The episode received moderately positive reviews, with many critics praising Lili Taylor's performance as Glenn.
For her work in this episode, Taylor was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series.
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.
"Mind's Eye" marked the rare television appearance of Taylor, who primarily worked on well-regarded independent films.
In Wilmington, Delaware, a blind woman named Marty Glenn (Lili Taylor) is in her apartment when she suddenly experiences a vision of someone with a knife approaching a man standing in a bathroom.
Not sure of how a blind woman could commit the crime, Detective Lloyd Pennock (Blu Mankuma) contacts Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson).
Marty reveals Gotts’ last known location, while Pennock takes her back to her apartment to pick up some things before entering protective custody.
Minear was inspired to write the episode after learning about "remote viewing": the parapsychological practice of seeking impressions about a distant or unseen target, purportedly using extrasensory perception (ESP) or "sensing" with the mind.
"[2] "Mind's Eye" guest-starred Lili Taylor, which was considered a rarity, as she generally preferred to work in the independent film scene.
Blu Mankuma, who played the part of Detective Pennock, had previously appeared in the first season episode "Ghost in the Machine".
"[2] The "staccato" and "nightmarish" remote visions that Glenn experiences were created in post-production by visual effects supervisor Laurie Kallsen-George.
[2][6][8] The episode received moderately positive reviews from television critics, with many praising Taylor's performance as Glenn.
[9] He was slightly critical that Glenn's ability to see visions was not sufficiently expanded upon; he ultimately called Mulder's explanation "crap".
"[10] 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 three stars out of five.
"[11] Shearman and Pearson, however, concluded that "the episode works nonetheless, thanks to a superb central performance from Lili Taylor [who] gives the best guest star turn of the year, lending a strength, an anger, and a redeeming humour to a blind woman who has adapted the world to her disability.