Pilot

Season 1, Episode 1, Aired
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Episode Summary

Special Agent Dana Scully is partnered with Special Agent Fox Mulder to validate his work on a special project called The X-Files. While he is a believer in the paranormal, fueled by a lost memory where his sister was abducted by aliens; she is a scientist and prefers to look for rational, logical explanations. Their first case takes them to Oregon, to investigate the unsolved deaths of several high school classmates, which Mulder believes are linked to an alien abduction.moreless
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Fan Episode Reviews (66)

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  • The Classic Sci-fi show

    6.5
    "Fair"
    By Ev1lEye, Jun 26, 2011 Report Abuse
    So I have started my yourney called the X-Files and I am intrigued. As inspriration for one of my favorite shows, Fringe, I was bound to end up watching it. And the pilot left me somewhat dissapointed.

    My experience with pilots are that they're either great and display exactly what a show stands for and delivers a heck of a punch. Or they're underwelming but display certain potential. As obvious by my score this pilot falls into the second category.

    The pilot sets a very distincive atmosphere and has a very mysterious vibe all throughout the episode. The special effect are surprisingly convincing and it has a very pleasant pace compared to many other pilots.

    On the flipside the acting was horrendous at times. Many of the sidecharacters but especially Gillian Anderson was awfull to watch. This was even more evident since the smart-ass, though charming role of Mulder comes so easily to David Duchovny. I know this is a common case in pilots, actors need to grow in their role, but it gravely affected my viewing experience.

    Nonetheless this episode is a great setup for what could be an interresting season filled with mystery and conspiracy. Since the X-Files comes highly recommended by just about everyone I have high expectations and I sincerly hope I won't be dissapointed further.moreless

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  • Pilot!!!

    10
    "Perfect"
    By arkanitoo, Jan 06, 2011 Report Abuse
    The''pilot'' of the X-Files is a great episode, the X-Files fantastic start, and successfully introduce the main characters Fox Mulder and Dana Scully was how it started, and from the beginning the issues and space invader conspiracies were excellent in the series, the theme was great abduction by space invader, loss of time, and the chip space invader in the heads of youngsters who gave orders and the final scene was very good with keeping the CSM chip space invader Scully drew a bulldozer Naval of the victims, the fantastic beginning of the strange cases investigated by double Mulder and Scully.moreless

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  • A series about aliens, government conspiracies, mutant serial killers, scary as hell monsters, bizarre crimes and gruesome murders only explained within the realm of extreme possibility... and it all started here.moreless

    9.0
    "Superb"
    By SpookyJappi, Dec 17, 2010 Report Abuse
    Well, it is a bit late to start to review the episodes of an old TV show. But when I started re-watching it again a few weeks ago, I just thought it would be a good idea to contribute and add my own "fan-reviews" to the show, mainly just for fun. And my reviews begin with ("why not?") the series' pilot. No one on the production of this episode thought that the series would have a lot of success, especially between fans, and would ultimately last for nine seasons, with a total of 201 episodes and 2 movies (I mean, whuuut?). And all that happened because the pilot doesn't suck. Actually is one of the best season 1 episodes. We see Mulder and Scully meeting for the first time, and we learn that Mulder actually has problems with his authorities inside the FBI. Both agents go investigate a case in which several teenagers of the same class apparently have been abducted by aliens, and Scully, the skeptic, doesn't believe that. She even thinks Mulder is kinda crazy (oh, but was she wrong...)

    The episode is good because we actually don't have any idea of what is going on. And the mystery starts to thicken when the body of another student is exhumed: the corpse wasn't human, and this is when we learn about the series' gross nature. Okay, so, to get things straight, at the end, we don't know what the hell happened. We have many ideas, but the case isn't actually resolved. We just have to move on with what little information we have. And that's were the magic of the X-Files is: a weird crime happens; conventional science doesn't give a satisfactory explanation. But Scully's reports of what she just witnessed still have a scientific basis, because they are entirely objective: "a weird crime happened, and the theories we have cannot be substantiated, but those were the best explanation we could get". In conclusion, the pilot has a lot of mystery, clever dialogues, lovable main characters, and a little bit of Mulder's paranoia. But maybe he was right after all; maybe the crimes committed in this episode (students appearing dead in the woods, with strange marks in the low back) were made by aliens after all. But we don't get to see them something which add the suspense to the story. And this was just a taste of what will come later...moreless

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  • The beginning of something very special.

