The Lone Gunmen

Pilot

Season 1, Episode 1, Aired 3/4/01

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Episode Summary

In this first episode, Frohike and Byers attempt to steal the Octium IV chip, but are beaten too it. Later while investigating the death of Byer's father, the gunmen stumble onto a sinister government plot to ignite hostilities worldwide and increase arms sales dramatically.

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Cast & Crew

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Tom Braidwood

Melvin Frohike
Dean Haglund

Richard "Ringo" Langly
Bruce Harwood

John Fitzgerald Byers

Fan Episode Reviews (4)

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Burning Airlines Give You So Much More

8.0

"Great"

By Anon67683, Aug 31, 2007 Report Abuse

Technically, this is a very well-done pilot episode, which shouldn't be surprising given the talent involved. Rob Bowman does a great job in the director's chair and the cinematography and production design are top-notch, fully on par with that of it's big brother "The X-Files."

To their credit, the creators manage to give this series a slightly different feel from "The X-Files," mostly by the use of a hipper, more guitar-oriented soundtrack. The same dark, Vancouverish look remains. The "Mount Rushmore" style framing of all three Gunmen in profile gets overused a bit, but then again what are you gonna do when there are three main characters who work together as a team?

The weakness of this episode, and the downfall of the series as a whole, seems to be the inability of the main characters to carry an entire story on their own. The Gunmen are essentially cartoon characters and they are funny and entertaining, in small doses. They cannot sustain interest for the entire dramatic arc of an episode (let alone a series) and the essential one-dimensionality of their characters further limits the narrative possibilities.

Ah well, can't blame Carter and Company for trying, and they did manage to predict the events of 9/11, eerily enough. Spooky.moreless

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The first of only 13 episodes, and you konw what it wasn't half bad.

9.7

"Superb"

By farscapefanuk, Mar 23, 2007 Report Abuse

I really liked the Lone Gunmne in this. We never really got to see them in action on the X Files but now becuase they are in their own show we can really bond with the charactors. Also the fact that all of the major charactors have been set up in the X files means that the show should be realitivly easy to write. This show shows plenty of promise, but prehaps they over do it with te stupid stories. Either way this episode was great and i know what it will get better, with people like Frank Spotnitz and Chris Carter writing it. I wish that The Lone Gunmen developed a loyal audience because who knows it could have gone on for a long time.moreless

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The lone gunmen

8.5

"Great"

By SleepTight, Jun 23, 2006 Report Abuse

A midly interesting episode of a midly interesting show.

I did enjoy the teaser but it stretches out to much and ends up being a big boring.

The episode is about Byers dad who has died by a car accident. But then, the guys seem to find out that he was actually killed. And eventually they find out that he faked his death, his murderer accidentally killed himself and then the dad figured out what the plan was and then faked his own death.

The good thing about this episode was the humor, that kept it from being boring. Also the special effects were very cool, I enjoyed the plane scenes where it almost crashed into the world trade centre, but besides that it wasn't really that fascinating.

We also meet a woman called Eva who stole a ship and kissed Frohike, Frohike is without a doubt the funniest and most interesting one out of the three men. Byers is a bit on the boring side and Jimmy is hardly noticeable.

The episode is really nothing memorable, specially not for a pilot. But I can't say it's near bad either, the humor and special effects keep it interesting and the episode had many potential that wasn't exactly used. It's not the best pilot but it's an ok start to an ok spin-off of X-files.
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Byers learns secrets about his father while uncovering a dark plot deep inside the government.

9.3

"Superb"

By rabidziggy, Jan 05, 2006 Report Abuse

This episode was a great way to start off the all to short lived Lone Gunmen series. This episode may have been seen as yet another adventure with a almost impossible scenario, but looking at it in the wake of 9/11, this episode raises some serious eyebrows. However, all coincidences aside, this episode was most certainly fun and revealing.

