Duane Barry (1)

Season 2, Episode 5, Aired
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Episode Summary

Mulder is called to a hostage situation involving Duane Barry, a former FBI Agent who claims to be an alien abductee and wants to get back to the abduction site with someone who will be taken instead of him. Unfortunately, the someone he eventually chooses is Scully.moreless
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Fan Episode Reviews (13)

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  • Scully's abduction arc

    10
    "Perfect"
    By KennyRogersLove, Mar 14, 2009 Report Abuse
    Due to Gillian Anderson's real-life pregnancy, she needed to be written out of the show for a little while to deliver her baby. Duane Barry begins the storyline that was written to get around this situation. I think the Scully abduction storyline was very well done throughout the course of the series. It's funny that this real-life event brought about this fantastic storyline. Continuing with its tradition of great guest stars, Steve Railsback gives an incredible performance as the abductee, Duane Barry. This episode is low on action but high on drama as Mulder negotiates with Duane Barry in a hostage situation. My only hang-up with this episode is the about face of Agent Lucy Kazdin. At first she tells Mulder that what Duane Barry needs is a "friend, someone who appears to understand him and can appeal to his sense of reason." She also say, "So whatever crap you got to make up about space men or UFOs, just keep him on the phone." Then later, she abruptly changes her mind and tells Mulder not to feed into Duane's psychosis when Mulder says he believes him. I don't see those two strategies as compatible. Either you go along with Duane's "aliens" or you don't. It just doesn't make any sense. However, it's a minor issue, and the every other aspect of the episode is great. The ending scene in Scully's apartment is chilling and memorable.

    I took a few notes from Friday night's viewing but left them at home. They weren't many. I'll edit them in my review tomorrow.

    - The abduction scenes for Duane Barry looked great.

    I give Duane Barry a 10 out of 10.moreless

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  • Mulder the innocent

    9.0
    "Superb"
    By OnePerCentClub, Oct 02, 2008 Report Abuse
    Mulder gives in once again. He is called to talk to Duane Barry, an alleged alien abductee. It's amazing how easily Mulder believes in people, especially when they talk about something he's passionate about. Unfortunately, he wants to believe so badly. I think he made a terrible mistake taking the place of the abductee and fall into Barry's mind game. Scully helps him as always, but she pays the price. Even when we know the government is behind all this in an attempt to destroy the relationship between Mulder and Scully, you can see the the two partners are closer than ever, than nothing will keep them apart, because distance only strenghtens the relationship.
    I have to mention the wonderful performances by CCH Pounder and Steve Railsback, who made this episode more believable and dramatic.moreless

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  • A very good episode

    9.5
    "Superb"
    By Scullysexy1993, Jul 10, 2008 Report Abuse
    Mulder meets Alien abducty Duane Barry played brilliantly by Steve Railsback. This is the first episode where we actually get to see aliens. The e.b.e test scenes where very creepy and well done. This episode is nerve-wracking, and it has a cliffhanger ending that will not appeal to everyone, especially if you just started watching the x files. Nicholas Lea appears again as Agent Krycek who later went in to become Mulder's nemesis along with the evil Cigarret Smoking Man(That guy will probably die of cancer!)

    Agent Scully makes a brief appearance halfway through the episode and then again in its ending. That excellently creepy ending!moreless

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  • Classic

    8.9
    "Great"
    By Ting13, Sep 08, 2007 Report Abuse
    One of the very best episodes. It stands out for several reasons, one being the difference in tempo and storyline. A large part of the episode takes place in the course of a few hours, in a restricted space. The hostage situation is something new for the show, and it works really well. Although personally I don't get why Duane Barry would stop to take hostages.

    The actor playing Barry does a great job. It's a fine line with a character like that, since it can go over the top. It almost does a few times, but all in all it's a good performance and you really sympathise with Barry.

    The end scene is a really chilling one. Especially how it ends with a black screen and Scully calling out for Mulder.moreless

