70. QUAGMIRE
WRITER: NEWTON
DIR.: MANNERS
''Scully, do you think you could ever cannibalize someone?'' This
is Mulder's idea of small talk when stranded with his partner on
a rock while in search of a legendary prehistoric lake
monster — that's Mulder's theory on what's killing local
citizens, anyway. Scully, well, you know... Creative casting:
The stoner kid of ''War of the Coprophages'' turns up again with a
whole new way to get high. Critique: Notable only for Mulder and
Scully's Moby Dick digression. But, hey, the show kinda had to
tackle Loch Ness. C
71. WETWIRED
WRITER: MAT BECK
DIR.: BOWMAN
A tweaked cable-TV signal is turning people's anxieties into
psychosis, and Scully discovers the true dangers of couch
potato-dom. Historic moment: X and Cancer Man make their
relationship known. Or do they? Critique: Been there, done that
(see ''Blood''), but Anderson gives good unhinged. B
72. TALITHA CUMI
WRITER: CARTER
STORY: DUCHOVNY/CARTER
DIR.: GOODWIN
The Project. The Process. Colonization. These are the cryptic
terms thrown around in this third season-ender. What do we
really learn? That there's a renegade alien clone, Jeremiah
Smith, who is challenging ''the greater purpose'' represented by
Cancer Man, and that Smith is being stalked by the Bounty
Hunter, last seen in episode 40. Plus, a visit from Cancer Man
to Mulder's mother reveals an unexplained relationship between
them. Creative casting: Roy Thinnes (of 1995's sci-fi miniseries
The Invaders) as the messianic Smith. Critique: Another
frustratingly provocative cliff-hanger, and a tour de force
Cancer Man-Jeremiah Smith confrontation. ''That is really a
summation of my feelings about science,'' says Carter. ''That it
has definitely usurped religion and can explain everything now.
[Cancer Man's] speech was greatly inspired by 'The Grand
Inquisitor' chapter of The Brothers Karamazov, where the
Inquisitor imprisons Christ and won't let him speak.'' A-
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