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The X-Files (season 1)

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The X-Files (season 1)
The X-Files Season 1.jpg
Region 1 DVD cover art
 
Country of origin
United States
No. of episodes
24
Broadcast

Original channel
Fox
Original run
September 10, 1993 – May 13, 1994
Home video release
DVD release
Region 1
May 9, 2000
Region 2
November 6, 2000
Region 4
November 22, 2000
Season chronology

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Season 2

List of The X-Files episodes
The first season of the science fiction television series The X-Files commenced airing on the Fox network in the United States on September 10, 1993 and concluded on the same channel on May 13, 1994 after airing all 24 episodes.
The first season introduced main characters of the series, including Fox Mulder and Dana Scully who were portrayed by David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson respectively, and recurring characters Deep Throat, Walter Skinner and The Smoking Man. The season introduced the series' main concept, revolving around the investigation of paranormal or supernatural cases, known as X-Files, by the Federal Bureau of Investigation; it also began to lay the groundwork for the series' overarching mythology.
Initially influenced by Kolchak: The Night Stalker and The Twilight Zone, series creator Chris Carter pitched the idea for the series to Fox twice before it was accepted for production. The season saw the series quickly gaining popularity, with ratings rising steadily throughout its run; and garnered generally positive reviews from critics and the media. It helped to make stars of its two lead roles, and several of its taglines and catchphrases have since become cultural staples.

Contents
  [hide] 1 Production 1.1 Development
1.2 Casting
1.3 Writing
2 Concept and themes
3 Broadcast and reception 3.1 Ratings
3.2 Reviews
3.3 Accolades
4 Cast 4.1 Main cast
4.2 Recurring cast
5 Crew 5.1 Writers and producers
5.2 Directors
6 Episodes
7 DVD release
8 Notes
9 References
10 External links
Production[edit]
Development[edit]
California native Chris Carter was given the opportunity to produce new shows for the Fox network in the early 1990s. Tired of the comedies he had been working on for Walt Disney Pictures,[1] inspired by a report that 3.7 million Americans may have been abducted by aliens,[2] and recalling memories of Watergate and the 1970s horror series Kolchak: The Night Stalker, Carter came up with the idea for The X-Files and wrote the pilot episode himself in 1992. He initially struggled over the untested concept—executives wanted a love interest for Scully—and casting. The network wanted either a more established or a "taller, leggier, blonder and breastier"[3] actress for Scully than the 24-year-old Gillian Anderson, a theater veteran with minor film experience, who Carter felt was the only choice after auditions.[4][5]
Carter's initial pitch for The X-Files was rejected by Fox executives. He fleshed out the concept and returned a few weeks later, leading to the commission of the pilot. Carter worked with NYPD Blue producer Daniel Sackheim in further developing the pilot, drawing stylistic inspiration from the 1988 documentary The Thin Blue Line, and the English television series Prime Suspect.[6] Inspiration was also taken from Carter's memories of watching Kolchak: The Night Stalker and The Twilight Zone in his youth; as well as from the then-recently released film The Silence of the Lambs, which was the impetus for framing the series around agents from the FBI, in order to provide the characters with a more plausible reason for being involved in each case than Carter believed was present in Kolchak.[7] Carter was also keen on keeping the relationship between the two lead roles strictly platonic, basing their interactions on the characters of Emma Peel (Dianna Rigg) and John Steed (Patrick Macnee) in the series The Avengers.[8][9]
During the early stages of production for the series, Carter founded Ten Thirteen Productions, and began to plan for filming the pilot in Los Angeles. However, unable to find suitable locations for many of the scenes, Ten Thirteen Productions made the decision to "go where the good forests are", and moved production to Vancouver,[10] where the series would remain for the next five seasons; production would eventually shift to Los Angeles beginning with the sixth season.[11] It was soon realized by the production crew that since so much of the first season would require filming on location, rather than on sound stages, two location managers would be needed, rather than the usual one.[12]
Casting[edit]
David Duchovny had worked in Los Angeles three years prior to The X-Files, and at first had wanted to base his acting career around films. But in 1993 his manager, Melanie Green, gave him a script for the pilot episode of series. Green and Duchovny were both convinced it was a good script, so Duchovny auditioned for the lead.[13] When Duchovny was auditioning for the part of Fox Mulder, he made a "terrific" audition, but spoke rather slowly. Chris Carter thought at the beginning of the auditioning for the character, he was a "good judge of character", and thought that Duchovny wasn't rather "bright". So he went and talked to Duchovny and asked him if he could "please" imagine himself as an FBI agent for the "future" week. The casting director of the show was very positive towards him. According to Carter, Duchovny turned out to be one of the best-read people he knew.[14] Carter recalls being contractually obliged to provide Fox with a choice of two actors for the role; however, he was confident Duchovny was the right choice from the outset.[15] After getting the role, Duchovny thought the show wouldn't last for long or that it wouldn't make much impact.[16]
Gillian Anderson was cast due to insistence from Carter that she would fit the role perfectly; however, Fox executives had wanted a more glamorous "bombshell" for the part, hoping that this would lead to the series involving a romantic element. This led Carter to insist that he did not want the roles of Mulder and Scully to become romantically involved, citing the relationship between the lead roles in Moonlighting as an example to avoid.[17] Anderson called her early work on the show "a complete learning experience for me – the pilot was only the second time I'd been in front of a camera".[18]
The series also introduced the character of Walter Skinner, played by Mitch Pileggi, who would go on to become a recurring, and later, main character in the show. The character had been conceived as playing against the stereotypical bureaucratic "paper-pusher", being instead someone more "quietly dynamic".[19] Pileggi had auditioned unsuccessfully for several other parts on the series before being cast as Skinner. At first, the fact that he was asked back to audition for the role had puzzled him, until he discovered the reason he had not cast for the previous parts—Chris Carter had been unable to imagine Pileggi as any of those characters, due to the fact that the actor had been shaving his head. When Pileggi attended the audition for Walter Skinner, he had been in a grumpy mood and had allowed his small amount of hair to grow back. Pileggi's attitude fit well with the character of Skinner, causing Carter to assume that the actor was only pretending to be grumpy. After successfully auditioning for the role, Pileggi thought he had been lucky that he had not been cast in one of the earlier roles, as he believed he would have appeared in only a single episode and would have missed the opportunity to play the recurring role of Walter Skinner.[20]
Glen Morgan and James Wong's early influence on The X-Files mythology led to their introduction of popular secondary characters who would continue for years in episodes written by others, such as the Scully family—Dana's father William (Don S. Davis), mother Margaret (Sheila Larken) and sister Melissa (Melinda McGraw)—as well as conspiracy-buff trio The Lone Gunmen.[21]
Writing[edit]
Initially, there was no certainty as to how long the series would go on for,[22] and as a result there was no long-term plan in the beginning to guide its writers.[23] Although the initial impetus for the show was based on alien abduction lore,[24] the crew believed that the series would not be able to maintain its momentum for long if it did not branch out into different plot ideas.[25] The show's first season thus featured numerous standalone stories involving monsters, and also diverse alien or governmental cover-ups, often with no apparent connection to each other—such as the Arctic space worms in "Ice", and the conspiracy of genetically engineered twins in "Eve." Carter himself wrote "Space", an intended bottle episode about the manifestation of an alien "ghost" in the NASA space shuttle program, which was subject to cost overruns and became the most expensive of the first season.[26]
By the end of the first season, Carter and his staff had come up with many of the general concepts of the mythology that would last throughout all nine seasons. The first season introduced the series' primary antagonist, The Smoking Man,[27] and gave early insight into the disappearance of Mulder's sister Samantha, whose abduction provided one of the main plot threads of the series as a whole.[28] The emergent mythology was further solidified in the Carter-penned, Edgar Award-nominated season finale "The Erlenmeyer Flask".[29] The episode was written in early 1994 before it was known whether or not the series would be renewed for a second season, and featured the closure of the X-Files unit and the reassignment of Fox Mulder and Dana Scully to new jobs within the FBI. The finale was the first episode directed by R. W. Goodwin, who had served as producer for the series.[23]
Concept and themes[edit]
Although Carter initially conceived of the series based on the influence of Kolchak and The Twilight Zone, he has stated that the "leaping-off point" for the series' overall concept came from UFO lore. After being introduced to the works of John E. Mack—especially a study by Mack which had reported that three percent of Americans claimed to have been abducted by aliens—Carter believed he had found his central theme.[30] It was decided that the series would focus on the FBI in order to avoid something Carter had seen as a failing in Kolchak, whereby mysterious events would continually occur in one locale and be accidentally uncovered by the same character—by creating a fictional FBI unit which actively uncovered these paranormal cases, it was felt that the series would be "sustainable week after week without stretching the parameters of credibility".[31] Early in the planning stages, Carter had envisioned that a significant proportion of the episodes would deal with investigations which uncovered hoaxes or cases which had been mistakenly viewed as paranormal. Although this decision never came to pass, the third season episode "Jose Chung's From Outer Space" can be seen as a holdover from the idea.[9]
The series revolves around its two main characters, which had been defined early in conception as the "believer" and the "skeptic".[9] Of these, the "believer", Fox Mulder, was created with a character-defining personal motivation, involving the disappearance of his younger sister during his childhood, which he would believe to be a result of alien abduction.[31] The creation of the "skeptic", Dana Scully, was influenced by Jodie Foster's portrayal of Clarice Starling in The Silence of the Lambs, leading the crew to decide that the character needed to seem "real", as opposed to the "bombshell" type of character the studio was pressing for.[32]
Thematically, although the series focused heavily on alien abduction lore,[24] the decision was made early on to allow the plots of individual episodes to branch out into different territories in order to prevent the overarching plot from running out of momentum, which led to standalone episodes such as "Squeeze" being developed.[25] The variety of storylines which the series has shown has led director Daniel Sackheim to note that "The X-Files has sort of found its own style in that it doesn't have a confined style to it", adding that the series' "fluid" approach has meant that "everybody who comes on the show attempt to make a little scary movie".[33] To this end, several episodes feature varying plots, with alien-influenced storylines varying between "Ice", a "briskly-paced" episode set in a single location,[34] and the character-driven "Conduit", which served to fill in background on the characters.[35] Elsewhere, plots focused on soul transference or reincarnation, with the episodes "Shadows", "Born Again" and "Lazarus" sharing similar storylines.[36] The "tired" plot of "Ghost in the Machine" featured a malevolent artificial intelligence;[34] while "Shapes" introduced the first of what would become several Native American-themed episodes.[37]
The first season also introduced a number of minor characters who would go on to become central figures to the series—The Lone Gunmen, first seen in "E.B.E.", would become regular characters beginning the second season, eventually starring in the spin-off series The Lone Gunmen; whilst the episode "Tooms" introduced Walter Skinner, portrayed by Mitch Pileggi, who would go on to be billed as a series star by the ninth season.[38] The abduction of Mulder's sister Samantha was explored in the episodes "Pilot", "Conduit" and "Miracle Man", and would go on to become one of the central themes of the series as a whole.[28]
Broadcast and reception[edit]

                     

 Nielsen household ratings for the first season
Ratings[edit]
From the outset, viewing figures for the series were good, with the initial broadcast of "Pilot" being watched by 7.4 million households, which constituted 15 percent of the viewing audience at the time.[39] The series was broadcast directly after episodes of The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr., and saw a decline in viewing figures when that series began to falter.[40] The season—and series as a whole—reached a low with "Fallen Angel", which was viewed by only 5.1 million households.[40] However, after the episode aired, the numbers began to rise steadily once again, reaching a peak for the season with "The Erlenmeyer Flask",[40] which was viewed by 8.3 million households, 16 percent of the available audience.[39] At the conclusion of the 1993-1994 television season, The X-Files ranked 105th out of 128 shows.[41] The ratings were not spectacular, but the series had attracted enough fans to be classified as a "cult hit", particularly by Fox standards, and was subsequently renewed for a second season.[42]
Reviews[edit]
Reviews for the first season were mostly positive,[43] with the series being described as "the most paranoid, subversive show on TV",[44] and the writing being called "fresh without being self-conscious, and the characters are involving. Series kicks off with drive and imagination, both innovative in recent TV".[45] The season as a whole currently holds a 100% rating on review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, based on eleven reviews.[46] On Metacritic, the season scored 70 out of 100, based on 13 reviews, indicating "Generally favorable reviews".[47] Writing for IGN, Mike Miksch noted that "some of the episodes were at a level of excellence that still hasn't been matched since"; adding that the series has "become nearly as integral to pop culture today as any show in history".[48] Several episodes were widely praised, including "Squeeze", which has been called "profoundly creepy";[34] the "taut and briskly paced" Arctic-set "Ice";[34] and the "remarkably chilling" Scully-centered episode "Beyond the Sea".[49]
However, not all episodes of the season were as well received. Despite the costly production of "Space", the episode was derided as "decidedly unscary" and "a little tasteless" in its treatment of the Challenger disaster.[50] "The Jersey Devil" was described as "pretty silly";[35] whilst the plots for "Shadows", "Born Again" and "Roland" were panned for being much too similar to each other.[36][51]
Accolades[edit]
The first season received two Primetime Emmy Award nominations, with one win. Composer Mark Snow was nominated for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Main Title Theme Music, while title designers Bruce Bryant, James Castle and Carol Johnsen won for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Graphic Design and Title Sequences.[52]
Cast[edit]
The following actors and actresses appear in the season:[nb 1]
Main cast[edit]
David Duchovny as Special Agent Fox Mulder
Gillian Anderson as Special Agent Dana Scully
Recurring cast[edit]
Jerry Hardin as Deep Throat (7 episodes)
William B. Davis as The Smoking Man (3 episodes)
Doug Hutchison as Eugene Victor Tooms (2 episodes)
Charles Cioffi as Scott Blevins (2 episodes)
Mitch Pileggi as Walter Skinner (1 episode)
Bruce Harwood as John Fitzgerald Byers (1 episode)
Tom Braidwood as Melvin Frohike (1 episode)
Dean Haglund as Richard Langly (1 episode)
Zachary Ansley as Billy Miles (1 episode)
Scott Bellis as Max Fenig (1 episode)
Don S. Davis as William Scully (1 episode)
Lindsey Ginter as Crew Cut Man (1 episode)
Sarah Koskoff as Theresa Nemman (1 episode)
Sheila Larken as Margaret Scully (1 episode)
Crew[edit]
Writers and producers[edit]
Series creator Chris Carter also served as executive producer and showrunner and wrote nine episodes. Co-executive producers and writing team Glen Morgan and James Wong wrote six episodes. Supervising producers and writing team Alex Gansa and Howard Gordon wrote five episodes together, with Gordon co-writing an additional script with Carter. Co-producers and writing team Larry and Paul Barber wrote one episode. Kenneth Biller and Chris Brancato co-wrote a freelance script. Other freelance writers included Scott Kaufer, Marilyn Osborn and Chris Ruppenthal, who each wrote one episode. Other producers included line producer Joseph Patrick Finn and co-producer Paul Rabwin.
Directors[edit]
David Nutter directed the most episodes of the first season, directing six. "Pilot" supervising producer Daniel Sackheim directed two episodes. Other directors that directed two episodes included Jerrold Freedman, William Graham, Michael Lange, Joe Napolitano and Larry Shaw. One-episode directors included Rob Bowman, Fred Gerber, co-executive producer R. W. Goodwin, Michael Katleman, Harry Longstreet and Robert Mandel who directed the pilot episode.
Episodes[edit]
Episodes marked with a double dagger (double-dagger) are episodes in the series' Alien Mythology arc.[53][54]
See also: List of The X-Files episodes
The X-Files season 1 episodes

No. in
 series
No. in
 season
Title
Directed by
Written by
Original air date
Production
 code[55]
U.S. viewers
 (millions)

1
1 "Pilot"double-dagger Robert Mandel Chris Carter September 10, 1993 1X79 12.0[56]
Agent Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) is assigned to work with Agent Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) on the X-Files in an attempt to debunk his work on the paranormal. Their first case has them investigating apparent alien abductions. A near comatose man, Billy Miles (Zachary Ansley), is taking his classmates, including Theresa Nemman (Sarah Koskoff), into the woods, where they are killed in a flash of bright light. Also guest stars Cliff DeYoung, Leon Russom, and Alexandra Stewart. 
2
2 "Deep Throat"double-dagger Daniel Sackheim Chris Carter September 17, 1993 1X01 11.1[57]
Mulder and Scully travel to Idaho in order to investigate the disappearance of a military test pilot. They observe unusual aircraft activity, prompting Mulder to proclaim the existence of a government conspiracy. Mulder sneaks onto the military base and is spotlighted by one of the craft, but is captured by soldiers and has his memory erased before he is released. Guest stars Jerry Hardin, Andrew Johnston, Gabrielle Rose, Michael Bryan French, Seth Green, Lalainia Lindbjerg, and John Cuthbert. 
3
3 "Squeeze" Harry Longstreet Glen Morgan & James Wong September 24, 1993 1X02 11.1[58]
Mulder and Scully investigate a series of murders where there appears to be no tangible method for the murderer’s entrance and escape. Eugene Victor Tooms (Doug Hutchison), a seemingly normal janitor, is suspected by Mulder to be a mutant who kills his victims and extracts their livers in order to prolong his existence. Also guest stars Donal Logue, Henry Beckman, Kevin McNulty, Terence Kelly. 
4
4 "Conduit" Daniel Sackheim Alex Gansa & Howard Gordon October 1, 1993 1X03 9.2[59]
As Section Chief Scott Blevins (Charles Cioffi) expresses his concern with the direction of the X-Files department, Mulder becomes obsessed with solving a case that closely parallels an encounter he experienced as a child, which dealt with alien abduction and an exploration of Mulder's determination to find his sister, Samantha Mulder (Vanessa Morley). Also guest stars Don Gibb. 
5
5 "The Jersey Devil" Joe Napolitano Chris Carter October 8, 1993 1X04 10.4[60]
The murder of a homeless man which is very similar in detail to a murder committed in 1947 leads Mulder and Scully to the legendary man-beast the Jersey Devil (Claire Stansfield) roaming in the forests surrounding Atlantic City. Also guest stars Wayne Tippit, Gregory Sierra, Jill Teed, Andrew Airlie, Bill Dow, and David Lewis. 
6
6 "Shadows" Michael Katleman Glen Morgan & James Wong October 22, 1993 1X05 8.8[61]
When an unseen force commits several murders where a young woman is present, Mulder suspects that it is the spirit of the woman's former boss who was believed to have committed suicide but was actually murdered and he is protecting her from his business partner. Guest starring Barry Primus and Lisa Waltz 
7
7 "Ghost in the Machine" Jerrold Freedman Alex Gansa & Howard Gordon October 29, 1993 1X06 9.5[62]
A computer with highly advanced artificial intelligence begins to kill in order to preserve its existence when it is deemed too inefficient to continue controlling the workings of an office building. Guest starring Rob LaBelle and Wayne Duvall. 
8
8 "Ice" David Nutter Glen Morgan & James Wong November 5, 1993 1X07 10.0[63]
When an Arctic research team mysteriously kill each other and themselves only days after drilling deeper into the ice than ever before, Mulder and Scully accompany a team of doctors and scientists to investigate. They discover an organism which infects living creatures and amplifies the host’s feeling of anger and paranoia, and the new team starts to deteriorate as they wonder who among them are killers. Guest starring Xander Berkeley and Felicity Huffman. 
9
9 "Space" William Graham Chris Carter November 12, 1993 1X08 10.7[64]
A mysterious force is sabotaging a space launch program which leads directly back to the commander of the team, who once claimed to have seen an alien in space while witnessing Mars from Earth orbit. The so-called "alien" returns to Earth with him to torment him, and wreck his new space program. Guest starring Ed Lauter and Susanna Thompson. 
10
10 "Fallen Angel"double-dagger Larry Shaw Howard Gordon & Alex Gansa November 19, 1993 1X09 8.8[65]
Mulder puts the future of the X-Files in jeopardy when he heads to a UFO crash site being rapidly covered up by the military. He is arrested and while in jail he meets Max Fenig (Scott Bellis), a UFO nut whose NICAP group has followed Mulder's work on the X-Files. When Mulder is released, Scully urges him to return to Washington to face his superiors and try to save his job, but Mulder finds out that Fenig is more than meets the eye and ignores Scully to try to save him instead. Guest-starring Marshall Bell and Frederick Coffin. 
11
11 "Eve" Fred Gerber Kenneth Biller & Chris Brancato December 10, 1993 1X10 10.4[66]
When two fathers on opposite sides of the country are inexplicably murdered at the exact same time in the exact same way, Mulder and Scully find that their eight-year-old daughters are perfect twins (Erika and Sabrina Krievins) and were created in order to continue The Litchfield Experiment, a eugenics project of the 1950s which produced cloned boys named Adam and girls named Eve who have heightened strength and intelligence, but are prone to psychotic behavior. Guest starring Harriet Sansom Harris. 
12
12 "Fire" Larry Shaw Chris Carter December 17, 1993 1X11 11.1[67]
Mulder investigates the deaths of British dignitaries at the behest of an old Oxford girlfriend. Cecil L'Ively is a pyrokinetic, and he wants Sir Malcolm Marsden's wife. Cecil attempts to kill Marsden, with his ability to make fire come out of his hands, but Mulder stops him. Guest starring Mark Sheppard and Amanda Pays. 
13
13 "Beyond the Sea" David Nutter Glen Morgan & James Wong January 7, 1994 1X12 10.8[68]
A death row inmate named Luther Lee Boggs claims that he is psychic and can lead Mulder to a serial killer in exchange for a lesser sentence of life in prison. The agents' roles are reversed in this episode, with Mulder doubting Boggs's claim and Scully believing him after she is told that she can communicate through him with her recently deceased father. Guest starring Brad Dourif, Don S. Davis and Sheila Larken. 
14
14 "Gender Bender" Rob Bowman Larry Barber & Paul Barber January 21, 1994 1X13 11.1[69]
A series of identical sexual murders, where the killer appears to be both male and female, draw Mulder and Scully to an Amish-type community of people who may be of alien origin, leading to the discovery of a man who can change sex. Guest starring Brent Hinkley and Nicholas Lea. 
15
15 "Lazarus" David Nutter Alex Gansa & Howard Gordon February 4, 1994 1X14 12.1[70]
When FBI Agent Jack Willis and bank robber Warren Dupre are both shot at the same time during a robbery attempt, Dupre dies and Willis is resuscitated. When Willis rushes out of the hospital and begins acting strangely, Mulder concludes that Dupre's consciousness has been transferred to Willis’ body. Guest starring Cec Verrell and Christopher Allport. 
16
16 "Young at Heart" Michael Lange Scott Kaufer and Chris Carter February 11, 1994 1X15 11.5[71]
A psychotic criminal from one of Mulder's past cases—John Barnett—is back to get revenge on Mulder for incarcerating him. Before Barnett’s release, a renegade doctor had found a way to reverse the aging process - using Barnett as his test subject. Mulder and Scully rush to catch the now-unrecognizable youthful Barnett before he carries out his threat to kill all of Mulder's loved ones. Guest starring Dick Anthony Williams and William B. Davis. 
17
17 "E.B.E."double-dagger William Graham Glen Morgan & James Wong February 18, 1994 1X16
N/A

