Unlike "Conduit," I distinctly remembered what happens in "The Jersey Devil," but not for the right reasons. The episode has an interesting premise that should have worked. The Jersey Devil, an East Coast counterpart to Big Foot is on the loose and is eating people.
So far so good. Beasts killing people is always a good place to start. Cannibalism is a plus, although the episode would have been benefited if it were more graphic. The episode meanders around with Mulder pretending be homeless and visiting Professor Diamond (reference to Jared Diamond?). The climax of the episode--if it can either be called a climax--is a boring scene where the female Jersey Devil attacks Mulder, looks at him, then runs off as if there is some humanity left in her. Later, the police kill her and the investigation ends there with the acknowledgement that the Jersey Devil was a human in the wild, not the missing link between Neanderthals and humans.
The idea of a large, wild humanoid still living in the world, linking humans to a previous species is interesting and I suppose the script does point that out, but the point isn't driven home and is lost in the shuffle.
Scully goes on a date in the episode, by my knowledge, the only proper date she goes on in the entire series. The progression of Scully towards being a more solitary person, whether it be for episode structure or forethought, is effectively done in the first couple episodes. In the beginning of the show, Scully is see doing more personal activities while she does very few later on. Of course, Mulder has his porn, which shows up for the first time at the beginning of the episode.
That's the last episode for me today. I'll shoot for another 3 again, and if my memory serves me right, there's one good standalone ("Ice") and two lame standalones.
Score: 8.1/10
