The X-Files (S1.Ep17) – “E.B.E.”

The X-Files Season 1 – Episode 17 – “E.B.E.”

Director: William A. Graham. Writers:  Chris Carter, Glen Morgan, James Wong. Cast: David Duchovny, Gillian Anderson, Jerry Hardin 

This is an example of why the X-Files became so big: this is government conspiracy at its best: phone tapping, UFO sightings, secret informants, red herrings and dead ends. “Fallen angel” had givens us a taste and glimpse of all that, but here it feels like Mulder and Scully are getting closer to the truth (isn’t it fun to hear Scully actually saying “the Truth is out there”?). This is when the plot thickened.It gave us just enough to be intriguing and to feel like we were almost catching up with the secrets, while at the same time, adding a few more questions. This is what the X-Files is all about until it probably imploded over the later seasons with its over-convoluted machinations with way too many questions and very few answers.This is also the episodes that introduced us to the “Lone Gunmen”, the trio of weirdos which will become not just a recurrent feature on the X-Files but they will all start a spin-off series of their own (which I have never actually seen, and apparently I wasn’t alone at missing it). The episode is really intriguing, even if now I know what’s behind. There’s a tense sense of paranoia that builds up throughout, reminiscent of great classics like Coppola’s “The conversation”. I loved the detail of Scully’s bag, which she leaves standing before making a cup of coffee and she finds laying on the table on her way back. We as the audience notice the difference, but she doesn’t. Brilliant. It’s great to see her starting to believe a little bit more too. A really strong and essential episode.