The X-Files (TV Series) Firewalker (1994) User Reviews

Firewalker is alright...

[Sanpaco13 · 6/10 · 5 April 2007]

Firewalker the Limerick:

A volcano contains a bacteria

If you are infected it'll spear ya

Right through the neck

Before you can say heck

And before that you'll feel some deleria

This is an average episode at best. Many have described it as an inferior twin brother to the episode "Ice" with good reason as there are a number of similarities to the underlying story. Personally I think that there are more differences than similarities however. I guess they are more like just siblings rather than twins. Upon first viewing of this episode I liked it simply because of the mysterious volcano setting. I have always like that sort of atmosphere for film. Also this is Scully's first case after recovering from her abduction which makes it important in that sense. It shows that we are still watching the same old intelligent Scully who is quite capable of taking care of herself. I thought it was interesting at one scene when Mulder suggests to Scully that maybe she should take some time off and she replies that she has lost too much time already. Upon watching this recently I had the thought that alien abductees report lost time and thought that maybe this quote was supposed to have some sort of double meaning whether it was intended by Scully or not. Just a thought.

The teaser to this episode while interesting has one thing that really bothers me. That is that you see a shadow of what we assume is a man but as they mention "what could be moving around in that kind of heat?" They of course imply that something inhuman down there which leads us to believe that this is going to be some sort of firemonster from the volcano episode. But nothing is done later on to explain what that shadow was and there is no monster. The only other problem I really have with the episode as far as inconsistency goes is I never understood why the girl at the end handcuffs herself to Scully. Unless the virus was taking over and making her do things to ensure that it would infect others. But if thats true why didn't the others that were infected do things to try and infect the others? The one guy actually ran trying to get away from the others. It just doesn't make any sense to me and if there is a reason it is not clearly implied or explained in the episode. And I usually pride myself on being able to understand and follow complex plots in TV and Movies so dare I say that if I couldn't understand that then not many other average viewers could either.

There are still other things that I liked about the episode in addition to the atmospheric setting. First thing is the actor that plays Trepkos is the same guy that plays Eric Gordon, the weasely corporate suck up, on Billy Madison. I just like that fact. It's always fun to see actors that you have a certain image of play a part that is the complete opposite of that image. Another pro about the episode is the spores are way cool. Kudos to special effects for this episode as far as making the necks bulge and then break open spraying out more spores. I think probably my favorite scene of the episode is when Mulder and Scully first enter the compound and Ludwig tries to take off Mulder's head with the pick and then when Mulder takes him down he starts apologizing. What an awkward situation that would be. "I'm sorry I didn't mean to try and kill you." Ha! Overall I have to say that I liked the episode for the most part other than the somewhat confusing storyline. I can't really give it a better score than other average episodes however so I give it a 6/10.

Underrated

[higgle-1 · 8/10 · 20 January 2010]

I had heard some mediocre reviews of this episode, so I had never bothered to see it for a long time, but when I did I was glad. Although it had elements that were very close to the episode "Ice", it was extremely well-made and genuinely eerie and disgusting. I especially liked the special effects of the bulging throats, which was very realistic and gross. Again, although it rips off Ice a bit, the fact is that Ice is a really good episode and this episode, being so similar, shows that quality. I believe it would be received very well by a viewer who had never seen Ice. Also, I found the character of Trepkos and the parallels between his relationship with Jesse and Mulder's relationship with Scully, and both their relationships with the truth, very intriguing; more so than the characters in Ice. The last act in particular was very well-directed and heart-pounding. As for the writing, it was good, especially Trepkos's dialogue and monologue, although there were some plot holes/ideas that were never tied up or expanded on.

Also, chalk it up to being a West Wing fan, but I found the character of Trepkos to be unbelievably sexy. I'd rewatch the episode just to look at him :)

Phallus or Fungus

[mshmyr · 6/10 · 5 February 2020]

The practical effects in this episode...oh my! Why on earth did they color that thing the same color as his flesh if not just a little pinker....Not much else to say...that was one erect fungus.

A very good episode, unfairly dismissed as a 'remake' of "Ice"

[ametaphysicalshark · 11 November 2008]

Prior to this viewing, "Firewalker" was one of only five X-Files episodes I had only seen once. I figured there was no need to watch it again, because I found it neither bad nor good, and just boring. Imagine my surprise as I re-watched "Firewalker" and found it very entertaining, and actually a very good episode in every way.

