The X-Files Secret Sherlock Holmes Episode
While it seems to have cooled down recently, it wasn’t that long ago that the world seemed to be experiencing a new round of Sherlock Holmes fever. After all, we had the hit BBC show starring Benedict Cumberbatch, the feature films featuring Robert Downey Jr., and even the Enola Holmes films featuring Henry Cavill. However, one hit ‘90s show was ahead of the curve: the early X-Files episode “Fire” is filled with Sherlock Holmes references intended to make us compare Mulder to Arthur Conan Doyle’s famous detective.
Fire
In order to solve the X-File of this show’s unexpected connections to Sherlock Holmes, we need to bring you up to speed on the episode itself. “Fire” is an episode where Mulder teams up with an old (ahem) flame, a London police officer, to work on an arson case along with Scully.
It turns out the arsonist has supernatural abilities, and unless Mulder can overcome his lifelong fear of fire, everything he holds dear is in danger of getting burned to a crisp.
Fox And Phoebe
This particular X-Files episode was written by series creator Chris Carter, and while he hasn’t explicitly mentioned this, it seems like he really wanted “Fire” to be a secret Sherlock Holmes-themed episode.
One oblique reference the episode makes to the famous detective is when Mulder’s former girlfriend Phoebe Greene reminisces about their time together. Specifically, she references the two of them making out on the tombstone of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the famous author who created Sherlock Holmes.
The Red-Headed League
By itself, this X-Files trivia about Mulder’s love life might have just been a shout-out to Doyle, but the Sherlock references in “Fire” just keep coming. At one point, Greene refers to a mystery they are trying to unpack as a “three-pipe problem.” This phrase is used in the Sherlock story “The Red-Headed League,” where the detective declares that he will need to smoke a minimum of three pipes in order to unravel the mystery.
Holmes & Watson
While that particular phrase is arguably a deep cut, the next X-Files reference to Sherlock Holmes is one just about anyone would catch. At one point, Scully asks Mulder if “the game’s afoot.”
This is a phrase frequently used by the literary detective in order to express his excitement about a mystery kicking into high gear.
Eventually, this X-Files episode just drops the idea of pretext altogether, and Scully affectionately refers to Mulder as “Sherlock.”
With equal affection and a bit of his usual irony, Mulder then calls his partner “Watson.” It’s a sweet little moment that underscores how well these two know and trust each other after so little time working together.
Carter Is A Holmes Fan
While there are likely many other connections between The X-Files and Sherlock Holmes than are found in “Fire,” none of these references should be very surprising to fans of Chris Carter.
In a 2013 interview, the X-Files creator revealed the surprising fact that he didn’t really like science fiction when growing up, preferring instead to read the stories of Jules Verne and Arthur Conan Doyle, especially Sherlock Holmes. He insisted that “both came into play” on his show, and “Fire” is proof of just how much he loved the world’s most famous detective.
