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Revisiting The X Files Episode 2 · Death by Multimedia

0:21
Music. Hi everyone and welcome back for
0:51
episode 2 of this new addition to the podcast, Revisiting The
0:56
X-Files, where each episode I'll be working my way through the 11
1:02
series, 2 movies and several books that I own that make up
1:07
The X-Files. So for those of you who have
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returned after the debut episode, welcome back.
1:14
And if you are new to this, there is an introductory episode
1:18
available if you want to check that out first.
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So before we start today's episode, I've had some great
1:24
feedback from that first episode where I talked about my
1:28
introduction to science fiction TV and then the start of The
1:32
X-Files and talked about the 1st 4 episodes of Season 1.
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And the feedback came from the comments section on Spotify.
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For those that listen to the podcast on that streaming
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platform, you can actually leave a message there.
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It also came on blue Sky, where you can follow my handle at
1:50
Metal Kevin dot B sky dot Social and from my Patreon page where
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you can leave comments on each episode.
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And you can find that by going to patreon.com and searching at
2:03
Real Metal Kevin. I'll give you more context at
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the end of the episode if you're really interested in them.
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So we've got a few comments from different people far and wide in
2:14
the Internet universe. So I'd just like to thank them.
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Firstly, Jeff from Florida, Doomy Mcdoombutt on Blue sky and
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X platforms. And he said when he sent me a
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message, I'd like to reserve guest spots for any Darren
2:30
Morgan episode. And Darren Morgan is actually he
2:35
made his first appearance on The X-Files, starring in a episode
2:39
called The Host, which if you watch The X-Files you'll be
2:43
familiar with because he he starred as the fluke man.
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And that episode was actually Co written by his brother Glenn.
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But he was he actually wrote some of the best humorous
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episodes in The X-Files. Humbug.
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Clyde Bruckman's final repose, War of the copra Coprafaggis.
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Sorry, Coprafaggis, I think is the way it's pronounced.
3:09
I can't remember. And Jose Young's from Outer
3:12
Space, so he is a terrific writer for The X-Files and Jeff
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is obviously a fan. So I can certainly say that
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that's been noted for a future appearance, Jeff, once we get
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down closer to those events playing out.
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So it'll be a few episodes down the track at this point in time.
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Matt from Kansas City, he posted on Spotify and now The X-Files.
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I used to watch this quite a bit.
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I remember these early EPS. I remember being excited about
3:43
its starting and the promos for it.
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If I remember correctly it used to be on Thursday nights at
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least at one point because I'd see it after baseball training.
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I didn't watch the movies, maybe saw bits.
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I'd like to go back and watch it again though, hoping to hear
4:00
more. And then also talking about
4:03
Quantum Leap, which is what I spoke about on the first
4:05
episode. He said Dean Stockwell for me
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will always be remembered as Doctor U from the original 80s
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movie June. And yes, that's a great movie
4:14
version for anyone who has seen it.
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So thanks for that. Matt Michael from Melbourne,
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this is great Bill. Love The X-Files.
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This was much watched TV for me and my friends in the 90s.
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I loved both Monster of the Week and Alien conspiracy EPS.
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I've also got some all time favorite episodes I can still
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vividly remember. Looking forward to your pod and
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then also making a comment on someone else who shared this as
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well. Yep, already listened and now
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eagerly awaiting an invite to discuss my top 10 episodes.
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Well Michael, be careful what you wish for.
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And that has been noted for future reference for an episode
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down the track sometime. And then we also have Shane from
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Albion Park. Excellent idea to do The X-Files
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build since it's my favorite show of all time.
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I've been meaning to rewatch from the beginning for a while
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now but haven't really had much time.
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I might try to start now though. I've never watched Quantum Leap,
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might give that a crack. And I would suggest to anyone
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who loves science fiction, you should all watch Quantum Leap.
5:24
It is difficult to find out there there was a revival series
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that's just had two series in the last couple of years in
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Australia. You can still find those on 7
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plus overseas. I don't know where you would
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find it. And As for The X-Files itself, I
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think it's pretty difficult to track down.
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It's not on any streaming service in Australia at the
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moment, but I do have all 5 Series on DVD here.
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If anyone's passing through Albion Park and wishes to borrow
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them, they're well worth it. All right, so thank you for the
5:53
feedback and as I said, if you ever want to leave feedback,
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I'll give the contacts out at the end of the episode and I'll
5:59
also put them in the show notes for this episode.
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So thank you for you guys for actually taking the effort to
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leave some feedback right now. Let's get stuck into it.
6:16
So here we go with Season 1 episode 5 titled The Jersey
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Devil. And this was directed by Joe
6:23
Napolitano and written by showrunner Chris Carter.
6:28
And of course, this was Chris Carter's first effort at riding
6:32
a Monster of the Week episode, having done the first two
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episodes of the series, which were more of the alien mythology
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arc. So although this episode is
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titled The Jersey Devil and the name is invoked a few times
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during the episode, that particular myth is actually
6:48
about a folk legend in regards to a mythological beast.
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Whereas it is soon established in this episode that what the
6:56
agents are actually facing is either a prehistoric or a
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mutation of a human. But as we work our way through
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the whole episode, it's another one of those that are a little
7:08
bit less exciting and perhaps just a bit too mundane for The
7:13
X-Files or certainly what I thought of The X-Files at that
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point in time and probably more so think now.
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The story itself is one that is a believable, non believable
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story in a similar way that people believe in Bigfoot or the
7:29
Yeti. But this is perhaps a little bit
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more believable than those two. So Scully finds the story of the
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Jersey Devil and before she's even finished telling the tale,
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Mulder has them basically in Atlantic City to investigate.
