 |
'If a shark stops swimming it will die. Don't stop swimming.'
Title: E.B.E.
Season: One (1994)
Duration: 43m
Written by: Glen Morgan and James Wong
Directed by: David Nutter
Rating: ****
Watching first season X-Files in light of what came afterwards is a strange experience, almost like watching a completely different programme. Here lies not high-octane explosions and macho fist-fights, but static conversations with Jerry Hardin's elderly Deep Throat, and covert surveillance in the form of a pen. Not only this, but after at least six years of performances that veered towards tongue-in-cheek, here Mulder and Scully are so earnest in their delivery of the stoic lines that they're almost completely humourless.
E.B.E. earns its place as a key episode due to the debut of The Lone Gunmen, three technology nerds and conspiracy theorists who occasionally help out Mulder. True to the feel of the episode, while they exist as 'comic relief', it's far more understated than it would be in later episodes. The characters became so popular that they would appear in 37 further episodes and get their own spin-off series in 2001. Sadly, despite the series being quite entertaining and often a little surreal, the ratings dropped heavily and it was cancelled after just twelve episodes. The characters got their final bow out in season nine's Jump The Shark and appeared as ghosts in the series finale The Truth.
Lastly, even though Deep Throat's behaviour towards Mulder in this episode is kind of like giving him a little drink from his loving cup, this isn't really a good fit as a title track, even if it is a key episode. And there was me thinking that 'Shake Your Hips' would be the hardest one to fill...
|
|
