Season 1, Episode 14
This review contains spoilers.
A series of sexual deaths leads Mulder and Scully to a religious community called the Kindred, an Amish-like sect that lives in isolation. After being spurned by the Kindred, M&S sneak onto their property at night and discover an underground cavern that secretes a white substance Mulder believes grants immortality—and can change one’s gender.
An atmospheric and suspenseful episode, “Gender Bender” benefits greatly from its cult-like plot and rural farm setting that homes the Kindred and their secrets. It’s also fun to see Scully and Mulder taken out of the normal city setting and placed in the middle of a clearly uncomfortable environment. The only real problem with the episode is the sudden, inexplicable ending—aliens!?—that doesn’t serve as an explanation of the story’s dilemmas and which also damages an otherwise well-written tale of gender identity, sexual awakening, and murder.
Rating: 👽 👽 👽
Note: Nicholas Lea, who would come to portray one of the show’s central antagonists, Alex Krycek, plays a one-off character in the episode, a would-be victim of the gender-swapping killer.
