Many images from "Deep Throat" have stayed with me for a long time. The whole episode feels very familiar every time I watch it, I guess because it's so utterly iconic? Deep Throat's first appearance, the full-on introduction of a government conspiracy, of aliens, of UFO's, practically everything that happens to Mulder and Scully at the military base. It's a beautifully-realized tale which has the series already looking far more sophisticated than most television looked at the time, thanks in no small part to John Bartley's excellent cinematography, a marked improvement over the hack job in the pilot episode by some random cinematographer. Daniel Sackheim does a good job of directing the episode, one of the five he directed between 1993 and 1999.
Oddly enough, however, despite being so iconic and memorable, "Deep Throat" feels routine and disappointing to me now. The story itself is less interesting if you know what's going to happen, and the script isn't strong enough to stand on its own as a memorable piece of fiction. The acting is consistently excellent, with Duchovny and Anderson both improving on their performances in the pilot episode, and Jerry Hardin is excellent in his role.
All in all "Deep Throat" is an improvement over "Pilot", but not a great X-File. It is filled with iconic and memorable imagery, and is particularly notable for being the debut of Mark Snow's legendary theme, but might come as a bit of a disappointment if scrutinized to those of us who have sugar-coated memories of it.
7/10