Mulder and Scully investigate a series of murders in a Maryland town where it isn't caused by too much violence on television - it's simply caused by television. While Scully finds herself mesmerized by the recordings the murderers kept, Mulder sets out to prove it isn't what you see on TV, but what you don't.

original airdate--May 10,1996                rating--14.48 million

music--theme song "X-Files" by Mark Snow"

Goofs:

• Mulder states that he is color blind; if this were true he would be medically ineligible to be a Special Agent in the FBI.
• (At 16:55) While searching through a chest containing many VHS tapes, Agent Scully's left hand quickly pans over the contents, revealing it to be without a latex glove; yet, in the next shot after calling over Agent Mulder, when she puts the video into the player, her hand is clearly gloved. She wouldn't have had time between the shots to put it on.
• A cable television trap cannot create a signal. Such a device can only filter out a signal or alter an existing signal.
• In the opening scene Sarah's eyelashes are still moving; she is dead.

Trivia:The name John Gillnitz shows up at least six times in the series, usually as a throwaway character. It's an in-joke, an amalgamation of the name of three people who worked on the show:'JOHN Shiban', 'Vince GILLigan' and 'Frank SpotNITZ'. The name appears in the following episodes: Episode #3.23, "Wetwired", victim in hammock (uncredited) Episode 4.12, "Leonard Betts", bearded man/murder victim ('Ken Jones' ) Episode 5.6, "Christmas Carol", DNA technician (uncredited) Episode #6.5, "Dreamland: Part 2", mentioned in passing, does not appear on screen Episode 7.14, "Theef", reporter ('Mark Thompson' ) Episode #9.15, "Jump the Shark", man with bioweapon (Marcus Giamatti)