Garbage Dump For UFO Sightings

Written by: Chris Carter
Directed by: Joe Napolitano

Aired on: October 8, 1993
Rewatched on: March 7, 2020

Disclaimer: I’m lying sick in bed, so if this review sounds more incoherent than usual, you know why.

Let’s start right off the bat with a warning that I am going to heavily criticize The Jersey Devil. It’s undoubtedly the most flawed episode so far. However, there are a couple of redeeming factors to counter the bad ones. I will be discussing both in this review.

The episode opens with a badly-lit scene where a family is driving around New Jersey in 1947. Their car breaks down and, while changing the tire, the dad is dragged into the woods. His leg is then eaten by the titular Jersey Devil.

Back in 1993, Scully enters the office to witness Mulder working on a very important case.

This already brings me to redeeming factor no. 1: it’s funny. I doubt humor was Chris Carter’s actual intention. As far as I’m aware, the first intentionally funny episode of The X Files is Humbug (S2E20). But it is a logical side-effect when combining this episode’s theme with our two heroes.

After all, The Jersey Devil is all about primal instincts; instincts that are depicted as being both sexual and reproductive. When applying those instincts to Mulder and Scully, they will deviate from their usual self, without necessarily being out of character. We see the same thing happen in such episodes as Syzygy (S3E13) and Three of a Kind (S6E20).

When Scully tells Mulder that a homeless person was found cannibalized in Atlantic City, Mulder is convinced that they’re dealing with the Jersey Devil. And despite the previous episode centering around Blevins who questioned Mulder’s motives to go to Sioux City, Iowa, the duo can now order a rental car and drive to New Jersey as they please.

Did you notice that The X Files is already being inconsistent when it comes to their very own, in-universe rules? Episodes contradict each other all the time. And this is only the 5th episode, out of 218.

Oof.

Once Mulder and Scully arrive in Atlantic City, they are quickly shown the door by the local P.D. Mulder, however, wants to stay and investigate anyway. Scully does not. It’s Friday evening, her godson’s birthday party is coming up, and she promised that she’d be there.

We get a boring scene in which Mulder talks to a park ranger, followed by redeeming factor no. 2: the slice-of-life in The Jersey Devil.

Scully is helping out her friend/sister-in-law, who is organizing a birthday party for her son and his friends. To stick with the primal theme, the topics of “finding a mate” and “motherhood” are addressed. Scully’s friend/SIL claims that she would be a good mother, and Scully is set up on a date with one of the boys’ divorced father.

This is something we rarely get to see in The X Files. Mulder is pretty much consumed by all of the cases he comes across but Scully still has a life and expectations outside of her job. I love that we’re visiting this life. It allows us to see another, gentler and more relaxed, side of her: one where she’s comforting a boy who bumped his head, goes on dates, or calls Mulder “cute”.

In the meantime, Mulder is channeling his inner tramp as he trades his hotel room for a homeless person’s stack of mattresses. He’s convinced that he will witness the Jersey Devil, of which this is an artist’s rendition:

On a side-note: I completely forgot that The Jersey Devil introduces us to the tribal panpipes music that plays in all of my least favorite episodes.

Mulder is arrested by the local P.D. Since the only proof of the Jersey Devil he can present, is that stupid-ass drawing, he is thrown in the drunk tank.

This brings me to the last redeeming factor, namely redeeming factor no. 3: The Jersey Devil-Mulder might be my favorite Mulder.

Both Mulder and Scully are fluent characters who tend to be written differently in each episode, depending on which writer is handling them. Everyone has their own set of ideas of what they would say or do, or different aspects that they like to highlight. It happens all the time. Writers are humans too, nothing more than fancy fanfiction authors. Therefore, just like when comparing to fanfics, Chris Carter’s Mulder is different from Darin Morgan’s. Glen Morgan and James Wong’s Scully is different from Vince Gilligan’s.

Generally, in the show, Scully is written more consistently than Mulder. And usually, I dislike Chris’ adaptation of both Mulder and Scully, for reasons we’ll get into once we tackle the behemoth that is the plot.

But The Jersey Devil-Mulder – despite being one of Chris’ Mulders – is determined yet pleasant, funny, quirky, and completely unaware of his own social inadequacies.

He is also possessive when it comes to Scully.

The possessiveness adds to their sexual tension, but in this context, is obviously a part of the primal instincts-theme; the idea that we’re nothing more than clothed monkeys with guns: Scully is looking for a mate, Mulder becomes annoyed when he hears that she’s going on a date. He is the Alpha male who wants her undivided attention.

Mulder is certain that what he saw, was human. Scully then introduces Mulder to her old Professor of Anthropology, who also happens to be one of my least favorite characters of the first season because he bullshits his way through his scenes.