Mulder and Scully receive information from Deep Throat about a UFO that was shot down over Iraq and has been secretly transported to the US. However, Deep Throat then intentionally misleads the agents to prevent them from discovering the truth. Guest starring Bruce Harwood, Dean Haglund and Tom Braidwood. 
18
18 "Miracle Man" Michael Lange Chris Carter & Howard Gordon March 18, 1994 1X17 11.6[72]
Mulder and Scully travel to Tennessee to investigate the "Miracle Ministry" and its star attraction - a young man with the ability to heal people with his touch - when a person dies shortly after being healed. Guest starring Scott Bairstow, George Gerdes, R. D. Call and Dennis Lipscomb. 
19
19 "Shapes" David Nutter Marilyn Osborn April 1, 1994 1X18 11.5[73]
Mulder and Scully head to an Indian reservation in northwestern Montana to investigate a manslaughter case which Mulder believes may relate to the very first X-File ever created at the FBI, and its main subject: lycanthropy. Guest-starring Ty Miller, Donnelly Rhodes and Michael Horse. 
20
20 "Darkness Falls" Joe Napolitano Chris Carter April 15, 1994 1X19 12.5[74]
Mulder and Scully travel to a remote area of Washington State National Forest after an entire group of thirty loggers goes missing. They soon discover that an unseen force that was lying dormant has been awakened. Guest starring Jason Beghe and Titus Welliver. 
21
21 "Tooms" David Nutter Glen Morgan & James Wong April 22, 1994 1X20 13.4[75]
Tooms is released from the psychiatric sanitarium in which he was incarcerated for assaulting Scully – and he needs to kill once more to get the final liver which will allow him to hibernate for another thirty years. Mulder and Scully race against time to find evidence of his involvement in the past string of murders before Tooms disappears again. Guest starring Mitch Pileggi and Doug Hutchison. 
22
22 "Born Again" Jerrold Freedman Howard Gordon & Alex Gansa April 29, 1994 1X21 13.7[76]
After a detective and his former partner die in unexplained circumstances, the accidents are linked to a little girl who witnessed both deaths and Mulder believes that she may be the reincarnation of a policeman murdered by his colleagues. Guest-starring Maggie Wheeler and Andrea Libman. 
23
23 "Roland" David Nutter Chris Ruppenthal May 6, 1994 1X22 12.5[77]
Agents Mulder and Scully investigate a series of murders in Mahan Propulsion Laboratory as a team of scientists die one by one and the only suspect is a mentally handicapped cleaner named Roland. Guest-starring Željko Ivanek and James Sloyan. 
24
24 "The Erlenmeyer Flask"double-dagger R. W. Goodwin Chris Carter May 13, 1994 1X23 14.0[78]
A seemingly unrelated car chase leads Mulder and Scully to a scientific lab encompassing a secret which could provide proof of a government conspiracy. Guest starring Jerry Hardin and William B. Davis. 
DVD release[edit]
The X-Files – The Complete First Season
Set details[55] Special features[55]
24 episodes
7-disc set
1.33:1 aspect ratio
Subtitles: English, Spanish
English (Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround)
 "Paranormal and Alien Abduction Trivia and Weblinks
Cross Reference of 24 Previews
DVD-ROM Games
Chris Carter talks about 12 episodes: "Pilot", "Deep Throat", "Squeeze", "Conduit", "Ice", "Fallen Angel", "Eve", "Beyond The Sea", "E.B.E", "Darkness Falls", "Tooms", and "The Erlenmeyer Flask"
Selected special effects clips
Deleted scenes
11 "Behind-the-truth" spots from F/X
47 promotional television spots

Release dates
Region 1 Region 2 Region 4
May 9, 2000 November 6, 2000 November 22, 2000
Notes[edit]
1.Jump up ^ Cast information taken from Brian Lowry's 1995 book The Truth is Out There: The Official Guide to the X-Files, published by Harper Prism.
References[edit]
Footnotes
1.Jump up ^ Edwards, p.9
2.Jump up ^ Apello, Tim (March 18, 1993). "X Appeal: 'The X-Files' Builds a Cult Following by Following the Occult". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved September 13, 2011.
3.Jump up ^ Maher, Kevin (March 29, 2007). "Interview with Gillian Anderson". The Times. Retrieved September 13, 2011.
4.Jump up ^ Lowry, pp.15–16
5.Jump up ^ Ryan, Maureen (January 19, 2006). "Interview with Gillian Anderson". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved June 29, 2009.
6.Jump up ^ Edwards, p.13
7.Jump up ^ Lowry, pp.10–12
8.Jump up ^ Lovece, pp.3–4
9.^ Jump up to: a b c Edwards, p.12
10.Jump up ^ Lowry, p.17
11.Jump up ^ Meisler, pp. 18–19
12.Jump up ^ Gradnitzer and Pittson, p.16
13.Jump up ^ Lowry, p.54
14.Jump up ^ Carter, Chris. "Casting Mulder". BBC News. Retrieved July 12, 2009.
15.Jump up ^ Edwards, p.19
16.Jump up ^ Lovece, p.16
17.Jump up ^ Lowry, pp.15–17
18.Jump up ^ "X APPEAL: 'THE X-FILES' BUILDS A CULT FOLLOWING BY FOLLOWING THE OCCULT". Entertainment Weekly. March 18, 1994. Retrieved September 13, 2011.
19.Jump up ^ Lovece, p.26
20.Jump up ^ Lowry, p.71
21.Jump up ^ Stark, Jeff (March 13, 2001). "The enemies are capitalists". Salon.com. Retrieved June 29, 2009.
22.Jump up ^ Lowry, p.21
23.^ Jump up to: a b Mat Beck, Chris Carter, Howard Gordon, Dean Haglund, David Nutter, Paul Rawbin, Daniel Sackheim, Mark Snow. The Truth About Season One (DVD). Fox.
24.^ Jump up to: a b Edwards, pp.11–12
25.^ Jump up to: a b Chris Carter (narrator). Chris Carter Speaks about Season One Episodes: Squeeze (DVD). Fox.
26.Jump up ^ Lowry, pp.120–122
27.Jump up ^ Lowry, pp.267–268
28.^ Jump up to: a b Bush, p.43
29.Jump up ^ Lowry, p.157
30.Jump up ^ Edwards, p.11
31.^ Jump up to: a b Lowry, p.11
32.Jump up ^ Lowry, p.15
33.Jump up ^ Edwards, p.14
34.^ Jump up to: a b c d "X Cyclopedia: The Ultimate Episode Guide, Season 1". Entertainment Weekly. November 29, 1996. Retrieved July 7, 2011.
35.^ Jump up to: a b Phipps, Keith (June 27, 2008). ""Conduit" / "The Jersey Devil" / "Shadows" | The X-Files/Millennium | TV Club | TV | The A.V. Club". The A.V. Club. Retrieved July 18, 2011.
36.^ Jump up to: a b Handlen, Zack (August 8, 2008). ""Born Again/Roland/The Erlenmeyer Flask" | The X-Files/Millennium | TV Club | TV | The A.V. Club". The A.V. Club. Retrieved August 17, 2011.
37.Jump up ^ Cantor, p.158
38.Jump up ^ Spotnitz, Frank; Gilligan, Vince; Shiban, John; Carter, Chris; Elwes, Cary; Patrick, Robert; Manners, Kim; MacLaren, Michelle; Kaplan, Corey; Beck, Mat; Rabwin, Paul; Mungle, Matthew; Amann, David; Montesanto-Medcalf, Cheri; Wash, John; Roe, Bill and Reynolds, Burt (2002). The Truth Behind Season 9 (DVD). Fox Home Entertainment.
39.^ Jump up to: a b Lowry (1996), p. 248
40.^ Jump up to: a b c Lowry, pp.19–21
41.Jump up ^ "ABC Hits a 'Home' Run". Entertainment Weekly. Time Inc. April 28, 1995. Retrieved April 3, 2012.
42.Jump up ^ Powers, William F. (September 17, 1995). "X-Files: Signs of Intelligent Life—Cult Favorite Gains a Following Among the Masses". The Washington Post.
43.Jump up ^ Lowry, pp.251–252
44.Jump up ^ "Alien Nation: FBI Agents Battle Unearthly Boogeymen in The X-Files". Entertainment Weekly. October 8, 1993. Retrieved September 13, 2011.
45.Jump up ^ Scott, Tony (September 10, 1993). "The X-Files Fri.". Variety. Retrieved July 27, 2009.
46.Jump up ^ "X-Files - The Complete First Season". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved September 13, 2011.
47.Jump up ^ "Critic Reviews for The X-Files Season 1". Metacritic. Retrieved April 17, 2013.
48.Jump up ^ Miksch, Mike (May 9, 2000). "X-Files Season One Gift Pack - DVD Review at IGN". IGN. Retrieved March 19, 2012.
49.Jump up ^ "A Look Back on Some of the Best Stand-Alone Episodes From The X-Files Series", The Vancouver Sun (CanWest MediaWorks Publications Inc.), July 25, 2008, retrieved September 13, 2011
50.Jump up ^ Phipps, Keith (July 5, 2008). ""Ghost In The Machine" / "Ice" / "Space" | The X-Files/Millennium | TV Club | TV | The A.V. Club". The A.V. Club. Retrieved July 18, 2011.
51.Jump up ^ Handlen, Zack (August 8, 2008). ""Born Again/Roland/The Erlenmeyer Flask" | The X-Files/Millennium | TV Club | TV | The A.V. Club". The A.V. Club. Retrieved August 13, 2011.
52.Jump up ^ "Primetime Emmy® Award Database". Emmys.com. Retrieved November 27, 2011.
53.Jump up ^ Chris Carter, et al. The X-Files Mythology, Volume 1 (DVD). FOX.
54.Jump up ^ Delasara, p. 9
55.^ Jump up to: a b c Robert Mandel, et al (booklet). The X-Files: The Complete First Season (Liner notes). Fox.
56.Jump up ^ "Smooth Start for 'seaQuest DSV' – Nielsen Ratings". USA Today (Gannett Company, Inc.). September 15, 1993. p. 03D. Retrieved November 28, 2012.
57.Jump up ^ "Nielsen Ratings". USA Today (Gannett Company, Inc.). September 22, 1993. p. D3. Retrieved November 28, 2012.
58.Jump up ^ "'Dave's World,' 'Harts' Help CBS to Victory – Nielsen Ratings". USA Today (Gannett Company, Inc.). September 29, 1993. p. D3. Retrieved November 28, 2012.
59.Jump up ^ "Nielsen Ratings". USA Today (Gannett Company, Inc.). October 6, 1993. p. D3. Retrieved November 28, 2012.
60.Jump up ^ "New Shows Pick Up Steam in ABC Win – Nielsen Ratings". USA Today (Gannett Company, Inc.). October 18, 1993. p. D3. Retrieved November 28, 2012.
61.Jump up ^ "World Series Earns CBS a Win – Nielsen Ratings". USA Today (Gannett Company, Inc.). October 20, 1993. p. D3. Retrieved November 28, 2012.
62.Jump up ^ "ABC Usurps CBS as No. 1 – Nielsen Ratings". USA Today (Gannett Company, Inc.). November 3, 1993. p. D3. Retrieved November 28, 2012.
63.Jump up ^ "Nielsen Ratings". USA Today (Gannett Company, Inc.). November 10, 1993. p. D3. Retrieved November 28, 2012.
64.Jump up ^ "Walters Gives ABC a Special Boost – Nielsen Ratings". USA Today (Gannett Company, Inc.). November 17, 1993. p. D3. Retrieved November 28, 2012.
65.Jump up ^ "CBS Sweeps Back to Top – Nielsen Ratings". USA Today (Gannett Company, Inc.). November 24, 1993. p. D3. Retrieved November 28, 2012.
66.Jump up ^ "Midler's 'Gypsy' Coming Up Roses for CBS – Nielsen Ratings". USA Today (Gannett Company, Inc.). December 15, 1993. p. D3. Retrieved November 28, 2012.
67.Jump up ^ "ABC on Top For 2nd Week – Nielsen Ratings". USA Today (Gannett Company, Inc.). December 22, 1993. p. D3. Retrieved November 28, 2012.
68.Jump up ^ "'Improvement' Leads ABC Charge – Nielsen Ratings". USA Today (Gannett Company, Inc.). January 12, 1994. p. D3. Retrieved November 28, 2012.
69.Jump up ^ "Nielsen Ratings". USA Today (Gannett Company, Inc.). January 26, 1994. p. D3. Retrieved November 28, 2012.
70.Jump up ^ "Lilith Brings Ratings to 'Fraiser' – Nielsen Ratings". USA Today (Gannett Company, Inc.). February 9, 1994. p. D3. Retrieved November 28, 2012.
71.Jump up ^ "Nielsen Ratings". USA Today (Gannett Company, Inc.). February 17, 1994. p. D3. Retrieved November 28, 2012.
72.Jump up ^ "Wednesday Wins for ABC – Nielsen Ratings". USA Today (Gannett Company, Inc.). March 24, 1994. p. D3. Retrieved November 28, 2012.
73.Jump up ^ "ABC Gets Help From 'These Friends' – Nielsen Ratings". USA Today (Gannett Company, Inc.). April 6, 1994. p. D3. Retrieved November 28, 2012.
74.Jump up ^ "Nielsen Ratings". USA Today (Gannett Company, Inc.). April 20, 1994. p. D3. Retrieved November 28, 2012.
75.Jump up ^ "Nielsen Ratings". USA Today (Gannett Company, Inc.). April 27, 1994. p. D3. Retrieved November 28, 2012.
76.Jump up ^ "Nielsen Ratings". USA Today (Gannett Company, Inc.). May 4, 1994. p. D3. Retrieved November 28, 2012.
77.Jump up ^ "ABC Keeps Hammering Away – Nielsen Ratings". USA Today (Gannett Company, Inc.). May 11, 1994. p. D3. Retrieved November 28, 2012.
78.Jump up ^ "Nielsen Ratings". USA Today (Gannett Company, Inc.). May 18, 1994. p. D3. Retrieved November 28, 2012.
BibliographyBush, Michelle (2008). Myth-X. Lulu. ISBN 1-4357-4688-0.
Cantor, Paul A (2003). Gilligan Unbound: Pop Culture in the Age of Globalization. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 0-7425-0779-3.
Delasara, Jan (2000). X-Files Confidential. PopLit, PopCult and The X-Files: A Critical Exploration. ISBN 0-7864-0789-1.
Edwards, Ted (1996). X-Files Confidential. Little, Brown and Company. ISBN 0-316-21808-1.
Gradnitzer, Louisa; Pittson, Todd (1999). X Marks the Spot: On Location with The X-Files. Arsenal Pulp Press. ISBN 1-55152-066-4.
Lovece, Frank (1996). The X-Files Declassified. Citadel Press. ISBN 0-8065-1745-X.
Lowry, Brian (1995). The Truth is Out There: The Official Guide to the X-Files. Harper Prism. ISBN 0-06-105330-9.
Meisler, Andy (2000). The End and the Beginning: The Official Guide to the X-Files Volume 5. Harper Prism. ISBN 0-06-107595-7.
External links[edit]
 Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: TXF Season 1
List of The X-Files episodes at the Internet Movie Database
List of The X-Files episodes at TV.com

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Pilot (The X-Files)

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"Pilot"
The X-Files episode
X-Pilot.jpg
Mulder and Scully in an autopsy room after exhuming Ray Soammes' body. The episode introduced the principal characters and the series' alien conspiracy.
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Episode no.
Season 1
 Episode 1
Directed by
Robert Mandel
Written by
Chris Carter
Production code
1X79
Original air date
September 10, 1993
Running time
43 minutes
Guest actors

William B. Davis as Cigarette Smoking Man
Charles Cioffi as Scott Blevins
Zachary Ansley as Billy Miles
Sarah Koskoff as Theresa Nemman
Cliff DeYoung as Dr. Jay Nemman
Leon Russom as Detective Miles
Stephen E. Miller as Coroner John Truitt
Jim Jansen as Dr. Heitz Werber
Malcolm Stewart as Dr. Glass
Alexandra Stewart as The Orderly
Ken Camroux as Third Man
Richard Riehle as Shaw
Doug Abrams as Patrolman No. 1
Katya Gardener as Peggy O'Dell
J.B. Bivens as Truck Driver
Ric Reid as Assistant Coroner
Lesley Ewen as Receptionist
 
Episode chronology

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List of season 1 episodes
List of The X-Files episodes
"Pilot" is the pilot episode of the science fiction television series The X-Files. The episode aired on September 10, 1993 on the Fox network in the United States and Canada, and subsequently aired in the United Kingdom and Ireland on Sky1. The story was written by executive producer Chris Carter, and directed by Robert Mandel. As the pilot, it would set up the mythology storyline for the series. The episode earned a Nielsen rating of 7.9 and was viewed by 7.4 million households and 12.0 million viewers. The episode itself was generally well received by fans and critics alike, which led to a growing cult following for the series before it hit the mainstream.
The pilot introduced the two main characters, Fox Mulder and Dana Scully who were portrayed by David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson respectively. The episode also featured William B. Davis, Charles Cioffi and Zachary Ansley as the recurring characters of the Smoking Man, Scott Blevins and Billy Miles. The Smoking Man would go on to become the series signature antagonist, appearing in every season except the eighth. The episode follows FBI Special Agents Mulder and Scully on their first X-File case together, investigating a string of deaths which Mulder believes to be alien experiments.
Inspired by Kolchak: The Night Stalker, the series was conceived by Chris Carter in an attempt to "scare people's pants off". When creating the characters of Fox Mulder and Dana Scully, Carter decided to play against established stereotypes, making the male character a believer and the female a skeptic, as the latter role had traditionally been a male one on television. Principal photography for "Pilot" took place over fourteen days during March 1993; using a budget of $2 million, the scenes were filmed in and around the Vancouver area. Vancouver would remain the area for production for the next five years, although production would move to Los Angeles from the beginning of the sixth season at the behest of David Duchovny.

Contents
  [hide] 1 Plot
2 Production 2.1 Pre-production
2.2 Filming
2.3 Post-production
2.4 Deleted scenes
3 Broadcast and reception
4 References
5 External links
Plot[edit]
In Bellefleur, Oregon, teenager Karen Swenson is seen fleeing through the forest. When she falls, a dark figure approaches, and they both become enveloped in light. Swenson's body is later found by Bellefleur detectives, with two small marks on her back.
Later, in Washington, D.C., FBI special agent Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) is summoned to a meeting with Division Chief Scott Blevins (Charles Cioffi) and a seemingly anonymous government official, The Smoking Man (William B. Davis). Scully is assigned to work with Special Agent Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) on the X-Files, an obscure FBI section covering purportedly paranormal cases. Blevins has assigned Scully for the implicit purpose of using her scientific knowledge to discredit Mulder's work.
Scully introduces herself to her new partner, who shows her evidence from the Swenson case. He notes that she was the fourth member of her high school class to die under mysterious circumstances. Mulder also notes an unknown chemical compound found on Swenson's body, as well as similarities between her death and others from across the country. Mulder believes that Swenson's death is due to extraterrestrial activity. However, the skeptical Scully expresses disbelief in Mulder's theory.
When Mulder and Scully's plane flies over Bellefleur, it encounters unexplained turbulence. As they drive in the woods near the town, the agents' car radio malfunctions; Mulder marks the spot of this event by spray-painting an "X" onto the road. Mulder arranges for the exhumation of the third victim, Ray Soames, despite the protests of Dr. Jay Nemman, the county medical examiner. When Soames' coffin is opened, a deformed body is found inside, which Scully concludes is not Soames, but an orangutan. However, she finds a metal implant in the body's nasal cavity.
Mulder and Scully visit the psychiatric hospital where Soames was committed before his death and meet two of Soames' former classmates—the comatose Billy Miles (Zachary Ansley); and the wheelchair-using Peggy O'Dell. O'Dell suffers from a nosebleed during the agents' visit, and is seen to bear marks similar to Swenson's. Outside the hospital, Mulder explains to Scully that he believes Miles, O'Dell, and the victims to be alien abductees.
That night, the agents investigate the forest; Scully discovers strange ash on the ground, leading her to suspect occult activity. However, a local detective arrives and orders them to leave. Driving back to their motel, Mulder and Scully encounter a flash of light at the spot their car had malfunctioned earlier. When the car loses power, Mulder realizes that nine minutes disappeared after the flash, a phenomenon reported by alien abductees.
At the motel, Mulder tells Scully that his sister Samantha vanished when he was twelve, which has driven his work in the paranormal. The agents receive an anonymous call telling them that O'Dell was killed in traffic while on foot. They visit the scene, finding O'Dell's body and no wheelchair. They return to find the motel on fire and their evidence destroyed. Nemman's daughter Theresa contacts the agents for help. She tells them that she has awakened in the middle of the woods several times; though her father and Detective Miles arrives and takes her away.
Mulder and Scully return to the cemetery to exhume the other victims only to find the graves already dug up and the coffins missing. Mulder realizes that Billy Miles is responsible for bringing the victims to the woods. Returning to the woods, they again encounter Detective Miles, but hear a scream and find Billy nearby with Theresa in his arms. There is a flash of light, and Billy and Theresa are recovered unharmed.
Several months later, Miles is put under hypnosis. He recalls how he and his classmates were abducted in the forest as they celebrated their graduation; they were subjected to tests by the aliens, and killed when the tests failed. Scully provides Blevins with the metal implant, the only remaining piece of evidence. However, she later learns from Mulder that Miles' case files are missing. Meanwhile, The Smoking Man stores the implant away in a vast evidence room within the Pentagon.[1][2]
Production[edit]

 

Chris Carter conceived and wrote the X-Files's pilot episode, taking inspiration from the 1970s series Kolchak: The Night Stalker.
Pre-production[edit]
When conceiving the episode, Chris Carter wanted to "scare people's pants off". A noted influence on the episode's conception was Kolchak: The Night Stalker, a series from the 1970s. This led to an idea of two agents investigating paranormal events. When creating the characters of Fox Mulder and Dana Scully, Carter decided to play against established stereotypes, making the male character a believer and the female a skeptic, as the latter role had traditionally been a male one on television.[3]
When casting the actors for the two main parts, Carter had difficulties finding an actor for Scully. When he cast Gillian Anderson for the part, the network wanted to replace her. Carter believed they responded negatively towards the casting because "she didn't have the obvious qualities that network executives have come to associate with hit shows". Calling her a "terrific actress", Carter reacted overall positively towards Anderson's audition saying "she came in and read the part with a seriousness and intensity that I knew the Scully character had to have and I knew [...] she was the right person for the part". David Duchovny on the other hand, was met with more positive response from the network, Carter even saying he was an "early favorite".[3] William B. Davis, who made his first appearance as the recurring villain The Smoking Man in this episode, had originally auditioned for a larger part in the episode, saying "I auditioned for the senior FBI agent who had three lines. I didn't get that part—I got the part with no lines".[4]
Filming[edit]
Principal photography for "Pilot" took place over fourteen days during March 1993; using a budget of $2 million.[5] Filming of the episode took place in and around Vancouver, British Columbia. The series would use the area for production for the next five years, although production would move to Los Angeles from the beginning of the sixth season at the behest of David Duchovny.[6]
The scene set in the town's graveyard was shot in Queen Elizabeth Park, marking the first time the location had been used to represent a graveyard; the location would later be used for the same purpose in the fourth season episode "Kaddish". The interior shots of the psychiatric hospital were filmed in a disused building owned by Riverview Hospital in Coquitlam, and marked the first time that the crew met with producer R. W. Goodwin.[7] The episode's final warehouse scene was filmed in a document warehouse belonging to the headquarters of the Canadian television network Knowledge. An office in the same building was also used for the boardroom meeting at the beginning of the episode. The scenes involving the Smoking Man required special permission to be filmed, in order to allow for actor William B. Davis to smoke in a public building. All of the interior shots of the FBI headquarters were filmed in the main newsroom of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, as the production crew found that the open-plan bullpen offices they wished to represent no longer existed, having typically been converted into cubicles. However, it was found that working around the CBC's broadcast schedule was too unwieldy, and later episodes of the series replicated the location on a sound stage.[8] The forest scenes were shot on location in Lynn Valley, in the Lower Seymour Conservation Reserve—formerly known as the Seymour Demonstration Forest. The crew spent $9,000 building wooden pathways for equipment, cast and crew to move easily through the area. Additional scenes were filmed at the headquarters for BC Hydro; whilst Scully's apartment was represented by a location used only in this episode and the third episode, "Squeeze"—use of this location was discontinued once it became apparent that most reverse angles would show a large car park across the street.[9]
Make-up effects artist Toby Lindala was tasked with creating a prop which would allow actress Sarah Koskoff to simulate a nosebleed on-camera, rather than through the use of off-screen make-up and editing tricks. However, during test shots, the prop's tubing burst, causing the stage blood to begin dripping down Koskoff's forehead, rather than from her nose.[3] Gillian Anderson has expressed displeasure over the scene in which her character, Dana Scully, visits Fox Mulder in his motel room in her underwear to have him examine a suspicious wound which turns out to be insect bites. The actress felt that the scene was too gratuitous, saying "there really wasn't a reason for it. The bites could have been on my shoulder or something."[5] However, Carter has explained that the scene was simply intended to highlight the platonic relationship between the two lead roles.[10]
Post-production[edit]
Post-production work on the episode was finished by May 1993,[5] with the final version of the episode being assembled only three hours before its preview screening for the network's executives.[11] Stock footage of the exterior of the J. Edgar Hoover Building was added to the episode, although later episodes would film new exterior shots using Simon Fraser University as a stand-in location.[5] The climactic abduction scene featuring Billy Miles in a forest clearing featured a swirling vortex of leaves created using computer imagery by the series' visual designer Mat Beck;[12] which Carter has described as being more complicated to achieve than the Normandy landings.[3]
Deleted scenes[edit]
The original script gives more insight into Scully's visit to Scott Blevins' office. The scene that introduces Scully in the script is set just before her visit and takes place at the FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia, where she teaches a small group of trainees about the physiology of homicide, specifically electrocution and death by cattle prod. Her attention is distracted by an agent who enters the room and hands her a note that reads, "Your attendance is required in Washington at 1600 hrs. sharp". Scully checks her digital watch, which reads 1:03. The majority, at the least, of this scene was actually filmed but the scene was omitted from the final version of the episode. The next scene is that in which Scully reports to the receptionist at FBI headquarters; the script includes Scully showing her badge to the receptionist and dialogue for the role of the receptionist as she tells Scully, "See Section Chief Blevins. Third floor, violent crime division." In the final version of the episode, Scully's badge does not appear in any of the scenes and the receptionist does not speak.[12]
Two filmed scenes were cut from the final version of the episode. Both featured Tim Ransom as Scully's boyfriend Ethan Minette. In the first, Minette and Scully meet, with Scully cancelling plans for a holiday the two had arranged, due to her assignment to the Oregon case.[13] The second scene briefly shows Scully answering a telephone call from Mulder whilst asleep in bed with Minette, though the latter has no dialogue.[14] The addition of Scully's boyfriend was an attempt by the Fox executives to create the romantic interest that they felt was not there between Mulder and Scully. Chris Carter ultimately found that it was "very easy" to remove the character from the episode, both because his appearances seemed to slow down the scenes in which Mulder and Scully are together and due to the fact that Carter found Scully's relationship with her FBI partner to actually be more interesting and exciting than her relationship with her boyfriend.[12]
Broadcast and reception[edit]
"Pilot" premiered on the Fox network on September 10, 1993, and was first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC Two on September 19, 1994.[15] The episode earned a Nielsen household rating of 7.9, with a 15 share, meaning that roughly 7.9 percent of all television-equipped households, and 15 percent of households watching television, were tuned in to the episode. It was viewed by 7.4 million households and 12.0 million viewers.[16][17]
"Pilot" was well received by several of the series' future crew members. Producer and writer Glen Morgan felt that the episode's "merging of Silence of the Lambs and Close Encounters of the Third Kind" was impressive; he also felt that it was the only truly scary series on television at the time. Writer Howard Gordon stated that "the pilot set the tone of the show really successfully", noting the difficulty inherent in introducing both a series' premise and its main cast in "forty-eight minutes" and finding that the episode had achieved both, being "a tremendous synthesis of all the parts". Chris Carter also recounted that the episode's test screening for Rupert Murdoch and other Fox executives was met with "spontaneous applause".[18]


