"How come you two went your separate ways?"
"I'm a pain in the ass to work with."
"Seriously, Mulder."
"I'm not a pain in the ass?"

Ah, Jerry Lamana, the original X-Files "red shirt". This episode has 
the distinction of being the first of too many to kill off one of 
Mulder or Scully's ex-partners, ex-lovers, friends, mentors, family 
members, pets,  lab assistants, fish, house plants ... well, you get 
the picture. Turns out, it is even more dangerous to be Mulder's ex-
partner than his current one. Maybe that's why Scully sticks with him.

"Ghost in the Machine" comes across like an interesting idea poorly 
executed. It was as if writers Gordon and Ganza knew they wanted to 
make this scary computer story, but just didn't have the background 
or time to research to make it effective. The amazingly modern COS 
computer comes off looking like a "2001" wannabe throwback to the 70s 
with silly blinking red lights and that strobe-like colored window 
that served no purpose but to look somehow "cool". It even has that 
same annoying drone of a voice and when it begs "Brad, why?" all you 
have to do is insert "Dave" and you too can have the poor man's Kubrick 
flashback. There are too many technology mistakes in this episode to 
even list them all, and even the human element was stereotypical.
That whole "scruffy" vs. "neat" minds and the rich bespectacled techno-
geek who looked like his millions could not buy him a comb or a shave 
was just too much. We get the scruffy thing already, no need for 
stereotypes. When he whines in jail about them making him wear shoes 
I just wanted to smack his scruffy little head. I know it was for the 
audience, but it really bothered me when they had the actor speaking 
his lines as he typed them as well when communicating with the COS. 
It just made the scene even more silly.

The more interesting part of this episode was not the computer, but 
the whole ex-partner dynamic. When Jerry dies so does a lot of the 
story as we then move to dopey jail house drama scenes where COS is 
compared to the atom bomb (they did get the bomb part right) and they 
plot the death of this thinking machine. Too bad Jerry had to take 
that elevator when he did. There is this odd undercurrent at the start 
when Mulder is greeted by him with a hug and Mulder keeps shooting 
Scully these looks like he's afraid of how she might react to meeting 
an old partner of his. Still, it tells us something about Mulder the 
way he reacts to this guy who is so desperate he steals from his friend - 
he continues to help him and play along (I really enjoyed his silly
grinning reaction to "taught him everything he knows") despite the fact 
that it becomes quickly obvious that when they were partners Jerry was 
indeed just "tagging along". Does he feel sorry for Jerry or is it 
affection that causes him to do this? It's nice to see that Mulder is 
more evenly matched in the partner department these days.

Scully's reactions to this whole thing are a bit more predictable. 
It's nice to see that she can recognize Mulder's work already even 
when recited by another agent (especially seeing as it was not one 
of his "out there" theories). When Jerry dies, she reacts in typical 
sympathy to Mulder's loss but becomes concerned that he is not dealing 
with it. She twice tries to drag him away from the case - once by 
shutting off the monitor and again by literally dragging him to the 
side to try to talk about Jerry - then carefully insinuates that a trip 
to the therapist might be a good idea. I'm sure this won't be the last 
time she thinks a shrink could do him some good. Mulder's reaction to 
this is to take off and pursue the case on his own - yes folks, a ditch 
of sorts. Look how irritated he is when she finds him in the middle of 
the night about to enter the building alone. As usual, it's a good thing 
she showed up when she did instead of him going on with his little lone
wolf plan.

I will say that I liked Agent Scully's introduction to the wonderful 
world of duct work - ah the perils of being the little one when it comes 
to plan B: If the door is rigged, shove your partner in a vent. Good 
thing our Scully is a good shot and doesn't go to pieces in a crisis. 
She survives unscathed, but not quite as perfectly coifed as usual - 
instead looking every bit like something the cat drug in. From a 
character perspective, there is an important moment here as she openly 
disobeys authority to side with Mulder despite threats to hold her 
accountable. It is moments like this that helped her quickly move from 
potential adversary to trusted partner in the early shows.