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  • The best

    10
    "Perfect"
    By RJNeb2, Jun 09, 2007 Report Abuse
    We're only 5 episodes into the second season of "The X-Files" and already those 5 episodes have by and large eclipsed the vast majority of Season One. That's not to deride its predecessor, which in several instances, was a show all too clearly trying to find its feet. Season Two immediately demonstrates that it has found its feet, and what's more, it's off and running. "Duane Barry" represents a major new step in the show's direction, all the more ironic because Gillian Anderson's pregnancy had very nearly boxed them into a corner. Not so. With this outstanding episode the creative team behind the show take a huge gamble and watch it pay off spectacularly. Welcome then to the mythology, something that was first mentioned to any major extent in "The Erlenmeyer Flask", and is here given centre stage. There have been intimations in previous episodes that the government and the military have been in collusion with regard to UFO encounters but these have largely stemmed from Mulder's eyewitness sightings that have been subsequently denied or buried, or from a largely suspect source like Deep Throat. Duane Barry represents the first civilian confirmation of the full horror of alien abduction, something that sets up the imminent abduction experience of the greatest doubting Thomas of them all Scully. This episode also marks the dazzlingly confident directorial debut of Chris Carter. There is a certain quarter that maintains that Carter (particularly in the later seasons) was out of step with his own creation and turned in the worst scripts. Well, that is most definitely not the case here. Not only does Carter prepare the ground for one of the most thrilling conclusions to any episode, but he is also able to maximise the full dramatic potential of the hostage situation that forms the core element of the action, both in terms of his pared-down-to-the-bone screenplay and his enormously agile direction. This is sweat-inducing stuff, and it works a treat. Carter of course is helped enormously by the top level contributions from all of his team. Duchovny is right on the money here as Mulder realises that there's more to Duane Barry than meets the eye. He brings an intensity and an honesty to his performance that gains our sympathy as readily as Barry believes him. Mark Snow's music is a pounding, pulsing backbeat throughout most of the episode that really helps to up the ante in the tension stakes, while the special effects and lighting effects are so focussed that you can't help but be terrified as Duane Barry reveals the full horror of his abductions. The editing too is top-notch as Barry segues from the darkened travel shop to his remembered visitations in his home and on board some alien vessel. In the guest star department, CCH Pounder is delightfully authoritative as the task force leader (her coffee order to the necessarily sidelined Krycek is the comic highpoint of the episode). Steve Railsback is just extraordinary as the tormented eponymous character. It's thanks to the full-throttle power of his performance that we too sympathise with the fears and anguish of a largely unsympathetic character. And his constant veering from more normal seeming to ranting madman is very deftly done. It also looks thrillingly big too. Despite its budget limitations, this looks and feels like a fully-fledged mini-movie, beautifully shot, with its action sequences helping to make it feel bigger than it actually is. The confidence levels at work here are so high, it's quite a wonder to realise that this is a neophyte show that is now riding at the peak of its powers.

    But what makes "Duane Barry" the seminal episode that it is must surely be its shocking conclusion. Scully's involvement with this episode is not large at all, and in fact she's only really wheeled on dutifully to help guide Mulder through a tense situation when, to be honest, Mulder had the measure of the man already. At least we all thought that Scully was merely there in a peripheral way. Not so. When Barry comes calling on to her apartment, and we cut to Mulder's answerphone, hearing the fear in her voice as she is overpowered by this psychotic, we are horrified not just for the terrifying predicament she finds herself in, but also for the awful anguish that we know Mulder will go through when he hears the answerphone message himself. It's a masterstroke that effectively ensures that we tune in next week whilst also building up our sympathies for these two characters. It couldn't have been handled more economically and more dramatically than this. Hands up those who weren't left gasping with shock at the end of this high watermark episode?

    10/10moreless

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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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  • Trivia

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    • Revealing Mistakes: Scully could never have gotten from Washington to Richmond so quickly. She would have had to drive to the airport, take a plane, rent a car and drive to the travel agency in the time it took the agents to complete the drilling, insert a camera, print out a frame and take it to Kazdin. Edit
    • Factual Errors: The barcode of the metal fragment is only ten microns across. It is doubtful that supermarket barcode readers could detect this. Edit
    • Plot Holes: The FBI and Virgina State Police must be pretty slack if they let Duane and the Doc get all the way from Marion to Richmond before he stopped at the travel agent. It is a 5+ hour drive between those cities. Edit

  • Notes

    ADD NOTES
    • In the supermarket scene, Scully buys pickles and ice cream. This is a reference to actress Gillian Anderson's pregnancy. Edit
    • CCH Pounder received an Outstanding Guest Actress for Drama Emmy Award nomination for this episode. Edit
    • A sign at the mental hospital reads "Please Line Up Quietly", which was specially requested by Chris Carter as a tribute to One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest. Edit

  • Quotes

    ADD QUOTES
    • Duane Barry: They're, uh... they're talking to Duane Barry. But they don't speak. He can hear what they're saying. They can... read his mind. Mulder: That's right. Abductees call it mindscan. It's a kind of telepathy. Duane Barry: I'm telling 'em I don't want to go... but they never listen. They know what I'm saying. But they just... go right on about their business. (He stands up slowly and points to Hakkie.) Duane Barry: Tell him what their business is. Tell him. Mulder: They take you aboard the ship to perform the tests. Duane Barry: They... drilled my teeth. They drill holes in my damn teeth! Edit
    • Duane Barry: The government knows about it, you know. They're even in on it sometimes. Right there in the room when they come. Edit
    • Duane Barry: They're not taking me again. You got it? They can take somebody else! Edit

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