"On-screen chemistry is a difficult thing to achieve, but Duchovny and Anderson have it in spades. From the moment they first meet, it's as though they have always been a duo"
–Den of Geek's Matt Haigh on "Pilot"[19]
The episode was generally well received by fans and critics alike. Variety magazine criticized the episode for "using reworked concepts", but praised the production and noted its potential. Of the acting, Variety stated, "Duchovny's delineation of a serious scientist with a sense of humor should win him partisans, and Anderson's wavering doubter connects well. They're a solid team...". Variety also praised the writing and direction: "Mandel's cool direction of Carter's ingenious script and the artful presentation itself give TV sci-fi a boost." The magazine concluded, "Carter's dialogue is fresh without being self-conscious, and the characters are involving. Series kicks off with drive and imagination, both innovative in recent TV."[20] Entertainment Weekly noted that Scully "was set up as a scoffing skeptic" in the pilot but progressed toward belief throughout the season.[21] After the airing of just four episodes, the magazine called The X-Files "the most paranoid, subversive show on TV", noting the "marvelous tension between Anderson—who is dubious about these events—and Duchovny, who has the haunted, imploring look of a true believer".[22] Keith Phipps, writing for The A.V. Club, praised the episode, rating it an A–. He felt that the episode's premise worked well to "set a template" for future episodes, and noted that the chemistry between Duchovny and Anderson was "already there" from the outset.[23] Matt Haigh, writing for Den of Geek, reviewed the episode positively, praising the chemistry between the lead roles and the quality of the script.[19] In 2012, SFX named it the tenth best TV pilot in the science fiction and fantasy genre, saying that it "brought us everything we came to expect from the show".[24] The plot for "Pilot" was also adapted as a novel for young adults in 1995 by Les Martin, under the title X Marks the Spot.[25][26]
References[edit]
Footnotes
1.Jump up ^ Lowry, pp. 99–101.
2.Jump up ^ Lovece, pp. 42–46.
3.^ Jump up to: a b c d Chris Carter (narrator). Chris Carter Speaks about Season One Episodes: Pilot (DVD). Fox.
4.Jump up ^ Chris Carter, David Duchovny, Gillian Anderson, Mitch Pileggi, William B. Davis, et al. Inside The X-Files (DVD). Fox.
5.^ Jump up to: a b c d Lovece, p. 47
6.Jump up ^ Meisler, pp. 18–19
7.Jump up ^ Gradnitzer and Pittson, p. 21
8.Jump up ^ Gradnitzer and Pittson, p. 22
9.Jump up ^ Gradnitzer and Pittson, pp. 26–27
10.Jump up ^ Lowry, p. 101
11.Jump up ^ Edwards, p. 36
12.^ Jump up to: a b c Mat Beck, Chris Carter, Howard Gordon, Dean Haglund, David Nutter, Paul Rawbin, Daniel Sackheim, Mark Snow. The Truth About Season One (DVD). Fox.
13.Jump up ^ Gillian Anderson, Tim Ransom (2000). Deleted Scenes: Scene 1 (DVD). Fox.
14.Jump up ^ Gillian Anderson, Tim Ransom (2000). Deleted Scenes: Scene 2 (DVD). Fox.
15.Jump up ^ Robert Mandel, Daniel Sackheim, et al (booklet). The X-Files: The Complete First Season (Liner notes). Fox.
16.Jump up ^ Lowry, p. 248
17.Jump up ^ "Nielsen Ratings". USA Today (Gannett Company, Inc.). 15 September 1993. p. 03D. Retrieved 28 November 2012.
18.Jump up ^ Edwards, pp. 35–36
19.^ Jump up to: a b Haigh, Matt (September 25, 2008). "Revisiting The X-Files: Season 1 Episode 1—Den of Geek". Den of Geek. Dennis Publishing. Retrieved September 1, 2011.
20.Jump up ^ Scott, Tony (September 10, 1993). "The X-Files Fri.". Variety. Retrieved July 27, 2009.
21.Jump up ^ "X Marks What's Hot: With a Quirky Sense of Humor And a Generous Helping of the Paranormal, Fox's X-Files Slyly Alters the Time-tested recipe for Mystery-solving.". Entertainment Weekly. January 21, 1994. Retrieved October 20, 2009.
22.Jump up ^ "Alien Nation: FBI Agents Battle Unearthly Boogeymen in The X-Files". Entertainment Weekly. October 8, 1993. Retrieved October 20, 2009.
23.Jump up ^ Phipps, Keith (June 13, 2008). ""Pilot" | The X-Files/Millennium | TV Club | TV | The A.V. Club". The A.V. Club. Retrieved September 1, 2011.
24.Jump up ^ "The 10 Best TV Pilots". SFX. May 1, 2012. Retrieved May 15, 2012.
25.Jump up ^ Martin, Les (1995). X Marks the Spot: A Novel. HarperCollins. ISBN 0-00-675182-2.
26.Jump up ^ "X marks the spot: a novel by Les Martin. (Book, 1995)". WorldCat. Retrieved September 1, 2011. "...based on the teleplay written by Chris Carter"
BibliographyEdwards, Ted (1996). X-Files Confidential. Little, Brown and Company. ISBN 0-316-21808-1.
Gradnitzer, Louisa; Pittson, Todd (1999). X Marks the Spot: On Location with The X-Files. Arsenal Pulp Press. ISBN 1-55152-066-4.
Lovece, Frank (1996). The X-Files Declassified. Citadel Press. ISBN 0-8065-1745-X.
Lowry, Brian (1995). The Truth is Out There: The Official Guide to the X-Files. Harper Prism. ISBN 0-06-105330-9.
Meisler, Andy (2000). The End and the Beginning: The Official Guide to the X-Files Volume 5. Harper Prism. ISBN 0-06-107595-7.
External links[edit]
 Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: TXF Season 1
"Pilot" on The X-Files official website
"Pilot" at the Internet Movie Database
"Pilot" at TV.com

[hide]
­v·
 ­t·
 ­e
 
The X-Files episodes

 
­Seasons: 1·
 ­2·
 ­3·
 ­4·
 ­5·
 ­6·
 ­7·
 ­8·
 ­9
 
 
Season 1
­"Pilot"·
 ­"Deep Throat"·
 ­"Squeeze"·
 ­"Conduit"·
 ­"The Jersey Devil"·
 ­"Shadows"·
 ­"Ghost in the Machine"·
 ­"Ice"·
 ­"Space"·
 ­"Fallen Angel"·
 ­"Eve"·
 ­"Fire"·
 ­"Beyond the Sea"·
 ­"Gender Bender"·
 ­"Lazarus"·
 ­"Young at Heart"·
 ­"E.B.E."·
 ­"Miracle Man"·
 ­"Shapes"·
 ­"Darkness Falls"·
 ­"Tooms"·
 ­"Born Again"·
 ­"Roland"·
 ­"The Erlenmeyer Flask"
 

 

Categories: The X-Files (season 1) episodes
Television pilots
1993 television episodes



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Deep Throat (The X-Files episode)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 
Jump to: navigation, search

"Deep Throat"
The X-Files episode
A man standing looking at a UFO flying overhead
Fox Mulder under a UFO. The scenes were later described by Chris Carter as featuring the "worst effects we've ever done" on The X-Files.
 
Episode no.
Season 1
 Episode 2
Directed by
Daniel Sackheim
Written by
Chris Carter
Production code
1X01
Original air date
September 17, 1993
Running time
43 minutes
Guest actors

Jerry Hardin as Deep Throat
Andrew Johnston as Colonel Robert Budahas
Gabrielle Rose as Anita Budahas
Michael Bryan French as Paul Mossinger
Seth Green as Emil
Lalainia Lindbjerg as Zoe
Vince Metcalfe as Colonel Kissell
Monica Parker as Ladonna
Sheila Moore as Verla McLennen
Doc Harris as Mr. McLennen
John Cuthbert as Commanding Officer
Brian Furlong as Lead Officer
Michael Puttonen as Motel Manager
 
Episode chronology

← Previous
 "Pilot" Next →
 "Squeeze"

List of The X-Files episodes
"Deep Throat" is the second episode of the first season of the American science fiction television series The X-Files, which premiered on the Fox network on September 17, 1993. Written by series creator Chris Carter and directed by Daniel Sackheim, the episode introduced several elements which would become staples of the series' mythology.
FBI special agents Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) investigate cases linked to the paranormal, called X-Files. Mulder believes in paranormal phenomena, while the skeptical Scully attempts to discredit them. In this episode, the pair investigate a possible conspiracy in the US Air Force and Mulder meets a mysterious informant who warns him to stay away from the case. Undeterred, Mulder continues and comes closer to the truth about extraterrestrial life than ever before, only to have his progress taken away from him again.
The episode introduced the Deep Throat character, played by Jerry Hardin, who served as Mulder's informant for the first season. The character was inspired by the historical Deep Throat, and served to bridge the gap between the protagonists and the conspirators they would investigate. The episode itself focused on common elements of ufology, with a setting reminiscent of Area 51 and Nellis Air Force Base. It contained several special effects that Carter later described as "good, given the [series'] restrictions";[1] although he singled out the scenes featuring blinking lights as being poorly executed.[2] In its initial American broadcast, "Deep Throat" was viewed by approximately 6.9 million households and 11.1 million viewers and attracted positive reviews from critics.

Contents
  [hide] 1 Plot
2 Production 2.1 Conception and pre-production
2.2 Filming
2.3 Post-production
3 Themes
4 Broadcast and reception
5 Footnotes 5.1 References
6 External links
Plot[edit]
In southwestern Idaho, near Ellens Air Force Base, military police raid the home of Colonel Robert Budahas, who has stolen a military vehicle and barricaded himself inside. They discover Budahas in his bathroom, trembling and covered in rashes.
Four months later, FBI agents Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) meet at a Washington bar to discuss the Budahas case. Mulder explains that Budahas, a test pilot, has not been seen since the raid and the military will not comment on his condition; the FBI has refused to investigate. Mulder claims that six other pilots are missing at the base, which is subject to rumors about experimental aircraft. While using the bar's restroom, Mulder is approached by a mysterious informant named "Deep Throat" (Jerry Hardin), who cautions him to avoid the case. He claims that Mulder is under surveillance, which later proves to be true.
Mulder and Scully travel to Idaho and meet with Budahas' wife, Anita, who claims her husband exhibited erratic behavior before his disappearance. She takes them to a neighbor whose husband, also a test pilot, is behaving similarly. Scully makes an appointment with the base's director, Colonel Kissell, but he refuses to talk when they visit his home. They subsequently meet local reporter Paul Mossinger, who refers them to a local UFO-themed diner; there, they discuss UFOs with the owner, who believes she has witnessed several nearby.
Visiting the base that night, the agents witness a mysterious aircraft performing seemingly impossible maneuvers in the night sky. They flee when a black helicopter approaches, seemingly in pursuit of Emil and Zoe, a trespassing teenage couple. As Mulder treats Emil and Zoe to a meal at the diner, they tell the agents about the lights and how they believe the UFOs are launched from another nearby base. Meanwhile, Budahas is returned to his home with no memory of what happened. After leaving the diner, Mulder and Scully are confronted by black-suited agents, who destroy the photographs they have taken and order them to leave town.
An indignant Mulder sneaks onto the base with help from Emil and Zoe. He sees a triangular craft fly overhead and then is captured by soldiers who tamper with his memory. Meanwhile, Scully reencounters Mossinger, who she discovers is actually a security operative for the base. At gunpoint, she forces him to guide her to the base and exchanges him for Mulder. Having been denied the truth about the base, Mulder and Scully return to Washington. Days later, Mulder encounters Deep Throat while jogging at a local track. Mulder asks if "they" really are present on Earth; Deep Throat responds that "they have been here for a long, long time".[3][4]
Production[edit]
Conception and pre-production[edit]

A black-and-white aerial map depicting an air force base

 The episode's Ellens Air Force Base was inspired by the real Nellis Air Force Base.
This episode marked Hardin's first appearance as Deep Throat. Series creator Chris Carter stated that the character was inspired by the historical Deep Throat,[5] an informant who leaked information about the FBI's investigation of the Watergate scandal to journalists Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward.[6] This Deep Throat was later revealed to be FBI Associate Director Mark Felt.[7] Also cited as an influence was X, the character portrayed by Donald Sutherland in the 1991 Oliver Stone film JFK.[5] Carter created the character to bridge the gap between Mulder and Scully and the shadowy conspirators working against them; describing Deep Throat as a man "who works in some level of government that we have no idea exists".[5] Carter was drawn to Hardin after seeing him in The Firm,[8] and described the casting as an "easy choice".[2] Hardin flew to Vancouver every few weeks to film his scenes. Carter called Hardin's portrayal "very, very good".[2]
According to Carter, it was evident that The X-Files was a "series in making" during this episode.[2] The episode was inspired by common ufology. Believers in aliens have long thought that Nevada's Area 51 and Nellis Air Force Base have alien technology captured during 1947's Roswell UFO incident. The name Ellens Air Force Base was derived from the name of Carter's college girlfriend, whose last name was Ellens. The story's military project was inspired by a rumor that the United States Air Force had started a project named the Aurora Project. Carter said he remembered people talking about this rumor and that its inclusion in the story was a "nod" to it.[2] The surname for the two guest characters, Budahas, came from a high school friend of Carter. Duchovny and Anderson had never used a gun or held one before, so they were trained on how to hold them properly.[2]
Filming[edit]

A smiling bearded man sitting in front of a microphone

Seth Green (pictured in 2011) was cast as "stoner kid" Emil, and spent production "goofing off" with star David Duchovny.
The scenes in which Mulder infiltrates the air base were shot at a real United States airbase. With a small budget and a television schedule to think of, Carter said the effects seemed "good, given the restrictions" they faced.[1] The UFO was digitally constructed, based around what visual effects supervisor Mat Beck described as a "sort of disco light rig" that was rented from a "party supplier".[1] Carter commented on Sackheim's direction, noting that the episode was "shot well".[2] Towards the end of filming the night-time scenes, the sun was beginning to rise, forcing crew member John Bartley to rig the angles to keep the scenes as dark as possible.[2] One scene, in which Mulder infiltrates the Air Force base, had already been rewritten to change its daytime setting to night; the rising sun forced the scene to be filmed as originally conceived.[5]
The house used for the exterior shots of the Budahas family's home was reused in Carter's next series, Millennium, as the home of protagonist Frank Black. The house's owner was a flight attendant who frequently met cast and crew members as they traveled in and out of Vancouver.[9] The initial scene with Duchovny and Anderson in the bar was shot at a Vancouver restaurant called The Meat Market, which according to Carter was a much "divier location than the production designers would have you believe".[2] The Meat Market was the only bar the crew could find that had not been renovated in the wake of Expo 86 and retained a "well-travelled" feel. It later appeared in the third season episode "Piper Maru".[10] The roadside diner used for interior shots of the "Flying Saucer Diner" was remote enough from the other filming locations that a bus was made available to transport crew members, to save on travel expenses. Only key grip Al Campbell made use of this bus service, causing producers to abandon the idea until the fourth season episode "Herrenvolk".[11]
Guest star Seth Green stated that despite being cast as "stoner kid" Emil, and having "cornered the market on the affable stoner in TV and film", he had never used cannabis before.[12] Green related that his first day on the set came just after Duchovny had finished filming his final scene; Green was impressed with Duchovny's demeanour and improvisational acting, and has added that the two "just goofed off the whole time".[12]
Post-production[edit]


The scene in which Scully is sitting at her computer writing in her journal [...] came down as an edict because [Fox] wanted a summing up of the episode, and in the end, I think it made the episode better. That motif of Scully doing a voice-over as she types became a running story crutch for us when we needed to reinstruct the audience about where we are going, or where we had been.
—Carter on the episode's voiceover ending[13]
Carter claimed that the scenes with the flashing lights in the sky were the "worst effects we've ever done", given limits on money and time; he also commented that special effects were still in their infancy.[2] Beck was the special effects producer and supervisor during season one; he and Carter unsuccessfully tried to make the special effects look three dimensional and "better". According to Carter, the result looked like a "kind of hi-tech Pong game".[2]
This episode marks Mark Snow's debut as a solo composer for the series. Carter stated he and the production crew were "fearful" of using too much music in the episode, and the first season as a whole. Anderson's voice over narration towards the end of the episode was inserted after complaints from Fox executives, who desired more closure. The executives felt that viewers were not supposed to be "confused" after watching and must have at least a slight idea of what was going on. The voiceovers became a common technique for the remainder of the series.[2]
Themes[edit]
Deep Throat's warning to Mulder that some truths should be kept hidden from the public has been cited by scholars as representing the difficulty of forcing large organizations to take responsibility for wrongdoing; Richard Flannery and David Louzecky, in The Philosophy of The X-Files, compared Deep Throat's willingness to hide the truth of alien life to the cover-up of the My Lai Massacre and the trials following the Enron scandal.[14] The episode's final revelation, that aliens have been on Earth "for a long, long time", has been cited as following a trend of post-futurism established by science fiction cinema in the 1980s. This trend has replaced traditional science fiction topics such as space exploration with themes inspired by the Watergate scandal and the spread of conspiracy theories.[15]
Broadcast and reception[edit]
"Deep Throat" premiered on the Fox network on September 17, 1993, and was first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC Two on September 24, 1994.[16] This episode's initial American broadcast was viewed by approximately 6.9 million households and 11.1 million viewers.[17][18] It earned a Nielsen rating of 7.3, with a 14 share, meaning that roughly 7.3 percent of all television-equipped households, and 14 percent of households watching television, were tuned in to the episode.[17] The episode was released on VHS in 1996, alongside "Pilot";[19] as well being released on DVD as part of the complete first season.[16] It was later included on The X-Files Mythology, Volume 1 – Abduction, a DVD collection containing episodes centered on the series' mythology.[20][21]
In a first season retrospective in Entertainment Weekly, the episode was rated a B+, with praise for Hardin's "world-weary" performance, though the review noted that the "querulous, ominous tone" of the episode was "a little awkward, but full of promise of things to come".[22] Adrienne Martini of the Austin Chronicle called the episode "fun to watch", describing it as "great TV";[23] while the San Jose Mercury News called the titular character "the most interesting new character on television", also calling the episode "strange but marvellous".[24] The Toronto Star's Mike Antonucci wrote that the episode demonstrates that Carter "can blend subtle, complicated elements with heart-pounding action", adding that "Nothing is obvious about The X-Files, in fact, except its quality".[25] Michael Janusonis of The Beaver County Times was more critical, calling it "an acquired taste" and noting that it "sort of diddled out in the end", lacking "a completely satisfactory resolution".[26]
Writing for The A.V. Club, Keith Phipps rated the episode an A-, finding it "almost like an extension of the pilot". Phipps felt the scene featuring Mulder's kidnapping to be "one of the scariest moments from the series' early days, as much for what it suggests as for what it shows".[27] Writing for website Den of Geek, Matt Haigh reviewed the episode positively, praising its decision not to answer all of the questions that it asks. Haigh noted that "the fact that we are left as clueless about what really happened as Mulder and Scully only enhances the viewing experience", finding such mystery to be "a rare thing indeed" on network television.[28] 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 five stars out of five, finding it to be "much more confident in its pacing and tone" than the previous episode.[29] Shearman and Pearson felt that the episode was "a skilfully scripted story of cover-up and paranoia", and noted that "it sets up the overall themes of the show so well, it almost seems like a primer".[29]
"Deep Throat" was cited as beginning to "set the stage for the central conflicts" of the series.[30] IGN's Dan Iverson felt that the episode served to "open the door to the possibilities of this series";[21] while Tor.com's Meghan Deans noted that "although the pilot introduced the idea of government conspiracy, it's 'Deep Throat' that kicks out the edges of the canvas".[31] The introduction of Hardin as Deep Throat in the episode was listed by Entertainment Weekly as number 37 on its list of "The 100 Greatest Television Moments" of the 1990s.[32]
Footnotes[edit]
1.^ Jump up to: a b c Mat Beck, Chris Carter, Howard Gordon, Dean Haglund, David Nutter, Paul Rawbin, Daniel Sackheim, Mark Snow. The Truth About Season One (DVD). The X-Files: The Complete First Season: 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment.
2.^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h i j k l Chris Carter (2005). Audio Commentary for "Deep Throat" (DVD). The X-Files Mythology, Volume 1 – Abduction: 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment.
3.Jump up ^ Lowry 1995, pp. 102–103.
4.Jump up ^ Lovece 1996, pp. 47–48.
5.^ Jump up to: a b c d Edwards 1996, p. 37.
6.Jump up ^ Woodward & Bernstein 1974, p. 71.
7.Jump up ^ O'Connor, John D. (May 31, 2005). "I'm the Guy They Called Deep Throat | Politics". Vanity Fair. Condé Nast. Retrieved December 30, 2011.
8.Jump up ^ Lovece 1996, p. 27.
9.Jump up ^ Chris Carter, Ken Horton, Frank Spotnitz, Lance Henriksen, Megan Gallagher, David Nutter, Mark Snow, John Peter Kousakis, Mark Freeborn, Robert McLachlan, Chip Johannessen and Thomas J. Wright (2004). Order in Chaos: Making Millennium Season One (DVD). Millennium: The Complete First Season: 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment.
10.Jump up ^ Gradnitzer & Pittson 1999, pp. 32–33.
11.Jump up ^ Gradnitzer & Pittson 1999, pp. 31–32.
12.^ Jump up to: a b Robinson, Tasha (September 13, 2007). "Seth Green | Film | Random Roles". The A.V. Club. The Onion. Retrieved June 24, 2012.
13.Jump up ^ Maccarillo, Lisa; Carter, Chris (December 1994). "A conversation with The X-Files’ creator Chris Carter". Sci Fi Entertainment (Sci-Fi Channel).
14.Jump up ^ Kowalski 2007, pp. 71–72
15.Jump up ^ Lavery, Hague & Cartwright 1996, p. 149.
16.^ Jump up to: a b The X-Files: The Complete First Season (Media notes). 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment. 1993–1994.
17.^ Jump up to: a b Lowry 1995, p. 248.
18.Jump up ^ "Nielsen Ratings". USA Today (Gannett Company, Inc.). 22 September 1993. p. D3. Retrieved 28 November 2012.
19.Jump up ^ "Video Sales". Billboard (Prometheus Global Media) 109 (2): 39. January 11, 1997. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved August 21, 2012.
20.Jump up ^ The X-Files Mythology, Volume 1 – Abduction (Media notes). 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment. 2005.
21.^ Jump up to: a b Iverson, Dan (August 5, 2005). "X-Files Mythology, Vol. 1 – Abduction – DVD Review at IGN". IGN. News Corporation. Retrieved May 1, 2011.
22.Jump up ^ "X Cyclopedia: The Ultimate Episode Guide, Season 1 | TV". Entertainment Weekly. Time Inc. November 29, 1996. Retrieved April 28, 2011.
23.Jump up ^ Martini, Adrienne (April 25, 1997). "Scanlines – Screens – The Austin Chronicle". Austin Chronicle. Austin Chronicle Corporation. Retrieved April 30, 2011.
24.Jump up ^ "The 'X-Files' Informant is Out There, Speaking on All Kinds of Levels". San Jose Mercury News (MediaNews Group). November 19, 1993. Retrieved April 30, 2011.
25.Jump up ^ Antonucci, Mike (November 30, 1993). "The X-Files: Something Strange and Wonderful – And they’re here, right inside your television set". Toronto Star (Star Media Group). p. D4. Retrieved June 24, 2012.
26.Jump up ^ Janusonis, Michael (April 14, 1996). "'X-Files' episodes offered on tape". The Beaver County Times (Calkins Media). Retrieved April 30, 2011.
27.Jump up ^ Phipps, Keith (June 20, 2008). "'Deep Throat' / 'Squeeze' | The X-Files/Millennium | TV Club | TV". The A.V. Club. The Onion. Retrieved February 25, 2012.
28.Jump up ^ Haigh, Matt (September 30, 2008). "Revisiting The X-Files: Season 1, Episode 2". Den of Geek. Dennis Publishing. Retrieved February 25, 2012.
29.^ Jump up to: a b Shearman & Pearson 2009, pp. 12–13.
30.Jump up ^ Bush 2008, p. 41.
31.Jump up ^ Deans, Meghan (October 27, 2011). "Reopening The X-Files: 'Deep Throat'". Tor.com. Tor Books. Retrieved June 24, 2012.
32.Jump up ^ Fretts, Bruce (February 19, 1999). "The 100 Greatest Moments in Television: 1990s | TV | EW.com". Entertainment Weekly. Time Inc. Retrieved April 28, 2011.
References[edit]
Bush, Michelle (2008). Myth-X. Lulu. ISBN 1-4357-4688-0.
Edwards, Ted (1996). X-Files Confidential. Little, Brown and Company. ISBN 0-316-21808-1.
Gradnitzer, Louisa; Pittson, Todd (1999). X Marks the Spot: On Location with The X-Files. Arsenal Pulp Press. ISBN 1-55152-066-4.
Flannery, Richard; Louzecky, David (2007). Kowalski, Dean A., ed. The Philosophy of The X-Files. University Press of Kentucky. ISBN 0-8131-2454-9.
Lavery, David; Hague, Angela; Cartwright, Marla (1996). Deny All Knowledge: Reading The X-Files. Syracuse University Press. ISBN 0-8156-2717-3.
Lovece, Frank (1996). The X-Files Declassified. Citadel Press. ISBN 0-8065-1745-X.
Lowry, Brian (1995). The Truth is Out There: The Official Guide to the X-Files. Harper Prism. ISBN 0-06-105330-9.
Shearman, Robert; Pearson, Lars (2009). Wanting to Believe: A Critical Guide to The X-Files, Millennium & The Lone Gunmen. Mad Norwegian Press. ISBN 0-9759446-9-X.
Woodward, Bob; Bernstein, Carl (1974). All the President's Men. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 0-684-86355-3.
External links[edit]
 Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: The X-Files
"Deep Throat" on The X-Files official website
"Deep Throat" at the Internet Movie Database
"Deep Throat" at TV.com

