E.B.E.

E.B.E is a taught and suspenseful episode, teetering on the verge of paranoia. Up to this point the show's been feeling its way along, mostly aimlessly, trying to figure out where it's headed and what it's going to be about. We've got some hints and bits of disjointed and apparently unrelated events and phenomena of the overarching plot, but that's all. The producers knew it and we knew it- they had to dig up a solid theme. E.B.E. was the answer, and a good one at that.

The introduction of the Lonegunmen added yet another layer of texture and substance, broadening the show's background, bringing a refreshment and further ingenuity and, to some extent, taking some burden off Mulder and Scully's shoulders, giving them somebody to bank on every now and then.

Not showing too much was also a nice touch, raising the tension and expectations higher. We know now that the US government is in the possession of an extraterrestrial being, and later on we become privy to the government's intentions in relation to it. As the episode went along, we got one answer followed by a dozen lies, as frustration was growing stronger in Mulder on screen. It was even more successful on an emotional level that on story line, come to think of it. The lead characters were apparently becoming more and more unnerved as they realized they'd been spied on, lied to, and purposely fed misinformation.

Toward the end of the episode Deep Throat hints at Roswell Incident as being the beginning of an international agreement on destroying any E.B.E. should it establishes a contact with a particular country. This suggests that the Roswell Incident was in fact authentic, which contradicts another statement from DT later made in The Erlenmeyer Flask, dubbing it a 'smokescreen'.

But I guess that's the price you pay when you get tangled up in a plot so convoluted- it's hard to keep everything in check. Be it as it may, this episode bears enough merit as to grant it a pardon for the mistakes it made.

Main thing I can point out is that E.B.E. is a quintessential X Files episode that pretty much stands out among the crowd.

True, a couple of earlier episodes deal with UFO's and the like, but "E.B.E." is the first episode which takes the form of your average season 2-5 mythology episode, and is the first to show an indication of the extent of the government cover-up and conspiracy, well beyond what we had seen in previous episodes, and this time directly in relation to Mulder and Scully.

"E.B.E." is an oddity as a mythology episode since it was written by James Wong and Glen Morgan, who usually wrote spooky standalone episodes. This is a different sort of script for them, but they pull it off brilliantly, with a lot of excellent dialogue and memorable scenes, such as Scully's first meeting with the Lone Gunmen, us learning more about Deep Throat's background, if he is to be believed. I do find it odd that the episode which was very much the launching point for the mythology story was not written by the people who eventually carried on the story.

"E.B.E." features some outstanding use of smoke cinematography-wise, which lends the episode a great atmosphere. The same trick would continue to feature prominently in the second and third seasons which were also photographed by John Bartley. The musical score is also excellent, with one tune in particular being quite haunting and memorable.

"E.B.E." is very much a personal favorite as it was the first episode I properly sat down and watched, and got me hooked instantly. In a first season with precious few great episodes it shines even more than it does in comparison to most episodes in later seasons, and it lays the foundation for not only the masterful season finale "The Erlenmeyer Flask", but for the many great mythology episodes to come.

What an outstanding episode.

10/10

Builds upon the UFO/extra terrestrial storyline seen in some episode's with a climatic finish, but also doesn't give too much away.

E.B.E. kicks the mythology into high gear. This episode has everything: danger, suspense, deception, humor, wit, and action. Before this episode I had always referred to aliens as extra-terrestrials (E.T.). This was the first time I had heard the expression extra-terrestrial biological entity (E.B.E). Too bad Spielberg's film wasn't called E.B.E.. And of course, besides the excellent and exciting story, a good reason to see this episode is for the introduction of the Lone Gunmen, a trio of paranoid men who help Mulder out with their expertise from time to time. What makes this episode stand out is that previously Deep Throat has given Mulder information to help him on a case. In this episode, however, he intentionally misleads Mulder. It makes you wonder what Deep Throat's motives truly are. E.B.E. is a top-notch episode that helps you to see whether it's remotely plausible that someone might thing Scully is hot.

Now this is a turning point.

Previously, the pair of detectives had all sorts of close encounters with strange phenomena, with sundry evidence establishing proof. This is complicated here. We have the usual conspiracy and cover-up by secret government, but also we have doctored evidence, and even a whole close encounter staged to dupe the pair away from the 'real' thing.

So when in the end we have deep revelations about Roswell, and the alleged UFO at Hanoi, the narrator is unreliable and could be making up any part of what he reveals, and even the whole secret compound can be a hoax set up because it is something we would expect to discover, wanting to believe. It makes little sense why any of this should happen, but that's the series for you.

The notion is that the most convenient place to hide a lie is between truths, a statement which in our case can be both a lie and true.

Other than that, this is the most cinematic and evocative of the episodes so far.