households watching television, were tuned in to the episode. The episode was watched by a total of 16 million viewers. Reviews Critical reception to the episode was mostly positive. Many reviews praised the Moby Dick conversation between Mulder and Scully. Zack Handlen of The A.V. Club was positive towards the episode, grading it an A−. He wrote that it "starts off amazingly" and positively noted the way the monster was handled. However, he noted that it was the "linger[ing]" conversation scene that "sets 'Quagmire' apart from all the other standard Monster Of The Week procedurals." John Keegan of Critical Myth gave the episode an 8 out of 10 rating, noting "Overall, this episode was a strong look into the psychological issues that Mulder and Scully are carrying around this season. The plot of the episode is little more than a tool chosen to pry into the minds of the two agents, revealing just how dependent they are on each other. A rare case of character development taking center stage." Keegan also wrote positively of the conversation sequence, writing that the "isolation caused by the sinking of the boat [...] forces Mulder and Scully to actually discuss their issues." Robert Shearman and Lars Pearson, in their book Wanting to Believe: A Critical Guide to The X-Files, Millennium & The Lone Gunmen, rated the episode four stars out of five, and called "Quagmire" a "delightful little gem" and "something rather magical". Furthermore, Shearman and Pearson praised Anderson and Duchovny's acting, calling their performances "beautifully played". Paula Vitaris of Cinefantastique gave the episode a positive review and awarded it three stars out of four. She referred to the episode as "part Jaws, part The Lost World, and part Buster Keaton" and noted that the third act was when the episode "becomes truly special, when Mulder and Scully are forced to abandon ship and take refuge on a big rock in the middle of a pitch-black night." Vitaris, however, was critical of the episode's closing shot, noting that the "shot destroys the story's ambiguity. A large ripple in the water would have been much more clever." Not all reviews were so positive. Entertainment Weekly gave the episode a C and was critical of the entry's monster, writing "hey, the show kinda had to tackle Loch Ness". Furthermore, the review wrote that the episode was "notable only for Mulder and Scully's Moby Dick digression". See