[hide]
­v·
 ­t·
 ­e
 
The X-Files episodes

 
­Seasons: 1·
 ­2·
 ­3·
 ­4·
 ­5·
 ­6·
 ­7·
 ­8·
 ­9
 
 
Season 1
­"Pilot"·
 ­"Deep Throat"·
 ­"Squeeze"·
 ­"Conduit"·
 ­"The Jersey Devil"·
 ­"Shadows"·
 ­"Ghost in the Machine"·
 ­"Ice"·
 ­"Space"·
 ­"Fallen Angel"·
 ­"Eve"·
 ­"Fire"·
 ­"Beyond the Sea"·
 ­"Gender Bender"·
 ­"Lazarus"·
 ­"Young at Heart"·
 ­"E.B.E."·
 ­"Miracle Man"·
 ­"Shapes"·
 ­"Darkness Falls"·
 ­"Tooms"·
 ­"Born Again"·
 ­"Roland"·
 ­"The Erlenmeyer Flask"
 
 


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Squeeze (The X-Files)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 
Jump to: navigation, search

"Squeeze"
The X-Files episode
Alt=A man reaching his arm down a chimney, seemingly stretching his arm beyond its normal length
Tooms squeezing himself through a chimney. Many of the scenes featuring Tooms' abilities were created via computer graphics.
 
Episode no.
Season 1
 Episode 3
Directed by
Harry Longstreet
Written by
Glen Morgan
James Wong
Production code
1X02
Original air date
September 24, 1993
Running time
43 minutes
Guest actors

Doug Hutchison as Eugene Victor Tooms
Donal Logue as Tom Colton
Henry Beckman as Detective Frank Briggs
Kevin McNulty as Fuller
Terence Kelly as George Usher
Colleen Winton as Lie Detector Technician
James Bell as Mr. Johnson
Gary Hetherington as Mr. Kennedy
Rob Morton as Mr. Kramer
Paul Joyce as Mr. Werner
 
Episode chronology

← Previous
 "Deep Throat" Next →
 "Conduit"

List of The X-Files episodes
"Squeeze" is the third episode of the first season of the American science fiction television series The X-Files. It premiered on the Fox network on September 24, 1993. "Squeeze" was written by Glen Morgan and James Wong and directed by Harry Longstreet, with Michael Katleman directing additional footage. The episode featured the first of two guest appearances by Doug Hutchison as the mutant serial killer Eugene Victor Tooms, a role he would reprise in "Tooms". "Squeeze" is the first "monster-of-the-week" episode of The X-Files, a stand-alone plot which is unconnected to the series' overarching mythology.
The show's main characters are FBI special agents Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson), who work on cases linked to the paranormal, called X-Files. Mulder is a believer in the paranormal, while the skeptical Scully has been assigned to debunk his work. In this episode, Mulder and Scully investigate a series of ritualistic killings by somebody seemingly capable of squeezing his body through impossibly narrow gaps. The agents deduce that their suspect may be a genetic mutant who has been killing in sprees for ninety years.
Production of "Squeeze" was problematic; creative differences between Longstreet and the crew led to him being replaced as director, while some missing scenes needed to be shot after the initial filming. Because of this turbulence, the completion of the episode relied on post-production techniques. However, "Squeeze" has received positive reviews from critics, mostly focusing on Hutchison's performance and the resonance of his character. The episode has subsequently been described by The Star as "the episode that really sold The X-Files idea to the masses".[1] Academics have examined "Squeeze" for its portrayal of the politics of law enforcement, highlighting the tension—evident throughout the series—between the agents' desire to find the truth and their duty to secure criminal convictions.

Contents
  [hide] 1 Plot
2 Production 2.1 Pre-production
2.2 Filming
2.3 Post-production
3 Themes
4 Broadcast and reception
5 See also
6 Footnotes
7 External links
Plot[edit]
In Baltimore, businessman George Usher arrives at his office building. He is watched from a storm drain by someone who then sneaks into the building by climbing through the elevator shaft into the ventilation system, and kills Usher by removing his liver. The investigation into Usher's murder—the latest of three such killings—is assigned to careerist FBI agent Tom Colton (Donal Logue), who turns to academy colleague Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) for help.
The case baffles Colton, as the only common elements in the murders are the lack of entry points and the apparent removal of the victims' livers with bare hands. Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) looks over the case and notes their similarity to earlier murder sprees that occurred in 1933 and 1963. At the crime scene, Mulder notices an elongated fingerprint on the air vent, which he also finds to be similar to some documented in the X-Files. He concludes that because five murders occurred during the earlier sprees, the investigators should expect two more.
Because Scully believes that the killer will return to the scenes of his earlier crimes, she and Mulder wait in the parking garage of Usher's office building. There, they catch a man named Eugene Victor Tooms (Doug Hutchison) climbing through the air vents. Tooms is given a polygraph test, which includes questions written by Mulder linking him to murders dating as far back as 1903. After Tooms passes the test easily, Colton dismisses Mulder's queries as being ridiculous and lets Tooms go. However, Mulder later digitally elongates and narrows Tooms' fingerprints to show Scully that they match the prints at the crime scene. Mulder believes that Tooms is able to stretch and squeeze his body through narrow spaces. That night, Tooms demonstrates this by squeezing down a chimney to claim another victim.
Mulder and Scully find no documentation on Tooms' life. They visit Frank Briggs (Henry Beckman), a former detective, who recounts his experiences of the investigation into the 1933 murders. Briggs brings out old photographs of Tooms—who has not aged in sixty years—and gives them the address of Tooms' former apartment building. There, Mulder and Scully find a "nest" constructed out of newspaper and bile in the building's crawl space, as well as several trophy items taken from past victims. Mulder suspects that Tooms is a mutant who can hibernate for thirty years at a time after consuming five human livers. As the two leave, Tooms, who is hiding in the rafters, stealthily takes the necklace Scully is wearing as a new trophy.
Mulder and Scully put the apartment under surveillance, but Colton has them taken off the job. Mulder finds Scully's necklace in Tooms' apartment and tries to call his partner, but her phone line has been cut. Tooms breaks into her apartment through a tiny air vent to kill her, but Mulder rushes there and apprehends him first. Tooms is put in an institution for the criminally insane where he begins to build another nest using newspaper. At the institution, Scully informs Mulder that medical tests on Tooms show an abnormal skeletal and muscle system, and a rapidly declining metabolism. When Tooms is given food through a slot in the door, he stares at the thin slot and grins.[2][3]
Production[edit]
Pre-production[edit]

 

 Series creator Chris Carter suggested that Tooms eat human livers after tasting foie gras, the liver of a fattened goose.
Coming after two episodes focused on the series' "mythology", or fictional history, "Squeeze" helped establish that the show could cover other paranormal subjects, and was the first "monster-of-the-week" episode of The X-Files. Series creator Chris Carter thought that the show could not sustain its momentum unless it branched out from the previously UFO-centered plots.[4] Co-writers Glen Morgan and James Wong were inspired to write the episode when they looked at a ventilation shaft outside of their office and thought about whether someone could crawl inside it. Although the episode has parallels with the second Kolchak film, The Night Strangler (1973), which featured a man who commits murders every 21 years, Morgan and Wong have stated they were inspired by the serial killers Jack the Ripper and Richard Ramirez.[5] After eating foie gras during a trip to France, Carter proposed the idea that the villain should consume human livers.[6][7] Morgan noted that the writers settled on the liver because it was "funnier" than any other organ.[6] The idea to have Tooms use a nest for hibernation came from Morgan and Wong; they liked that if the agents were unable to catch Tooms, he could return after weeks of dormancy.[4]
Actor Doug Hutchison was 33 when he auditioned for the part of Tooms, but the producers initially considered him too young for the role; Glen Morgan thought that Hutchinson "looks twelve years old".[6] However Hutchison impressed the writers with his ability to suddenly transition into attacking behavior, which convinced them to hire him.[6] He related that his portrayal of Tooms was inspired by the "stillness" of Anthony Hopkins' acting in The Silence of the Lambs.[8]
Filming[edit]


You must put the camera in certain places to scare people, and you must not put the camera in other places, because you will not scare them. There were many re-shoots. There was a lot of editorial wizardry by Heather McDougall. And there was Jim and Glen, who worked on it tirelessly to make it right.
—Carter on the episode's filming.[9]
The episode's establishing exterior shots, and those of Tooms' house, were filmed around Hastings Street in Vancouver. When filming the first shot of Tooms' eyes glowing from a storm drain, the production crew arrived too late to secure the street for filming, and a nearby construction crew were temporarily drafted to guard the area. The ventilation system through which the first victim is attacked at night was meant to be of a multistory car park. However, to avoid a costly tenting operation to simulate night-time, a replica of the necessary parts of the ventilation system was built in a lower level of the car park.[10] Exterior shots of Scully's apartment were also filmed in Vancouver, at the same location used in the pilot episode. However, this location's use was later discontinued owing to the limited range of shots it afforded; most reverse angles would show a large car park across the street.[11]
Wong was disappointed with director Harry Longstreet, claiming he did not have respect for the script. Longstreet had failed to film one of the script's scenes, and had not obtained additional camera coverage for the scenes which had been filmed. As a result, Wong and another director, Michael Katleman, re-shot several scenes for additional coverage to complete the episode, and filmed the omitted scene and some inserts.[12] Hutchison also had difficulty with Longstreet's directing; he found the acting instructions he was given "ridiculous".[13] Morgan said that the episode's production was problematic, feeling that "Squeeze" "was truly saved in postproduction".[7] Duchovny also found issue with Longstreet's direction, and disagreed with the director's take on how Fox Mulder should be portrayed. Describing their different opinions, Duchovny noted "the director wanted me to be mad about this horrible serial killer. I was like, 'No, this is an amazing discovery! He's not morally culpable, because he's genetically driven.' I judge no one".[14]
Post-production[edit]
For the shot in which Tooms slides through a chimney, the producers hired a contortionist who could squeeze through small spaces. They filmed the shot with the camera standing below the contortionist. The chimney, which was "more like a belt than a pipe", was made to look much narrower than it actually was. Using computer-generated imagery, they were able to produce and elongate shots of the contortionist's fingers.[4] Producer R. W. Goodwin believed that the contortionist—known only as "Pepper"—would only have limited success in fitting down the chimney set and would work mostly as a photo double. However, he was able to fit entirely inside the chimney; the production crew only needed to add some sound effects "of bones snapping and cracking".[15]
The scene in which Tooms enters Scully's home was initially filmed in Hutchison's absence. The crew shot his entrance later, using a larger blue screen set. These shots were digitally merged so that Tooms would appear to emerge from a much smaller hatch than was filmed.[16] The effect was kept to a minimum; Hutchison's footage was not "squeezed" too much, as both Carter and visual effects supervisor Mat Beck have stated their belief that "less is more: just a hint of the supernatural is all that is required".[15]
Themes[edit]
Although it did not directly impact the ongoing storyline of The X-Files, "Squeeze" introduced key thematic elements to the series. "Squeeze" has been described as "the episode where Dana Scully must publicly pick a side". She had previously confronted military officials in "Deep Throat", and has "carefully worded" her reports to protect her partner Mulder from ridicule, but an encounter with former colleague Tom Colton forces her to openly choose between Mulder and the politics of careerism.[17] These developments with Colton "[tether] another thread between her career and the rest of the FBI",[18] highlighting a sense of "exasperation and derision" from her colleagues,[19] whose mindsets represent "institutionally acceptable" models of reality.[20]
This hostility suggests that the series' problems are "not epistemological; they are political"—the agents, Scully in particular, have to balance a search for "the truth" with the need to secure criminal convictions in their cases.[19] This balancing act "between investigating to discover the truth and gathering evidence to support a court case" has been compared to the perceived stance of the FBI during the series' tenure. The bureau had at this time seen itself as a law enforcement agency responsible for amassing evidence to prosecute criminal cases. There is a disparity between this approach and public perception of the FBI's role as an organization investigating an objective and apolitical truth; this led to public frustration "because [people] incorrectly believe that a courtroom is designed to discover the truth".[21]
Broadcast and reception[edit]


A man in a leather jacket looks at the camera

A man in a long coat stands on a film set
Guest star Doug Hutchison based his critically acclaimed portrayal of Tooms on Anthony Hopkins (right) in The Silence of the Lambs.
"Squeeze" premiered on the Fox network on September 24, 1993, and was first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC Two on October 3, 1994.[22] The episode's initial broadcast was viewed by approximately 6.8 million households and 11.1 million viewers.[23][24] "Squeeze" earned a Nielsen rating of 7.2, with a 13 share, meaning that roughly 7.2 percent of all television-equipped households, and 13 percent of households watching television, were tuned in to the episode.[23]
Glen Morgan was very pleased with Hutchison's performance, describing him as an "ace in the hole" and calling his work "outstanding".[9] Morgan went on to write "Tooms",[25] another first season episode in which the character returns. The Vince Gilligan-penned second season episode "Soft Light" would also make reference to the character.[26][27] Hutchison wrote a prequel to "Squeeze" titled "Dark He Was and Golden-Eyed" and sent it to Carter, but the script was returned unread for legal reasons.[8] "Squeeze" has been described as the first episode of The X-Files to branch out into horror, which came to be one of the defining genres of The X-Files.[28] The plot of "Squeeze" was adapted as a novel for young adults in 1996 by Ellen Steiber.[29][30] The episode also inspired "Folding Man", a first season episode of the television series Sanctuary.[31]
In a retrospective of the first season in Entertainment Weekly, "Squeeze" was rated B+; it was called "an important episode", and Hutchison's portrayal of Tooms was described as "profoundly creepy".[32] However, Thomas Sutcliffe of The Independent was more critical, deriding the premise as "entirely ludicrous", and sarcastically described Mulder's deduction of Tooms' abilities as "clearly another triumph for the deductive method".[33] An article in the Vancouver Sun listed "Squeeze" as one of the best stand-alone episodes of the show, saying, "The X-Files became known for its creepy, monster-of-the-week episodes, and Squeeze was the one that started it all", and that, together with "Tooms", it "remains one of the scariest things ever seen on television".[34] Connie Ogle from PopMatters listed Tooms amongst the greatest monsters of the series.[35]
Keith Phipps, writing for The A.V. Club, praised the episode, rated it an A−, and described Hutchison's role as "the part that would launch [him] as a go-to character actor for creep parts".[18] Phipps felt the climactic scene in which Tooms infiltrates Scully's home is "the scene that makes the episode", noting that there was "a real sense of peril" despite it being clear that Scully, a lead character, was not going to come to harm.[18] Robert Shearman and Lars Pearson, in their book Wanting to Believe: A Critical Guide to The X-Files, Millennium & The Lone Gunmen, note that the episode's premise is the first in the series "not to rely upon accepted urban legends". It conveys its "absurd" plot through suggestion, leaving any special-effects sequences of Tooms' abilities until the audience is "already suitably adjusted to the absurdity".[36] However, Shearman and Pearson found the monologue likening the crimes committed by Tooms to the Holocaust, given by the retired detective Briggs, to be "not only unnecessary but tasteless to boot". They rated the episode four stars out of five.[36] Mumtaj Begum, writing for Malaysia's The Star, described "Squeeze" as "the episode that really sold The X-Files idea to the masses", and called it "simply brilliant".[1]
The character of Eugene Tooms has also attracted positive criticism. In a guest column for Entertainment Weekly's 1000th issue, author Neil Gaiman listed Tooms as one of his favorite monsters,[37] while UGO Networks listed the character in a countdown of the "Best TV Serial Killers", and described Hutchison's acting as "uber-creepy".[38] IGN's Christine Seghers listed Hutchison as the fourth-best guest star of the series in a top-ten countdown, complimented his "brilliantly perverse" performance, and wrote: "Even when he doesn't appear to be doing anything, Hutchinson [sic] can still make your skin crawl with his dead, shark-like stare".[39]
See also[edit]
List of unmade episodes of The X-Files
Footnotes[edit]
1.^ Jump up to: a b Begum, Mumtaj (July 25, 2008). "Hail the monster". The Star. Retrieved February 1, 2012.
2.Jump up ^ Lowry 1995, pp. 104–105.
3.Jump up ^ Lovece 1996, pp. 49–51.
4.^ Jump up to: a b c Chris Carter (narrator). Chris Carter Speaks about Season One Episodes: Squeeze (DVD). The X-Files: The Complete First Season: Fox.
5.Jump up ^ Lowry 1995, pp. 105–106.
6.^ Jump up to: a b c d Lowry 1995, p. 106.
7.^ Jump up to: a b Edwards 1996, p. 39.
8.^ Jump up to: a b Vitaris, Paula; Hutchison, Doug (April 1996). "Stretching as an Actor". The X Files Magazine (Fox) (11).
9.^ Jump up to: a b Hurwitz & Knowles 2008, p. 39.
10.Jump up ^ Gradnitzer & Pittson 1999, pp. 33–34.
11.Jump up ^ Gradnitzer & Pittson 1999, p. 27.
12.Jump up ^ Lovece 1996, p. 51.
13.Jump up ^ Lovece 1996, pp. 51–52.
14.Jump up ^ Appelo, Tim (March 18, 1994). "X Appeal". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved July 14, 2011.
15.^ Jump up to: a b Edwards 1996, pp. 40–41.
16.Jump up ^ Mat Beck (visual effects). Behind the Truth: Squeeze (DVD). The X-Files: The Complete First Season: Fox.
17.Jump up ^ Deans, Meghan (November 3, 2011). "Reopening The X-Files: "Squeeze"". Tor.com. Tor Books. Retrieved May 30, 2012.
18.^ Jump up to: a b c Phipps, Keith (June 20, 2008). ""Deep Throat" / "Squeeze" | The X-Files/Millennium | TV Club | TV". The A.V. Club. Retrieved August 7, 2011.
19.^ Jump up to: a b Kowalski 2007, p. 68
20.Jump up ^ Kowalski 2007, p. 22
21.Jump up ^ Kowalski 2007, p. 77
22.Jump up ^ Robert Mandel, et al (booklet). The X-Files: The Complete First Season (Liner notes). Fox.
23.^ Jump up to: a b Lowry 1995, p. 248.
24.Jump up ^ "Nielsen Ratings". USA Today (Gannett Company, Inc.). 29 September 1993. p. D3. Retrieved 28 November 2012.
25.Jump up ^ David Nutter (director); Glen Morgan & James Wong (writers) (April 22, 1994). "Tooms". The X-Files. Season 1. Episode 21. Fox.
26.Jump up ^ Edwards 1996, p. 308.
27.Jump up ^ James Contner (director); Vince Gilligan (writer) (May 5, 1995). "Soft Light". The X-Files. Season 2. Episode 23. Fox.
28.Jump up ^ Delsara 2000, p. 59.
29.Jump up ^ Steiber, Ellen (1996). Squeeze: A Novel. HarperCollins. ISBN 0-06-440621-0.
30.Jump up ^ "Squeeze: a novel (Book, 1996)". WorldCat. Retrieved August 4, 2011. "...based on the teleplay written by Glen Morgan and James Wong"
31.Jump up ^ Sam Egan, James Head, Emilie Ullerup (2009). Audio Commentary for "Folding Man" (DVD). Sanctuary: The Complete First Season: E1 Entertainment.
32.Jump up ^ "X Cyclopedia: The Ultimate Episode Guide, Season 1". Entertainment Weekly. November 29, 1996. Retrieved July 7, 2011.
33.Jump up ^ Sutcliffe, Thomas (October 4, 1993). "Television (review):The thin blue line between fact and fiction – TV & radio; arts & entertainment". The Independent. Retrieved July 13, 2011.
34.Jump up ^ "A look back on some of the best stand-alone episodes from the X-Files series". Vancouver Sun. July 25, 2008. Retrieved September 30, 2009.
35.Jump up ^ Ogle, Connie (September 29, 2009). "The X-Factor: A look back at ‘The X-Files’ greatest monsters". PopMatters. Retrieved July 28, 2009.
36.^ Jump up to: a b Shearman & Pearson 2009, p. 13.
37.Jump up ^ Gaiman, Neil (July 23, 2008). "The X-Files | Neil Gaiman: My Top 10 New Classic Monsters | Photo 7 of 12". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved July 14, 2011.
38.Jump up ^ Fitzpatrick, Kevin (April 15, 2011). "The Best TV Serial Killers". UGO Networks. Retrieved July 15, 2011.
39.Jump up ^ Seghers, Christine (July 18, 2008). "Top 10 X-Files Guest Stars – Stars Feature at IGN". IGN. Retrieved December 18, 2011.
ReferencesDelsara, Jan (2000). PopLit, PopCult and The X-Files: A Critical Exploration. McFarland. ISBN 0-7864-0789-1.
Edwards, Ted (1996). X-Files Confidential. Little, Brown and Company. ISBN 0-316-21808-1.
Gradnitzer, Louisa; Pittson, Todd (1999). X Marks the Spot: On Location with The X-Files. Arsenal Pulp Press. ISBN 1-55152-066-4.
Hurwitz, Matt; Knowles, Chris (2008). The Complete X-Files. Insight Editions. ISBN 1-933784-80-6.
Peterson, Mark C. E.; Flannery, Richard; Louzecky, David (2007). Kowalski, Dean A., ed. The Philosophy of The X-Files. University Press of Kentucky. ISBN 0-8131-2454-9.
Lovece, Frank (1996). The X-Files Declassified. Citadel Press. ISBN 0-8065-1745-X.
Lowry, Brian (1995). The Truth is Out There: The Official Guide to the X-Files. Harper Prism. ISBN 0-06-105330-9.
Shearman, Robert; Pearson, Lars (2009). Wanting to Believe: A Critical Guide to The X-Files, Millennium & The Lone Gunmen. Mad Norwegian Press. ISBN 0-9759446-9-X.
External links[edit]
 Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: The X-Files
"Squeeze" on The X-Files official website
"Squeeze" at the Internet Movie Database
"Squeeze" at TV.com