    9.5
    "Superb"
    By mulderscully09, Nov 26, 2010 Report Abuse
    First we are presented a very young and smart looking agent that we find out in the first 15 seconds of the episode, is called Dana Scully. Later on, we meet with this very intriguing guy that tells us he is one of the most unwanted at the FBI, his name is Fox Mulder.
    It was an amazing start for a show that would become a decade's icon.
    The chemistry between David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson is something we rarely see on television and the writers knew how to make that even better.
    We have a very strange case with young people disappering into the woods and then showing up with these strange marks. Scully is the reason and Mulder is the faith in extreme possibilities. The aspect that I think was so great in this episode and that become a mark of the show, is the cloak and dagger routine through out the entire episode.
    Great dialogs and a very promising season opener. The only very tiny negative that I'll point out is the acting on both parts. David and Gillian are both so incredibly young and unexperienced, specially Gillian. It was like watching a baby learning how to walk: it had a few stumbles but its aiming to something great in the not so far future. Nevertheless, they still managed to sweep us out of our feet.moreless

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  • Scully's So Different!

    5.1
    "Mediocre"
    By MissScully, Aug 25, 2010 Report Abuse
    If I would have watched this episode before the later ones in the season, like I did, I probally would've enjoyed it much more. It was a very good episode, but after watching others it seems very out of character. Scully was practically abducted, yet, but later in the season she refuses to believe any of this stuff. She also strips in front of Mulder something she wouldn't do later on in the first season, and I suppose, other later seasons as well. Her hair was also longer, which isn't a big problem, but she seemed to carry herself diffrently.moreless

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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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  • Trivia

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    • According to Dana Scully, Mulder was nicknamed "Spooky Mulder" back when was in the FBI Academy, due to his strange and bizarre behaviour towards others. Edit
    • BelleFleur (where this episode takes place) is French for "beautiful flower." Edit
    • As CSM is leaving the Pentagon's evidence room, the camera pulls back through an open door, which CSM exits and then locks. While this is a neat shot, it brings a question to mind: Why was the door to this highly secured and top secret evidence room left open while CSM was inside? Edit

  • Notes

    ADD NOTES
    • The only X-Files episode to not have a titles sequence. Edit
    • Unlike his character Fox Mulder, David Duchovny doesn't like sunflower seeds. Chris Carter is overly fond of them, which explains this character's addiction. Edit
    • It was so cold and wet (fake rain) on the night of filming the graveyard episode that the actors could not speak after they shot the scene, they were so frozen. Edit

  • Quotes

    ADD QUOTES
    • Section Chief Blevins: Agent Mulder. What are his thoughts? Scully: Agent Mulder believes we are not alone. Edit
    • Section Chief Blevins: Are you familiar with the so-called X-Files? Scully: I believe they have to do with unexplained phenomena. Section Chief Blevins: More or less. The reason you're here, Agent Scully, is we want you to assist Mulder on these X-Files. You'll write field reports on your activities along with your observations on the validity of the work. Scully: Am I to understand that you want me to debunk the X-Files Project, sir? Section Chief Blevins: Agent Scully, we trust you'll make the proper scientific analysis. Edit
    • (Phone Rings, Scully picks up) Scully: Hello? Mulder: Scully, it's me. I haven't been able to sleep, I talked to the DA's office in Raime county Oregon. Theres no case file on Billy Miles, the paperwork we filed is gone. We need to talk Scully. Scully: (Hesitant) Yes, tomorrow. (Hangs up) Edit

  • Allusions

    ADD ALLUSIONS
    • Scully: (answering door) Who is it? Mulder: Steven Spielberg. Steven Spielberg is a celebrated science fiction producer and director. He is the most financially successful motion picture director in history. Many of movies are considered all-time classics (e.g. Jaws, E.T., Raiders of the Lost Ark, Jurassic Park, and Schindler's List). Edit

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