Conduit

Synopsis

As Section Chief Blevins expresses his concern with the direction of The X-Files, Mulder becomes obsessed with solving a case that closely parallels an 'encounter' he experienced as a child - the abduction of his kid sister, Samantha.

For me, this is one of the greatest X Files episodes. There are obvious comparisons between it and, say, Poltergeist (for the tv - "They're heeeere") and Close Encounters (for the obvious - and Kevin looks remarkably like the kid in that film, although he's more spooky than Mulder!), yet it still works incredibly well.

I've seen it so many times and yet, having watched it again just now, it still has that rare ability to send shivers running up and down my spine. From the moment Mulder points out Darlene's name on the projection to Scully the episode takes a grip and doesn't let go.

Following this, Darlene's questioning "They took her, didn't they Mr Mulder?" and the look on his face of complete vulnerability at that moment, thinking not only of Ruby but also of Samantha, is another brilliantly realised moment. In fact, that is what this episode is about, more than anything else - Mulder's sister. Throughout the show we are given parallels between Kevin and Mulder, Ruby and Samantha. As Scully observes, he is still running after her.

Mulder: "You know, when I was a kid I had this ritual. I'd close my eyes before I walked into my room - because I thought that one day when I opened them my sister would be there. Just lying in bed, like nothing ever happened. You know, I'm still walking into that room. Every day of my life."

Perhaps the standout moment of the episode is the scene where they find Kevin's pieces of paper arranged on the floor, seeing from above that they form a picture of Ruby's face. Even now, that moment still gives me goosebumps.

I say "perhaps" because, for me at least, it is the final moments of the episode that give it such resonance. As Scully listens to the tape of Mulder's regression hypnotherapy, and we see him sobbing in the church, it brings home just how much this all means to him - and it is the first time that the series really connected emotionally with me as a viewer. It's a definite lump in the throat ending.

From that moment on, as Mark Snow's haunting music draws this incredibly haunting episode to a close, I went along fully with Mulder's plaintive assertion.

I want to believe.

9.5/10

I found this one genuinely creepy, large in part to the kid in the titular role itself.
Interesting to see a return to the UFO/Alien genre so soon after they broke out from it with the previous episode, but if you're gonna go back, make it worthwhile. And they did !!

I think if anything this one suffers from coming so close to the first three episodes, which are all sensational. This one's not quite upto that standard, but still, it's a cracker in it's own right.