History Recap / TheXFilesS07E16Chimera

* AdventureTowns: Mulder is investigating a case in Bethany, Vermont, in a seemingly perfect town in New England.

* BabiesMakeEverythingBetter: Averted. Ellen got pregnant with Katie and thought her family life would be splendid. Her husband married her only because she got pregnant and had actually wanted to break up with her.

* TelevisionGeography: Vermont is never that green and temperate at Easter. There's usually still snow on the ground.

* ShownTheirWork: Little extras pop up in this episode that are quite impressive, given that they are mostly things that would go unnoticed by the average viewer. At the start of the case, Skinner hands Mulder the file for Martha Crittendon, which has a page listing her address and phone number. The address has a 05032 zip code, which is the real zip code for Bethel, Vermont. The correct area code of 802 is also used for her phone number. This shot lasts approximately two second long. In addition, most of the license plates on the cars in the episode are correct for Vermont, from the all-green plates on cars parked on the street to the all-red license plate on the sheriff's car to denote it as a municipal vehicle.

* YourCheatingHeart: Ellen's husband is having two affairs. It's why Ellen killed her rivals.

[[caption-width-right:350:''"It had a face out of a nightmare. These long claws - the kind that could... the window shattered - I don't know how - and when I turned around, it was gone."'']]

[[Recap/TheXFiles Index]] | [[Recap/TheXFilesS07E01TheSixthExtinction 1]] | [[Recap/TheXFilesS07E02TheSixthExtinctionIIAmorFati 2]] | [[Recap/TheXFilesS07E03Hungry 3]] | [[Recap/TheXFilesS07E04Millennium 4]] | [[Recap/TheXFilesS07E05Rush 5]] | [[Recap/TheXFilesS07E06TheGoldbergVariation 6]] | [[Recap/TheXFilesS07E07Orison 7]] | [[Recap/TheXFilesS07E08TheAmazingMaleeni 8]] | [[Recap/TheXFilesS07E09SignsAndWonders 9]] | [[Recap/TheXFilesS07E10SeinUndZeit 10]] | [[Recap/TheXFilesS07E11Closure 11]] | [[Recap/TheXFilesS07E12XCops 12]] | [[Recap/TheXFilesS07E13FirstPersonShooter 13]] | [[Recap/TheXFilesS07E14Theef 14]] | [[Recap/TheXFilesS07E15nAmi 15]] | '''16''' | [[Recap/TheXFilesS07E17AllThings 17]] | [[Recap/TheXFilesS07E18BrandX 18]] | [[Recap/TheXFilesS07E19HollywoodAD 19]] | [[Recap/TheXFilesS07E20FightClub 20]] | [[Recap/TheXFilesS07E21JeSouhaite 21]] | [[Recap/TheXFilesS07E22Requiem 22]]]]-]]]

[[Recap/TheXFiles Index]] | [[Recap/TheXFilesS07E01TheSixthExtinction 1]] | [[Recap/TheXFilesS07E02TheSixthExtinctionIIAmorFati 2]] | [[Recap/TheXFilesS07E03Hungry 3]] | [[Recap/TheXFilesS07E04Millennium 4]] | [[Recap/TheXFilesS07E05Rush 5]] | [[Recap/TheXFilesS07E06TheGoldbergVariation 6]] | [[Recap/TheXFilesS07E07Orison 7]] | [[Recap/TheXFilesS07E08TheAmazingMaleeni 8]] | [[Recap/TheXFilesS07E09SignsAndWonders 9]] | [[Recap/TheXFilesS07E10SeinUndZeit 10]] | [[Recap/TheXFilesS07E11Closure 11]] | [[Recap/TheXFilesS07E12XCops 12]] | [[Recap/TheXFilesS07E13FirstPersonShooter 13]] | [[Recap/TheXFilesS07E14Theef 14]] | [[Recap/TheXFilesS07E1EnAmi 15]] | '''16''' | [[Recap/TheXFilesS07E17AllThings 17]] | [[Recap/TheXFilesS07E18BrandX 18]] | [[Recap/TheXFilesS07E19HollywoodAD 19]] | [[Recap/TheXFilesS07E20FightClub 20]] | [[Recap/TheXFilesS07E21JeSouhaite 21]] | [[Recap/TheXFilesS07E22Requiem 22]]]]-]]]

!!This episode contains examples of:

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* OurWerebeastsAreDifferent: Ellen's repressed rage has turned her into some kind of were-raven with long, stringy black hair, mottled skin, and WolverineClaws that causes any nearby reflective surfaces to shatter.

