Shapes (The X-Files)
Encyclopedia
"Shapes" is the nineteenth episode of the first season
of the American science fiction
television series The X-Files
. It premiered on the Fox network
on April 1, 1994. "Shapes" was written by Marilyn Osborn
, and directed by David Nutter
. It featured guest appearances by Michael Horse
, Ty Miller
and Donnelly Rhodes
. The episode is a "Monster-of-the-Week" story, a stand-alone plot which is unconnected to the series' wider mythology
. "Shapes" earned a Nielsen household rating of 7.6, being watched by 7.2 million people in its initial broadcast; and received mixed reviews, with varied reaction to the episode's handling of the werewolf genre and of its Native American
themes.
FBI
special agents Dana Scully
(Gillian Anderson
) and Fox Mulder
(David Duchovny
), who work on cases linked to the paranormal, called X-File
s, are called to Montana after a shooting on a farm near a Native American reservation
. Investigating the case, the agents find that the dead man, and those that he attacked, may be capable of shapeshifting into ferocious beasts—a phenomenon which was documented in the very first X-File.
agents Dana Scully
and Fox Mulder
travel to a remote town in Montana
to investigate the killing of a Native American
man, Joseph Goodensnake, by local ranch owner Jim Parker. The killing initially appears to be motivated by a dispute over the ownership of a tract of land, although Parker claims that he had fired upon a monstrous animal rather than a human. Parker's son, Lyle, bears scars that appears to lend credence to his father's story.
At the scene of the shooting, Scully reasons that at the short range from which Goodensnake was shot, it would have been impossible to mistake him for an animal. However, Mulder finds tracks leading to the area that appear to change from human to something more animal in nature. Scully dismisses this, but finds a large section of human skin nearby. She believes that the Parkers knowingly killed Goodensnake, but neither agent believe the pair would have skinned him—and the body was not reported to have been skinned.
The matter is complicated by the difficulties Mulder and Scully have with dealing with the Native American population, stemming from the experience of the locals with the FBI at the Wounded Knee incident
in 1973. Goodensnake's sister Gwen is also bitter that her neighbors are too frightened of native legends to confront his death. Despite these misgivings, the agents find a seeming ally in Sheriff Charles Tskany, who permits Scully to make a cursory examination of Goodensnake's body, but forbids a full autopsy. Upon investigating the body, they discover that he has elongated canines, similar to those of an animal, and bears long-healed scars similar to those borne by Lyle.
Goodensnake's body is cremated in a traditional ceremony, while the agents watch from a distance. Mulder shares with Scully his belief that the case is connected to the first X-File
officially opened, concerning a series of savage maulings which Mulder believes are the work of werewolves. Scully dismisses this theory and instead credits the belief to clinical lycanthropy
. Meanwhile, the elder Parker is subsequently ripped apart by an unseen animal, and Lyle is found naked and unconscious in the nearby forest.
Ish, one of the elder men of the reservation, explains to Mulder the legend of the manitou
, a creature which can possess and transform a man
, and which can pass to a new host upon the death of the original. Ish believes he had seen the creature in his youth, but was too frightened to confront it. An examination of Lyle Parker reveals his father's blood in his stomach, making it clear that he has in fact become the manitou's new host, though not before he is released from hospital. That night Mulder and Scully hurry to the Parker ranch, quickly finding themselves in violent confrontation with the monster. Tskany shoots it dead, only to see it transform back into Lyle. As they agents leave, they learn that Gwen has disappeared, whilst Ish cryptically warns that he will see the agents in "about eight years".
"Shapes" was written after executives at Fox had suggested that the series should feature a "more conventional" type of monster, and producers James Wong
and Glen Morgan
began looking into Native American legends of the Manitou
to form the basis of the episode's concept, believing that "a horror show should be able to do these legends that have been around since the thirteen hundreds". The episode made mention of the first X-File
case to have been opened, apparently initiated by J. Edgar Hoover
in 1946; whilst it also references the events of the earlier first season episode "Beyond the Sea", as Scully is seen discussing her father's death. "Shapes" marked the first time an episode of The X-Files had made use of Native American themes and folklore. Whilst this episode was a stand-alone 'monster-of-the-week' story, later episodes beginning with the second season finale "Anasazi
", would begin to incorporate Navajo cultural references into the show's overarching mythology
.
