Here we go folks, my review/opinion/remarks on the very first X-Files episode!
This episode, simply called "Pilot" originally aired on 10 September 1993 in the USA, and 26 January 1994 in the UK
The X-Files is known for its catchy and haunting theme tune, which doesn't make an appearance in this episode. More intriguing is what appears on screen before we get into the good stuff:
"The following story is inspired by actual documented accounts."
This statement is never seen on another X-Files episode, so why this one? Was it just because it was the first and they wanted a way to try and grab attention? Or was the story actually based on real accounts? And if this one was, why aren't the others? And if they are, why didn't they have the same message at the beginning?
Anyway, back to the episode, and we find ourselves in Bellefleur Oregon, where it seems several members of the same high school class have been dying under mysterious circumstances. We see a young woman running through the woods in her nightdress before she falls down, sees a bright light and a shadowy, unidentifiable person comes towards her.
The next morning, her body is discovered, and identified by the local Detective as, Karen Swenson, and she is from the same class as the other victims. She has two small marks on her lower back. As the Detective walks away, one of his colleagues calls out to him:
"It's happening again, isn't it?"
Duh Duh Duuuuuh!
You would expect the music to kick in here, but nope, we head off to FBI Headquarters in Washington DC where we see a very young Dana Scully heading to a meeting with Section Chief Scott Blevins.
INTERESTING FACT: The character of Dana Scully was 28 at this stage in the series, going by her year of birth that we discover to be 1964, and this episode is set in 1992. Gillian Anderson was actually only 24 at the time she auditioned for the role, so four years younger than the character she is portraying.
So, Scully is being told she is being assigned to work with Special Agent Fox Mulder, who she knows by reputation, and says he has a nickname, "Spooky." She is given her assignment, while a creepy guy smoking a cigarette loiters in the background, before heading down to the basement of all places to meet her new partner.
From their first meeting, Mulder is a little standoffish with Scully, making it clear that he believes she has been sent down there to spy on him. In fact, he comes across as a bit of a jerk, and if I had been Scully, I'd have told him where to shove his theories, but I digress...
Mulder shows her the slides of the case, asks her straight out if she believes in extraterrestrials, then, when she shuts him down (just one of many times in this episode) he tells her they have a flight booked that leaves for Oregon at 8:00am the following morning. Scully is unable to hide her smile, and I can only imagine she must be thinking something along the lines of, "This should be interesting." Either that or, "this guy really is crazy."
Cut to the next day and our heroes are on their flight, which is met by a moment of turbulence, prompting him to turn to Scully and quip:
"This must be the place."
Tho look Scully gives him makes it clear she isn't amused by his joke, in fact, it's telling him to shut the hell up. Despite the glare she gives him, all seems to be good between them in the car journey to the cemetery where they discuss the case. It is in this scene that we discover Mulder's fondness for sunflower seeds, although we don't find out exactly what he is munching on for a few more episodes.
Before they reach the cemetery, the car radio goes on the fritz, for no apparent reason. This causes Mulder to stop the car, open the boot, grab a can of spray paint, because of course we all keep spray paint in our cars, and spray a large orange "X" on the road. This is met with a look of disbelief from Scully, who stands, hands-n hips and just looks at him, this time it's a look that tells him he's crazy.
After telling Scully, "It's probably nothing", they go to the cemetery, where Mulder has arranged for one of the previous victims to be exhumed, Ray Soames. They are confronted by the town's medical examiner, Dr. Jay Nemman, who goes on the defensive when asked about the previous autopsies he conducted, and the evidence found during the one he didn't. This immediately puts him on Mulder's radar, and if it didn't, it damn well should have done.
Anyway, back to the exhumation. While they're lifting the casket out of the ground, one of the straps on the crane brakes, and the casket rolls down the hill. Despite being told it isn't the correct procedure, Mulder opens the casket, where they are met with a sight that startles everyone.
Of course, Scully performs the autopsy, the first of many that we see her do over the course of the show's run. She concludes that the corpse isn't human, which really gets Mulder's juices flowing, but she knocks him down by telling him she believes it to be that of a chimpanzee or an Orangutan.
At this time, Mulder gets quite demanding and a little abrupt with Scully, practically ordering her around by telling her what he wants. I admit to having images of Veruca Salt from Willy Wonka, only with Mulder's face (scary thought I know) singing "don't care how, I want it now."
Clearly, Scully is either a night owl, or an early riser, as the next scene is timed at 4:37am, and she is busy transcribing her autopsy findings and musing over a metallic implant she found in the body. Her thoughts are interrupted by a knock at the door, and when she asks who it is, she is shocked to discover it is famous movie director, Stephen Spielberg!
Of course, it's not Mr. Spielberg, and the knowledge that Mulder has come to her room in the early hours causes a smile to spread across Scully's face. What is he doing there? She opens the door to find a very wired, almost high Mulder, who's going out for a run.
I can't tell if the look on her face is relief or disappointment at hearing why he's there, but anyway, Scully declines his invitation to join him, choosing to stay and pour over the x-rays, the ones Mulder demanded earlier in the day, and you can practically see the cogs working in her brain as she tries to come up with a scientific explanation for what it is, and what it's doing shoved up the nose of her corpse.
The next day, we see the agents at the local psychiatric hospital, where they meet Billy Miles and Peggy O'Dell, two more students from the same high school class as the other victims. Due to a traffic accident, Peggy is confined to a wheelchair, and Billy is in a persistent vegetative state.
Upon hearing Mulder ask the doctor if they can perform an exam on Peggy, she gets upset and throws herself to the floor as her nose begins to bleed profusely. Mulder helps the doctor calm her, but at the same time, lifts her pyjama top to reveal the same two marks on her lower back. Scully sees them, and storms off, clearly pissed that Mulder appeared to know about them, but didn't say anything to her.
When outside, Scully tells Mulder to "cut the crap" and he proceeds to tell her that he believes the victims have been abducted by aliens, which Scully shoots down almost immediately telling him there is zero evidence to support his theory. She also asks him what the kids were doing out in the woods?
Cut to later that night, and we see Mulder and Scully traipsing through the undergrowth. Scully sees an unusual ash like substance on the ground and takes a sample. Before they get a chance to really investigate, they are confronted by the Detective who we met at the beginning of the episode, who tells them to leave.
Somewhere between them leaving the forest, and them driving away, the heavens decided to open, as they're now battling through torrential rain. Mulder checks his watch, 9:03pm, and then the compass, that is spinning around like crazy, much like it had been back at the forest. He starts looking around, and just as Scully asks if he is okay, there is a blinding light, and the car cuts out.
DUH DUH DUUUHHHHHHH!!!
What will happen to our intrepid duo? Will they come out of this alive? Will they ever be the same again? Well, yes they do, and the second part, well, that's debatable.
Join me soon for part two of my run down of The Pilot.
Same spooky time. Same spooky channel.
Great job so far!!
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