“Mulder, why would alien beings travel light years to Earth in order to play doctor on cattle?”– Dana Scully.
EVE [Standalone] Aired December 10, 1993
Episode: 1×10 / 11 Overall
Director: Fred Gerber • Writer: Chris Brancato & Kenneth Biller
Mulder and Scully search for two missing girls who disappeared after their fathers were murdered in an identical fashion.
Back to the monster of the week format with Eve, a show written by the inexperienced writing duo of Brancato & Biller, their writing credits at this point in their career included three Beverly Hills 90210 episodes. Their lack of experience certainly shows up in the writing for this week with several implausible and poorly executed ideas. It’s flaws notwithstanding however, Eve still manages to be relatively unpredictable as a mystery thriller. The writing duo competently employ misdirection to an effective degree, resulting in a few unpredictable twists and turns throughout. While concurrently presenting flimsily constructed plot points along the way which drag down an otherwise ably written show. The script feels as thought it was rushed to completion and had they allowed themselves more time to iron out some of the kinks Eve may have been comparable to some of the series better MOTW episodes. As it stands however it is ultimately a disappointment when coming off some of the first seasons more expertly crafted shows like Ice and Squeeze. Some of the criticisms have been directed, rather unfairly in my opinion, at the two lead actresses Erika and Sabrina Krievins, in their singular starring role in television. Child actors require a less critical lens when judging their acting and from that more accommodating perspective I believe the girls performed competently enough for what was required. It’s easy to blame the actors in this scenario as that is what we, as the audience, see. However one must acknowledge that even the greatest actor is at the mercy of the writer, there is only so much that can be done with poorly written dialogue.
The ‘Eve’s are said to have heightened intelligence due to their extra chromosomes, this leads us to the reasonable question of why they would stage such an elaborate and conspicuous murder scene when they would have been more capable of enacting something far less obvious? Why make the murders look like an alien exsanguination? What purpose does this ultimately serve, if any? When Mulder and Scully visit Eve 6 in the secret facility they are told by the attendant that since she screams when they turn the overhead lights on, that no one has gotten a good look at her. This is presumably the writer’s justification for why no one recognises her as looking identical to Dr. Sally Kendrik or Eve 8, who enters the facility unrestricted in order to rescue the girls at the episodes conclusion. However, immediately after entering the cell Mulder shines a torch on Eve 6 which clearly shows her face for the remainder of the scene. Brancato & Biller had some glaring plot holes to cover and employed a rather humorous technique to explain these omissions. When asked how they knew of each others existence or how it was possible to orchestrate such an elaborate crime while living thousands of miles apart, their answer is simply, “we just knew”. Although it’s certainly possible that these genetically modified copies of one another possessed some psychic connection it still feels rather convenient that the answers to these questions require no further explanation.
Given the drawbacks to this episode it’s unsurprising that Brancato & Biller did not return to pen any further shows. When looking past its imperfections and focusing on the positives of the episode, Eve is enjoyable enough. Certainly upon its initial viewing there are more than enough twists in the plot to hold the audiences attention and provide sufficient intrigue. When it’s all said and done though, it’s a classic case of a script that was pushed forward without enough attention given to it’s finer details.
★★☆☆☆
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