%%* MonsterOfTheWeek

* SplitPersonality: The perpetrator of the week is Ellen, who wasn't aware that she committed the murders. Her aggression was how she dealt with her husband's cheating on her.

* MonsterOfTheWeek

* BabiesMakeEverythingBetter: Averted. Ellen got pregnant with Katie and thought her family life would be splendid. [[spoiler: Her husband married her only because she got pregnant and had actually wanted to break up with her.]]

* InsaneEqualsViolent: [[spoiler: The monster-of-the-week is revealed to be Ellen, who has dissociative multiple personality disorder: split personality. She wasn't aware that it was her who was committing the murders]]
* TheKillerInMe: [[spoiler: Ellen Adderly really didn't know she was the killer and was horrified as anybody with the murders of her friend and later her rival in their community. At one point she believed she was about to be attacked by the stringy-haired creature she saw in the mirror.]]
* MagicMirror: Every crime scene involved a broken mirror or shiny surface so that [[spoiler: Ellen could not actually see her true self when she was murdering.]]
* TheMirrorShowsYourTrueSelf: [[spoiler: Every mirror at every crime scene and other mirrors elsewhere as well were shattered so that Ellen would not see her true self. She suppressed this side of her personality.]]

* SerialKiller: The set-up has Mulder and Scully staking out a bar, trying to capture a murderer of [[DisposableSexWorker prostitutes]]. [[spoiler: Subverted, there was no serial killer after all. It was a religious man who took the prostitutes to his shelter, trying to rescue them from their sorry life.]]

* SplitPersonality: [[spoiler:The perpetrator of the week is Ellen, who wasn't aware that she committed the murders. Her aggression was how she dealt with her husband's cheating on her.]]

* StepfordSmiler: Ellen pretends everything is like a fairytale between her and her husband with their sweet baby girl and perfect-perfect home, with her lavish dinners and lavish breakfasts. [[spoiler: He feels trapped and she's aware of it, yet only unconsciously.]]

* WholesomeCrossdresser: In the original case, the one that Scully was working on. They were staking out a bar where a female SerialKiller kept appearing and disappearing. [[spoiler: However, it was a man dressing up as a hooker who tried saving the women from prostitution.]]
* YourCheatingHeart: Ellen's husband is having two affairs. [[spoiler:It's why Ellen killed her rivals.]]

* CaliforniaDoubling: In this episode, California doubles for Vermont in early April. This makes Vermont look quite a bit more lush and green in early April than it usually is--the episode had a variety of flowers in bloom, while the real Vermont usually still has snow on the ground for Easter along with large deposits of accrued road debris and large mud puddles.

* CaliforniaDoubling: In this episode, California doubles for Vermont in early April. This makes Vermont look quite a bit more lush and green in early April than it usually is--the episode had a variety of flowers in bloom, while the real Vermont usually still has snow on the ground for Easter.

* ShownTheirWork: In the file handed to Mulder by Skinner, there is a page that lists contact information for Martha Crittendon. The correct area code, (802), is displayed on the page. Bethany's zip code is listed as 05032, which is the zip code for the real-life town of Bethel, Vermont. In addition, the license plates on all of the cars featured are correct--all green for those parked on the street (even ones meant to be background extras), and the all-red plate on the sheriff's car to denote it as a state vehicle.

* CaliforniaDoubling: In this episode, California doubles for Vermont in early April. California is entirely too green and lush to really represent what Vermont looks like in early April. Hint: there's usually still snow on the ground.

* ShownTheirWork: In the file handed to Mulder by Skinner, there is a page that lists contact information for Martha Crittendon. The correct area code, (802), is displayed on the page. Bethany's zip code is listed as 05032, which is the zip code for the real-life town of Bethel, Vermont.

