X-Cops
While episode 7 of season twelve was initially most noted for its use of a fictional cross-over with the reality show Cops, it does, in fact, feature one of the best X-Files cases in the series. As a reality film crew follow LA County Sheriff’s Deputy Keith Wetzel (Judson Mills) as he patrols a particularly crime-ridden area of Los Angeles at night, some strange police reports are heard over the police radio.
Investigating one such report – of a ‘monster’ in the area – Wetzel visits the home of the witness, and is attacked by an unseen entity. Searching the area afterward, he encounters agents Mulder and Scully, who explain that they are there investigating a report that a werewolf attacked a person on that site during the last full moon. Offering their support to Deputy Wetzel, the agents question his witness and ask her to help a sketch artist develop a likeness of the ‘monster’ – which is revealed to be the horror film character, Freddy Krueger.
The team then find themselves on something of a chase – following the strange police reports, and studying a variety of crimes. The police artist who is scared of Freddy Krueger is slashed, a prostitute in fear of her pimp has her neck broken, a coroner’s assistant scared of contagion dies of symptoms similar to the Hantavirus, and Deputy Wetzel claims his attacker was the Wasp Man character from his childhood. These puzzle pieces lead agents Mulder and Scully to theorize that they are dealing with an ‘entity’ that is able to appear as its victim’s worst fears.
After reaching a dramatic, Blair Witch style climax, Mulder and Scully are once more left without a perpetrator, when they rescue Deputy Wetzel from the entity, which disappears at dawn. Mulder and Scully leave us with the idea that this murderous entity preys on fear – and that is something that specific community has in vast quantities.