Looking Back at The X-Files Episode Squeeze 33 Years Later

In the days before streaming, when people had to tune into a TV show at a specific day and time, the first few episodes needed to introduce the series properly. This approach prevented alienating viewers who missed the pilot and could not catch it until a rerun appeared.

The X-Files followed this exact pattern.

In the first episode about FBI agents investigating paranormal phenomena, true-believer Agent Mulder (David Duchovny) meets skeptic Agent Scully (Gillian Anderson). They take on their first case involving alien abductees. In the second episode, they examine an Air Force base experimenting with alien aircraft. Both episodes center on the show’s main alien mythology. Consequently, the third episode marked the series premiere of a standalone Monster of the Week story. It proved just as crucial as the first two in establishing a balance between serialized plotlines and one-off investigations.

That third episode succeeded enough to hook early viewers and set a high benchmark for future Monster of the Week stories.

“Squeeze” first aired on September 24, 1993, and Glen Morgan and James Wong wrote the script. They were the first writers besides creator Chris Carter to pen an X-Files episode. The case starts with a series of seemingly impossible murders in Baltimore. A killer removes victims’ livers with bare hands, striking in hard-to-reach locations without obvious entry points. Mulder notes that a similar sequence of murders occurred in 1963, 1933, and potentially even earlier.

Mulder and Scully stake out a crime scene and apprehend Eugene Victor Tooms (Doug Hutchison). Tooms is a cold, blank-faced man who appears to be in his 30s. Given his apparent age, he could not have committed the historical crimes. Once he passes a lie detector test, the local agent working with Mulder and Scully releases Tooms, and the murders resume.

Tooms is actually a creature capable of stretching and squeezing his body into impossible spaces. He consumes human livers to sustain himself before entering a 30-year hibernation, repeating the cycle upon waking. While the exact nature of Tooms remains unexplained, he made for a memorable villain. The eerie sight of his yellow eyes peering through tight vents and small spaces made the episode terrifying.

The legacy of “Squeeze”

“Squeeze” mattered because The X-Files relied heavily on standalone procedural stories where Mulder and Scully investigated paranormal cases nationwide, far outnumbering the conspiracy episodes. Without successful standalone entries, the show could not have lasted for one season, let alone 11. Morgan and Wong crafted a tight, creepy, and intriguing story featuring a completely unique monster. Doug Hutchison played the character with an empty, alien quality that kept the creature deeply mysterious despite looking like an ordinary person.

The episode set a strong benchmark for future Monster of the Week stories. Later standalone episodes like “The Host” and “Home” occasionally surpassed “Squeeze,” but such occurrences remained rare. For the most part, “Squeeze” stood as the definitive example of a Monster of the Week story. As long as subsequent episodes approached the quality of “Squeeze,” they generally delivered a decent installment of The X-Files.

The X-Files is available to stream on Disney Plus, Hulu, and for free on Pluto TV

Source: Polygon