First Person Shooter (The X-Files)
The show centers on FBI special agents Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) who work on cases linked to the paranormal, called X-Files.
"First Person Shooter" was written by noted authors William Gibson and Tom Maddox, and directed by series creator Chris Carter.
The episode opens with three men, fitted with futuristic combat gear and automatic weapons, entering the virtual reality game First Person Shooter.
Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) visit the headquarters of First Person Shooter's developers in California's Inland Empire, where they meet the Lone Gunmen, who work as consultants for the game.
The woman, a stripper named Jade Blue Afterglow, tells the agents that she was paid by a medical imaging facility in Culver City, California to scan her body.
In the real world, Phoebe tearfully admits to Scully that the female warrior was created by her as a sort of personal estrogenic outlet in a testosterone-fuelled environment.
Despite protests from Ivan, Phoebe gives Byers the kill command, effectively destroying Maitreya along with the game while saving Mulder and Scully.
[1] The episode was written by William Gibson and his fellow science fiction novelist and long-time friend Tom Maddox.
Initially, Gibson and Maddox presented the first two acts of their idea, which were tweaked by series creator Chris Carter and Spotnitz in order to make the story feel more like an X-File.
[5][6] Casting director Rick Millikan looked into every possible avenue—including: "strippers, adult video entertainment ladies, [and] erotic thriller/direct-to-video type actresses"—before settling upon Krista Allen.
[11] Fox promoted the episode with the tagline "Tonight, Mulder and Scully must track down a video game killer whose killing spree is real.
[13] Kenneth Silber from Space.com criticized the lack of emotion in the episode, writing, "'First Person Shooter' achieves considerable mayhem but remarkably little drama.
"[14] Rich Rosell from Digitally Obsessed awarded the episode 2.5 out of 5 stars and wrote that "this Chris Carter-directed ep [sic] oddly enough doesn't center on the series mythology arc, but instead opts for a stab at the tired ol' virtual reality genre.
[16] Lamar derided the plot, calling it "Scully and Mulder Do Doom", and expressed surprise that the episode was written by William Gibson.
[16] Robert Shearman and Lars Pearson, in their book Wanting to Believe: A Critical Guide to The X-Files, Millennium & The Lone Gunmen, rated the episode one star out of five.
[17] Regardless of the negative press, "First Person Shooter" became one of Gillian Anderson's favorite episodes, despite "its reliance on big guns and raging testosterone.
"[6] Anderson explained that she enjoyed the opportunity "to show Scully wearing heavy metal and firing oversized weapons.
