User Reviews

Unsettling episode strays away from extra terrestrials to focus on a genetic freak who returns every thirty years to kill five people for their livers so he can have sustenance as he hibernates in a self-made place using his own bile. Doug Hutchison would leave his mark as the creep with glowing yellow eyes and an ability to stretch his body to fit into small areas so he could enter the homes of innocents to kill them and escape without getting caught. Not in this very much, Hutchison nonetheless leaves a lasting impression, the kind of skin-crawling menace who would return once more to challenge agents Mulder and Scully. Donal Logue has a nice little part as a smart-aleck agent whose opinion of Mulder is noticeably shared by a large number of the FBI who find Fox a laughingstock and is using the Eugene Tooms murders as his possible stepping stone to greater heights in the government. Commissioning school chum Scully to help him on the serial killings case, Logue's agent Colton isn't keen on allowing Mulder to infiltrate his investigation. The problem is that Colton thinks inside the box and with a killer like Tooms and his genetic abilities, the case needs someone unafraid to look outside—and that is Mulder who, along with Scully(quite a profiler in her own right), is able to uncover Tooms as the culprit due to fingerprint evidence. Beating the polygraph(although he fails on two questions which finger him as the killer from the 60s and 30s in Baltimore), Tooms is let go and he chooses his next victim to be Scully. Yes, those familiar with THE X-FILES during its entire run know that the formula often has Scully in a perilous situation with Mulder coming to her rescue, or vice versa. That is the case here as well. There's a solid sub-plot concerning a wheel-chair bound retired cop who worked the Tooms case in the 60s with help assisting Mulder and Scully, his experience invaluable, being alive to see that this "human monster" gets his comeuppance once and for all. The cop's description of the crime scenes in relation to genocide is a chilling depiction of the aura of Tooms' evil. Also very important is how Scully defends Mulder and shows a loyalty to him in relation to Colton's thick-headedness and inability to look beyond getting ahead career-wise to find the true killer.

Squeeze the Limerick:

Eugene Victor Tooms is a man

Who'll eat your liver with his bare hands.

He sleeps in his bile

And this gooey X-File

In thirty years will come back again.

The more I revisit these Season 1 episodes the more I enjoy them. Squeeze has the wonderful designation of being the very first MOTW episode. I assume that the idea all along was to have these stand alone episodes in between the mythology episodes but if for whatever reason that is not the case then its sure a good thing this episode turned out so great. I love the teaser. No dialogue at all. Just a creepy score done by Mark Snow over a voyeuristic camera shot of the soon to be victim. Doug Hutchinson brings s great presence to the screen as the villain. A short insignificant liver eating mutant. I have seen him in other great roles since but this one still stands out as my favorite. Scully is as hot as ever in her early 90's getup. Mulder is as clever as ever with his remarks about "Do you have any idea what liver and onions go for on Reticula?", and "Is there any way to get it off my fingers quickly without betraying my cool exterior?". Tom Colton is a jerk, Scully stays loyal to Mulder after such a short time, etc. And also we have the classic camera shot of Mulder and Scully entering Tooms apartment at 66 Exeter St. which everyone should recognize from the title sequence. There is just one thing about the episode that kind of gets on my nerves every time I see it. That is the fact that when Scully handcuffs Tooms, for whatever reason he is unable to "squeeze" his way out of them. But that however is not enough to lower my rating from anything but a 10.

Nope, unfortunately my feelings for this episode didn't change.

I'm very indifferent about it. I like the way it builds up and I like the monster of the week. Eugene has a lot of potential (as shown later in Tooms). He is a very creepy guy and his attack on Scully was well done. But way too short.

The rest of this episode for me is slow moving and a little boring. Scully's friend Tom annoyed me immensely. But then again, I almost never liked the guest agents. And this guy was just completely unnecessary.

Overall, I give it TWO stars. Like I said, it has it's moments.

One of the hallmarks of The X Files series is brilliant performances by, not only the leads, but guest actors who may be overlooked in any other medium. This episode is no different.

Doug Hutchinson plays Eugene Tooms, the liver-eating freak Mulder and Scully chase after a series of gruesome deaths. His portrayal of a man desperate for sustenance is creepy and spot-on.Unfotunately for him, I'm sure, it's tough to shake the image of his yellow eyes out of your head when you're watching him in The Green Mile and other works after this show debuted, but for X-Files fans, it's a very memorable character.