Guest star Michael Horse
, who plays Sheriff Charles Tskany, is the second guest star of the series to have previously appeared alongside David Duchovny
in Twin Peaks
, after fellow alumnus Don Davis
had portrayed Agent Scully's father William in the earlier episode "Beyond the Sea". Davis would reappear in the second season
's "One Breath
", whilst other Twin Peaks actors would appear later episodes of the series—Michael J. Anderson
in the second season's "Humbug
", and Kenneth Welsh
in the third season
's "Revelations
"
Much of the episode was filmed in Maple Ridge, British Columbia
, on a site named Bordertown—a "classic western" town that had been built specifically for film sets, located just a "ten-minute drive" from first assistant director Tom Braidwood
's home. The area was chosen as it provided locations for the exterior shots of the reservation, plus all of the interior areas that were needed for the episode. Despite covering the area in gravel, heavy rains left the ground sodden and muddy enough to bog down equipment and vehicles. Similar weather conditions would hinder the filming of the next episode, "Darkness Falls
". The funeral pyre scene was lit mostly using the natural light of the bonfire used; whilst the extras who sang and prayed were cast by director David Nutter after a visit to a weekly meeting of Native Americans in Vancouver, who felt that casting non-professionals would lend the scene more authenticity.
on April 1, 1994, and was first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC Two
on February 2, 1995. The episode earned a Nielsen household rating of 7.6 with a 14 share, meaning that roughly 7.6 percent of all television-equipped households, and 14 percent of households watching TV, were tuned in to the episode. A total of 7.2 million households watched this episode during its original airing.
In a retrospective of the first season in Entertainment Weekly
, the episode was rated a D+, being described as having a "garden-variety werewolf plot" that offered "nothing much to sink your teeth into". Zack Handlen, writing for The A.V. Club
, described the episode as "thoroughly predictable". He found the plot to be unoriginal, believing that it existed "more out of a sense of tradition than any real desire to tell a specific story"; however, he praised the acting in the episode, especially that of guest star Michael Horse
. Matt Haigh, writing for Den of Geek, described "Shapes" as being "a very basic and slightly drawn-out werewolf and detective story", though overall finding that the episode's visual effects and atmosphere meant that it "that mostly comes out good in the end". "Shapes" has been criticized for seeming like a "werewolf tale with Native American trappings", with its attempts at political correctness being seen as forced. However, it was praised for not adhering to the "noble savage" archetype in its portrayal of the Native American characters. Jane Goldman, in The X-Files Book of the Unexplained, feels that the episode seriously misrepresents the folklore it portrays, noting that "for many natives, calling a crazed, man-eating beast 'Manitou' is like calling Charles Manson
'God'". The plot for "Shapes" was also adapted as a novel for young adults in 1996 by Ellen Steiber
.
The X-Files (season 1)
The first season of the science fiction television series The X-Files commenced airing on the Fox network in the United States on September 10, 1993 and concluded on the same channel on May 13, 1994 after airing all 24 episodes....
of the American science fiction
Science fiction on television
Science fiction first appeared on a television program during the Golden Age of Science Fiction. Special effects and other production techniques allow creators to present a living visual image of an imaginary world not limited by the constraints of reality; this makes television an excellent medium...
television series The X-Files
The X-Files
The X-Files is an American science fiction television series and a part of The X-Files franchise, created by screenwriter Chris Carter. The program originally aired from to . The show was a hit for the Fox network, and its characters and slogans became popular culture touchstones in the 1990s...
. It premiered on the Fox network
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
on April 1, 1994. "Shapes" was written by Marilyn Osborn
Marilyn Osborn
Marilyn Osborn is an American television producer and writer. She has written and produced for the series Space: Above and Beyond, The X-Files, Touched by an Angel, The Commish, Silk Stalkings and L.A. Doctors...
, and directed by David Nutter
David Nutter
David Nutter is an American television and film director and television producer. He is best known for directing pilot episodes for television series, being known as "the pilot whisperer."-Career:...
. It featured guest appearances by Michael Horse
Michael Horse
Michael Heinrich Horse is an American actor, jeweler, and ledger painter.-Early life:Michael Horse was born in a Yaqui Native American reserve near Tucson, Arizona, and is of Yaqui, Mescalero Apache, Zuni, European and Latino descent...
