'They're here aren't they?' 'Mr Mulder, they've been here for a long, long time.'
Filmed a year after its pilot, this instalment was the first of five episodes of the series to be directed by Daniel Sackheim, who would go on to become executive producer of 'House' and 'Lie to Me'. In addition, this episode represented the first outing for the opening credit sequence accompanied by the evocative title track as composed by Mark Snow, and by the tagline: 'The Truth is Out There'. Written by series creator, Chris Carter, this episode was also the first to feature the character, 'Deep Throat', among several other plot elements which were also present within the pilot episode, and which constructed the mythology of a government conspiracy to conceal knowledge of UFOs. With his background as a freelance journalist, Carter reveals that the character of 'Deep Throat' was largely inspired by the true-life informant of the same name who helped disclose the 'Watergate Scandal' to Woodward and Bernstein. A further influence was that of the shadowy 'Mr X' played by Donald Sutherland in Stone's 'JFK', released two years previously. Just as Carter made full use of the literature on alien abduction to weave together the plot of his pilot, so he does here with that on rumoured US Air Force projects to test UFO technology within stealth aircraft development. Mulder is convinced that the case of a pilot suffering what appears to be a psychotic episode at an Idaho airbase is linked to a spate of disappearances of fliers stationed at the base since the 60s. Intriguingly, having uncharacteristically stolen a military vehicle, this individual was discovered curled in a ball in his own bathroom, shivering, and covered in a mysterious skin rash. Even on his return home, in the midst of their investigation, his wife is adamant that he is no longer the husband she knew, and upon questioning, appears to have lost recognition of basic flight manouevres. Sculley, now transformed from mousey brown into a natural redhead, maintains her steadfast determination to ascribe every apparently inexplicable event to rational causes. Thus, what Mulder interprets as physical evidence of side-effects of having to operate UFO technology in tests for a new aircraft, and deliberate rewiring of the pilot's brain as part of a government cover-up, she attributes to mere stress and exhaustion, together with resultant amnesia. It is difficult to envisage anyone else embody the mix of boyish enthusiasm for unveiling the presence of the supernatural, and the superior intellect of Fox Mulder than Duchovny - certainly not Lou Diamond Philips or Dean Cain who auditioned for the part. It is this wide- eyed exuberance that allows him to identify with the stoner teen couple they encounter running away from the base, having watched transfixed the unearthly manouevres of the night-time lights above. It is also such unqualified zeal which leads Mulder to sneak alone onto the base to delve deeper into the covert operations occurring there. The appearance of the triangular UFO Mulder observes still embarrasses the show's creator, with Carter keen to point out the difficulties of 'doing very elaborate special effects on a television budget'. The culmination of the action arrives with Mulder's capture and subjection to some sort of medical test. With his male lead incapacitated, Carter wished to show that Sculley had the wherewithal to defend herself and negotiate the retrieval of her partner unscathed. The creator and writer would be the first to admit that the plot for this episode lacks depth, and the studio executives certainly found the sense of confusion sufficient to demand the inclusion of the Sculley voice-over to round off the episode - which would thereby become a standard feature of the series. The fact remains that the significance of this instalment lies in the setting up of the show's mythology in terms of Mulder's constant battle to uncover government knowledge of extraterrestrial visitations, and, in the wake of the Roswell incident, its access to UFO technology. The episode is soaked in paranoia and peopled with 'men in dark suits' to deter the FBI agents from pursuing their investigation, including the fake journalist who Sculley apprehends at gunpoint and exchanges for Mulder. The sense of intimidation is heightened by the warnings issued by Deep Throat at the episode's commencement and end. Carter has revealed that for him the casting of Jerry Harding for this crucial role was an easy choice, having attracted attention via his wonderful performance as one of the manipulative partners in Pollack's 'The Firm'. As Carter himself has acknowledged, this character, whose genesis came while the pilot was being written, added a degree of believability to Mulder's claims which greatly added to the show's appeal.