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And we are introduced to the kind of character that we will
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meet many times as we work our way through this series.
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The head up his ass local detective slash police chief.
7:57
So here it is, Detective Thompson who immediately rules
8:00
out any of Mulder's fairy stories and makes it quite clear
8:04
that he is not going to change his mind on anything no matter
8:07
what ends up being turned up in evidence, and who also insists
8:11
on shutting down every Ave. of investigation that will come up
8:15
along the way. Through sheer ignorance, I
8:18
guess. Now of course you or I would
8:21
probably feel the same way if we had Fox Mulder coming up to us
8:24
and offering his inane and fanciful opinions, but don't
8:28
these people in this show know what will obviously happen?
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Surely, surely they do. So there's a double story going
8:38
on in this episode 1, which is Mulder's investigation because
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Mulder decides to stay in Atlantic City and poke around a
8:45
bit. And then there's the subplot
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with Scully, who leaves to return back to Washington.
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And as it does that part of the story, it fleshes out her
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character away from her work self.
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So the first part, of course, is the episode where Mulder stays
9:02
in New Jersey in Atlantic City to continue the investigation
9:06
where he heads talks, sorry, he talks to the head of the
9:09
national parks. He discovers the link to the
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homeless people downtown and then sees the Jersey Devil, but
9:19
of course while in pursuit is arrested for vagrancy.
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I mean look to me that plot point is not believable and this
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episode really does begin to evaporate from this point on.
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Every step of the way Mulder seems to find the trail.
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He he discovers the fact that the the devil here is female
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who's been forced to come into town to forage for food because
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their partner has been killed. And the discovery of two Jersey
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Devils reveals that there may be a child as well.
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So of course the chase goes on. The local authorities, who have
9:58
had 0 success in finding their quarry before Mulder came to
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town, now just seem to be riding Mulder's coat tails until they
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come upon the Jersey Devil back near the water towards the end
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of the episode, at which point they kill her.
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Because of course you do. Now while it's for the story, it
10:17
is still far less believable that Mulder has been able to
10:21
track down this devil three separate times in this episode,
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while the police have had 0 success.
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And to me, for the writing, it's just a bit lazy.
10:34
Anyway, then we move on to a second part of the story, which
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sees Scully returning home for her godson's birthday party.
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And it is here that she expresses a desire, though not
10:43
immediate, of having children. And she goes out on a date with
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Rob, who is divorced with a kid who attended the party.
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And of course, on this stage, she dresses up in this
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ridiculous white lace dress when she goes out, and it absolutely
10:59
does not suit her. I mean, for a first date, this
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is just like right out there. And is this how you're actually
11:08
going to put yourself out there, given that in every other scene
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we've seen Scully, all she's been wearing are work suits and
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then suddenly we see her in this lace dress.
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You know, it just it was fanciful in my opinion.
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But anyway, that's what it does. And it's as I said, it's very
11:29
unscali like because we see her through the whole show just
11:31
being dressed up in pantsuits and work clothes.
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And yet here she's actually wearing this lace sort of a
11:36
dress. And it's a bit off putting, it
11:38
really is. But it's all part of the subplot
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to show her life away from work. And The X-Files and of course
11:47
Molder pages are during this date.
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And she heads back to Atlantic City to help him find the Jersey
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Devil and of course, bail him out as well.
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But then once this whole episode's over and and the
12:00
situation has been sorted, Rob Ringser for a second date just
12:04
as Molder is going off to see another professor about the end
12:07
of the case. And of course, she comes back
12:10
out as Molder's signing up for a car.
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And she decides to deal with Molder instead, telling him that
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she isn't ready for that kind of relationship just then.
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And. A search for her identity and
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state psychiatric records has begun in earnest.
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Good luck. They have also released the
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medical exam from the male body that they found.
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His age is estimated to be about 40 years.
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It would have been offspring. The medical exam of the woman's
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uterus does seem to indicate that she may have given birth.
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She was just protecting her children's Scully.
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It all makes sense. The male dies and she comes out
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of the woods in search of food. Will you do me a favor?
12:52
Will you just go out and have a beer?
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Will you take the day off? I'll cover for you?
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Will you just take some time for yourself?
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Thanks for the offer, but I've got an appointment at the
13:00
Smithsonian with an ethno biologist.
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I can't wait to tell him about this.
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Mulder. Yeah, just a second.
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It's for you. Hello.
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Hi, Dean. That's Rob.
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Oh, hi. Sorry to call you at work.
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It's just I have Scott for the night and we have two extra
13:22
tickets for Cirque du Soleil. We thought maybe you'd like to
13:25
ask Ellen if you could take Trent and join us.
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Requisition for a car, please. Thank you.
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Who's that on the phone? A guy a.
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Guy. Same guy as the guy you had
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dinner with the other night. Same guy you.
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Can have dinner with him again. I don't think so.
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No interest, not at this time. Thanks, Fran.
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What are you doing? Lying with you, the Smithsonian
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did. You have a life, Scully.
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Keep. That up, Mulder, and I'll hurt
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you like that beast woman. 8,000,000 years out of Africa.
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Look who's holding the door. So, So what do we have here?
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Let's tick them off. Head up the ass, detective,
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Check. Mulder arrested, Check.
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Police Department useless, check.
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Scully putting work in front of personal life, check.
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So all of these things have happened and we've got them all
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in one. So how did what I'm going to
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call the PSA test go for this episode?
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So PSA will be for problem solution answerless.
