The X-Files: Season 1 (Fox, 1993-1994)

This is where we can collect our episode-by-episode reviews.

The X-Files: Season 1

Episode #1: "The Pilot"
I fell in love with Scully straight away in the Pilot, which is not that great of an episode, but an excellent introduction to her and Mulder. She plays the perfect woman: nerdy, independent, sexy. There was a moment during this episode when I said "I love you, Scully" out loud, just to hear how it would sound in the emptiness of my room.

Episode #2: "Deep Throat"
Fizz is right: it's an excellent piece. What I like about it particularly is how it embodies the true spirit of the series -- the paranoia, the quirky humor (Mulder, to a nosy newspaper reporter: "Now, where do you think I can find these UFO nuts?" CUT TO The Flying Saucer Restaurant.), the camaraderie and loyalty between police partners, and mysterious governmental agencies. Also, features a very young Seth Green doing exactly the same thing we've seen him do every time he's on the screen. Plus, Scully rescuing Mulder in shorts and a sleeping shirt. What a dame! My obsession with her grows.

Episode #3: "Tooms"
Has a truly creepy villain that will give Mr. Fantastic nightmares.

Episode #4: "The Conduit"
The line "I want to believe" figures prominently and in-context. This episode deals less with alien abduction and more with the pain of living without the person you love, not knowing what happened to them. I think death provides closure to the people connected with the departed, but when someone just disappears, it is devastating.

Episode #5: "The Jersey Devil"
A reworking of the Yeti legend in an urban setting: Atlantic City. There's some social comment on how the local sheriff does not want the tourists to find out that, in Mulder's own words, "there's a neanderthal on the loose," because it would hurt the booming casino business. But this is just dressing for the more important aspect of this episode: Scully's background (her married sister and godson) and her attempts at dating a regular guy. A hilarious moment includes Scully telling Mulder that she can't make it one evening because she has a date, to which he casually asks: "Can you cancel?"

Episode #6: "Shadows"
Series favorites, Glenn Morgan and James Wong write a chilling story mixing poltergeist and telekinesis. This episode is a good example of what I like about THE X-FILES: how the writers hang the genre aspects on an emotional hook, in this case a secretary whose deceased father-like boss is watching over her; protecting her by crushing the throats of evil Iranian terrorists! Quirky Mulder moment: a brief Elvis impersonation, lip curl and everything.

Episode #9: "Space"
A good episode that fuses the intense ground-control drama, sci-fi and horror genres. Shows Mulder's strong interest in NASA geekery, even if it seems like an excuse for him to whisper exposition, actually meant for the viewer, into Scully's ear. What I liked most was this exchange between Mulder and his fallen hero, the flight controller. It holds true to this day:

Flight Controller: "You know what it means to be an astronaut, sir? You risk your life everytime you get into your spacecraft, for nothing more than the good progress of mankind."
Mulder: "You've got no arguments from me, sir. You're true American heroes."
Fliight Controller: "Heroes? We used to make headlines when we did our job right. Now they bury you back in the paper. Name me two astronauts on the last shuttle. You make the frontpage today only if you screw up. They only know your name if you're the unlucky SOB sitting on 500 tons of dynamite. That's what they're really waiting for."

Episode #10: "Fallen Angel"
Another movie homage: this time to McTiernan's "Predator." An alien spacecraft has crash landed and the ever-dependable asshole-extraordinare Marshall Bell plays a military commander hell-bent on covering up the truth (an alien spaceship that crash lands on Earth is called Fallen Angel; cool nick). But all this Predator thing was just a ruse and doesn't really amount to much because the alien attacks "in self-defense." WTF? Give me the flesh-ripping, laughing "ugly motherfucker" alien from Predator -- what's with this shit? Fortunately, this stupidity reconciles a seemingly subplot about an epileptic UFO nerd and gives us the most touching moment in the entire Season: Mulder holding the nerd like a baby while he's undergoing a fit, then tucking him into bed. Awww.