, Ty Miller
Ty Miller
Ty Wesley Miller is an American actor, probably most well known for his role as The Kid on The Young Riders, which ran for three seasons...
and Donnelly Rhodes
Donnelly Rhodes
Donnelly Rhodes is a Canadian actor. He recently starred as Doctor Cottle on the Sci Fi Channel television program Battlestar Galactica. Before Battlestar Galactica he was probably best known to American audiences as the lovestruck, hapless escaped convict "Dutch Leitner" on the 1970s soap-opera...
. The episode is a "Monster-of-the-Week" story, a stand-alone plot which is unconnected to the series' wider mythology
Mythology of The X-Files
The mythology of The X-Files, sometimes referred to as its mytharc by the show's staff and fans, follows the quest of FBI Special Agents Fox Mulder , a believer in supernatural phenomena, and Dana Scully , his skeptical partner. Their boss, FBI Assistant Director Walter Skinner was also often...
. "Shapes" earned a Nielsen household rating of 7.6, being watched by 7.2 million people in its initial broadcast; and received mixed reviews, with varied reaction to the episode's handling of the werewolf genre and of its Native American
Indigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
themes.
FBI
Federal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that serves as both a federal criminal investigative body and an internal intelligence agency . The FBI has investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crime...
special agents Dana Scully
Dana Scully
FBI Special Agent Dana Katherine Scully, M.D. is a fictional character and protagonist on the Fox television series The X-Files , played by Gillian Anderson. She also appeared in two theatrical films based on the series...
(Gillian Anderson
Gillian Anderson
Gillian Leigh Anderson is an American actress.After beginning her career in theatre, Anderson achieved international recognition for her role as Special Agent Dana Scully on the American television series The X-Files. During the show's nine seasons, Anderson won Emmy, Golden Globe, and Screen...
) and Fox Mulder
Fox Mulder
FBI Special Agent Fox William Mulder is a fictional character and protagonist in the American Fox television shows The X-Files and The Lone Gunmen, two science fiction shows about a government conspiracy to hide or deny the truth of Alien existence. Mulder's peers consider his theories on...
(David Duchovny
David Duchovny
David William Duchovny is an American actor, writer and director. He has won Golden Globe awards for his work as FBI Special Agent Fox Mulder on The X-Files and as Hank Moody on Californication.-Early life:...
), who work on cases linked to the paranormal, called X-File
X-file
On the television series The X-Files, an X-File is a fictional case that has been deemed unsolvable by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The files constitute an unassigned project outside the Bureau mainstream that is more or less concerned with unexplained phenomena. -First X-Files:The very...
s, are called to Montana after a shooting on a farm near a Native American reservation
Indian reservation
An American Indian reservation is an area of land managed by a Native American tribe under the United States Department of the Interior's Bureau of Indian Affairs...
. Investigating the case, the agents find that the dead man, and those that he attacked, may be capable of shapeshifting into ferocious beasts—a phenomenon which was documented in the very first X-File.
Plot
FBIFederal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that serves as both a federal criminal investigative body and an internal intelligence agency . The FBI has investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crime...
agents Dana Scully
Dana Scully
FBI Special Agent Dana Katherine Scully, M.D. is a fictional character and protagonist on the Fox television series The X-Files , played by Gillian Anderson. She also appeared in two theatrical films based on the series...
and Fox Mulder
Fox Mulder
FBI Special Agent Fox William Mulder is a fictional character and protagonist in the American Fox television shows The X-Files and The Lone Gunmen, two science fiction shows about a government conspiracy to hide or deny the truth of Alien existence. Mulder's peers consider his theories on...
travel to a remote town in Montana
Montana
Montana is a state in the Western United States. The western third of Montana contains numerous mountain ranges. Smaller, "island ranges" are found in the central third of the state, for a total of 77 named ranges of the Rocky Mountains. This geographical fact is reflected in the state's name,...
to investigate the killing of a Native American
Indigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
man, Joseph Goodensnake, by local ranch owner Jim Parker. The killing initially appears to be motivated by a dispute over the ownership of a tract of land, although Parker claims that he had fired upon a monstrous animal rather than a human. Parker's son, Lyle, bears scars that appears to lend credence to his father's story.