A correction of all the things he is bullshitting:

1. Homo Sapiens are omnivorous, not carnivorous.
2. Animals weighing less than 50 kilograms didn’t go extinct because early Homo Sapiens actively hunted them down and killed them. Their extinction is a consequence of the changes humans brought forth in their natural environment.
3. Homo Sapiens aren’t more intelligent than other mammals, our intelligence manifests itself differently. When it comes to survival in the woods, a human isn’t better off than, let’s say, a bear.
4. The idea that civilization automatically equals “better” has been disproved among anthropologists long before the episode aired.
5. There is no evidence at all that Neanderthal have ever traveled as far as The USA.
6. And my absolute favorite: “primates have a natural fear of heights.”

It’s true that we tend to suffer from vertigo. But please, don’t go saying that this Neanderthal woman isn’t going to try to escape by climbing on the roof when that is exactly how literally every primate that isn’t a human would escape.

I cannot say how (in)accurate The X Files’ science is in general. Physicists or M.D.’s might cringe at certain scenes the way I cringed during this scene. I studied human sciences, not exact sciences. But since anthropology is a human science, I can tell you that they did not consult an anthropologist.

Anyway, other than bullshit, this scene hardly adds anything to the episode. This brings me to The Jersey Devil’s weakest point: there isn’t much of a story, other than “there’s a Neanderthal on the loose in Atlantic City and, in a way, Mulder and Scully are acting just as primal as their ancestors.” This results in a lot of pointless scenes and dragged-out chases, just to reach the forty-minute-mark. Whenever a scene does not center around one of the three redeeming factors (funny, slice-of-life, and a particularly quirky-written Mulder), it’s boring.

Luckily, there is one more scene that contains all three of those redeeming factors:

Mulder is staring at a drawing of Bigfoot he drew titties on when it dawns on him: the Jersey Devil/Neanderthal they’re looking for might be female.

In the meantime, Scully is having a date with a guy who tells her about his fantasy to run over his son’s step-father with a car.

Mulder has to share his revelation so he pages Scully immediately. She is glad that she has an excuse to end her date with killer-dad early and meets up with Mulder, in an attempt to catch the Jersey Devil.

The rest of the episode consists of a boring chase scene and Mulder getting the weirdest boner when the Jersey Devil/Neanderthal overpowers him.

She runs into the woods and is shot and killed, to Mulder and Scully’s dismay.

The episode ends with killer-dad asking Scully out on another date, which she refuses. She rather joins Mulder to the Smithsonian, which marks the final time our Dana will have a semblance of a life.

The Jersey Devil feels like an experimental episode, shot in a time they hadn’t found their footing yet. I always argue that it’s a good thing Glen Morgan and James Wong wrote for The X Files in 1993, or we would’ve ended up with Monster-Of-The-Weeks that resembled The Jersey Devil or Space (S1E9).

Experimentation is normal at this stage. We mustn’t forget that The Jersey Devil is only the fifth episode. However, that doesn’t mean it’s good. The biggest part of the episode is boring and, frankly, rather silly. There are countless of cool, wacky designs for the Jersey Devil out there, but we end up with a Neanderthal of all things.

There is another thing that I haven’t discussed yet; now feels like the right time to introduce “Chris-isms”. Chris Carter, despite being the showrunner, is generally one of my least favorite frequent writers. I respect him for creating The X Files but I don’t believe he’s as accomplished as other frequent writers, such as Frank Spotnitz, Vince Gilligan, Darin Morgan, or Glen Morgan and James Wong.

Among other problems, are the Chris-isms. Chris has certain tropes he likes to add to his episodes. The Jersey Devil has three:

1. Chris’ obsession with reproduction, fertility, and pregnancy. It’s something that’s easily overlooked this early in the run, but will become apparent later on.
2. Weird dialogue.

I know the fandom likes the final two sentences. It sets up a pun after all:

- "Eight million years out of Africa."
- "And look who's holding the door."

But why would Mulder say “eight million years out of Africa” at that point in the conversation? It’s not natural at all. People don’t randomly say “eight million years out of Africa” when talking to someone.

The opposite would be:

- "They got HBO?" 
- "Yeah, they do."

In real life, conversations are exactly like that: scrambled and pointless. But this isn’t real life. It’s a TV show, and adding the HBO phrase was completely unnecessary. It’s not even funny, it merely resulted in strange, wooden dialogue that does not work.

The trick is to discover the fine line between natural, and serving a purpose in the context of a television episode. Chris isn’t really good at discerning this.

(For the record, I’m not saying that I would do any better. I think it would be effing difficult).

3. “Not outside the realm of extreme possibility.”

Chris loves that sentence. He uses it in multiple episodes, said by multiple characters. After a while, this becomes noticeable and annoying.

