Død Kalm cannot really escape how it feels - an episode written to make use of a set. The set in question being the ship the production crew hired for Colony and End Game. Also it feels very much like another entrant of an Ice-style episode (see also: Darkness Falls and Fire Walker) and associated in-fighting but less exciting than any of them.
The other problem is it has a great knack in suggesting and shooting down far more interesting ideas than the episode actually contains. Its a very slow, very tiring episode.
At least Humbug is a wonderful contrast. Darin Morgan's first episode was reportedly cut down from its highest comedic moments (Kim relates how the novelization picks up the discards), but this is still a tremendously entertaining episode.
Successful mostly because the The X-Files has not been intentionally funny (while we laughed all the way through Space, we are pretty sure that was not the idea) so far. An inversion of just who is the outsider while also notable for Scully disappointed at the midway mark that the explanation is so mundane. Definitely feels like Mulder is rubbing off on her...
