Ep 2. Drive
- TV14
- November 15, 1998
- 45 min
-
8.5 (4,514)
Mulder and Scully find themselves in a high-speed chase to save the life of a man named Patrick Crump. The bizarre case begins when Crump is seemingly possessed by a mysterious force that compels him to drive his car at impossible speeds, and with no regard for his own safety or that of others. As the episode unfolds, Mulder and Scully race against time to solve the mystery behind the possession and stop Crump before it's too late.
The episode opens with a scene of a panicked Crump (played by Bryan Cranston) driving at over 90 miles per hour down a Los Angeles freeway. He's clearly out of control, swerving and braking erratically as motorists honk and swerve to avoid him. In a moment of desperation, Crump pulls over and attempts to communicate with a passerby, but quickly succumbs to violent seizures.
Enter Mulder and Scully, who are called in by the local police to investigate the bizarre case. It doesn't take long for them to determine that something more sinister than mere human frailty is at work here. Crump's description of an "unimaginable" force controlling his actions points to the possibility of extraterrestrial involvement, and the agents begin scouring the area for clues.
As the investigation heats up, Mulder and Scully begin to piece together some intriguing evidence. They discover that Crump was exposed to a high-frequency signal during his time working as an underpaid car salesman, and that this may have triggered the strange possession. They also learn that other individuals with similar professions, personalities, and medical histories have begun to experience the same phenomenon.
Meanwhile, Crump's condition continues to deteriorate. With every passing moment, the force controlling him becomes more powerful and takes him on increasingly dangerous journeys. These scenes are frenetic and tense, as viewers watch Crump navigate the dangers of high-speed driving with a furious intensity that is both frightening and awe-inspiring.
As Mulder and Scully race against the clock, they come to a terrifying realization: if they do not find a way to break the possession quickly, Crump will die in a fiery crash. With this knowledge at the forefront of their minds, the agents pull out all the stops to uncover the truth about the mysterious force and its origin.
Without giving away too much of the plot, it suffices to say that Drive is a gripping and intense episode that showcases the best of The X-Files' paranormal mysteries. With fantastic acting from Cranston and fantastic writing from the show's creators, it's no wonder that this episode is among the most memorable of the series.