Oh "Space." Such a unanimously-maligned, easily discarded mess of an episode, often considered the worst of the series's nine-year run. Does it really deserve all the hate? Probably. But is it all bad? It's a subject of debate.
I could have easily rated this one star and found a way to justify said rating but I feel like that would be unfairly looking the episode's (few) highlights. Somewhere beyond this train collision of a script lies some unbridled ambition and a few kinda cool ideas from the mind of Chris Carter. Astronaut goes up into space, is possessed by a ghostly entity, comes back down and undermines future shuttle launch. Despite its ridiculousness it was an idea that could have worked, and had this script been preserved on the drawing board for five or six years, it probably could have spawned a decent episode.
Unfortunately this early in the game time was of the essence and funds were scarce. Allegedly Fox only gave the production personnel eight days to complete the show. Much reliance was given to stock footage, and the script itself just didn't live up to the caliber of previous episodes like "Squeeze" and "Ice," which, though completed on smaller budgets, proved to be much more compelling.
The guest acting doesn't do the show any favors, although it is not quite as bad as others would have you believe. Ed Lauter is annoying in his role as Colonel Belt, yet even his accent gives his character a certain charm from time to time. Michelle (Susanna Thompson) is equally horizontal, yet still not poorly acted per se.
I think the episode's biggest problem is that it confines Mulder and Scully as spectators rather than participants, and relegates them to the sidelines for the entirety of the episode. Is there a single scene without the two of them running around NASA like chickens sans heads? This was the first episode to make this mistake (and probably the biggest offender) and like future episodes that would repeat it, the end result is a crippled mess.
There were a few likable things strewn throughout: the wallpaper in Belt's office, the cleverly hidden "starwars.doc" that shows up on his computer, the scene where the "ghost" exits his body. Unfortunately these are just a few juicy spots in an undercooked slab of meat. On the whole this episode failed to provide any real sense of tension or character development, and as such it remains one of the weakest of the series. Maybe not THE worst, but certainly nowhere near the top 50%.
3/10
