The X-files
Darkness Falls
Episode: 1X19
First aired:4/14/94
Written by: Chris Carter
Directed by: Joe Napolitano
One of my
favorite episodes.
We see
frightened loggers in the
woods running away as
green glowing objects attack them.
Mulder finds that all 30 loggers have vanished and that a similar incident happened 60 years ago in the same area.
Mulder and Scully talk to the
forest ranger and Steve Humphreys, the
security chief for the
logging company. They think
eco-terrorists were behind the attacks.
The four of them head to the woods but are forced to walk the rest of the way when their
car tires are slashed by
spikes. Looking around the
camp they find a man hanging in a huge
cocoon,
drained of all fluids.
Doug Spiney, an eco-terrorist, shows up talking about a force that comes only at night, can not attack with a light source, and devours people alive. He explains that the loggers have been
cutting down old
trees and are releasing green mites that have been
lying dormant.
Mulder concludes that the mites are
ancient eggs that affected from
radiation from
volcanic activity.
Humphreys leaves but is trapped in his car and attacked by the
green bugs. Mulder allows Spinney to go for help, which
Scully greatly disapproves of. Mulder, Scully, and the ranger, then spend a
scary night wondering if they'd have enough gas to
fuel the single light to keep the mites away. Their
generator fails just as the
sun starts to rise.
Spinney does return but their car is stopped again by spikes. Spinney flees into the night forest and is attacked by the bugs. Inside the car, Mulder and Scully, and the ranger, watch as the bugs enter the car through the
air vents.
Hours later Mulder, Scully, and the ranger are found cocooned in the car by a
quarantine unit and are treated. Mulder expresses concern about the
quarantine's procedures for dealing with the bugs but the
medical worker replies, "That is not an option,
Mr. Mulder."
Important Quotes:
Mulder -- "Come on, Scully, it’ll be a
nice trip to the forest."
Scully -- "Well, you were right about one thing."
Mulder -- " What’s that?"
Scully -- "It definitely wasn’t
Bigfoot."
Scully -- "What kind of an insect could have gotten a man all the way up into that tree?"
Mulder -- "
Itsy-bitsy spider."
Spinney -- "
Darkness is our enemy."
Spinney -- "Maybe they been lying there dormant for hundreds of years. Maybe they woke up
hungry."
Mulder -- "Scully? How is she doing?"
Medical man -- "She’s still not
out of the woods, so to speak. She lost a lot of fluids. Two or three more hours of
exposure, she might not have made it."
Mulder -- "I told her it was going to be a nice trip to the forest."
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