"The X Files" The Field Where I Died (1996)

Director:

Rob Bowman

Writers:

Chris Carter (creator)
Glen Morgan (written by) ...

TV Series:

"The X Files" (1993)

Original Air Date:

3 November 1996 (Season 4, Episode 5)

Genre:

Drama | Horror | Mystery | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Plot:

Agents Mulder and Scully investigate a suspicious religious cult, which inadvertently draws Mulder into recalling a past life, in the field where he died. |

Plot Keywords:

Male Female Relationship | FBI | FBI Agent | Alien | X Files

Cast

David Duchovny	...	Fox Mulder
Gillian Anderson	...	Dana Scully
Mitch Pileggi	...	Walter Skinner
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Doug Abrahams	...	Harbaugh
Kristen Cloke	...	Melissa Rydell Ephesian
Douglas Roy Dack	...	Mighty Man
Michael Dobson	...	BATF Agent
Anthony Harrison	...	Agent Riggins
Michael Massee	...	Vernon Ephesian
Donna White	...	The Therapist

Runtime:

Argentina:60 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Argentina:13

Company:

20th Century Fox Television

Goofs:

Plot holes: At the end when they are all committing suicide, one the of the ingredients of what they are drinking is Potassium Cyanide, which doesn't act quickly enough to kill them as quickly as it did.

Quotes:

Mulder: Evil returns as evil. But love... Souls mate eternal.

Pass the Kool-Aid or Dances With Mulder or The Field Where I Cried

Oh, where do I start with The Field Where I Died. I'll start with the beginning; always a good place to start. The teaser is the lamest teaser I've ever seen. It doesn't peak your interest at all, just Mulder standing in a field with a voice-over. Boring. That also describes the whole episode. The concept of reincarnation, and Mulder somehow being involved in it, is completely ridiculous. It has no place as an x-file. Maybe this story done on a different television show with different characters would've had a chance. The agents are involved in this case because of a contrived reason. Skinner says it's because of Ephesian's paranormal abilities. However, Mulder and Scully quickly discount that he has any such abilities. So, why are they still involved? And why is Melissa even being cooperative? Multiple wives in cults are very loyal to their husband. She wouldn't be submitting so easily to their requests. Every single aspect of Mulder in this episode is completely out of character. From him jumping full force into the whole reincarnation idea to calling Scully "Dana" has you not believing a word of his dialogue. And then when he goes into hypnosis and describes himself as a Jewish woman in World War II Poland. Samantha is his son, Scully his father, and CSM is the Gestapo(how original). Oh brother! I think I missed half the episode from rolling my eyes so much. And then to top it all off, Mulder raises his hands and starts walking across the field toward the barn where they were firing from moments before, doing his best "Dances With Wolves" impression. Lucky for him, they had already stopped firing and had drunken the poison. Because they sure as heck would have shot Mulder without the slightest hesitation. The one decent line in this episode is spoken by Scully when she talks about that she "could've done without the Flukeman thing". That still isn't enough to give this poor excuse for an episode a full point, but IMDb doesn't allow a rating lower than a one. There are plenty of funny things I could say that I would rather do than sit through this mind-numbing episode again, but I'll leave that to your own imagination. One last question to the writers of this episode, Glen Morgan & James Wong: What were you smoking when you wrote this episode and why didn't you share?