“Firewalker” is episode nine of season two of The X-Files.
The episode opens at 2:45 AM at the Volcano Observatory of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. A man is being told that the team at Mt. Avalon missed their check in. Not a glitch; a tracking station in Bend, Oregon, receives a message requesting emergency airlift. They enter the Data Room; they still have an uplink to Firewalker’s video camera, which is at base camp. Only Firewalker, a robot, isn’t. It’s in the volcano. They only have the video link to the robot. The camera is panned around and a body is seen. Dead. Then there’s a shadow, and they wonder what could be moving around down there. The video signal starts fading before going completely.
At the FBI, the man, Dr Pierce, is showing a video to Mulder and Scully – she having recovered in the previous episode, “One Breath”. The video has a man, Daniel Trepkos, talking about Firewalker and its upcoming descent into a volcano, and being a bit over the top in his predictions. Pierce says that Daniel always had a flair for self-dramatisation. Brilliant, occupying that rare place where dreams, ambition and great luck converge. The team sent a distress signal yesterday and failed to respond to call. Pierce explains what they saw, showing the Firewalker video. He doesn’t know what the shadow is, as temperatures are above 130 degrees at this point.
Pierce left the project 6 weeks ago. He and Trepkos almost came to blows; Pierce wishes he could explain what over. Pierce found Daniel was slipping into madness, con trolling the others. There are millions of dollars tied up in the project and Pierce is reluctant to go through proper channels and put them at risk. They can leave immediately. Mulder asks Scully if she really thinks it’s a good idea to go. She does.
They arrive at the camp near the volcano in the Cascades. Mulder, Scully and Pierce are dropped off by a helicopter, which leaves. Firewalker’s satellite relay is down. Pierce wants to check the millions of dollars of instruments he’s accountable for. The other two plan to check for the people, and enter a bunker.
Lights and power are off and torches reveal that the place has been trashed. There is man watching but staying out of sight, until he attacks Mulder. He runs but, when caught, says it isn’t what it looks like. Her thought Mulder was Trepkos. The man introduces himself as Jason Ludwig.
Ludwig explains about Trepkos as he switches on the power, and tells people they can come out. Peter Tanaka, who has a nasty cough, and Jessie O’Neill were in hiding. Trepkos was Jessie’s thesis advisor; he promised her an adventure and a life-changing experience. He told the truth; such things do not have to be good. They want to know if this is a rescue team. Yes, after Mulder and Scully investigate what happened. Apparently, Trepkos flipped out after Firewalker’s descent. He went off his meds and destroyed most of his work. The others managed to save some of it. Mulder looks in a journal and finds the phrase ‘A new life form’ in it.
Pierce is out in the forest, checking on equipment. Mulder speaks to Scully about the three team members. He thinks they are a bit paranoid; Scully thinks that’s explainable by events. They decide to talk to Pierce, who knows these people, to get his opinion. Pierce is currently being attacked and killed by a burned Daniel Trepkos.
Pierce’s body is found later and brought back, to be put in the freezer. Mulder tells Scully about what Trepkos had written. Scully tells him nothing could survive inside the volcano; the heat and poison gasses would kill it (possibly not true; some extremophiles might be able to survive). He suggests, based on the notes, that Trepkos found a silicon-based life form. All known life is carbon based, Scully reminds him; Mulder states that silicon is the most similar element to carbon, and silicon base life has been theorised. Scully is not convinced. She thinks everyone needs evacuating, and quickly.
Mulder listens to some of Trepkos’s recordings that have been saved. Tanaka is not looking great; his cough is severe and he looks to be suffering from a fever. In fact, he’s rather worse than not great. Mulder is still feeling rather protective of Scully.
In many ways, this is reminiscent of “Ice”; a dangerous new life form in a remote environment with a limited number of people. Only with fire and heat, not cold and ice.