"Scully, for God’s sake it’s me!"
"Mulder you may not be who you are."

"Ice" is an X-Files episode with a lot of texture. On the surface
it can be (and has been) compared to the horror classic "The Thing",
but this episode is so much more than that obvious reference.
Writers Morgan and Wong with the able help and tight - almost
claustrophobic - direction of David Nutter deliver a landmark 
journey into the paranoid from the first season. "Ice" touches
on many themes that have become X-Files staples (trust, paranoia, 
isolation and partnership) all wrapped up into a tense and edgy
package. These themes are all first presented in the particularly
cool teaser that sets a creepy tone by witnessing a foreshadowing 
standoff between partners that ends with a double suicide as a last 
gasp of humanity. This picture is referenced in both worried
fantasies  "If we don’t kill it now we run the risk of becoming
Richter and Campbell with guns to our heads" and in reality later 
as Mulder and Scully pull their guns on each other for the first 
time. Little did we know at the time that this would not be such a 
rare occurrence.

"Ice" has always been a favorite episode of mine because it is the 
first to really delve into the most valued prize in the X-Files 
universe - Trust. It is something that will be revisited again and 
again to the point that a breakdown of trust between the continually 
isolated team of Mulder and Scully has become the show’s biggest 
threat. In the X-Files it is not the word "love" that has all the 
power. In fact, despite the fact that Mulder and Scully do obviously 
love each other (setting aside the debate as to whether that love is 
platonic or romantic at its root), they don’t use that word out loud. 
Their emotional investment seems to hinge on whether they are trusted
by the other. 

This is one of those rare X-Files episodes where paranoia causes our 
heroes to let emotions ride close to the surface throughout. Even 
before they head off to the Icy Cape, Scully is visibly shaken by 
what she sees in the video (ah, for those good old unjaded days 
before horror was an every day occurrence). At least she hasn’t lost 
her wits by this and is able to offer a quick SRE (Scully Rational 
Explanation) in the form of severe isolation disorder. Even though 
Mulder is uninfected we rarely see him this agitated without some 
outside influence (or at least something to do with Samantha). The 
characters spend their time jumping at the slightest thing and arguing
forcefully. To have Mulder and Scully actually yelling at each other 
about their alternate theories loud enough for people in another room 
to hear illustrates just how oppressive the atmosphere at Ice Station 
Worm has become. When Hodge confronts them about the argument and 
Scully’s stress level we just know things are bad because Scully says 
"Yes, I’m fine." Never a good sign.

Still, despite the arguing and stress, Mulder and Scully remain a 
team as they try to connect in a friendly manner before heading off 
to bed. Even as the big show down escalates after Murphy’s body is 
found, Scully is initially defending him. It is only when he starts 
waving his gun around that she draws hers in one of the great scenes 
in this episode. The pain in their faces as they find themselves 
pointing their guns at each other is a real testament to what 
Duchovny and Anderson can bring to an emotionally charged scene. 
They continue to deliver the goods later in a scene thick with 
unspoken emotions as they intently whisper their conversation: "Now 
I don’t trust them. I want to trust you". "OK, but now they’re not 
here." As Scully and checks Mulder’s neck for signs of illness relief 
washes over her until he surprises her by grabbing her and performing 
the same check. This is a wonderful scene in the history of their 
partnership and ends with them emerging as a united front.

Mark Snow contributes heavily to "Ice" with an echoing bubbly score 
that adds to and focuses the tension nicely. John Bartley shows his 
talents again in the dark and the shadows and the glowing red lights 
of the emergency lighting. The special effects are simple yet very 
effective. After all, the monster here is really the effect of the 
circumstances on those involved more than some alien meal worms.