Episode #11: "Eve"
I like the savage nature of the antagonists in this episode: little girls. They are remorseless and they kill with cold, calculating ruthlessness. No moral dilemma -- the pinnacle of human evolution! All the alien abductions red-herrings prove to be false and, as Mad has pointed out, not everything has to be UFO-related. Mulder, pie in the face! (And, oh, dude, I'd be more careful accepting drinks from strangers -- especially cute little clone girls.).

Episode #12: "Fire"
A masterful episode. The villain has a lot to do with it: not only does he burn his victims to a cinder, but he's a sexual deviant! One of my greatest joys of watching THE X-FILES is hearing the psychoanalytical blabbery from Mulder, a Harvard graduate and expert criminal profiler, and his partner Dana. In a way, *everything* in this episode is about sex. Everyone is either having sex or thinking about it. Mulder is visited by a former English classmate/lover/ex-partner, who tempts him; when Mulder and his former partner go to visit an arson expert, he can't help himself wetting himself over Mulder's beautiful accomplice; the family the FBI is protecting has its own sexual skeletons in the closet. "Fire" is a wonderful mishmash of sci-fi, sexual power dynamics and suspense, while at the same time revealing something new about our lead characters, and throwing in a bonus: a little bit of jealously from Scully, who does a laugh-out-loud English accent at the end!

Episode #13: "Beyond the Sea"
So far, this has to be my most favorite episode. I think I've figured out how they pattern X-FILES episodes: (1) Mythology; (2) Freak-of-the-Week focusing on either Mulder or Scully; (3) Freak-of-the-Week only. This episode is the second category, and is a spin on the ol' Hannibal Lector and Clarice dynamic. But the similarity kind of just ends with the mind games that the serial killer on death row Brad Dourif plays with Scully to help him avoid the gas chamber. For a change, Mulder is the skeptic, and that makes things refreshingly. The episode is perfectly structured and uses Scully's dead father as the underlying emotional hook (like "Sea of Love," the song "Beyond the Sea" figures prominently as both an aesthetic and narrative device) and the kidnapped teenagers as the plot. I loved the care and attention they paid to develop Brad Dourif's killer and the moment of terror he faces doing the last steps -- his murdered family members watching him -- before he is gassed. Creeeeepy.

Episode #14: "Genderbender"
One of the disadvantages of having watched so many films is knowing when they are used as inspiration. This time the homage/rip-off is Peter Weir's "Witness," a brilliant film about a murder embroiling an Amish community; had I not known this, this would have been a much more impressive episode, as it has a lot going for it. Here, the killer is a gender-bending member of such a community, called The Kindred, but I was genuinely surprised to see how this story concluded, though not without cheesy exposition (Scully: "How could they have disappeared? They have no means of transportation."/ Mulder: "No earthly means of transportation."). I guess this episode is also a clever comment on the AIDS problem, which really came to the fore in the late 80s/early 90s. There's a line from Scully alluding to this, which is almost hilarious in and of itself in *our* time: "It surprises me that in this day and age people can still have sex with a complete stranger." Plus, it's funny seeing the club scene from the early 90s: a guy is rebuffed by a girl, and what does he do? Not dance, not drown his misery in triple shots of vodka; he goes to the slot machine to check his...wait for it...horoscope!

The X-Files: Season 1 (Fox, 1993-1994)

Season 1 - Episode 1 - Pilot

Its sort of charming to see the first episode of this iconic series. You watch it, and you realize that NO one here knows whats going to happen, and there is a touch of charm to it. Gillian as Scully is attractive and Agent Moulder is like a big boy in suits, excited by everything.

There is not much in the Pilot, but it IS a great start, and has all the elements that make X Files great, its fantastic leads, interested plots, and best of all, its humor.

Mulder: "Sorry, nobody down here but the FBI's most unwanted."
Scully: "Agent Mulder. I'm Dana Scully. I've been assigned to work with you." [Letting herself in]
Mulder: "Oh, isn't it nice to be suddenly so highly regarded. So who did you tick off to get stuck with this detail, Scully?"
Scully: "Actually, I'm looking forward to working with you. I've heard a lot about you."
Mulder: "Oh, really... I was under the impression that you were sent to spy on me."

