X-Files S1E7: Spirits in the material world

Editors' Note: On the rewatch of The X-Files, Lorrie plays the part of Sestra Amateur and Paige serves as the resident "expert," aka Sestra Professional.

Sestra Amateur:

From the title "Ghost in the Machine," I wondered whether this would be  another ghost story like the previous episode, "Shapes." I ain’t afraid of no ghosts, but I’d like some variety.

The episode starts in the Eurisko building in Crystal City, Virginia. CEO Benjamin Drake is firing non-CEO Brad Wilczek, who replies, “You’re going to regret this,” then leaves. Brad is probably going to regret saying that. Weird things then happen to Benji. The bathroom sink overflows, he receives an automated time check call on the restroom phone and he gets locked in. Someone also appears to be watching him on the surveillance camera. Benji gets electrocuted and a computerized voice says “File Deleted.” Guess we’re watching Gremlins 2 instead of Poltergeist 2.

Mulder’s former partner Jerry Lamana asks for his assistance with the murder investigation. Mulder enthralls Scully with the riveting tale of why he and Jerry are no longer partners – different career goals, yawn – but it turns out Lamana is also screw-up who is only a good agent when working with Mulder. 

At the Eurisko building, the camera follows Sculder and obtains Scully’s phone number through an ID search. Great, so the building is controlled by the CIA?  Nah, it’s just the COS – central operating system. “HAL” continues to watch Sculder as they talk about the COS with Claude Peterson, the computer's glorified maintenance man. Peterson points out that the only other person on the suspect list would be Brad “You’re going to regret this” Wilczek. Well, unless Brad didn’t do it.

Jerry presents Mulder’s suspect profile as his own and gets praised for the work. Mulder asks Lamana “WTF?” -- but not in those exact words. Sculder notice Wilczek's home camera system is a lot like the one at Eurisko. The guy admits he is the logical suspect, but claims he didn't do it. HAL later accesses Scully's field notes on her computer. The next day, Scully uses technology to show Brad’s voice is the same as the voice on the automated time check that Benji heard before he was murdered. This convinces Scully that Brad is the murderer. That’s quite a leap since Brad created Eurisko; it makes sense that his voice would be used for automation, but OK. Jerry wants to bring in Wilczek by himself so he can get even more accolades. Good thing Mulder agrees. With Lamana hot on his tail, Brad goes to Eurisko to access HAL, who talks to Brad even though HAL isn’t equipped with a voice interface program. That can’t be good. HAL traps Jerry in the elevator then kills him. Program executed, indeed.

Mulder reviews the surveillance footage which makes it look like Wilczek is responsible, but he, of course, thinks otherwise. Scully tells Mulder that the "genius" signed a confession. See? Brad clearly didn’t do it. Without Code 5 clearance, Mulder can't get by FBI bullies at Wilczek's house, so he meets with Deep Throat for answers and learns about AI. No, not the Spielberg movie Artificial Intelligence. The Department of Defense is apparently interested in Brad and his AI technology. Brad doesn't mind staying in jail instead of refusing to let the government use his work the way atom bombs were utilized in World War II. So HAL technically killed Drake in self-defense? Sounds legit.

HAL calls Scully to ask her desktop computer out on a date. OK, it’s more like a Tinder hookup through the modem. I do not miss that annoying sound modems made when they are trying to connect. Anyway, that computer connection is traced back to Eurisko. Mulder is already there and Sculder try to use Brad’s license plate to gain access to the building.  But HAL is too smart for them and crashes the security gate onto Mulder’s car. That is exactly why I don’t like gated communities; I always worry the automated system will malfunction and try to crush me. For those who have seen a 1981 TV movie called This House Possessed, you know what I mean.

