Tuesday, May 18, 2010

The X-Files: Firewalker (2.9)

A bad attempt to recreate the success of two first season classics, in this case Ice and Darkness Falls, Firewalker is made all the more disappointing with the fact that it's the first real episode with Mulder and Scully back together and working as a team. After waiting so long for The X-Files to be reopened, it's ridiculously annoying that their big comeback episode is so appalling.

There is little paranoia created between Mulder and Scully and the volcanologists, while Trepkos just doesn't work as a bad guy. We know little about him until the last fifteen minutes, in which we are forced to absorb scene after scene of pretentious dialogue about God and science. I'm sure the writers intended the scenes between Mulder and Trepkos to be epic and stunning or whatever, but it's instead pretty painful. Unlike Ice or, to an extent, Darkness Falls, none of the guest cast create any kind of impression either. Which is odd, seeing as Bradley Whitford, Shawnee Smith and Leland Orser are all recognizable faces and individually talented actors.

A carelessly scripted episode featuring little worth discussing, with Scully's recent trauma abruptly swept under the carpet and only the neck-monster effects creating any kind of impression. Rating D

Credits
Guest stars Bradley Whitford (Dr. Daniel Trepkos); Leland Orser (Dr. Jason Ludwig); Shawnee Smith (Jessie O'Neil); Tuck Milligan (Dr. Adam Pierce)
Writer Howard Gordon Director David Nutter

No comments:

Post a Comment