PILOT- THE X-FILES

WRITER: CHRIS CARTER

DIRECTOR: ROBERT MANDEL

"Nobody down here but the FBI's least wanted" is how Mulder greets Scully after she's assigned to the X-Files. In their first case together, the agents must determine why classmates are turning up dead in an Oregon forest, all of them displaying the puncture like marks and nasal implants found on victims of alien abductions. Historic moment: Scully in skivvies! Creative casting: William B.Davis silently debuts as ternally puffing Cancer Man. The most enigmatic of all of X-Files' human enigmas, he gives the government agent a nicely hangdog air.Critique: Successfully establishes Mulder and Scully's Fred and Ginger-meet-Dragnet relationship:2 attractive, ambitious people.   A-

EPISODE 1- DEEP THROAT

WRITER: CARTER

DIR.: DANIEL SACKHEIM

"Let's just say this case has a distinct smell to it, a certain paranormal bouquet." says Mulder of test pilots going psychotic at Ellens Air Base in southwest Idaho. He ultimately uncovers what appears to be a top secret, Area 51-like Air Force outpost containing technology recovered from crashed alien spaceships. Historic Moment: First reference to Roswell, N.M., site of a legendary, reputed 1947 downing of a UFO. Creative casting: Jerry Hardin gives life to continuing character Deep Throat, Mulder's world-weary and heavyhearted informant, obsessed with sharing secrets. Critique: You can see the show settling into its querulous, ominous tone; a little awkward, but full of promise of things to come. B+

2- SQUEEZE

WRITERS: GLEN MORGAN/JAMES WONG

DIR.: HARRY LONGSTREET

In their first of two mutants-who-can-squeeze-into-tiny-spaces-due-to-unexplained-genetic-anomaly stories (see episode 75), Mulder and Scully stalk Eugene Victor Tooms, a baby-faced 100-year-old killer who cheats mortality by feasting on human livers. Creative casting: Doug Hutchison is profoundly creepy as Tooms; and Donal Logue as an FBI foot soldier, typical in his contempt for "Spooky" Mulder. Critique: The mixture of horror plus humor begins to jell, and the introduction of the sort of unsettling villain that was to become standard marks "Squeeze" as an important episode. B+

3- CONDUIT

WRITERS: ALEX GANSA/HOWARD GORDON

DIR.: SACKHEIM

In this spin on Poltergeist, an Iowa town's teenage tramp is snatched by aliens, who communicate with her younger brother via TV static. Mulder is relating big time. Historic moment: A praying Mulder--although the church, says writer Gordon, isn't meant to imply a particular faith: "It's merely a sanctuary, a place for him to reestablish his helplessness and the missing of his sister." Creative casting: Carrie Snodgress as the girl's embattled mother, a former abductee herself. Critique: Excellent for background, but Duchovny gives a performance that makes wood look lively--a problem he normally avoids in the "mythology" episodes. B

 4- THE JERSEY DEVIL

WRITER: CARTER

DIR.: JOE NAPOLITANO

Mulder and Scully investigate a murderous Bigfoot family living deep in the forests of New Jersey. Historic moment: A dolled-up Scully goes out on a date; her realization that she's bored--with a glimmer that Mulder and her work are all that count--registers. Critique: Needless philosophizing (man battling the beast within) dumbs down an already corny premise, as does the ridiculously attractive "beast woman" Mulder takes a fancy to. C

5- SHADOWS

WRITERS: MORGAN/WONG

DIR.: MICHAEL KATLEMAN

A Philadelphia secretary is possessed by the spirit of her dead boss, an apparent suicide, who uses her to help him uncover both his real murderer and an illegal arms deal with Arab terrorists. Critique: The exceedingly awkward-boss-is-inside-me premise degenerates into silliness, and the series has never

managed to find rich material in political subjects like the Middle East. C+

 6- GHOST IN THE MACHINE

WRITERS: GORDON/GANSA

DIR.: JERROLD FREEDMAN

A supercomputer develops a mind of its own, killing anyone who intends to shut it down. Naturally, the government wants to usurp the artificial-intelligence research, despite the threat to human life. Critique: The unacknowledged 2001 rip-offs, gratuitous use of Deep Throat, and absence of humor compound a tired idea (computers as modern-day monsters is so old).     D-

