This seemed to me like a combo between star trek's "Wink of an eye" and Batmans (the cartoons) "Time out of joint"

So the guy kills the teacher in the cafeteria and doesent expect to get caught? What about all the witnesses. They knew he had in it for the teacher and saw the look he was giving the teacher as he was attacking him.

When enhancing the video footage, FBI employee of the day says he is marking parts of the frame with known color values. How does he know what the color values are? Did Mulder take some snapshots of the Sheriff's office for sentimental value?

While we're at it, he marks two places two colors. From this, we're expected to believe the beta software extracted that rainbow of totally different colors. I'll leave it as an exercise for the reader to decide if two reference colors is anywhere near enough....

I liked the "Matrix"-like visual effects, with the camera angles changing rapidly and the "frozen" bullet scene.

How did that rock and bright light give the power to the kids?

Ah, yes. Another time for our heroes to examine the supernatural cave, and they go and fill it with concrete!

-- Aaron

Maybe the caves had Scalosian water.

So, one blow from a flashlight shatters the deputy's face, driving shards of his eyeglasses all the way through his skull -- and the flashlight doesn't break?

Did anyone else notice that undone button on Scully's blouse during Tony's interrogation? Was there some point to that?

I have to question whether the disappearance of the flashlight would really mean that the police would have to let Tony go free. He was arrested on the strength of his being the only person at the crime scene, and refusing to talk about what happened. Indeed, if they had examined the flashlight for, ahem, *fingerprints*, they might have had positive evidence in another direction.

The writer(s) made a show of appreciating the wear and tear that super-speed would inflict on a person. Still, I have to think that accelerating from zero to Flash would flatten your brain against the back of your skull, rather than just leaving a few lesions.

I'll leave it as an exercise for the reader to decide if two reference colors is anywhere near enough....

We had to do something like this at my work, and converting grayscale to RGB was described as "turning sausage back into pork".

Did anybody thing Mulder and Scully seem a bit more friendleir to each other when we first saw them?

While I didn't get into the story as much as last episode, this was far better than pretentious pap like "Amor Fati". Taken on its own merits, this is a nifty little little thriller (although why must we have a troubled kids episode every season?).

COMMENTS
*Wow, it seems like every cliche was lovingly dusted off--Chuck Burks, the suspicious lawman, the punk kids, the old duffer who's obviously Victim Numero Uno, and the spooky videotape.

*The acting was okay. The teenage actors performed their parts as necessary. I liked the guy playing the sheriff, but the guy as the teacher bugged me.

*The killing of the teacher was way, way too over-the-top. It was like something out of a B-movie. That said, the final cave confrontation was interesting and neat.

*I still do not understand how the clock hands move if they simply move fast.

*Finally, I must admit that the plot seemed quite dumb at first. Another ghostly poltergeist! Blah! But then, we move onto the super speed slayers, which I enjoyed a lot more. Seemed a bit like DC Comics mayhem to me, though.

a nit:

I believe (now correct me if I am wrong --- I know you will :-)) Mulder said that force equals change in momentum. (This part is right, trust me, I am a physics major) Not true, Force equals change in momentum divided by change in time (Newton's second law).

Force equals change in momentum divided by change in time (Newton's second law).

This is correct.

Specifically, Newton's law can be stated in several ways.

Given the traditional statements that:

F = ma
p = mv

and that a = dv/dt,

we can then immediately derive that

F = m dv/dt = (m dv)/dt = dp/dt

I used to be a math major many MANY MANY moons ago.

However, Mulder's statement could be construed as a layman's interpretation of the second law (remember, Mulder's degree is in Psychology). He could have meant that Force equals a change in momentum OVER TIME (emphasis mine), and being a layman, did not state it exactly. Scully, having studied physics (her thesis is on relativity), would understand (and because she isn't a CABBAGEHEAD^OMT, she didn't correct him on air).

I see good news ahead for The X-Files: episode titles are getting cooler. o_O

["Did anyone else notice that undone button on Scully's blouse during Tony's interrogation? Was there some point to that?"] Yes. It's called the 18-to-35-year-old male demographic.

