Ice (The X-Files)
"Ice" | |
---|---|
The X-Files episode | |
Episode no. | Season 1 Episode 8 |
Directed by | David Nutter |
Written by | Glen Morgan James Wong |
Production code | 1X07 |
Original air date | November 5, 1993 |
Running time | 45 minutes |
Guest appearances | |
| |
"Ice" is the eighth episode of the
The plot of the episode shows FBI agents Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) investigating the deaths of an Alaskan research team. Isolated and alone, the agents and their accompanying team discover the existence of extraterrestrial parasitic organisms that drive their hosts into impulsive fits of rage.
The episode was inspired by an article in Science News about an excavation in Greenland, and series creator Chris Carter also cited John W. Campbell's 1938 novella Who Goes There?, the inspiration for the films The Thing from Another World (1951) and The Thing (1982), as an influence. Although the producers thought that "Ice" would save money by being shot in a single location, it ended up exceeding its own production budget.
Plot
A mass
Murphy finds an
The worm removed from Bear is kept in a jar, and another is recovered from one of the scientists' bodies. Mulder, believing that the worms are extraterrestrial, wants them kept alive, but Scully feels they should be destroyed to prevent infection. The group check each other for black nodules and find none, although Mulder reminds Scully that the nodules disappeared from the dog over time. He wakes in the night and finds Murphy in the freezer with his throat cut; when the others arrive to see him standing over it, all of them, including Scully, suspect he has become infected and killed Murphy. They lock Mulder in a storeroom.
Scully discovers that two worms placed in the same host environment will kill each other. When they investigate by putting one worm into the infected dog, it recovers. Against Scully's objections and after trapping her in the freezer, Hodge and Da Silva try to put the other worm into Mulder. Hodge sees movement under Da Silva's skin and realizes she is the one infected as well as Murphy's killer. Da Silva breaks free and the rest pursue her through the outpost until Mulder and Scully restrain her, allowing Hodge to place the last worm inside her. After they are evacuated, Da Silva and the dog are quarantined and the others are released after showing no sign of infection. When Mulder declares he wants to return to the site, Hodge tells him that it has been destroyed by the government.[1][2]
Production
Conception and writing
Glen Morgan began writing the episode after he read a Science News article about men in Greenland who found a 250,000-year-old item encased in ice.[3][4] The setting—an icy, remote research base overcome by an extraterrestrial creature—is similar to that of John W. Campbell's 1938 novella Who Goes There? and its two feature-film incarnations: The Thing from Another World (1951), directed by Christian Nyby and produced by Howard Hawks, and The Thing (1982), directed by John Carpenter.[3][5] Chris Carter has cited them as the main inspirations for the episode.[4] As in the novella and films, the characters cannot trust each other because they are uncertain if they are who they seem to be.[3] Carter particularly enjoyed this aspect, because it pitted Mulder and Scully against each other and provided "a new look on their characters early on in the series".[6]
The episode's premise became a recurring theme in the series, with episodes such as "
Filming
The similarity to Carpenter's version of The Thing was due in part to new production designer Graeme Murray,
For the worm effect, one member of the special effects department suggested putting a "baby snake" in a latex suit. After explaining that that couldn't be done, animal trainer Debbie Coe suggested using a "super mealworm" to achieve the desired effect.[14] The effect of the worms crawling in the host bodies was achieved with wires under fake skins, including a skin with hair for the dog.[6][14] Digital effects were used for scenes involving the worms swimming in jars and entering the dog's ear.[6] Although extra footage of the worm scenes was shot so they would last as long as intended if Fox's standards-and-practices officials asked for cuts, no edits were requested.[15] "Ice" was the first significant role in the series for makeup effects artist Toby Lindala, who become its chief makeup artist.[15] The dog used in the episode was a parent of Duchovny's dog, Blue.[16] Ken Kirzinger, who played one of the scientists killed in the episode's cold open, was the series' stunt coordinator.[17]
