“Ice” – Season 1 Ep. 8

Mulder: [the three men on the expedition are undressing to check each other’s bodies for signs of infection] “Before anyone passes judgment, may I remind you, we are in the Arctic.”

Written by: Glen Morgan & James Wong

Directed by: David Nutter

Original Air Date: November 5th, 1993

Principal Setting: Icy Cape, Alaska

Episode Synopsis: 

Note: Contains spoilers

“Ice” feels different than any of the episodes before it because it is set in one location, and the claustrophobic setting really adds suspense and dread. The agents are sent to Icy Cape, Alaska after they watch a disturbing video of a scientist working on the Arctic Ice Core project, looks to have gone crazy and says, “We’re not who we are. We’re not who we are. It goes no further than this. It stops right here. Right now”. The crew has gone mad and have killed each other.

Mulder and Scully are joined by three other scientists and travel to 40 below zero Alaska to investigate what happened at the ice core facility. They are met by a aggressive dog as he attacks Mulder and bites the pilot’s hand. The pilot discovers weird black spots under his arm and they discover an ancient micro-organism worm under his skin. In a very disgusting way, that will make any strong stomach squirm, they remove the worm from the pilot, although he dies in the process. Each of them progressively gets more agitated and aggressive with one another as they become paranoid that one of them are also infected.

While the group is sleeping, Mulder investigates and finds one of the scientists dead in the freezer and the others immediately suspect he killed him.  Paranoia and tempers rise even higher and they lock Mulder in a room. During this time, Scully discovers the ice parasites will kill each other if they come in contact. She examines Mulder and finds no trace of the parasite. It narrows it down to the other two scientists and leads to an intense struggle as they discover the female scientist is infected. She is restrained and they put the second parasite into her body to kill both. They are rescued and Mulder wants to do more research on this ancient parasite that he thinks was caused by a meteor crater with some form of paranormal life put into the ice millions of years ago. Sadly, the government burns the facility down and all evidence is lost.

Personal Commentary:

This episode is probably in my top 3 favorites of season one. Duchovny and Anderson’s acting is top notch and the best it has been thus far. I love the claustrophobic vibe of the one setting in the midst of a snow storm. You feel the paranoia building in the small confines of the facility, knowing they can’t escape this aggressive parasite.

I also really like the casting. Xander Berkeley, who plays Dr. Hodge, is paranoid from the beginning as he makes everyone prove their identities. You never really can tell if he is good or bad and if he has the best interests of the group at heart. Steve Hytner, in a bit of odd casting, plays somewhat of a comic relief character, which I found refreshing. 

Episode Grade: A+

Favorite Scene: 

I liked a lot of scenes from this episode. Brilliant acting.

Here’s an interesting behind the scenes video with Chris Carter talking about how they did the worm effects.

Fun Facts:

• A close-up of the mysterious worms obviously consists of real life meal worms. The CGI worms seen in several shots look very different, lacking the clearly segmented exoskeleton, limbs and abdomen/thorax/head transitions.
• The dog is the father of David Duchovny’s dog Blue.

Faces You May Recognize:

• Dr. Denny Murphy, played by Steve Hytner, most memorable role was the annoying Kenny Bania from Seinfeld.