3/5

Season 1 - Episode 2 - Deep Throat
This episode has everything you want in an X Files episode. UFOs, military conspiracy, Scully looking hot, Moulder being funny, the despairing feeling that truth is set against huge obstacles, and some really well written lines.

This episode reminds me why I always loved the X Files. Its really just a great show about wanting to find the truth about the universe. Both agents are true skeptics, in search of truth, but they approach it in different ways.

Oh yeah, I also remembered why I had such a crush on Scully as a teenager. Fucking hell, she's gorgeous!

Deep Throat: "Mister Mulder, why are those like yourself, who believe in the existence of extraterrestrial life on Earth, not entirely persuaded by all the evidence to the contrary?"
Mulder: "Because, all the evidence to the contrary is not entirely dissuasive."
Deep Throat: "Precisely."

5/5

Season 1 - Episode 3 - Squeeze

My favorite part of the episode is not necessarily the evil Mr Fantastic serial killer, that part of it is a good plot, but what really pushes the episode ahead for me is the difficulties the agents face with other FBI. Others pity Scully and mock Moulder, while by now, they have deep respect for each other. The best answer is given by Scully when asked by an FBi agent that wants to know if she is on his side or Moulder's side, by asking, "Who's side are you on?" and she goes, "The victims."

Mulder: "Why would I make them so uncomfortable?"
Scully: "It probably has to do with your reputation."
Mulder: "Reputation? I have a reputation?"
Scully: "Mulder look, Colton plays by the book and you don't. They feel your methods, your theories are..."
Mulder: "Spooky? Do you find me spooky?"

4/5

Season 1 - Episode 4 - Conduit

If I had just started with the X-Files, I would be a bit unimpressed. Only four episodes in, and another alien abduction story? I would be slightly concerned that the show would deal with this subject every third episode. It is interesting that it touches on Mulder's past, but I would have preferred if this episode came a few episodes later.

Scully: "I just don't think it's a good idea to antagonise local law enforcement."
Mulder: "Who, me? I'm Mr Congeniality."
Scully: "You never know, we might need his help one of these days."
Mulder: "I'll send him a bundt cake."

3/5

Season 1 - Episode 5 - Jersey Devil

Like a compressed, cheesy C movie. Some caveman and woman are apparently killing people, but we realize that they are not bad guys, and Mulder has a sad face at the end, when they get killed. Also, the female one has perfect shaved legs.

Mulder: "Got another birthday party?"
Scully: "No. I have a date."
Mulder: "Can you cancel?"
Scully: "Unlike you Mulder, I would like to have a life."
Mulder: "I have a life!"

2/5

Season 1 - Episode 6 - Shadows

I'm mainly happy that we are in a bit of a new territory here (yeah, sure, so was the previous episode, but that was bad). This time we have things moving are moving by themselves and the only thing that seems to link such incidents is a woman. Scully even does a "They're heeeere". Cute.

Mulder: "Do you know how difficult it is to fake your own death? Only one man has pulled it off. Elvis!"

3/5

Season 1 - Episode 7 - Ghost in the Machine

Nothing is dorkier than a 90s movie or a TV episode that deals with computers. To show how cutting edge the episode is, one of the characters answers to a possibility of hacking a secured system by, "Well, not by your average phone freak, that's for sure. But there are pretty of kooks out there, data travelers, electro wizards, techno anarchists...anything is possible." Awesome jargons there, who'd have guessed in the 90s, we'd run out of computer jargons and use words that have substance like Web 2.0, that actually MEAN something. Haha, yeah, right.

Scully: "How come you two went your separate ways?"
Mulder: "I'm a pain in the ass to work with."
Scully: "Seriously."
Mulder: "I'm not a pain in the ass?

3/5

Season 1 - Episode 8 - Ice

A very obvious Thing rip-off, but I'm not complaining. Done extremely well, would have liked it better if it didn't have an air of familiarity to it.

