By Chris Snellgrove
| Published
Have you ever watched a fairly mediocre television hour that is only recovered by a killer guest star? Sometimes, even professionals in the television industry will be the first to admit that they have received a fairly dull script and that the only thing that maintains history together is the strong performance of this week’s guest actor. For example, the director who worked on the “Roland” episode agreed that the performance of wouldeljko Ivanek helped save what would have been a very common episode of X-Files.
Željko Ivanek saved the “Roland” X-Files episode
In case you have not seen it or if you just need a refreshment, “Roland” is an episode where the titular character is an intellectually handicapped man who is manipulated in murderous actions by his frozen brotherly twin brother. Even according to the standards of this scary show, this scenario was the soap opera of the 90s at its best. Many of those who worked on this episode thought that the star of Roland wouldeljko Ivanek had really saved that X-Files Episode, starting with director David Nutter who said that “when I knew I had it, I thought it was important to push this as much as possible, to help prevail over the fragiles of the script.”
One of David Nutter’s greatest criticism of the scenario of this episode is that his villain was “a little abstract”. It is because the Big Bad was a guy in the cryogenic stasis that we do not even see before the end of the episode … Not exactly a tangible threat like the smoked man of the cigarette who hides in the area. However, once he made what large actor chops would ivanek had, the X-Files The director put more emphasis on the character of Roland, which led to an episode that he thought “was a really strong character play”.
Chris Carter generally agree with this evaluation, noting that “for me, [Željko Ivanek’s portrayal] made the episode “in one who X-Files Fans will never forget. He praised specific “David Nutter and writing staff to have fallen and that the episode really works.” In fact, Carter loved Roland so much that it allowed one of the tacit musical rules of the series to be completely infringed.
According to X-Files Composer Mark Snow, David Nutter “said that a little strange theme on the piano would be great for this character”, but Snow knew very well that Chris Carter was “really not in melodic music”, so he knew he had to get this song “Just right”. The result is “this simple piece, very childish, slightly desperate, sad” … The genre that was instantly distinguished in the middle of the more frightening and more atmospheric songs of the show. Fortunately, Carter loved the song, which perfectly encapsulated the inner struggle of the title character.
Retrospectively, it is easy to see how creative staff behind “Roland” really put all his tokens on the performance of željko Ivanek. He obtained a fleshy share of screen time, a personalized song and an unforgettable final arc. And that made him an out -of -competition character in a season which included the first favorites of fans like the solitary armed men and Walter Skinner.
At the end of the day, David Nutter’s instincts were right: the powerful actor of željko Ivanek was really the culmination of a rather mediocre otherwise X-Files episode. Fortunately for the cast and the team, it was a show built around great personalities, and the character of Roland d’Ivanek managed to be just as convincing in his time limited to the screen as David Duchovny And the former FBI agents of Gillian Anderson. And it makes this episode which is worth reviewing a time or two before putting it back on the ice (preferably freeze cryogenic).
