10 Amazing First Episodes Of Brilliant TV Series
4. The X Files - Pilot
The X-Files is an endlessly complicated show filled with nuanced characters and an intentionally obscure plot. It is secretive, difficult to understand and endlessly addictive. To bring a show like this to life is a challenge for any creator.
The creators of the show very cleverly decided the way to hook people to this show was to first anchor them to the leading pair, Mulder and Scully. Their chemistry on screen is palpable immediately, his faus-aloof nature belying his obsessing with investigation the paranormal, her scientific scepticism serving as the perfect counterbalance.
The dichotomy that would drive the story forwards was built early on by their contrasting reactions to their first abduction case, Mulder believes but Scully refutes. This is all brought to the brilliant finish when their car is halted by a flash of blinding white light and they lose 9 minutes, on exactly the spot that Mulder marked earlier in the episode.
Confirmed by recurring character "Cigarette Smoking Man" burying evidence in the Pentagon archive later on, we are confirmed in the very first episode that Mulder is not chasing phantoms or crazy. Aliens are real, and there is a conspiracy. Following episodes unfold at a relaxed pace that allows them to explore dozens of philosophical themes and moral dilemmas because they hooked us in the first episode.