2Shy
Encyclopedia
"2Shy" is the sixth episode of the third season
of the American science fiction
television series The X-Files
. It premiered on the Fox network
on November 3, 1995. It was written by Jeff Vlaming
, directed by David Nutter
, and featured guest appearances by Timothy Carhart
and James Handy
. The episode was a "Monster-of-the-Week" story, a stand-alone plot which is unconnected to the series' wider mythology
.
A spate of "lonely hearts" murders
targeting overweight women leads FBI Special Agents Dana Scully
(Gillian Anderson
) and Fox Mulder
(David Duchovny
) to discover a mutant killer who is extracting the body fat from his victims after seducing them over online chat rooms.
. Mulder
and Scully determine these killings are far from ordinary by the presence of a strange substance coating the victims, a substance which seems to digest most body tissue other than fats.
, who had previously worked for the series Weird Science
. Vlaming's only other writing credits for the series was the later third season episode "Hell Money
". He had initially pitched the idea of a mutant who fed on body oils, which was eventually changed to body fats. The presentation of the character Virgil Incanto also went through several permutations, initially conceived as a creepy "Phantom of the Opera
"-like recluse, and as a butcher who would be able to cut the fat from his victims, before the final "fairly normal-looking" version was decided upon.
Director David Nutter
made sure that the episode contained several visceral moments, after the popularity of the "Flukeman" character in the earlier episode "The Host
". Frank Spotnitz
, the series' story editor
, was initially wary of the concept as he felt it might be seen as offensive, but changed his mind when series creator Chris Carter
convinced him the episode told "a good story", and was a "fun, old-fashioned sort of X-File".
on , and was first broadcast in the United Kingdom
on BBC Two
on .
Zack Handlen, writing for The A.V. Club
, had mixed feelings about the episode, ultimately rating it a B-. He felt that the character of Virgil Incanto was "wonderfully gross", although he " lacks the universal creepiness" of first season
villain Eugene Tooms. Handlen also felt that the episode was let down by the fact that it "takes it as a given that single women are targets", failing to give any real depth to its female characters. An overview of the third season in Entertainment Weekly
also rated the episode a B-, and called Incanto a "fine example" of the series' "unassuming" villains, comparing him to Tooms and to the second season
villain Donnie Pfaster
.
The X-Files (season 3)
Season three of the television show The X-Files ran from 1995–1996.Chris Carter, the series creator, was still the lead writer - writing eight episodes - and the sole executive producer. Glen Morgan and James Wong continued their roles as co-executive producers, though they began to write...
of the American science fiction
Science fiction on television
Science fiction first appeared on a television program during the Golden Age of Science Fiction. Special effects and other production techniques allow creators to present a living visual image of an imaginary world not limited by the constraints of reality; this makes television an excellent medium...
television series The X-Files
The X-Files
The X-Files is an American science fiction television series and a part of The X-Files franchise, created by screenwriter Chris Carter. The program originally aired from to . The show was a hit for the Fox network, and its characters and slogans became popular culture touchstones in the 1990s...
. It premiered on the Fox network
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
on November 3, 1995. It was written by Jeff Vlaming
Jeff Vlaming
Jeff Vlaming is an American television Writer and Producer. He has worked on numerous series throughout the 1990s, 2000s, and 2010s...
, directed by David Nutter
David Nutter
David Nutter is an American television and film director and television producer. He is best known for directing pilot episodes for television series, being known as "the pilot whisperer."-Career:...
, and featured guest appearances by Timothy Carhart
Timothy Carhart
Timothy Carhart is an American actor. Carhart was born in Washington, DC. and travelled to Izmir and Ankara in Turkey and Verdun in France before returning to the US and studying theater, where he has been acting since at least the late 1970s...
and James Handy
James Handy
James Handy is an American film actor. He appeared in more than eighty films and television serials between 1977 and 2011. He is best known for his appearance as Arthur Devlin in Alias and Lou Handleman in Profiler.-Selected filmography:...
. The episode was a "Monster-of-the-Week" story, a stand-alone plot which is unconnected to the series' wider mythology
Mythology of The X-Files
The mythology of The X-Files, sometimes referred to as its mytharc by the show's staff and fans, follows the quest of FBI Special Agents Fox Mulder , a believer in supernatural phenomena, and Dana Scully , his skeptical partner. Their boss, FBI Assistant Director Walter Skinner was also often...
.
A spate of "lonely hearts" murders
Lonely hearts killer
The phrase lonely hearts killer, sometimes also want-ad killer, or matrimonial bureau murderer, is a journalistic term of art that refers to a person who commits murder by contacting a victim who has either posted advertisements to, or answered advertisements via newspaper classified ads and...
targeting overweight women leads FBI Special Agents Dana Scully
Dana Scully
FBI Special Agent Dana Katherine Scully, M.D. is a fictional character and protagonist on the Fox television series The X-Files , played by Gillian Anderson. She also appeared in two theatrical films based on the series...
(Gillian Anderson
Gillian Anderson
Gillian Leigh Anderson is an American actress.After beginning her career in theatre, Anderson achieved international recognition for her role as Special Agent Dana Scully on the American television series The X-Files. During the show's nine seasons, Anderson won Emmy, Golden Globe, and Screen...
) and Fox Mulder
Fox Mulder
FBI Special Agent Fox William Mulder is a fictional character and protagonist in the American Fox television shows The X-Files and The Lone Gunmen, two science fiction shows about a government conspiracy to hide or deny the truth of Alien existence. Mulder's peers consider his theories on...
