The X Files: Fire

It has been 8 months since I last watched an episode of The X Files. Which is to say it has been much too long. So, onwards to the next one in season 1: Fire.

Here, we learn a smidge of Mulder's past, back when he apparently had a social life or, more to the point, a love life. Onto the scene comes an annoyingly British agent from Scotland Yard, Mulder's former lover Phoebe Green. And, no, I don't much care for this character. She's not even all that nice to look at, with a destinctly 1990's tough-girl hairdo, often regarded as a lesbian tell (not by me).

The case is one of fire, that looks an aweful lot like spontaneous combustion but is definitely murder. The culprit is a man who appears to control fire, Lighting a cigarette, his hand, a building, or a person, through his thought. His targets are English gentlemen of distinction. He poses as 'Bob', the local caretaker at a house in the States (New England, near Boston).

Now here is another thing we learn about Mulder: he hates fire. So, this is not the best case to be working on, least of all with the tricky Phoebe, who rather enjoyes making Mulder squirm. Scully doesn't like Phoebe from the get-go. Bless her.

Anyway, in order to save some British Lord and his family from the previously mentioned 'Bob' (no, this is none of the FBI's business, really, but such is the power of Phoebe) Mulder will have to overcome his fear and literally go through fire.

The hero of the piece, however, is Agent Scully. Initially, she is excused from the case, because Mulder doesn't want her wasting her time on Phoebe's little games. But Scully being Scully, she cannot stay away and has a sneak in the file. She goes off on her own and follows her hunches and eventually finds the evidence that leads the team to the elusive killer.

Overall, an uneven episode, since the addition of an outsider to throw a wrench into the works of Mulder/Scully is just that: an outsider. There have been other, better guests before and after.

5/10