Actor John Diehl has had a prolific career in both film and television spanning decades. In the late 1990s when he appeared as Wilson Rawls a.k.a. Pinker in a season six episode of The X-Files, he was most recognizable for his role in Miami Vice which ran a decade previously. I immediately recognized him from the 1994 film Stargate when this episode originally aired on April 11, 1999.
The entitled episode Trevor told the story of a convict, Pinker, who believed he was convicted because his pregnant girlfriend sold him out. As the prison he is held in prepares for a storm, he and another inmate get into a fight. As punishment, he is locked in a small shed in the prison yard while the storm unfolds around him. After the storm, prison guards find the shed destroyed, Pinker’s body missing, and the warden’s body split in half in a way that could only have been done if someone killed him while he was locked from the inside of his office.
Mulder and Scully are brought in to investigate and they end up following a path of mysterious occurances after Pinker is discovered alive by a security guard as he robs a store for clothes. Turns out the man is looking for his ex-girlfriend, June. The agents figure this out pretty quick and find the woman while Pinker questions her sister Jackie and son Trevor. With June in protective custody, it isn’t long before Pinker finds her and gets the truth out of her. That the child she gave birth to, Pinker’s son, was given to her sister to raise.
Mulder believes that Pinker’s ability to move through solid objects, a power given to him in the storm, only works when the object in question does not contain glass. While drywall and metal will feel brittle and disintigrate after Pinker passes through it, glass will not allow him to do so. Scully uses this to her advantage when protecting Trevor in a phone booth as Pinker tries to get to the boy. When he sees how terrified his son is, Pinker walks away knowing he does not want to scare his own son. June arrives in a car had hits Pinker with it, killing him since he can’t move through the car’s windows.
When asked what Pinker had wanted in coming after June after all that time, Mulder says tragically, “Maybe another chance.” While this episode is mid, certainly not on my list of favorites, that one line saves it a little. Mulder’s deeply rooted empathy and open-mindedness, his ability to see things from different perspectives, meant he was able to see Pinker as a man instead of a villain.
I’ve spoken about the differences between the male and female gazes during certain episodes of this ongoing blog series. This episode is definitely told through a male lens. While the convict should be the villain here, it’s hinted that June was the reason he ended up in prison. I doubt the man was innocent of his crimes, but this pregnant girlfriend turning him in and then giving up her own child for someone else to raise doesn’t win her any popularity contests. At the end of the day, Pinker was imperfect but just wanted to be with his son. In seeing that he was a cause of fear in the boy, he relented. Director of this episode, Rob Bowman, spoke to how he thought June was the real villain since she gave up her son in order to appear more attractive a single. It’s obvious that they intended this woman to be equally guilty, at least in their minds. I would have found June more interesting if she gave up her son because she feared Pinker might one day escape. This “June is the bad one” narrative does not wash away Pinker’s anger and violence. He did kill people along the way so no part of his story makes him innocent.
For me, this episode, like the one before it, is disposable. A filler episode that adds no interesting knowledge to The X-Files for neither June or Pinker are redeemable in the end. It feels like something the agents would have investigated during the first season when the show was still discovering itself, not an episode during season six when so many episode are just plain great.
It’ s only real redeeming quality are the effects which, between the interesting camera angles and the use of breakaway cement. This shows how the show had to get creative during some of the monster of the week episodes and they were almost always up to that task. If it weren’t for that, this episode would be thumbs down.
After appearing in this episode, John Diehl would appear in single episodes of Without a Trace, Mental, Lie to Me, Scandal, Almost Human, and Castle Rock. He also has a recurring role on Dark Winds. The AMC series features police investigations told from a Native American perspective in a small western town. It is equal parts western, Native American paranormal, and police procedural. A great watch if you haven’t checked it out. The actor also starred in countless movies over the years.
Until next week, the truth is out there. And so are better episodes.
