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PLOT: Mulder and Scully are in the middle of doing boring background checks when they come upon a high-speed chase on the local news where the man is refusing to stop for fear of his life.

This was definitely a very different X-File. When the teaser began, I almost thought that it was an actual live news event occurring and the show was preempted! Fox is coincidentally on Channel 11 on my local cable system, so I didn't think much of it when there was a "Fox 11 Newsbreak." Only at the end when blood splattered all over the patrol car side window did I start to notice. Then the X-Files opening theme starts. Talk about getting my attention!

Besides that rather unorthodox opening, this episode did continue the unfortunate circumstances that Mulder and Scully find themselves in at the time where they are investigating some farmer in Idaho who happened to purchase a *ton* of fertilizer. Being assigned to Assistant Director Kersh, they are actually doing a routine that appears to be usually reserved for rookies and agents to be humiliated for all to see. Mulder and Scully obviously reflect the latter, and Mulder doesn't hide his annoyance. Someone must *really* like him in the upper echelons of the Bureau, because he should have been suspended without pay or totally dismissed. I don't even want to get into how the government doesn't even come close to this kind of forgiving, but Mulder should be even remotely happy that Scully is still suffering with him rather than take off on her own like a *sane* person would do.

But as luck would have it, Mulder finds something on the local news that instantly grabs his interest. I was amazed at how Mulder was able to discern through all the confusing news flashes that this fugitive woman's strange death would be an X-File. Actually, any kind of strange event would get his attention, because then, he wouldn't have to deal with such a tedious assignment. In that regard, Mulder is true to his character in disobeying orders and setting out to investigate on his own much to Scully's rather limp protesting. It's obvious that she hates their current assignment as much as Mulder, but loyal to the end, she goes on "a little sidetrip" to Nevada with him to investigate what initally appears as a gunshot victim.

As Scully states, Mulder "knows how to pick them." There really is an X-File here, but a very vague one at that. For years, there have been links to high voltage power lines over residential areas where people have developed brain cancer. "The Distinguished Gentleman," a comedy starring Eddie Murphy, highlighted the phenomenon in the movie's plot. In this episode, it appears that in this particular case, a military conduction radio system developed a power surge that affected the inner ear of any human or animal near enough to hear it. After a certain amount of time, the inner ear literally explodes and instantly kills the poor individual. A deaf woman is immune to showcase that the phenomenon only affects the hearing. The "Speed"-like plot was added on to give it a bit more excitement.

This story works very well even though Mulder and Scully are separated through the majority of the episode. For it to be effective, they had to be separate, because of the two different viewpoints that this episode highlighted. The first was the terror of being the involuntary victim, hence Mulder's point of view. The other was the causal factor that had to be investigated to understand what happened to the woman at the beginning of the episode. That's Scully's expertise. These two elements witnessed by our two heroes sets the pace of the episode at a very nerve-racking clip that doesn't end until the very last part of the high-speed car ride

In one respect, this again highlights government involvement though not exactly in the abrupt sense of a conspiracy. But these "Extremely Low Frequency" (ELF) transmissions are not without some harm to humans as Scully posits to Mulder. From her scientific explanation, the Navy is more than aware of it and denies otherwise. Unfortunately, none of the explanations helps Crump at the end. So there is a very real danger to humans in regards to exposure to ELF waves. It's just not entirely clear if it is as adverse as this episode hints at in extreme situations as power surges. As for actual cures, heading west at 90 m.p.h. may not necessarily be the adviseable one.

Besides the main plot, there were some other revealing moments in this episode that can be easily overlooked if not for the lack of subtlety. During the entire car ride, Crump would try to insult Mulder by implying that his name implied a Jewish upbringing. This is interesting, since Mulder's religion has not really been touched on and only hinted at in Season 4's "Kaddish." Duchovny himself is from a Jewish background, but that doesn't imply that Mulder is Jewish. Yet, one has to wonder considering how volatile Mulder's reaction to that accusation obviously showed. After all, when a derogatory comment is made concerning race or religious belief, there is a hint of truth or otherwise the individual would not feel so insulted.

The other moment that I thought was very revealing was Kersh's attitude throughout this whole incident: very condescending. Any respect that Scully may have had for Kersh was certainly out the window with his "bus load of urchins" comment. It almost sounded as though his one and only job is to ensure Mulder quits or does something completely stupid (like *that* will ever happen) to get himself thrown out of the Bureau. He certainly shows no regard to the situation they experienced or any morse over the dead victims. Whether this is intentional by the producers or that is just how the actor comes across, I doubt very much Kersh would win very many popularity contests even if the Smoking Man was in the mix.

This Vince Gilligan-crafted episode shows just how insightful this particular writer is when it comes to the human condition. He deftly shows the very human need of self-preservation in Crump to the very real involvement by the federal government and the callousness of Kersh as if he were referring to the weather rather than human lives. Gilligan's portrayal of Mulder and Scully as investigators thrown into the heart of all this chaos helps reaffirm that there are actual people who care. A great episode that is easily lost among the many wonderful latter episodes of Season 6, but definitely worth more than just a look.

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