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The X-Files Season 1 Episode 6

Shadows

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7.8

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Episode Summary

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AIRED: 10/22/93

When an unseen force commits several murders where a young woman is present, Mulder suspects that it is the spirit of the woman's former boss protecting her, while Scully believes the boss merely faked his own death.

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Fan Episode Reviews (23)

A Ghost with Superhero Powers!

5.5

By jokipper, May 19, 2013

Call it a shadow, but ultimately, this episode's paranormality is a ghost. And what a range of powers it has, including abilities to control objects and kill people with mere thoughts. It's one thing to concoct a ghost story, but it's another thing to give it god-like powers! And yet, even with all this power, the ghost chooses to gain revenge by mere incrimination.

THIS EPISODE WANTS US TO BELIEVE IN: Ghosts can have amazing psychokinetic powers.

BELIEVABILITY RATING: 2/10

Otherwise, it's a fairly good episode. The pacing is excellent, and we learn what is going on with Lauren little-by-little, just as Mulder and Scully do. I'm still waiting for the episode that combines a good plot with good now, Season One is still trying to find its way.moreless
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Women protected by a shadow of her old boss

8.5

By 7dixob, Aug 21, 2012

This episode shows a woman called lauren Kyte who that seems impossible to kill when she is attacked at the start of the episode and the people who attacked her and their necks snapped from the inside.Mulder and Scully know that Lauren didn't do do it.Mulder thinks that its her boss who committed suicide a few weeks ago after seeing some kind of shadow on the camera Lauren was attacked at.Lauren's boss Howard was actually proven to be murdered at the end by Howard who helped Mulder and Lauren what they was looking for.A really good X file episode.moreless
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Shadows

10

By arkanitoo, Jul 08, 2012

The back of psychokinetic and spirits are the topics covered by this fine episode of "The X-Files," which decided to honor "Carrie" and did surprisingly well. With scenes of absolute tension and pure fantasy, we began to follow the case of a girl who can move objects by mind power, but is soon discovered that it is she who does such things, but the spirit of a person to whom it was closely linked, the girl pouring the expectation to unmask his killer and, consequently, the haunting until they complete the mission. Terrorism is also discussed here, of course always going unnoticed by the police, but always dropping bodies wherever he goes. One of the episodes of the season more faithful to the true essence of the series, there are a lot of mystery, a very well-crafted plot, jaw-dropping scenes and our pair of heroes as well, as sure of themselves.moreless
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Shadows

8.0

By TrueTvWatcher, May 26, 2012

Shadows was a great episode of The X-Files and I really enjoyed watching because the story was good, the characters were interesting and well played, and there were some great sci fi moments. It was awesome in the end when Lauren, Dorland and Mulder were caught in a whirlwind created by Howard at the end and the evidence came out of hiding. I loved how Scully just missed seeing the guy attacking Lauren being suspended in the air by a few seconds as usual. The ending was funny when Lauren was scared when the building shook, though it was only because of a truck. I certainly look forward to watching the next episode!!!!!!!!!moreless
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Despite snappy pacing and good visuals, the heart of "Shadows" is hollow.

6.0

By MattMTRUSTNO1, Aug 12, 2011

Mulder and Scully are called in by a pair of unidentified operatives to give their opinions on two mysteriously dead corpses, still warm and twitching six hours after death. The unknown agents refuse to give Mulder and Scully any information, but Mulder cleverly manages to bring away the fingerprints of the dead pair on his glasses. Further investigation leads the pair into a tangle of Middle Eastern terrorism, a possible poltergeist, and an ambiguous relationship between a forlorn secretary and her dead boss. The Mulderisms and Scullyisms come thick and fast, some of the most memorable of the series. Mulder and Scully work beautifully as a team in this one. We got to see Mulder at work in the darkroom, Scully closely and coolly questioning a suspect, and both of them standing up as a team to the manipulative tactics of their mirror images in Black Ops. Some of the peripheral performances are worth remarking on: Kelli Fox as the pathologist out-deadpans even Fox Mulder.

But.

There is something very wrong with the central character in "Shadows". Throughout "Shadows", Lauren's motivations were nonexistent or came out of nowhere. Why does she suddenly decide to talk to Mulder and Scully after stonewalling all interrogators for hours? Why does she suddenly lose her temper in Dorlund's office, accusing him of complicity in the murder of two sailors? Her supposed guilt and fear over that incident was not established at all. I never knew where she was coming from. Lauren came across as a semi-hysterical sleepwalker without much brains. Dorlund's bracelet nearly cuts his hand off, and she just sniffs and says, "What's wrong"? This woman is either unobservant or in deep denial. I could not identify or sympathize with a woman stupid enough to tell a dangerous man to his face that she knew he was a murderer, then turn around and call the cops in plain sight of him, then go home and open the door to the first person who knocked without even asking for identification. Has this woman no sense of self-preservation at all?

