacks her. After a short fight, Incanto knocks Scully to the floor and tries to suck fat out of her when Ellen shoots him with Scully's pistol. After a while, the arrested Incanto, weakened and lost his human appearance due to the lack of fat cells in the body, is recognized by agents in the murders of 47 women. When Scully, in disgust, throws him that he ate “not only their bodies, but also their minds,” Incanto retorts: “I gave them what they wanted. They gave me what I needed ” ^[3] .

The script for 2Shy was written by Jeff Vlaming, who previously worked on the series Wonders of Science . This episode and " Infernal Money " will be the only scenarios of Wlaming for "The X-Files" ^[4] . Initially, Vlaming represented Incanto as a terrible outcast in the image of “The Phantom in the Opera ”. Later, Incanto became a “butcher”, cutting off fat from the bodies of his victims, until, finally, he acquired a relatively normal appearance ^[5] . David Nutter “balanced” this last circumstance with several terrifying moments, remembering the popularity among the fans of the series of the disgusting monster from the episode Host: ^[5] . Frank Spotnitz , editing the script, was afraid that the plot might be perceived as offensive, but Chris Carter managed to convince him, describing the episode as “funny“ The Secret Material ”of the old-fashioned type” ^[6] .

The episode was predominantly filmed on Quebec Street in Vancouver. Interior filming was carried out in two neighboring buildings, simplifying logistics issues. For fans of the “2Shy” series, the double of David Duchovny - Steve Kiziak, whose location manager for the series, Louise Gradnitzer, accidentally noticed on the street, was mixed up, confused with the actor due to their significant external similarity. Kisiak duplicated Dukhovny until the end of season 9, and in the episode " Fight Club " he played a double of Mulder. Kiziak's debut was accompanied by a curious incident: in the scene where Mulder knocks the door, Kiziak was filming, and together with understudy Gillian Anderson, they mistakenly knocked the door to someone's apartment where the party was taking place at that time ^[7] . Also in the series were Kerry Sandomierski, who had previously appeared in the first season ( “Roland” ), and Glynis Davis, who played episodic roles in “ Tums ” and “Irresistible” ^{[8] [9]} .

The premiere of the episode took place on the Fox network channel on November 3, 1995 ^[10] . Nielsen’s rating was 10.1 with a share of 17.0, meaning that approximately 10.1 percent of all US-equipped households and 17 percent of all households watching television that evening were set to premiere the episode ^[11] . The number of viewers watching the premiere is estimated at 14.83 million people ^[12] .

The episode received mixed reviews from critics. In an article for “ The AV Club ”, Zach Handlen rated the series “B-” (2.75 points out of 4 possible), believing that Incanto was “superbly disgusting,” but “lacking that universal eerieness” that was inherent to Eugene Thoms . The critic also did not like the fact that the episode simply exposes single women as victims, without endowing female characters with real depth ^[13] . “ Entertainment Weekly ”, conducting a general review of the third season, gave the episode a similar rating, comparing Incanto with other “uncomplicated” antagonists like Eugene Tums and Donnie Pfaster ^[14] . Writers Robert Shirman and Lars Pearson in the book Wanting to Believe: A Critical Guide to The X-Files, Millennium & The Lone Gunmen in the Wanting to Believe: A Critical Guide to The X-Files, Millennium & The Lone Gunmen series five possible, calling the episode "revised Narrow " and "too stereotyped to be truly satisfactory." However, the writers noted the “sincerity” and “good rhythm” of the series, and visually unpleasant component was attributed to the number of pluses ^[15] .

In 2011, TV Guide magazine included Incanto in the list of the scariest monsters of The X-Files ^[16] , and UGO Networks included the character among the best “monsters of the week”. The site noted that the final scene in which Scully sincerely rejects the instinctual needs that Incanto tells her about is one of the best endings in the series ^[17] .

• Paul Cornell, Martin Day, Keith Topping. X-Treme Possibilities. - Virgin Publications, Ltd, 1998. - ISBN 0-7535-0228-3 .
• Ted Edwards. X-Files Confidential. - Little, Brown and Company, 1996. - ISBN 0-316-21808-1 .
• Louisa Gradnitzer, Todd Pittson. X Marks the Spot: On Location with The X-Files. - Arsenal Pulp Press, 1999. - ISBN 1-55152-066-4 .
• Frank Lovece. The X-Files Declassified. - Citadel Press, 1996. - ISBN 0-8065-1745-X .
• Brian Lowry. The Truth is Out There: The Official Guide to The X-Files. - Harper Prism, 1995 .-- ISBN 0-06-105330-9 .