Discover more from Becky Tyler Art and Photography
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Actor John Diehl has had a prolific career in both film and television spanning decades. In the late 1990s when he appeared as Wilson Rawls a.k.a. Pinker in a season six episode of The X-Files, he was most recognizable for his role in Miami Vice which ran a decade previously. I immediately recognized him from the 1994 film Stargate when this episode originally aired on April 11, 1999.
The entitled episode Trevor told the story of a convict, Pinker, who believed he was convicted because his pregnant girlfriend sold him out. As the prison he is held in prepares for a storm, he and another inmate get into a fight. As punishment, he is locked in a small shed in the prison yard while the storm unfolds around him. After the storm, prison guards find the shed destroyed, Pinker’s body missing, and the warden’s body split in half in a way that could only have been done if someone killed him while he was locked from the inside of his office.
Mulder and Scully are brought in to investigate and they end up following a path of mysterious occurances after Pinker is discovered alive by a security guard as he robs a store for clothes. Turns out the man is looking for his ex-girlfriend, June. The agents figure this out pretty quick and find the woman while Pinker questions her sister Jackie and son Trevor. With June in protective custody, it isn’t long before Pinker finds her and gets the truth out of her. That the child she gave birth to, Pinker’s son, was given to her sister to raise.
Mulder believes that Pinker’s ability to move through solid objects, a power given to him in the storm, only works when the object in question does not contain glass. While drywall and metal will feel brittle and disintigrate after Pinker passes through it, glass will not allow him to do so. Scully uses this to her advantage when protecting Trevor in a phone booth as Pinker tries to get to the boy. When he sees how terrified his son is, Pinker walks away knowing he does not want to scare his own son. June arrives in a car had hits Pinker with it, killing him since he can’t move through the car’s windows.
When asked what Pinker had wanted in coming after June after all that time, Mulder says tragically, “Maybe another chance.” While this episode is mid, certainly not on my list of favorites, that one line saves it a little. Mulder’s deeply rooted empathy and open-mindedness, his ability to see things from different perspectives, meant he was able to see Pinker as a man instead of a villain.
I’ve spoken about the differences between the male and female gazes during certain episodes of this ongoing blog series. This episode is definitely told through a male lens. While the convict should be the villain here, it’s hinted that June was the reason he ended up in prison. I doubt the man was innocent of his crimes, but this pregnant girlfriend turning him in and then giving up her own child for someone else to raise doesn’t win her any popularity contests. At the end of the day, Pinker was imperfect but just wanted to be with his son. In seeing that he was a cause of fear in the boy, he relented. Director of this episode, Rob Bowman, spoke to how he thought June was the real villain since she gave up her son in order to appear more attractive a single. It’s obvious that they intended this woman to be equally guilty, at least in their minds. I would have found June more interesting if she gave up her son because she feared Pinker might one day escape. This “June is the bad one” narrative does not wash away Pinker’s anger and violence. He did kill people along the way so no part of his story makes him innocent.
For me, this episode, like the one before it, is disposable. A filler episode that adds no interesting knowledge to The X-Files for neither June or Pinker are redeemable in the end. It feels like something the agents would have investigated during the first season when the show was still discovering itself, not an episode during season six when so many episode are just plain great.
It’ s only real redeeming quality are the effects which, between the interesting camera angles and the use of breakaway cement. This shows how the show had to get creative during some of the monster of the week episodes and they were almost always up to that task. If it weren’t for that, this episode would be thumbs down.
After appearing in this episode, John Diehl would appear in single episodes of Without a Trace, Mental, Lie to Me, Scandal, Almost Human, and Castle Rock. He also has a recurring role on Dark Winds. The AMC series features police investigations told from a Native American perspective in a small western town. It is equal parts western, Native American paranormal, and police procedural. A great watch if you haven’t checked it out. The actor also starred in countless movies over the years.
Until next week, the truth is out there. And so are better episodes.
Discover more from Becky Tyler Art and Photography
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
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