It was written by Alex Gansa and Howard Gordon, directed by Daniel Sackheim, and featured a guest appearance by Carrie Snodgress as the mother of an abducted teenager.
The show centers on FBI agents Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) who work on cases linked to the paranormal, called X-Files.
Mulder finds himself becoming emotionally attached to the case due to its similarities to his own childhood experiences, when his younger sister Samantha was abducted from their home.
At a campground at Lake Okobogee National Park in Sioux City, Iowa, Darlene Morris witnesses a flash of light outside her RV.
In Washington, FBI Division Chief Scott Blevins informs Dana Scully that, unbeknownst to her, Fox Mulder has requested travel expenses to Sioux City based on a tabloid article about Ruby's disappearance.
When Scully asks Mulder about the travel expenses, he explains that Lake Okobogee was the scene of a series of UFO sightings in 1967; Darlene, then a member of a Girl Scout troop, was one of the witnesses.
After the Morrises are taken into custody (which causes Darlene to lose her trust in him and Scully) Mulder examines the charred roof of their RV, prompting him to head to Lake Okobogee.
The agents return to the Morris' house, and, finding it deserted, discover the binary-covered pieces of paper laid out across the living room floor, forming an image of Ruby's face.
[5] Carter felt the episode's highlights were the ending and the realization by Scully that Mulder may not be a crackpot, feeling it was very important to the show in establishing its point of view.
[7] He also felt that the episode proved effective at highlighting that the series was told from Scully's point of view, citing instances of the character "pulling Mulder back" from his fringe theories and emotional attachment.
[11] In a retrospective of the first season in Entertainment Weekly, "Conduit" was rated a B, with the episode being described as "excellent for background" for the series, though it was noted that Duchovny gave "a performance that makes wood look lively".
[13] The episode has been seen as laying the foundation for the recurrence of Fox Mulder's obsession with finding his missing sister, which would come to be one of the main plot threads of the series.
[14] Duchovny's portrayal of Fox Mulder in this episode has been cited as an example of the character's reversal of traditional gender roles—his openness and vulnerability when dealing with the similarities between the Morris case and that of his sister casts him "in a pattern typically engendered as female".