The Great X-Files Rewatch: ‘The Jersey Devil’
“It’s a folktale, a myth.”
The Jersey Devil
Written by Chris Carter, directed by Joe Napolitano
Season 1, Episode 5
Recap
While driving down a wood enshrouded road in 1947, a family is surprised by a sudden flat tower. The father gets out to fix the tire — when something plunges out of the woods and drags him off into the dark.
The next day, a team with dogs searches through the woods for the missing man. They find him — partially eaten.
They also find something else, a creature said to be tall as a house. They begin shooting as it rushes toward them. A cacophony of gun fire.
In their office at FBI headquarters, Scully tells Mulder about a case involving a body found in the New Jersey woods. The body was missing an arm and a leg, which had been eaten off — by a human.
Mulder predictably pulls out an X-File about the Jersey Devil and relates the story from 1947 (presented in the intro). The creature that had been killed was actually a savage, naked man. An autopsy (the report of which was missing) revealed human flesh and bone inside his digestive system.