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So we start the episode with a problem check, murders of people
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who appear to have human bites. Do we end the do we end the
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episode with a solution check perpetrated being a wild female
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tracked down and killed by the heroic Police Department?
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Do we complete the episode with an N united and answerless
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check? The scene of the child seen with
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the child of the two so-called devils who's now on its own in
15:21
the wilderness with no answer as to what will now happen to her
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or him. I think it's a her, but of
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course at that age you can tell. So yeah, we've a PSA check here.
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Perfect three for 3:00. So at the end of all of this,
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it's an average episode because these are the kind of monster of
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the week episodes that put the alien conspiracy lovers of
15:44
program allows them to use these to suggest these episodes
15:48
shouldn't have been a part of the show.
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And for me, looking back to when I first watched the show, when
15:55
you had to wait a week for each episode, This proves to be a
15:59
problem. Because although the first 3
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episodes of this show were so good, the next two were only
16:05
average and it would have been easy to have thought that the
16:09
show had already peaked and just turn it off.
16:13
Rewatching this episode, I didn't feel the need to turn it
16:17
off or to Fast forward to the next episode, but it was
16:20
struggling to hold my interests as well.
16:22
So I eventually gave this three out of five, begrudgingly a
16:27
three out of five, just because it's not a bad episode, but it's
16:32
just not a very exciting one either.
16:40
So here we go with Season 1 Episode 6 entitled Shadows.
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So this was directed by Michael Cattleman but more importantly
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was written by the duo of Glen Morgan and James Wong again who
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gave us episode 3 called Squeeze.
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So I wonder if the pressure was already on to match that
17:02
exciting episode. So this was a Monster of the
17:05
Wick episode again and it's an interesting one without being
17:09
overly exciting again. Now apparently it was inspired
17:14
by the 1982 horror film called The Entity, which I did see a
17:18
long time ago. A very B grade horror film.
17:22
So the story is not the same, but the structure and some plot
17:26
points have been assimilated. That film was about a woman who
17:30
was haunted and frequently attacked by an evil presence.
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But here we have the lead character, Lauren, who appears
17:38
to have an unseen presence looking over her.
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So Lauren was the secretary for her boss, Howard Graves, who had
17:46
committed suicide, supposedly. And one night she's heading
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home, she's attacked at an auto teller by two men who a short
17:54
time later and then discovered dead in an alleyway.
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And Mulder and Scully actually get called in by a pair of
18:01
agents from an unknown agency who are keeping the cards very
18:06
close to their chest. And basically what they want
18:09
from Mulder and Scully is to give their opinion on why these
18:12
two bodies they have found still have this electrical charge in
18:17
them and that their throats have been crushed from the inside
18:21
with no marks on their skin. Of course, in return, they're
18:25
offering absolutely nothing in regards to information.
18:28
And so when they actually get around to asking Mulder if
18:31
anything like this had appeared in an X file, Mulder says no.
18:36
And then there's a really good comment as he and Scully leave
18:39
the room because Scully says, you lied.
18:42
You have seen this before in an X file, I can tell.
18:45
And Mulder, of course, then says, well, they weren't giving
18:47
us anything, so I wasn't about to share anything either.
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And so they decide to start their own investigation.
18:54
Now of course this eventually comes to the point where they
18:57
find Lauren on the video for at the ATM they see her being
19:01
attacked and they go to ask her some questions.
19:04
Now she obviously doesn't really give any answers.
19:07
And then of course they leave in their car and suddenly the car
19:11
has a mind of its own and Molder can't operate it.
19:14
And they drive very fast, very backwards, until they crash into
19:18
another car where they are unhurt but suddenly very wary.
19:24
Anyway, without beating around the Bush.
19:26
We all know, of course, it's the ghost of Howard Graves who is
19:30
now protecting Lauren from harm. Or is it Howard Graves?
19:34
Because depending on whether you are Mulder or Scully is
19:38
differing opinions, as there always is.
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Mulder, of course, from the outset believes that this is a
19:43
case of a ghost who is protecting Lauren, not being
19:48
Maleficent to this person, that Howard Graves is actually
19:52
looking over Lauren and looking out for her.
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Whereas, of course, Scully believes that in the 1st place,
19:57
Graves must have faked his death because there's a photo that is
20:02
taken through Lauren's window that when it's blown up, it
20:05
shows the face of Graves behind her.
20:09
And it's here where two things happen when you're watching the
20:13
show that date the show to the early 1990s.
20:15
And the first is the use of the microfiche to scan through old
20:19
copies of newspapers. Something that was also seen in
20:22
the episode Squeeze, but it appears again here.
20:25
And also Mold, actually developing the photos in a
20:28
darkroom and then blowing up the photos to get a better view.
20:32
And it's all very niche, especially in this day and age,
20:35
because in this day and age, of course, we use computers for all
20:39
of that. But in this day and age, no,
20:40
it's the old micro fish and it's the old get into that darkroom
20:44
and develop your own film. So anyway, they go through the
20:48
tests, Scalia's tests, starting to confirm that Graves is
20:51
actually dead. So now she turns her attention
20:54
to what the other unnamed agents are chasing, which is the fact
20:58
that this company that Howard Graves had been the head of is
21:02
selling parts for weaponry to a terrorist organization.
21:07
And meanwhile, all this is going on, Lauren has seen a vision
21:09
where Graves shows her how he was actually killed by his
21:12
partner Dolan. And then when Lauren quits,
21:17
Dolan sends two people around a killer.