At the scene of the shooting, Scully reasons that at the short range from which Goodensnake was shot, it would have been impossible to mistake him for an animal. However, Mulder finds tracks leading to the area that appear to change from human to something more animal in nature. Scully dismisses this, but finds a large section of human skin nearby. She believes that the Parkers knowingly killed Goodensnake, but neither agent believe the pair would have skinned him—and the body was not reported to have been skinned.
The matter is complicated by the difficulties Mulder and Scully have with dealing with the Native American population, stemming from the experience of the locals with the FBI at the Wounded Knee incident
Wounded Knee Incident
The Wounded Knee incident began February 27, 1973 when about 200 Oglala Lakota and followers of the American Indian Movement seized and occupied the town of Wounded Knee, South Dakota on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation...
in 1973. Goodensnake's sister Gwen is also bitter that her neighbors are too frightened of native legends to confront his death. Despite these misgivings, the agents find a seeming ally in Sheriff Charles Tskany, who permits Scully to make a cursory examination of Goodensnake's body, but forbids a full autopsy. Upon investigating the body, they discover that he has elongated canines, similar to those of an animal, and bears long-healed scars similar to those borne by Lyle.
Goodensnake's body is cremated in a traditional ceremony, while the agents watch from a distance. Mulder shares with Scully his belief that the case is connected to the first X-File
X-file
On the television series The X-Files, an X-File is a fictional case that has been deemed unsolvable by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The files constitute an unassigned project outside the Bureau mainstream that is more or less concerned with unexplained phenomena. -First X-Files:The very...
officially opened, concerning a series of savage maulings which Mulder believes are the work of werewolves. Scully dismisses this theory and instead credits the belief to clinical lycanthropy
Clinical lycanthropy
Clinical lycanthropy is defined as a rare psychiatric syndrome that involves a delusion that the affected person can transform or has transformed into a non-human animal or that he or she is an animal. Its name is connected to the mythical condition of lycanthropy, a supernatural affliction in...
. Meanwhile, the elder Parker is subsequently ripped apart by an unseen animal, and Lyle is found naked and unconscious in the nearby forest.
Ish, one of the elder men of the reservation, explains to Mulder the legend of the manitou
Manitou
Manitou is a general term for spirit beings among many Algonquian Native American groups.Manitou may also refer to:- Geography :* Manitou, Manitoba, Canada* Manitou, Kentucky, USA* Manitou, Oklahoma, USA- Other uses :...
, a creature which can possess and transform a man
Skin-walker
Skin-walker and Skinwalker may refer to:* Skin-walker, a human/animal shape-shifter from Native American legend.-Books and comics:* Skinwalkers , a 1986 mystery novel by Tony Hillerman....
, and which can pass to a new host upon the death of the original. Ish believes he had seen the creature in his youth, but was too frightened to confront it. An examination of Lyle Parker reveals his father's blood in his stomach, making it clear that he has in fact become the manitou's new host, though not before he is released from hospital. That night Mulder and Scully hurry to the Parker ranch, quickly finding themselves in violent confrontation with the monster. Tskany shoots it dead, only to see it transform back into Lyle. As they agents leave, they learn that Gwen has disappeared, whilst Ish cryptically warns that he will see the agents in "about eight years".
Production
James Wong (producer)
James 'Jim' Wong is a Cantonese-American television producer, writer, and film director notable for his screen works of The X-Files, Space: Above and Beyond, Millennium, Final Destination 1 & 3, The One, and the remakes of Willard and Black Christmas along with writing partner Glen...
and Glen Morgan
Glen Morgan
Glen Morgan is an American television producer, writer, and director.-Biography:Morgan is best known for his screen work with long-time writing partner James Wong, including The X-Files, Millennium, Space: Above and Beyond, the Final Destination series, The One, Willard, and the 2006 remake of...
began looking into Native American legends of the Manitou
Manitou
Manitou is a general term for spirit beings among many Algonquian Native American groups.Manitou may also refer to:- Geography :* Manitou, Manitoba, Canada* Manitou, Kentucky, USA* Manitou, Oklahoma, USA- Other uses :...
to form the basis of the episode's concept, believing that "a horror show should be able to do these legends that have been around since the thirteen hundreds". The episode made mention of the first X-File
X-file
On the television series The X-Files, an X-File is a fictional case that has been deemed unsolvable by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The files constitute an unassigned project outside the Bureau mainstream that is more or less concerned with unexplained phenomena. -First X-Files:The very...
