The Jersey Devil

It's a given that X-Files shows tend to be all over the place. But in most of them there's at least one thread that tends to hold everything together. In this episode, however, the threads are all over the place and the jumps don't fit/connect at all; nothing really comes together. At least not for me. It's just not believable that for decades the Jersey Devil can't be found then as soon as Mulder appears they manage to locate it in a matter of days. It's just a bad episode.

The Jersey Devil inaugurates another X-Files tradition, namely lighter, more entertaining standalone episodes following the more emotionally relevant mythology stories (Squeeze, which aired right after Deep Throat, doesn't count, on the grounds of it being, well, too creepy). This trend was exploited at best in Seasons 5-7, but this episode shows that the writers already had a clear sense of how to do comedy in the series.

As suggested by the title, Mulder and Scully travel to New Jersey, where corpses are found with limbs missing. Remembering an old X-file, Mulder says it might be the legendary "Jersey Devil" who's behind the attacks, meeting inevitable derision on the part of local authorities and, to a lesser degree, Scully. As they get closer to the truth (some evolutionary misstep might be involved), the tension increases and the search for the "Devil" gets more and more serious.

Mulder's beliefs, contrasted with Scully's skepticism, have been there since the pilot episode, but this is the first time their work relationship is played for laughs, with their respective theories clashing in a humorous debate about mankind and evolution (another important theme in the longer run of the show). Naturally, there is also suspense (though not as consistently as in Squeeze) and a traditionally open ending which suggests the story may not be over (which wasn't the case, but still...). Revealingly, though, the epilogue induces a smile rather than a shiver. That's The X-Files in a nutshell: weird, thrilling and funny - often at the same time.

She was beautiful... ....sorry she was what!!!!

This is the first episode from the first series I found a little hit and miss, we have been treated to some great stories and character development up until this point, this one is more of a one off.

Nice that we get some character development for Scully, we learn a bit more about her, and what she's looking for out of life. We also finally get a Policeman that isn't a jerk.

The story is a bit wishy washy, but overall it's pretty good, it starts off better than it ends, 6/10.

"The Jersey Devil" is so typical of why the first season of "The X-Files" is the weakest of the Vancouver seasons and why one could be forgiven for being frustrated with the quality of several of the monster of the week episodes in this season.

The episode lacks any sort of worthwhile characterization aside from the first Mulder porn joke (forgive me if I'm mistaken regarding that) and the dialogue is wildly inconsistent although occasionally fun. The episode's real flaw however is the utterly lazy plotting; beyond just not being a particularly interesting take on the Jersey devil mythology, the plot inexplicably changes course far too many times for a 45 minute episode, and the transitions are not handled well by writer Chris Carter.

This was, of course, the first standalone script by Chris Carter, so I'm not going to be too harsh on him as he certainly did improve later on. Some other stuff worth mentioning: Scully's personal life is explored more here as well and it makes me glad that this didn't become the norm later on in the series and is mostly confined to early episodes, and the direction by Joe Napolitano is actually pretty solid and wasted on a mediocre script by Carter.

4/10

The Jersey Devil is very underrated Monster-of-the-Week episode that I don't think deserves 7.2 on IMDb. I like this episode a lot and for a lot of reasons. This was the first episode that I have seen the clip about Mulder been on a stakeout for a man-eater who eats homeless people as a child. Of course I switch the channel to other program, because I promised my self I will not watch X-Files cause I don't want get scared. Today been adult I enjoy watching Season 1 and I enjoy this episode a lot.

Plot: The murder of a homeless man which is very similar in detail to a murder committed in 1947 leads Mulder and Scully to the legendary man-beast the Jersey Devil (Claire Stansfield) roaming in the forests surrounding Atlantic City.

Again for me Season 1 kicks ass and Mulder is still a hero for me. Here is a case open since 1947 New Jersey when a man was attacked and eaten by other human been. Police officers killed that person but in the present day, that case keeps continuing Mulder and Scully fly to New Jersey investigate the case, when they are unauthorized on this case. Detective Thompson (Wayne Tippit) does not want them on this case so they are dismissed. Scully fly's to Washington D.C. while she attends her godson's birthday party and she meets a handsome man and she goes on a date. Mulder stays in New Jersey and he tracks the creature down, on his own agenda, when he surrounds Atlantic City Forrest. When the local authorities finds out, that a naked man-eater is roaming trough forest and through city eating people they start a hunt for this creature. Mulder wants to catch the creature alive, while Detective Thompson want's it dead. The hunt for The Jersey Devil begins.

Here is the first time we see Scully on a date and she also dresses beautiful and she is adorable in this episode.

I like how Scully rejects her date on the end of the episode for helping Mulder on a cases I like that.

I love how Mulder (David Duchovny) is a real heart in the show. I love how Mulder gives money and a key to his hotel room to a homeless man who helps him on a search for a man-eater creature.

I love how they hunt and chase a man-beast (Claire Stansfield) when she is running though abandoned building in the Atlantic City.

"He's a jerk. He's not a jerk. He's, um... he's obsessed with his work."

I disagree with Scully, Mulder is not a jerk he is a hero and he cared about the truth and he love to help people. In this episode we have Mulder giving a homeless man, his money and keys to his hotel room.

This is actually a real study case for David Duchovny, who was really on a real stakeout, that is why we see Mulder not shaved and not been sleepy. David Duchovny did not sleep whole night, while he was preparing for his role filming this episode. I know that because I read it somewhere.

Tough we don't see Claire Stansfield face enough, she did a great job playing her villain character man-beast.

Joe Napolitano did directed well and Chris Carter did a great job directing this episode.

I like this episode and I like watching it and I still love Mulder to death. David Duchovny did an outstanding job playing his lead character.

This episode get's 9 out of 10, I still love Season 1 and the first season kicks ass and it is the best Season for me.

The first season of the science fiction television series The X-Files commenced airing on the Fox network in the United States on September 10, 1993, and concluded on the same channel on May 13, 1994, after airing all 24 episodes.

"The Jersey Devil" is the fifth episode of the first season of the American science fiction television series The X-Files. It premiered on the Fox network on October 8, 1993. It was written by series creator Chris Carter, directed by Joe Napolitano, and featured guest appearances by Gregory Sierra, Wayne Tippit and Claire Stansfield. Although the episode is the series' second "Monster-of-the-Week" story—after the earlier "Squeeze"—it was the first to have been written by Carter.

9/10 Grade: A Studio: Twentieth Century Fox Starring: David Duchovny, Gillian Anderson, Claire Stansfield, Wayne Tippit, Gregory Sierra, Michael MacRae Director: Joe Napolitano Producers: Chris Carter, Joseph Patrick Finn, Glen Morgan, James Wong Screenplay: Chris Carter Rated: R Running Time: 44 minutes