21:18
But of course they run into Howard Graves, who takes care of
21:22
business just as the time that Mulder and Scully arrive on the
21:27
scene. And of course, Mulder sees one
21:29
of the attackers floating in the air, being held up by the entity
21:33
and having his throat crushed. And of course, he hits the
21:36
ground just in time for Scully to walk through the door and
21:40
miss seeing it all. Totally unusual for Scully to
21:43
miss something like that, but Mulder to actually see it.
21:46
Isn't it always the bloody case? Anyway, Lauren is interrogated
21:52
by Mulder and Scully. She gives nothing away of course
21:55
to either of them, but of course gives away to Mulder eventually
21:59
that she indeed believes that Doran had graves killed and that
22:04
they're selling technology to the terrorist groups.
22:06
So they're going into the office to try and find evidence and
22:10
there is none. And then, of course, we have the
22:13
part towards the end where Graves cuts open the wall in his
22:17
old office and finds the disk that is obviously everything on
22:21
it that he must have put there. And the case is closed.
22:25
And then Lauren is off like a shot.
22:27
She is running away very, very fast.
22:29
And of course, Mulder and Scully just saying, oh, well, now she's
22:33
it's out of the way. It's all good.
22:35
But of course, Graves at the end, we discover that he's still
22:38
there with her in spirit. Let's see how I did there.
22:42
That's just great, Bill. Look, in the long run, the
22:46
episode moves smoothly from start to finish.
22:49
One of the other quotes is when Mulder says to Scully that he
22:52
believes that there's a poltergeist involved.
22:54
And of course, Scully immediately says they're here.
23:00
Just like the movie Poltergeist. For anyone who's seen.
23:02
And if you haven't seen Poltergeist, why haven't you?
23:05
Surely everyone has seen Poltergeist, so there's a nice
23:10
little to and fro with Mulder and Sculley here through the
23:12
episode. Obviously the main points for
23:16
the agents is that Mulder more or less immediately believes
23:18
that this is an open and shut case of a poltergeist who is
23:21
actually there in a non malevolent way and he's there to
23:24
help and protect Lauren who would have been the same age as
23:27
his daughter. His daughter had died at a young
23:29
age, so he's obviously taken Lauren under his wing as a as a
23:33
faux daughter. And Sculley, of course, is
23:37
trying to find a scientific reason for how these killings
23:40
occurred and for all the other things that are going on.
23:44
Hi paramedics, check you out. Yeah, I'm fine, although I do
23:48
have a standing in line of the DMV sized headache.
23:51
Mine's more IRS sized. Hey, check out the car.
23:55
Yeah, it's brand new, only 100 miles.
23:58
And someone tampered with it while we were in our house.
24:01
Mechanic says everything's in proper order.
24:03
Nothing cut, nothing greased. Check out the lights.
24:12
They're on, they're not. The filaments are heated due to
24:15
massive levels of electrostatic charge, just like the bodies in
24:19
the morning. And isn't it interesting that
24:22
Lauren Kite was present at both incidents?
24:24
She was in our presence the entire time we were at her
24:26
house. What if it's possible somehow to
24:30
raise the bodies electrostatic charge to the levels we've been
24:33
seeing and to use that energy to affect objects?
24:36
If a person could generate that much energy, their body would
24:39
break down. They'd they'd start glowing like
24:41
those lights. Well, there's evidence of this
24:43
all through The X-Files. Furniture moving, untouched,
24:46
objects levitating, unexplained electrical discharges.
24:50
Frequently, people who have psychokinetic power are unaware
24:54
of their own capability. Are you saying Lauren Kite
24:57
crashed our car? Either that or a poltergeist.
25:03
They're here. They may be.
25:08
So now for the PSA, we have the problem at the start, which is
25:12
that we have two dead men apparently killed in a way that
25:16
they can't possibly be killed and it centres around a
25:19
secretary and her dead boss. At the end we have the solution,
25:25
Dolan having had Howard Graves killed and also that he had sold
25:28
all of these things to a terrorist group and that is
25:30
finally exposed. Your beauty solution.
25:33
And then of course we have the unanswerable part, which is of
25:38
course the fact that the poltergeist is still around and
25:41
that Howard Graves spirit is still there with Lauren, even
25:45
though she's moved to the Midwest and he's still there
25:48
protecting her in that capability.
25:52
So overall, as an episode, it's very watchable.
25:55
It's very easy to watch. It's interesting that James
25:58
Wong, who was one of the Co writers actually said that he
26:01
didn't think it was a great script but he thought that the
26:03
director did a great job with it to make it entertaining, but
26:08
that it wasn't one of his favorite episodes.
26:11
And I agree too, to a certain point.
26:13
I think that in the long run, the episode is fine.
26:16
It's a good, solid episode, but it's not like it's exceptionally
26:21
brilliant all the way through. So for me, it's somewhere
26:26
between 3 1/2 and four out of five, and I'm probably going to
26:30
settle on that being a little bit better than that.
26:34
So I think it's better than the two previous episodes.
26:39
So I'm going to say it's a 4, but it's a week 4, and that's
26:43
probably the best I can give it. So here we have Season 1 Episode
26:53
7, Ghost in the Machine, directed by Gerald Freeman and
26:58
written by Alex Ganza and Howard Gordon for the second time.
27:02
So their first episode was the series #4 episode Conduit.
27:08
And the general synopsis is basically Brainy Guy builds A
27:11
rudimentary artificial intelligence machine which grows
27:15
to the point of being capable of creating its own thoughts.
