The Erlenmeyer Flask
Nitcentral's Bulletin Brash Reflections: XFiles: Season One: The Erlenmeyer Flask
Synopsis: The episode starts with a high speed car chase. The suspect ends up fleeing on foot and, after being shot several times, dives into the ocean. The officer chasing rushes to where he dove off and finds green blood. Mulder is advised by Deep Throat to check the case out, and, despite someone's efforts to cover it up, Mulder finds out the owner of the car involved in the case: a Dr. Berube. The doctor, however, proves to be of little help, and Mulder thinks that the case has hit a dead end. Not long after, however, Dr. Berube is killed, and the suspect from the chase has turned up again, trying to call the doctor. As paramedics attempt to give him a shot, a noxious gas emits from him. The suspect is able to run away while the paramedics are coughing. Scully gets the materials in a flask found in Dr. Berube's office analyzed, and the specialist tells her that the virus inside is like nothing ever seen: by nature, it would have to be extraterrestrial. Mulder tracks down a factory filled with humans suspended in giant vats, but when he brings Scully there, someone has already cleared the site. Deep Throat arrives, revealing that Dr. Berube was experimenting with alien viruses on people with terminal illnesses. The virus ended up working to help them, but also mutated them. Dr. Secare, the suspect from the chase, was one of the test subjects. Going to Dr. Secare's house, Mulder finds him hiding in the attic. A government assassin soon arrives, however, kills Secare, and captures Mulder. Scully contacts Deep Throat and asks him to help in saving Mulder. Deep Throat points her to a research facility in Maryland, and gives her false credentials to gain access. Using a password found in Berube's office, Scully gets into a containment room which contains an alien fetus. Deep Throat works out a deal: Mulder's life for the return of the fetus. Deep Throat insists on making the exchange himself, and, after handing over the fetus, is shot as Mulder is dumped out of a van. Later, Mulder calls Scully to let her know that the X-Files are being shut down. As the episode ends, we see the Cigarette-Smoking Man in the secret Pentagon storage room, as in the pilot, storing the fetus away.
By Mark Swinton on Tuesday, October 26, 1999 - 4:26 pm:

For an obvious but interesting oddity, the opening caption at the end of the Main Title sequence reads: "Trust No-One" rather than the usual "The Truth is Out There". Doubtlessly paying homage to the departure of Deep Throat, whose expiring words are indeed "Trust No-One".

By Chris Marks on Monday, March 07, 2005 - 5:41 am:

If the vapour from the hybrids blood is so toxic (as seen in the ambulance, Mulder's reaction to Secare's death and later episodes), why didn't it affect the police officers at the beginning?

Also, why didn't anyone think that Secare might have been wearing a bullet proof vest, or was under the influence of some serious chemicals when he was shot?

By Jesse on Friday, October 13, 2006 - 6:48 am:

Chris Marks: Also, why didn't anyone think that Secare might have been wearing a bullet proof vest...when he was shot?
Even if Secare was wearing a vest, the impact of multiple rouns would quite painful. Some people have even been knocked out from a bullet hit when wearing a vest.

In the Chief's "X-Files" guide, he cites the fact the train locomotive at the episode's outset has the letters "CN" on the front, the logo of "Canadian National." He then claims that while this is expected (since this episode was shot in Vancouver), it's incorrect for something occurring in the DC area. In actuality, CN trains run through the US all the time. CN owns a large amount of track in the US as well.

By ccabe on Friday, October 13, 2006 - 10:03 am:

I've seen litteraly dozens of CN trains in the Owensboro, Ky area. Especialy near a siding in Maceo, along KY state road 2830. As well as Union Pacific. (The Pacific Ocean is even father away than Canada)

By AWhite (Inblackestnight) on Friday, July 13, 2012 - 6:49 pm:

Chris: If the vapour from the hybrids blood is so toxic (as seen in the ambulance, Mulder's reaction to Secare's death and later episodes), why didn't it affect the police officers at the beginning?
Good question Chris. The 'toxic blood' has been pretty inconsistent throughout the show. Perhaps, in this case, the toxicity eminated from the person and not the blood.

In the Guide Phil says that "Purity Control" is the password needed to enter the cryo-lab at Fort Marlene but that's not quite correct. The guard simply asks her for the name of what experiment she's checking on, which there appeared to be many in the lab. All she had to do was to name any one of them, but luckily Dr. Berube labeled his erlenmeyer flask (where have I heard that before?) the exact name she needed.

I really enjoyed this ep. It's quite amazing how much was crammed into these 45+ mins that set the stage for the remainder of the show. However, despite what Scully experiences in this ep she's still quite skeptical and easily swayed to more... terrestrial explanations on the strange occurances she encounters in future eps. I also found it quite odd that a medical doctor and FBI agent didn't ask for a copy of the results from the experiments on the purity while they were being conducted.

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