Random Musings
-------------------------

-Yet another reason to stay out of the bathroom is Drake's murder, 
but seeing as though it is such a fancy bathroom I can see how it 
was tempting to enter. He does get to bust up that mirror in a rather 
dramatic fashion though.

-This episode also marked the use of one of Mulder's informants in a
non-mythology episode. In Deep Throat's first reappearance we learn 
that not only have he and Mulder worked out an arrangement at this 
point, but that he is obviously well placed within the Defense Department.

-Looks like they used the same location for all the outdoor shots no 
matter where they were supposed to be. You can see the same elevated 
rail in the background for all of them.

-Scully in her oh so practical pjs falls asleep reading a book in this
episode. For those who are interested it is "Obstacle Course" by J.F.
Freedman. Sort of an interesting choice as it is a coming of age story 
about a youthful foulmouthed sex obsessed teen boy in Annapolis who 
likes to sneak out to the Naval Academy obstacle course. Somehow I 
figured her more for the Patricia Cromwell type. I guess there is a 
Navy tie in ...

-I've always thought Gillian Anderson does a good job capturing just 
the right amount of fuzziness in her voice when she answers those late 
night phone calls.

-We learn both Scully's ID number (which is somehow different from her 
badge number that she gives later in the series) as well as her home 
phone number. ID: 2317-616. Phone: (202) 555-6431.

-Speaking of the phone, the big question is why she has her computer on 
her main line when it is obvious she has a second line that she uses to 
call out to report the computer breaking in.

-Also, why didn't her phone ring the first time the COS system dialed 
her, but the bigger question is, of course, how in the hell COS can 
turn her monitor on remotely. OK, OK, I'll stop with the computer 
nitpicks.

-The time stamps are screwed up on this episode. Even though we know it 
is near Halloween from the office pumpkin and Scully tells us verbally 
her field journal entry date is October 24, 1993 when COS accesses the 
file the date stamp is 9-16-93. It is amusing that she keeps her little 
notes in c:\xfiles.

-I guess Scully has just gotten to the point where she is discovering 
the wonderful world of her amazing bottomless pockets as she can't seem 
to remember what pocket she keeps her money in yet. She must've 
accidentally checked the flashlight/badge/keys/pen/latex glove pocket 
first.

-Gillian Barber makes her first appearance on the show in this episode 
as the "Iron Maiden" - whose name even gets a chuckle out of Scully. She 
plays cancer victim "Penny" in later episodes.

-In the ever changing floorplan that is Scully's apartment, this week's
incarnation has her having to go through her bathroom to get to her bedroom.
Well, it's just as interesting to see the total redo they obviously did on
Mulder's office which these days in no way resembles what we saw here.

-I liked the way they switched to a videotape like look for showing us 
things from the camera's perspective on the elevator. It was a nice touch.

-I'm certainly glad Mulder has, for the most part, significantly cleaned 
up his desk for subsequent episodes because in this one it was a total 
disaster even sporting old half eaten food.

-I was reminded of that blonde joke about the white out and the monitor 
when Scully takes a pen and actually draws on a screen to make a point. 
You can even tell this was not the first take as there are other circles 
visible to the left.

-Frank's Fashion Spot: Sure it is late, but Scully shows up at the Eurisko
building looking much more frumpy than usual in the odd combination of a 
suit with an untucked flannel looking shirt. Why bother with the heels 
unless she's still smarting from feeling so short when she had to take 
off her shoes at Brad's house.

-Lucky those kids are in good shape - I'm surprised they aren't stumbling
more after trucking up 29 floors in the middle of the night.

-It's always interesting to look at the stuff on Mulder's office wall, but
for the life of me I can't figure out what is paranormal about a tire track.

-Fun moment: Mulder's "Open Sesame" as Scully practices ignoring him.

Autumn
"I was gunnin' for a basement office with no heat or windows"