27:18
The Genius's partner, of course, wants to make more money by
27:20
selling it to the military, while the Genius abhors the idea
27:24
and the machine decides to take things into its own metaphorical
27:27
hands. So, given everything that has
27:30
happened with the advancement of AI in recent years in the modern
27:34
day, this episode should be a really interesting take given it
27:38
was written and produced over 30 years ago, right?
27:42
Well, no, not especially. Obviously, the genius whose name
27:47
is Brad Wilchek, his partner is murdered.
27:51
I mean, let's face it, the CEO actually writing in his log that
27:55
he wanted to get rid of the Cos project when you might think
27:58
that there's an intelligent AI being made as a part of this
28:01
project was probably not the brightest idea from this guy who
28:06
of course met his untimely death before the opening intro music.
28:11
Good job. And then as it goes off, it says
28:14
the last thing it said is file deleted at his death.
28:17
Oh dear, Oh dear. And of course immediately the
28:22
genius is implicated as he's the only one who has access codes to
28:27
actually achieve this. So it seems obvious, doesn't it?
28:31
Which is exactly what Brad says when the agents confront him.
28:35
Of course, I'm the obvious suspect.
28:38
So we also have Mulder's mate, that's right, Mulder's mate in
28:42
Agent Jerry Lamara, who turns up and says, hey, I need your help,
28:48
just like Scully's colleague Tom Colton had done in Squeeze.
28:53
And we all know how well that worked out.
28:55
So Agent Lamara, Jerry comes in and he insists that Mulder and
29:00
Scully join up for this very interesting sort of case, but
29:05
for the exact same reason that Colton had drawn them in too,
29:08
because he wants to further his career with their knowledge.
29:12
I mean Sterling Fox's profile of the killer and presenting it as
29:17
his own work at a meeting in front of Fox.
29:21
I mean, how many times can these two fall for that one?
29:26
Nice work Jerry. Anyway, really well done.
29:28
And your reward is to be being offed by the same AI that killed
29:32
the first guy. Don't get into the lifts
29:35
operated by AI. It's a pretty simple method of
29:38
staying alive. So we've had two episodes in the
29:41
1st 6 where our agents who are looking to climb the ladder have
29:46
utilized Scully and Mulder in order to try and climb the
29:49
ladder, and yet both have failed because they didn't take on what
29:53
was actually said to them. More importantly, Deep Throat is
29:58
back. And yes, immediately he informs
30:01
Mulder all about artificial intelligence, a learning
30:04
machine, and where the computer beat the human in chess for the
30:08
first time. It was Brad Wilcheck's machine
30:11
that did it. So while the AI machine has gone
30:14
rogue, the military still want it, of course, so it's up to
30:18
Mulder and Scully to destroy it. Not so easy to get past a
30:22
computer that controls everything in the building it is
30:24
housed in. And despite a couple of hiccups
30:28
with doors and ducks and almost deaths, and then being held at
30:32
gunpoint by the security guard who is actually a plant for the
30:35
military and government agencies, Mulder succeeds in
30:39
uploading the virus that Wilchett gave him to destroy the
30:42
AI computer. And as it turns out, I
30:45
immediately recognized the actor who played the secret plant,
30:48
Claude Peterson, as one of the jazz duo on the boat that goes
30:52
under in the disaster movie 2012.
30:56
But I did have to look him up to remember where I'd known him
30:58
from. He was so familiar, but I just
31:00
couldn't remember where. It's amazing thing the Internet
31:03
tells you that. Thank God I don't have to use
31:05
micro fish for that. Anyway, this is the X file.
31:09
So of course Deep Throat informs us and Mulder at the end that
31:14
Wilcheck has been deterred in a secret location by the
31:17
government, who of course still want his AI.
31:20
And even though Mulder says they can't do that, Deep Throat,
31:24
rather patiently I thought, explained to him that these dark
31:28
government agencies can do anything they want to.
31:31
Nice work, Mulder. Jerry, what the hell are you
31:36
doing? Don't get off bent out of shape,
31:38
Jerry. That was my profile.
31:41
I didn't think you'd mind anyway.
31:46
They were just notes. I filled in the blanks.
31:48
Jerry, you went into my office and you stole my work.
31:53
You're on this case because I asked you to help me out and you
31:55
help me out. What is the big deal?
32:04
What did he say? He apologized in his own way.
32:10
I just got off the phone with Peterson, the systems engineer.
32:14
One name Brad Wilchick. He said it would be a short list
32:18
and it's headline news how much this guy just buys Drake.
32:22
That just seems too obvious. To kill Drake would be so
32:24
brazenly egomaniacal. And fully consistent with
32:27
Jerry's excellent behavioural profile.
32:30
Fully. So now for the PSA.
32:35
We started with a problem, a dead guy who we know and our
32:40
friendly agents soon suspect is the victim of an artificial
32:43
intelligence machine. At the end we get our solution
32:47
with Molder wiping it out with a computer virus, though the
32:50
creator has been taken by the government and our unanswered
32:55
part of the the end is where the machine is being dismantled by
32:59
the said government agency hoping to discover its secrets
33:03
and it turns itself back on again and it looks ready to
33:07
create more mayhem. Now this episode has a
33:12
reasonable enough concept, especially for the day.
33:15
The problem is the episode as boring as anything.
33:19
There is a real lack of tension throughout.
33:22
We know the CEO is going to die at the start of the episode.
33:25
We know Jerry in the elevator is going to die as well.
33:29
We know Scully in the air shafts looking as though she's going to
33:33
be sucked into the fans, but isn't going to happen because it
33:37
doesn't. And it just doesn't create any
33:40
tension in the episode, even though they're trying to do it.