Fortunately, despite the fact that The Jersey Devil is pretty boring, silly, and has Chris-isms, there are the three redeeming factors. It’s funny, has slice-of-life, and a good Mulder. Therefore, I would still watch it. After all, the scenes I do like, genuinely make me laugh, even though I doubt that’s the intention.

Just don’t take this episode too seriously and you’ll be good.

Thanks for reading and happy International Women’s Day!

Your pal,

Astrid

Watch/Skip: Watch

Next up: Shadows

Written by: Alex Gansa & Howard Gordon
Directed by: Daniel Sackheim

Aired on: October 1, 1993
Rewatched on: March 2, 2020

I have a strange relationship with Conduit. Every time I watch it, I’m surprised by how much I actually like it. Then I tend to forget about it, and its emotional depth, until my next rewatch. I guess this has to do with my general dislike for the Samantha story arc. Truth be told, seeing Conduit makes me sad about the way they handled it later on. After all, what this episode does well, is show us how much potential this arc had when the writing team still had a vision.

But I’m getting a couple of seasons ahead of myself.

Conduit opens with an abduction, and therefore with restoring The X Files’ reputation as The Alien Show after briefly abandoning this concept in Squeeze. This theme might seem repetitive but it isn’t. The aliens, after all, are nothing more than a prop; a tool to make us understand Mulder’s motivations and trauma.

Mulder and Scully find themselves in Sioux City, Iowa, where the infamous Lake Okobogee is supposed to be a hotspot for extraterrestrial activity. A local girl called Ruby has been reported missing from this exact spot, so of course Mulder is drawn to the case. Chief Deputy Director Blevins, however, questions his request to investigate. He inquires Scully whether “Agent Mulder’s personal agenda [has] clouded his judgment”.

This brings us to the topic of the episode: has it? I think there will only be one conclusion in the end, namely that it has. Let us get into it.

From the minute the duo arrives in Sioux City, it becomes obvious that the reason Mulder took on this case, is because of the similarities between Ruby’s disappearance and Samantha’s. He stares longingly at Ruby’s childhood portrait as Scully watches him.

Once more, Scully and the viewer blend together as we both witness the true extent of Mulder’s trauma for the first time. Scully observes him but still keeps her distance. She promised Blevins that Mulder was not affected by his past, but now she’s beginning to doubt her own belief. This is a good moment to note that both Gillian and David are strong in this episode. Particularly David shines in Conduit. For example, what we see in the scene above, is Mulder’s melancholy, and Scully realizing that he really does associate Ruby with Samantha. They might be silent, but their eyes speak for themselves.

The episode loses momentum with the introduction of an incoherent side-plot that leads to nowhere, namely Kevin and the Mystery of the Binary Code. Kevin is Ruby’s younger brother. Ever since his sister was abducted, he is writing page after page full of binary. Mulder and Scully seize it so it can be examined.

It turns out that the government believes little Kevin is Adil Hoxha from The Crepes of Wrath (1990) 2.0, and writes down highly classified information, which he receives via a defense satellite transmission.

Hired goons burst into Scully’s room in the middle of the night and demand the page with the binary code written on them. To Mulder’s dismay, Scully hands it over. This is where the episode is starting to lose me. How did those people know of Kevin writing down the binary code? How did they know Mulder and Scully had those pages? And how did they recognize it was their secret code so quickly? Are we to assume that the government has a hand in this as well?

It does not make sense now, and it never will. Luckily, this scene has one saving grace, which is our heroes’ messy bed-hair:

The binary turns out to be code for Da Vinci’s Vitruvian Man, a DNA double helix, and music from the Brandenburg Concertos. I have no idea why those goons believed it was harmful but the translation reminds faithful viewers of The Sixth Extinction (S7E1), where Scully discovers a spaceship carrying similar culturally significant messages. However, right now, this information is seemingly random. There will be no connection or thread for seven seasons.

Therefore, Conduit isn’t the episode where this needs to be discussed. For now, let’s pretend that the binary code is just a random thing that happens and doesn’t actually add a lot to the episode, despite Kevin being set up as “the key”.

In the meantime, Ruby’s friend Tessa claims that Ruby became pregnant by a guy named Greg, and has eloped with him. This explanation is a lot more logical than Ruby being abducted by aliens so Scully believes this to be the case. Mulder, however, is convinced of the abduction-theory and drives back to the scene of the crime. There, a pack of wolves leads Mulder and Scully to a shallow grave in the woods, near Lake Okobogee.

Mulder starts digging, with his bare hands. It becomes apparent once more that he only sees Samantha in Ruby. He wants to find Ruby, but at the same time, he’s scared of what he may discover. This analogizes his feelings about Samantha.

The body turns out to be Greg’s. It wasn’t Ruby who had been pregnant, but Tessa. We can assume that Tessa is the one who killed him, in a fit of jealousy, but the episode sadly never gives us a clear-cut answer. It adds to how unfocused and scrambled this plot is. I wish it wasn’t, because this is an important episode for Mulder.