Sculder finally get inside, but have to take the stairs so they don’t die like Lamana. Twenty-nine floors -- ouch. Like Venkman said in Ghostbusters, “When we get to 20, tell me; I’m gonna throw up." HAL knocks out the lights, but not the cameras. He also tries that electrocution trick again. You need some new material, HAL. Mulder shoves Scully into an air vent so she can get to the computer room. I really, really wanted HAL to ask, “What are you doing, Dana?” but he didn’t. Peterson opens the door for Mulder while Scully gets blown away – not with an explosion, but with wind. HAL tries to push her into a fan to get chopped into bits and pieces -- what a dick -- but our intrepid heroine shoots her way out of it. Mulder accesses the system to enter a virus that Wilczek gave him, but Peterson pulls a gun on Mulder. Apparently,the guy's a government agent who has been undercover for two years. Scully gets the drop on Peterson and Mulder introduces the virus into the COS. Get this? HAL actually says, “What are you doing, Brad?” Score one for Sestra Am! HAL better not start singing "Daisy Bell." Good, he didn’t.

 Mulder meets again with Deep Throat and finds out the government has hidden Brad away hoping to convince him to let them use his AI technology. DT reminds Mulder that Brad confessed to murder -- which he did not commit -- and Mulder destroyed the evidence that could exonerate Brad. Nice work, Mulder. This episode doesn’t feel like a win. I’m going to enjoy a nice AI marathon of my own:  The Terminator, the Matrix … and This House Possessed.

Sestra Professional:

I got an unintentional jolt out of this episode. See, I was reheating my pepper steak leftovers and the microwave seemed to be making strange noises. When I was texting Sestra, I became suspicious of my cell phone's behavior. I mean does spellcheck really try to fix things or is it just trying to drive you slowly insane by altering words you spelled right to something wrong and incoherent?

Still, the interesting concept of technology-based paranoia doesn't seem to translate into the then-newly formed scope of The X-Files. This episode is kind of cold and calculating ... gasp ... like a machine!

So here we meet one of Mulder's former partners. They imply he's no longer working with Jerry because Mulder is a pain in the ass. Not because Lamana is a complete incompetent who would drive someone of Mulder's obsessive compulsive nature out of his gourd.

There's a short list of suspects in the murder -- one guy. Mulder discounts him because "that just seems to obvious." Yeah, 'cause the obvious one never commits the crime. Maybe instinctively Mulder knows that if Wilczek was the actual perpetrator, his wussy ex-partner would have been able to solve the case without calling on him and stealing his profile. Or perhaps passively aggressively, Mulder wanted HAL to take care of that for him.

Deep Throat's presence in this episode has always felt off to me. I guess he's just there to confirm the government has more than just a passing interest in a computer and point out the Department of Defense would naively consider that such an entity could be controlled.

Meanwhile, Scully is overly focused on that one guy, who "has a predilection for elaborate game playing." Her voice match theory has more holes in it than Swiss cheese. Having her computer hacked in the middle of the night sure changes her mind fast.

And we're off toward the exciting climax -- introducing a virus into a computer! A gate crashes onto the agents' car roof. Mulder does a lot of one-liners like "Open sesame," "So much for the element of surprise," "What are you looking at?" and "Trick or treat" -- it was the Halloween ep, you see. And Scully crawls through pristine air ducts until the computer gets ... wait for it ... wind of that and starts blowing her around the building like a plastic bag in a storm. Then the crawlspace areas are suddenly full of debris, and she is powerless to stop this phenomenon with any means other than her weapon. But finally, a floppy disc is inserted into the drive! The machine is dead. Long live the machine! Whew. Sigh. Yawn.

There is some fun to be had from a meta point of view for a hard-core X-Phile fan. A garden-variety scene with Mulder and Scully in an elevator is conventional at face value. But if you've ever seen the Season 1 gag reel (or the screen grab I just posted next to this paragraph), though, you're getting an entirely different vibe off that.

GUEST STAR OF THE WEEK: Blu Mankuma. He's a familiar face (and voice) from a myriad of television and movies, including Transformers: Beast Wars, Upside Down and Look Who's Talking. But this episode's glorified building super-turned-shadowy government guy also returns in Season 5 to play a contentious detective at odds with Lili Taylor's blind woman in "Mind's Eye." Plus his name is cool.