33:43
There's no gripping finale. I mean, in the long run, Molder
33:47
inserts the virus, the computer dies, Molder converses with Deep
33:51
Throat. It never feels as though anyone
33:53
is under any real threat. The Monster of the Monster of
33:58
the week episode hardly raises any fear at all.
34:02
So for me, it's a three out of five episode.
34:06
The story was one worth exploring, and it had a couple
34:10
of good scenes between Mulder and Scully discussing the pros
34:14
and cons of whether a computer can learn and do what it's
34:16
purporting to do. But by its end, it's almost a
34:21
relief. And let's get to the next
34:23
episode. Here we go with Season 1 episode
34:32
8 titled ICE, directed by David Nutter, who would go on to
34:38
direct pilot episodes of almost every great sci-fi series for
34:43
the next 25 years. And I urge you to look him up on
34:47
Wikipedia and see what his career was after this because it
34:51
is something to behold. And it's written for the third
34:55
time by the pairing of Glenn Morgan and James Wong.
35:01
Now this is a beauty and I am get a fangirl over this episode
35:05
because it's just an absolute classic unadulterated Great
35:10
X-Files episode 6. People who don't know each other
35:14
beforehand, apart from the obvious 2 FBI agents all have to
35:19
turn up in an Arctic station 1,000,000 miles from anywhere to
35:22
investigate a group murder suicide of scientists at a
35:25
remote Arctic like location. So on arrival, it's discovered
35:30
that everyone has killed themselves, and suddenly there
35:33
is this discovery of a dog that's still alive, who
35:37
immediately attacks both Mulder and the pilot.
35:41
So it's all happening from the outset.
35:43
There's everything going on now. This episode is so lovingly
35:48
inspired by the movie The Thing that you can't help but enjoy
35:51
it. Well, I guess you have to love
35:55
The Thing first, which I do because it is on a list of mine
36:00
where if I could only watch 10 movies for the rest of my life,
36:04
the Thing would be one of those 10.
36:06
So this episode immediately struck A chord with me when I
36:09
first saw it. The isolation scenario, the
36:12
alien presence. In this case, the scientists
36:16
have been digging in the ice, taking ice core samples and they
36:20
had penetrated so deep that they came across a sample that was
36:24
from 250,000 years ago, which Mulder of course theorizes was
36:30
when a media struck the earth and carried microscopic
36:33
organisms that survived in those conditions.
36:36
So these organisms, which of course are from outer space,
36:40
they grow into worms. And then the group come to
36:43
understand firstly through the pilot bear being infected and
36:48
eventually dying when the grown worm is is forcibly extracted
36:51
from him, that these worms will fight against other worms or the
36:57
organisms they've infected. So This is why everyone in the
37:02
first instance had killed each other because they've been the
37:05
worms had infected them and they've been fighting against
37:07
each other, the worms. But of course their hosts were
37:10
the ones who ended up dying as well.
37:13
So without a pilot who's now dead and another two days to
37:17
wait before another plane can be sent in, these five who are left
37:21
now have to be sure that no one else is infected because they
37:24
can't risk having this Organism being let loose onto the world's
37:28
population. Obviously though, despite A
37:31
thorough check of each other, one of the five remaining is
37:35
infected and suspicion is rife. And that drives the tension
37:40
through the episode. And it's perfectly performed.
37:43
It's just so well done. And of course, the suspicion
37:47
that Mulder has been infected after he discovers the body of
37:50
Murphy, who's the geologist, has him locked in a room away from
37:56
the remaining survivors because they believe that Mulder is
37:59
actually infected and has killed Murphy.
38:02
And Mulder's quote here as Scully locks him in the room is
38:07
in here. I'll be safer than you.
38:09
And that was just really nicely played out as well.
38:13
So there's the toing and froing of who might be infected or not
38:16
infected, The discovery of two organisms fighting against each
38:20
other to the death that they can't be in the same space
38:23
together. And then even Molder's
38:26
insistence that they should be preserved and studied to help
38:29
with the coming alien invasion. While of course, Scully insists
38:33
that they must be destroyed to avoid having the outside wall
38:36
infected. And all of this is brought
38:39
together exceptionally well in a really tense, action-packed
38:43
episode. And the final conclusion of
38:46
actually discovering that they need to insert another worm into
38:51
an infected patient, which would result in the worms killing each
38:55
other and effectively curing the patient, is a genius conclusion
38:59
from the writers. But as Mulder said, if you
39:02
insert it in someone you suspect is infected but isn't, it
39:06
recreates the reverse scenario. So that tension when that's
39:10
going on is just terrific. The cast that was assembled for
39:14
this episode are all recognizable for their work in
39:17
the day. And since this episode went to
39:19
air as well, the appearance of Steve Hytner, who played Kenny
39:24
Banya of Seinfeld fame, is, as always, in retrospect, an
39:29
amusing aspect of the episode. Xander Berkeley is a
39:33
recognizable face of many great films from the 1990s, many of
39:37
the heavy hitters of the 1990s, and Felicity Huffman also
39:41
eventually was nominated for an Academy Award.
39:44
And because this was a bottle episode, like an episode that's
39:47
filled basically on one set in one room, they had only
39:51
themselves and the scenario to work with, which needed terrific
39:55
actors to make the performances believable.
39:58
And the tension between Mulder and Scully over what they
40:01
believe should be done with the worms, but also over what Mulder
40:06
felt was a lack of trust. When Scully pulled her gun on
40:09
him and forced him into isolation revealed more of the
40:14
evolving relationship between the two agents.