Therefore, let’s go back to the good stuff once more. Scully realizes that Mulder is definitely allowing his personal agenda to cloud his judgement. So she tells him, outright: “Mulder, stop. Stop running after your sister. This won’t bring her back.”

Mulder, however, becomes frustrated. He cannot stop. He knows how much it’s consuming him but he cannot let go, or as he puts it: “You know when I was a kid, I had this ritual. I closed my eyes before I walked into my room, ’cause I thought that one day when I opened them my sister would be there. Just lying in bed, like nothing ever happened. You know I’m still walking into that room, everyday of my life.”

This is good characterization of someone who has been drained by PTSD for the biggest part of his life. We, like Scully, realize that he takes on cases that remind him of his sister because of how deeply rooted this trauma actually is. We feel sorry for him and we truly hope that one day, he will find closure. It is a good introduction to what Samantha means to Mulder.

Ruby eventually turns up. She was abducted by aliens after all. We never discover the significance of the binary code, nor why Kevin was the conduit. It’s a shame that not even the episode’s title is properly explained. However, I can overlook this because of the final two shots. They are the strongest of Conduit.

Scully is listening to the tapes of the hypnosis sessions Mulder underwent. They enabled him to reach into his unconscious and remember the bright light, which convinced him that Samantha must’ve been abducted by aliens (this is a nice throwback to The Pilot). Scully wants to understand the trauma he’s experiencing. She knows how important this is.

In the meantime, Mulder sits in church and contemplates on the recent events. Eventually, he breaks down. I know that the fandom sometimes discusses this moment, for Mulder isn’t religious (and if he is, he’s likely Jewish). It is marked as an inconsistency so if I may shed some light on this: I’m not religious in an institutional way, but I am spiritual. I respect a church’s sanctity. It is a calming and peaceful place, and perfect to just sit down and think.

I believe Mulder would respect it too.

This is a powerful ending to an emotional episode. Regrettably, there are too many discrepancies in the plot and things that lead to nowhere to make Conduit stand out. However, it is still a must-watch, because the acting is particularly strong and it is a genuinely touching piece of media.

Thanks for reading!

Your pal,

Astrid

Watch/Skip: Watch

Next up: The Jersey Devil

Written by: Glen Morgan & James Wong
Directed by: Harry Longstreet

Aired on: September 24, 1993
Rewatched on: February 24, 2020

Squeeze is the first episode of The X Files that wasn’t written by Chris Carter, nor directed by Daniel Sackheim. Whereas it is director Harry Longstreet’s first and only episode, writers Glen Morgan and James Wong teamed up several times and managed to leave their mark on this series. In fact, I consider them to be crucial for establishing several key elements of the show.

After The Pilot (S1E1) and Deep Throat (S1E2), The X Files set itself up as The Alien Show. In Squeeze, however, it is stressed early on that the culprit isn’t going to be aliens, making it the very first Monster-of-the-Week episode.

Those who know me, know that I prefer the Monster-of-the-Weeks over the Plot Episodes. The reason for this, is simple: the plot is like a tower. It accumulates. If you don’t like one of the building blocks, it can be hard to like the tower as a whole. And there are several blocks that I don’t like.

The Monster-of-the-Weeks, however, live and operate in a world of their own. They can stand tall, or fall down, but they do so individually. They are rarely affected by the overarching plot. Therefore, whereas I usually struggle to overlook flaws in the Plot Episodes early on, I like plenty of Monster-of-the-Weeks, whether they be in season 1 or season 11.

Squeeze is easily one of the most important episodes in the entire series. It founded the base of all Monster-of-the-Weeks that are to come, and did so by doing everything right.

The episode starts off with the monster that gave me nightmares as a child: Eugene Victor Tooms. In the opening scene, he enters through a vent and murders a business man in his office.

Next up, Scully is having lunch with her old classmate, Tom Colton. Colton introduces her to the case of the murdered business man. He asks if she wants to join and cannot help but tease her for working on the X-Files, by calling her Mrs. Spooky.

Something this episode does well, is show us that Mulder is a pariah, and Scully is becoming one by working alongside him. Mulder more-or-less accepted this role of outcast years ago. In the scene where he first meets Colton, he jokes around about Reticulans, mainly to incite a response.

Scully, unlike Mulder, isn’t used to getting mocked by her peers and longs for their approval. She works all night to come up with a psychological profile of the killer and organizes a stakeout, where Tooms is eventually caught.

Mulder is convinced that Tooms is the guy they’re looking for. In the polygraph test, Tooms fails on the questions Mulder asked. However, they are so out there that no one believes him. No one but Scully, that is. By now, she has seen what Mulder is capable of and knows that he should be taken seriously.

