"Drive" was written by Vince Gilligan of Breaking Bad (and Better Call Saul) fame and guest starred Bryan Cranston as a man who is forced to drive to no end in order to stay alive. "Drive", besides being one of the most memorable, entertaining and intense experiences of The X-Files to this point, bears even more significance on television, more precisely, modern television. It is the episode that ultimately ensured in Gilligan's mind that Bryan Cranston was the final piece in the puzzle to Breaking Bad and won him the lead role of Walter White.
"Drive" has one of the single most memorable and distinctive of cold opens in The X-Files to this point. It is as good as ones like in "Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose" and "Home" to name but two. It opens on what appears to be a breaking news television broadcast that details a pursuit in which an unnamed man with an apparent female hostage continues to elude police on a highway. The man is soon apprehended and the 'hostage' is guaranteed safety. As the man is cuffed, the woman suddenly and mysteriously dies, as if by a gunshot wound. Cut to credits.
What an emphatic way to open up "Drive" and my god does Vince Gilligan follow through on the promise of the cold open. This is such a distinctive episode of the show and it is just about as good as any X-Files episode can be that sees Scully and Mulder divided for the runtime. There is so much happening, both in terms of plot and story that are exciting and absorbing and maintain the episode's high intensity. The relationship between Mulder and Bryan Cranston's Mr. Crump is a joy to watch on screen, memorable, funny, nasty and even touching at instances and all this is accomplished with barely giving any backstory as to who Mr. Crump is. It is a testament to the writing of Vince Gilligan, the performance of Bryan Cranston and the direction of one of the show's top calibre directors, Rob Bowman that this episode works as well as it does without being reduced to a gimmicky Speed homage or rip off if you will.
It is also an episode that as I mentioned feels distinctive within the show's collection of episodes and its unique flavour is much needed given how repetitive the show can at times feel. It is also an episode that perfectly utilizes both Scully and Mulder. The former is just open minded enough and incredibly competent and efficient in her work to assist and guarantee Mulder's safety and the latter, even when held at gunpoint and forced to drive endlessly and elude law enforcement displays a depth of empathy for the victim and 'villain' of the episode. As such, "Drive" is brimming with freshness and when a show goes on for five seasons and can wear itself on the repetitive formula that the show thrives on, such changes are a welcome refreshment.
I adored "Drive". It escalates in tension throughout, at times reaching points of unbearable tension and the guest performance of Cranston coupled with the writing and direction (what incredible cinematography, particularly for the driving sequences and the bio-hazardous monitoring of Mr. Crump's place which feels very extraterrestrial aesthetically) make it a truly fine episode. It takes the premise of the movie Speed, restructured that so that the suspense sustains a high peak for the duration of the episode and effectively takes the passengers on the bus and reduces it to its bare minimum of Mulder and Mr. Crump. That dynamic is so strong and the suspense superbly defined that the episode works wonderfully well on the whole. A visceral and deeply intense episode that also without which, the fate of the hit show Breaking Bad (a significant part of the landscape of modern television) could have been very different.
"Drive" has one of the single most memorable and distinctive of cold opens in The X-Files to this point. It is as good as ones like in "Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose" and "Home" to name but two. It opens on what appears to be a breaking news television broadcast that details a pursuit in which an unnamed man with an apparent female hostage continues to elude police on a highway. The man is soon apprehended and the 'hostage' is guaranteed safety. As the man is cuffed, the woman suddenly and mysteriously dies, as if by a gunshot wound. Cut to credits.
What an emphatic way to open up "Drive" and my god does Vince Gilligan follow through on the promise of the cold open. This is such a distinctive episode of the show and it is just about as good as any X-Files episode can be that sees Scully and Mulder divided for the runtime. There is so much happening, both in terms of plot and story that are exciting and absorbing and maintain the episode's high intensity. The relationship between Mulder and Bryan Cranston's Mr. Crump is a joy to watch on screen, memorable, funny, nasty and even touching at instances and all this is accomplished with barely giving any backstory as to who Mr. Crump is. It is a testament to the writing of Vince Gilligan, the performance of Bryan Cranston and the direction of one of the show's top calibre directors, Rob Bowman that this episode works as well as it does without being reduced to a gimmicky Speed homage or rip off if you will.
It is also an episode that as I mentioned feels distinctive within the show's collection of episodes and its unique flavour is much needed given how repetitive the show can at times feel. It is also an episode that perfectly utilizes both Scully and Mulder. The former is just open minded enough and incredibly competent and efficient in her work to assist and guarantee Mulder's safety and the latter, even when held at gunpoint and forced to drive endlessly and elude law enforcement displays a depth of empathy for the victim and 'villain' of the episode. As such, "Drive" is brimming with freshness and when a show goes on for five seasons and can wear itself on the repetitive formula that the show thrives on, such changes are a welcome refreshment.
I adored "Drive". It escalates in tension throughout, at times reaching points of unbearable tension and the guest performance of Cranston coupled with the writing and direction (what incredible cinematography, particularly for the driving sequences and the bio-hazardous monitoring of Mr. Crump's place which feels very extraterrestrial aesthetically) make it a truly fine episode. It takes the premise of the movie Speed, restructured that so that the suspense sustains a high peak for the duration of the episode and effectively takes the passengers on the bus and reduces it to its bare minimum of Mulder and Mr. Crump. That dynamic is so strong and the suspense superbly defined that the episode works wonderfully well on the whole. A visceral and deeply intense episode that also without which, the fate of the hit show Breaking Bad (a significant part of the landscape of modern television) could have been very different.