40:17
That at this point in time, they still did not have 100% trust of
40:23
each other. Even though it was the situation
40:26
that they were in that drove that slight mistrust.
40:30
And into the end of the episode, where Scully is just glad to be
40:34
letting it all go and go home, but Mulder wanted to return to
40:38
the site and preserve what was there, only to be told that, of
40:41
course, it had been completely destroyed as soon as they left.
40:44
Again, highlighted the opposite ends of the spectrum that our
40:47
two agents were operating at. So everything about this episode
40:51
is fantastic. It's an isolated location cut
40:55
off by Arctic storms. They're on their own.
40:58
There's death. There's a protagonist in an
41:00
alien life form. It has tension, it has drama,
41:04
and there's no real clue as to who may be infected and who may
41:08
not be infected, and it just makes for a fantastically
41:12
brilliant episode all the way through.
41:15
Mulder, what are you doing? Murphy's dead.
41:22
You killed him. I found him like this.
41:26
I heard one of the doors close. I came out to check it out.
41:31
He's one of you. He's lying.
41:32
You could have done it not even knowing.
41:34
No, he said. He didn't do it.
41:35
I. Don't have any of the symptoms.
41:36
You checked him yourself, Hodge. Yeah, six hours ago it was one
41:39
of you. Stop.
41:40
It stop it. Shut up.
41:43
Mulder. Just put the gun down and let
41:47
Hodge give you a blood test. So he can doctor the results.
41:50
I'm not going to let him stick a needle in me.
41:51
He could be infected. He has to be confined now.
41:54
And just turn around and let us take a look at your.
41:56
Knees. I'm not turning my back on
41:58
anyone. As far as I'm concerned, you're
42:00
all infected. Hodge is right, we ought to lock
42:02
them up. Molder.
42:05
Scotty, get that gun off. Me Molder, you have to
42:07
understand. Put it down.
42:10
Put it down far, Scully, for God's sakes, it's me.
42:17
Moldy, you may not be who you are.
42:22
So let's do our PSI test. We have a problem the the
42:26
discovery of the dead scientists who appeared to have killed
42:29
themselves. And then of course, through the
42:31
events we have the solution, an effective way of saving infected
42:36
survivors without resorting to violence.
42:40
As to the unanswered or the unanswerable, all we have here
42:45
is the government sweeping in to destroy the site to cover up any
42:48
evidence of what had happened. And of course, Mulder then
42:51
saying they're still there, Scully 250,000 years below the
42:56
ice. And of course, this episode,
43:01
though it is not included as a part of the alien mythology arc
43:04
of the show, does have elements as a part of this.
43:09
So it's really it's one of those 5050 shows which do pop up along
43:13
the way through these through the series, Alien show and
43:19
Monster of the Week show all combined in one.
43:22
And that's a fun duo, if I may say so myself.
43:27
You may have guessed from my enthusiasm here that I gave this
43:31
episode A5 out of five. It has all of the traits that
43:36
create the best X-Files episodes and is definitely one to catch
43:40
if you're starting out to watch the series.
43:48
As we enter the realm of season 1 episode 9, which is space
43:55
directed by William Graham and written by Chris Carter, and
43:59
this is his fourth episode writing credit.
44:03
And it looks like there's sabotage going on at NASA with
44:06
the space shuttle missions. So who do you call in Mulder and
44:11
Scully, of course. But why is it an X file?
44:15
Ah, because the sabotage caused could not have occurred unless
44:18
under launch conditions and no one has been sighted near the
44:22
shuttle. So it is up to our intrepid duo
44:26
to solve the mystery. And this is where we meet
44:30
Colonel Belt, an American hero who is the head of the space
44:33
program who insists there is no conspiracy or sabotage.
44:38
Now, is it a bit overwritten or maybe a bit over acted?
44:44
With Mulder having a man crush on Lieutenant Colonel Belt who
44:48
was his astronaut hero from his youth.
44:52
We see a fair bit of hero worship from Mulder in this
44:55
episode, much to Scully's chagrin, and that adds to the
45:00
slight antagonism between the two for this episode.
45:05
Still, we soon find ourselves in the midst of a constant swirl of
45:08
mysterious breakdowns and operating problems.
45:11
One after the other, the shuttle gets off the ground, but then it
45:15
can't spin to avoid the sun. Then the communications go down.
45:21
After this, there's an oxygen leak, leaving the astronauts
45:25
with only 30 minutes of oxygen left.
45:28
Each of these is finally solved by solutions thought up by
45:32
Colonel Belt. So outwardly, he's proving to be
45:35
the hero. But Scully is still suspicious.
45:39
Of course, when Belt hides the truth of what is happening from
45:42
the press, Scully comments to Mulder.
45:45
So much for your boyhood hero. What is really going on, though,
45:50
is that there is an alien presence living in Colonel Belt,
45:55
picked up from when he was an astronaut doing a spacewalk 15
45:58
years earlier. And that alien presence is able
46:01
to leave his body when it wants to go about sabotaging any
46:05
projects that Belt is attached to, including, shock horror, the
46:10
Challenger shuttle. And while Belt himself is unable
46:14
to prevent this alien from coming and going and doing the
46:17
things it does, he does have a knowledge of what it's done.
46:21
And so he's been ordering tests and photos and sends them
46:25
anonymously. Anonymously thank you to people
46:28
who can try and stop any tragedies from occurring.
46:32
And while it's never revealed as to what, if any, motive the
46:36
alien has for trying to stop these space flights, it can be
46:41
theorized that it didn't want humans invading its space.
