Appeared in: Season 5, Episode 19 - "Folie à Deux" A lot of good science fiction involves examining how we see the world around us, literally - what is real, and what isn't. Questions of reality come up in The Matrix (basically a riff on Plato's allegory of the cave), Neuromancer, numerous Star Trek episodes, the list goes on - but those are less scary and more science-y. "Folie à Deux" (which is a term meaning "a shared psychosis") from the fifth season of The X-Files brings the creep factor right along with the science. Greg Pincus is an apparently decent call centre boss - but one of his employees happens to see him as a monster, literally, who feeds off his workers, turning them into zombies that can't be seen save by a select few. After taking Pincus and other workers at the office hostage, the employee winds up dead - but not before Mulder and Scully are called in on the case, and not before Mulder becomes able to see the monster Pincus really is, becoming part of the Folie à Deux. What made this insectoid-like monster so creepy? The sounds the creature made were unnerving, and the fact that only Mulder could see it (especially when hospitalized and strapped down to a bed) - it gave you a sense that, for a change, he was actually in danger.
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.
