(Courtesy of Shane Harvey/FOX)
Just before the final two episodes, Fox continues The X-Files: Season 11 with the frightening introduction of Mr. Chuckle Teeth in Episode 8: Familiar. David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson return as the iconic FBI Agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully.
Out in the playground, a little boy suddenly sees Mr. Chuckle Teeth pop up out of nowhere. While his mother is distracted, Andrew follows Mr. Chuckle Teeth out into the woods. During the search party, the police later find parts of Andrew’s body scattered in the woods, mutilated and bloody.
The local police believe the boy was killed by a wolf. Scully has already worked up a profile of a vicious child predator who may be responsible. Mulder believes the so-called wolf may have been a hellhound.
Mulder arrives at Chief Strong (Alex Carter)’s house and interrogates his five-year-old daughter, Emily. While speaking to Emily’s mother, Mulder spots a book about witchcraft and watches a bizarre children’s show that looks like the Teletubbies. Emily points to Mr. Chuckle Teeth on the TV and says he was taking Andrew to the woods.
Andrew’s grieving father, Officer Eggers (Jason Gray-Stanford), snaps after hearing Scully’s profile. Eggers digs up information about a convicted sex offender living near the vicinity. After storming into house of the sex offender, Eggers finds pieces of Mr. Chuckle Teeth’s costume. Mulder thinks the evidence is too perfect but isn’t fast enough to stop Eggers from shooting the framed sex offender.
After Mulder leaves her house, Emily then starts to see her children’s show come to life. One of the Teletubbies knockoffs whisks Emily away while her mother is distracted. Emily sadly becomes the next victim of Mr, Chuckle Teeth.
Out in the woods, Mulder believes he has found salt on the grounds. After spotting a hellhound hiding behind the trees, Mulder wants to believe in his theory about witchcraft. Everything seems to connect for Mulder but not for Scully.
After being taunted by Mr. Chuckle Teeth, Officer Eggers finds himself in a standoff with Chief Strong. After Eggers is shot down, his wife, Diana (Sharon Taylor) almost runs over her dead son and flips her car over. Chief Strong stumbles onto Diana’s crashed car and wanders out into the woods.
Mulder and Scully arrive at the same as Chief Strong as they find Emily’s mother chanting her spell. Chief Strong was secretly having an affair with Diana. The spell was supposed to take their lives, not the children’s.
After Chief Strong is mauled by the hellhound, Emily’s mother bursts into flames. The same book of witchcraft that Mulder found before is lying on the ground, untouched by the fire. Scully hands the book of witchcraft over to the local police, hoping they will keep it away as evidence to a crime.
Mulder and Scully are unsure if Emily’s mother burned spontaneously or because she was surrounded by candles. As they leave, Mr. Chuckle Teeth is still on the loose.
With two episodes left, Season 11 of The X-Files continues Wednesdays at 8pm on Fox.
By Jorge Solis