Question, is Scully like the modest TV character ever? She was in her bra and underwear in the pilot, but that's it so far. In a couple of episodes, she has gone to her bed in her full pajamas, and here characters have to check each other for marks and they strip naked, except in Scully's scene she is wearing a vest. Come on!

Dr Hodge: "Oh, can we see some credentials?"
Bear: "Credentials? The only credentials I have is that I'm the only pilot willing to fly you up there. You don't like those credentials, walk."

4/5

Season 1 - Episode 9 - Space

Not really that interesting of an episode. Nothing that exciting actually happens, even though the alien ghost thingie is sort of spooky, because of all the screaming and shit. Best part of the episode is probably Mulder acting like such a small kid when investigating a space program, because he likes space so much. Kind of cute.

Mulder: "You never wanted to be an astronaut when you were a kid Scully?"
Scully: "Guess I missed that phase."

3/5

Season 1 - Episode 10 - Fallen Angel

Aliens!

Mulder: "Then what can I say? How can I disapprove lies that are stamped by an official seal. You can deny all the things I have seen, all the things I have discovered but not for much longer. Cause too many others know what is happening out there. And no one, no government agency, has jurisdiction over the truth."

3/5

Season 1 - Episode 11 - Eve

Best thing about this episode is all the red herrings and twists. So far, all episodes have been very straight forward, but this time, we get a bit of, what the fuck?? It seems Mulder's answer to any problem is alien abduction.

Mulder: "And one girl was just abducted."
Scully: "Kidnapped."
Mulder: "Puh-tay-toe, puh-tah-toe."

4/5

Season 1 - Episode 12 - Fire

This episode is great. First of all, it has a great villain, which is rare so far. In this episode, the bad guy is some maniac who can create fire. Some of the scenes of the episode had been stuck in my head since I saw it originally, this just proves how memorable it was to me.

Also, interesting thing, the last real villain was the evil Mr Fantastic in "Squeeze". Now it is like the evil Human Torch.

The episode also gives us Mulder's old flame (in an episode called "Fire", haha), a bit of jealousy from Scully, and Mulder's phobia of fire. Classic!

Scully: "Oh, I forgot what it was like to spend a day in court."
Mulder: "That's one of the luxuries to hunting down aliens and genetic mutants. You rarely get to press charges."

5/5

Season 1 - Episode 13 - Beyond the Sea

Another good episode! Scully's dad passes away, and a murderer on death row claims he has psychic power. Mulder doesn't believe him, but Scully sort of does, because he knows things about her that he shouldnt. Yes, you read that right, Mulder is the skeptic here. A nice change of pace.

Mulder: "Dana, after all you've seen, after all the evidence, why can't you believe?"
Scully: "I'm afraid. I'm afraid to believe."

4/5

Season 1 - Episode 14 - Genderbender

Not to sure what to make of this. A bit silly, a murder is occuring and it seems they dont know if the murderer is a man or a woman. What if it is a both??! The attack of the genderbenders!

Scully: "There's something up there, Mulder."
Mulder: "Ooh, I've been saying that for years."

3/5

Season 1 - Episode 15 - Lazarus

Its not as much a bad episode as it is a trite one, which is too good for a show like this. Two guys are dying, one is FBI and one is criminal, and the doctors shock the FBI, and he survives. Or has the correct one survived? Ooh, it seems the soul has gone to the wrong body, but the previous memory seem to be there somewhere for Agent Scully to remind him of the some of his old memories. Eh.

Mulder: "Two men died in that crash room Scully. One man came back. The question is... which one?"

2/5

Season 1 - Episode 16 - Young at Heart

The best X Files episode are the ones that have a good villain, specially when the villain isn't The Government. This one has a criminal who has supposed to have died, but he seems to be at large. And to make it more interesting, he is like Mulder's nemesis, and Mulder put him behind bar, and carries some guilt for not shooting him when he had the chance, because he killed a FBI agent.

But haha, it ends with a "Somehow I feel like we haven't heard the last from John Barnett." What is this, an action 80s cartoon?

Scully: "Mulder, I know what you did wasn't by the book."
Mulder: "Tells you a lot about the book, doesn't it?"

