The Jersey Devil
- Episode aired Oct 8, 1993
- TV-14
- 44m
IMDb RATING
6.9/10
6.9K
YOUR RATING
Mulder and Scully track a legendary creature that has roamed the New Jersey countryside for over 40 years.Mulder and Scully track a legendary creature that has roamed the New Jersey countryside for over 40 years.Mulder and Scully track a legendary creature that has roamed the New Jersey countryside for over 40 years.
David James Lewis
- Young Officer
- (as David Lewis)
Jason Gray-Stanford
- 1947 Police Officer
- (uncredited)
Rhys Huber
- Trent - Scully's Godson
- (uncredited)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaIt was David Duchovny that suggested to Chris Carter that Claire Stansfield should play The Jersey Devil. Duchovny and Stansfield had met earlier while filming The Bounty Hunter (1992) together.
- GoofsWhen Mulder and Scully first walk across the office to acquire a car, the cameraman walks into the edge of a desk and the camera noticeably jolts to the left. A second later the offending desk is in shot.
- ConnectionsReferenced in Gone Home (2013)
- SoundtracksThe X-Files
(Credited)
Written by Mark Snow
Performed by John Beal
Featured review
"... and look who's holding the door!"
The Jersey Devil inaugurates another X-Files tradition, namely lighter, more entertaining standalone episodes following the more emotionally relevant mythology stories (Squeeze, which aired right after Deep Throat, doesn't count, on the grounds of it being, well, too creepy). This trend was exploited at best in Seasons 5-7, but this episode shows that the writers already had a clear sense of how to do comedy in the series.
As suggested by the title, Mulder and Scully travel to New Jersey, where corpses are found with limbs missing. Remembering an old X-file, Mulder says it might be the legendary "Jersey Devil" who's behind the attacks, meeting inevitable derision on the part of local authorities and, to a lesser degree, Scully. As they get closer to the truth (some evolutionary misstep might be involved), the tension increases and the search for the "Devil" gets more and more serious.
Mulder's beliefs, contrasted with Scully's skepticism, have been there since the pilot episode, but this is the first time their work relationship is played for laughs, with their respective theories clashing in a humorous debate about mankind and evolution (another important theme in the longer run of the show). Naturally, there is also suspense (though not as consistently as in Squeeze) and a traditionally open ending which suggests the story may not be over (which wasn't the case, but still...). Revealingly, though, the epilogue induces a smile rather than a shiver. That's The X-Files in a nutshell: weird, thrilling and funny - often at the same time.
As suggested by the title, Mulder and Scully travel to New Jersey, where corpses are found with limbs missing. Remembering an old X-file, Mulder says it might be the legendary "Jersey Devil" who's behind the attacks, meeting inevitable derision on the part of local authorities and, to a lesser degree, Scully. As they get closer to the truth (some evolutionary misstep might be involved), the tension increases and the search for the "Devil" gets more and more serious.
Mulder's beliefs, contrasted with Scully's skepticism, have been there since the pilot episode, but this is the first time their work relationship is played for laughs, with their respective theories clashing in a humorous debate about mankind and evolution (another important theme in the longer run of the show). Naturally, there is also suspense (though not as consistently as in Squeeze) and a traditionally open ending which suggests the story may not be over (which wasn't the case, but still...). Revealingly, though, the epilogue induces a smile rather than a shiver. That's The X-Files in a nutshell: weird, thrilling and funny - often at the same time.
helpful•216
- MaxBorg89
- Dec 3, 2008
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Official sites
- Language
- Filming locations
- Pacific Central Station, 1150 Station Street, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada(exterior of Atlantic City Police Department)
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
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