Beyond the Sea (The X-Files)

"Beyond the Sea" is the thirteenth episode of the first season of the American science fiction television series The X-Files, premiering on the Fox network on January 7, 1994. It was written by co-executive producers Glen Morgan and James Wong, and directed by David Nutter. The episode is a "Monster of Week" story, unconnected to the series' wider mythology, although it deepens the characterization of Scully through the introduction of her parents. Despite a mediocre Nielsen rating compared to other episodes of the first season, "Beyond the Sea" received a largely positive reception amongst critics.

The show centers on FBI agents Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) who work on cases linked to the paranormal, called X-Files. The plot of the episode sees Scully's father die and her skepticism put to the test by Luther Lee Boggs, a prisoner on death row who claims to have psychic powers.

The episode showed the protagonists reversing their usual roles of "believer" and "skeptic" for the first time and introduced the theme of father figures that would continue throughout the series. Critical commentary has noted parallels between the character of Dana Scully and that of Clarice Starling from The Silence of the Lambs (1991).