***Spoiler** One of the things that I came to dread over the course of the show were episodes where Mulder or Scully were left in a dangerous and vulnerable spot with a killer in their home. This is one of the first episodes with Scully in such a scenario, and the effect is certainly tension building. Each time I watch this episode, I can't help but wish Mulder would pick up the phone sooner! But of course, that's what makes a show like this great. ***Spoiler***

High tension, suspense, a little bit of gross-out, and great performances makes this an important episode for X-Files fanatics.

Bruhhh... this episode actually really creeped me out a few times!

I also Liked how Sully had Mulders back.

I'm also not sure how long she is going to be able to continue to be a skeptic when she almost got her liver taken by mutant man. But we will see!

I'm absolutely thrilled by the originality of this monster. Who ever made up the idea of a man who eats 5 livers every 30 years, and nests in his own bile in between, is a genius. Of all things... It's such a delightful idea! The fact that he looks so normal and acts kind of like a silent version of Daria (you know, stoic on the outside but angry on the inside?) makes this even better. The first-person rendition of his slow-motion victim-spotting vision is quite enlightening, it really gives a good sense of how this guy thinks and sees the world. The fact that they've actually created a convincing psychology for such an inhuman person is very impressive. This episode is definitely a refreshing watch! It's so weird that it's almost funny, but still creepy as well.

I haven't seen anyone else mention it, but the opening sequence of this story was highly reminiscent of the 1990 Stephen King made for TV movie and the novel on which it was based titled "It". You had Eugene Victor Tooms (Doug Hutchison) peering out from an underground water drain as if scanning the neighborhood for his next potential victim. The idea is given even more resonance later on in the story when Mulder and Scully interview the retired sheriff Frank Briggs (Henry Beckman), who recalls the malevolence he felt when he investigated Tooms' residence thirty year earlier. He stated that "I could feel...it". If the writers of this episode were paying silent tribute to Stephen King, I wouldn't be at all surprised.

Anyway, this episode in the series took a quick break from the UFO/extraterrestrial theme established in the first two shows, wisely venturing into a different sort of paranormal territory to hook even more potential viewers. Agent Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) begins taking her share of shots from fellow FBI agents for teaming up with 'Spooky' Mulder, who even this early in the series, acknowledges that his work runs beyond your traditional homicides and typical undercover investigations.

This case stays close to home for the agents in the city of Baltimore, and involves a creepy guy who has the unusual ability to elongate his body and get into some really tight places. The writers of the episode explored the novel idea of a character who comes out of hibernation every thirty years in order to extract the liver of it's victims to set up the next cycle. If the person of Tooms wasn't creepy enough, the actor wore a set of yellow contact lenses to give his appearance even more of a demonic, snake like character. The image one will remember coming out of this episode occurs when Tooms reaches into the duct-work of a victim's home, and begins his slither to take his next victim. Very creepy.

It turns out Mulder has to return Scully's favor of making the save from the prior episode, as he arrives in the proverbial nick of time to prevent Tooms from claiming Scully's liver. One gets the feeling that perhaps the writers were setting up a sequel (they were) when the camera comes in on Tooms's challenging grin when offered a meal through a slot in his jail enclosure. That is, if he didn't want to wait around for another thirty years.

Scully agrees to help a fellow agent (Donal Logue, 'Grounded for Life') with a baffling case. Before long, Mulder is naturally involved as well. This case is strange enough to qualify as an X-File, with a very sneaky murderer slipping inside residences and office buildings, slaughtering people and removing their livers. Mulder is able to tie these killings to similar crimes that have occurred every 30 years - dating back to 1933.

An attempt by 'X-Files' creator Chris Carter to show that his series could involve different kinds of monsters and not just extraterrestrials, 'Squeeze' is a rock-solid bit of fun that could qualify as the very first "monster of the week" episode (although its villain would ultimately make an encore appearance). It's wonderfully creepy when we see this killer in action, and how he is able to fit inside air ducts and otherwise very tight spaces. At one point, Mulder & Scully find his "nest", and the presence of bile allows for Mulder to utter the classic line "How do I get this stuff off my fingers without betraying my cool exterior?".

Guest star Doug Hutchison ("The Green Mile") quickly became an iconic series villain and a fan favorite. His character of Eugene Victor Tooms truly gets under your skin. A minute or two into 'Squeeze', when you first get a glimpse of Tooms, is very memorable. Hutchison wears these contacts that give his eyes a disturbing, animalistic appearance.

There is also a poignant scene with an aged, retired detective (Henry Beckman, "The Brood") who relates to the agents some anecdotes of his own investigations into these killings.