Analysis
Although "Ice" is not directly connected to the series' overarching mythology, it has been described as "a portent to the alien conspiracy arc which would become more pronounced in the second season" with its themes of alien invasion and governmental conspiracy.[18] The episode is noted for exploring the relationship between its lead characters; Mulder and Scully's trust contrasts with the behavior of Hodge and Da Silva, who are united by a distrust of those around them. The pairs are "mirror images" in their approaches to partnership.[19]
"Ice" features two elements common to other works by Morgan and Wong: dual identities and the questioning of one's personality. In her essay "Last Night We Had an Omen", Leslie Jones noted this thematic leitmotif in several of their other X-Files scripts: "the meek animal-control inspector who is a mutant shape-shifter with a taste for human liver ["Squeeze"], the hapless residents of rural Pennsylvania driven mad by a combination of insecticides and electronic equipment ["Blood"], [and] the uptight PTA run by practicing Satanists ["Die Hand Die Verletzt"]".[20]
Anne Simon, a biology professor at the University of Maryland, discussed the episode in her book Monsters, Mutants and Missing Links: The Real Science Behind the X-Files. Simon noted that like the worms in "Ice", parasitic worms can attach to the human hypothalamus because it is not blocked by the blood–brain barrier.[21] She compared "Ice" to the later episodes "Tunguska" and "Gethsemane", with their common theme of extraterrestrial life reaching earth through panspermia.[22]
Reception
Ratings
"Ice" originally aired on Fox on November 5, 1993, and was first broadcast in the United Kingdom on
Reviews
"Ice" was praised by critics. In The Complete X-Files, authors Matt Hurwitz and Chris Knowles called the episode a milestone for the fledgling series.[27] An Entertainment Weekly first-season retrospective graded "Ice" as A−, calling it "particularly taut and briskly paced".[5] On The A.V. Club, Keith Phipps praised the episode and gave it an A. According to Phipps, the cast "plays the paranoia beautifully" and the episode was "as fine an hour as this first season would produce".[28] "Ice" was included on an A.V. Club list of greatest bottle episodes, where it was described as "us[ing] its close quarters as an advantage".[29] A third A.V. Club article, listing ten "must-see" episodes of the series, called "Ice" "the first sign that this show had a shot at really being something special" and said that it "makes great use of claustrophobia and the uneasy but growing alliance between the heroes".[30]
"Ice" was also considered one of the best episodes of the first season by the production crew. According to Carter, Morgan and Wong "just outdid themselves on this show, as did director David Nutter, who really works so hard for us. I think they wrote a great script and he did a great job directing it, and we had a great supporting cast".[39] Nutter said: "The real great thing about 'Ice' is that we were able to convey a strong sense of paranoia. It was also a great ensemble piece. We're dealing with the most basic emotions of each character, ranging from their anger to their ignorance and fear. It established the emotional ties these two characters have with each other, which is very important. Scaring the hell out of the audience was definitely the key to the episode".[39] Anderson said that "it was very intense. There was a lot of fear and paranoia going on. We had some great actors to work with".[39]
Footnotes
- ^ Lowry 1995, pp. 117–118.
- ^ Lovece 1996, pp. 63–65.
- ^ a b c Lowry 1995, pp. 118–119.
- ^ a b c Goldman 1995, p. 94.
- ^ a b "X Cyclopedia: The Ultimate Episode Guide, Season 1". Entertainment Weekly. November 29, 1996. Archived from the original on October 21, 2012. Retrieved July 7, 2011.
- ^ a b c Chris Carter (narrator). Chris Carter Speaks about Season One Episodes: Ice. The X-Files: The Complete First Season (DVD). Fox.
- ^ Lowry 1995, pp. 182–183.
- ^ VanDerWerff, Emily (July 18, 2010). "'The Walk'/'Oubliette'/'Nisei' | The X-Files/Millennium". The A.V. Club. Archived from the original on April 2, 2021. Retrieved November 2, 2012.
- ^ "Fringe vs. The X-Files – A Comparison". UGO Networks. April 5, 2010. Archived from the original on May 10, 2010. Retrieved November 8, 2012.
- ^ Westfahl 2005, p. 586.
- ^ a b Gradnitzer & Pittson 1999, p. 37.
- ^ a b Edwards 1996, p. 50.
- ^ Edwards 1996, p. 115.
