"The X Files"
Pilot (1993)

Director:

Robert Mandel

Writers:

Chris Carter (creator)
Chris Carter (written by)

TV Series:

"The X Files" (1993)

Original Air Date:

10 September 1993 (Season 1, Episode 0)

Genre:

Drama | Horror | Mystery | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Tagline:

trust no one

Plot:

A young F.B.I. agent is assigned watchdog duty over a fellow agent, but finds herself drawn into his investigations of paranormal and unexplained phenomena.

Plot Keywords:

Underwear | Based On Supposedly True Story | Undressing Scene | Girl In Bra And Panties | Male Female Relationship

Awards:

Nominated for Primetime Emmy.

Cast

David Duchovny	...	Fox Mulder
Gillian Anderson	...	Dana Scully
Charles Cioffi	...	Section Chief Scott Blevins
Cliff De Young	...	Dr. Jay Nemman (as Cliff DeYoung)
Sarah Koskoff	...	Theresa Nemman
Leon Russom	...	Detective Miles
Zachary Ansley	...	Billy Miles
Stephen E. Miller	...	Coroner John Truitt
Malcolm Stewart	...	Dr. Glass
Alexandra Berlin	...	The Orderly
Jim Jansen	...	Dr. Heitz Werber
Ken Camroux	...	Third Man in Blevins' Office
Doug Abrahams	...	Patrolman #1 (as Doug Abrams)
William B. Davis	...	Cigarette Smoking Man / CGB Spender
Katya Gardner	...	Peggy O'Dell (as Katya Gardener)

Runtime:

46 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Company:

20th Century Fox Television

Trivia:

The X Files opening/closing theme music is not featured in this episode.

Goofs:

Continuity: When we first see Scully, going into the office at the beginning of the episode, we see when she is on her way to the office and when she enters it she is wearing her badge, yet when the shot changes, it is no longer on her, then when she comes out she is wearing it again.

Quotes:

[Mulder has just spray-painted a giant X on the road]
Special Agent Dana Scully: What the hell was that about?
Special Agent Fox Mulder: Oh, you know, probably nothing.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Secrets of the X Files, Part 2 (1996) (TV)

The Truth Is Out There

"Agent Mulder. I'm Dana Scully, I've been assigned to work with you." "Oh, really? I was under the impression that you were sent to spy on me." That classic exchange marks the beginning of one of the most intriguing small-screen partnerships of all time, and also of one of the most influential and accomplished genre shows since The Twilight Zone.

The collaboration between Mulder (David Duchovny) and Scully (Gillian Anderson) isn't born out of the best circumstances: as he implies, she has in fact been asked to spy on him. They're both highly qualified FBI agents, but whereas Scully uses her medical abilities to boost her career, Mulder has seemingly thrown away his potential (he's one of the Bureau's best profilers) to pursue his own paranoid projects. He is now in charge of the X-files, i.e. all those unsolved cases which have been dismissed as unexplainable. He, of course, is convinced that there is an explanation for each of them, no matter how extravagant his theories might get. What else to expect from a man whose office (basically an FBI basement) is filled with newspaper articles about the Roswell incident, aliens and whatnot, not to mention a poster with a flying saucer and the phrase "I want to believe" written on it?

The duo's first assignment is classic X-Files: a series of bizarre teenage deaths in a small-town community. All the bodies present two unidentified pink marks, and when the exhumation of one of the corpses reveals there's more to the case than meets the eye, it's no wonder Mulder asks Scully: "Do you believe in the existence of extraterrestrials?" Meanwhile, back in Washington D.C., the mysterious Cigarette-Smoking Man (William B. Davis) might know more about these events than anyone at the Bureau is willing to admit.

This pilot episode is a virtually seamless blend of the two kinds of stories that marked the show over the course of its nine-year run: on the one hand, it's a standalone tale with the main function of introducing the protagonists and the basic structure of the series' narrative - weird case, wild theory, investigation, possible rational solution (or not); on the other, it inserts the first small hints of the program's more complex story lines, the so-called mythology or "mytharc", at the beginning and at the end of the episode (the presence of the Smoking Man is the clearest evidence of this). In doing so, series creator Chris Carter ensures casual viewers might feel compelled to give it another try without the obvious cliffhanger gimmick, while those who pay more attention to details will find enough reasons to follow the slow, gripping unfolding of the conspiracy-style subplot.

Besides, the thriller-like plotting is the only major ongoing story that takes place in the series, or at least in the early seasons: one of the main pleasures of watching Mulder and Scully together, aside from the palpable chemistry between Duchovny and Anderson, has to do with the fact that whatever sexual tension there is between them, they're too busy chasing little green men to respond to those urges. If there has to be a deeper discussion about anything, it will have to do with the everlasting debate: faith or science? This episode, like the show in general, doesn't give a straight answer, and that's just another ingredient that makes The X-Files such an exquisite televised dish.