They Come From Within - "Firewalker"

I have to admit that this episode of X•Files just, quite frankly, didn't do a lot for this fan, honestly. It has a fascinating science phenomena and returns us to the claustrophobic trappings of The Thing from Another World, the quarantine thriller with killer silicone-based spores which, once breathed inside, eventually kill their human hosts by becoming an organism looking to escape (ickily from the throat!).

Bradley Whitford is this highly touted scientist, a project head on a study in  volcanic caverns in an Oregonian mountain, where spores are found, breathed in by his associates after a special robot collects specimens and a seismologist shatters a rock releasing them to all in attendance. Whitford’s Trepkos wasn’t there so he wasn’t infected. But he’s dedicated to not letting anyone leave the project’s location out of fear the spores will spread, threatening to kill if necessary (as evident by the snapped neck of a colleague and rival, Pierce (Tuck Milligan)).

Scully and Mulder were informed by Pierce prior to his death, arriving with him to the project lab to investigate. The duo finds an anxious, scared team with an engineer (Leland Orser), grad student (Shawnee Smith), and analyst (Hiro Kanagawa) all seemingly overwhelmed and on edge. But something else is wrong with them, as Mulder and Scully soon learn. 

So the silicone-based organism that tentacles out of the throats of those the spores inhabit is at first (obviously) questioned as “science fiction” by Scully while Mulder is sold on the idea, offering his own impressive knowledge in a lively debate regarding the possibility of life that doesn’t have carbon. While Scully is still recovering from the abduction and appears more clinical, less playful, Mulder also rather approaching the case without the customary enthusiasm such developments might generally derive. 

I guess the plot just kind of feels a bit too familiar and misses, hmm, some joie de vivre in the direction. It has a fun supporting cast of familiar faces with the likes of Orser, Smith, and Whitford. Whitford is away from the episode for a good majority which surprised me, considering his character, at the beginning, is full of himself in an interview about his project. He’s a genius, for sure, and once he learns of what they found in the volcano caves, realizing that despite the amazing breakthrough it is in science how dangerous the silicone-based organism truly is, must do what is necessary to preserve its secret, destroying any evidence of their existence…including those in his camp that are infected.

Of course, as is expected, Scully is in danger when Smith’s O’Neill is “urged” by the parasite inside to spread itself to her, Mulder will rush to her aid. I guess I’m most disappointed in this one because it seems to go through the motions and doesn’t really offer much in the way of surprise. And besides the gruesome way the organism breaks from its host, through the throat, the “creature feature ‘thing’” the “Firewalker” unearthed and the seismologist inadvertently unleashed didn’t quite captivate me this go-around. 

The casting, as fun as it is, also kind of just appear under the grips of stress and exhaustion, wanting to badly to leave but unable to do so, while Mulder and Scully, still suffering the effects of a traumatizing ordeal that separated them shortly and left them worse for wear, are “out of it”. I guess the setting should kill considering it is located near volcanic caves, featuring an unstable Whitford running around, shooting folks in backs with flares and snapping necks, but “Firewalker” just never quite escapes “going through the motions”.