The X-Files s1e18 "Miracle Man" (1994)

What if someone was really bad at faith healing? In all our years of watching Christian media, we've never once seen media explore this scenario, until we watched a certain episode of THE X-FILES called "Miracle Man." THE X-FILES is considered one of the most beloved classic shows of the y2k era. Its quirky and sometimes disturbing sci-fi and horror plots have cemented it as nostalgic to millennials and fascinating even to younger generations streaming today. The friendly tension between FBI special agents Mulder (David Duchovny), highly open to the supernatural and conspiracy, and Scully (Gillian Anderson), a more rational "left-brained" investigator who looks for scientific explanations, provides unending narrative variations, mimicking the two sides of our own minds when we approach information alien to us (no pun intended). Their opposing yet complementary tactics are put to the test in "Miracle Man" when the pair investigate Rev. Calvin Hartley, an evangelical revivalist preacher whose young son Samuel is accused of using the power of God to kill members of his congregation. The agents confirm with their own eyes Samuel's miraculous ability to heal the sick and raise the dead, but after two congregation members died tragically, his confidence has been tested. He's become a disillusioned young man developing alcoholism, concerned that God is punishing him. But is God to blame, or could it be one weird man with pure white rubbery skin who always wears a trench coat and sunglasses? Is the weirdest-looking freak of them all sabotaging the healings behind the scenes? We gotta admit, the ending was pretty predictable for an X-FILES twist, but it was still compelling to see Mulder and Scully investigate Christian miracles. The episode raises compelling discussion points about what faith healing actually does — is it channeling God's power, or does it use the power of suggestion to cause a suffering person's mind to will positive effects onto the body? The mind is the most powerful thing we have, although God is more powerful still — as long as a pale, rubbery freakazoid doesn't get in the way of His plans.

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