Dialogue that I find incredibly significant, is the following:

- Colton: "[Dana,] you coming?"
- Scully: "Tom, I wanna thank you for letting me put in some time with the 
[Violent Crimes Unit], but I am officially assigned to the X-Files."
- Colton: "I'll see what I can do about that."
- Scully: "Tom, I can look out for myself."

You know what this scene reminds me of? This moment in Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (2001):

The fact that this scene is essential, is also shown in the way the episode has been directed. Take a look at this:

Before the scene I mentioned above, whenever Mulder, Scully, and Colton are in the same room, Scully and Colton are shown standing together, vs. Mulder.

Compared to this:

After the scene, when all three are present in the same room, she is standing with Mulder, vs. Colton.

Guys, that scene, is where Scully officially chooses to work with Mulder. This time around, no one is ordering her to work with him. She can leave whenever she wants. Mulder even offers it to her, he says he isn’t going to “hold it against her” if she wants to continue working with Colton and the others.

But Scully, whether it is because she has a curious nature herself, believes there’s more to Mulder than meets the eye, or even has a little crush on him, chose him there and then, despite knowing very well that she committed career suicide.

(Excuse me for the quality of this screencap, but check out how happy Mulder is when Scully tells him that she wants to see what else he’s got. My shipper’s heart can hardly take it.)

Anyway, now that their partnership has been secured, Mulder and Scully meet the old man who investigated Tooms back in the thirties. This scene leads the duo to 66 Exeter Street, and to this iconic moment:

Tooms snatches Scully’s necklace and starts targeting her. Meanwhile, Mulder and Scully ask for a stakeout, which Colton then calls off. Scully is furious and Mulder, upon realizing that no one is keeping an eye on Tooms and subsequently discovering Scully’s necklace, rushes through Chernobyl to save her:

Tooms, by now, is assaulting Scully in her apartment, in a scene that becomes a million times more awkward when bearing this anecdote in mind:

The episode ends with Scully and Mulder overpowering Tooms and him being put behind bars.

As this review, and my lack of negative remarks, indicate: I really love this episode. It’s not as expensive, flashy, or colorful as some Monster-of-the-Weeks from later seasons, but it’s incredibly solid and holds up well.

Tooms truly is a terrifying monster. The soundtrack that accompanies him to illustrate this is – once more – top-notch. And the story of how Mulder and Scully manage to catch him, is exciting, conclusive, and satisfying.

The strongest asset, however, is the way Mulder and Scully are written. I really like their characterization, and there’s not a single line in the episode that bothers me. They stand strong, both as individuals, and as a team: they’re small, goofy fish trying to find their place within the big pond that is the FBI. They are continuously mocked and teased. Mulder accepted this, although he doesn’t relish in it (“Maybe I run into so many people, who are hostile, just because they can’t open their minds to the possibilities, that sometimes the need to mess with their heads, outweighs the millstone of humiliation”).

Scully, on the other hand, learns throughout this episode that if she wants to work with Mulder, she will have to come to terms with the fact that she isn’t going to be taken seriously; that it’s Them vs. The World.

Yet when they do work together, they are stronger. They manage to solve the case and to defeat Tooms. It might not earn them respect they deserve, but at least they did something right in the world.

Thanks for reading!

Your pal,

Astrid

Watch/Skip: Watch

Next up: Conduit

Written by: Chris Carter
Directed by: Daniel Sackheim

Aired on: September 17, 1993
Rewatched on: February 21, 2020

I have to say, I dislike the title for – what I hope are – obvious reasons. Imagine twelve-year-old me, in 2006, gleefully googling Deep Throat to see what this episode is all about. Yeah, not doing that again.

That being said, I do believe this episode is, in many ways, superior to The Pilot, and in some ways isn’t.

The titular character is named after the historical Deep Throat, an informant who leaked information about the FBI’s investigation of the Watergate scandal to journalists. I believe reading that Chris Carter – who was fifteen years old at the time Watergate happened – has been deeply influenced by this event. It would make sense, judging from the recurring themes in his episodes: the government is a generally shady, sometimes downright evil, institution, and simply cannot be trusted. They purposefully keep information from the public while experimenting on them at the same time.

Whereas The Pilot centers around aliens, in Deep Throat, the government takes on the role of main antagonist. I’m not a big fan of this whole government-is-evil shtick the early episodes often explore, simply because it didn’t age well. Today, a lot of The X Files’ anti-government themes are used as far-right propaganda. For example, Alex Jones – a far-right American conspiracy theorist who hosts his own radio show – accuses the US government of planning the Oklahoma city bombing, the September 11 attacks, and faking the Moon landing in 1969. Furthermore, he claims that the government has colluded to create a New World Order through “manufactured economic crises, sophisticated surveillance technology and – above all – inside-job terror attacks that fuel exploitable hysteria”.

Admit it, this right-wing extremist sounds like one of The Lone Gunmen. Perhaps even like Mulder himself?

