It was written by the show's visual effect designer Mat Beck, and directed by Rob Bowman.
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 investigate a series of murders committed by ordinary citizens angered after seeing illusory images.
Actor Steven Williams had scheduling conflicts due to his work on the series L.A. Heat, resulting in the creation of the Plain Clothed Man, who appeared in the episode as an emissary for X. Williams called his scene at the end of the episode with The Smoking Man one of his favorite scenes he performed on the show.
Using the phone log for the room Mulder tracks Stroman to a house where he spots him meeting with the cable repairman.
Beck was inspired to pen the episode after hearing the debates concerning violence on television and its effect on viewers.
Beck's initial concept was more complex and pulled from neurology texts, but as the script progressed, it was simplified.
Actor Steven Williams had scheduling conflicts due to his work on the series L.A. Heat, resulting in the creation of the "Plain Clothed Man", who appeared in the episode as an emissary for X. Paul Rabwin provided narration for a television show that plays in the background.
I felt it was a good old-fashioned show, and people who didn't like 'Jose Chung's From Outer Space' would like 'Wetwired' because all the bad boys are back.
Entertainment Weekly gave the episode a B, noting its similarity to "Blood" but thought that "Anderson gives good unhinged".
Two great performances by David and Gillian give the episode the necessary gravitas, and there’s enough foreshadowing to make sense of some elements of the season finale.
"[9] Robert Shearman, in his book Wanting to Believe: A Critical Guide to The X-Files, Millennium & The Lone Gunmen, rated the episode three-and-a-half stars out of five.
"[10] Paula Vitaris of Cinefantastique gave the episode a moderately positive review and awarded it three stars out of four.
[11] She praised Anderson's acting, calling it "superb" and noting that watching Scully fall victim to insanity is "sickly fascinating".