If you've read any of my comments on "The X-Files" episodes you would know that I am not a fan of Howard Gordon (who would go on to become the boss at "24", a show I'm really not a fan of), especially with his former writing partner Alex Gansa, not that I like him much on his own either. I find his scripts to be generally flat and uninspired, and the dialogue to be fairly poor, which is something you can usually expect great things from when it comes to "The X-Files". With "Firewalker" I think he's done extremely well, in spite of the inconsistencies others have pointed out. I still prefer "Ice" (which certainly is very similar to this) because it's got an absolutely classic script with memorable dialogue, but "Firewalker" is still a fine episode.

"Firewalker" actually has a much stronger atmosphere (thanks to the creepy and mysterious volcano setting) and group of guest characters than "Ice" does. Another IMDb user noticed that you could read Trepko and Jesse's characters as parallels to Mulder and Scully, which is not only a sound observation, but something I can't believe I didn't pick up on. David Nutter (who also directed "Ice") returns and does a great job of creating genuinely claustrophobic atmosphere. The guest cast is outstanding as well.

"Firewalker" is not a great episode, but it's very good, almost surprisingly so, and deserves more credit than it gets.

8/10

Ice: Redux

[Muldernscully · 7/10 · 24 April 2006]

Lucky, Agent Scully. For Scully's first assignment after being abducted and experimented upon, she gets to go to a cold, wet, isolated region and have people try to infect her with contagions. I think she should've passed. Even though Firewalker is a semi-repeat of 'Ice' from season one, I still enjoyed this episode. There were enough differences that I wasn't bothered too much. What I really liked about the episode was the special effects of the bulging necks. That was really gross. It did not look fake at all. Once the spore had sprouted from Tanaka's neck and he was just lying there on the table, the sprout leaving the throat make-up was not so good. There was also an inconsistency with the plot where the infected O'Neil tried to infect Scully, but the infected Tanaka fled the compound away from the others, trying not to infect them. That isn't consistent with a parasite trying to find a host. Besides that one inconsistency, I think that Firewalker is an entertaining episode to watch.

Fire and Ice

[devonbrown-90649 · 7/10 · 14 April 2023]

Decent episode. With a interesting take on what lies in the unknown volcano mountains. I really enjoyed trepkos role. He clearly wasn't afraid to do whatever it took to stop the fungus from getting out but it must of been a hard pill to swallow to murder your colleagues.

Scully got lucky once again, her miraculous recovery is still unexplained but I'm glad to see her normal scepticism hasn't disappeared with her coma state.

Love how she went all science mode on the fungus and came to some good conclusions about what it is.

Mulder instincts and ability to be in the right place at the right time really makes this episode and the whole show. He really is a special character.

Overall the episode was better than average. Not as thrilling as the last episode and not much character development either.

Scully: How soon can we get up there?

[bombersflyup · 7/10 · 17 July 2020]

Firewalker is about an investigation into the death of a scientist and something moving around at temperatures of 130 degrees Celsius, at a volcano site.

One of the weaker episodes, though of course still solid viewing. It can also can be referred to as "Ice 2 - The Much Duller One." The characterization's thin and the guest performances weak, that and it doesn't make a whole lot of sense. The teaser has Trepkos? walking around in this heat, no explanation given. Then you have the organism wanting to find a new host, with Jessie handcuffing Scully, but Tanaka not wanting to, who knows.

Layered!

[silverlukas · 9/10 · 30 June 2008]

This episode is much better than you may think at first. I got what this episode was really about the second time I saw it. After the first time I left with the widely shared impression that it is just nice remake of "Ice". And yeah, the two episodes are very much alike in some ways, but "Firewalker" is not just a remake.

