MOVIE NEWS – Nobody expected one of sci-fi’s greatest minds to pen a “legendarily bad” X-Files episode about a homicidal video game. Mulder and Scully barely held the story together in First Person Shooter, an installment ripped apart back then and now remembered as a bizarre curiosity.

I think most will agree that William Gibson is one of the most influential science fiction authors of our time, shaping nearly everything tied to the idea of cyberspace. He’s actually my personal favorite writer (BadSector). Without his creativity and execution in works like Neuromancer (still awaiting its Apple TV+ adaptation), pop culture landmarks like The Matrix, or even beloved video games such as Cyberpunk 2077, would not exist. But not everything he touched turned to gold. During his short stint on The X-Files, he delivered one episode that worked—and one that flopped hard.

I truly miss the days of episodic sci-fi shows with seasons stretching over 20 episodes, where there was room to explore wildly different ideas and bring in big-name guest stars on and off camera. Memorable, for instance, was Quentin Tarantino stepping in to direct a CSI episode in 2005. Gibson, alongside his friend and fellow sci-fi writer Tom Maddox, co-wrote two episodes for The X-Files. The first, Kill Switch (5×11), received strong acclaim with its story about an artificial intelligence fighting to free itself. The second, First Person Shooter (7×13), is widely regarded as one of the series’ weakest moments.

Some outlets even branded it “legendarily bad,” and frankly, they weren’t wrong. While the intent behind the episode was somewhat clear, the writing and execution left much to be desired. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves: what exactly was First Person Shooter about? The episode revolves around an adrenaline-fueled video game built for a VR rig that looked straight out of Star Trek: TNG—and, for reasons never explained, it could actually kill its players. And no, not by frying their brains with a shock or pushing their hearts into overdrive, but by inflicting real bullet wounds.

A digital femme fatale hunting down players

Our favorite FBI agents, Mulder and Scully, take the case, quickly uncovering that an unlisted character named Maitreya is targeting everyone who enters First Person Shooter (admittedly, a painfully uninspired title for a shooter). She’s presented as a femme fatale, essentially an emergent program born in response to the rampant misogyny and violence in the male developers’ virtual playground. Later, we learn her initial design came from the sole female programmer in this testosterone-heavy “boys’ club.”

First Person Shooter tried to criticize the sexual objectification of women in video games of the era. Still, it did so in such an overblown and clumsy way that the message barely landed. To make matters worse, the script was a muddle, the tone swung wildly between parody and seriousness, and the budget for building its “virtual world” was clearly limited. This was broadcast TV after all, and episodes had to be cranked out quickly and cheaply. The result? A disaster.

At 3DJuegos, I’ve discussed before some standout standalone episodes of The X-Files, such as Ice, which played like a remake of John Carpenter’s The Thing, or the infamous Home, “banned” from FOX for years. Today’s subject, however, is the prime example of what The X-Files should never have been. Still, when revisited decades later, it’s fascinating—it shows how, in 2000, society was terrified of video games.

It also gave us the chance to see Mulder and Scully locked and loaded against an impossible enemy, like they’d stepped into DOOM. And it was fun for the cast: as Gillian Anderson, who played Scully, recalled, “It was an interesting feeling on set with all those guys running around with heavy weapons, shooting in every direction.” If you’re curious, it’s available on Disney+. First Person Shooter (7×13) stands alone without needing prior context, but it’s far from the ideal entry point to the show.

Source: 3djuegos