- ^ a b Debbie Coe (animal trainer); Toby Lindala (make-up effects). Behind the Truth: Ice. The X-Files: The Complete First Season (DVD). Fox.
- ^ a b Lowry 1995, p. 119.
- ^ Lowry 1995, p. 118.
- ^ Lovece 1996, p. 65.
- ^ Geraghty 2009, p. 99.
- ^ Jones 1996, p. 86.
- ^ Jones 1996, p. 89.
- ^ Simon 2011, pp. 23–24.
- ^ Simon 2011, pp. 58–59.
- ^ Fox. 2004 [First broadcast 1993–1994].)
{{cite AV media notes}}
: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link - ^ a b Lowry 1995, p. 248.
- Gannett Company, Inc.November 10, 1993. p. D3.
- from the original on April 2, 2021. Retrieved August 21, 2012.
- ^ Hurwitz & Knowles 2008, p. 40.
- ^ Phipps, Keith (July 5, 2008). "The X-Files: "Ghost In The Machine" / "Ice" / "Space"". The A.V. Club. Archived from the original on June 26, 2012. Retrieved July 18, 2011.
- ^ Heller, Jason; Koski, Genevieve; Murray, Noel; O'Neal, Sean; Pierce, Leonard; Tobias, Scott; VanDerWerff, Emily; Zulkey, Claire (June 21, 2010). "TV in a bottle: 19 great TV episodes largely confined to one location". The A.V. Club. Archived from the original on July 11, 2012. Retrieved July 7, 2012.
- ^ VanDerWerff, Emily (July 20, 2012). "10 must-see episodes of The X-Files". The A.V. Club. Archived from the original on July 22, 2012. Retrieved July 20, 2012.
- Hearst Magazines UK. Archivedfrom the original on October 24, 2012. Retrieved July 19, 2011.
- ^ Lowry 1995, p. 253.
- ^ Haigh, Matt (October 28, 2008). "Revisiting The X-Files: Season 1 Episode 8". Den of Geek. Archived from the original on February 12, 2012. Retrieved April 4, 2012.
- ^ Harrisson, Juliette (September 6, 2011). "A look back over The X-Files' finest stand-alone episodes". Den of Geek!. Dennis Publishing. Archived from the original on July 22, 2012. Retrieved September 28, 2015.
- Huffpost TV. Archivedfrom the original on September 26, 2015. Retrieved August 8, 2011.
- ^ "Top 11 X-Files Monsters (of the Week) Intro". UGO Networks. July 21, 2008. Archived from the original on July 23, 2008. Retrieved September 6, 2011.
- from the original on May 19, 2012. Retrieved July 3, 2012.
- ^ Shearman & Pearson 2009, pp. 16–17.
- ^ a b c Edwards 1996, pp. 48–49.
References
- Edwards, Ted (1996). X-Files Confidential. ISBN 978-0-316-21808-5.
- Geraghty, Lincoln (2009). American Science Fiction Film and Television (illustrated ed.). ISBN 978-1-84520-795-3.
- Goldman, Jane (1995). The X-Files Book of the Unexplained Volume I. ISBN 978-0-06-168617-7.
- Gradnitzer, Louisa; Pittson, Todd (1999). X Marks the Spot: On Location with The X-Files. ISBN 978-1-55152-066-7.
- Hurwitz, Matt; Knowles, Chris (2008). The Complete X-Files. Insight Editions. ISBN 978-1-933784-80-9.
- Jones, Leslie (1996). "Last Night We Had an Omen". In Lavery, David; Hague, Angela; Cartwright, Marla (eds.). Deny All Knowledge: Reading The X-Files. ISBN 978-0-8156-2717-3.
- ISBN 978-0-8065-1745-2.
- Lowry, Brian (1995). The Truth is Out There: The Official Guide to the X-Files. ISBN 978-0-06-105330-6.
- ISBN 978-0-9759446-9-1.
- Simon, Anne (2011). Monsters, Mutants and Missing Links: The Real Science Behind the X-Files (illustrated ed.). ISBN 978-1-4481-1694-2.
- Westfahl, Gary (2005). The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Science Fiction and Fantasy: Themes, Works, and Wonders. Vol. 2. ISBN 978-0-313-32952-4.