7- ICE

WRITERS: MORGAN/WONG

DIR.: DAVID NUTTER

John Carpenter's The Thing gets a dustoff as Mulder and Scully investigate a team of Arctic Circle researchers wiped out by a worm-like, psychosis-inducing parasite. Critique: Particularly taut and briskly paced, with good comic relief (including Mulder's memorable reference to his manhood, shrunken by the cold); placing the agents in utterly isolated situations will continue to pay off.     B+

8- SPACE

WRITER: CARTER

DIR.: WILLIAM GRAHAM

An extraterrestrial ghost, acting through a former astronaut- turned-NASA official, sabotages a space shuttle to prevent further explorations that may discover alien life. Subtext: Mulder's (read Carter's) nostalgia for the beleaguered space program. Critique: Cheesy F/X, extensive reliance on stock footage, and a poker-faced Mulder and Scully make for one dead hour. (FYI: This is Carter's least favorite episode.)     F

9- FALLEN ANGEL

WRITERS: GORDON/GANSA

DIR.: LARRY SHAW

A UFO crashes in Wisconsin and a holographic alien (think Predator) is on the loose. As a government-directed military unit attempts to cover it up, Deep Throat alerts Mulder, who is able to snatch a glimpse of the ship before it is secreted away. Creative casting: Scott Bellis as endearing Lone Gunman precursor and conspiracy freak Max Fenig. Critique: The still-more-skeptical-than-trusting Scully has an eye-rolling field day (never fun). Other than that, a very cool-looking episode that does the best job so far of illuminating the agents' position with relation to the government (contentious) and crackpots (sympathetic).     B 

10- EVE

WRITERS: KENNETH BILLER/CHRIS BRACATO

DIR.: FRED GERBER

The aftermath of a government-sponsored Cold War cloning project gone horribly wrong finds Mulder and Scully responsible for babysitting two incredibly bad seeds. Creative casting: Harriet Harris (Frasier's agent) plays Dr. Sally Kendrick. Critique: The X-Files meets The Trouble With Angels in this tidy, satisfying, and suspenseful installment. But then, how can you lose with those horror staples, evil kids?      A-

11- FIRE

WRITER: CARTER

DIR.: SHAW

The arrival of Scotland Yard detective Phoebe Green, an old flame of Mulder's, sparks an investigation into pyromaniac serial killer Cecil L'ively, and jealousy in Scully. When Mulder claims to be "extending her a professional courtesy," Scully replies, "Oh, is that what you were extending?" Historic moments: Shades of 007 as Mulder wears a tux, kisses a woman, and dances. Creative casting: A sizzling performance from Mark Sheppard as L'ively. Critique: Above-average special effects (including several nicely toasted corpses) and a terrific villain, but Amanda Pays' annoying Green keeps any real sparks from flying.     B-

12- BEYOND THE SEA

WRITERS: MORGAN/WONG

DIR.: NUTTER

One of the series' best episodes begins with the passing of Scully's father. When two teenagers are kidnapped soon after, death row inmate and Silence of the Lambs refugee Luther Lee Boggs claims his psychic powers can help the agents find them. For once, the believer is Scully, for Boggs is offering the grieving agent the chance to speak to her father one last time. Historic moment: We learn that Scully believes her dad--Captain William Scully (Don Davis)--was disappointed in her for trading medicine for FBI work. Mulder calls Scully Dana. Creative casting: Brad Dourif's oddball intensity finds its perfect outlet in Boggs. Critique: The episode humanizes Scully, poking a hole in her nearly pathological skepticism. Her confrontation with Boggs is spine- tingling--one of Anderson's finest moments.     A+

13- GENDERBENDER

WRITERS: LARRY BARBER/PAUL BARBER

DIR.: ROB BOWMAN

A group of aliens masquerading as an Amish-like community (the Kindred) can kill humans through sex. When a deviant member of the group goes on a sex/killing spree, Witness meets Looking for Mr. Goodbar. Historic moment: Nicholas Lea--soon to be Alex Krycek (episode 27)--cameos as one of the alien's disco pickups, Scully almost gets "lucky". Critique: A clever idea, but clumsy in some areas.     B-

