The list is over, man
Why does a woman, who admits her husband is very likely capable of returning from the dead, lie to his face right before his execution? If his belief is so strong she could feel the power through the glass, why wouldn't she realize this is a man who is likely capable of seeing through a lie?
What is the purpose of the lie? Her husband has been behind bars for eleven years and his execution is immanent. It can't possibly be false comfort - Neech Manley does't seem the kind of man who needs comforting. He faces what's coming like, well, like a man. So, what does Daniele Manley hope to achieve with this lie?
It would be normal for her to be seek solace for her own pain but, it appears, that is waiting at home in the form of Parmelli, the prison guard who arrived six months ago. With only three personal visiting days in the last eleven years, a woman's gonna want some loving.
It becomes obvious that Daniele is scared of her husband. Her lie was a last attempt to divert his attentions from her if or when he comes back. She doesn't seem to believe her ploy is likely to work. As indeed it doesn't. Parmelli's is one of the five names on her husband's list.
It seems her husband loves his wife despite her unfaithfulness. Or is he just sexist? After all, she has hurt him and probably as much as any of the five men who must "go down". So why isn't Daniele the sixth name on the list? He does punish her, manipulating her into shooting Parmelli, so that she, in a sense, takes his place in prison. But why is her punishment so different from her lover's?
And why is Parmelli's name on the list, anyway? If one accepts Neech's logic, then the four others are understandable: two guards, the warden and the executioner. All directly inflicted hurt and humiliation upon Neech and, in a culture in which justice and vengeance are synonymous, their fate is sealed. As a man, Neech is inevitably going to feel the hurt and humiliation of his wife sleeping with another, and feel the need for retribution, but this doesn't really explain why Parmelli is on the same list as those who inflicted 11 years and 56 days of "petty tyranny and cruelty".
What it shows is something common to the monsters in the X Files - despite sometimes awesome power, they all prove themselves all too human. Neech Manley has acquired the power to return from death itself and all he concerns himself with is petty vengeance!
What is concerning is the link established between Neech Manley and Fox Mulder. We saw Mulder return from the other side of death after three days and Neech Manley was executed three days ago; both assume the mantel of messiah, the risen one whose role should be one of salvation but, in fact, bring only judgement and vengeance. In the previous episode, Mulder judged Clyde Bruckman and found him wanting. Instead of salvation, Bruckman finds release in ugly death.
Being merely human, Daniele seeks assurance that she will be safe after Neech's return. It is entirely human for her to believe that her husband has the power to return and yet be fooled by her lies. That Neech doesn't kill her implies his love for her isn't entirely dead so, maybe, her best approach would have been to be truthful and simply tell him that she was involved with another man. That she feels unable to do this is born out of fear of his power. It transpires that she is right to fear him as she becomes his tool of his poetic vengeance.
While Mulder is not as blunt in his use of others as is Neech Manley, he definitely manifests the same willingness to use others for his own ends. It is difficult to shake the idea that these monsters that Mulder hunts down is some kind of therapy, a man fighting his own demons, that they are, in fact, facets of his own personality that he seeks to overcome.
What is the purpose of the lie? Her husband has been behind bars for eleven years and his execution is immanent. It can't possibly be false comfort - Neech Manley does't seem the kind of man who needs comforting. He faces what's coming like, well, like a man. So, what does Daniele Manley hope to achieve with this lie?
It would be normal for her to be seek solace for her own pain but, it appears, that is waiting at home in the form of Parmelli, the prison guard who arrived six months ago. With only three personal visiting days in the last eleven years, a woman's gonna want some loving.
It becomes obvious that Daniele is scared of her husband. Her lie was a last attempt to divert his attentions from her if or when he comes back. She doesn't seem to believe her ploy is likely to work. As indeed it doesn't. Parmelli's is one of the five names on her husband's list.
It seems her husband loves his wife despite her unfaithfulness. Or is he just sexist? After all, she has hurt him and probably as much as any of the five men who must "go down". So why isn't Daniele the sixth name on the list? He does punish her, manipulating her into shooting Parmelli, so that she, in a sense, takes his place in prison. But why is her punishment so different from her lover's?
And why is Parmelli's name on the list, anyway? If one accepts Neech's logic, then the four others are understandable: two guards, the warden and the executioner. All directly inflicted hurt and humiliation upon Neech and, in a culture in which justice and vengeance are synonymous, their fate is sealed. As a man, Neech is inevitably going to feel the hurt and humiliation of his wife sleeping with another, and feel the need for retribution, but this doesn't really explain why Parmelli is on the same list as those who inflicted 11 years and 56 days of "petty tyranny and cruelty".
What it shows is something common to the monsters in the X Files - despite sometimes awesome power, they all prove themselves all too human. Neech Manley has acquired the power to return from death itself and all he concerns himself with is petty vengeance!
What is concerning is the link established between Neech Manley and Fox Mulder. We saw Mulder return from the other side of death after three days and Neech Manley was executed three days ago; both assume the mantel of messiah, the risen one whose role should be one of salvation but, in fact, bring only judgement and vengeance. In the previous episode, Mulder judged Clyde Bruckman and found him wanting. Instead of salvation, Bruckman finds release in ugly death.
Being merely human, Daniele seeks assurance that she will be safe after Neech's return. It is entirely human for her to believe that her husband has the power to return and yet be fooled by her lies. That Neech doesn't kill her implies his love for her isn't entirely dead so, maybe, her best approach would have been to be truthful and simply tell him that she was involved with another man. That she feels unable to do this is born out of fear of his power. It transpires that she is right to fear him as she becomes his tool of his poetic vengeance.
While Mulder is not as blunt in his use of others as is Neech Manley, he definitely manifests the same willingness to use others for his own ends. It is difficult to shake the idea that these monsters that Mulder hunts down is some kind of therapy, a man fighting his own demons, that they are, in fact, facets of his own personality that he seeks to overcome.
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