46:48
You heard it moving on. I think the premise for the
46:53
episode is OK. An alien life form returning to
46:57
Earth with one of these space missions was always something
47:00
that was in reality a concern. As in a virus, a space virus or
47:04
something like that, that astronauts needed to quarantine
47:07
for after every trip into away from Earth.
47:12
And in science fiction, it's a no brainer for a storyline.
47:16
The problems with this episode though are numerous.
47:20
There's no real tension. Again, the things that go wrong
47:24
with the shuttle aren't seen. We see through the eyes and
47:27
reactions of the people in Ground control and not actually
47:30
on the shuttle. They're being very professional
47:33
about it all as they would in real life.
47:35
So it it is portrayed as a real life situation, but we're not
47:39
getting any of that tension that's probably required for the
47:41
episode. The viewer is aware of the
47:44
entity from the very start of the episode, so we know what's
47:47
going on all the way through. So there's no big reveal later
47:52
on that draws A gasp. Each sabotage event is quickly
47:56
shut down and when you look at all of the episodes that precede
48:01
this one, the best ones had a slow reveal of information as we
48:06
move through the episode. So although we know some things
48:10
at the start that Mulder and Scully do not, they are
48:13
embellished with growing tension throughout the episode.
48:17
In this episode we know that there is an entity causing the
48:21
problems. The only question after the 1st
48:23
5 minutes is how will it be stopped and when that's revealed
48:28
by belt jumping out of a six Storey window at the hospital to
48:31
top himself and his Co inhabitant, it's a bit tame and
48:35
basically boring. And that's where the problem
48:39
with this episode lies. It is boring.
48:43
The monster of the week revealed to the agents is fleeting at the
48:46
end of the episode, and the solution is over before you know
48:49
it. Where did you say you got this?
48:53
It came to us anonymously. Well, this is an APU valve, all
48:56
right. This doesn't make sense.
48:59
What doesn't make sense? This scoring here, this valve is
49:03
made out of ferrocarbon titanium.
49:04
It's. You didn't order the analysis.
49:06
No, I've never seen this before, but we're an outside contract to
49:10
NASA. They may have ordered it.
49:11
But as a matter of course, wouldn't you order a material
49:14
analysis if a part malfunctioned?
49:16
Every shuttle is flown with that same APU valve.
49:18
We haven't had a problem to do an analysis and redesign would
49:22
delay the program for months, not to mention the cost.
49:24
Is it conceivable that in order to avoid these delays, the
49:27
program is being pushed ahead without proper safety
49:30
precaution? Look, there are about 17,000
49:33
things that can go wrong with a shuttle, and about 17,000 people
49:37
who make sure they don't. And who makes the final
49:39
determination as to its safety? We make a recommendation, but
49:43
ultimately the decision is Colonel Belts.
49:47
Thank you. So let's get to the PSI.
49:53
We had the problem at the start of sabotage of the space
49:56
shuttle, and can that be solved to allow the flight to go ahead?
50:01
At the end of the episode we had the solution, finding out all
50:04
the way through what was going on, and then Colonel Built's
50:07
free dive into the car park to take the protagonist's life with
50:10
him. But we are left without the
50:13
unanswered. Apart from the fact that, are
50:16
there any more aliens out there wanting to do this same thing?
50:21
The episode end poses some cute questions, but no real joy.
50:27
And much like last episode, while it isn't considered a part
50:31
of the overarching alien story of The X-Files, this one hinges
50:36
on the 5050 scale again of alien mythology and monster of the
50:40
week. But it certainly doesn't do it
50:42
anywhere near as well as the previous episode did.
50:46
This should have been much better.
50:48
While even Chris Carter has been quoted as saying it is his least
50:52
favorite episode and he wrote the damn thing.
50:55
So that's disappointing. And for me, at episode 9, this
51:03
is the most disappointing episode so far in The X-Files.
51:07
And for me it only gets a two out of five.
51:16
So that's all from me this episode #2 in a series of many
51:21
more yet to come. So I hope you've enjoyed
51:24
reliving these episodes of one of the great science fiction TV
51:28
series. And as I said back on episode 1,
51:31
not every episode is a great one.
51:33
There are a fair share of turkeys out there, just like the
51:38
truth being out there. Yeah, I've got jokes like this
51:43
for many episodes to come, but the mix of the five on this
51:48
episode is pretty good. So we had from me, my ratings.
51:52
We had a two, we had two threes, we had a four and we had a 5.
51:56
So a reasonable run. Thanks for listening and for
52:01
being a part of this. Now, if you would like to get
52:03
involved and give your thoughts on this episode, there are a
52:06
number of ways you can do it. You can find me on X as middle
52:10
Bill with the handle at real middle Kevin.
52:13
I'm on blue sky as metal Bill under at metal Kevin dot B sky
52:17
dot social. You can leave a comment on the
52:20
episode page on Spotify. If you're listening to this
52:23
podcast on that streaming service or if you want to check
52:26
out my Patreon page, you can find that at the creation of me
52:29
a lifetime retrospective. Go to the podcast part, which is
52:33
revisiting The X-Files, and you can leave a comment on the page
52:37
for this episode. And if you know anyone who may
52:41
be interested in going on this journey with us, please pass on
52:45
the episode to them and let's get them on board.
52:48
All right, enough from me. All of those contacts can also
52:52
be found in the show notes. Can't wait to get into the next
52:55
episode and relieve the next set of Season 1 episodes with you
52:58
all when I return with revisiting The X-Files, where
53:04
the truth is out there. Cheers guys.
53:31
The.