4/5

Season 1 - Episode 17 - E.B.E.

Haven't seen an alien episode in a while, so I totally welcomed it. Like usual, with alien episodes, the bad guy is never the aliens, but the lies and the government and all that. First episode to introduce The Lone Gunmen who I always thought was a great addition to the show.

This episode has cover ups, conspiracies, lots of twists, paranoia, so it is a great Mulder episode.

Scully: "Mulder, the truth is out there. But so are lies."

4/5

Season 1 - Episode 18 - Miracle Man

A young man is healing people with the power of his hands and Gods. Except, it seems a few people are dying instead of being healed, and the boy confesses. Not a bad episode, I always like it when I watch people act crazy fanatic religious in movies because I feel like a good atheist snob.

Mulder: "I think I saw some of these same people at Woodstock."
Scully: "Mulder, you weren't at Woodstock."
Mulder: "I saw the movie."

3/5

Season 1 - Episode 19 - Shapes

You know a 90s TV show episode will be stupid once you pop in Native Americans. Suddenly, they have to be romanticized. You don't exactly see a bunch of Native Americans involved in a bank robbery or something non-racial like that, but no, it has to be animal-shifting, and words in Native-American, and how white people don't GET IT.

Ish: "I sense you are different FBI. You are more open to Native American beliefs than some Native Americans. You even have an Indian name, Fox. Should be Running Fox or Stinky Fox..."
Mulder: "Just as long as it's not Spooky Fox."

2/5

Season 1 - Episode 20 - Darkness Falls

I like it when people get stuck in some kind of closed place. The enemy can zombies, some disease, or fat, killer lesbians that have vaginas for eyes. This episode doesn't have the last one, but it would have been so cool if it did. It does have evil mosquitoes which far less cooler.

Mulder: "Take a good look, Scully."
Scully: "What am I looking at?"
Mulder: "30 loggers working a clear-cutting contract in Washington state. Rugged, manly men in the full bloom of their manhood."
Scully: "Right, what am I looking for?"
Mulder: "Anything strange, unexplainable, unlikely... boyfriend?"

3/5

Season 1 - Episode 21 - Tooms

Hey, the evil Mr Fantastic is back. As good as the first time he was in it. This show needs more recurring villains. I like evil killers more than flies or native Americans, so it was nice seeing Toom want to kill people again.

Scully: "Fox..."
Mulder: [laughs] "I... I even made my parents call me Mulder..."

4/5

Season 1 - Episode 22 - Born Again

Here is the kind of episodes I DON'T like. It's when a person seems to do stuff with their mind, and it turns out it is some kind of ghost in them who was murdered and is seeking revenge. Kind of like the 6th episode, "Shadows". I don't like ghosts with good intentions. Can't they just kill because they're dicks?

Mulder: "Why is it still so hard for you to believe, even when all the evidence suggests extraordinary phenomena?"
Scully: "Because sometimes... looking for extreme possibilities makes you blind to the probable explanation right in front of you.

2/5

Season 1 - Episode 23 - Roland

Okay, this is just lazy. Another story where a person seems to be connected to murders but it just CAN'T be him. Turns out he is projecting someone else who is getting revenge. Exactly like the previous episode, but this time the person is a retard rather than a child. What's the difference you say? None, all children are retards and all retards are like children.

Mulder: "You got a brother, don't you, Scully?"
Scully: "Yeah, I've got an older one and a younger one."
Mulder: "Well have you ever thought about calling one of them all day long and then all of a sudden the phone rings and it's one of them calling you?"
Scully: "Does this pitch somehow end with a way for me to lower my long distance charges?"

2/5

Season 1 - Episode 24 - The Erlenmeyer Flask

After a bunch of pointless episodes, we get one that is more serious. Deepthroat is back giving cryptic messages and the X Files duo are on the trail of something the people in the government really don't want to find out, and this time they are being more aggressive about keeping things hidden. A few surprises in this episode. All around a good finale.

Scully: "I should know by now to trust your instincts."
Mulder: "Why? Nobody else does."

4/5

Total Rating for Season 1: 4/5