No, I repeat, although The X Files sticks to the realm of common ufology for the time being, I don’t think the anti-government episodes aged particularly well. Although I can’t really assert where on the political spectrum they belonged in 1993 – as I wasn’t even alive back then – it’s hard to watch them through a modern day’s lens, hence why I prefer The Pilot’s theme.

As for the episode itself, in the teaser, a SWAT team enters the home of a pilot who has stolen a military vehicle and locked himself inside the house. The episode isn’t about him, though. Contrary to what the title makes you believe, it isn’t so much about Deep Throat either.

It’s about the aforementioned anti-government plot, but also about further exploring Mulder and Scully as characters, as well as their dynamic.

The first thing I realized when watching this episode was that Gillian and David’s acting has improved compared to The Pilot. They were a lot more on point, bar from one or two somewhat awkward deliveries. They relaxed, and it shows. Mulder and Scully relaxed around each another as well, leaving more room for playful banter.

Mulder introduces Scully to the case in a pub. Then, in the restroom, he encounters Deep Throat for the first time (sentences like this are why I’m not a fan of the name Deep Throat). Deep Throat warns him about going to Idaho. This is contrary to later cases, where he urges Mulder to investigate. This only adds to my suspicion that Deep Throat’s goal isn’t transparency or revealing the truth, but that he has an agenda of his own. I’ll get into this later, when I’m discussing E.B.E. (S1E17) and The Erlenmeyer Flask (S1E24).

As the two agents find themselves in Idaho, we see Mulder’s obsessiveness re-emerge. He asks around for UFO’s and sneaks into military bases just to spot them, almost as if he doesn’t even want to find the victim.

Of course, he wants to find the missing pilot, but for him, this case isn’t as much about the victim, as it is about finding proof of extraterrestrial life and confirming his own suspicions about the government. This corroborates with what we already learned about him during the first episode, where he says that all he wants, is to find out what happened to his sister, and nothing else matters to him.

Although it’s his goofy demeanor and awkwardness that sticks, we shouldn’t overlook that, in season 1 (and in many more seasons to come), his motivations can be pretty selfish. I think this is a really interesting aspect of his personality. It adds another layer. The show doesn’t necessarily present him as possessing the right attitude, either, nor do they present Scully as being in the wrong.

However, the audience will likely tend to side with Mulder in those early seasons. It makes sense. It’s the alien show, after all, so viewers know that he has the answers whereas Scully’s scientific explanation is wrong by default. This is one of those early seasons’ weaknesses; more on that later. For now, all I want to get into, is that those thinking Mulder is a knight in shining armor, seem to have missed the point. He isn’t flawless at all.

As for Scully, she is there to follow orders, namely to discover the whereabouts of the missing pilot. She plays things exactly by the book and gets mad at Mulder for being distracted by the UFO’s – a distraction that leads us to the first of two moments that make Deep Throat, visually, a better episode than The Pilot:

There is something magical about this scene, where our two protagonists look up at the night sky and watch the mysterious lights that dance around in the dark.

When the missing pilot is returned, and after his wife began questioning his sanity, Mulder and Scully are being run off the road by Men In Black, who tell them to leave town. Mulder is having none of this, ditches Scully, and goes off in search for The Truth™.

Meanwhile, Scully has been shaken by those Men in Black. She still has a steadfast belief in the government, and considers the case closed because the pilot has been returned. Therefore, she wants to leave town ASAP instead of looking at what is being kept hidden in the military base.

Although she’s less played out as a representation of the viewer in this episode, and fortunately not dumbed down this time, she’s definitely naive. Her moral compass is pointing in the right direction but she is nonetheless raised to be patriotic and to believe in her country. She cannot imagine the government doing something that would possibly harm its people.

Her character is further explored when she keeps a government official at gunpoint, forces him to drive down to the base, and to pick up Mulder. This doesn’t only show us that she is willing to break the rules – and therefore is less predictable in her actions than we might have suspected – it also proves that she is already devoted to protecting Mulder. Even though we can assume that it’s still her job to debunk him, she is taking this partnership very seriously nonetheless.

The exploration of both Mulder and Scully’s personalities is this episode’s strongest asset. The second one, as mentioned above, are the visuals. Whereas the scene in which Mulder and Scully gaze at the lights, is magical, this one just hits all of the post-futurism marks:

What this episode lacks, however, is an actual story. There is no real build-up or structure. Stuff just happens. It reminds me of Tintin in the Land of the Soviets (1929). Tintin travels to – what was then – The USSR. On his way, stuff happens too: the secret police sabotages the train, he witnesses a local election, spies on a Bolshevik meeting, infiltrates The Red Army, etc. But there is no story, just some events that are loosely tied together.