This episode is actually layered! It is not just a coincidence that it is the first case with Scully after her abduction and there is a reason they mention this several times in it. The whole case was about Mulder and Scully and the themes that the previous episodes started - about Mulder's guilt and Scully's participation in his quest and the dangers of it. The mad and brilliant scientist Trepkos was in some ways like Mulder and his girlfriend Jessy was in some ways like Scully. Trepkos had come to this volcanic place because he wanted to reveal a great truth and to discover something the world has never seen - just like Mulder. And Jessy had followed him out of affection and respect towards him and because of the promise of adventure - just like Scully. And Trepkos' words didn't concern only his life and his case - all these things about the truth better buried, and how difficult is finding it and dealing with it... I believe it was intentional, his words touched something personal for Mulder, his fear that he's putting Scully's life in danger for something that may be better not to be found (at such a price). And that is why in the end he told the rescuing team that there are only two people left, that is why he understood Trepkos, who has lost everything - his truth, his girl, his clear conscience. Just like Mulder was close of losing everything in the previous episode "One breath". Of course Mulder is better than Trepkos (and Scully is stronger than Jessy) and we, fans should not worry that he'll end up like this :)...but searching for such kind of truths is always dangerous and Mulder's fears are understandable.

Really underrated episode.

I really did not remember loving this episode this much

[SleepTight666 · 10/10 · 20 July 2008]

Okay, I really did not remember loving this episode this much. What can I say? I loved the suspense.

This episode gets a bad rap because of all the similarities to 'Ice', but that really only makes it good, because 'Ice' was brilliant. And even with the similarities, it's not that much like Ice.

I loved the guest cast, I felt for every single character. I loved Trepkos and Jesse especially and loved their final shot. very sad.

It was also good to have Scully back, I was in for a break but it was good to have her side-to-side along Mulder. and her scene with Jesse was chilling, really creepy and well done.

I'm gonna go crazy and give this FIVE stars. I'm really enjoying this season more than I remembered.

Ok, it's similar to Ice, but still brilliant.

[Sleepin_Dragon · 8/10 · 26 September 2020]

Firewalker is a thoroughly enjoyable episode, it's a return to the horror genre, and a change in tone from the previous group of episodes. After a mini story arc, this is very much a stand alone episode.

So let's address the elephant in the room, I'm a novice to the earlier episodes of The X Files z and purposely haven't read other reviews. A few days ago I watched Ice for the first time in years, you have to be honest there is more than a passing similarity, story, tone, threat, vibe, it does mirror Ice, but as Ice is a favourite episode, there is no issue. Firewalker takes it a step further, the moment of demise is very gruesome.

I loved the intrigue created by the opening scenes, a well placed shadow can do all manner of things.

Very good, 8/10.

A lamer ripoff of Ice

[frankelee · 3/10 · 7 July 2023]

Basically a redo of an episode from season one that was already too much of a ripoff of a story outside of what The X-Files is. Anytime this show gets into paranormal biology its plots go flying off the rails.

In this case we've got the bizarre case of a "remote" volcano observatory station. I dunno, sounds like a lame excuse trying to remake the Arctic. It could be young scientists helicopter up a mountain for a year away from all civilization to look at temperature readings from a volcano in real time (spoiler, it's hot), but I have a feeling it'd be easier to build a road. I think the writers knew this was stupid though, so several of the characters speechify the sheer scientific enormity of their efforts to look at a volcano from not very far away. As they say, the bigger the lie.

Anyway, we have a thing which can infect you! Oh no! And it sort of controls your mind, maybe, or it does, or no it doesn't, it's not clear. It infects you, it's not really a parasite, it doesn't want to live inside you, it just wants to grow until you die, at which time it dies, and it's extremely unlikely to infect anyone else in the few seconds its spores have to do so. Which doesn't sound like a very smart plan, so maybe it's not intelligent, but no wait, it controls your mind, but no wait, the mind controlled people don't really do anything to help the fungi.

But then maybe it's not meant to infect people? Or is it? It lives inside volcanic caves that are like 100 to 200 degrees centigrade. So... it clearly didn't evolve to rely on fauna to show up and infect. But then it easily infected these people.

Fortunately, to help clear all this up, the one uninfected guy who can explain everything is insane, lives in the woods, murders innocent people on sight, and does everything in his power to ensure that any rescuers and law enforcement agents who show up (one in a million that only two FBI agents actually came to a murder/rescue operation now that I think about it) are first and foremost concerned with helping the infected people out of there and killing him before he can deliver any exposition. For once Mulder's complete incompetence as a federal agent really seems to have saved the day, as his inability to use his firearm in a confrontation with an armed murderer, and his willingness to surrender his weapon against all regulations to the contrary, allows him to actually hear this uninfected madman's story. It boggles my mind that Mulder and Scully are allowed to have weapons, if only their supervisors could watch them drop, surrender, refuse to draw, misplace, and generally fail to understand the idea behind their pistols the way the audience does, there's no way this would be permitted to continue.