(David Duchovny
David Duchovny
David William Duchovny is an American actor, writer and director. He has won Golden Globe awards for his work as FBI Special Agent Fox Mulder on The X-Files and as Hank Moody on Californication.-Early life:...
) to discover a mutant killer who is extracting the body fat from his victims after seducing them over online chat rooms.
Plot
The killer, Virgil Incanto, is a freelance writer who translates between Italian and English and is extremely knowledgeable in classical Italian literature. In addition to meeting victims through the internet, he also kills his landlady (whose blind daughter is able to sense this and report to 911,) a prostitute after a failed date, one of the local policemen, and attempts to kill ScullyDana Scully
FBI Special Agent Dana Katherine Scully, M.D. is a fictional character and protagonist on the Fox television series The X-Files , played by Gillian Anderson. She also appeared in two theatrical films based on the series...
. Mulder
Fox Mulder
FBI Special Agent Fox William Mulder is a fictional character and protagonist in the American Fox television shows The X-Files and The Lone Gunmen, two science fiction shows about a government conspiracy to hide or deny the truth of Alien existence. Mulder's peers consider his theories on...
and Scully determine these killings are far from ordinary by the presence of a strange substance coating the victims, a substance which seems to digest most body tissue other than fats.
Production
"2Shy" was written by Jeff VlamingJeff Vlaming
Jeff Vlaming is an American television Writer and Producer. He has worked on numerous series throughout the 1990s, 2000s, and 2010s...
, who had previously worked for the series Weird Science
Weird Science (TV series)
Weird Science is a mid-1990s American comedy series made for television, based on the 1985 film of the same name.-Plot:The series follows the adventures of Gary Wallace and Wyatt Donnelly , two socially inept high school students in an unspecified town in California...
. Vlaming's only other writing credits for the series was the later third season episode "Hell Money
Hell Money
"Hell Money" is a 1996 episode of The X-Files television series. It was the nineteenth episode broadcast in the show's third season. "Hell Money" features Mulder and Scully investigating a Chinese lottery involving the selling of body parts.- Plot :...
". He had initially pitched the idea of a mutant who fed on body oils, which was eventually changed to body fats. The presentation of the character Virgil Incanto also went through several permutations, initially conceived as a creepy "Phantom of the Opera
The Phantom of the Opera
Le Fantôme de l'Opéra is a novel by French writer Gaston Leroux. It was first published as a serialisation in "Le Gaulois" from September 23, 1909 to January 8, 1910...
"-like recluse, and as a butcher who would be able to cut the fat from his victims, before the final "fairly normal-looking" version was decided upon.
Director David Nutter
David Nutter
David Nutter is an American television and film director and television producer. He is best known for directing pilot episodes for television series, being known as "the pilot whisperer."-Career:...
made sure that the episode contained several visceral moments, after the popularity of the "Flukeman" character in the earlier episode "The Host
The Host (The X-Files)
"The Host" is the second episode of the second season of the science fiction television series The X-Files. It premiered on the Fox network on September 23, 1994. It was written by Chris Carter, directed by Daniel Sackheim, and featured guest appearances by Darin Morgan. The episode is a...
". Frank Spotnitz
Frank Spotnitz
Frank Spotnitz is an award-winning American television writer and producer, best known for his work on The X-Files television series.-Biography:...
, the series' story editor
Story editor
Story editor is a job title in motion picture and television production, also sometimes called "supervising producer". A story editor is a member of the screenwriting staff who edits stories for screenplays....
, was initially wary of the concept as he felt it might be seen as offensive, but changed his mind when series creator Chris Carter
Chris Carter (screenwriter)
Christopher Carl Carter is an American screenwriter, film director and producer. He is the creator of The X-Files and Millennium.- Ten Thirteen Productions :...
convinced him the episode told "a good story", and was a "fun, old-fashioned sort of X-File".
Broadcast and reception
"2Shy" premiered on the Fox networkFox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
on , and was first broadcast in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
on BBC Two
BBC Two
BBC Two is the second television channel operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It covers a wide range of subject matter, but tending towards more 'highbrow' programmes than the more mainstream and popular BBC One. Like the BBC's other domestic TV and radio...
on .
Zack Handlen, writing for The A.V. Club
The A.V. Club
The A.V. Club is an entertainment newspaper and website published by The Onion. Its features include reviews of new films, music, television, books, games and DVDs, as well as interviews and other regular offerings examining both new and classic media and other elements of pop culture. Unlike its...
, had mixed feelings about the episode, ultimately rating it a B-. He felt that the character of Virgil Incanto was "wonderfully gross", although he " lacks the universal creepiness" of first season
The X-Files (season 1)
The first season of the science fiction television series The X-Files commenced airing on the Fox network in the United States on September 10, 1993 and concluded on the same channel on May 13, 1994 after airing all 24 episodes....
villain Eugene Tooms. Handlen also felt that the episode was let down by the fact that it "takes it as a given that single women are targets", failing to give any real depth to its female characters. An overview of the third season in Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
also rated the episode a B-, and called Incanto a "fine example" of the series' "unassuming" villains, comparing him to Tooms and to the second season
The X-Files (season 2)
The second season of the science fiction television series The X-Files commenced airing on Fox in the United States on September 16, 1994, concluded on the same channel on May 19, 1995, and contained 25 episodes.- Production :...
villain Donnie Pfaster
Irresistible (The X-Files)
"Irresistible" is the thirteenth episode of the second season of The X-Files television series. The episode featured the first of two guest appearances by Nick Chinlund as the death fetishist killer Donnie Pfaster, who was eventually brought back in the season seven episode "Orison"...
.