The X-Files: Season 1, Episode 6 Ghost in the Machine
(29 Oct. 1993)
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The X-Files: Season 1, Episode 6 Ghost in the Machine
(29 Oct. 1993)
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| Episode cast overview: | |||
| David Duchovny | ... | ||
| Gillian Anderson | ... | ||
| Jerry Hardin | ... | ||
| Rob LaBelle | ... |
Brad Wilczek
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| Wayne Duvall | ... |
Agent Jerry Lamana
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| Blu Mankuma | ... |
Claude Peterson
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| Tom Butler | ... |
Benjamin Drake
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| Gillian Barber | ... |
Agent Jane Spiller
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Marc Baur | ... |
Man in Suit
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Bill Finck | ... |
Sandwich Man
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Theodore Thomas | ... |
Clyde
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Mulder and Scully are asked by Mulder's old partner Agent Jerry Lamana for help on a case. Benjamin Drake chairman of Eurisko, a major computer company, was electrocuted at the office. The dead man was a personal friend of the Attorney General and Jerry doesn't want to mess up on such a high profile case. Computer genius Brad Wilczek co-founded the company with Drake and had a falling out over the direction of the company. Mulder wonders is someone might have hacked into the Eurisko building's elaborate computer system to use it to electrocute Drake. He turns to his new contact, Deep Throat, to try and figure out what is going on. Written by garykmcd
The ultimate rule for me when it comes to judging fiction of any sort is if the material gives me a reason to care. Just anything of interest in the story which is worth my time spent reading or watching it or listening to it. "Ghost in the Machine" features absolutely nothing that makes me want to watch it again; the villain is merely a third rate copy of HAL9000 from "2001: A Space Odyssey", there is nothing important to Mulder or Scully in this episode, and even Deep Throat is completely wasted.
The Topps comics X-Files series issue #13 is called "One Player Only" and also deals with artificial intelligence (the story is somewhat similar in several ways, actually), and it's a solid piece of fiction. What absolutely fascinates me about this script by Howard Gordon and Alex Gansa is that it completely lacks any inventiveness or originality whatsoever, or even any distinctive dialogue. It's the worst sort of hack job because it's barely ever laughable or corny (dated, sure, but not overly cheesy), but it IS completely boring from start to finish. It's shot quite well, though, and they should have hired the director for a better episode.
Absolute nonsense.
3/10