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Conduit (The X-Files)

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"Conduit"
The X-Files episode
Episode no.
Season 1
 Episode 4
Directed by
Daniel Sackheim
Written by
Alex Gansa
Howard Gordon
Production code
1X03
Original air date
October 1, 1993
Running time
43 minutes
Guest actors

Charles Cioffi as Scott Blevins
Carrie Snodgress as Darlene Morris
Joel Palmer as Kevin Morris
Taunya Dee as Ruby Morris
Shelley Owens as Tessa
Michael Cavanaugh as Sheriff
Don Thompson as Holtzman
Don Gibb as Kipp
Akiko Morison as Leza Atsumi
Anthony Harrison as Fourth Man
Glen Roald as M.E. Worker
Mauricio Mercado as Coroner
 
Episode chronology

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 "Squeeze" Next →
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List of season 1 episodes
List of The X-Files episodes
"Conduit" is the fourth episode of the first season of the American science fiction television series The X-Files. It premiered on the Fox network on October 1, 1993. It was written by Alex Gansa and Howard Gordon, directed by Daniel Sackheim, and featured a guest appearance by Carrie Snodgress as the mother of an abducted teenager.
The show centers on FBI special agents Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) who work on cases linked to the paranormal, called X-Files. In this episode, Mulder and Scully, when investigating the possible alien abduction of a teenage girl, find that the missing girl's younger brother may be capable of receiving satellite transmissions, and that her mother may also have been party to a UFO encounter over twenty years earlier. Mulder finds himself becoming emotionally attached to the case due to its similarities to his own childhood experiences, when his younger sister Samantha was abducted from their home.
The episode, although not directly tied to the series' ongoing story arcs, provides more information on how Fox Mulder's younger sister, Samantha Mulder, had been abducted as a child; a plot thread which would go on to become one of the more prominent of the series. The episode was filmed in British Columbia, with Buntzen Lake being used as Lake Okobogee.

Contents
  [hide] 1 Plot
2 Production
3 Broadcast and reception
4 Footnotes 4.1 References
5 External links
Plot[edit]
At a campground at Lake Okobogee [sic] National Park in Sioux City, Iowa, Darlene Morris witnesses a flash of light outside of her RV. When she ventures outside to find her young son, Kevin, he claims that his teenaged sister, Ruby, has vanished.
In Washington, FBI Division Chief Scott Blevins informs Dana Scully that, unbeknownst to her, Fox Mulder has requested travel expenses to Sioux City based on a tabloid article about Ruby's disappearance. Blevins also shows Scully an X-File on the disappearance of Mulder's sister Samantha. When Scully asks Mulder about the travel expenses, he explains that Lake Okobogee was the scene of a series of UFO sightings in 1967; Darlene Morris, then a member of a Girl Scout troop, was one of the witnesses.
When Mulder and Scully travel to Iowa and meet the Morrises, Mulder observes Kevin writing down binary code on a piece of paper; Kevin claims they are coming from static on a television screen. After submitting Kevin's code for analysis, the agents meet with the local sheriff, who tells them that Ruby was a juvenile delinquent who likely ran away. They also meet a young woman, Tessa, who says that Ruby had gotten pregnant and was planning to run away with her boyfriend, Greg Randall. The agents are unable to find Greg at the bar where he works; however, his boss tells them about UFO activity at Lake Okobogee.
Kevin's code is revealed to be part of a Defense Department satellite transmission. NSA agents ransack the Morris household, looking for any other documentation that might supposedly compromise national security. After the Morrises are taken into custody, Mulder examines the charred roof of their RV, prompting him to head to Lake Okobogee. There, the agents discover sand turned to glass and a burned tree line, indicating the presence of a massive heat source. Upon encountering some white wolves, Mulder and Scully find Greg Randall's body in a shallow grave.
On his person, they find a note in his wallet that eventually leads Scully and Mulder to conclude that it was Tessa, not Ruby, who was pregnant. Interrogating Tessa, she confesses to having killed Greg; however, she says that Ruby wasn't at Lake Okobogee that night. Mulder and Scully return to the Morris' house, and, finding it deserted, discover the binary-covered pieces of paper laid out across the floor of the living room floor, forming an image of Ruby's face. The agents return to Lake Okobogee, where they find Darlene and Kevin in the nearby woods. A motorcycle gang appears, and as Mulder hurries to rescue Kevin from their wake, Scully discovers Ruby nearby.
Ruby is then seen in a hospital bed, with Kevin by her side. When questioned about her experience, she says she was told by an unnamed group not to say anything. Darlene also refuses to cooperate any further, given the ridicule that she faced after her experiences. Back in Washington, Scully listens to a tape of hypnotic sessions in which Mulder recalls the night his sister vanished. Mulder, meanwhile, sits in a church, crying as he looks at a picture of his sister.[1][2]
Production[edit]
The episode was filmed in British Columbia, with Buntzen Lake being used as Lake Okobogee. Several crew members became lost in the surrounding area after the van responsible for installing signage got lost itself.[3] The mural of Ruby made up of binary code was designed by assistant art director Greg Loewen and Vivien Nishi, who hand-wrote all the numbers on the mural.[4]
Co-writer Howard Gordon said of the episode, "Alex [Gansa] and I made an effort to play to our own strength, which is character. We thought this was an interesting place to reiterate Mulder's quest for his sister. We set out to tell a simple abduction story, which was played out behind the shadows. We wanted to create an air of tension. With everything that happened, we wanted to explain what it could be. At every point, everything can be explained. Was she taken or killed by her boyfriend, who she was seeing against her mother's wishes? Is it Twin Peaks or an alien abduction? That was the theme of the show."[5] Gordon and Gansa were afraid that series creator Chris Carter would not like the script, but Carter liked the script and approved the episode they wrote.[6]
Gordon praised the episode's ending, saying "I think we're most proud of the ending: Mulder's quest is re-established (and Daniel Sackheim directed it beautifully) with Mulder sitting alone in a church with only his faith. The story, again, was fueled by Mulder's belief and emotional connection with this case. Another girl taken from her family. And, in a way, the little boy who is the conduit, who is also perhaps touched by the aliens, is essentially Mulder. These little touches the fans seem to respond to. It was difficult for us, but in the end satisfying. It came out of frustration on our parts, and creative uncertainty".[5]
Producer Glen Morgan felt that the episode's writers, Alex Gansa and Howard Gordon, "have a better character-dramatic sense", adding that he believed the episode "really helped define Mulder".[5] Chris Carter felt the episode's highlights were the ending and the realization by Scully that Mulder may not be a crackpot, feeling it was very important to the show in establishing its point of view.[7] He also felt that the episode proved effective at highlighting that the series was told from Scully's point of view, citing instances of the character "pulling Mulder back" from his fringe theories and emotional attachment.[8]
Broadcast and reception[edit]
"Conduit" premiered on the Fox network on October 1, 1993, and was first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC Two on October 10, 1994.[9] The episode earned a Nielsen household rating of 6.3 with an 11 share—meaning that in the US, 6.3 percent of television-equipped households, and 11 percent of all households actively watching television, were watching the program. It was viewed by 5.9 million households.[10]
In a retrospective of the first season in Entertainment Weekly, "Conduit" was rated a B, with the episode being described as "excellent for background" for the series, though it was noted that Duchovny gave "a performance that makes wood look lively".[11] Keith Phipps, writing for The A.V. Club, reviewed the episode positively, rating it a B+, feeling that the episode worked well to expand on the motivations of the two lead characters, noting that "the work done here will pay off well later".[12] The episode has been seen as laying the foundation for the recurrence of Fox Mulder's obsession with finding his missing sister, which would come to be one of the main plot threads of the series.[13]
Duchovny's portrayal of Fox Mulder in this episode has been cited as an example of the character's reversal of traditional gender roles—his openness and vulnerability when dealing with the similarities between the Morris case and that of his sister casts him "in a pattern typically engendered as female".[14] He represents a break from past archetypes, with his "emotional and empathic balance" providing a contrast to previous male detectives in fiction.[15]
Footnotes[edit]
1.Jump up ^ Lowry, pp.107–108
2.Jump up ^ Lovece, pp.52–54
3.Jump up ^ Gradnitzer; Pittson, pg.174
4.Jump up ^ Lowry, p.108
5.^ Jump up to: a b c Edwards, p.42
6.Jump up ^ Hurwitz; Knowles, pp.39–40
7.Jump up ^ Edwards, p.43
8.Jump up ^ Chris Carter (narrator). Chris Carter Talks about Season One Episodes: Conduit (DVD). Fox.
9.Jump up ^ The X-Files: The Complete First Season (Media notes). Fox. 1993–1994.
10.Jump up ^ Lowry, p.248
11.Jump up ^ "X Cyclopedia: The Ultimate Episode Guide, Season 1 | EW.com". Entertainment Weekly. November 29, 1996. Retrieved July 7, 2011.
12.Jump up ^ Phipps, Keith (June 27, 2008). ""Conduit" / "The Jersey Devil" / "Shadows" | The X-Files/Millennium | TV Club | TV | The A.V. Club". The A.V. Club. Retrieved July 18, 2011.
13.Jump up ^ Bush, p.43
14.Jump up ^ Lavery et al, p.107
15.Jump up ^ Malin, pp.124–125
References[edit]
Bush, Michelle (2008). Myth-X. Lulu. ISBN 1-4357-4688-0.
Edwards, Ted (1996). X-Files Confidential. Little, Brown and Company. ISBN 0-316-21808-1.
Gradnitzer, Louisa; Pittson, Todd (1999). X Marks the Spot: On Location with The X-Files. Arsenal Pulp Press. ISBN 1-55152-066-4.
Hurwitz, Matt; Knowles, Chris (2008). The Complete X-Files. Insight Editions. ISBN 1-933784-80-6.
Lavery, David; Hague, Angela; Cartwright, Marla (1996). Deny All Knowledge: Reading The X-Files. Syracuse University Press. ISBN 0-8156-2717-3.
Lovece, Frank (1996). The X-Files Declassified. Citadel Press. ISBN 0-8065-1745-X.
Lowry, Brian (1995). The Truth is Out There: The Official Guide to the X-Files. Harper Prism. ISBN 0-06-105330-9.
Malin, Brenton J (2005). American Masculinity under Clinton: Popular Media and the Nineties "Crisis of Masculinity". Peter Lang. ISBN 0-8204-6806-1.
External links[edit]
 Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: TXF Season 1
"Conduit" on The X-Files official website
"Conduit" at the Internet Movie Database
"Conduit" at TV.com

[hide]
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The X-Files episodes

 
­Seasons: 1·
 ­2·
 ­3·
 ­4·
 ­5·
 ­6·
 ­7·
 ­8·
 ­9
 
 
Season 1
­"Pilot"·
 ­"Deep Throat"·
 ­"Squeeze"·
 ­"Conduit"·
 ­"The Jersey Devil"·
 ­"Shadows"·
 ­"Ghost in the Machine"·
 ­"Ice"·
 ­"Space"·
 ­"Fallen Angel"·
 ­"Eve"·
 ­"Fire"·
 ­"Beyond the Sea"·
 ­"Gender Bender"·
 ­"Lazarus"·
 ­"Young at Heart"·
 ­"E.B.E."·
 ­"Miracle Man"·
 ­"Shapes"·
 ­"Darkness Falls"·
 ­"Tooms"·
 ­"Born Again"·
 ­"Roland"·
 ­"The Erlenmeyer Flask"
 
 
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1993 television episodes


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The Jersey Devil (The X-Files)

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"The Jersey Devil"
The X-Files episode
Episode no.
Season 1
 Episode 5
Directed by
Joe Napolitano
Written by
Chris Carter
Production code
1X04
Original air date
October 8, 1993
Running time
43 minutes
Guest actors

Wayne Tippit as Detective Thompson
Michael MacRae as Ranger Peter Boulle
Gregory Sierra as Dr. Diamond
Claire Stansfield as the Jersey Devil
Jill Teed as Glenna
Tamsin Kelsey as Ellen
Andrew Airlie as Rob
Bill Dow as Dad
Hrothgar Mathews as Jack
Jayme Knox as Mom
Scott Swanson as First Officer
Sean O'Byrne as Second Officer
David Lewis as Young Officer
D. Neil Monk as SWAT Team Officer
 
Episode chronology

← Previous
 "Conduit" Next →
 "Shadows"

List of season 1 episodes
List of The X-Files episodes
"The Jersey Devil" is the fifth episode of the first season of the American science fiction television series The X-Files. It premiered on the Fox network on October 8, 1993. It was written by series creator Chris Carter, directed by Joe Napolitano, and featured guest appearances by Gregory Sierra, Wayne Tippit and Claire Stansfield. Although the episode is the series' second "Monster-of-the-Week" story—after the earlier "Squeeze"—it was the first to have been written by Carter.
The show centers on FBI special agents Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) who work on cases linked to the paranormal, called X-Files. In this episode, Mulder and Scully investigate seemingly cannibalistic murders in New Jersey. The two later come across what seems to be an evolutionary relict which may have inspired tales of the Jersey Devil.
Chris Carter was inspired to write "The Jersey Devil" after reading an essay by E. O. Wilson regarding ants; Carter, in turn, wrote a story that posed whether mankind was hellbent on its own extinction. The concept of mankind being carnivores and eating its own tail evolved into the idea of using an evolutionary mutation that was a throwback to the Neanderthal. The purpose of the scenes with Scully going on a date were to show the life she was passing on to work on the X-Files and to open up Scully to the audience.

Contents
  [hide] 1 Plot
2 Production
3 Broadcast and reception
4 Footnotes 4.1 References
5 External links
Plot[edit]
In New Jersey in 1947, a man is attacked while fixing a flat tire on the road near the woods. His corpse is later found with his leg chewed off, and a hairy humanoid is killed nearby.
Back in present-day Washington D.C., Scully brings to Mulder's attention news about a body found in New Jersey with hand and arm missing. Upon arriving at the Atlantic City morgue, however, the local Detective Thompson denies the agents access to the investigation. Scully returns to Washington to attend her godson's birthday party, while Mulder stays in New Jersey. At the party, Scully meets Rob, the divorced father of one of the guests. Meanwhile, Mulder questions homeless people about the case, and gives his hotel room key to a homeless man who tells him what he saw the night of the killing. Mulder sleeps in an alley and sees a shadowy creature, but is arrested.
The next morning, Detective Thompson meets with Mulder and Scully when she comes down to pick up her partner. Before going on a date with Rob, Scully brings Mulder to meet with Dr. Diamond, a professor of anthropology at the University of Maryland. The local park ranger contacts Mulder after finding the corpse of a wild man in the woods. Mulder believes that the creature's mate has headed into Atlantic City in search of food after its death. The agents, along with the ranger and Dr. Diamond search for the creature in an abandoned building. Thompson meanwhile is also searching the same building with a SWAT team.
Mulder is attacked by the creature, which escapes soon after. The beast is chased through the woods, and still manages to escape after being shot with a tranquilizer dart. The SWAT team soon finds her and kills her. The autopsy reveals no prehistoric bone structure, although human bones are located within her digestive tract. Mulder leaves to talk to an ethnobiologist at the Smithsonian; Scully turns down a second date with Rob to join him. Meanwhile in the woods the child of the creature appears, watching a father and son hike along with curiosity.[1][2]
Production[edit]
Writer and series creator Chris Carter decided that rather than trying to present a typical Bigfoot-like creature, he would present the Jersey Devil as a missing link.[3] Carter was inspired to write the episode by an essay by E. O. Wilson regarding ants and a story he wrote that posed whether mankind was hellbent on its own extinction.[4] The concept of mankind being carnivores and eating its own tail evolved into the idea of using an evolutionary mutation that was a throwback to the Neanderthal.[4] A Greg Cannom werewolf outfit from a previous project was used for the costume of the creature.[5]
The purpose of the scenes with Scully going on a date were to show the life she was passing on to work on the X-Files and to open up Scully to the audience.[6] Carter explained that he "tried to develop a love interest for Scully only to heighten the sexual tension between her and Mulder".[7] The scenes with Mulder in Atlantic City were shot against a blue screen in Vancouver, with stock casino footage added in in post-production.[6]
During filming, Claire Stansfield, who played the titular creature, was intended to appear nude, necessitating several solutions to be found for different scenes—some were shot with the actress wearing a nude-colored outfit, while others were shot with her hair tied in such a manner as to keep her breasts covered. Several scenes for the episode were filmed in a Vancouver mansion, which served as an office, town-house and restaurant. This same mansion was used for exterior shots in the later first season episode "Fire". The forest scenes were filmed in a remote area accessible only by large trucks, while all of the exterior city scenes were filmed in and around a sheet metal store.[8]
Broadcast and reception[edit]
"The Jersey Devil" premiered on the Fox network on October 8, 1993, and was first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC Two on October 17, 1994.[9] The episode earned a Nielsen household rating of 6.6 with a 12 share—meaning that in the US, 6.6 percent of television-equipped households, and 12 percent of all households actively watching television, were watching the program. It was viewed by 6.2 million households.[10]
In a retrospective of the first season in Entertainment Weekly, "The Jersey Devil" was rated a C, with the episode being called "corny", and full of "needless philosophizing"; it was noted however that the sub-plot concerning Scully's private life set the stage for the series' future.[11] Keith Phipps, writing for The A.V. Club, had mixed feeling about the episode, rating it a C. He felt that the scenes featuring Scully's private life and Mulder speaking to a group of homeless people were effectively done, although the episode overall was "pretty silly" and took "a decent idea to a dead end".[12] Producer James Wong was critical of the episode, feeling that it "ran out of steam in the middle. It didn't go anywhere; there weren't enough complications to it", though he added that it had been "beautifully shot".[4]
Footnotes[edit]
1.Jump up ^ Lowry, pp.109–110
2.Jump up ^ Lovece, pp55–56
3.Jump up ^ Lowry, p.110
4.^ Jump up to: a b c Edwards, p.44
5.Jump up ^ Clarke, Frederick S. (1998). Cinefantastique. F. S. Clarke. Retrieved July 25, 2011.
6.^ Jump up to: a b Lowry, p.110
7.Jump up ^ Hurtwitz; Knowles, p.40
8.Jump up ^ Gradnitzer; Pittson, pp.35–36
9.Jump up ^ Robert Mandel, Daniel Sackheim, et al (booklet). The X-Files: The Complete First Season (Liner notes). Fox.
10.Jump up ^ Lowry, p.248
11.Jump up ^ "X Cyclopedia: The Ultimate Episode Guide, Season 1 | TV | EW.com". Entertainment Weekly. November 29, 1996. Retrieved July 15, 2011.
12.Jump up ^ Phipps, Keith (June 27, 2008). ""Conduit" / "The Jersey Devil" / "Shadows" | The X-Files/Millennium | TV Club | TV | The A.V. Club". The A.V. Club. Retrieved July 18, 2011.
References[edit]
Edwards, Ted (1996). X-Files Confidential. Little, Brown and Company. ISBN 0-316-21808-1.
Gradnitzer, Louisa; Pittson, Todd (1999). X Marks the Spot: On Location with The X-Files. Arsenal Pulp Press. ISBN 1-55152-066-4.
Hurwitz, Matt; Knowles, Chris (2008). The Complete X-Files. Insight Editions. ISBN 1-933784-80-6.
Lovece, Frank (1996). The X-Files Declassified. Citadel Press. ISBN 0-8065-1745-X.
Lowry, Brian (1995). The Truth is Out There: The Official Guide to the X-Files. Harper Prism. ISBN 0-06-105330-9.
External links[edit]
 Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: TXF Season 1
"The Jersey Devil" on The X-Files official website
"The Jersey Devil" at the Internet Movie Database
"The Jersey Devil" at TV.com

[hide]
­v·
 ­t·
 ­e
 
The X-Files episodes

 
­Seasons: 1·
 ­2·
 ­3·
 ­4·
 ­5·
 ­6·
 ­7·
 ­8·
 ­9
 
 
Season 1
­"Pilot"·
 ­"Deep Throat"·
 ­"Squeeze"·
 ­"Conduit"·
 ­"The Jersey Devil"·
 ­"Shadows"·
 ­"Ghost in the Machine"·
 ­"Ice"·
 ­"Space"·
 ­"Fallen Angel"·
 ­"Eve"·
 ­"Fire"·
 ­"Beyond the Sea"·
 ­"Gender Bender"·
 ­"Lazarus"·
 ­"Young at Heart"·
 ­"E.B.E."·
 ­"Miracle Man"·
 ­"Shapes"·
 ­"Darkness Falls"·
 ­"Tooms"·
 ­"Born Again"·
 ­"Roland"·
 ­"The Erlenmeyer Flask"
 
 
This is a good article. Click here for more information.
 

Categories: The X-Files (season 1) episodes
1993 television episodes



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Shadows (The X-Files)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 
Jump to: navigation, search

This is a good article. Click here for more information.

"Shadows"
The X-Files episode
Episode no.
Season 1
 Episode 6
Directed by
Michael Lange
Written by
Glen Morgan
James Wong
Production code
1X05
Original air date
October 22, 1993
Running time
43 minutes
Guest actors

Barry Primus as Robert Dorlund
Lisa Waltz as Lauren Kyte
Lorena Gale as Ellen Bledsoe
Veena Sood as Miss Saunders
Deryl Hayes as Mr. Webster
Kelli Fox as Pathologist
Tom Pickett as Cop
Tom Heaton as Groundskeeper
Janie Woods-Morris as Miss Lange
Nora McLellan as Jane Morris
Anna Ferguson as Miss Winn
 
Episode chronology

← Previous
 "The Jersey Devil" Next →
 "Ghost in the Machine"

List of season 1 episodes
List of The X-Files episodes
"Shadows" is the sixth episode of the first season of the American science fiction television series The X-Files. It premiered on the Fox network on October 22, 1993. It was written by Glen Morgan and James Wong, directed by Michael Lange, and featured guest appearances by Barry Primus and Lisa Waltz. The episode is a "Monster-of-the-Week" story, unconnected to the series' wider mythology. "Shadows" earned a Nielsen household rating of 5.9, being watched by 5.6 million households in its initial broadcast. The episode was not well received by the production staff, and received mixed reviews from critics.
The show centers on FBI special agents Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) who work on cases linked to the paranormal, called X-Files. In this episode, Mulder and Scully investigate the death of several muggers and encounter an office worker who may be haunted by the spirit of her dead boss, who is using her to uncover his murderer; and discover covert arms deals made with Middle Eastern radicals.
This episode, inspired by the 1982 horror film The Entity, was written due to insistence that the creators write more episodes where Mulder and Scully help people. This allowed the writers some space to create other episodes they had in mind.

