The X-Files
"First Person Shooter"

Airdate: February 27, 1999

Mulder, playing with his sword again.

It takes a very special sort of person to screw with the work of William Gibson. For those not in the know, Gibson is considered by most to be the Second Coming in science fiction -- his debut novel, Neuromancer, published in 1984, baffled and delighted critics with uses of then unknown phrases like "cyberspace," "virtual reality," and "jacking into the matrix" while simultaneously featuring disparate, flawed characters operating at the fringes of society. Neuromancer created its own sub-genre, dubbed "cyberpunk" by its followers, and it spawned a couple of loose sequels and countless imitations. Inevitably, Hollywood came calling, but his novels have yet to see the screen -- instead, audiences have endured such rides into the Keanu mental experience as Johnny Moronic. The movies thus far have ignored plot and character in favor of groovy special FX, failing in every respect to respect the depth and ingenuity of Gibson's work.

Which brings me to The X-Files. During the show's fifth season, Chris "Who Wants to Be A Multimillionaire At The Cost Of His Series" Carter, realizing that fan reaction had become increasingly hostile since the loss of key members of the writing staff, hit upon the idea of garnering ratings through the hiring of two celebrity scribes -- Stephen King and William Gibson. King's episode, entitled "Chinga," was sizably rewritten, morphing from an intriguing tale of doppelgangers to a story that instead featured an evil doll, and though he'd changed over two thirds of the script, Carter insisted on giving poor, defenseless King full credit. "Killswitch," the Gibson episode co-written by Tom Maddox, aired the following week, and thankfully remained virtually intact, emerging as one of the high points of the season (which, granted, isn't saying much, but it was an outstanding episode by any standard). It was only a matter of time before he made a second attempt, and it was perhaps inevitable that Carter would find a way to screw the whole thing up.

"We are getting our own spin-off...I swear!"

This time around, the episode is called "First Person Shooter," in reference to the plethora of shoot 'em up video games that include Quake, Doom, and Tomb Raider. Called to the West Coast by ultimate geeks The Lone Gunmen -- who, while at best on their home turf, are still not well-developed enough to sustain an entire spin-off series -- Mulder and Scully investigate a death incurred during testing of the next phase of the first person shooter game, a simulated battle in which the player wears an interactive body suit and goes up against a barrage of holographically-projected enemies. (Got that?) It seems that a female game character has taken on a life of her own and is now indiscriminately killing anyone that enters the game. How does this happen? Well, the program feeds off male aggression, of course. Before the hour is up, our hapless agents will ultimately enter themselves to face off against the scary feminine foe.

During its first half, this episode features some fine moments, nicely balancing special FX and gore with knowing winks at game addicts. And while the scantily-clad cyberwarrior initially comes off as a mere parody of Tomb Raider's Lara Croft, there is a hint of the great dangers inherent in the godlike omnipotence of artificial intelligence; the character, viewed as a goddess by her creator, acts accordingly, dispensing justice in the stroke of a sword. This is weighty stuff for The X-Files of late, and it echoes similar ideas present in "Kill Switch." The second half-hour drops these themes entirely, however, opting instead for bombastic, bullet-laden action and ending with a utterly bizarre, pretentious, and stupid monologue written in the same style as... well, it ain't William Gibson. Not even Keanufied Gibson was that bad. This can be the work of only one man, and I don't think I need to bother to say his name.

everyone in weird-ass cyberpunk gear

What a let down. The first half of "First Person Shooter" contained some of the series' finest moments since, well, "Kill Switch", but its turn into sudden warfare comes off as Matrix-lite-or as some would put it, like Harsh Realm. While it's nice to see Scully toting heavy artillery and blasting away while a defenseless Mulder cowers in a corner, it would be nicer still to see an actual reason for the turns the plot takes, namely an unexplained twist that finds Mulder at one point stuck inside the game after it has been shut down. There seems to be a lot of outside influence here, notably in the dumbing down of plot aesthetics in favor of more visceral thrills -- I find it hard to believe, for example, that Gibson is responsible for the penultimate scene, in which we are treated to a view of a digitized Scully, wearing an outfit so cheesy I doubt you'd find it on even the most hormonally-challenged Gillian Anderson fan site. This kind of idiocy is, to say that least, not typical of the author, nor does it befit either the depth of the story or the dignity of great actress Gillian Anderson.

On the plus side, Duchovny and Anderson gave some of their most energetic performances of the season, clearly thriving off of the novelty of the material. Duchovny, in particular, was hilarious -- this man needs to be off this show and onto a comedy worthy of his talent. (Not to mention that the simulation suit really didn't look half bad on the guy.) Most of all, it was a pleasure to see Gibson's work translate so well on the small screen, for the first half of the episode at least -- it makes me wish he had his own series, and at that, one over which he could exert complete creative control.

-- Sarah Kendzior

The X-Files airs at 9pm EST/8pm MNT, Sundays on Fox.

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