Duane Barry

The X-Files proved in its first year on the air that is was capable of doing drama, suspense, and intrigue all relatively effortlessly. Despite the ever-looming cancellation reaper following mere steps behind, the show managed to continue into a second season, largely thanks to its excellent finale "The Erlenmeyer Flask," which saw the death of a rather critical character and opened up new doors with the termination of Mulder and Scully's tenure on the X-Files. Although the hunger of the writers and the producers that drove the first season carried on, they too knew that the show could not continue without the actual X-Files to propel it forward. Thus, a critical turning point was required to get the agents back on track. This can be seen as that turning point.

"Duane Barry" is a curious affair in that despite its explosive script there is quite little in the way of explosive action. Steve Railsback plays the titular character and does so to the hilt. A former FBI agent who has been out of commission for thirteen years, Barry believes he is a multiple alien abductee, and escapes a mental institution with his unwilling psychiatrist as part of a plan to prove the veracity of his claims. This leads to a standoff at a travel agency, where the majority of the episode takes place, in which Mulder is called in to do damage control.

The episode primarily serves as a tension-builder for the next episode but is notable in its own right for its proficient guest acting and directing. CCH Pounder is impeccable in her role as Agent Kazdin, who in a world of justice would have been destined to become a recurring character. Railsback is equally competent as the crazed gunman with just enough humanity to reel you in. Chris Carter makes his directorial debut, with some assistance from vet David Nutter, and captures the claustrophobic hostage setting without flaw.

"Duane Barry" would serve as the precedent for various mythology elements in the years to come, in the form of implanted chips and human testing (it's interesting how similarly this was replicated in the "Within/Without" episodes). It also showed that the series was unafraid to raise its stakes by jeopardizing the fate of a main character. As a standalone and as a small part of a big whole it is an essential X-File and remains a classic. And who could say no to Mulder in a speedo?

The episode as a whole is very good, but the final ten minutes make it memorable. No wonder: it was written and directed by Chris Carter. In the X-File universe, it is a highlight on the theme of abduction and extraterrestrial beings. The good use of the "plot twist" feature makes the plot more interesting (you can't say anything else, otherwise it spoils the episode). It is very worth watching, but it is much better if you are watching the series in the sequel. One of the best episodes of the season.

An episode of very high tension as Mulder finds himself in a hostage situation with an alleged abductee. Very little action , but keeps you hooked all the way through , and nicely kicks starts the story of Scully's abduction due to Anderson's real life pregnancy. Although i would advise people with conditions like epilepsy not to watch this as there are many scenes with flashing and strobe lighting. Also contains a lot of good alien scenes , with good special effects. The ending is extremely chilling and will stay with you. A good episode , one which would make anyone want to continue watching th X-Files!

8/10!

This is good, classic X-file stuff. I still remember it when it first aired in my country, it genuinely creeped me out.

Okay, typically for the show we have a well executed thriller. The show had several of these in its first two seasons, even some I don't like but can see their being efficient; Squeeze, Ice, Darkness Falls, even The Host. The problem was usually silly monsters. The better ones were character-based explorations of mental states that had some thriller aspects, a good example is Beyond the Sea.

The thriller here involves possible alien abduction, mysterious body implants, and a hostage situation with Mulder in it. The ending at Scully's home is intense, arguably the most intense moment thus far.

Why I deem this worth watching, quite apart from the show's ongoing fixations and mythology, is that we have a volatile state of narrative truth. We can't be sure of Duane Barry's story of abduction; we can't be sure if our vision of that story isn't being imagined by Mulder, possibly fed by his own paranoia linked to his sister's similar vanishing, down to the imagery of a 'bright light and a presence in the room'; we can't be sure if it is all a hoax masking some other government experiment.

Mulder here is the viewer, Duane Barry's audience in the hostage crisis. He wants to believe, and presumably so do we. He partly is, and so are we, Duane Barry—imaginatively entering a world of borderline madness to experience the intensity of revelation.

"Duane Barry" is the first of a two-part story, wrapped up in the next episode "Ascension". One can argue that "One Breath" is the third part of the story, although it doesn't feature the character of Duane Barry played memorably by Steve Railsback, as it follows up on the events in "Ascension" and what happens to Scully in that episode.

"Duane Barry" is a great episode on its own. If you took out the ending, which sets up "Ascension" and to a lesser degree "One Breath", it could have been a one-part mythology episode. In fact, the conclusion, with Scully saying "it's almost as if someone was cataloguing him", would have been a chilling climax on its own. Not that I have any problem with this being a multi-part story, given how good "Ascension" is, and the ending to this episode with Duane Barry breaking into Scully's apartment is fine as it is.

This was Chris Carter's first stab at directing. I have no clue if he made any short films before it, but this is the first piece of TV or film which he directed that is available. It's really very good, and he succeeds in creating a really claustrophobic, foreboding atmosphere. The performances are very good, and the surprisingly well-done alien scenes elevate a standard-issue hostage situation to greatness. The excellent script helps, too.

9/10