X-Files Rerun "Ice"

"Bring Mittens."
Originally Aired 11/5/93

I have a strange relationship with this episode. I love John Carpenter's The Thing and this episode does a great job of recreating the paranoia in that movie, but that has little to do with my feelings towards "Ice." Thing is, I first saw this on the Sci Fi Channel before I became a fan and I really loved it. But once I started watching more episodes, "Ice" lost it's luster. I'll admit now that I can't judge the value of an episode based off the episodes surrounding it; hey, perhaps I am becoming a better critic.

As for the plot of "Ice", Mulder and Scully journey with a crew to Alaska in an attempt to find the cause of death of scientists. Morgan & Wong use the same tactic as with "Squeeze", where they borrow from another source, but this follows closer to The Thing than "Squeeze" did with Kolchak. Yet I think it works more in their favor since they removed the creature effects and enhanced the character drama. Most of what happened in The Thing were the actors reacting to the gooey and creepy effects but this episode's monster effects their hormones, so the monster is actually themselves. They really amp'ed up their performances, especially during the ending freak-out when we find out who's really infected.

I really enjoyed the guest stars here, which featured a Desperate Housewife, Kenny Bania, and John Connor's foster dad. I even recall seeing the guy playing the pilot on Law & Order and Buffy. Duchovny gives a fine performance too because its a departure from the usual quirkiness of Mulder, though the relationship with Scully is still the same (he warned her that he's safer being locked up than she is with the others.)

To wrap it up, I think this is a strong episode that places the focus on acting rather than an interesting monster. I even liked how it ended with a wink to The Thing because we're told that they burned the research facility.