I should mention that the episode order is going to be a little off for a bit because the idea came to me when I was already into re-watching the series, which I started doing because my memories of it are pretty favorable.

“Ice” is the eighth episode of the First season.  It revolves a of group researchers at an Arctic research station.  The FBI is brought into the case because the last transmission from the station was very unusual (though why Scully and Mulder received the assignment – when at this point there’s little that shows that they actually had the necessary expertise – is not made clear).

They’re accompanied by three other scientists, Drs. Murphy, Da Silva and Hodge.  The most interesting of the three is Dr. Hodge (Xander Berkeley) who seems oddly authoritative, massively douchy and has serious trust issues when it comes to the FBI in general, and government in particular.

We learn that the original party of researchers were taking ice cores when an alien parasite was  released, which somehow infected the researchers, causing them either to kill each other, or themselves.

A dog at the station – which was also somehow infected by the parasite – bites the pilot.  The pilot dies when Dr Hodge removes the parasite (which he somehow remains blameless for).  This strands everyone at the research station till the weather clears, and someone could reach them.

Later in the episode, Mulder wakes from a restless sleep to discover that Dr. Murphy (the excellent Steve Hytner, of “Seinfeld” fame) dead and stuffed in a freezer though it’s never made apparent why anyone would kill him (he’s easily the most appealing character in the episode) or what he was doing up in the first place.

Though what’s most interesting is how quickly Scully turns on Mulder, with little evidence beyond the word of Dr. Hodge.  I can’t speak for anyone else, but the moment you pull a gun on me – taking the word of a bunch of strangers over mine, the person that’s worked with you for seven episodes – then we’re going to have problems going forward.

The episode was clearly inspired by John Carpenter’s “The Thing” (itself a remake of a Christian Nyby’s “The Thing From Another World”) though Carpenter’s film worked so well because  it had the time – and the budget – to emphasize the starkness, as well as the remoteness, of the snowy wasteland that the camp existed in, things which “Ice” can only imply.

Another thing is that meal worms – playing the role of our parasite, when CG versions probably proved too expensive – just aren’t scary.

“Ice” isn’t terrible  – though there are too many “somehows” for my liking – but its more of a throw-away (as opposed to ‘stand alone’) episode than I am accustomed to from the series.