Contents
  [hide] 1 Plot
2 Production
3 Broadcast and reception
4 Footnotes 4.1 References
5 External links
Plot[edit]
Two muggers are found dead in a back alley of Philadelphia after robbing a woman, Lauren Kyte, at an automated teller machine. Mulder and Scully investigate the case when called in by a pair of agents from an unknown agency. The bodies of the muggers are found to have an electrical charge and their throats have been crushed from the inside. Lauren sees her boss, Robert Dorlund, and resigns due to her grief over the death of Dorlund's partner, Howard Graves, who committed suicide weeks before.
Mulder and Scully determine that one of the dead men belonged to a terrorist group, the Isfahan, and using the ATM video are able to track down Lauren. A screenshot of the video reveals a blurry figure who appears to be Howard Graves. The agents meet with Lauren at her home and after initially denying it, she admits to the incident but knows nothing about the murders. Upon leaving, the agents find their car going out of control on its own. The car is found to have no evidence of tampering, but an electrical charge is detected within it.
Later, upon visiting the grave of Graves, Mulder and Scully learn of his suicide and the death of his daughter at a young age, a daughter that would be Lauren's age should she be alive. Scully suspects that Graves faked his death, but through a conversation with the medical examiner who examined his body and testing the organs he donated to others it is proved that he indeed died. Lauren meanwhile witnesses a vision at night including blood appearing in the bathtub, causing her to believe that Graves was murdered. At her going away party, Lauren is threatened by Dorlund, who believes she has knowledge of confidential information that could implicate him. Lauren calls Mulder and Scully to her home, but before the agents can get there, two assassins hired by Dorlund arrive to kill her. An invisible force kills both of them.
Lauren is interrogated by Mulder and Scully, and the two unknown agents that called them in, who say they are involved because they believe Graves and Dorlund's company sold technology to the Isfahan. Lauren admits to Mulder and Scully that the sales did indeed take place and that she believes Dorlund had Graves killed. After hearing Lauren recount the eerie circumstances that she believes are being caused by Graves's spirit, Scully - the usually reserved skeptic - readily accepts her story. Mulder is confused, but after Lauren leaves, Scully admits she was just humoring her. The agents search the company's premises, but are unable to find any evidence. When Dorlund attacks Lauren with a letter opener Graves's spirit takes it and cuts open the wallpaper, revealing a disc with evidence. Weeks later Lauren starts her new job, but it appears that Graves's spirit may have followed her there.[1][2]
Production[edit]
This episode was created due to Fox's insistence that the creators write more episodes where Mulder and Scully help people. This episode was written to accomplish that, and allow the writers some space to create other episodes they had in mind.[3] Co-writer Glen Morgan claims the episode was inspired by the movie The Entity.[4] The name Tom Braidwood, the show's assistant director who later played Lone Gunmen member Melvin Frohike, is used in the scene where the parking lot attendant paints over the name of Howard Graves.[3] The episode featured guest appearances by Barry Primus, Lisa Waltz, Lorena Gale and Veena Sood.[5]
Fox emphasized the horror aspect of "Shadows" by using the tagline "don't watch it alone" when advertising the episode. During the episode, Mulder jokes that Elvis was the only man ever to have successfully faked his own death. The joke would eventually become the first of many similar Elvis jokes littered throughout most of the series. When Mulder wonders whether or not it could have been a poltergeist, Scully mocks him by replying "they're here". This is a tagline and famous quote from the film Poltergeist.[6]
Broadcast and reception[edit]


"It wasn't a great script. I thought the director did a good job with it. It was entertaining, but not my favorite episode. The network wanted a lot more relatable things. Originally we made this girl a lot more interesting, but because they wanted relatable things, we made her a secretary, and it wasn't really involving".
–James Wong on writing "Shadows"[7]
"Shadows" premiered on the Fox network on October 22, 1993, and was first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC Two on October 24, 1994.[8] The episode earned a Nielsen household rating of 5.9 with an 11 share—meaning that in the US, 5.9 percent of television-equipped households, and 11 percent of all households actively watching television, were watching the program. It was viewed by 5.6 million households.[9]
In a retrospective of the first season in Entertainment Weekly, "Shadows" was rated a C+, with the episode being called "exceedingly awkward", while the political context was seen as a weak point.[10] Keith Phipps, writing for The A.V. Club, had mixed feeling about the episode, rating it a C+. He felt that the episode's plot worked well, though the supernatural elements seemed "a little corny".[11] Matt Haigh, writing for Den of Geek, was more positive about the episode, calling it "fun viewing" and feeling that "with characters we could care about and a far more rounded plot, this proved one of the better episodes so far. I still wouldn’t call it a particularly brilliant one, though, either".[6]
Co-writer James Wong felt that the changes he was asked to make to the script led to "Shadows" turning out to be "an average episode", although he felt "the director did a good job with it".[7] His partner Glen Morgan had a similar opinion, calling it "a little too ordinary, like you have seen it before, which is exactly what the network wanted at the time.[12] Chris Carter had a more positive view of the episode, calling it "very well done, really great effects, and more of a meat-and-potatoes kind of story. An FBI sting and a good mystery that Mulder and Scully investigate. Overall, a really solid episode."[13] The plot for "Shadows" was also adapted as a novel for young adults in 2000 by Ellen Steiber, under the title Haunted.[14][15]
Footnotes[edit]
1.Jump up ^ Lowry, pp.112–113
2.Jump up ^ Lovece, pp.58–59
3.^ Jump up to: a b Lowry, p.113
4.Jump up ^ Edwards, p.37
5.Jump up ^ Lowry, p.112
6.^ Jump up to: a b Haigh, Matt (October 14, 2008). "Revisiting The X-Files: Season 1 Episode 6 - Den of Geek". Den of Geek. Dennis Publishing. Retrieved August 10, 2011.
7.^ Jump up to: a b Edwards, p.45
8.Jump up ^ Robert Mandel, Daniel Sackheim, et al (booklet). The X-Files: The Complete First Season (Liner notes). Fox.
9.Jump up ^ Lowry, p.248
10.Jump up ^ "X Cyclopedia: The Ultimate Episode Guide, Season 1 | TV | EW.com". Entertainment Weekly. November 29, 1996. Retrieved July 16, 2011.
11.Jump up ^ Phipps, Keith (June 27, 2008). ""Conduit" / "The Jersey Devil" / "Shadows" | The X-Files/Millennium | TV Club | TV | The A.V. Club". The A.V. Club. Retrieved July 18, 2011.
12.Jump up ^ Lovece, p.60
13.Jump up ^ Edwards, p.46
14.Jump up ^ Steiber, Ellen (2000). Haunted: A Novelization. HarperCollins. ISBN 0-06-106618-4.
15.Jump up ^ "Haunted: a novelization (Book, 2000)". WorldCat. Retrieved August 10, 2011. "...based on the teleplay written by Glen Morgan and James Wong"
References[edit]
Edwards, Ted (1996). X-Files Confidential. Little, Brown and Company. ISBN 0-316-21808-1.
Lovece, Frank (1996). The X-Files Declassified. Citadel Press. ISBN 0-8065-1745-X.
Lowry, Brian (1995). The Truth is Out There: The Official Guide to the X-Files. Harper Prism. ISBN 0-06-105330-9.
External links[edit]
 Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: TXF Season 1
"Shadows" on The X-Files official website
"Shadows" at the Internet Movie Database
"Shadows" at TV.com

[hide]
­v·
 ­t·
 ­e
 
The X-Files episodes

 
­Seasons: 1·
 ­2·
 ­3·
 ­4·
 ­5·
 ­6·
 ­7·
 ­8·
 ­9
 
 
Season 1
­"Pilot"·
 ­"Deep Throat"·
 ­"Squeeze"·
 ­"Conduit"·
 ­"The Jersey Devil"·
 ­"Shadows"·
 ­"Ghost in the Machine"·
 ­"Ice"·
 ­"Space"·
 ­"Fallen Angel"·
 ­"Eve"·
 ­"Fire"·
 ­"Beyond the Sea"·
 ­"Gender Bender"·
 ­"Lazarus"·
 ­"Young at Heart"·
 ­"E.B.E."·
 ­"Miracle Man"·
 ­"Shapes"·
 ­"Darkness Falls"·
 ­"Tooms"·
 ­"Born Again"·
 ­"Roland"·
 ­"The Erlenmeyer Flask"
 

 

Categories: The X-Files (season 1) episodes
1993 television episodes


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Ghost in the Machine (The X-Files)

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Jump to: navigation, search

This is a good article. Click here for more information.

"Ghost in the Machine"
The X-Files episode
A black computer component with a small screen to one side. The screen displays nothing but distorted colors. To the other side are large letters reading 'C.O.S.' and smaller letters reading 'Central Operating System'.
The Central Operating System, the episode's primary antagonist. The character is representative of the episode's technology-centred premise.
 
Episode no.
Season 1
 Episode 7
Directed by
Jerrold Freedman
Written by
Alex Gansa
Howard Gordon
Production code
1X06
Original air date
October 29, 1993
Running time
43 minutes
Guest actors

Jerry Hardin as Deep Throat
Rob LaBelle as Brad Wilczek
Wayne Duvall as Jerry Lamana
Blu Mankuma as Claude Peterson
Tom Butler as Benjamin Drake
Gillian Barber as Agent Nancy Spiller
Marc Baur as Man in Suit
Bill Finck as Sandwich Man
Theodore Thomas as Clyde
 
Episode chronology

← Previous
 "Shadows" Next →
 "Ice"

List of season 1 episodes
List of The X-Files episodes
"Ghost in the Machine" is the seventh episode of the first season of the American science fiction television series The X-Files. It was broadcast by the Fox Broadcasting Company on October 29, 1993. "Ghost in the Machine" was written by Alex Gansa and Howard Gordon and directed by Jerrold Freedman. The episode featured guest appearances by Wayne Duvall and Rob LaBelle, and saw Jerry Hardin reprise his role as Deep Throat for the first time since the character's introduction. The episode is a "Monster-of-the-Week" story, unconnected to the series' wider mythology. "Ghost in the Machine" earned a Nielsen household rating of 5.9, being watched by 5.6 million households in its initial broadcast, and received mixed reviews from critics.
The show centers on FBI special agents Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) who work on cases linked to the paranormal, called X-Files. In this episode, Mulder is asked by his old partner from the Behavioral Analysis Unit to aid an investigation into a murder at a software company. Soon, he and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) uncover a malevolent artificial intelligence which has started killing to protect itself.
Writers Howard Gordon and Alex Gansa have admitted they were "not computer literate", and felt this was a detriment to their writing. The scenes set at the software company Eurisko were filmed in Burnaby's Metrotower complex, a building used by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service. The location was barely big enough for the actors to perform in after the crew had finished setting up the necessary equipment. The X-Files team would once again face a malevolent AI in the William Gibson-penned fifth season episode "Kill Switch".

Contents
  [hide] 1 Plot
2 Production
3 Broadcast and reception
4 Footnotes 4.1 References
5 External links
Plot[edit]
In the Alexandria, Virginia headquarters of the software company Eurisko, founder Brad Wilczek and chief executive officer Benjamin Drake argue about downsizing measures. After Wilczek leaves, Drake writes a memo proposing to shut down the Central Operating System, a computer which runs the Eurisko Building. Seeing this through a surveillance camera, the COS sets up a trap and lures Drake into a bathroom, locking the door behind him. Drake tries to use his keycard to open it, but it rejects the card. When he inserts a manual override key, he is fatally electrocuted.
FBI agent Jerry Lamana, Fox Mulder's former partner, approaches him and Dana Scully for help in investigating Drake's murder. On their way up to Drake's office, the agents' elevator stalls, causing Scully to call the front desk for help; as she identifies herself, the COS records her contact information. At the crime scene, the agents meet Claude Peterson, Eurisko's head of security. Later, Lamana steals Mulder's profile of the supposed killer and presents it under his name; an outraged Mulder confronts him afterwards.
Mulder and Scully question Wilczek, who denies any involvement in the murder. Scully initially doubts Wilczek's involvement, but finds that his voice matches a speaking clock Drake received before his death; Lamana sets out to arrest him. Meanwhile, Wilczek fails to access the COS from his home computer. Concerned, he travels to Eurisko's headquarters, followed by Lamana. There, he is still unable to access the COS, but discovers it has learned to talk. Lamana arrives, but is killed when the COS causes his elevator to crash.
Mulder meets with Deep Throat, who explains that the COS is an artificial intelligence developed by Wilczek, and that the Department of Defense is trying to acquire it. Mulder also meets with Wilczek, who has falsely confessed to Lamana's murder. Mulder convinces Wilczek to develop a computer virus that can destroy the COS. Scully doesn't accept Mulder's belief that the COS is sentient, but later discovers the machine hacking into her computer. She joins Mulder at the Eurisko Building to help him destroy the machine.
The COS hinders the agents as they make their way inside. When it shuts down the building's power, Scully climbs through the air vents and is almost pulled into a giant fan, but manages to destroy it. Meanwhile, Mulder is permitted into the COS' control room by Peterson. However, Peterson reveals himself as a mole for the Defense Department and tries to stop Mulder from uploading the virus. Scully arrives and holds Peterson at gunpoint, allowing Mulder to upload the virus and destroy the COS.
Meeting with Deep Throat again, Mulder explains that Wilczek is being detained by the government at an undisclosed location. When Mulder asks if the COS survived, Deep Throat assures him the virus left no trace of it, and that scientists from the Defense Department have unsuccessfully examined the machine for any remaining signs of the program. At the Eurisko Building, Peterson directs a team attempting to recover the COS, but is told by his superiors to destroy the machine in six hours. Unbeknownst to Peterson, the COS comes back to life and watches as he says to himself, "I'm going to figure this thing out if it kills me".[1][2]
Production[edit]
The scenes set at the software company Eurisko were filmed in Burnaby's Metrotower complex, a building used by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service. The location was barely big enough for the actors to perform in after the crew had finished setting up the necessary equipment.[3] The scene with Dana Scully shooting the fan in the air shaft was a last minute change to the script, replacing an elevator shaft sequence that was deemed too expensive.[4] The episode's title is taken from the title of the book The Ghost in the Machine by Arthur Koestler. The Central Operating System and its actions in the episode are an homage to 2001: A Space Odyssey’s HAL 9000, who—due to conflicted programming—also became confused and killed people. The X-Files team would once again face a malevolent AI in the William Gibson-penned fifth season episode "Kill Switch".[5]
Writers Howard Gordon and Alex Gansa have admitted they were "not computer literate", and felt this was a detriment to their writing.[6] Gordon was disappointed in the episode, stating that it "still qualifies as one of my biggest disappointments", ranking it as the worst episode of the first season.[4][7] Glen Morgan felt that "parts of the episode worked. What maybe fell a little flat is that we were a little too afraid of doing HAL and, in a sense, I think that's what the building needed; to have a scary personality." James Wong had mixed feelings, saying that the episode "had some neat stuff at the end...although I think the ending was a little unsatisfying to me visually, as well as in terms of how Mulder comes to dismember the machine. Overall a fun episode." Chris Carter was more supportive of the episode, stating that the script addressed the question of what made up an X-File, and that it doesn't always have to be paranormal. He also felt positive about the episode's action scenes.[8]
Broadcast and reception[edit]


"Moreover, there really is a sense of mystery and suspense lacking so far. From the very beginning of this episode, it’s clear that the machine is behind the murders, which makes the scenes where Mulder and Scully are interrogating the computer’s creator rather pointless."
–Den of Geek's Matt Haigh reviewing "Ghost in the Machine".[9]
"Ghost in the Machine" premiered on the Fox network on October 29, 1993, and was first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC Two on November 3, 1994.[10] Following its initial American broadcast, the episode earned a Nielsen household rating of 5.9, with an 11 share—meaning that roughly 5.9 percent of all television-equipped households, and 11 percent of households watching television, were tuned in to the episode. It was viewed by 5.6 million households.[11]
In a retrospective of the first season in Entertainment Weekly, "Ghost in the Machine" was rated a D+. The episode's premise and the COS system were described as "unacknowledged 2001 rip-offs", whilst the presence of Deep Throat was called "gratuitous"; with both cited, along with an "absence of humor", as the episode's main detractions.[12] Keith Phipps, writing for The A.V. Club, was more favourable to the episode, rating it a B-. He felt that the similarities to 2001: A Space Odyssey and Demon Seed were effective, adding however, that although the plot worked well, it had dated poorly.[13] Matt Haigh, writing for Den of Geek, reviewed the episode negatively, feeling that the plot was "formulaic", and that it "simply [has] not stood the test of time".[9] However, Haigh felt that Deep Throat's appearance was a highlight of the episode, and praised Mark Snow's score as "extremely atmospheric".[9] The plot for "Ghost in the Machine" was also adapted as a novel for young adults in 1997 by Les Martin.[14][15]
Footnotes[edit]
1.Jump up ^ Lowry, pp.114–115
2.Jump up ^ Lovece, pp.60–62
3.Jump up ^ Gradnitzer and Pittson, p.37
4.^ Jump up to: a b Lowry, p.115
5.Jump up ^ Director: Rob Bowman; Writers: William Gibson & Tom Maddox (February 15, 1998). "Kill Switch". The X-Files. Season 5. Episode 11. Fox.
6.Jump up ^ Lovece, p.63
7.Jump up ^ Edwards, p.47
8.Jump up ^ Edwards, pp.47–48
9.^ Jump up to: a b c Haigh, Matt (October 16, 2008). "Revisiting The X-Files: Season 1 Episode 7". Den of Geek. Dennis Publishing. Retrieved July 30, 2011.
10.Jump up ^ The X-Files: The Complete First Season (Media notes). Fox. 1993–1994.
11.Jump up ^ Lowry, p.248
12.Jump up ^ "X Cyclopedia: The Ultimate Episode Guide, Season 1". Entertainment Weekly. November 29, 1996. Retrieved July 17, 2011.
13.Jump up ^ Phipps, Keith (July 5, 2008). ""Ghost In The Machine" / "Ice" / "Space" | The X-Files/Millennium | TV Club | TV". The A.V. Club. Retrieved July 18, 2011.
14.Jump up ^ Martin, Les (1997). Ghost in the Machine. HarperTrophy. ISBN 0-06-440678-4.
15.Jump up ^ "Ghost in the machine: a novel (Book, 1997)". WorldCat. Retrieved August 10, 2011. "...based on the teleplay written by Howard Gordon and Alex Gansa"
References[edit]
Edwards, Ted (1996). X-Files Confidential. Little, Brown and Company. ISBN 0-316-21808-1.
Gradnitzer, Louisa; Pittson, Todd (1999). X Marks the Spot: On Location with The X-Files. Arsenal Pulp Press. ISBN 1-55152-066-4.
Lovece, Frank (1996). The X-Files Declassified. Citadel Press. ISBN 0-8065-1745-X.
Lowry, Brian (1995). The Truth is Out There: The Official Guide to the X-Files. Harper Prism. ISBN 0-06-105330-9.
External links[edit]
 Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: TXF Season 1
"Ghost in the Machine" on The X-Files official website
"Ghost in the Machine" at the Internet Movie Database
"Ghost in the Machine" at TV.com

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The X-Files episodes

 
­Seasons: 1·
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Season 1
­"Pilot"·
 ­"Deep Throat"·
 ­"Squeeze"·
 ­"Conduit"·
 ­"The Jersey Devil"·
 ­"Shadows"·
 ­"Ghost in the Machine"·
 ­"Ice"·
 ­"Space"·
 ­"Fallen Angel"·
 ­"Eve"·
 ­"Fire"·
 ­"Beyond the Sea"·
 ­"Gender Bender"·
 ­"Lazarus"·
 ­"Young at Heart"·
 ­"E.B.E."·
 ­"Miracle Man"·
 ­"Shapes"·
 ­"Darkness Falls"·
 ­"Tooms"·
 ­"Born Again"·
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Categories: The X-Files (season 1) episodes
1993 television episodes
Cyberpunk television episodes


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Ice (The X-Files)

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"Ice"
The X-Files episode
Episode no.
Season 1
 Episode 8
Directed by
David Nutter
Written by
Glen Morgan
James Wong
Production code
1X07
Original air date
November 5, 1993
Running time
43 minutes
Guest actors

Xander Berkeley as Dr. Hodge
Felicity Huffman as Dr. Nancy Da Silva
Steve Hytner as Dr. Denny Murphy
Jeff Kober as Bear
Ken Kirzinger as Mr. Richter
Sonny Surowiec as Mr. Campbell
 
Episode chronology

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 "Ghost in the Machine" Next →
 "Space"

List of The X-Files episodes
"Ice" is the eighth episode of the first season of the American science fiction television series The X-Files, which premiered on the Fox network on November 5, 1993. It was directed by David Nutter and written by Glen Morgan and James Wong. The debut broadcast of "Ice" was watched by 10.0 million viewers in 6.2 million households and received positive reviews from critics, who praised its tense atmosphere.
FBI special agents Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) investigate the deaths of an Alaskan research team. Isolated and alone, the agents and their accompanying team discover the existence of extraterrestrial parasitic organisms that drive their hosts into impulsive fits of rage.
The episode was inspired by an article in Science News about an excavation in Greenland. Series creator Chris Carter has named the 1938 novella Who Goes There?, by John W. Campbell, as an additional inspiration for the storyline. "Ice" exceeded its production budget despite being conceived as an episode that would save money by being shot in a single location.

