Fire

Season 1, Episode 12, Aired
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Episode Summary

When an old Oxford girlfriend of Mulder's asks for his help in an international case concerning the unexplainable execution of several British dignitaries they encounter an assassin who can produce fire from his bare hands.
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Fan Episode Reviews (21)

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  • Fire and some wordplay.

    3.2
    "Bad"
    By Aly358, Jul 23, 2010 Report Abuse
    Yeah so basically a guy is setting people on fire with his mind and moves with his target from England to the states so that the woman investigating his case (an old girlfriend of Mulder) can show up.

    There's so much wrong with this plot I don't even know where to start! First off: the motive. Okay so he likes the women of the guys he sets on fire. But why no follow-through? Why doesn't he ever approach one of these women?

    This Phoebe character. Is she the only one on the case? Why does she need Mulder's help, when all he does is duck from the fire? If the man really had to be scared for his life than why plan such a trip with so many safety risks? What exactely did she do to Mulder that was soooo horrible? What is it with her mouth in that scene by the car where she suddenly speaks as though she had a cotton ball in her mouth? At first she comes on to Mulder rather strongly but the goodbye is more than cold.

    The family is unconvincing. What parent would ask with that little interest about their sons, when the house is on fire. And then they walk slowly out, as if going home from a party when Mulder says rather weak: I'll get the boys. Yeah made me feel all secure and such...

    Scully (and Mulder most of the time) only gets to stand around and look annoyed to jealous. Only upside here is GA using her british accent and the fire effects are beautiful. But that's really it for this episode.moreless

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    2 0

  • An old British friend of Fox asks for the agents help in protecting a visiting dignatry and his family, which forces Fox to deal with his fear of fire.

    8.5
    "Great"
    By johndoe70, Jul 19, 2010 Report Abuse
    OK, this episode does not really add much to the story involving the vast government conspiracy and thus most of the plot developments and sci-fi elments are meant to be quickly forgotten once the episode is over. However, this is still an above average episode, largely due to the steller writing and cast -- fans of Josh Whedon's "Firefly" series should recognize the firery villian --.

    A working class British man gets jobs working for various upper class families, where he proceeds to use his special gift to get away with murder. This brings an old friend back into Fox's life, who asks the X-Files agents to help protect an important British family from being the next target.

    I did wish that the episode was a bit more creative with the villian's motivation and -- in sign of the times -- it should be noted that the firey villian not only smokes, but offer some cigs to his target's kids, which probably would not be allowed on network television day.

    The main problem I had with these type of episodes is that they were almost always totally divorced from the storyline involving the government conspiracy. While I appreciate the reasoning behind this, it did always bug me how the vast government plot to hide the existence of the supernatural had little or no interst in the various unexplained events and creatures that Fox and Scully would meet in these type of episodes.moreless

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  • I have only watched this episode once and I loved it!

    9.0
    "Superb"
    By sophdoph13, Aug 22, 2009 Report Abuse
    So we get Phoebe, an old "friend" of Mulders who has a case for them. The guy who can control fire. Or so we find out later in the episode. This episode is pretty funny at the start when we first see Phoebe and you can tell Scully is a bit funny with her there. There is one bit at the end, where the guy who can supposedly control fire, is on fire and he is laughing really crazily. Its actually a bit creepy and then he falls to the ground. Later we see him in hospital and he is healing really fast and is expected to fully recover in a matter of months....strange.moreless

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  • Wanna see a magic trick?

    9.0
    "Superb"
    By mrsKrycek, Apr 25, 2009 Report Abuse
    Old rich guys are dying in englang. Mulders ex has the case and wants to share it. one of the victims families is coming to the us. The old important rich guys are dying from spontanious combustion... caused by the grounds keeper. Cecil has the ability to conjure fire out of nothing. He uses this power to kill and make himself look like a hero saving to kids lives in a burning hotel room. Cecil is a bad guy. mulders afraid of fire. and scullys jeakous of mulders old flame (sorry no pun intended). the family has begun to like the man who saved their kidsmoreless