In the end, Deep Throat does a good job at introducing us to the fact that – in The X Files’ universe (I’m deliberately being careful here; let’s not get political) – the government is evil, just as much as Tintin in the Land of the Soviets introduced the reader to the USSR being evil. All of the things that happened to reach this conclusion, are merely examples of the conclusion, not a story in and of itself.

I definitely consider this episode to be mostly character-driven, which is exactly the reason I enjoy it. I wouldn’t rewatch it for the story, but for those little character moments that will continue to be the show’s strong suit.

Thanks for reading!

Your pal,

Astrid

Watch/Skip: Watch

Next up: Squeeze

Written by: Chris Carter 
Directed by: Daniel Sackheim 

Aired on: September 10, 1993 
Rewatched on: February 20, 2020 

“The following story is inspired by actual documented accounts.”

~

We are greeted by this phrase as though it holds any significance, but we will never see or hear from it again. It was undoubtedly used as an extra element to the mystery and the horror of the episode, but ultimately serves as proof that creator Chris Carter hadn’t yet decided which direction he wanted to follow with his brand-new show. This can be forgiven, since we’re watching the pilot episode, mainly meant to enthuse the FOX Network into accepting the series. Who would’ve guessed that it would ever become such a cultural phenomenon?

The episode starts off with a girl running in the forest, seemingly fleeing for her life. She trips, a bright light shines through the trees. We spot the contours of a man who, upon rewatch, is obviously Billy Miles; they actually gave away the twist in the opening scene but only very few people will have noticed this on their first watch. It’s a nice little detail. The culprit – Billy – sacrifices the girl to the source of the light, high in the sky.

Then the episode cuts to the J. Edgar Hoover building. There is no iconic intro just yet, only Dana Scully zigzagging through the narrow corridors.

Gillian Anderson looks too young to play her. I always loved the story of her being unable to find a job after graduating college, and then finally auditioning for the part of Agent Scully who “had to be in her late twenties or early thirties”. She then bluffed her way through the audition, saying she’s 28, while in reality she was only 23 at the time they were shooting this.

This is very likely her weakest episode. She is visibly nervous in some scenes, somewhat awkward in others. I don’t blame her at all. In fact, I actually believe she is the strongest actor to appear on the show, especially in later seasons. But she isn’t quite there yet, and that’s okay. It makes The Pilot all the more endearing.

By the way, you will quickly note that I use “endearing” a lot. Why? Because to me, this word summarizes the very first episode of The X Files.

But I’m getting ahead of myself. I was talking about Dana Scully who, in my opinion, is the pivotal character of this episode. We see the story from her position because she represents the uninformed viewer or – as I realized a while back in a sudden moment of clarity – The Fool from Tarot.

“The Fool is the card of new beginnings, opportunity and potential […] You are at the outset of your journey, standing at the cliff‘s edge, and about to take your first step into the unknown […] As you undertake this new journey, the Fool encourages you to have an open, curious mind and a sense of excitement. Throw caution to the wind and be ready to embrace the unknown, leaving behind any fear, worry, or anxiety about what may or may not happen. This is about new experiences, personal growth, development, and adventure.”

The Rider Waite Tarot Deck

Together with Scully, the viewer is invited on this journey into the unknown, and it’s there that they both meet Fox Mulder.

I have to be honest with you, season 1 Mulder is my favorite Mulder. He’s just so – and there’s that word again – endearing. He is both written and played as a socially awkward, weird, quirky, and lonely young man, and it especially shows in the first season. Whereas Scully/the viewer is more or less like a blank slate ready to be written on, Mulder is already scarred by life. He lost his sister many years prior to this episode, to what he believes was alien abduction. This traumatizing event made him obsessed with the truth behind extraterrestrial life.

Later, we will see many problems emerge in the way the Samantha story arc is handled. But for now, this is a good and believable – albeit somewhat classic – motivation of the why’s and how’s of Fox Mulder.

David Duchovny is eight years older than Gillian Anderson, and more experienced, although still fairly obscure as an actor. As is the case with Gillian, David isn’t at his peak in this episode. He, as well, delivers some of his lines awkwardly. Again, I don’t mind. After all, the most important element is already there: the chemistry.

Gillian Anderson and David Duchovny’s chemistry is legendary and one of – if not the – biggest trump card of The X Files.

It is also The Pilot’s lifeline.

Let me explain: to me, it saves the infamous mosquito scene. I’m not a fan of this scene, simply because I find it very uncomfortable to watch. It’s shot in such a way that it oversexualizes Scully. As Gillian later confirmed: “There really was no reason. It’s a gratuitous scene.”

It also dumbs her down. I get that she’s startled but given what we know about her, I don’t see how she would immediately assume that she has the evil alien marks.

