The script was written by Jessica Scott and Mike Wollaeger, their first produced teleplay. Other problems are more a result of execution. So there is a flaw that was perhaps baked into Schizogeny from the start. It’s not quite as unworkable as the cats in Teso Dos Bichos, but it comes quite close. There is none of the gonzo depravity that Sam Raimi brought to The Evil Dead, for better or for worse. When the show does actually show a killer tree branch murdering Linda Baiocchi, it looks cheap and terrible. When the show consciously edits around the killer tree branches, it looks cheap and confusing. Of course, it seems like this approach is a lose-lose proposition for the show. While it is clearly meant to convey “Phil Rich is murdered by his own orchard”, the fact that the episode is so minimalist means that it becomes “Phil Rich trips up on an exposed root and falls into some mud.” As opening sequences go, it is hardly riveting. Because Schizogeny is so reluctant to actually show killer trees, it is very hard to follow an episode that is – in a large part – about killer trees while being incredibly reluctant to show killer trees.
It is a sensible approach, but it comes with its own problems. The murders are shot and edited in such a way that the audience is not confronted with the image of tentacle-like tree branches murdering guest characters. We see very little of the killer trees in action. So director Ralph Hemecker adopts a minimalistic approach. “Killer trees” could easily look ridiculous if the episode tried to show too much – the flailing branches striking out at victims could look as ridiculous as the prop cat paws attacking Scully in Teso Dos Bichos. So the actually portrayal of the monster attacks in Schizogeny become a nightmare. It is just not one that Schizogeny can actually accomplish.
However, actually trying to realise “killer trees” on the budget and schedule of a weekly television show is an ambitious undertaking. “Killer trees” is a cool concept, and one that establishes an effectively Gothic mood or tone. It is a concept that could easily go horribly wrong, on a purely practical level. On a most basic level “doing an X-Files episode about killer trees” is a fundamentally risky proposition. Of course, it is worth documenting the many problems with Schizogeny – just to be clear on the matter.
While the flaws are glaring and deep rooted ( ha!), there is a seed of a good idea here. It might even have been a single casting choice away from being a perfectly serviceable instalment of the show. One suspects that Schizogeny was only a few drafts away from a functional and working script. Any discussion of Schizogeny must concede that the episode is an unholy mess, but there are some ideas here that are worth exploring.
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Schizogeny might not make any real sense and might not know how to execute any of its ideas, but at least it has some ideas. It is not as blatantly racist as other frontrunners like Excelsis Dei, Teso Dos Bichos, El Mundo Gira or Badlaa. Even if one accepts that Schizogeny is the worst episode of the fifth season, it does not seem so bad. Both Redux I and Emily are similarly clumsy in execution, but with fewer interesting ideas to buoy them up. While it is certainly not a season highlight, there is some debate to be had about whether Schizogeny can be classed as the weakest episode of the fifth season.
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