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  • Don't play with fire

    9.0
    "Superb"
    By OnePerCentClub, Aug 26, 2008 Report Abuse
    This is not a bad episode. Arson makes good stories and this wasn't the exception. There are a few holes, bad acting but it was entertaining.
    We meet Phoebe Green, one of Mulder's ex-loves who you might hate immediately. Especially because we learn that she sort of broke Mulder's heart. She's back and she asks him for his help among other things.
    Again, I like the trust that is building between Mulder and Scully. He confesses her one of his biggest fears and she takes care of him when he needed it and even joking and asking him about Phoebe when she knew the answer.
    Scully looks a little uncomfortable whenever Phoebe is around, but she still helps Mulder with the case and brings important information to him. I'm sure in the end he was glad he hadn't gotten involved with Phoebe again.
    I guess my favorite moment is when Scully is taking care of Mulder in the hotel room. You can see that there's something stronger growing between them and they just can't deny it.
    LGmoreless

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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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  • Trivia

    ADD TRIVIA
    • Principal setting: Boston, Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Edit
    • 40:05 As Mulder dives for the floor in the hallway there is a hole in the center of a painting that has yet to burn. Edit
    • Revealing Mistake: Towards the end of this episode, everyone gathers into the attic room where the drapes have caught fire. They continue to stand in the room watching as the whole place goes up in flames before finally racing out. Why did they wait so long? Edit

  • Notes

    ADD NOTES
    • This episode originally included the following line of dialogue towards the end: Scully: Never let it be said that you wouldn't walk through fire for a woman, Mulder. Mulder: And never let it be said that I wouldn't do it for you again, Scully. Edit
    • While shooting this episode, David Duchovny suffered a burn severe enough to leave a scar on his hand. It is clearly visible on the outside of his left hand in the scene where he is waiting outside the ballroom and he wipes his forehead. It was not there earlier, in the opening scene between Mulder and Scully. The scene where Mulder is crouched in the hallway, the ceiling on fire, is where he got the burn. If you watch closely, as he walks down the hallway, with his hands on the walls, he yells in pain and grabs his left hand - exactly where the burn later surfaces. Edit
    • The famous "black silk boxer shorts" scene was originally a "jockey underwear" scene. Edit

  • Quotes

    ADD QUOTES
    • Mulder: There's something else I haven't told you about myself, Scully. I hate fire. Hate it. Scared to death of it. Scully: Mulder? Are you sure you don't want me to help you out on this one? Mulder: Sooner or later, a man's got to face his demons. Edit
    • Mulder: But there have been cases of pyrokinetics, people who can control and conduct fire. Beatty: Well, I've seen fire bend around corners, seen it bounce like a rubber ball. Fire's got a certain genius, you know? A certain demon poetry. It's like it's got a mind of it's own. But I've never seen one that can defy the laws of physics, not when you figure it out. Edit
    • Beatty: There have been some arson fires in Seattle lately and, uh, Pennsylvania that burn so hot that the firemen can't put them out. 7,000 degrees. I mean, hosing that down just makes it worse. Mulder: How's that? Beatty: Uh, the, uh, reaction is so intense that it splits the water into hydrogen and oxygen. Just adds fuel to the fire. Edit

  • Allusions

    ADD ALLUSIONS
    • Character Name: Phoebe Green The name "Phoebe" is a Greek name, meaning "the shining one", an appropriate title for a woman sending Mulder into fire. This is also reinforced by Mulder's assertion that "Phoebe is fire." It is the feminine form of "Phoebus", another name for Apollo, the fiery sun god. Edit
    • Dialogue References: Sherlock Holmes This episode contains a number of references to Sherlock Holmes: (a) Phoebe Green reminds Mulder of the fact that they once made out on the tombstone of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Doyle is the creator of the character of Sherlock Holmes; (b) Phoebe makes a reference to a 'three-pipe problem'. This is an expression used in in the novel The Red-Headed League which featured Sherlock Holmes. It refers to the fact that one has to sit and smoke at least three pipes in order to solve a case with the information one has gathered; (c) Scully asks Mulder if 'the game is afoot'. An expression used many times in the Sherlock Holmes novels; (d) Scully calls Mulder "Sherlock" and he calls her "Watson". Watson was the faithful friend and colleague of Holmes. Edit

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