Filmed a year after its pilot, this instalment was the first of five episodes of the series to be directed by Daniel Sackheim, who would go on to become executive producer of 'House' and 'Lie to Me'. In addition, this episode represented the first outing for the opening credit sequence accompanied by the evocative title track as composed by Mark Snow, and by the tagline: 'The Truth is Out There'. Written by series creator, Chris Carter, this episode was also the first to feature the character, 'Deep Throat', among several other plot elements which were also present within the pilot episode, and which constructed the mythology of a government conspiracy to conceal knowledge of UFOs. With his background as a freelance journalist, Carter reveals that the character of 'Deep Throat' was largely inspired by the true-life informant of the same name who helped disclose the 'Watergate Scandal' to Woodward and Bernstein. A further influence was that of the shadowy 'Mr X' played by Donald Sutherland in Stone's 'JFK', released two years previously. Just as Carter made full use of the literature on alien abduction to weave together the plot of his pilot, so he does here with that on rumoured US Air Force projects to test UFO technology within stealth aircraft development. Mulder is convinced that the case of a pilot suffering what appears to be a psychotic episode at an Idaho airbase is linked to a spate of disappearances of fliers stationed at the base since the 60s. Intriguingly, having uncharacteristically stolen a military vehicle, this individual was discovered curled in a ball in his own bathroom, shivering, and covered in a mysterious skin rash. Even on his return home, in the midst of their investigation, his wife is adamant that he is no longer the husband she knew, and upon questioning, appears to have lost recognition of basic flight manouevres. Sculley, now transformed from mousey brown into a natural redhead, maintains her steadfast determination to ascribe every apparently inexplicable event to rational causes. Thus, what Mulder interprets as physical evidence of side-effects of having to operate UFO technology in tests for a new aircraft, and deliberate rewiring of the pilot's brain as part of a government cover-up, she attributes to mere stress and exhaustion, together with resultant amnesia. It is difficult to envisage anyone else embody the mix of boyish enthusiasm for unveiling the presence of the supernatural, and the superior intellect of Fox Mulder than Duchovny - certainly not Lou Diamond Philips or Dean Cain who auditioned for the part. It is this wide- eyed exuberance that allows him to identify with the stoner teen couple they encounter running away from the base, having watched transfixed the unearthly manouevres of the night-time lights above. It is also such unqualified zeal which leads Mulder to sneak alone onto the base to delve deeper into the covert operations occurring there. The appearance of the triangular UFO Mulder observes still embarrasses the show's creator, with Carter keen to point out the difficulties of 'doing very elaborate special effects on a television budget'. The culmination of the action arrives with Mulder's capture and subjection to some sort of medical test. With his male lead incapacitated, Carter wished to show that Sculley had the wherewithal to defend herself and negotiate the retrieval of her partner unscathed. The creator and writer would be the first to admit that the plot for this episode lacks depth, and the studio executives certainly found the sense of confusion sufficient to demand the inclusion of the Sculley voice-over to round off the episode - which would thereby become a standard feature of the series. The fact remains that the significance of this instalment lies in the setting up of the show's mythology in terms of Mulder's constant battle to uncover government knowledge of extraterrestrial visitations, and, in the wake of the Roswell incident, its access to UFO technology. The episode is soaked in paranoia and peopled with 'men in dark suits' to deter the FBI agents from pursuing their investigation, including the fake journalist who Sculley apprehends at gunpoint and exchanges for Mulder. The sense of intimidation is heightened by the warnings issued by Deep Throat at the episode's commencement and end. Carter has revealed that for him the casting of Jerry Harding for this crucial role was an easy choice, having attracted attention via his wonderful performance as one of the manipulative partners in Pollack's 'The Firm'. As Carter himself has acknowledged, this character, whose genesis came while the pilot was being written, added a degree of believability to Mulder's claims which greatly added to the show's appeal.