X-Files: Fire

The X-Files, Season 1, Episode 11 – Fire

It’s something of a delight to discover a classic X-Files episode that you don’t remember – and may never have seen.  Fire has some wonderful moments.  There’s Mulder’s quip right at the start:  “That’s one of the luxuries to hunting down aliens and genetic mutants… you rarely get to press charges.”

I realized something important about The X-Files while watching this episode – while nominally about “super” qualities – as in supernatural – it’s just as often and more profoundly a show about vulnerabilities.  Here we learn of Mulder’s fear of fire, spawned from yet another childhood trauma.  And we discover his “old flame,” Phoebe Greene of Scotland Yard.  Mulder has spent years getting over her – and she’s still eager to mess with his head.  Yet Scully is on to her.  Dana’s cheerfully contemptuous “hello” is priceless.

And who can resist a Sherlock Holmes reference?  Not me.

Scully: “Three pipe problem?”

Mulder: “That’s from Sherlock Holmes.  It’s a private joke.”

Scully, with droll perkiness in her voice: “How private?”

It’s not really – or only? – that Scully is romantically interested in Mulder and therefore jealous.  She’s bemused by his naiveté and probably concerned that his emotions will interfere with his work.  And, most importantly, she cares about his welfare.

Scully: “So she shows up knowing the power she has over you and then she makes you walk through fire, is that it?”

The episode has moments of elegance, both in dialogue and imagery.  There are several evocative close-ups of flame.  Obsessive desire and fire are interwoven throughout the narrative.  And – in one of those moments where the show just bleeds intellectual enthusiasm – the FBI’s arson expert observes, “Fire’s got a certain genius, you know, a certain demon poetry.”

But, in the end, it’s all about Mulder and Scully, as they dance their dance of doubt and humor, of coy intimacies and supernatural adventures.

“Mulder, you keep unfolding like a flower.”

Image (altered): “Fire in London,” by Thomas Rowlandson and/or A. C. Pugin.  British Library Flickr page.