The Post-Modern Prometheus Universal monster movies in general and James Whale's 1931 Frankenstein in particular". In the 1999 FX Thanksgiving Marathon, containing fan-selected episodes, "The Post-Modern Prometheus" was presented as the "Best Stand-Alone Episode". Connie Ogle from "The Miami Herald" named The Great Mutato one of "the greatest monsters" that were featured on "The X-Files". Robert Shearman and Lars Pearson, in their book "Wanting to Believe: A Critical Guide to The X-Files, Millennium & The Lone Gunmen", rated the episode two stars out of five and criticized various elements of the episode's direction. They wrote, "Chris Carter the writer has come up with
The Post-Modern Prometheus played at the end of the episode when the agents take The Great Mutato to a Cher concert. In the episode, the character watches Cher's 1985 movie "Mask", and derives comfort from the loving relationship between Cher's character and her son, who has a disfiguring genetic bone disorder. At the end of the episode, Mulder and Scully take The Great Mutato from his small town to a Cher concert, where she picks him out of the crowd to dance. The episode contains several cultural references. First, the episode's title is a reference to both the subtitle for Shelley's original novel,