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  1. ICE, which is a clear homage to John Carpenter’s THE THING, takes on the ‘alien in the ice’ and really shows the potential of the series and the great show that the X-FILES is becoming. What I like most about this episode, is that the writers know we are all familiar with THE THING, and play with our expectations throughout. As was most likely needed with the restrained television budget, the alien is not large and seemingly ever growing, but tiny and hidden. And yet, the tension and paranoia between the station bound crew is as palpable as in John Carpenter’s classic.
    It almost seems like a flip side to that movie, where what’s big is small and yet the middle ground of drama stays the same. In the movie, the alien comes out huge, here the alien is worm sized. In the movie there are huge holes in the ice and a spaceship, and flame throwers. in ICE, there is a fight in a control room, tiny cylinders of ice and people held at gunpoint. Yet the apprehension and dread that is felt when both crews needs to test each other is the same. It feels like the writers are saying that they can create the same kind of quality and tension with clever, strong stories on a smaller screen and tighter budget.
    I always thought it was weak to assume that two aliens would kill each other if introduced into the same host. It was on a repeated viewing that I noticed that the alien releases a toxin when threatened, and I assumed that this would make sure the two aliens would die in the same host, even if one of them won the apparent physical struggle. Aside from that possible vagueness, this was a great, tight, taut episode.

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