"Squeeze" is the third episode of the first season of the American science
fiction television series The X-Files. It premiered on the Fox network on
September 24, 1993. "Squeeze" was written by Glen Morgan and James Wong
and directed by Harry Longstreet, with Michael Katleman directing additional
footage. The episode featured the first of two guest appearances by Doug
Hutchison as the mutant serial killer Eugene Victor Tooms, a role he would
reprise in "Tooms". "Squeeze" is the first "monster-of-the-week" episode of
The X-Files, a stand-alone plot which is unconnected to the series' overarching
mythology. The show's main characters are FBI
special agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully, who work on cases linked to the
paranormal, called X-Files. Mulder is a believer in the paranormal, while the
skeptical Scully has been assigned to debunk his work. In this episode, Mulder
and Scully investigate a series of ritualistic killings by somebody
seemingly capable of squeezing his body through impossibly narrow gaps. The
agents deduce that their suspect may be a genetic mutant who has been killing in
sprees for ninety years. Production of "Squeeze" was problematic;
creative differences between Longstreet and the crew led to him being replaced
as director, while some missing scenes needed to be shot after the initial
filming. Because of this turbulence, the completion of the episode relied on
post-production techniques. However, "Squeeze" has received positive reviews
from critics, mostly focusing on Hutchison's performance and the
resonance of his character. The episode has subsequently been described by The
Star as "the episode that really sold The X-Files idea to the masses".
Academics have examined "Squeeze" for its portrayal of the politics of law
enforcement, highlighting the tension—evident throughout the
series—between the agents' desire to find the truth and their duty to secure
criminal convictions. Plot
In Baltimore, businessman George Usher arrives at his office building. He is
watched from a storm drain by someone who then sneaks into the building by
climbing through the elevator shaft into the ventilation system, and kills Usher
by removing his liver. The investigation into Usher's murder—the latest of three
such killings—is assigned to careerist FBI agent Tom Colton, who turns to
academy colleague Dana Scully for help. The case baffles Colton, as the only
common elements in the murders are the lack of entry points and the apparent
removal of the victims' livers with bare hands. Fox Mulder looks over the case
and notes their similarity to earlier murder sprees that occurred in 1933 and
1963. At the crime scene, Mulder notices an elongated fingerprint on the air
vent, which he also finds to be similar to some documented in the X-Files. He
concludes that because five murders occurred during the earlier sprees, the
investigators should expect two more. Because Scully believes that the killer
will return to the scenes of his earlier crimes, she and Mulder wait in the
parking garage of Usher's office building. There, they catch a man named
Eugene Victor Tooms climbing through the air vents. Tooms is given a polygraph
test, which includes questions written by Mulder linking him to murders dating
as far back as 1903. After Tooms passes the test easily, Colton dismisses
Mulder's queries as being ridiculous and lets Tooms go. However, Mulder later
digitally elongates and narrows Tooms' fingerprints to show Scully that they
match the prints at the crime scene. Mulder believes that Tooms is able to
stretch and squeeze his body through narrow spaces. That night, Tooms
demonstrates this by squeezing down a chimney to claim another victim.
Mulder and Scully find no documentation on Tooms' life. They visit Frank Briggs,
a former detective, who recounts his experiences of the investigation into
the 1933 murders. Briggs brings out old photographs of Tooms—who has not aged in
sixty years—and gives them the address of Tooms' former apartment building.
There, Mulder and Scully find a "nest" constructed out of newspaper and bile in
the building's crawl space, as well as several trophy items taken from past
victims. Mulder suspects that Tooms is a mutant who can hibernate for thirty
years at a time after consuming five human livers. As the two leave, Tooms,
who is hiding in the rafters, stealthily takes the necklace Scully is wearing as
a new trophy. Mulder and Scully put the apartment
under surveillance, but Colton has them taken off the job. Mulder finds Scully's
necklace in Tooms' apartment and tries to call his partner, but her phone line
has been cut. Tooms breaks into her apartment through a tiny air vent to
kill her, but Mulder rushes there and apprehends him first. Tooms is put in an
institution for the criminally insane where he begins to build another nest
using newspaper. At the institution, Scully informs Mulder that medical tests
on Tooms show an abnormal skeletal and muscle system, and a rapidly declining
metabolism. When Tooms is given food through a slot in the door, he stares at
the thin slot and grins. Production
= Pre-production = Coming after two episodes focused on the
series' "mythology", or fictional history, "Squeeze" helped establish that
the show could cover other paranormal subjects, and was the first
"monster-of-the-week" episode of The X-Files. Series creator Chris Carter
thought that the show could not sustain its momentum unless it branched out from
the previously UFO-centered plots. Co-writers Glen Morgan and James Wong
were inspired to write the episode when they looked at a ventilation shaft
outside of their office and thought about whether someone could crawl inside
it. Although the episode has parallels with the second Kolchak film, The Night
Strangler, which featured a man who commits murders every 21 years, Morgan
and Wong have stated they were inspired by the serial killers Jack the Ripper
and Richard Ramirez. After eating foie gras during a trip to France, Carter
proposed the idea that the villain should consume human livers. Morgan
noted that the writers settled on the liver because it was "funnier" than any
other organ. The idea to have Tooms use a nest for hibernation came from Morgan
and Wong; they liked that if the agents were unable to catch Tooms, he could
return after weeks of dormancy. Actor Doug Hutchison was 33 when he
auditioned for the part of Tooms, but the producers initially considered him
too young for the role; Glen Morgan thought that Hutchinson "looks twelve
years old". However Hutchison impressed the writers with his ability to suddenly
transition into attacking behavior, which convinced them to hire him. He
related that his portrayal of Tooms was inspired by the "stillness" of Anthony
Hopkins' acting in The Silence of the Lambs.