It may be purely fiction, but 'Squeeze' does an interesting job of showing that polygraph tests really aren't what they're cracked up to be.

Eight out of 10.

'I don't think it's where he lives. It's where he hibernates.'

This third instalment was the first not to be written by the show's creator. Penned by Glen Morgan & James Wong, who would go on to produce the highly original 'Final Destination' for the silver screen, this represents the first in a series of episodes they would create, providing some of the most memorable moments of this cult series. A welcome break from the previous mythology-dominated episodes, Chris Carter, was aware that the show's longevity would benefit from occasional diversions away from UFO investigations. Called in by one of Sculley's ambitious Academy classmates, Agent Tom Colton, stumped by a series of inexplicable murders in Baltimore, Mulder and Sculley's quarry here is a serial killer, whose signature is to rip out the victim's liver with his bare hands. In addition, the murderer appears to gain access to the victims without any established entry points. In formulating this character, the writers were inspired by the very real exploits of Jack the Ripper and the 'Night Stalker', Robert Ramirez, whose brutal series of home-invasion murders terrorised residents of LA and San Francisco in the mid-80s. Accordingly, it was Carter who formulated both the idea that this killer extract the victims' livers for their regenerative potential, and that he hibernate and reappear every thirty years to collect his next harvest. From the outset, with the frame by frame zooming shot to a pair of blood-red eyes within a storm drain, and the killer's impossible entry by means of the smallest of air-vents within his chosen victim's office, the audience are aware of the otherworldly nature of the monster lurking out of sight. At the crime-scene, Mulder's discovery of an elongated finger-print on the rim of the vent leads him to a similar conclusion to the derision of Colton and his superiors. The growing mutual respect between Mulder and Sculley is highlighted by the episode sub-plot in which Sculley is prepared to relinquish her career aspirations to defend the integrity of her partner. As such, her friendship with the superficial Colton, played superbly in his first standout performance by now respected character actor, Donal Logue, deteriorates as the latter tries to safeguard his reputation while besmirching that of 'Spooky Mulder'. Yet, it is Doug Hutchison who steals the show with his spine- tingling performance as the demonic Eugene Victor Tooms - which he claims was based on Hopkin's portrayal of Hannibal Lecter. Despite being aged 33 when he auditioned for the role, both writers and producers thought him far younger, and not mature enough to play such an enigmatic part. Their opinion changed as soon as he was instructed to suddenly adopt belligerent behaviour. Such was the impact of the performance that, the danger of being typecast aside, Hutchison is reported to have sent Carter a calf's liver as an amusing thank-you gift. In spite of his character's arrest, a successful polygraph test results in his release, to commit a second murder. A combination of telling special effects, and the extraordinary skills of a contortionist named 'Pepper' provides one of the most unnerving scenes as Tooms descends the narrowest of chimney spaces. As Mulder delves deeper into the historical records, it becomes apparent that a killer with the same modus operandi has been committing murders every thirty years in the same vicinity, dating back as far as 1903. Even more unsettling, they discover that for each crime-spree the fingerprints of the assailant are a perfect match, and photographic evidence reveals Tooms to be an ageless assassin. Mulder and Sculley's entry into 68 Exeter Street, the abandoned derelict residence of the 1903 Tooms, leads to the stomach-turning discovery of a nest constructed from this 'monster's bile, and the conclusive evidence of the trophies he has collected from each victim. This visit also triggers the selection of Sculley as the killers next intended victim, and the exciting culmination of the action as Mulder comes to his partner's rescue and captures Tooms. It also serves as the source of the frame-by-frame shot of our protagonists in the title sequence for future episodes. Frequently, voted as one of the top-ten episodes of the entire 'X-Files' output, and often at the top of the list (such as that compiled by 'Empire' magazine), many of the quality aspects were completed in post-production with the writers, producers, and cast having all been at odds with the director. Finally, the opportunity for a sequel was also left open with the final chilling smile of Tooms as he realises the feeding hatch in his cell door could proffer a means of escape.

After two good episodes leaning more to the corny side, we get this bad boy. "Squeeze" is a curve ball for your expectations up until now (if you're watching in order). From cheesy UFO effects and plot to your new nightmare, this episode managed to cast the perfect actor to the role, and nailed the demon eye effects. The squeezing effects are good enough to not break the momentum, and even though we know the main characters are not dying, you can't help fearing for their lives.

A 10/10 rating is never really 10/10, cause nothing is perfect. However, you get the gist.