In they "we’ll let these things slide" department we are never quite 
sure why the spooky patrol draws this assignment in the first place - 
there is no paranormal indicator on the tape, just an obviously 
unbalanced person. Maybe Mulder is correct in his assessment that 
they are either considered by this point brilliant or expendable. 
I also enjoy imagining just how much slice and dice Dr. Scully had 
to do on the bodies to find these worms if they were located deep in 
the brain as she suggests - and how a dog passes a brain worm in it’s 
stool is an alien medical mystery. While I generally liked the
supporting performances in this episode I did find Felicity Huffman’s 
Da Silva a bit too over the top at times (even for someone who was 
worm infected). Her exaggerated breathing when Scully surprises her 
and especially that wild squealing frenzy at the end I could have done 
without. However, the biggest issue about this episode has always been 
trying to figure out how in the hell Da Silva was infected. The only 
indication I have ever seen is the fact that we see her coughing as 
that worm that is pulled out of Bear releases its black poison. Other 
than that your guess is as good as mine. 

Random Musings
----------------------
-Ye olde wall thermometer in the teaser reads -34 degrees Celsius 
which by my math is really really cold and yet they are running 
around without their shirts on. I certainly hope it reflects outside 
temperature.

-Fashion Watch: While Scully in retrospect always looks a bit frumpy 
at the start of season one she is wearing one of her smarter suits 
when we first see her here. This is also a big episode for Mulder/Scully 
casual wear with Mulder sporting a sweater layered over shirts and 
Scully alternately in a black body suit top or white tank top under
an oversize flannel shirt. The casual wear - or rather lack of heels 
on her part - really does accentuate the height difference between 
the dynamic duo here no matter how high she tries to tie that silly 
pony tail.

-Date stamp: The transmission date for Richter’s call was November 5, 
1993 and Mulder says they are there "a couple of days" later.

-Where in the world are Mulder & Scully watching that video? 
Apparently this was before the days that the X-Files office merited 
its own VCR setup so they are relegated to a classroom featuring 
wanted posters and a map of West Virginia. It is filled with enough 
equipment for Mulder to rip a page off a printer for no particular 
reason.

-For the most part Mulder’s advice to "bring your mittens" was a bit
premature. The Vancouver weather doesn’t do them any favors here as 
Nome Alaska, despite the fact that Mulder and Scully are swimming in 
parkas, comes off as a beautiful, clear, warm place with no trace of 
snow in mid November. (Thank God they had that one blizzard stock shot 
for the Icy Cape). The end is good for a laugh as we watch the actors 
rubbing their hands to ward off the cold and yet no breath is visible 
from their mouths (like say it was in the Florida based "Humbug").

-I don’t see what good that little identification formality did at 
the beginning as the ID Da Silva flashes has no picture on it. Well, 
at least we learned that even Mulder and Scully’s parkas have that 
built in inside badge pocket.

-Maybe it is just that I am a football fan, but I’ve always enjoyed 
the character bits they gave Murphy. That "Fouts is God" line cracks 
me up every time.

-Action!Scully works on her flying tackles for this episode. The 
first time she’s successful as little old Scully brings down Bear 
after Mulder is bonked on the head by a stool jar of all things. 
The second time when she tries to stop Da Silva she hits nothing 
but floor. Ouch.

-I’m a bit surprised that Hodge survived this trip to the arctic. 
After all he did say "No you’re wrong. It’s impossible." to Scully 
about one of her autopsies which is usually as good as signing your 
own death warrant and wearing a red shirt on this show. At least 
she gets to put a real huffy look on her face about the accusation. 
Like Scully would be wrong about an autopsy. She’s wrong about some 
things, but they usually don’t have to do with her work as a doctor. 
Plus, I can’t for the life of me figure out why they are wasting 
their time arguing about ammonium hydroxide when they should be 
talking about that bug in the blood.

-Scully shows us she can be a quick tempered little sailor’s daughter 
here when she jumps on Hodge with "What the hell are you trying to 
say?"

-Ever wonder if Mulder was jealous that it was Scully that got the 
room with the scantily clad hot rod babes adorning the walls? Scully 
didn’t seem to be enjoying the room at all sitting there barricaded 
in the corner...

-Those microscopes were pretty cool. Every time someone looked 
through them the magnification magically changed. Sometimes it 
was 100, sometimes 200, others 300. All without adjustment.

Autumn
"Leave it there."