= Filming = The episode's establishing exterior
shots, and those of Tooms' house, were filmed around Hastings Street in
Vancouver. When filming the first shot of Tooms' eyes glowing from a storm
drain, the production crew arrived too late to secure the street for filming,
and a nearby construction crew were temporarily drafted to guard the area.
The ventilation system through which the first victim is attacked at night was
meant to be of a multistory car park. However, to avoid a costly tenting
operation to simulate night-time, a replica of the necessary parts of the
ventilation system was built in a lower level of the car park. Exterior shots of
Scully's apartment were also filmed in Vancouver, at the same location used in
the pilot episode. However, this location's use was later discontinued
owing to the limited range of shots it afforded; most reverse angles would show
a large car park across the street. Wong was disappointed with director
Harry Longstreet, claiming he did not have respect for the script. Longstreet
had failed to film one of the script's scenes, and had not obtained additional
camera coverage for the scenes which had been filmed. As a result, Wong and
another director, Michael Katleman, re-shot several scenes for additional
coverage to complete the episode, and filmed the omitted scene and some
inserts. Hutchison also had difficulty with Longstreet's directing; he found
the acting instructions he was given "ridiculous". Morgan said that the
episode's production was problematic, feeling that "Squeeze" "was truly saved
in postproduction". Duchovny also found issue with Longstreet's direction, and
disagreed with the director's take on how Fox Mulder should be portrayed.
Describing their different opinions, Duchovny noted "the director wanted me
to be mad about this horrible serial killer. I was like, 'No, this is an
amazing discovery! He's not morally culpable, because he's genetically
driven.' I judge no one". = Post-production =
For the shot in which Tooms slides through a chimney, the producers hired a
contortionist who could squeeze through small spaces. They filmed the shot with
the camera standing below the contortionist. The chimney, which was
"more like a belt than a pipe", was made to look much narrower than it actually
was. Using computer-generated imagery, they were able to produce and elongate
shots of the contortionist's fingers. Producer R. W. Goodwin believed that the
contortionist—known only as "Pepper"—would only have limited success
in fitting down the chimney set and would work mostly as a photo double.
However, he was able to fit entirely inside the chimney; the production crew
only needed to add some sound effects "of bones snapping and cracking".
The scene in which Tooms enters Scully's home was initially filmed in Hutchison's
absence. The crew shot his entrance later, using a larger blue screen set.
These shots were digitally merged so that Tooms would appear to emerge from a
much smaller hatch than was filmed. The effect was kept to a minimum;
Hutchison's footage was not "squeezed" too much, as both Carter and visual
effects supervisor Mat Beck have stated their belief that "less is more: just a
hint of the supernatural is all that is required".
Themes Although it did not directly impact the
ongoing storyline of The X-Files, "Squeeze" introduced key thematic
elements to the series. "Squeeze" has been described as "the episode where
Dana Scully must publicly pick a side". She had previously confronted military
officials in "Deep Throat", and has "carefully worded" her reports to
protect her partner Mulder from ridicule, but an encounter with former
colleague Tom Colton forces her to openly choose between Mulder and the
politics of careerism. These developments with Colton "[tether]
another thread between her career and the rest of the FBI", highlighting a
sense of "exasperation and derision" from her colleagues, whose mindsets
represent "institutionally acceptable" models of reality.
This hostility suggests that the series' problems are "not epistemological; they
are political"—the agents, Scully in particular, have to balance a search for
"the truth" with the need to secure criminal convictions in their cases.
This balancing act "between investigating to discover the truth and
gathering evidence to support a court case" has been compared to the perceived
stance of the FBI during the series' tenure. The bureau had at this time seen
itself as a law enforcement agency responsible for amassing evidence to
prosecute criminal cases. There is a disparity between this approach and
public perception of the FBI's role as an organization investigating an
objective and apolitical truth; this led to public frustration "because [people]
incorrectly believe that a courtroom is designed to discover the truth".
