"Deep Throat"

The X-Files - Season One

Aired: September 17, 1993
Starring: David Duchovny, Gillian Anderson
Written by Chris Carter
Directed by Daniel Sackheim

It's a commendable feat when a television series, by default constrained by budgetary and punctual limitations, can produce a successful pilot.  When the second episode proves to be equally as engaging, it can be considered a milestone.  Such is the case with "Deep Throat," the first episode of the series proper and one widely regarded as an X-Files classic.  Taking the man vs. the man construct from the pilot and delving a tad deeper into its mythology, "Deep Throat" touches on a number of different concepts that would serve as a cornerstone for a number of threads to follow.

As with the previous episode, the plot here is relatively simple.  Pilots at an Ellens Air Base in Idaho are being abducted for months at a time and subsequently returned to their homes with faulty memories and altered personalities.  Despite a warning from a mysterious figure (Jerry Hardin, whose daughter Melora may be more renowned for her role as Jan on the American version of The Office), Mulder decides to jump on the case.  Of no certain coincidence, Ellens Air Base is described as a "Mecca" for UFO nuts.

One notable thing about these early episodes is the almost-overwhelming aura of nineties that came to define the seminal first season.  From Scully's haircut (altered in hue and style from the previous episode, indicating some time had passed between the abductions in Oregon and this case), to the homely Oldsmobiles, to the very-dated grunge garb of the two drug-addled teenagers (one played by a hirsute Seth Green), to Mark Snow's electronic soundscapes, revisiting these episodes always gives me a weird nostalgia.

Another nostalgic quality about these first season mythology episodes is how far removed they are from the core plot threads that would carry later seasons.  While those will surely be covered in later reviews (provided I continue this blog), episodes like "Deep Throat" barely graze the surface.  We get the idea that experimental aircraft is being used at the air base but only once do we get a fleeting look at it.  Mulder, in an imbecilic but appropriately consistent move, slips into the base at night to get a front-row view, only to be detained, wheeled into a curtained hangar, then deposited to the front gate the following morning with no recollection of the preceding events.  This effectively ends the episode on the same bleak, unpromising note as the pilot, in that the same secrecy and government cover-ups prevail, once again leaving Mulder and Scully empty-handed.  A cryptic, if frustrating, informant may prove to be a beacon for the two, but it is clear from this episode that the journey to the truth will not be a matter of plain sailing.

MULDER: "They're here, aren't they?"
DEEP THROAT: "Mr. Mulder, they've been here for a long, long time." 

Grade:  A-