Contents
  [hide] 1 Plot
2 Production 2.1 Conception and writing
2.2 Filming
3 Analysis
4 Broadcast and reception
5 Footnotes 5.1 References
6 External links
Plot[edit]
A mass murder–suicide occurs among a team of geophysicists at an outpost in Icy Cape, Alaska. FBI special agents Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) head for the outpost accompanied by physician Dr. Hodge (Xander Berkeley); toxicologist Dr. DaSilva (Felicity Huffman); geologist Dr. Murphy (Steve Hytner); and Bear (Jeff Kober), their pilot. Along with the bodies of the scientists, the group finds a dog that attacks Mulder and Bear. Scully notices black nodules on its skin and suspects that it may be infected with bubonic plague. She also notices movement underneath its skin. Bear becomes ill and develops similar nodules on his body. Autopsies reveal no such nodules on the bodies of the scientists.
Murphy finds an ice core sample that is believed to originate from a meteor crater. He theorizes that the sample might be 250,000 years old. Bear insists on leaving, but the others are worried about infecting the outside world with a contagion. When asked for a stool sample, Bear attacks Mulder and tries to flee. Something moves underneath Bear's skin, and he dies when Scully removes a small worm from the back of his neck. The group is left with no pilot, and they are told that an evacuation is impossible because of the weather.
The worm removed from Bear is kept in a jar. Another is recovered from one of the corpses. Mulder believes that the worms are extraterrestrial and wants them kept alive, although Scully feels that they should be destroyed to prevent infection. The group check each other for black nodules and find none, although Mulder reminds Scully that the nodules disappeared from the dog over time. When Mulder finds Murphy in the freezer with his throat slit, the others—including Scully—believe that he has become infected and killed Murphy. Mulder is locked in a store room.
DaSilva discovers that two worms put together will kill each other. When the investigators place one of the worms into the infected dog, it recovers. Against Scully's objections, Hodge and DaSilva try to place the other worm into Mulder, but Hodge realizes that the infected one is DaSilva. He and Mulder restrain DaSilva and place the last worm inside of her. On rescue, DaSilva is quarantined and the others are released. Mulder wants to return to the site but is told that it has been destroyed by an unknown government agency.[1][2]
Production[edit]
Conception and writing[edit]


A black-and-white image of a man looking off to one side

A headshot of a white-haired man with a moustache
Film adaptations of Who Goes There? by Howard Hawks (left) and John Carpenter (right) influenced the episode.
Glen Morgan began to write this episode after reading a Science News article about men in Greenland who found a 250,000-year-old item in ice.[3][4] The setting, an icy, remote research base overcome by an extraterrestrial creature, is similar to that of John W. Campbell's 1938 novelette Who Goes There? and its two feature film incarnations, The Thing from Another World (1951), directed by Christian Nyby, and The Thing (1982), directed by John Carpenter.[3][5] Chris Carter has mentioned these as being the main inspirations for the episode.[4] As in the novelette and movies, the characters cannot trust each other because they are unsure if they are what they seem to be.[3] Carter in particular enjoyed this aspect, because it pitted Mulder and Scully against each other and gave "a new look on their characters early on in the series".[6]
The episode's premise became a recurring theme in the series: episodes such as "Darkness Falls" and "Firewalker" repeated the dual use of remote locations and unknown lifeforms.[7] A similar plot was featured in "The Enemy", a 1995 episode of Morgan and Wong's series Space: Above and Beyond,[8] while the Fringe episode "What Lies Below" has been mentioned by UGO Networks as following "basically" the same plot as "Ice".[9] The episode also introduced the use of invertebrate parasites as antagonists within the series. This plot device would reappear in "Firewalker", "The Host", "F. Emasculata" and "Roadrunners".[10]
Filming[edit]
The similarity to Carpenter's version of The Thing was due in part to newly arrived production designer Graeme Murray,[11] who had worked in the same role on Carpenter's film and created the complex in which the episode took place.[12] "Ice" was intended as a "bottle episode," one that would save money by being shot in a single location,[4] but nevertheless went over budget. Carter has said that The X-Files typically works from a small budget and that "every dollar we spend ends up on the screen".[12] As a bottle episode, "Ice" used a very small cast. The interior shots for the episode were filmed in a set constructed at an old Molson brewery site. The episode's few exterior shots were filmed at Delta Air Park in Vancouver, whose hangars and flat terrain could be made to appear as an Arctic location.[11] Carter has stated that he would have preferred to set the episode at the North Pole but believed that this was not feasible at the time.[13]
The production company had planned at first to use snakes in latex suits to portray the worms. This proved to be infeasible, and beetle larvae were used instead.[14] The effect of the worms crawling in the host bodies was achieved with wires under fake skins, including one with hair for the dog.[6][14] Digital effects were employed for scenes that depicted the worms swimming in jars and entering the dog's ear.[6] Extra footage was shot for scenes involving the worm so that the scenes would remain "intact" if Fox's standards and practices officials asked for footage to be cut, but no edits were requested. "Ice" marked the first significant role in the series for make-up effects artist Toby Lindala, who would thereafter become its chief make-up artist.[15] The dog used in the episode is the parent of Duchovny's own pet, Blue.[16] Ken Kirzinger, who portrayed one of the scientists killed in the episode's cold open, is the stunt coordinator for the series.[17]
Analysis[edit]
"Ice" is not directly connected to the overarching mythology of the series, but it has been described as "a portent to the alien conspiracy arc which would become more pronounced in the second season" due to its themes of alien invasion and government conspiracy.[18] The episode is also noted for exploring the relationship between its lead characters. The trust between Mulder and Scully is shown in direct contrast to the behavior of Hodge and DaSilva, who are united instead by their suspicion and mistrust of those around them. The two pairs are depicted as "mirror images" due to their differing approaches toward acting in partnership.[19]
"Ice" involves elements common to several works by Morgan and Wong, namely the notion of dual identities and the questioning of one's own personality. Leslie Jones, in the essay "Last Night We Had an Omen," has noted the appearance of this thematic leitmotif in several of the pair's other The X-Files scripts including "the meek animal-control inspector who is a mutant shape-shifter with a taste for human liver ["Squeeze"], the hapless residents of rural Pennsylvania driven mad by a combination of insecticides and electronic equipment ["Blood"], [and] the uptight PTA run by practicing Satanists ["Die Hand Die Verletzt"]".[20]
Anne Simon, a biology professor at University of Maryland, College Park, has discussed the episode in her book Monsters, Mutants and Missing Links: The Real Science Behind the X-Files. Simon noted that, like the worms in "Ice", real parasitic worms will attach themselves to the human hypothalamus because it is not blocked by the blood–brain barrier.[21] Simon also compared "Ice" to the later episodes "Tunguska" and "Gethsemane" due to their common theme of extraterrestrial life reaching earth through the process of panspermia.[22]
Broadcast and reception[edit]

A blonde woman seated in front of a microphone

 One reviewer felt Dana Scully (actor Gillian Anderson pictured) was portrayed more intelligently in "Ice" than in her debut in "Pilot".
"Ice" originally aired on the Fox network on November 5, 1993, and was first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC Two on November 10, 1994.[23] The episode's initial American broadcast earned a Nielsen household rating of 6.6 with an 11 share, meaning that roughly 6.6 percent of all television-equipped households, and 11 percent of households watching TV, were tuned in to the episode.[24] A total of 6.2 million households and 10.0 million viewers watched this episode during its original airing.[24][25] "Ice," alongside "Conduit," was released on VHS in 1996[26] and was released on DVD as part of the complete first season.[23]
This episode was praised by the production crew as one of the best episodes of the first season. Carter felt that Morgan and Wong "just outdid themselves on this show, as did director David Nutter, who really works so hard for us. I think they wrote a great script and he did a great job directing it, and we had a great supporting cast".[27] Nutter stated that "the real great thing about 'Ice' is that we were able to convey a strong sense of paranoia. It was also a great ensemble piece. We're dealing with the most basic emotions of each character, ranging from their anger to their ignorance and fear. It established the emotional ties these two characters have with each other, which is very important. Scaring the hell of out of the audience was definitely the key to the episode".[27] Anderson stated that "it was very intense. There was a lot of fear and paranoia going on. We had some great actors to work with".[27]
In The Complete X-Files, authors Matt Hurwitz and Chris Knowles called the episode a milestone for the fledgling series.[28] A retrospective of the first season in Entertainment Weekly rated "Ice" an "A−" and described it as "particularly taut and briskly paced".[5] Keith Phipps, in The A.V. Club, praised the episode and rated it an "A". He felt that the cast "plays the paranoia beautifully" and that the episode was "as fine an hour as this first season would produce".[29] The episode was included in an A.V. Club list of the greatest television "bottle" episodes, where it was described as "us[ing] its close quarters as an advantage".[30] A third A.V. Club article, which compiled ten "must-see" episodes of the series, called this episode "the first sign that this show had a shot at really being something special" and added that it "makes great use of claustrophobia and the uneasy but growing alliance between the heroes".[31]
Digital Spy's Ben Rawson-Jones has described the episode's stand-off between Mulder and Scully as "an extremely tense moment of paranoia."[32] A review in New York's Daily News called it "potent and creepy" and claimed that the plot "was worthy of honorary passage into The Twilight Zone".[33] Matt Haigh, writing for Den of Geek, called it "an extremely absorbing and thrilling episode" whilst acknowledging its debt of influence to The Thing.[34] Anna Johns, in TV Squad, called "Ice" "a spectacular episode" and praised its opening as "excellent".[35] UGO Networks listed the episode's worms as among the series' best "Monster-of-the-Week" instances and described them as the cause of "much pointed-guns aggression".[36] In Tor.com, Meghan Deans compared the scene in which Mulder and Scully inspect each other for infection to a similar scene in "Pilot" and found that it showed both characters equally vulnerable without portraying Scully as "an idiot", which Deans felt that the pilot had done.[37] 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 five stars out of five. They found it to be "the most influential episode ever made" and noted that the series copied its formula several times throughout its run. Shearman felt that, although their script was derivative, Morgan and Wong had created "a pivotal story" by combining the most important themes from The Thing with a "well rounded" cast of characters.[38]
Footnotes[edit]
1.Jump up ^ Lowry 1995, pp. 117–118.
2.Jump up ^ Lovece 1996, pp. 63–65.
3.^ Jump up to: a b c Lowry 1995, pp. 118–119.
4.^ Jump up to: a b c Goldman 1995, p. 94.
5.^ Jump up to: a b "X Cyclopedia: The Ultimate Episode Guide, Season 1". Entertainment Weekly. November 29, 1996. Retrieved July 7, 2011.
6.^ Jump up to: a b c Chris Carter (narrator). Chris Carter Speaks about Season One Episodes: Ice (DVD). The X-Files: The Complete First Season: Fox.
7.Jump up ^ Lowry 1995, pp. 182–183.
8.Jump up ^ VanDerWerff, Todd (July 18, 2010). "'The Walk'/'Oubliette'/'Nisei' | The X-Files/Millennium". The A.V. Club. Retrieved November 2, 2012.
9.Jump up ^ "Fringe vs. The X-Files – A Comparison". UGO Networks. April 5, 2010. Retrieved November 8, 2012.
10.Jump up ^ Westfahl 2005, p. 586.
11.^ Jump up to: a b Gradnitzer & Pittson 1999, p. 37.
12.^ Jump up to: a b Edwards 1996, p. 50.
13.Jump up ^ Edwards 1996, p. 115.
14.^ Jump up to: a b Debbie Coe (animal trainer); Toby Lindala (make-up effects). Behind the Truth: Ice (DVD). The X-Files: The Complete First Season: Fox.
15.Jump up ^ Lowry 1995, p. 119.
16.Jump up ^ Lowry 1995, p. 118.
17.Jump up ^ Lovece 1996, p. 65.
18.Jump up ^ Geraghty 2009, p. 99.
19.Jump up ^ Jones 1996, p. 86.
20.Jump up ^ Jones 1996, p. 89.
21.Jump up ^ Simon 2011, pp. 23–24.
22.Jump up ^ Simon 2011, pp. 58–59.
23.^ Jump up to: a b Robert Mandel, Daniel Sackheim, et al. (booklet). The X-Files: The Complete First Season (Liner notes). Fox.
24.^ Jump up to: a b Lowry 1995, p. 248.
25.Jump up ^ "Nielsen Ratings". USA Today (Gannett Company, Inc.). 10 November 1993. p. D3. Retrieved 28 November 2012.
26.Jump up ^ "Video Sales". Billboard 109 (2): 39. January 11, 1997. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved August 21, 2012.
27.^ Jump up to: a b c Edwards 1996, pp. 48–49.
28.Jump up ^ Hurwitz & Knowles 2008, p. 40.
29.Jump up ^ Phipps, Keith (July 5, 2008). "'Ghost In The Machine' / 'Ice' / 'Space' | The X-Files/Millennium". The A.V. Club. Retrieved July 18, 2011.
30.Jump up ^ Heller, Jason; Koski, Genevieve; Murray, Noel; O'Neal, Sean; Pierce, Leonard; Tobias, Scott; VanDerWerff, Todd; Zulkey, Claire (June 21, 2010). "TV in a bottle: 19 great TV episodes largely confined to one location". The A.V. Club. Retrieved July 7, 2012.
31.Jump up ^ VanDerWerff, Todd (July 20, 2012). "10 must-see episodes of The X-Files". The A.V. Club. Retrieved July 20, 2012.
32.Jump up ^ Rawson-Jones, Ben (July 20, 2008). "Classic Moment: Mulder vs Scully ('X-Files') – US TV News". Digital Spy. Hearst Magazines UK. Retrieved July 19, 2011.
33.Jump up ^ Lowry 1995, p. 253.
34.Jump up ^ Haigh, Matt (October 28, 2008). "Revisiting The X-Files: Season 1 Episode 8 – Den of Geek". Den of Geek. Retrieved April 4, 2012.
35.Jump up ^ Johns, Anna (July 23, 2006). "The X-Files: Ice". TV Squad. Retrieved August 8, 2011.
36.Jump up ^ "Top 11 X-Files Monsters (of the Week) Intro". UGO Networks. July 21, 2008. Retrieved September 6, 2011.
37.Jump up ^ Deans, Meghan (November 10, 2011). "Reopening The X-Files: 'Ice'". Tor.com. Tor Books. Retrieved July 3, 2012.
38.Jump up ^ Shearman & Pearson 2009, pp. 16–17.
References[edit]
Edwards, Ted (1996). X-Files Confidential. Little, Brown and Company. ISBN 0-316-21808-1.
Geraghty, Lincoln (2009). American Science Fiction Film and Television (illustrated ed.). Berg Publishers. ISBN 1-84520-795-5.
Goldman, Jane (1995). The X-Files Book of the Unexplained Volume I. Harper Prism. ISBN 0-06-168617-4.
Gradnitzer, Louisa; Pittson, Todd (1999). X Marks the Spot: On Location with The X-Files. Arsenal Pulp Press. ISBN 1-55152-066-4.
Hurwitz, Matt; Knowles, Chris (2008). The Complete X-Files. Insight Editions. ISBN 1-933784-80-6.
Jones, Leslie (1996). "Last Night We Had an Omen". In Lavery, David; Hague, Angela; Cartwright, Marla. Deny All Knowledge: Reading The X-Files. Syracuse University Press. ISBN 0-8156-2717-3.
Lovece, Frank (1996). The X-Files Declassified. Citadel Press. ISBN 0-8065-1745-X.
Lowry, Brian (1995). The Truth is Out There: The Official Guide to the X-Files. Harper Prism. ISBN 0-06-105330-9.
Shearman, Robert; Pearson, Lars (2009). Wanting to Believe: A Critical Guide to The X-Files, Millennium & The Lone Gunmen. Mad Norwegian Press. ISBN 0-9759446-9-X.
Simon, Anne (2011). Monsters, Mutants and Missing Links: The Real Science Behind the X-Files (illustrated ed.). Random House. ISBN 1-4481-1694-5.
Westfahl, Gary (2005). The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Science Fiction and Fantasy: Themes, Works, and Wonders 2. Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 0-313-32952-4.
External links[edit]
 Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: "Ice"
"Ice" on The X-Files official website
"Ice" at the Internet Movie Database
"Ice" at TV.com

[hide]
­v·
 ­t·
 ­e
 
The X-Files episodes

 
­Seasons: 1·
 ­2·
 ­3·
 ­4·
 ­5·
 ­6·
 ­7·
 ­8·
 ­9
 
 
Season 1
­"Pilot"·
 ­"Deep Throat"·
 ­"Squeeze"·
 ­"Conduit"·
 ­"The Jersey Devil"·
 ­"Shadows"·
 ­"Ghost in the Machine"·
 ­"Ice"·
 ­"Space"·
 ­"Fallen Angel"·
 ­"Eve"·
 ­"Fire"·
 ­"Beyond the Sea"·
 ­"Gender Bender"·
 ­"Lazarus"·
 ­"Young at Heart"·
 ­"E.B.E."·
 ­"Miracle Man"·
 ­"Shapes"·
 ­"Darkness Falls"·
 ­"Tooms"·
 ­"Born Again"·
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 ­"The Erlenmeyer Flask"
 

 

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Space (The X-Files)

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"Space"
The X-Files episode
X Files Colonel Belt.jpg
Colonel Belt is possessed by the entity. The episode was derided by one critic for its "pretty decidedly unscary" graphics.
 
Episode no.
Season 1
 Episode 9
Directed by
William Graham
Written by
Chris Carter
Production code
1X08
Original air date
November 12, 1993
Running time
43 minutes
Guest actors

Ed Lauter as Lieutenant Colonel Marcus Aurelius Belt
Susanna Thompson as Michelle Generoo
Tom McBeath as Scientist
Terry David Mulligan as Mission Controller No. 1
French Tickner as Preacher
Norma Wick as Reporter
Alf Humphreys as Mission Controller No. 2
David Cameron as Young Scientist
Tyronne L'Hirondelle as Databank Scientist
Paul DesRoches as Paramedic
 
Episode chronology

← Previous
 "Ice" Next →
 "Fallen Angel"

List of season 1 episodes
List of The X-Files episodes
"Space" is the ninth episode of the first season of the American science fiction television series The X-Files. It premiered on the Fox network on November 12, 1993. It was written by series creator Chris Carter, directed by William Graham, and featured guest appearances by Ed Lauter and Susanna Thompson. The episode is a "Monster-of-the-Week" story, unconnected to the series' wider mythology. "Space" earned a Nielsen household rating of 6.5, being watched by 6.1 million households in its initial broadcast, and received negative reviews from critics.
The show centers on FBI special agents Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) who work on cases linked to the paranormal, called X-Files. When investigating possible sabotage in NASA's shuttle program, Mulder and Scully find that an astronaut who had been Mulder's childhood hero may be possessed by an extraterrestrial spirit.
Series creator Chris Carter was inspired to write "Space" after reading about news of the "face on Mars"—an instance of pareidolia wherein a mound in the Cydonia region of Mars was taken to resemble a human face. The episode was conceived as a low-budget bottle episode, due to several earlier episodes having exceeded their budgets. Although the episode made use of a significant amount of inexpensive stock footage from NASA, the construction of the command center set was subject to cost overruns, eventually leading the episode to become the most expensive of the first season.

Contents
  [hide] 1 Plot
2 Production
3 Broadcast and reception
4 Notes 4.1 References
5 External links
Plot[edit]
The episode opens with news footage from 1977, showing the discovery of water on Mars, as well as what appears to be a face sculpted into the landscape. Lieutenant Colonel Belt (Ed Lauter), the commander of the mission, is today a supervisor of the shuttle program, plagued by flashbacks of something that took place during the mission, and experiences nightmares of the face.
FBI agents Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) are approached by Michelle Generoo (Susanna Thompson), a communications commander for NASA's mission control center, who believes that someone within the space agency is sabotaging launch attempts. A recent space shuttle liftoff was aborted seconds before commencement, and Generoo fears that the next launch will be similarly compromised. She also has a personal interest, as her fiancé will be aboard the next mission. Mulder and Scully travel to NASA and meet Belt, who is a childhood hero of Mulder's. Belt dismisses the agents' concerns, stating that nothing can possibly go wrong with the mission. He allows the agents to watch the launch from Mission Control. However, contact is lost with the shuttle once in orbit.
While driving with Mulder and Scully through heavy rain in order to reach Mission Control, Generoo sees a ghostly face come at her through the windshield, causing her to crash. Mulder and Scully tend to Generoo, and the three continue to Mission Control.
The shuttle is revealed to have moved into direct sunlight and mission control are unable to rotate it into a safe position, a situation which will cause the astronauts to burn up in short order if it cannot be rectified. Generoo believes that the uplink is being sabotaged by someone within mission control. Belt orders the uplink to be cut, allowing the astronauts to rotate the craft manually, a bold move which pays off. Although the mission is now very risky for the astronauts Belt orders them to proceed, angering Generoo and the FBI agents. Belt then goes on to lie to the press about the status of the mission. Mulder confronts him about this, and Belt states that the shuttle program will likely be cancelled if the mission is not completed successfully.
Belt returns home and has another flashback, screaming as some sort of astral presence leaves his body and flies out the window, heading into the sky. The astronauts aboard the shuttle then report hearing a thump outside the shuttle and begin to experience an oxygen leak. One of them reports seeing some sort of ghostlike entity outside the ship.
The agents examine the records, which show that Belt knew about the equipment flaw and possibly the O-ring failure on the Challenger. Belt collapses, saying the astral force lived in him, controlling him. At his urging, they alert the shuttle to change its trajectory and they are able to land it successfully. In hospital Belt continues to wrestle with the presence possessing him, and eventually leaps from the window to his death, experiencing a lengthy flashback to his last space mission as he falls.
Mulder theorizes that, while Belt was compelled to sabotage the launches by the entity possessing him, he was also the one who sent Generoo the evidence of what was taking place. He lauds Belt's final sacrifice, stating that in the end he gave his life for the mission, as befits a true astronaut.[1]
Production[edit]
"Space" was conceived as a low-budget bottle episode, due to several earlier episodes having exceeded their budgets.[2] Series creator Chris Carter was inspired to write the episode after reading about news of the "face on Mars"—an instance of pareidolia wherein a mound in the Cydonia region of Mars was taken to resemble a human face.[3] Although the episode made use of a significant amount of inexpensive stock footage from NASA, the construction of the command center set was subject to cost overruns, eventually leading the episode to become the most expensive of the first season.[4] Carter blames this on the infeasibility of showing the astronauts in the stricken shuttle, requiring additional exposition to explain their situation—something he found he could not manage "on an eight-day television budget".[3] Carter also claims that the episode suffered from being filmed shortly after the pilot episode was broadcast, with the crew overwhelmed by the input, noting that "everything was happening at once".[2]
Several scenes in the episode were filmed at a Canadian Airlines operations center in Richmond, British Columbia. The crew were given permission by the airline to use their flight simulators, leading to the production being delayed while everyone had a turn simulating flights over Canada.[5] The problematic command center set was constructed and filmed at an amphitheater in Vancouver, whose sloping surfaces helped to suggest computer terminals without needing much construction, although false computer monitors were added for shots when they would be in view.[6]
Guest star Ed Lauter had previously worked with the episode's director, William A. Graham, on the film Guyana Tragedy: The Story of Jim Jones. On his role in the episode, Lauter has stated "I don’t really have a lot to say about that, except I thought I did a nice job, and that it was nice working up there in Vancouver with David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson".[7]
Broadcast and reception[edit]
"Space" premiered on the Fox network on November 12, 1993, and was first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC Two on November 17, 1994.[8] The episode earned a Nielsen household rating of 6.5 with an 11 share, meaning that roughly 6.5 percent of all television-equipped households, and 11 percent of households watching TV, were tuned in to the episode.[9] A total of 6.1 million households watched this episode during its original airing.[9]
The episode—reportedly Carter's least favorite[10]—was very poorly received. Frank Lovece, in his books The X-Files Declassified, called it "perhaps the series' dullest, least suspenseful episode", citing the spectral antagonist's "highly unclear motivations".[11] Keith Phipps, writing for The A.V. Club, reviewed the episode negatively, rating it a D+. He felt that the episode's special effects were "pretty decidedly unscary", and that the episode's premise was confusing and "a little tasteless" in its treatment of the Challenger disaster.[12] In a retrospective of the first season in Entertainment Weekly the episode was similarly derided, being rated a D- and described as "one dead hour".[10] Matt Haigh, writing for Den of Geek, reviewed the episode negatively, feeling that it was "nothing much to write home about", and that the episode's antagonist was "distinctly unimpressive, lacking any true sense of menace or intrigue".[13]
Notes[edit]
1.Jump up ^ Lowry, pp.120–121
2.^ Jump up to: a b Lowry, p.122
3.^ Jump up to: a b Lowry, p.121
4.Jump up ^ Johns, Anna (July 30, 2006). "The X-Files: "Space"". TV Squad. Retrieved July 7, 2011.
5.Jump up ^ Gradnitzer; Pittson, p.38
6.Jump up ^ Gradnitzer; Pittson, p.39
7.Jump up ^ Harris, Will; Lauter, Ed (July 11, 2012). "Veteran character actor Ed Lauter has 40 years’ worth of Hollywood stories". The A.V. Club. Retrieved July 11, 2012.
8.Jump up ^ Robert Mandel, Daniel Sackheim, et al (booklet). The X-Files: The Complete First Season (Liner notes). Fox.
9.^ Jump up to: a b Lowry, p.248
10.^ Jump up to: a b "X Cyclopedia: The Ultimate Episode Guide, Season 1 | EW.com". Entertainment Weekly. November 29, 1996. Retrieved July 7, 2011.
11.Jump up ^ Lovece, p.68
12.Jump up ^ Phipps, Keith (July 5, 2008). ""Ghost In The Machine" / "Ice" / "Space" | The X-Files/Millennium | TV Club | TV | The A.V. Club". The A.V. Club. Retrieved July 18, 2011.
13.Jump up ^ Haigh, Matt (October 23, 2008). "Revisiting The X-Files: Season 1 Episode 9 – Den of Geek". Den of Geek. Dennis Publishing. Retrieved July 30, 2011.
References[edit]
Gradnitzer, Louisa; Pittson, Todd (1999). X Marks the Spot: On Location with The X-Files. Arsenal Pulp Press. ISBN 1-55152-066-4.
Lovece, Frank (1996). The X-Files Declassified. Citadel Press. ISBN 0-8065-1745-X.
Lowry, Brian (1995). The Truth is Out There: The Official Guide to the X-Files. Harper Prism. ISBN 0-06-105330-9.
External links[edit]
 Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: "Space"
"Space" on The X-Files official website
"Space" at the Internet Movie Database
"Space" at TV.com

[hide]
­v·
 ­t·
 ­e
 
The X-Files episodes

 
­Seasons: 1·
 ­2·
 ­3·
 ­4·
 ­5·
 ­6·
 ­7·
 ­8·
 ­9
 
 
Season 1
­"Pilot"·
 ­"Deep Throat"·
 ­"Squeeze"·
 ­"Conduit"·
 ­"The Jersey Devil"·
 ­"Shadows"·
 ­"Ghost in the Machine"·
 ­"Ice"·
 ­"Space"·
 ­"Fallen Angel"·
 ­"Eve"·
 ­"Fire"·
 ­"Beyond the Sea"·
 ­"Gender Bender"·
 ­"Lazarus"·
 ­"Young at Heart"·
 ­"E.B.E."·
 ­"Miracle Man"·
 ­"Shapes"·
 ­"Darkness Falls"·
 ­"Tooms"·
 ­"Born Again"·
 ­"Roland"·
 ­"The Erlenmeyer Flask"
 

 

Categories: The X-Files (season 1) episodes
1993 television episodes



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Fallen Angel (The X-Files)

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Jump to: navigation, search

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"Fallen Angel"
The X-Files episode
Fallen Angel 1x09.jpg
Max Fenig being abducted by Aliens
 
Episode no.
Season 1
 Episode 10
Directed by
Larry Shaw
Written by
Howard Gordon
Alex Gansa
Production code
1X09
Original air date
November 19, 1993
Running time
43 minutes
Guest actors

Frederick Coffin as Joseph McGrath
Marshall Bell as Calvin Henderson
Scott Bellis as Max Fenig
Jerry Hardin as Deep Throat
Brent Stait as Corporal Taylor
Alvin Sanders as Jason Wright
Sheila Paterson as Gina Watkins
Tony Pantages as Lieutenant Fraser
Freda Perry as Mrs. Wright
Michael Rogers as Lieutenant Griffin
Jane MacDougall as Laura Dalton
William MacDougall as Dr. Oppenheim
Kimberly Unger as Karen Koretz
 
Episode chronology

← Previous
 "Space" Next →
 "Eve"

List of season 1 episodes
List of The X-Files episodes
"Fallen Angel" is the tenth episode of the first season of the American science fiction television series The X-Files. It premiered on the Fox network on November 19, 1993. It was written by Howard Gordon and Alex Gansa, and directed by Larry Shaw. The episode featured the first of three guest appearances by Scott Bellis as Max Fenig, and saw Jerry Hardin reprise his role as Deep Throat. The episode helped explore the series' overarching mythology. The episode was mostly well received.
The show centers on FBI special agents Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) who work on cases linked to the paranormal, called X-Files. When Mulder and Scully investigate a mysterious crash site, they find that the official reports of the incident may be covering up a crashed UFO. Meanwhile, Mulder meets a ufologist who he believes may be a former abductee.
The episode introduces the UFO fanatic character Max Fenig, who would go on to be a minor recurring character. Fenig would later appear in the fourth season episodes "Tempus Fugit" and "Max". In addition, Fenig also laid the template for the introduction of The Lone Gunmen in the later first season episode "E.B.E."