Broadcast and reception "Squeeze" premiered on the Fox network
on September 24, 1993, and was first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC
Two on October 3, 1994. The episode's initial broadcast was viewed by
approximately 6.8 million households and 11.1 million viewers. "Squeeze" earned a
Nielsen rating of 7.2, with a 13 share, meaning that roughly 7.2 percent of all
television-equipped households, and 13 percent of households watching
television, were tuned in to the episode.
Glen Morgan was very pleased with Hutchison's performance, describing him
as an "ace in the hole" and calling his work "outstanding". Morgan went on to
write "Tooms", another first season episode in which the character returns.
The Vince Gilligan-penned second season episode "Soft Light" would also make
reference to the character. Hutchison wrote a prequel to "Squeeze" titled
"Dark He Was and Golden-Eyed" and sent it to Carter, but the script was
returned unread for legal reasons. "Squeeze" has been described as the
first episode of The X-Files to branch out into horror, which came to be one of
the defining genres of The X-Files. The plot of "Squeeze" was adapted as a novel
for young adults in 1996 by Ellen Steiber. The episode also inspired
"Folding Man", a first season episode of the television series Sanctuary.
In a retrospective of the first season in Entertainment Weekly, "Squeeze" was
rated B+; it was called "an important episode", and Hutchison's portrayal of
Tooms was described as "profoundly creepy". However, Thomas Sutcliffe of
The Independent was more critical, deriding the premise as "entirely
ludicrous", and sarcastically described Mulder's deduction of Tooms' abilities
as "clearly another triumph for the deductive method". An article in the
Vancouver Sun listed "Squeeze" as one of the best stand-alone episodes of the
show, saying, "The X-Files became known for its creepy, monster-of-the-week
episodes, and Squeeze was the one that started it all", and that, together with
"Tooms", it "remains one of the scariest things ever seen on television". Connie
Ogle from PopMatters listed Tooms amongst the greatest monsters of the
series. Keith Phipps, writing for The A.V. Club,
praised the episode, rated it an A−, and described Hutchison's role as "the part
that would launch [him] as a go-to character actor for creep parts". Phipps
felt the climactic scene in which Tooms infiltrates Scully's home is "the scene
that makes the episode", noting that there was "a real sense of peril"
despite it being clear that Scully, a lead character, was not going to come to
harm. Robert Shearman and Lars Pearson, in their book Wanting to Believe: A
Critical Guide to The X-Files, Millennium & The Lone Gunmen, note that
the episode's premise is the first in the series "not to rely upon accepted
urban legends". It conveys its "absurd" plot through suggestion, leaving any
special-effects sequences of Tooms' abilities until the audience is "already
suitably adjusted to the absurdity". However, Shearman and Pearson found the
monologue likening the crimes committed by Tooms to the Holocaust, given by the
retired detective Briggs, to be "not only unnecessary but tasteless to boot".
They rated the episode four stars out of five. Mumtaj Begum, writing for
Malaysia's The Star, described "Squeeze" as "the episode that really sold The
X-Files idea to the masses", and called it "simply brilliant".
The character of Eugene Tooms has also attracted positive criticism. In a guest
column for Entertainment Weekly '​s 1000th issue, author Neil Gaiman listed
Tooms as one of his favorite monsters, while UGO Networks listed the character
in a countdown of the "Best TV Serial Killers", and described Hutchison's
acting as "uber-creepy". IGN's Christine Seghers listed Hutchison as the
fourth-best guest star of the series in a top-ten countdown, complimented his
"brilliantly perverse" performance, and wrote: "Even when he doesn't appear to
be doing anything, Hutchinson [sic] can still make your skin crawl with his
dead, shark-like stare". See also
List of unmade episodes of The X-Files Footnotes
References Delsara, Jan. PopLit, PopCult and The
X-Files: A Critical Exploration. McFarland. ISBN 0-7864-0789-1.
Edwards, Ted. X-Files Confidential. Little, Brown and Company. ISBN
0-316-21808-1. Gradnitzer, Louisa; Pittson, Todd. X
Marks the Spot: On Location with The X-Files. Arsenal Pulp Press. ISBN
1-55152-066-4. Hurwitz, Matt; Knowles, Chris. The
Complete X-Files. Insight Editions. ISBN 1-933784-80-6.
Peterson, Mark C. E.; Flannery, Richard; Louzecky, David. Kowalski, Dean A., ed.
The Philosophy of The X-Files. University Press of Kentucky. ISBN
0-8131-2454-9. Lovece, Frank. The X-Files Declassified.
Citadel Press. ISBN 0-8065-1745-X. Lowry, Brian. The Truth is Out There:
The Official Guide to the X-Files. Harper Prism. ISBN 0-06-105330-9.
Shearman, Robert; Pearson, Lars. Wanting to Believe: A Critical Guide to The
X-Files, Millennium & The Lone Gunmen. Mad Norwegian Press. ISBN 0-9759446-9-X.
External links "Squeeze" on The X-Files official
website "Squeeze" at the Internet Movie Database
"Squeeze" at TV.com