So before the episode ends the star of the 1980s Blob actually does try to help the fungus, kind of, and the insane murderer stops murdering, so both have an unexpected total 180 in behavior (which balances out so it makes sense), and Scully must figure out a way to keep the exploding, clearly Alien-like fungal protrusion from infecting her since she's now handcuffed to the fungal girl. Scully's solution of closing a door, sort of, between them is terrible, as the door doesn't even actually close, it's cracked open, and to make matters worse Scully doesn't stop panting the entire time, so when the spores do explode out of the girl in a big dust cloud, there's literally next to no way they couldn't go through the gigantic gap between the door and the door frame and fly up Scully's wide open mouth even if they wanted not to. But don't worry, they don't, she's fine.

I couldn't adlib a story this internally contradictory if a madman held a flare gun to my head and demanded I hang out shirtless with him inside a volcano. But then let's be honest, The X-Files is a really silly show most of the time, and if you enjoy the B-movie level schlock it so often indulges in, you'll love this. I however must maintain my personal dignity here, and give this episode the 3/10 it deserves. And even then a rating this high is only earned because the idea of paranormal volcanic research is creative if nonsensical, they actually built the gigantic volcano spider robot as a prop, and most of all, the fresh Raggedy Ann haircut they gave Shawnee Smith.

"Our meddling intellect misshapes the beauteous forms of things."

[classicsoncall · 8/10 · 27 May 2017]

This was a cleverly written episode in the respect that the character Daniel Trepkos (Bradley Whitford) could almost be considered a stand-in for Agent Mulder. He's a scientist on the verge of discovering something completely new and unexpected which would have huge repercussions for humanity, but by it's very nature, the information is considered dangerous and must be destroyed. In his interaction with Trepkos, it's apparent that Mulder recognizes his own strengths and weaknesses in pursuing the unknown. The clincher to all this is that he gives Trepkos a pass in his summation of the unsolved case.

The only minor nit-pick I have with many of these X-Files episodes is that they seem to borrow concepts from other sources quite regularly, even if they seem quite innovative at first. The 'Alien' chest-burster for example, becomes a throat-buster in this story. I'm not sure how the writers could have come up with a more novel approach, after all, a lot has been written and filmed over the past century so it's difficult to come up with something truly unique. In that respect, the idea of a silicon based life form was a genuinely creative effort this story came up with.

One aspect of the story that had personal implications for this viewer was the idea that volcanologist Trepkos had a history of bi-polar and was taking medication for it. With members of my own family dealing with the same diagnosis, the idea that Trepkos stopped taking his medicine as a result of his discovery seemed plausible in the story, thereby raising the question of his action a product of rational decision making or one of paranoid delusion. Once again, Mulder's case file would insure that the status of the 'missing' Trepkos (and Jessie O'Neill) would remain unsolved, presumably to keep the the man's reputation and standing intact.

Another "trapped" story

[CursedChico · 8/10 · 24 October 2020]

Like the episode "ice" and the other was one in the forest, hiding from ancient bugs.

This time they need to stay away from some kind of fungis growing inside body.

I could not understand how trepkos could survive and can walk in such places where camera showed his shadow.

It was nice episode. We saw mulder again as very brave when he wants to learn the truth.

Rehash

[chaos-rampant · 6 June 2013]

After Scully's return where she conveniently cannot remember a thing from her abduction, in this episode we go back to the average 'monster' work.

A bad 'slasher' film, in this rehash of similar episodes Ice and Darkness Falls, the siege scenario shifts to a volcano, the explanation of paranoia shifts to hallucinative spores, but again the whole point is an encounter with a mysterious, ancient lifeform that defies reason. If you were just tuning in to the show, you may find it passable. However, knowing how it usually plays out, this is lazy, boring beyond belief.

Episodes like this are why I can never seem to bring myself to finish long TV series, we just have to drag our feet through filler after filler to get to morsels that advance the long arch.

