The X-Files season 6 Bermuda Triangle episode: why it stands out

The Bermuda Triangle episode of The X-Files season 6 is an outstanding episode. It drops Mulder onto a vanished 1939 ocean liner and follows him and Scully through long, unbroken takes. It arrived in a season many fans see as the start of the show's decline, but I liked that season.

The X-Files, starring David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson, began season 6 on the 8th of November 1998, right off the back of the show's first feature film. The season ran into the new year and became the final season of the millennium.

X-Files season 6 is where many fans say the decline began

Season 6 pushed the episode count back above 20, giving us 22 episodes. It was also the first TV box set I ever bought. I didn't use to buy box sets, and because of that, this was the season of television I went back to over and over and over.

Many consider it the point where things started to go downhill. This is where the ratings began to drop, and they kept falling until the final season of that run. Most of the criticism came from the standalone entries leaning more towards humor and moving away from the scares that dominated so much of the earlier seasons. But I liked it.

Mulder ends up aboard the Queen Anne in the Bermuda Triangle

The episode opens with Mulder floating in open water. He's pulled on board a mysterious ship, revealed to be the British liner the Queen Anne, which disappeared in the Bermuda Triangle in 1939. The ship was taken over by Nazis right before it vanished. At first Mulder believes it has jumped through time and returned to the present with its crew. He quickly finds the opposite: he has traveled back in time, and he has to stop the Germans before they can go on to destroy the world.

There was a real ship around that time which I think was the basis for this. However, it was sunk by a German U-boat in 1943, so it doesn't fit the timeline.

As for the Bermuda Triangle, it has been the subject of countless disappearances. Ships and planes have vanished over the years, with last contact sometimes describing strange occurrences. I once saw a big documentary that explained many of the disappearances and pointed out that statistically there are no more vanishings in this area than on any other major shipping lane in the world. The triangle still has a huge reputation, and it has been at the center of several shows and movies.

Long single takes and a split screen make the Bermuda Triangle episode stand out

Beyond the cool premise, I think what makes this episode stand out is the way it's shot. Many scenes are done in one take, with the camera constantly following the characters as they move through the hallways.

There's a brilliant moment at the midpoint where Scully boards the ship in the present, and we see her pass by Mulder and a past version of herself from the 1930s. It's done with a split screen, and it all works excellently.

Spender, the Cigarette Smoking Man and Skinner play dual roles on the ship

The other thing that makes this episode special is the number of actors playing dual roles, with familiar faces making up the crew of the doomed ship. Spender appears early on as a Nazi, and then the Cigarette Smoking Man plays one as well. He's introduced perfectly: we get a shot of his back as he orders the captain killed, then the camera pans around to reveal the villain. Mulder has seen a vision of him like this before. In an earlier episode, he touched on how he saw him as a Nazi officer.

Skinner is a Nazi too, but in typical Skinner fashion he saves Mulder at several points. In one bit, Mulder and the woman with him get caught, then we hear a gunshot, which reveals Skinner standing there because he has shot the man who caught them.

Alvin Kersh turns up as well, further down in the bowels of the ship, among those trying to take the ship back to Jamaica. I loved constantly seeing these actors pop up, because they get to play against how they're normally portrayed. The exception is the Cigarette Smoking Man, but to my ears he nails the German dialogue.

Mulder's arrogance with the 1939 crew is one of the best parts

One thing I love about this episode is how arrogant Mulder is at first, and how he's almost excited to tell everyone about the future. He tells them to relax: "There's no war going on. The world is at peace. There's a little trouble over at our White House, but that'll blow over, so to speak."

No one believes him. He's dragged through the ship, constantly beaten up and interrogated by both the Queen Anne's crew and the Nazis. When he introduces himself as an agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, nobody has heard of it.

Thor's hammer turns out to be a scientist, not a weapon

What the villains are after is called Thor's hammer. I'm guessing the episode didn't use the Norse name, Mjolnir, because nobody back then would have known what they were talking about. So they went with Thor's hammer, which I've been guilty of doing myself, especially when I took myself very seriously and didn't want to be seen as someone who couldn't pronounce it.

It turns out Thor's hammer isn't a weapon. It's a man, a scientist who could turn the tide of the war for whichever side has him. We learn that the woman alongside Mulder is an agent guarding him, and his identity slowly unravels over the episode.

Mulder knows who he is as well. When he's taken to the engine room, he accidentally lets slip that the scientist is on the ship. One of the crew breaks away and makes a phone call in German. A crew mate then tells him spies are everywhere and he should trust no one, which builds nicely off one of the show's catchphrases.

Mulder is then taken to the ballroom, where the Germans callously kill the hostages one by one until he reveals the identity. Mulder smartly says the first hostage they shot was the scientist, and at that point Thor's hammer reveals himself. British soldiers arrive and fight the villains, and Mulder makes a break with the past Scully.

Scully's unbroken run through the FBI building is excellent

While all this is going on, we also follow Scully in the present at the FBI. She learns what Mulder has been up to, and we follow her around the building as she tries to find out what's going on. It's our best look at the building, and following her throughout without breaking the shot is excellent.

There are some fantastic bits. She goes into Kersh's office to tell him the truth, notices the Cigarette Smoking Man in the corner, decides to play it as though it wasn't important, and leaves. She then rides the elevator up and down while making a phone call, stopping at numerous floors. She sees the villains at one point, goes back into the lift and keeps moving. Eventually she reaches a floor where it's revealed she has been on a staticky phone call with Skinner, who is standing there when the door opens.

It's so well directed and blocked, and it keeps us in the moment throughout, so we see how the characters think on their feet. Eventually she escapes the FBI with help from the Lone Gunmen. It's an excellent scene that moves through an environment and leads to a triumphant escape.

The ending: a kiss, a punch and a nod to The Wizard of Oz

Scully and the Lone Gunmen then come across the ship in the present, completely abandoned. They board it, noting the power is still on, and it's eerie as they make their way to the dining room.

Back in 1939, Mulder and the past Scully end up on the ship's deck, and he tells her how important the mission is. He convinces her to turn the boat around and head back into the triangle. It's the only way to save the world, and if she doesn't, the Nazis will win. He then grabs her and kisses her in case they never meet again. It's not technically Scully, but it's technically a Mulder and Scully kiss, and I love that her reaction is to punch him, because she obviously has no idea who he is.

Mulder jumps overboard and hopes for the best, and the past Scully throws him a lifeline. He's found and wakes up in hospital in the present, in a scene clearly riffing on The Wizard of Oz. He tells Scully he loves her, and she rolls her eyes, thinking he's delirious. Then he touches the black eye the past Scully gave him and realizes that, though everyone thinks it was a dream, it was real.

Again, it's an outstanding episode, and the trend continues. Episodes four and five, Dreamland parts 1 and 2, are great body swap stories, and they're both outstanding too. Michael McKean appears in a main part, and he would later play Saul's brother in Better Call Saul.