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'I'm afraid to believe.'
Title: Beyond The Sea
Season: One (1994)
Duration: 44m
Written by: Glen Morgan and James Wong
Directed by: David Nutter
Rating: ****
One of the most tedious sub-plots in the X-Files canon were the 'sceptical Scully has a crisis of faith' episodes. These particular stories would involve Scully questioning her beliefs, usually religious beliefs, and would not only have open-ended climaxes but would contrivedly require the usually open-minded Mulder to be narrow minded for the purposes of dramatic conflict. Yet while later episodes in this vein could nearly all be categorised as 'ones you can skip', the first time they tried it it was one of the best episodes they ever did.
Largely it's down to guest star Brad Dourif well earning his extra fee as a killer who claims to channel the spirit of Scully's recently-deceased father. Dourif gives the role everything, and if early Duchovny is even more vocally monotone than usual here, Gillian Anderson ups the ante to compete with Dourif in an emotionally charged instalment. I have to confess to personally finding it all a little artificial in places, and more than a touch 'Silence of the Lambs' (the influential film which was released three years earlier) but there's no denying this was a strong and memorable instalment.
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Visit X-File On Main St.'s Online Store in association with Amazon for gifts on the series.
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