Revisiting The X-Files: season 1 episode 9

9. Space

Ever since man first set foot on the moon, America has led the way in space exploration, launching monkeys, satellites, and just recently, the perfect image of womanhood, into space. But who knows what they’re going to run into up there? This slightly cringeworthy “American Space Hero” idea runs throughout this episode, wherein a widely-revered ex-astronaut and colonel at NASA finds himself plagued by the gruesome face of a Martian ghost.

The basic plot revolves around the supposed sabotage of a NASA space shuttle, and Mulder and Scully’s attempts to find out who the perpetrator is. The bulk of the episode takes place in a control room, with clichéd scenes of people on the ground communicating with people up in space, desperately clutching their headsets when things look bleak, then reclining in their chairs and closing their eyes when the dangers are over. Meanwhile, a grizzled old colonel who once went into space and saw something terrible there, battles with some sort of ghost that has clearly possessed him and caused him to do things he cannot remember, such as trying to sabotage the shuttle. While his subordinates attempt to bring the shuttle back to earth with the crew still alive, the colonel eventually has a break down and ends up in hospital, where the continued visions of a ghostly alien face drive him to hurl himself through a window.

For some reason, this reminded me a great deal of the Doctor Who episode 'Midnight', for a few loose similarities: something strange we can’t quite see travels across space and possesses a human, tries to cause as much mischief and damage as possible, and ultimately is destroyed upon the death of the human host it has taken up residence in. However, 'Space', as a whole, was far less enjoyable and, for the most part, really dragged its heels. This was one of those instances where I found myself checking the time nearly every ten minutes or so, eager to move onto the next episode.

I was left with an overall feeling of indifference towards this. There is, as they say, nothing much to write home about, although seeing as it’s my job to write home in this case, I’m picking my brains for things to say. As usual, the special effects, acting and musical score are all up to scratch, it’s just the story that lets things down, owing mainly to the fact that nothing much happens in the forty minute run-time. The misty vapour that appears to have possessed the colonel’s body is distinctly unimpressive, lacking any true sense of menace or intrigue, and so we’re left with probably my least favourite episode of the series so far.

Check out Matt's review of the preceding episode here.