case to have been opened, apparently initiated by J. Edgar Hoover
J. Edgar Hoover
John Edgar Hoover was the first Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation of the United States. Appointed director of the Bureau of Investigation—predecessor to the FBI—in 1924, he was instrumental in founding the FBI in 1935, where he remained director until his death in 1972...
in 1946; whilst it also references the events of the earlier first season episode "Beyond the Sea", as Scully is seen discussing her father's death. "Shapes" marked the first time an episode of The X-Files had made use of Native American themes and folklore. Whilst this episode was a stand-alone 'monster-of-the-week' story, later episodes beginning with the second season finale "Anasazi
Anasazi (The X-Files)
"Anasazi" is the twenty-fifth episode and the second season finale of The X-Files television series. "Anasazi" revolves around Mulder coming into possession of a digital tape that contains confidential government information about aliens.- Plot :...
", would begin to incorporate Navajo cultural references into the show's overarching mythology
Mythology of The X-Files
The mythology of The X-Files, sometimes referred to as its mytharc by the show's staff and fans, follows the quest of FBI Special Agents Fox Mulder , a believer in supernatural phenomena, and Dana Scully , his skeptical partner. Their boss, FBI Assistant Director Walter Skinner was also often...
.
Guest star Michael Horse
Michael Horse
Michael Heinrich Horse is an American actor, jeweler, and ledger painter.-Early life:Michael Horse was born in a Yaqui Native American reserve near Tucson, Arizona, and is of Yaqui, Mescalero Apache, Zuni, European and Latino descent...
, who plays Sheriff Charles Tskany, is the second guest star of the series to have previously appeared alongside David Duchovny
David Duchovny
David William Duchovny is an American actor, writer and director. He has won Golden Globe awards for his work as FBI Special Agent Fox Mulder on The X-Files and as Hank Moody on Californication.-Early life:...
in Twin Peaks
Twin Peaks
Twin Peaks is an American television serial drama created by David Lynch and Mark Frost. The series follows the investigation headed by FBI Special Agent Dale Cooper , of the murder of a popular teenager and homecoming queen, Laura Palmer...
, after fellow alumnus Don Davis
Don S. Davis
Don Sinclair Davis PhD was an American character actor, theatre professor, painter and captain in the United States Army.-Career:He was perhaps best known for playing General George S...
had portrayed Agent Scully's father William in the earlier episode "Beyond the Sea". Davis would reappear in the second season
The X-Files (season 2)
The second season of the science fiction television series The X-Files commenced airing on Fox in the United States on September 16, 1994, concluded on the same channel on May 19, 1995, and contained 25 episodes.- Production :...
's "One Breath
One Breath
"One Breath" is the eighth episode of the second season of the science fiction television series The X-Files created by Chris Carter. This episode features the return of Scully from her abduction in a coma-like state.- Plot :...
", whilst other Twin Peaks actors would appear later episodes of the series—Michael J. Anderson
Michael J. Anderson
Michael J. Anderson is an American actor known for his roles as the Man from Another Place in David Lynch's television series Twin Peaks, the epilogue and prologue film of the series, Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me, and Samson Leonhart on the HBO series Carnivàle...
in the second season's "Humbug
Humbug (The X-Files)
"Humbug" is the twentieth episode of the second season of American science fiction television series The X-Files. It was written by Darin Morgan and directed by Kim Manners. Morgan had previously appeared in a guest role as the Flukeman in an earlier episode of that season called "The Host"....
", and Kenneth Welsh
Kenneth Welsh
Kenneth Welsh, CM is a Canadian film and television actor . He is known to Twin Peaks fans as the multi-faceted villain Windom Earle, and has more recently played the father of Katharine Hepburn in Martin Scorsese's The Aviator.In 1984 he was nominated for a Genie Award as Best Actor for his...
in the third season
The X-Files (season 3)
Season three of the television show The X-Files ran from 1995–1996.Chris Carter, the series creator, was still the lead writer - writing eight episodes - and the sole executive producer. Glen Morgan and James Wong continued their roles as co-executive producers, though they began to write...
's "Revelations
Revelations (The X-Files)
"Revelations" is a 1995 episode of The X-Files television series. It was the eleventh episode broadcast in the show's third season. "Revelations" features Mulder and Scully investigating a case where fake stigmatics are being murdered...
