ely ▁surprised . ▁Although ▁a ▁bit ▁over ly ▁reli ant ▁on ▁the ▁alleg ed ▁shock ▁value ▁of ▁sn akes , ▁the ▁episode ▁establish es , ▁more ▁firm ly ▁than ▁any ▁before ▁it , ▁the ▁demon ic ▁nature ▁of ▁some ▁of ▁the ▁powers ▁at ▁work ▁in ▁The ▁X - Files ." ▁Rich ▁Ros ell ▁from ▁Dig it ally ▁Ob s essed ▁awarded ▁the ▁episode ▁ 5 ▁out ▁of ▁ 5 ▁stars ▁and ▁called ▁the ▁episode , ▁" one ▁of ▁the ▁sc ari est ▁episodes ▁of ▁season ▁ 7 " ▁before ▁not ing ▁that ▁the ▁episode ▁" re ally ▁cre ep ed ▁me ▁out ." ▁However , ▁other ▁reviews ▁were ▁more ▁mixed . ▁Robert ▁She ar man ▁and ▁Lars ▁Pear son , ▁in ▁their ▁book ▁W ant ing ▁to ▁Bel ieve : ▁A ▁Crit ical ▁Guide ▁to ▁The ▁X - Files , ▁Mill en ni um ▁& ▁The ▁L one ▁Gun men , ▁r ated ▁it ▁two - and - a - half ▁stars ▁out ▁of ▁five . ▁The ▁two ▁noted ▁that , ▁despite ▁several ▁very ▁" co ol " ▁images — such ▁as ▁G rac ie ▁bir thing ▁sn akes ▁and ▁a ▁man ▁o oz ing ▁re pt ile ▁ven om — the ▁episode ▁" does n ' t ▁really ▁seem ▁to ▁stand ▁for ▁anything ." ▁She ar man ▁and ▁Pear son ▁further ▁critic ized ▁putting ▁" rel ig ion ▁in ▁the ▁c ros sh air " ▁and ▁concluded ▁that ▁the ▁episode ▁was ▁" just ▁your ▁every day ▁s liver ▁of ▁super natural ▁h