After The X-Files received a full season order from Fox back in its first year, the show's first season finale became a key episode, a moment that could make or break the series. Entitled The Erlenmeyer Flask, it's the episode that took the idea that there was a vast government conspiracy about the existence of extraterrestrials, something for which seeds had been planted earlier in the year, and expanded it on a level never before seen. In essence it sparked the over-all mythology of the show: prior to this episode, events were connected only in the flimsiest of ways. Where the episode really excelled, however, was not at the vast, over-reaching conspiracy, but at the minutiae. It's this episode that introduced the idea that alien DNA was being worked with, it's this episode that sparked the idea of alien-human hybrids (under a project dubbed "Purity Control"), and it's this episode that showed alien blood was toxic, possibly fatal, to humans. Had this episode failed, the overall conspiracy arc would have been very different - if it existed at all. It was an extremely successful finale however, and from this point forward, the mythology was in full swing.
Primarily covering the sport of MMA from Ontario, Canada, Jay Anderson has been writing for various publications covering sports, technology, and pop culture since 2001. Jay holds an Honours Bachelor of Arts degree in English from the University of Guelph, and a Certificate in Leadership Skills from Humber College.