* CreepyCrows: Raven occurs at every crime scene and several other times.

* RavensAndCrows: Raven occurs at every crime scene and several other time.

* BabiesMakeEverythingBetter: Averted. Ellen got pregnant with Katie and she thought her family life would be splendid. Her husband married her only because she got pregnant and he had actually wanted to break up with her. He feels really trapped and cheats on his wife.

* InsaneEqualsViolent: The monster-of-the-week is revealed to have gota dissociative multiple personality disorder: split personality. The woman's overt self was not aware that it was her who was committing the murders
* TheKillerInMe: [[spoiler: Ellen Adderly]] really did not know she was the killer and was horrified as anybody with the murders of her friend and later her rival in their community. At one point she believed she was about to be attacked by the stringy-haired creature she saw in the mirror.
* MagicMirror: Every crime scene involved a broken mirror or shiny surface so that the monster could not actually see her true self when she was murdering. Her "monstrous" form was rather horrifying. She was a stringy-haired creature, dark from dirt or something similar.
* TheMirrorShowsYourTrueSelf: Every mirror at every crime scene and other mirrors elsewhere as well were shattered so that the killer would not see her true self. She suppressed this side of her personality.
* MonsterOfTheWeek: This episode is not connected to the MythArc. This X-File was about a strange murder case involving a creepy raven in a picture-perfect community. Scully was working on a different case this time, and it turned out hers wasn't an X-File after all.

* SerialKiller: The set-up has Mulder and Scully staking out a bar, trying to capture a murderer of [[DisposableSexWorker prostitutes]]. Subverted, because there was no serial killer after all. It was a religious man who took the prostitutes to his shelter, trying to rescue them from their sorry life.
* SplitPersonality: The perpetrator of the week is a woman who was not aware she committed the murders. It was found out that she suffers from some kind of split personality disorder and her aggression was how she dealt with her husband's cheating on her.
* TheStakeout: Mulder and Scully stake out a bar from a cold room across the road. Mulder is assigned to a different case, and Scully is left there alone, worrying that she will freeze to death or be ruined by all the junk food she is forced to eat.
* StepfordSmiler: Ellen pretends everything is like a fairytale between her and her husband with their sweet baby girl and perfect-perfect home, with her lavish dinners and lavish breakfasts. He feels trapped and she's aware of it, yet only unconsciously.

* WholesomeCrossdresser: In the original case, the one that Scully was working on. They were staking out a bar where a female SerialKiller kept appearing and disappearing. However, it was a man dressing up as a hooker who tried saving the women from prostitution.
* YourCheatingHeart: Ellen's husband the Sheriff has two love affairs. Consciously, Ellen doesn't know. She was dealing with it on unconscious level, with tragic ends. [[spoiler:She killed her rivals.]]

* AdventureTowns
* BabiesMakeEverythingBetter: Averted. Ellen got pregnant with Katie and she thought her family life would be splendid, but her husband feels trapped, and actually he wanted to break up with her.

* InsaneEqualsViolent: The monster

* MagicMirror:
* TheMirrorShowsYourTrueSelf:
* MonsterOfTheWeek: An episode not connected with the MythArc. A strange murder case involving a creepy raven in a seeming happy community. Scully was working in a different case, which turns out wasn't an X-File.

* InsaneEqualsViolent
* TheKillerInMe
* MagicMirror

* RavensAndCrows: Raven occurs at every crime scene and several other times.
* SplitPersonality: [[spoiler: Ellen]]
* StepfordSmiler
* StepfordSuburbia: Everybody seems to be happy but nobody truly is.
* UncannyVillage
* YourCheatingHeart: Ellen's husband the Sheriff has two love affairs. Consciously, Ellen doesn't know. She was dealing with it on unconscious level and with tragic ends. [[spoiler:She killed her rivals.]]

* BabiesMakeEverythingBetter: Averted.

* RavensAndCrows
* SplitPersonality

* StepfordSuburbia

* YourCheatingHeart