The contrast was even more apparent measured against the superb portrait of Dana Scully. This was a tour de force for Gillian Anderson. I would put my life in the hands of this Dana Scully and feel safe. That the petite Anderson pulls this off even when surrounded by towering males speaks well of her talents. Scully was portrayed beautifully against type: she was the "bad cop", forceful, authoritative, intellectual. Mulder was the intuitive, sympathetic "good cop" throughout, a nice role reversal that managed not to descend into cliche. That's why I like "The X-Files", that they can pull this off on a regular basis without masculinizing Scully or wimping out Fox Mulder.

There were some very good individual scenes in "Shadows". The only scary scene was the bathtub scene, where Howard Graves re-enacts his own murder for Lauren. The scene in the pathologists' office, as mentioned, is a classic of comedie noire. The glowing car headlights and the discussion that ensues is excellent. And Mulder's annoyance with Scully's re- directing of their investigation from ghost-hunting to counter- terrorism adds dimension to our understanding of their working relationship.

I had trouble with Mulder's reaction on entering Lauren's house and finding a man hanging in mid-air: he looked more bewildered than astonished. I would have thought that a man who had encountered liver-eating mutants and beast women from New Jersey would be a little more nonchalant. The scene in which Mulder and Scully's car is "taken over" (and what was the point of that?) is confusing because the camera angles would seem to imply that Mulder winds up looking through his windshield at Lauren, after being hurled backwards down the street for at least a block. And defense contractors have *much* better security than HTG Industries was shown to have.

A more consistent character in Lauren would have gone a long way towards lifting this episode above the average.

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Cast & Crew: STARS

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David Duchovny	Special Agent Fox Mulder
Gillian Anderson	Special Agent Dana Scully

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Cast & Crew: RECURRING AND GUESTS

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Barry Primus	Robert Dorland	Guest Star
Lisa Waltz	Lauren Kyte	Guest Star
Lorena Gale	Ellen Bledsoe	Guest Star

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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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TRIVIA (4)
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- Principal setting: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
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- The FOX network starts to play up the horror aspect of the show as this episode's tag for next week's episode uses DON'T WATCH IT ALONE for the first time
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- Mulder's joke about Elvis is the first of many throughout the entire series. Apparently Mulder is something of an Elvis fan.
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- Revealing Mistakes: Howard Graves' tombstone states that he died on the 5th of October, but the opening scenes date stamp says the 22nd of September when it was supposed to be two weeks after Graves had died.
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QUOTES (10)
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- Mulder: Hey, Scully. Do you believe in the afterlife?
  Scully: I'd settle for a life in this one.
  Mulder: Have you ever seen the Liberty Bell?
  Scully: Yes.
  Mulder: You know, I've been to Philadelphia a hundred times and I've never seen it.
  Scully: You're not missing much. It's just a big bell with a big crack, and you have to wait in a long line.
  Mulder: Yeah, but I'd really like to go.
  Scully: Why now?
  Mulder: I don't know. How late do you think they stay open?
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- Mulder: What are you doing, Scully? You don't believe.
  Scully: Mulder, there's no such thing as ghosts or psychokinesis. I'm sure there's an explanation. But I believe that she believes. And my priority is to get to her help us stop Dorland.
  Mulder: Well, we may have just sacrificed our best opportunity to observe spectral phenomena.
  Scully: I'm giving us a chance to solve a case that's tangible instead of chasing after shadows.
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- Scully: I think Howard Graves faked his own death.
  Mulder: Do you know how difficult it is to fake your own death? Only one man has pulled it off, Elvis.
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- Scully: Are you saying Lauren Kyte crashed our car?
  Mulder: Either that or a poltergeist.
  Scully: They're heeeere...
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- Scully: How can the oesophagus be crushed without the neck even being touched?
  Mulder: Psychokinetic manipulation.
  Scully: Psychokinesis? You mean how Carrie got even at the prom?
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- Mulder: The paramedics check you out?
  Scully: Yeah. I'm fine. Except I have a waiting-in-line-at-the-DMV-sized headache.
  Mulder: Mine's more IRS sized.
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- Mulder: You may be right.
  Scully: Wait, you think I'm right?
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- Man In Black: If any inquires to this meeting be made, we request full denial.
  Mulder: I'd say you people already suffer from full denial.
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- Mulder: You don't see too many bosses graves without people dancing on it.
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- Mulder: I would never lie. I willfully participated in a campaign of misinformation.
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NOTES (3)
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- The writers were inspired by the 1981 movie The Entity in which a woman is tormented by an unseen entity.
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- In the original script, Mulder tells Scully what he'd like on his tombstone: "No Regrets".
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- The name being painted on the parking space previously used by Howard Graves is Tom Braidwood, an Assistant Director who will portray Frohike, one of The Lone Gunmen.
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ALLUSIONS (2)
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- Scully: They're Heeere...
  
  Scully says this after Mulder mentions poltergeists. This is the key phrase from the Tobe Hooper/Steven Spielberg film Poltergeist, it is what Carol Anne says to warn her parents of something strange in the house.
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- Scully: Psychokinesis? You mean how Carrie got even at the prom?
  
  A reference to the Stephen King novel and Brian De Palma film Carrie, where in the final scenes Carrie uses her new-found telekinetic powers to destroy her high school and most of her classmates when they play a cruel trick on her at the prom.
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