"
Much of the episode was filmed in Maple Ridge, British Columbia
Maple Ridge, British Columbia
Maple Ridge is a District Municipality in British Columbia, located in the northeastern section of Metro Vancouver. Maple Ridge has a population of approximately 68,949.-History:...
, on a site named Bordertown—a "classic western" town that had been built specifically for film sets, located just a "ten-minute drive" from first assistant director Tom Braidwood
Tom Braidwood
For the Scottish teacher, see Thomas Braidwood. For the Canadian judge, see Braidwood Inquiry.Tom Braidwood is a Canadian actor and director known for the role of Melvin Frohike, one of the conspiracy theorists known as the Lone Gunmen on the American television series The X-Files...
's home. The area was chosen as it provided locations for the exterior shots of the reservation, plus all of the interior areas that were needed for the episode. Despite covering the area in gravel, heavy rains left the ground sodden and muddy enough to bog down equipment and vehicles. Similar weather conditions would hinder the filming of the next episode, "Darkness Falls
Darkness Falls (The X-Files)
"Darkness Falls" is the twentieth episode of the first season of the American science fiction television series The X-Files. It premiered on the Fox network on April 15, 1994. "Darkness Falls" was written by series creator Chris Carter, and directed by Joe Napolitano. It featured guest appearances...
". The funeral pyre scene was lit mostly using the natural light of the bonfire used; whilst the extras who sang and prayed were cast by director David Nutter after a visit to a weekly meeting of Native Americans in Vancouver, who felt that casting non-professionals would lend the scene more authenticity.
Broadcast and reception
"Shapes" premiered on the Fox networkFox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
on April 1, 1994, and was first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC Two
BBC Two
BBC Two is the second television channel operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It covers a wide range of subject matter, but tending towards more 'highbrow' programmes than the more mainstream and popular BBC One. Like the BBC's other domestic TV and radio...
on February 2, 1995. The episode earned a Nielsen household rating of 7.6 with a 14 share, meaning that roughly 7.6 percent of all television-equipped households, and 14 percent of households watching TV, were tuned in to the episode. A total of 7.2 million households watched this episode during its original airing.
In a retrospective of the first season in Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
, the episode was rated a D+, being described as having a "garden-variety werewolf plot" that offered "nothing much to sink your teeth into". Zack Handlen, writing for The A.V. Club
The A.V. Club
The A.V. Club is an entertainment newspaper and website published by The Onion. Its features include reviews of new films, music, television, books, games and DVDs, as well as interviews and other regular offerings examining both new and classic media and other elements of pop culture. Unlike its...
, described the episode as "thoroughly predictable". He found the plot to be unoriginal, believing that it existed "more out of a sense of tradition than any real desire to tell a specific story"; however, he praised the acting in the episode, especially that of guest star Michael Horse
Michael Horse
Michael Heinrich Horse is an American actor, jeweler, and ledger painter.-Early life:Michael Horse was born in a Yaqui Native American reserve near Tucson, Arizona, and is of Yaqui, Mescalero Apache, Zuni, European and Latino descent...
. Matt Haigh, writing for Den of Geek, described "Shapes" as being "a very basic and slightly drawn-out werewolf and detective story", though overall finding that the episode's visual effects and atmosphere meant that it "that mostly comes out good in the end". "Shapes" has been criticized for seeming like a "werewolf tale with Native American trappings", with its attempts at political correctness being seen as forced. However, it was praised for not adhering to the "noble savage" archetype in its portrayal of the Native American characters. Jane Goldman, in The X-Files Book of the Unexplained, feels that the episode seriously misrepresents the folklore it portrays, noting that "for many natives, calling a crazed, man-eating beast 'Manitou' is like calling Charles Manson
Charles Manson
Charles Milles Manson is an American criminal who led what became known as the Manson Family, a quasi-commune that arose in California in the late 1960s. He was found guilty of conspiracy to commit the Tate/LaBianca murders carried out by members of the group at his instruction...
'God'". The plot for "Shapes" was also adapted as a novel for young adults in 1996 by Ellen Steiber
Ellen Steiber
Ellen Steiber is an American novelist and author of books for young readers, including some based on single episodes of The X-Files and Full House series.- Background :...
.