14- LAZARUS

WRITERS: GANSA/GORDON

DIR.: NUTTER

In a psychic transference that occurs as they are dying on the operating table, the body of FBI agent Jack Willis is inhabited by the bank robber-murderer he has relenentlessly pursued for nearly a year. Complicating matters: Willis is Scully's former boyfriend. Critique: Solid supporting cast, but otherwise this is about as exciting as Scully's taste in men (not very).     B-

15- YOUNG AT HEART

WRITERS: SCOTT KAUFER/CARTER

DIR.: MICHAEL LANGE

Homicidal bank robber and prison escapee John Barnett strikes a pact with a mad scientist who has found a way to reverse the aging process. Now he's after Mulder, whose testimony put him in the big house. Critique: A very old theme (eternal youth) doesn't get new life here in this unmemorable episode.     C

16- E.B.E.

WRITER: MORGAN/WONG

DIR.: GRAHAM

Scully and Mulder track a truck transporting an alien salvaged from UFO wreckage in northern Iraq to a secret government facility in Washington state. Historic moments: Introduces the always-entertaining Lone Gunmen--Frohike (Tom Braidwood), Byers (Bruce Harwood), and Langly (Dean Haglund)--Mulder's helpful trio of super-paranoid conspiracy geeks; Deep Throat reveals something of his past and his intentions--we think; and Scully's conflict deepens: She's slowly--by way of sheer respect for Mulder--having to accept "extreme possibilities" while maintaining her scientific grounding. Critique: Dense, dazzling, and dark. An ab-so-lute must for those with any hope of unraveling the master plan.     A

17- MIRACLE MAN

WRITER: GORDON/CARTER

DIR.: LANGE

Mysterious deaths surround a teenage faith healer and his father's

angelical crusade. In a parallel to "Beyond the Sea" (12), this time it's Mulder who is shaken by a psychic evocation of a lost loved one, in the form of his missing sister. Critique: Scott Bairstow as the reluctant healing prodigy keeps you watching, but an ultimately contrived plot and a stereotypical Bible-thumping Southern milieu make for a case more suited to Jessica Fletcher than Mulder and Scully.     B-

18- SHAPES

WRITER: MARILYN OSBORN

DIR.: NUTTER

Garden-variety werewolf plot set near a Native American community in Montana. Historic moment: Prompts mentioning of the first X-File, initiated by J. Edgar Hoover in 1946, which also involved a werewolf. Critique: Mulder and Scully dogging it, and nothing much to sink your teeth into.     C-

19- DARKNESS FALLS

WRITER: CARTER

DIR.: NAPOLITANO

Life-sucking prehistoric wood mites are unleashed during felling of ancient trees in a remote logging outpost. In yet another torn-from-today's-headlines backdrop, treehuggers battle big bad lumbermen. Critique: Another eerie outing far from civilization. A great ending.     B

20- TOOMS

WRITERS: MORGAN/WONG

DIR.: NUTTER

Liver Boy returns (see episode 2), and once again it's Mulder's job to convince an unbelieving world of the 100-year-old killer's strange culinary appetites and hibernating habits. Historic moment: Cancer Man speaks; we meet Mulder and Scully's boss, Assistant Director Walter Skinner. Creative casting: Mitch Pileggi (the bad guy in Wes Craven's Shocker) as Skinner doesn't make much of an impression here, but he'll prove to be an engagingly steely presence. Critique: Another sublimely slimy performance from Hutchison as Tooms. If you fear escalators, this won't help.     A

21- BORN AGAIN

WRITERS: GORDON/GANSA

DIR.: FREEDMAN

22- ROLAND

WRITER: CHRIS RUPPENTHAL

DIR.: NUTTER

Brilliant, dead aeronautical scientist continues his groundbreaking work via his cryogenically preserved brain and his autistic brother Roland, while simultaneously dispatching the colleagues who took credit for his inroads into jet propulsion research. Creative casting: Zeljko Ivanek is astonishing (and convincing) as the touching, tortured savant. Critique: Good news: excellent death scene particularly the liquid nitrogen checkout (and dig the subsequent police chalk outline). Bad news: telepathic revenge again? That's three times in one season!     B+

23- THE ERLENMEYER FLASK

WRITER: CARTER

DIR.: R. W. GOODWIN