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.

In this episode, Mulder and Scully become targets of a rogue AI capable of the worst kind of torture while investigating the strange circumstances of the death of a reclusive computer genius rumored to have been researching artificial intelligence.

Reminiscent of the "dark visions" of filmmaker David Cronenberg, the episode contained "many obvious pokes and prods at high-end academic cyberculture."

In addition, "Kill Switch" contained several scenes featuring elaborate explosives and digital effects, including one wherein a computer-animated Scully fights nurses in a virtual hospital.

"Kill Switch" deals with various "Gibsonian" themes, including alienation, paranoia, artificial intelligence, and transferring one's consciousness into cyberspace, among others.

Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) arrive and identify the bodies of the drug dealers.

Mulder also identifies the man with the laptop as Donald Gelman, "a Silicon Valley folk hero" who aspired to create an artificial intelligence.

The woman, the "Invisigoth" (Kristin Lehman) they've been looking for, warns the agents that a laser-armed Defense Department satellite has pinpointed their location.

Invisigoth, whose real name turns out to be Esther Nairn, tells the agents and the Lone Gunmen that Gelman succeeded in creating an artificial intelligence.

Suddenly, Mulder is constrained by moving cables and wires, and experiences a strange vision in which he is in a hospital where nurses threaten to amputate his limbs unless he reveals Kill Switch's location.

They become trapped on the bridge after the AI manipulates its drawing mechanism, causing Scully to persuade Esther to throw the computer into the water below.

[1] The episode was written by acclaimed cyberpunk novelist William Gibson, together with fellow science fiction author Tom Maddox.

[5] The Vancouver Sun author Alex Strachan later compared many of the episode's themes to that of Gibson's books, most notably in his novels Neuromancer, Mona Lisa Overdrive, and Virtual Light.

[5] Written outside the mytharc of the series as a standalone story, "Kill Switch" was penned to be reminiscent of the "dark visions" of filmmaker David Cronenberg and to contain "many obvious pokes and prods at high-end academic cyberculture.

[3] Reportedly, it took over a year before the episode was re-written and completed, due to series creator Chris Carter and executive producer Frank Spotnitz's other priorities.

When they were finally available, Carter and Spotnitz made some revisions to the script, including "upp[ing] the attitude on Esther's character" and tweaking the way Mulder and Scully react to her.

[9] The destruction of the trailer was filmed adjacent to the Boundary Bay Airport, and afterwards, the series received several complaints from people living nearby complaining about the explosion and its resultant shockwave.

[10] The show hired a freelance computer artist to generate a 3-D image of Scully for the scene in which she fights off a group of nurses in a virtual hospital.

[10] Gillian Anderson was very pleased with the scene, later noting, "I happened to be in good shape at the time and was just raring to get in there and be taking those half-naked nurses out with some karate chops.

[11] "Kill Switch" made frequent appearances in reruns, resulting in Gibson and Maddox writing a second X-Files episode titled "First Person Shooter" during the show's seventh season.

[14] 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 four stars out of five.

She cited the scene where a virtual Scully roundhouse kicks a group of nurses as one of the best shots in the episode, and called it a "hysterical moment".