It is often argued that Series 1 of the X-Files is the weakest and one can see why with episodes such as Gender Bender and The Jersey Devil. Nevertheless it contains, I think, a couple of the best episodes of the X-Files and Beyond the Sea is one of them. It has a Silence of the Lambs feel as Mulder and Scully interrogate a prisoner, Luther Lee Boggs, who claims he is able to use his psychic abilities to save a young couple who have been kidnapped. As he is soon to be sent to the gas chamber Boggs wants to make a deal whereby if he saves the lives of the kidnapped couple he avoids the death sentence and just gets life imprisonment. This plot line alone would make for an interesting episode but what really sets this one apart is an additional storyline centred around the death of Scully's father. The big question is whether the prisoner is telling the truth or not and when, during an interrogation, he says that he has a message from Scully's recently deceased father the episode really gets interesting.Although the storyline is good, it is the performances that are the real highlight. Duchovny is good but he takes a back seat in this episode and so Anderson is really given the chance to shine and she doesn't disappoint. It is great to see an early episode where you get the feeling that she believes in the paranormal. However, the best performance comes from the brilliant Brad Dourif as Boggs. The "channeling" scenes are very well acted and even though his character is a multiple murderer one cannot help but pity him. Both the acting and directing makes this episode an emotional roller-coaster and I cannot recommend it enough.
Review of Beyond the Sea
