The X-Files - S1:E8 "Ice"

[ S1:E7 "Ghost in the Machine" <<< Season 1 >>> S1:E9 "Space" ]

Mulder and Scully are sent out with some scientists to investigate the mysterious demise of a research team in Alaska, who went insane after unwittingly liberating an alien parasite from a prehistoric impact crater deep under the ice. This episode is an obvious homage (I don't want to say "imitation") to John Carpenter's The Thing, complete with a pervading sense of isolation and paranoia (but minus the killer creature effects). It may only be "The Thing Lite", but considering the quality of the source material, it's pretty good for a monster-of-the-week episode (I'm not sure this alien parasite has any connection to the one we'll see later in the series). Plus, it's pretty neat if you consider it from the perspective of bringing some of the sci-fi/horror genre's greatest hits to the television screen (although that may be less of a spectacle in this day and age when we watch TV and movies all on the same screen through our streaming digital services).

Memorable quotes:

Infected Scientist: We're not who we are.