I'm back and I'm not going anywhere.

[alexandercappelli · 28 August 2015]

"I'm back and I'm not going anywhere." - Dana Scully.

Episode 9, 'Firewalker', original air date November 18th, 1994. Written by Howard Gordon, directed by David Nutter. Monster of the week episode count, 22. Howard Gordon's second script for season 2 is a decent thriller in its own right but suffers due to a feeling of repetition. Tensions run high as a team of scientists fight for their survival in an isolated research station after the discovery of a new life-form threatens their existence. They are displaying violent tendencies and unusual shifts in their behaviour that is generating a sense of distrust and suspicion between them and the F.B.I agents. If this is starting to sound familiar it's because the plot bares more than a passing resemblance to season 1's stellar MOTW episode 'Ice.' James Wong, one of the writer's on 'Ice' criticised this episode as a rehash of ideas, expressing concern that the show may have begun cannibalising itself. Nearly every review of 'Firewalker' makes reference to 'Ice' and Gordon himself acknowledged the similarities, arguing however that the difference outweighed the sames. Watching this episode I found that the recurrence of ideas and themes from an arguably superior episode made this entry feel redundant. Much in the same way that 'Roland' felt like a repeat, thematically, of 'Born Again', 'Firewalker' plays like a season 2 remake of 'Ice.' Firewalker is the name of a robot that was designed to traverse the inner floor of a volcano for the purpose of scientific research. Recently the team lost contact with the man in charge, Daniel Trepkos (Bradley Whitford), and has received some concerning imagery from Firewalker's internal camera. Mulder and Scully are contacted by one of the scientists who was, until recently, heavily involved in the project. Concerned with jeopardising the project's funding, he contacts the X-Files unit as a way of avoiding traditional channels of investigation. The pair of agents head off to investigate and quickly find themselves caught up in a game of cat and mouse as Trepkos appears to have lost his sanity and is murdering his fellow scientists. It becomes clear that the team are infected with some type of unknown biological contagion which causes them to die in a manner not dissimilar to the victims in the 'Alien' film series, this was another criticism from some reviewers regarding the reuse of old ideas. Trepkos has discovered a new type of life-form and has taken it on himself to ensure it does not reach the outside world. Unsurprisingly it's all left fairly unresolved with nearly all parties dead or missing by the episodes conclusion.

It's almost unfortunate that this episode follows a more polished version of the same story because without the ability to draw comparisons it's likely that 'Firewalker' would have been a much more enjoyable affair. The acting is certainly a draw card and possibly the main element that keeps the story afloat. Shawnee Smith and Jason Ludwig in particular have proved on several occasions that they're quite adept at playing characters with high levels of anxiety and they both deliver convincing performances. Hiro Kanagawa is another consistently believable character actor that helps to ground this story in some level of reality. Parallels have been drawn between Trepkos and O'Neils character and Mulder and Scully's relationship. Trepkos, like Mulder, is driven by an insatiable quest for truth while pulling along O'Neil who invariably ends up at risk thanks to his disregard for rational thinking. It's a nice underlay to the script that gives the show a bit of layering but it's not quite enough to redeem its flaws. Scully remarks to Mulder at one point that she's back and not going away. This is almost directed at the audience as the writers assure us that Anderson isn't going anywhere and we can get back to the standard format after the recent departure.

A personal gripe I have with this episode concerns it's opening sequence. We witness a shadow move across the dead body of a scientist lying on the volcanic floor. Characters remark that temperatures inside the area well exceed those fit for humans and we're left to assume we're in for some type of fire monster episode. As we learn that it's simply Trepkos who is causing the destruction we can't help but wonder how exactly he is able to walk inside the volcano interior without dying. He is seen with sever burns to his body but nothing is given to indicate any element of super human resistance to heat. This is a type of plot hole that has occurred before in previous episodes. Specifically that what we see in the episodes opening doesn't fit in to the following story. It seems that in an attempt to peak our interest from the outset, which this admittedly succeeds in doing, the writer has sacrificed a certain amount of logic in the story. Howard Gordon was never a particularly strong writer during his time on the X-Files and had he not essentially ripped of Morgan & Wong with this remake we may well had been singing his praises. Alas. this one just simply came at the wrong time to be considered anything other than an average episode.