The Pest House

Millennium Group offender profilers Frank Black (Lance Henriksen) and Peter Watts (Terry O'Quinn) investigate a series of murders mimicking urban legends.

"The Pest House" marked the second of three contributions by Coulter, and saw past Morgan and Wong collaborator McGraw once again work for the writing duo.

Millennium Group investigators Frank Black (Lance Henriksen) and Peter Watts (Terry O'Quinn) examine the crime scene.

Black is skeptical when Watts notes that similar killings have occurred in the past, believing it is simply an urban legend.

However, Black notices that the murders are identical to the prior crimes of "Bear" (C. Ernst Harth), one of the inmates involved in the previous day's fight.

Between this incident and Woodcock insisting that Edward (Justin Louis) has stolen his dreams, Black realizes someone in the hospital is causing the deaths.

Watts researches the facility's inmates to find who has committed stabbings in the victims' cars, concluding that Purdue is the one this profile fits.

"The Pest House" was written by frequent collaborators Glen Morgan and James Wong, and directed by Allen Coulter.

The episode was Coulter's second contribution to the series—he had previously directed "Beware of the Dog" and would return to helm "Siren" later in the second season.

[8] Robert Shearman and Lars Pearson, in their book Wanting to Believe: A Critical Guide to The X-Files, Millennium & The Lone Gunmen, rated "The Pest House" three-and-a-half stars out of five.

Shearman praised guest star Massee's performance, and felt that the script was "great fun", noting that it worked as a more serious version of the 1996 film Scream.