Richard Webb {as Ben Finney} and the renowned Elisha Cook, Jr. {Samuel T. Cogley} both give standout performances in this Trek episode, which focuses on a curious concept: Justice.
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The brilliant actor Brad Dourif gives a mind-boggling portrayal of convicted—and soon to be executed—serial killer Luther Lee Boggs. In this story, there’s a catch—a quite big one—in that the murderer claims to have acquired psychic powers, and might be able to help capture a predator who has abducted two people, and has killed ritualistically in the past. Mulder (David Duchovny), for one, is less than convinced.
In these two subsequent scenes, firstly… although Agent Scully would dearly love to converse with her recently deceased father, it’s quite possible that Luther Lee Boggs’ (Brad Dourif loses his mind, in the best possible way) intense aversion to the electric chair has even greater motivational potency. Lastly, in the poignant, haunting final scene (the final scene *we’re* going to present…), the correct warning Boggs had given to Scully ended up saving her life, and convinces her that he’s been telling the truth. He’s only willing to convey her father’s message if she is his witness when he’s strapped to the chair in a few hours. Is this one last trick, one potential last act of cruelty? Or does he truly value the agent whose life he saved? This ambiguity is part of what makes him such an intriguing character…and Dourif’s masterful performance makes Boggs truly indelible.
Amen. Simply one of the greatest performances I’ve seen, ever.
Amazing how Marlon could so casually convey supreme menace from situations which are hardly synonymous with same.
Sheer, unnerving menace…from the confines of a bubble bath.
Unreal hand speed and devastating power with either hand, whilst bestowing epithets and disposing of tables.
And, of course, his iconic performance in The Godfather.
The truly great Marlon Brando, appearing here in The Missouri Breaks, One-Eyed Jacks, Apocalypse Now, The Godfather, Free Money, and The Island of Dr. Moreau. One of the supreme practitioners of his art, ever to stride across the earth.