First Person Shooter (The X-Files)

First Person Shooter (The X-Files)

"First Person Shooter" is the thirteenth episode of the seventh season of the science fiction television series The X-Files. It premiered on the Fox network in the United States on February 27, 2000. The episode is a "Monster-of-the-Week" story, unconnected to the series' wider mythology. "First Person Shooter" earned a Nielsen household rating of 9.3, being watched by 15.31 million people in its initial broadcast. The episode mostly negative reviews from critics; many felt that the story was flawed and that the plot was sexist.

The show centers on FBI special agents Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) who work on cases linked to the paranormal, called X-Files. Mulder is a believer in the paranormal, while the skeptical Scully has been assigned to debunk his work. In this episode, The Lone Gunmen summon Mulder and Scully to the headquarters of a video game design company after a new virtual reality game, which the Gunmen helped design, is taken over by a bizarre female computer character whose power is much more than virtual.

"First Person Shooter" was written by noted authors William Gibson and Tom Maddox, and directed by series creator Chris Carter. In addition, the episode serves as the spiritual successor to Gibson and Maddox's earlier episode "Kill Switch." Gibson was motivated to write the episode after the success of "Kill Switch." The episode featured several elaborate special effects sequences that nearly put the episode over budget.