While not one of my personal favorite episodes from the first season, "Ghost in the Machine" has something I enjoy in science fiction: stories on artificial intelligence. COS (Central Operating System) is an artificial intelligence designed by the genius of Brad Wilczek (Rob LaBelle), controlling the functions that operate a high-rise (everything from commanding the elevator to take passengers to specific floors to turning on the water faucet in the sink), killing the partner of Brad, Benjamin Drake (Tom Butler). Drake had stolen the software company out from under Brad (he created it out of his garage), and it could be (maybe too) possible that an electrocution resulting from a key lock malfunction was intentional not accidental. It could very well be that the COS will do what it takes to protect itself (Mulder says it could be self-preservation) including kill anyone that threatens its "well being" or Brad's, its creator. How Mulder and Scully get dragged into the investigation is through Mulder's former partner before the X-files, Agent Jerry Lamana (Wayne Duvall). Jerry fouled up on a hate crimes case that resulted in a judge's disfigurement and he needs Mulder to come to his rescue (to help him look really good on this investigation so he can escape probation purgatory). Jerry even steals Mulder's notes from his "basement office" in order to impress his superiors needing updates on the investigation. But when Jerry hits a dead end while Mulder and Scully realize that Brad (or the COS' use of his voice) was possibly behind the murder, he'll be killed in the high rise elevator while pursuing his main suspect for arrest. Mulder keeping his attentions on the case instead of mourning the loss of a friend, Scully tries to get him to address this death, not ignore it. With help from a horrified Brad who couldn't stop the COS from killing Jerry, Mulder will attempt to use a virus to kill the "sentient computer" before it harms anyone else (or falls into the wrong hands). With Blu Mankuma as "glorified super", Claude Peterson, he seems trustworthy and innocent enough, but as Mulder learns from Deep Throat (Jerry Hardin) the government (Dept of Defense, specifically) would love to get their hands on the technology/wizardry created by Brad's brilliance. Brad himself becomes a "bargaining chip" after imprisonment thanks to his COS' murder. Outsmarting a machine and the government isn't easy, with Mulder and Scully encountering danger inside the high-rise (Scully is nearly sucked into the ventilation fan, turned on by COS, while Mulder is betrayed by someone he perceived to be an ally). While the plot does include the FBI, Dept of Defense, and the government to continue the conspiracy angle so fundamental to the show, this still primarily resembles a "menace of the week", this time a computer machine that even spies on Scully's computer, reading her notes for anything that might incriminate Brad. It also adds back story to Mulder by introducing someone from his past (while indicating he could be a pushover and maybe a wunderkind had he wasn't so passionate about the X-files).
Review of Ghost in the Machine