Mulder (having probably only taken high school physics) stated that "force equals mass times acceleration". I (taking high school physics) have learned that F=ma. What's with this other really, really scary looking math stuff? *frightened look*

Oh, and a thought: wouldn't the bullet have deformed after passing through Punk Boy? It seemed fairly long and narrow before striking Pretty Girl. (Names are unimportant, they're stereotypes.)

Re: bullet

It wouldn't have deformed. It was full-metal jacket, and from the angle she shot him could have easily missed the ribs and passed through only soft tissue. T'wouldn't be messed up then.

A hollowpoint would have been really really gross in slow motion though.

But I do have a question...did the girl have an exit wound? If so, the Troubled Teen sitting on the floor would have gotten a good bit messy, if not killed outright.

Hey, and here's another question...the gun was on the floor before the bullet was done flying. Is that quick or what?

Hey, and here's another. Why didn't people's clothes get ripped off their bodies by the speed? I always hated that about Superman, too.

Hey, and...nevermind.

Deuce:

The math that ScottN did was taking derivatives.

You got the typical Newton's second law, but when Newton actually wrote the law he didn't say F=ma, he said F=dp/dt. For those who don't know calculus, dp/dt can be expressed as Dp/Dt. Where, Dp equals the change in momentum p (ie p final minus p intial). p, which is momentum, is mass times velocity.

Thus putting that into the equation you get

F = D(m*v)/Dt

For everyday speeds, mass doesn't change so it is constant, thus it can be placed in front and one gets:

F = m*Dv/Dt

And, since Dv/Dt is the definition of acceleration, one comes back to the equation

F = ma

Hope that clears things up, and to the others...
Sorry this has become a physics lesson

Scott N, nobody loves a math geek ;)

Hey Mr. Morgan, did you notice that little exchange after the blond gave Mulder the once-over? Scully did (or said) something I couldn't see (or hear), then Mulder said, "What?!"
what happened there?

Kellkan: the punk told Scully that she was "probably a Betty in the day."

Scully: "Betty?"
Mulder: "In the day?"

The First Advisor should take a break from Ralph Fiennes worship and watch her videotape a little more closely.

Scott N, nobody loves a math geek ;)

Why do you think I was a loner in HS? I'd probably be profiled if it was today instead of 20 years ago...

Also,

Scott N, nobody loves a math geek ;)

Not quite true. Mrs. ScottN loves me! Not to mention my two little daughters!

My nitpicks are as numerically proceeds:
1) The no trespassing sign is backwards in the commencement (how do automobiles know not to enter if the sign is not facing the road on which they are driving?), later in the reversed direction, and even further in the episode is back to its original position.
2) The deputy's face was smashed inward in the commencement. How could the deputy have properly shouted in pain if his mouth and a majority of his vocal cords were greatly pummeled?
3) F=MA. However, I have heard and observed it also presented as F=MV.
4) Anthony Reed is, at the most, seventeen years old, and the SAT's are traditionally taken prior to your admittance into a college. Thus, Special Agent Dana Scully's comment regarding Anthony's SAT's scores may not necessarily make sense. This could also not be a nitpick, considering you may take the SAT's whenever you feel prepared.
5) The preview again lied. The killer is not invisible; the killer is faster than the speed of light. There is a difference.

the killer is faster than the speed of light Pick, pick, pick--the killer is actually only faster than people can observe; the camera still got him. Invisible to the human eye, if you want to grant the PAL a little bit.

FTL, and he'd go backwards in time....

However, I have heard and observed it also presented as F=MV.


Whoever told you this is entirely wrong. F=ma=dp/dt=d(mv)/dt=D(mv)/Dt
but F NEVER equals mv

p = mv. That is, momentum is mass times velocity. Force is mass times acceleration.

F doesn't equal mv. F equals ma.

We know that an object without any force acting upon it will remain in it's current state, both velocity and mass. So, imagine a baseball moving through a vacumn with no outside forces acting on it.

Using the equation proposed by Stuart, F=MV, we get:

0=MV

Force is 0, since there are NO outside forces at work. However, the baseball has both mass and velocity. Since that makes the equation impossible, F doesn't equal MV.

"Am I making any sense here?"

--DZS

The time is given at the start of the episode as 11:49am. It looks rather dark to be the middle of the day and I did get the impression it was suposed to be the middle of the night.