The dumbing down of Scully also happens on another occasion in this episode. She argues with Mulder that alien life couldn’t possibly exist. This would make her a follower of the Rare Earth hypothesis, which suggests that life can only originate on Earth and nowhere else in the entire – vast and endless – universe. Somehow, I just cannot imagine that she, a physicist who wrote her thesis about Einstein, would believe this when other physicists, such as Carl Sagan and Frank Drake, didn’t.

The reason this happened, isn’t just because she’s meant to represent the viewer, but she’s also supposed to be Mulder’s foil (I could even go as far as saying that she, in a skewed way, is actually an antagonist, since she is ordered to spy on Mulder). There is one simple rule present in those early seasons of The X Files: Mulder is always right and Scully is always wrong. Although this will become frustrating very early on, at this point in time it’s an understandable decision.

On a side-note, I really do commend Chris Carter for writing Scully the way he did. She is a woman who is smart, rational, and successful. There will be moments that make me wonder how much sexism is at play but cui honorem honorem: many writers can’t even manage to create such a character anno 2020, let alone in 1992 (which is when the episode was written, even though it aired in 1993).

Where was I? Oh yes, chemistry. To me, the mosquito scene becomes bearable because of the scene that follows it. Scully sits on Mulder’s bed, Mulder on the floor, and he tells her about Samantha. You could say that Scully opened up literally so Mulder could open up metaphorically. She trusted him, so he decided to trust her. This scene is strong; not thanks to the acting or the dialogue, but because of the incredible chemistry between those two actors.

The same goes for the scene on the graveyard. You know the one. Objectively, it might be the worst-acted scene in The X Files. Gillian and David were cold, drenched, tired, and they just couldn’t get their lines right without stumbling over their words and laughing. It should not have worked in any way but for some reason, it did. This scene – again – is such an endearing and iconic moment that they actually got away with it.

It’s probably those giggles. They’re contagious.

As for the story, it builds up nicely. The pacing is alright and we are introduced to new characters in a right way, at the right time. It’s not the most exciting or colorful plot, but it’s not boring either. The conclusion, however, remains mysterious. Billy Miles turned out to be the culprit. After he and his classmates were abducted by aliens during their graduation party in the forest, they placed chips up their noses and did tests on them. We later learn that they were attempting to create Super-Soldiers. What I don’t get, though, is why Billy – of all people – had to gather them? What made him so special? And if they wanted the evidence destroyed, then why did they suddenly stop in the middle of doing so?

Correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t believe we ever find out.

A strong element, is the soundtrack. The piano and spooky ambience just sets the tone perfectly. You don’t notice it until after a couple of viewings, but believe me, music can make or break a show, movie, or video game. Mark Snow deserves all the credit for his work on The X Files. It will be another 16 years before he will compose my favorite song, but he was definitely on from the very beginning.

Another one of my favorite aspects of The Pilot, is highly personal: the clothes, especially their “forest adventure outfit”. They look like college kids and I absolutely love it because, you guessed it, I find it endearing. It is the kind of outfit that I go to second-hand shops for.

Then there’s the glasses of which we needed to see more. I will forever be mad that we didn’t get to see more glasses.

The episode is, at times, awkward, both in acting and dialogue (again, see the graveyard scene). Other not-so-good aspects are the guest actors. Theresa Nemman is particularly bad, and then there’s that one nurse who says “not my aisle of the produce section”, who always cracks me up with her weird delivery.

As for production value, it’s still very low. The X Files isn’t yet FOX’s Big Budget Beast, as it will become around season 5. To illustrate, this is what the set for the FBI looks like in The Pilot:

Compare this to The X Files Movie (1998) and I’m sure you’ll catch my drift:

It isn’t a criticism. I don’t blame them for not having a big budget yet. But you can imagine that the set they used in Fight The Future leaves more of an impact than the one in The Pilot did.

Perhaps it’s low budget too that caused the sound to be off at times? The most notable occasion is when Mulder and Scully are in the diner, talking to Theresa Nemman, and Mulder says: “You were the one on the phone, you told me Peggy O’Dell had been killed”. The distortion is painful once you pay attention to it, it’s a dead giveaway that this line was redone in post.

If anything, it’s definitely low budget that made the editing team decide this would do as a transition:

It’s pretty laughable but considering everything, again, it’s just such an endearing moment. It makes me nostalgic for a time I wasn’t even alive.

If anything, the FOX Network recognized the passion the cast and crew showcased back in 1992, and the rest is history.

Also, shout-out to this nod to Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981):

If you made it this far, thanks for reading and for joining me on this adventure in which I will review all 218 episodes of The X Files, including the two movies. I can’t imagine every one of my reviews will be this long (I mean, let’s be honest here, a big chunk of MoTW episodes are like The Walk or The List) but since this is The Pilot I obviously wanted to do something special.

Your pal,

Astrid

Watch/Skip: Watch, duh. Don’t skip the first episode, y’all.

Next up: Deep Throat