"The X Files"
Fearful Symmetry (1995)

Director:

James Whitmore Jr.

Writers:

Chris Carter (creator)
Steve De Jarnatt (written by)

TV Series:

"The X Files" (1993)

Original Air Date:

24 February 1995 (Season 2, Episode 18)

Genre:

Drama | Horror | Mystery | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Plot:

An elephant found roaming an interstate road in Boise, Idaho escaped from a locked cage in a zoo across the county...

Plot Keywords:

Female FBI Agent | FBI Agent | Male Female Relationship | Cult | Glock

Cast

David Duchovny	...	Fox Mulder
Gillian Anderson	...	Dana Scully
Jayne Atkinson	...	Willa Ambrose
Lance Guest	...	Kyle Lang
Jack Rader	...	Ed Meecham
Bruce Harwood	...	John Fitzgerald Byers
Tom Braidwood	...	Melvin Frohike
Jody St. Michael	...	Sophie (as Jodie St. Michael)
Charles Andre	...	Ray Floyd
Garvin Cross	...	The Red Head Kid
Tom Glass	...	The Trucker

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Spanish

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Company:

20th Century Fox Television

Goofs:

Factual errors: Mulder is speculating on why the animals are not being returned to the proper location and says to Willa Ambrose, "I don't know where they're being taken, but there's obviously some problem getting them back, due to what is probably an astrological variation, a trouble with the space-time continuum." Even if Duchovny didn't blow the line and spoke it as written, the reference should have been to an 'astronomical' variation.

Quotes:

Frohike: [Mulder's phone rings] If that's the lovely Agent Scully, tell her I've been working out. I'm buff.

Just enjoy...

Whilst it is universally acknowledged that Fearful Symmetry was heavily influenced by the Kolchak episode They Have Been, They Are, They Will Be, whether this makes it a rip-off or a homage is an altogether more controversial point. As a huge fan of both series I subscribe to the latter belief, although the less charitable may not do. James Whitmore was brave to take on the task of directing such a difficult episode, invisible elephants and gorilla suits sounds like a recipe for disaster, but he pulls it off with style, the teaser being an absolute gem. Lance Guest does a great job of making a credible character out of Kyle Lang and Jack Rader seethes with menace as Ed Meecham. Forget Fearful Symmetry's dubious originality and just enjoy it as a deeply satisfying X File.