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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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Trivia
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- The secret location of the Lone Gunmen's HQ is finally given. Their warehouse/basement is in Takoma Park, Maryland, essentially an industrial suburb of Washington D.C. Edit
Notes
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- Dee Jay Jackson (Demo Man) appeared in the Millennium episodes "Walkabout" as G.J. and "Closure" as Detective Jay Cooper. Edit
- When first aired, this episode ran no opening credits. The only thing run to identify the series was a splash image of the LGM's logo, and then right into the rolling credits of the actor's names as act one opened. This was very different than both the not-for-air version and the version played for the premier party in Los Angeles. The opening credits played in both the not-for-air version and in LA were different for the Pilot episode than those in "Bond, Jimmy Bond." Edit
- David Kaye (Pilot) appeared on The X-Files as a Reporter in the episode "Ascension" and a Doctor in "Apocrypha." Edit
Quotes
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- Publicist: Ladies and gentlemen... ladies and gentlemen, thank you. On behalf of our 14,000 employees, I am pleased to say, welcome to E-Com-Con; the most technologically advanced, yet socially conscious company on the Fortune 500. Langly: Yeah right... Publicist: In this state of the art research and development center, we're taking the next step in computer processor evolution and we're creating a new age of innovation and customer service. Langly: How about a new age of invading your customers' privacy. Publicist: Sir... are you sure you're on the right tour? Langly: Yeah, why don't you tell us about that Octium IV chip you're developing... Publicist: Well... The Octium IV is our latest high speed processor... it's capable of 6.8 gigaflops; that's nearly seven billion calculations per second. Langly: I mean tell us the truth. How the Octium is secretly designed to keep tabs on the user. Frohike: (on radio) Patriot One to Patriot Two, we're in position. Langly: It's got a tiny little modem embedded in each processor, see. So that it can upload your files onto the internet. And your credit history. And your tax bracket, and your social security number. All neatly packaged for these robber barons. Publicist: Sir, I don't know if this is the proper forum... Langly: And another thing... Frohike: (on radio) Patriot Two. Patriot Two, we're in position; shut up already. Langly: Uhh...is there peanuts in this?" (He holds up a kebab, then drops to the floor, faking an allergic reaction. Guards rush to his aid) Edit
- Frohike: We need that chip, Yves. Yves: Melvin, I knew you'd come begging sooner or later. Frohike: Lay off the Melvin crap, I need some serious gigaflops and I need them now. Yves: Well I hear some guy with a beard took that chip. Frohike: Those were a woman's lips I kissed. Yves: Like you ever kissed a girl before. Frohike: I don't have time for this. Yves: You going to take it away from me? Frohike: Give us the chip, Yves, or you'll be sacrificing the lives of hundreds of people, including Byers and his father. Yves: I'm crying. Frohike: Yeah, you're one real tough cookie. How much are you going to enjoy spending the millions you make selling that chip, when you realize it's been paid for in blood? Yves: I guess you don't know me. Frohike: Or maybe I do, Lee Harvey Oswald. Your name, Yves Adele Harlow, is an anagram of Lee Harvey Oswald. Some joke. I know who you really are, sugar. And I can tell the world in my... "silly little rag." Edit
- Pilot: All right, try cutting electrical power. Bertram Byers: They've thought of that. They've thought of everything. Pilot: (over intercom) Ladies and gentlemen, this is your Captain speaking. We're experiencing some... some technical difficulties up here. At this time we'd like you all to return to your seats. Bertram Byers: And kiss your asses goodbye. Edit
Allusions
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- Kimmy: Is this another one of your wacko conspiracy theories, like who shot J.R.? J.R. Ewing was, of course the main baddie in the 80's evening soap, Dallas. For quite some time, it was the mystery on most people's lips. Kimmy the Geek is mistaking J.R. for J.F.K. Edit
- Langly et al: Technical references in plotline. The Octium "privacy issues" that Langly was doing the rant about are actually a spin on something that happened in the computer industry several years ago. Early model Pentium's had features incorporated in them that gave each chip a unique "signature." This would have made it easy to do things like check to see if a certain software is licensed to run on a particular machine. Privacy advocacy groups raised a real scream about this one and the features were removed. Edit
- E-Com-Con: The name of the computer company "E-COM-CON", is also the name of the secret project in the movie 7 Days in May, about a government coup. Edit