“Conduit” – Season 1 Ep. 4

Mulder: “How can an eight year-old boy who can barely multiply be a threat to national security? And people call me paranoid.”

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Mulder: “I want to believe…”

Written by: Alex Gansa & Howard Gordan

Directed by: Daniel Sackheim

Original Air Date: October 1st, 1993

Principal Setting: Sioux City, Iowa

Quick Synopsis: 

Note: Some spoilers in here.

“Conduit” is the first episode, of many, for Mulder trying to find the truth of his lost sister. A bright light wakes up a mother in the woods as her family is camping by Lake Okobogee. Her son screams that her sister was taken and her mother screams (with some of the worst acting I’ve ever seen). This case is very similar to what Mulder believes happened to his sister. A bright light appears and his sister goes mysteriously missing.

The boy gives Mulder a series of binary numbers that they find out to be snippets of Shakespeariian sonnets, concertos, and quotes that the boy could never have known. As they investigate the abduction site further they find tree lines burned and sand turned to glass from extreme heat. Wolves direct them to a body that they determine to be the teenage girl’s boyfriend. They later find the girl’s body around the lake, having been in a coma but still alive.

Mulder knowing that the girl has been abducted but not being able to prove it causes him to be very distraught. The end scene with Scully listening to him being interviewed about his sister’s disappearance and Mulder crying in the church is very touching and sad.

Personal Commentary:

While this episode focuses on the chance of alien abduction, which aren’t my favorite, this one is special since it is very personal to Mulder. He wants to find the truth about what really happened to his sister, and by solving this case he thinks he will. But it only brings him more grief and questions. It surrounds the episode with so much emotion as the scene when Scully listens to his tape of Mulder being interviewed about his lost sister at the same time Mulder is crying in a church, pulls right at my heart strings.

Episode Grade: C+

Favorite Scene: 

End scene with Mulder crying about his lost sister in the church. I couldn’t find a good clip of it, but you should watch it for that last scene alone.

Fun Facts:

• This episode marks the first time Mulder says the famous line: “I want to believe”.
• This episode marks the first time that the X-Files are referred to as “fringe events”.