The X-Files (TV Series) Kitsunegari (1998) User Reviews

Blue paint is yummy!

[Sanpaco13 · 8/10 · 7 August 2007]

Kitsunegari is a good sequel episode to Pusher from season 3. I loved the first one and it is on my list of favorites however this followup while good is not on that list. Probably the greatest redeeming quality of this episode is the guy covered in paint. That is such a terrible way to make someone kill themselves! I think the turning point for me is when this episode turns from Modell being the bad guy to his sister being the bad guy who is actually the woman that was supposedly in danger. I like the idea but it didn't quite work for me. I can't quite put my finger on it but I still can't give this episode higher than an 8/10.

"He had to go."

[classicsoncall · 8/10 · 11 July 2017]

This episode revisits cop killer Robert Patrick Modell (Robert Wisden) from the third season story titled 'Pusher', so named because he had the unique ability to make other people see or experience things that weren't really there, in effect, 'pushing' them to do things they wouldn't ordinarily do. The idea is used this time to introduce Modell's sister, separated at birth, and having the ability to do the same kinds of things her brother was able to.

Mulder becomes heavily invested in this story when he comes to believe that Modell is actually trying to help him out by revealing the treacherous nature of Linda Bowman (Diana Scarwid). After all this time, I find it troubling that Assistant Director Skinner and Mulder's partner, Dana Scully, still can't offer him the leeway to expand on his theory that Linda might be a murderer following in the tradition of her brother. Skinner suspends Mulder for less it seems than he might have on prior occasions when Mulder was allowed to ride out his theories. That didn't seem credible to me.

To his credit though, Mulder pursues Bowman, who wills her own brother's heart to stop, lying in a hospital bed after he was shot by Skinner in a tense confrontation. I got the biggest kick out of Modell's description of Skinner when they first came face to face - "Hey, it's Mel Cooley"! The comment made me laugh, reminding me of the character portrayed by actor Richard Deacon on the long running "Dick Van Dyke Show". Skinner, or I should say, Mitch Pileggi, does have that kind of passing resemblance to Deacon's Mel Cooley.

The final confrontation between Mulder, Scully and Bowman can be a puzzler if you're not paying attention, because for this one instance, Mulder is unable to distinguish between his partner and the woman who became the surrogate pusher. Fortunately, the real Scully makes the save in a situation that could have gone wrong big time. It's one of those X-Files resolutions where Mulder doesn't feel good coming out of, realizing that he could have been responsible for his partner's demise.

Great episode.

[Sleepin_Dragon · 9/10 · 2 September 2022]

Mulder and Scully are on the hunt for The Pusher, aka John Patrick Modell, who's escaped from a top security prison.

What a cracking episode, definitely imaginative and well thought out, you can tell a lot of time and effort was put into the script, it's very tightly and satisfyingly written.

Definitely a horror element to this one, and a few sequences which are still shocking all these years on, all I'll say is electricity board and paint.

Those opening sequences were fantastic, and really did what they were intended to do, which was hook you right in. Modell made for a first rate adversary, he really did offer up something a little different, Robert Wisden did a first rate job.

I really did enjoy it, excellent, 9/10.

Pusher deserved a better sequel

[Naberrie218 · 6 January 2019]

The only good thing about this episode is that one of the best antagonists, the Pusher returns. Unfortunately it all goes downhill from there, as they needlessly invent an unnecessary character (his twin sister) that has the same powers as him. They should have just stuck to what made the season 3 Pusher episode so good, which is Modell himself. This sister character should just not exist, and the episode should have been about Pusher trying to seek revenge on Mulder and his friends before a penultimate confrontation in which Mulder has to kill him, but just ends up taking Pusher back to prison as there is no point in killing a man who only has several weeks left to live (remember Pusher's fatal brain tumor and how the first time we saw him he had less than a year left to live). Instead, we having a mess where Pusher is now sympathetic to Mulder and some sibling has come out of the woodwork that does the same things Pusher should be doing, though with much less charm and style. There was really no point in revisiting this story of they were going to ruin it like this. Might as well have just let Modell die in a coma at the end of the Pusher episode. At least that way the character and story would have not been ruined.

My favorite excellent Episode "Fox Hunt" to Pusher

[NightmareOnElmStreetFan · 10/10 · 29 June 2019]

The Return of Robert Patrick Modell (Robert Wisden) Pusher from Season 3. This time Modell escapes from from a prison hospital in In Lorton, Virginia. F.B.I. is on a man hunt with Mulder and Scully of course Mulder capture him in Season 3. This time Modell is on a Fox hunt and Mulder (David Duchovny) try's to figurate out his game before he will start killing again.

