Mulder is called in (with Scully) by the Lone Gunmen to investigate the strange death of a man who has been shot within a computer generated environment.
After season five's Kill Switch, hopes were high for William Gibson's return to The X-Files, but this isn't as good as his first outing, mainly because it has such large believability gaps. Now, I admit this is meant to be a series about unexplained and unnatural phenomena, but this is just totally impossible and no explanation is found by the end. At least Mulder usually has an answer for most things.
You see, First Person Shooter is basically an excuse to get Mulder and Scully into hi-tech combat gear and shoot the crap out of things, and to showcase the unbelievable body of a woman whose image is killing those who enter her computer realm. Not that this aspect is a particularly bad idea, and it does lead to some wonderful looks from David Duchovny as he follows her around an interrogation room and she recreates the famous Basic Instinct leg-crossing incident.
It's everything else that doesn't work. The reason the computer program is killing remains unknown, the reason a Scully-fied version of the killer sprite arrives at the end is unclear, the way to shut down the program (a convenient kill-switch) is too obvious and although Mulder plays up to the role he is given, Gillian Anderson looks acutely embarrassed. After earlier mentions of male/female roles in the gaming industry, it's a shame none of this subtext is followed through, as it would have really given the episode a emotional edge.
As it is, First Person Shooter is one of those episodes that could have been so much better with just a little more thought and effort. Fantastic CGI effects though, and the Virtual World looks really cool.
***
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