Line #38 Recap/TheXFilesS02E23SoftLight


1	[[WMG:[[center:[-'''RECAP:'''\
2	[[Recap/TheXFiles Index]] \| [[Recap/TheXFilesS02E01LittleGreenMen 1]] \| [[Recap/TheXFilesS02E02TheHost 2]] \| [[Recap/TheXFilesS02E03Blood 3]] \| [[Recap/TheXFilesS02E04Sleepless 4]] \| [[Recap/TheXFilesS02E05DuaneBarry 5]] \| [[Recap/TheXFilesS02E06Ascension 6]] \| [[Recap/TheXFilesS02E07Three 7]] \| [[Recap/TheXFilesS02E08OneBreath 8]] \| [[Recap/TheXFilesS02E09Firewalker 9]] \| [[Recap/TheXFilesS02E10RedMuseum 10]] \| [[Recap/TheXFilesS02E11ExcelsisDei 11]] \| [[Recap/TheXFilesS02E12Aubrey 12]] \| [[Recap/TheXFilesS02E13Irresistible 13]] \| [[Recap/TheXFilesS02E14DieHandDieVerletzt 14]] \| [[Recap/TheXFilesS02E15FreshBones 15]] \| [[Recap/TheXFilesS02E16Colony 16]] \| [[Recap/TheXFilesS02E17EndGame 17]] \| [[Recap/TheXFilesS02E18FearfulSymmetry 18]] \| [[Recap/TheXFilesS02E19DodKalm 19]] \| [[Recap/TheXFilesS02E20Humbug 20]] \| [[Recap/TheXFilesS02E21TheCalusari 21]] \| [[Recap/TheXFilesS02E22FEmasculata 22]] \| '''23''' \| [[Recap/TheXFilesS02E24OurTown 24]] \| [[Recap/TheXFilesS02E25Anasazi 25]]]]-]]]
3	'''Season 2, Episode 23:'''
4	!Soft Light
5	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/thexfilessoftlight_2.png]]
6	[[caption-width-right:350:''"My shadow isn't mine. It's... it's like a black hole. It splits molecules into component atoms, it unzips electrons from their orbits, reduces matter into pure energy."'']]
7	->Written by Creator/VinceGilligan\
8	Directed by James Contner
9
10	->'''Mulder:''' Look here, there are hardly any shadows cast.\
11	'''Scully:''' What do you mean?\
12	'''Mulder:''' The lighting in here is diffused. It's [[TitleDrop soft light]]. What if that was what Banton was looking for?\
13	'''Scully:''' Looking for his shadow?
14
15	A series of mysterious disappearences leads to a man (Creator/TonyShalhoub) whose shadow vaporizes people.
16	----
17	!!Tropes:
18	* ApologeticAttacker: The one and only time Banton uses his shadow to actively kill someone he apologizes beforehand.
19	* ArtisticLicensePhysics: Needless to say, there's no reason why anyone would have a shadow that kills people according to how much light falls on it.
20	* TheBadGuyWins: Mr X gets his way and begins to subject Doctor Banton to horrific experimentation for probably the rest of his life, however short or long it proves.
21	* CapturedSuperEntity: Banton is held in a government's science centre with sensors attached to his head and flashing light is casting shadows on a photoelectric panel.
22	* ContinuityNod:
23	** Newirth is an executive from Morley Tobacco: the Cancerman smokes Morleys.
24	** Scully checks the heating vent for any sign of Eugene Victor Tooms.
25	* DarknessEqualsDeath: Inverted; Mulder shoots out the lights so Barton's shadow won't kill them.
26	* DoomMagnet: Poor Banton just can't stop people from walking into [[NegativeSpaceWedgie his shadow.]]
27	* DownerEnding: Poor Banton is subjected to a FateWorseThanDeath.
28	* ExactWords: X tells Mulder that he didn't kill Banton. Though it would have been kinder if he had.
29	* FakingTheDead: It's made to look like Banton was vaporized in the machine, but X has him under study elsewhere.
30	* FalseFriend: Banton has his colleague lock him in the particle accelerator so [[BetterToDieThanBeKilled Banton can kill himself]]. He then refuses to turn it on, and Banton belatedly realises he's working for the mysterious 'them' who are hunting him. Ironically [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness X shoots the man dead]] after turning up to capture Banton.
31	* FreakLabAccident: One of these makes Banton's shadow into a black hole.
32	* JurisdictionFriction: The Richmond PD is none too happy about Ryan calling in Mulder and Scully as a favor.
33	* MagicalParticleAccelerator: The source of Banton's condition.
34	* ManipulativeBastard: Mr X uses Mulder to find and acquire Doctor Banton.
35	* MikeNelsonDestroyerOfWorlds: A very dramatic example.
36	* MyLittlePanzer: {{Discussed}}. Mulder compares leaving Banton in the hands of the local PD to giving "the A-bomb to the Boy Scouts".
37	* SingleTear: A Single Tear falls down Banton's cheek at the end of the episode.
38	* SpontaneousHumanCombustion: Mulder thinks this is what happened to Newirth.
39	* TitleDrop: Multiple times. Banton wants to be kept in soft light because then he has little to no shadow.
40	* VillainHasAPoint: As horrific as Banton's fate is in the end at Mr X's hands, what else was going to be done to contain a [[PersonOfMassDestruction man who vaporizes everyone around him with his very shadow]]?
41	----

Context Recap / TheXFilesS02E23SoftLight