I disagree with the reviewer who wrote the title "Pusher deserved a better sequel". How will Pusher get another sequel when it 20 years old?. My opinion Kitsunegari is a damn good sequel to Modell, I love the F.B.I. hunt on a serial killer.

The problem that i had is that Modell tried to retribute him self by not killing anyone. Modell is on a hunt of a woman name Linda Bowman (Diana Scarwid) that is a murder mystery that Mulder has solve it and put pics in the puzzle together.

Great performence by Gillian Anderson as Dana Scully I love her character in this episode. I love the villians too in here. Kitsunegari is so effective at mimicking a soulless sequel that is almost indistinguishable from the real thing. The result is a well-constructed and clever little episode, but one that is not particularly enjoyable or fun. I love the blue paint nad the blue color. By early 1998, The X-Files was a cultural force. It was a massive success by just about any measure. There was a feature film due in theatres, there was merchandise in stores. The viewing figures were at the highest that they would ever be. The fifth season of The X-Files is generally a very slick, very professional production.

I absolutely love Linda Bowman she was so hot and sexy. Great performence from Diana Scarwid, excellent performance from the actress. I gave my favorite episodes 10. Kitsunegari is my favorite episode in the fifth season good episode to Pusher. Yet Pusher in Season 3 is my favorite episode in The X-Files. I love Unusual Suspects, Detour, The Post-Modern Prometheus this one Kitsunegari and i also love Schizogeny which i am going to review that episode next. I am watching The X-Files the fifth season all episodes on DVD and i am writing reviews which one of the episodes are my favorite in the fifth season.

Fox Hunt

[Muldernscully · 8/10 · 31 October 2006]

Kitsunegari is a great follow-up to season three's Pusher, one of the best x-files from season three. Kitsunegari loses some of the charm and originality from the first one, but it is still very good in its own right. Modell has escaped from prison and is supposedly killing again. But this time around, he is not following the same M.O., killing law enforcement officers with abandon. He appears to want to help Mulder, but Mulder, as usual, is the only one who believes him, while Scully and Skinner think Mulder is nuts for trusting Modell. It's hard to believe that Modell has suddenly stopped becoming a murderer just because Mulder "beat" him, and it's hard to believe that his long-lost sister suddenly becomes a murderer when she finds out about him. But if you put that aside, this becomes a very entertaining episode. The visual of the Nathan Bowman covered in Cerulean Blue paint is very striking. The climax is not to be missed as Mulder thinks Scully has shot herself, and he has his gun on Linda Bowman, ready to shoot her, who is telling him that she is really Scully. And at the end of the episode, Mulder offers a poignant line to Scully, which I'm not sure if I understand it myself, after she tells him that he won Linda's game: "How come I feel like I lost?"

Pusher Part 2: Lady Pusher

[injury-65447 · 6/10 · 4 June 2020]

Ok. This is something that is very rare for the X Files. Bringing back and reusing a past villain. A risky move. It instantly comes off as stale & you have to convince me you're doing something novel that justifies returning to the character.

Does Kitsunegari accomplish that? Yes and no. I felt the pushing angle was much less interesting as we've been there done that. So they introduced this silly idea that he has a twin sister who also has a brain tumour and is playing her own foxy games. Eye roll. It's so silly really. I guess the part where they all suspect that Mulder has been hypnotised is funny, but ultimately we always know that Mulder is never wrong so the outcome was obvious.

I'm glad her clunky acting was intentional for the role because at first I just thought she was an awful actress.

Pusher was all the way back in Season 3 ! A lot of time has passed and I found myself floundering a bit in terms of trying to remember what had happened to this guy and what his deal was. That was frustrating.

I've been too generous this season so I'm giving this a 6 instead of a 7. It annoyed me. Maybe it deserves more but I personally found it to be an unnecessary episode. A pointless retread that only serves to devalue the impact of the original Pusher episode; which is a solid one.

I will admit the scene with the blue paint looks awesome - I wish it was a paint killer episode instead.

Again?

[jodi-44528 · 6/10 · 3 March 2019]

Okay maybe this is an obvious observation: why don't they just wear ear plugs or play music or something that drowns out this guy's voice. As far as that goes, paralyze his vocal cords. Wouldn't that end his power?

There was nothing 'wrong' with this episode but it wasn't very exciting, because we saw it all in the first episode with Modell

2000 years after the Odyssey and no one has heard of ear plugs??

[rejackson-37077 · 7/10 · 9 July 2019]

If you believe in the pushing why would you expose yourself to it?

Hello?

[timjkarp-66805 · 5/10 · 17 November 2020]

Geez the first time was bad enough with Pusher, they STILL don't have ear protection?!