#xfilesreview

Episode: Space Air Date: 11/12/1993 Spoilers: None

Worst episode of the series, hands down.  Mulder and Scully go to NASA an discover ghosts in space?  A space ghost?  Ugh, I don’t know.

my reaction:

I don’t even know what happened.... I spaced out.  zzzz

SKIP this episode. I’m doing you a favor.

Episode: Ice Air Date: 11/5/1993 Spoilers: Medium

Fox Mulder: “This is Agent Mulder. We have a serious biological hazard. Request air pick-up and quarantine procedures. Over.” 

This episode was outstanding.  Throughout the first half of the episode, I had felt like I had seen this before, and then I realized -- John Carpenter’s The Thing (1982).

I did some research and I found out that this entire episode is inspired by that film.  Well, the episode delivered and it worked great.

So Mulder and Scully travel to Alaska to investigate the mysterious deaths of a research team.  They travel with a physician, a toxicologist, a geologist, and the pilot who flew them there. 

Upon arrival, they encounter a rabid dog who attacks Mulder and the pilot.  Then, they quickly realize it’s infected with a (extraterrestrial?) parasite and they are all in danger of being exposed.  Oh, and also the pilot was infected and he died.  They’re stuck.  And an alien worm exists among them and has insidiously hid in one of them...

SCULLY: “Mulder, I don't want to waste a second trying to find a way to kill this thing.”

MULDER: “I don't know if we should kill it.  This area of the ice sheet was formed over a meteor crater. The worm lived in ammonia. It survived sub-zero temperatures. Theorists in alternative life-designs believe in ammonia-supported life systems on planets with freezing temperatures.”

SCULLY: “No.”

MULDER: “The meteor that crashed here a quarter of a million years ago may have carried that type of life to earth.”

SCULLY: “Mulder, that pilot developed surface symptoms within a few minutes. Within a few hours, that parasite had total control. What would happen if this got into the population? A city the size of New York could be infected within a few days.”

MULDER: “Exactly. But what do we know about it? This organism might be lying dormant in another crater.”

SCULLY: “Mulder, if we don't kill it now, we run the risk of becoming Richter and Campbell with guns to our heads.”

MULDER: “But if we do kill it now, we may never know how to stop it or anything like it in the future.”

After the pilot dies, the show quickly spirals into madness and paranoia as they all suspect at least one among them is infected.

Probably my favorite episode so far.  So brilliantly made.

Episode: Ghost in the Machine Air Date: 10/29/1993 Spoilers: Low

This episode focused on the dangers of artificial intelligence.  Basically a hostile and intelligent computer (the COS) begins to kill people once it realizes it was going to be shut down.

Technology is scary bruh. 

SCULLY: So the machine killed Drake out of self-defense?

MULDER: Self-preservation. It's the primary instinct of all sentient beings.

SCULLY: Mulder, that level of artificial intelligence is decades away from being realized.

MULDER: Then why was our government trying to usurp Wilczek's research?

Also, who wrote the captions in the gif above!?!? That did not happen, but I couldn’t find a gif for this episode so it’ll stay hahahaha!

Episode: Shadows Air Date: 10/22/1993 Spoilers: Low

I loved this episode! A much better “monster of the week” episode compared to the last one.

So I consider this the first supernatural episode of The X-Files.  A dead Howard Graves is haunting (protecting?) a woman named Lauren Kyte, who is the key to resolving his unfinished business.

Mulder: “Do you believe in the afterlife, Scully?”

Scully: “I'd settle for a life in this one.”

There were some unnerving scenes, especially when the ghost of Howard Graves would attack people.

Really interesting to see ghosts in the show.  What’s next?  Vampires? Zombies? Devil-worshiping cults?

Episode: The Jersey Devil Air Date: 10/08/1993 Spoilers: Low

Meh. Another “monster of the week” episode.  Except this episode is pretty bad. I’m not sure what they were going for in this one, but it wasn’t plausible.  Some carnivorous caveman (and cavewoman) -- or should I say neanderthal -- are roaming around the area, snatchin’ people up and eating them.  Umm. Pass.

At least we got some potential Scully / Mulder flirting scenes... kinda?  I know they like each other.

:)

Episode: Conduit Air Date: 10/01/1993 Spoilers: Low

This was a good episode. Mulder has become somewhat fixated on a certain case that involves a missing woman and a possible alien abduction. He becomes obsessed in finding the truth, mainly because this case reminds him of his missing sister, whom he firmly believes was abducted by aliens many years ago.

Kevin: “It’s coming from there”

The missing woman’s little brother is somewhat of a conduit for the aliens — he’s literally writing binary code on paper listening to the tv signals. (Damn, I wish the aliens could make me a conduit and help me with my programming homework...)

That scene echoes the infamous Poltergeist (1982) tv scene and really adds some power to this episode. Unfortunately, the ending doesnt provide any answers to the possible alien abduction. The missing woman is “found” (or dropped off by the aliens), but her and the mom refuse to talk about the experience and want to leave it all behind. Boo. We wanna know!

Also, I think Scully is becoming much more open-minded working with Mulder, but she needs concrete evidence to fully believe him.

Episode: Squeeze Air Date: 09/24/1993 Spoilers: Low

Meh. What can I say about this episode? It’s the first “monster” in the show so far. Mulder and Scully discover there’s a liver-eating serial killer mutant. He crawls through vents and squeezes through tiny spaces to get his victims. And apparently he’s been killing for the past century, usually every 30 years.

It’s interesting that this may open the show up to terrestrial creatures, but I’m more interested in the extraterrestrials. 👽

Episode: Deep Throat Air Date: 09/17/1993

The second episode of The X-Files continues to build upon the conspiracy theories and paranoia.  Do extraterrestrials exist? Is the government covering stuff up? What is the military hiding?

So far, I’m Team Mulder all the way right now.  Mulder is on to something...

Mulder: You saw exactly what I saw in the sky last night. What do you think they were? Scully : Just because I can’t explain it doesn’t mean I’m going to believe they’re UFOs. Mulder: Unidentified Flying Objects. I think that fits the description pretty well. Tell me I’m crazy. Scully: Mulder, you’re crazy.

I enjoyed this episode.  Also, SETH GREEN! <3

I had no idea he was in this episode.  He was somewhat irrelevant, but entertaining as a teenage stoner.