The X-Files
Australian Conne-X-ion
Episode Guide:
"Ghost In The Machine"
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Episode 1X06
Title: Ghost In The Machine
First screened in Australia: March 24, 1994 repeated September 10, 1997
First screened in the USA: October 29, 1993
Credits:
Director: Jerrold Freedman
Writers: Alex Gansa & Howard Gordon
Starring:
Guest Stars:
- Rob LaBelle as Brad Wilczek
- Wayne Duvall as Agent Jerry Lamana
- Blu Mankuma as Claude Peterson
- Jerry Hardin as Deep Throat
- Gillian Barber as Agent Nancy Spiller
- Marc Baur as Man in Suit
- Bill Finck as Sandwich Man
- Theodore Thomas as Clyde
- Tom Butler as Benjamin Drake
Plot:
The CEO of Eurisko Industries, who planned to shut down an advanced artificial intelligence project is electrocuted in a locked room; Mulder and Scully are asked by Mulder`s old partner, Jerry Lamana, to help find the killer. Suspicion falls on the brilliant but eccentric computer designer who built the computer that controls Eurisko. Lamana`s death in a "freak" elevator accident confirms Mulder`s suspicion that there is more to the computer than wires and transistors. He sets out to defeat it with the help of its designer. Scully is trapped in a deadly tunnel as Mulder races to shut down the computer, and discovers treachery within his own ranks.
My Rating: 5/10
There was plenty of potential in the subject matter, and despite some OK special effects (the lift etc), it was really just a rehash of "computers gone crazy" stuff you've seen done better elsewhere, a cross between HAL from "2001: A Space Odyssey", "Dark Star", "The Lawnmower Man" and a movie of the same name.
When I wrote this review, this episode was ranked as the 5th worst on the GEOS X-Files Episode Guide.
Notable Quotable:
Scully: "So, why did you two go your separate ways?"
Mulder: "I'm a pain in the ass to work with."
Scully: "No, seriously."
Mulder: You mean I'm not a pain in the ass to work with?"
Where Have I Seen That Face Before?
Rob LaBelle (Brad) has appeared in movies including "Man Trouble", "The Temp", "Speechless" and "What's Love Got To Do With it". On TV he's a star of "First Wave" and has also directed episodes. He's also geust starred in "Profiler" and "Sliders".
Wayne Duvall's (Jerry Lamana) career has improved since this episode, appearing in such movies as "Falling Down", "Disclosure", "Apollo 13", "My Fellow Americans", "O Brother Where Art Thou" and "Evolution" with David Duchovny. He's had guest roles on "ER" and "JAG".
Blu Mankuma (Claude Peterson) has appeared in "The Russia House", "Bird On A Wire", "Another Stakeout", "Stepfather", "Bone Daddy" and "Bliss". On TV he's starred in "Robocop" "MANTIS" and "Beast Wars". He also appeared in "Mind's Eye".
Tom Butler also appeared in the episode "Colony".
Trivia
The name Crystal City is an allusion to Silicon Valley (although there is a real Crystal City in southern Washington D.C./Virginia)
The name of the company, Eurisko, is also the name of a famous artificial intelligence program at Stanford -- one which attempts to think like a human. The program also won a war game contest, beating all human opponents.
The episode title is a phrase coined by the philosopher Descartes as a way to explain consciousness. The ghost is our soul, the machine our bodies.
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