Summary
I'm not going to rate this episode against all the others because it would suffer by comparison in an unfair manner. Pilots are typically strange entities in that they are supposedly used to sell an entire series' ideas, but on the other hand, most of them are made so independently of the actual series that they remain almost external by default. Naturally, the actors are not quite in their characters' "skin". The time lag alone between pilot and the first "real" episode makes significant differences inevitable. Suffice it to say that this episode was a decent introduction to the characters and their work and managed to establish a strong foundation for what ultimately followed. Apparently there were enough viewers who were "there from the start" to have paved the way for the rest of us to enjoy this unique creation. And to them, by the way, my personal thanks. :)
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| The original meeting of Agents Mulder and Scully |
So on subsequent viewing fifteen years after I originally saw it, I will actually rate this: I give it a three on my scale of four. For a pilot episode of anything, it is actually fairly strong. There were the odd moments of "almost hysteria" on the parts of both Mulder and Scully that don't fit their personalities as we know them later in the series, but that's okay. Apparently the best parts of the characters were retained, and again, I'm very thankful for that.
The story itself is a foretelling of what eventually happens to Mulder and Scully over the course of seven seasons. Alien related case, evidence found, evidence destroyed, Scully sees really freaky sh*t but doesn't believe, hit reset and start all over. Young adults who graduated in 1989 in Bellefleur, Oregon have died mysteriously or have been incapacitated in some odd manner. M&S exhume body of one of them and the corpse turns out to be suspiciously alien looking... or it could be an orangutan... with a big metallic implant up its nose. Meanwhile, parents of these kids seem strangely reluctant to accept outside help. Affected folks (and not just from this locale) have all turned up with odd red bumps on their lower back hip. After having their evidence destroyed, Mulder jumps to the fantastic conclusion that Billy Miles — a guy who has been in a vegetative state for four years — is the one responsible for luring the victims out to a location in the woods where abductions have taken place. When M&S show up at one of these attempted abductions, the aliens get scared (?) and return Billy Miles to the land of the living, where he reports that "the tests didn't work". Hmmm...
Picayune Peculiarities
Some oddities to note as I re-watched. Why did Scully have to check in at the reception desk downstairs at FBI Headquarters? (To tell the viewers her name, of course.) After she gets in, why was she able to knock at Blevins' office door — this man doesn't merit an admin assistant like even Skinner has? (And I haven't actually checked, but I'll bet the surrounding area where the big X is marked on the road doesn't match the surrounding area where the big X is shown in Requiem... but I'm just having fun with that one.) I really think that the motel where M&S are staying has frequent power disruptions — which would actually fit quite well with the plot of this show — because it obviously outfits its rooms with huge candles and matches. Speaking of matches, did the motel really have to be burned to the ground just to get rid of the evidence? Maybe someone should have just come out and said, "All that candle burning caused a fire!"
My official "stupid alien technology" complaints numbers one and two can be found in this episode. What is up with the huge friggin' implant?? I wouldn't be able to breathe if that was stuck up my nose! And the tell tale skin bumps... man, you aliens really have learn how to conduct testing in a less invasive manner.
Best or Worst Moment
What can I say? That conversation that they had in Mulder's room while the power was out was totally powerful (no pun intended), despite the slightly odd "strip tease" scene that preceded it. One could sense that he wouldn't have told his story had he really not felt some sort of kinship and trust in his new partner.
Bit of a worst moment... I suppose it says something about how overly "PC" we have become over the years, but Scully's comment of "The vegetable?" and the nurse's joke about "not my produce aisle" are slightly jarring to hear. I'm the first one to drop my head when I hear 21st century media referring to prostitutes as "sex trade workers", but with Scully and the nurse having direct ties to the health care profession, it's sorta inappropriate.
Revised Rating: * * *
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