Contents
  [hide] 1 Plot
2 Production
3 Broadcast and reception
4 Footnotes 4.1 References
5 External links
Plot[edit]
In Townsend, Wisconsin, a UFO crashes in the nearby woods. When the deputy sheriff arrives on the scene, he is killed by an invisible figure. As the Air Force monitors the crash, Colonel Calvin Henderson, the military's UFO reclamations expert, launches an operation to clean up the site.
Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) travels to Townsend and takes photos of the crash site, only to be captured. After being interrogated by Henderson, Mulder is detained alongside an eccentric NICAP member named Max Fenig (Scott Bellis), who was also captured in the woods. The next morning, Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) arrives to retrieve Mulder, telling him that FBI Section Chief Joseph McGrath is threatening to shut down the X-Files because of his behavior. She also claims that the wreckage has been identified as a downed Libyan fighter jet; Mulder dismisses this explanation. Meanwhile, the invisible occupant of the UFO passes through an electronic fence set up around the crash site, escaping into the outside world.
The agents return to Mulder's motel room, finding it ransacked by Max. He turns out to be a fan of Mulder's, having followed NICAP's research into his work on the X-Files. Max brings the agents to his Airstream trailer, where he shows them audio transmissions from the deputy, as well as a fire crew that arrived at the crash site. Mulder and Scully visit the deputy's widow, who claims the government won't release her husband's body and has threatened her into silence. They also meet a doctor who treated the deputy and the fire crew, revealing that they died of abnormally severe burns; he claims that he was also threatened. Henderson arrives at the hospital with a group of burned soldiers, who were attacked after they cornered the invisible alien at their base.
Mulder returns to the motel and finds Max inside his trailer, having an apparent epileptic seizure. As Mulder tends to Max, he discovers a mysterious scar behind Max's ear. Mulder reviews earlier X-Files, discovering similar scars on two reported alien abductees. Scully believes that whatever abduction experience Max had was a schizophrenic delusion, having noticed medication in his trailer. But Mulder believes that Max, despite his interest in UFOs, is completely unaware of his experiences and was guided to Townsend by his abductors on the night of the crash.
The Air Force tracks a larger UFO as it hovers over Townsend. The invisible alien enters Max's trailer and abducts him. When the agents visit the trailer and find Max missing, an Army radio transmission reveals that he has been transported to a waterfront. They race to save Max as Henderson's men scour the area searching for him. The alien kills two soldiers who encounter Max, causing him to flee into a warehouse. As Mulder finds Max inside, the building is surrounded by Henderson's forces. Mulder tries to comfort Max, but is attacked and injured by the alien. Mulder then sees Max floating in a pillar of light before vanishing. When Henderson finds that Max is missing, he orders Mulder arrested.
Back in Washington, both Scully and Mulder report to Section Chief McGrath, who does not believe their claims. McGrath offers an especially harsh reprimand to Mulder, and presents written testimony by Henderson claiming that Max's body was found in a cargo container. McGrath and his disciplinary board decide to shut down the X-Files and dismiss Mulder from the FBI, but the decision is vetoed by Deep Throat (Jerry Hardin), who feels it would be more dangerous for them to allow Mulder to turn whistleblower than to let him continue his work.[1][2]
Production[edit]
"Fallen Angel" was written by Howard Gordon and Alex Gansa, and directed by Larry Shaw.[3] The episode foreshadows the closing of the X-Files, which would occur in the season finale of the first season, "The Erlenmeyer Flask".[4] The UFO fanatic character Max Fenig also laid the template for the introduction of The Lone Gunmen in the later first season episode "E.B.E.".[4] Scott Bellis would reprise his role as Max in the fourth season episodes "Tempus Fugit" and "Max", which explained the fate of the character after this disappearance in this episode.[5][6] Max's NICAP baseball cap would make a brief appearance in Mulder's office in "Beyond the Sea", later in the first season.[7]
The scenes depicting Washington, D.C. in the episode were filmed at Simon Fraser University on Burnaby Mountain in British Columbia. Shooting at this location was made difficult by the confined space available in which to set up the necessary equipment.[8] The invisible alien featured in this episode appears to be inspired by the movie Predator.[9] The alien was deliberately made invisible in order for it to be scarier to the audience,[10] with series creator Chris Carter noting that "what you don't see is scarier than what you do see".[11] Casting director Lynne Carrow was proud of Scott Bellis' performance as Max, calling him in 1995 perhaps her proudest find in casting the show, saying that he "Just knocked our socks off".[4] Carter also praised the performance of guest star Marshall Bell as Colonel Henderson and was proud that the episode permitted the producers to expand the role of Deep Throat.[12] Actor Brent Stait, who plays Corporal Taylor in the episode, teaches alongside series regular William B. Davis at the William Davis Centre for Actors Study in Vancouver.[13]
Broadcast and reception[edit]
"Fallen Angel" premiered on the Fox network on November 19, 1993,[14] and was first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC Two on September 24, 1994.[15] This episode earned a Nielsen household rating of 5.4, with a nine share, meaning that in the United States, roughly 5.4 percent of all television-equipped households, and nine percent of households watching television, were tuned in to the episode. It was viewed by 5.1 million households.[14] It was, and would thereafter permanently remain, the lowest-rated episode of the series ever broadcast.
The episode was mostly well-received, with a retrospective of the first season in Entertainment Weekly rating it a B+, describing it as "A very cool-looking episode that does the best job so far of illuminating the agents' position with relation to the government "; also noting the character of Max Fenig as a precursor to those of The Lone Gunmen.[16] Keith Phipps, writing for The A.V. Club, also rated the episode a B+, calling it "a strong entry", finding that it served as a "slow reveal" of the series' themes. Phipps also noted the importance of Max Fenig as a sign of "the human toll exacted by all the dark goings on" in the series, claiming that "without Max we just get Mulder and Scully chasing a mysterious downed object and coming up empty-handed. With Max, we start to realize the stakes for which they're playing".[17] Matt Haigh, writing for Den of Geek, reviewed the episode negatively, calling it "a mundane forty minutes" that "really fails to impress", and noting that the plot follows "more or less the same pattern", as the series' previous mythology episodes.[18] 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 three stars out of five. Shearman described "Fallen Angel" as having been produced "with style and wit", feeling that it featured a relatively static plot but was nevertheless entertaining.[19] He found Duchovny's performance in the episode, and its final scene featuring Deep Throat's ambiguous motivations, to have been the highlights of an episode otherwise filled with "smoke and mirrors"; comparing it to the earlier episode "Conduit" in this regard.[20]
Footnotes[edit]
1.Jump up ^ Lowry 1995, pp. 123–124.
2.Jump up ^ Lovece 1996, pp. 68–70.
3.Jump up ^ Lowry 1995, p. 123.
4.^ Jump up to: a b c Lowry 1995, p. 124.
5.Jump up ^ Rob Bowman (director); Chris Carter & Frank Spotnitz (writers) (March 16, 1997). "Tempus Fugit". The X-Files. Season 4. Episode 17. Fox.
6.Jump up ^ Kim Manners (director); Chris Carter & Frank Spotnitz (writers) (March 23, 1997). "Max". The X-Files. Season 4. Episode 18. Fox.
7.Jump up ^ David Nutter (director); Glen Morgan & James Wong (writers) (January 7, 1994). "Beyond the Sea". The X-Files. Season 1. Episode 13. Fox.
8.Jump up ^ Gradnitzer & Pittson 1999, pp. 39–40.
9.Jump up ^ Lovece 1996, p. 71.
10.Jump up ^ Edwards 1996, p. 55.
11.Jump up ^ Chris Carter (narrator). Chris Carter Speaks about Season One Episodes: Fallen Angel (DVD). Fox.
12.Jump up ^ Edwards 1996, p. 54.
13.Jump up ^ "Acting for Film/TV Faculty | VANARTS". Vancouver Institute of Media Arts. Retrieved August 17, 2011.
14.^ Jump up to: a b Lowry 1995, p. 248.
15.Jump up ^ The X-Files: The Complete First Season (Media notes). Fox. 1993–1994.
16.Jump up ^ "X Cyclopedia: The Ultimate Episode Guide, Season 1 | EW.com". Entertainment Weekly. 29 November 1996. Retrieved 7 July 2011.
17.Jump up ^ Phipps, Keith (July 11, 2008). ""Fallen Angel" / "Eve" / "Fire" | The X-Files/Millennium | TV Club | TV | The A.V. Club". The A.V. Club. Retrieved July 19, 2011.
18.Jump up ^ Haigh, Matt (October 27, 2008). "Revisiting The X-Files: Season 1 Episode 10 - Den of Geek". Den of Geek. Dennis Publishing. Retrieved August 1, 2011.
19.Jump up ^ Shearman & Pearson 2009, pp. 18–19.
20.Jump up ^ Shearman & Pearson 2009, p. 19.
References[edit]
Edwards, Ted (1996). X-Files Confidential. Little, Brown and Company. ISBN 0-316-21808-1.
Gradnitzer, Louisa; Pittson, Todd (1999). X Marks the Spot: On Location with The X-Files. Arsenal Pulp Press. ISBN 1-55152-066-4.
Lovece, Frank (1996). The X-Files Declassified. Citadel Press. ISBN 0-8065-1745-X.
Lowry, Brian (1995). The Truth is Out There: The Official Guide to the X-Files. Harper Prism. ISBN 0-06-105330-9.
Shearman, Robert; Pearson, Lars (2009). Wanting to Believe: A Critical Guide to The X-Files, Millennium & The Lone Gunmen. Mad Norwegian Press. ISBN 0-9759446-9-X.
External links[edit]
 Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: TXF Season 1
"Fallen Angel" on The X-Files official website
"Fallen Angel" at the Internet Movie Database
"Fallen Angel" at TV.com

[hide]
­v·
 ­t·
 ­e
 
The X-Files episodes

 
­Seasons: 1·
 ­2·
 ­3·
 ­4·
 ­5·
 ­6·
 ­7·
 ­8·
 ­9
 
 
Season 1
­"Pilot"·
 ­"Deep Throat"·
 ­"Squeeze"·
 ­"Conduit"·
 ­"The Jersey Devil"·
 ­"Shadows"·
 ­"Ghost in the Machine"·
 ­"Ice"·
 ­"Space"·
 ­"Fallen Angel"·
 ­"Eve"·
 ­"Fire"·
 ­"Beyond the Sea"·
 ­"Gender Bender"·
 ­"Lazarus"·
 ­"Young at Heart"·
 ­"E.B.E."·
 ­"Miracle Man"·
 ­"Shapes"·
 ­"Darkness Falls"·
 ­"Tooms"·
 ­"Born Again"·
 ­"Roland"·
 ­"The Erlenmeyer Flask"
 

 

Categories: The X-Files (season 1) episodes
1993 television episodes


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Eve (The X-Files)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 
Jump to: navigation, search

This is a good article. Click here for more information.

"Eve"
The X-Files episode
Episode no.
Season 1
 Episode 11
Directed by
Fred Gerber
Written by
Kenneth Biller
Chris Brancato
Production code
1X10
Original air date
December 10, 1993
Guest actors

Harriet Sansom Harris as Dr. Sally Kendrick/Eve 7, Eve 6, Eve 8
Jerry Hardin as Deep Throat
Erika Krievins as Cindy Reardon/Eve 10
Sabrina Krievins as Teena Simmons/Eve 9
George Touliatos as Dr. Katz
Tasha Simms as Ellen Reardon
Janet Hodgkinson as Waitress
David Kirby as Ted Watkins
Tina Gilbertson as Donna Watkins
Christine Upright-Letain as Miss Wells
Gordon Tipple as Detective
Garry Davey as Mr. Hunter
Joe Maffei as Guard # 1
Maria Herrera as Guard # 2
Robert Lewis as Officer
 
Episode chronology

← Previous
 "Fallen Angel" Next →
 "Fire"

List of season 1 episodes
List of The X-Files episodes
"Eve" is the eleventh episode of the first season of the American science fiction television series The X-Files. It premiered on the Fox network on December 10, 1993. It was written by Kenneth Biller and Chris Brancato, directed by Fred Gerber, and featured guest appearances by Harriet Sansom Harris and Jerry Hardin in his role as Deep Throat. The episode is a "Monster-of-the-Week" story, unconnected to the series' wider mythology. "Eve" earned a Nielsen household rating of 6.8, being watched by 6.4 million households in its initial broadcast; and received positive reviews from critics.
The show centers on FBI special agents Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) who work on cases linked to the paranormal, called X-Files. When Mulder and Scully investigate two seemingly identical murders that occurred simultaneously thousands of miles apart, they find that both victim's daughters may be the product of a secret human cloning project created by the government.
The episode was pitched to series creator Chris Carter by freelance writers Biller and Brancato under the title of "The Girls from Greenwich", with the focus being on genetic experiments conducted on sets of twins. The producers initially looked for twins to play the roles of Teena and Cindy in Los Angeles, but child labor laws made using children from there so difficult that they instead searched locally in Vancouver, finding Erika and Sabrina Krievins.

Contents
  [hide] 1 Plot
2 Production
3 Reception
4 Footnotes 4.1 References
5 External links
Plot[edit]
In Greenwich, Connecticut, a jogging couple find a girl, Teena Simmons, standing alone. Nearby, they find her father sitting dead on a swing set with two incisions in his neck.
Fox Mulder takes the case and reviews it with Dana Scully, believing the death is an example of extraterrestrial cattle mutilation on a human being. When Mulder and Scully travel to Connecticut and interview Teena, she claims to have seen "red lightning" when her father died and that "men from the clouds" had wanted to exsanguinate him. Afterwards, the agents travel to Marin County, California, and visit the Reardon residence, the scene of a similar murder. They realize that despite the distance between the killings, they were committed on the same day and at the same moment. Meanwhile, back in Connecticut, Teena is kidnapped by a dark-clothed figure.
When Mulder and Scully meet the Reardons, they discover that their daughter, Cindy, is identical to Teena. Cindy's mother tells the agents that she was conceived via in vitro fertilization at a fertility clinic in San Francisco. There, Scully learns that both the Simmons and the Reardons were treated by a woman named Dr. Sally Kendrick, who had been fired for conducting eugenics experiments with ova from the clinic's lab. Meanwhile, Mulder is contacted by Deep Throat, who gives him details on a Cold War-era supersoldier program that produced genetically modified children—identified as "Adam" or "Eve" based on their genders. Deep Throat tells Mulder of a woman connected with the project who is currently kept in a mental hospital.
The agents travel to the hospital and meet "Eve 6", who tells them that the clones created in the project had extra chromosomes which led them to display superhuman intelligence and strength, as well as homicidal psychoses. The last three clones, Eves 6, 7 and 8, were institutionalized after the project was cancelled. However, Eve 7 escaped, joined the fertility clinic as "Sally Kendrick", and modified the ova of the clinic's patients to create new Eve clones. Eve 8, who also escaped, is still at large.
Mulder and Scully are unable to prevent one of the escaped Eves from abducting Cindy. The Eve then takes Cindy to a motel where Teena is already being held captive, and introduces the two girls to each other. The woman reveals herself to be Eve 7, who explains how she had created them to improve upon the project's flaws, only to learn about the girl's "accelerated development" when they murdered their fathers. The girls, in turn, poison Eve 7's drink with a fatal dose of foxglove. When Mulder and Scully arrive at the motel, the girls falsely claim that both Eve 7 and Eve 8 were trying to goad them into a mass suicide.
The agents decide to take the girls with them as they leave the scene.
That night, when the group arrives at a roadside truck stop, one of the girls sneaks out and poisons the sodas the agents ordered. Mulder realizes the girls' plan and manages to keep Scully from drinking her soda. The agents then pursue the girls through the truck stop, with Mulder eventually capturing them.
The episode concludes with Teena Simmons and Cindy Reardon, now kept in separate cells and sharing the ward with Eve 6 in the mental hospital. They have been given the monikers "Eve 9" and "Eve 10". Eventually, a woman wearing a lab coat—identified as Eve 8—comes to the ward. When Eve 8 asks the girls how they knew she would come for them, the girls each respond, "We just knew."[1][2]
Production[edit]
Freelance writers Kenneth Biller and Chris Brancato pitched the idea for this episode to series creator Chris Carter under the title of "The Girls from Greenwich", with the focus being on genetic experiments conducted on sets of twins.[3] The characters of Teena and Cindy were named after the wives of Glen Morgan and James Wong,[4] who rewrote the original script prior to filming.[5] "Eve" was the only episode of The X-Files to be directed by Fred Gerber,[6] who Carter felt "brought some interesting stuff to it".[5]
The producers initially looked for twins to play the roles of Teena and Cindy in Los Angeles, but child labor laws made using children from there so difficult that they instead searched locally in Vancouver, finding Erika and Sabrina Krievins.[4] The difficulty in finding suitable actors for the roles had led producer R. W. Goodwin to consider casting one actor in both roles and using special effects and body doubles to create the impression of twins; however, this idea was rejected as it would have proved too impractical and expensive.[5] The scenes in the episode set in the roadside diner were filmed in a café in White Rock, British Columbia, whose large gravel car park helped it appear "very rural in its setting". A large awning was used to complement the exterior shots of the building.[7]
Reception[edit]
"Eve" premiered on the Fox network on December 10, 1993, and was first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC Two on December 1, 1994.[8] This episode earned a Nielsen rating of 6.8, with a 12 share, meaning that roughly 6.8 percent of all television-equipped households, and 12 percent of households watching television, were tuned in to the episode. It was viewed by 6.4 million households.[9]
Series creator Chris Carter states he liked the casting of the episode, calling Harriet Harris' performance excellent.[5] He also praised the performance of Erika and Sabrina Krievins, stating "those two little girls were so wonderfully understated and creepy".[10] In a retrospective of the first season in Entertainment Weekly, "Eve" was rated a B+, with the episode being called "tidy, satisfying, and suspenseful". The episode's premise and the casting of Harris were both cited as highlights.[11] Keith Phipps, writing for The A.V. Club, also rated the episode a B+, calling it "a nicely realized episode" that "does a nice job building slowly and offering some shocks along the way". The acting and tone were also praised, especially the "dead-eyed performances" of the Krievins twins.[12] Matt Haigh, writing for Den of Geek, felt that the episode had a "a good, original story" that proved "you can't go wrong when it comes to twins and horror"; with the girls' acting being called "suitably menacing".[13] The band Eve 6 took its name from this episode, as the band's member Tony Fagenson was a fan.[12] The plot for "Eve" was also adapted as a novel for young adults in 1997 by Ellen Steiber.[14][15]
Footnotes[edit]
1.Jump up ^ Lowry, pp.126–127
2.Jump up ^ Lovece, pp.71–73
3.Jump up ^ Chris Carter (narrator). Chris Carter Speaks about Season One Episodes: Eve (DVD). Fox.
4.^ Jump up to: a b Lowry, p.127
5.^ Jump up to: a b c d Edwards, p.56
6.Jump up ^ Lovece, p.239
7.Jump up ^ Gradnitzer and Pittson, p.40
8.Jump up ^ The X-Files: The Complete First Season (Media notes). Fox. 1993–1994.
9.Jump up ^ Lowry, p.248
10.Jump up ^ Hurwitz and Knowles, p.43
11.Jump up ^ "X Cyclopedia: The Ultimate Episode Guide, Season 1". Entertainment Weekly. November 29, 1996. Retrieved July 7, 2011.
12.^ Jump up to: a b Phipps, Keith (July 11, 2008). ""Fallen Angel" / "Eve" / "Fire" | The X-Files/Millennium | TV Club | TV". The A.V. Club. Retrieved July 19, 2011.
13.Jump up ^ Haigh, Matt (October 30, 2008). "Revisiting The X-Files: Season 1 Episode 11". Den of Geek. Dennis Publishing. Retrieved August 10, 2011.
14.Jump up ^ Steiber, Ellen (1997). Eve: A Novel. HarperCollins. ISBN 0-06-447172-1.
15.Jump up ^ "Eve: a novel (Book, 1997)". WorldCat. Retrieved August 10, 2011. "Based on the teleplay written by Kenneth Biller and Chris Brancato"
References[edit]
Edwards, Ted (1996). X-Files Confidential. Little, Brown and Company. ISBN 0-316-21808-1.
Gradnitzer, Louisa; Pittson, Todd (1999). X Marks the Spot: On Location with The X-Files. Arsenal Pulp Press. ISBN 1-55152-066-4.
Hurwitz, Matt; Knowles, Chris (2008). The Complete X-Files. Insight Editions. ISBN 1-933784-80-6.
Lovece, Frank (1996). The X-Files Declassified. Citadel Press. ISBN 0-8065-1745-X.
Lowry, Brian (1995). The Truth is Out There: The Official Guide to the X-Files. Harper Prism. ISBN 0-06-105330-9.
External links[edit]
 Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: TXF Season 1
"Eve" on The X-Files official website
"Eve" at the Internet Movie Database
"Eve" at TV.com

[hide]
­v·
 ­t·
 ­e
 
The X-Files episodes

 
­Seasons: 1·
 ­2·
 ­3·
 ­4·
 ­5·
 ­6·
 ­7·
 ­8·
 ­9
 
 
Season 1
­"Pilot"·
 ­"Deep Throat"·
 ­"Squeeze"·
 ­"Conduit"·
 ­"The Jersey Devil"·
 ­"Shadows"·
 ­"Ghost in the Machine"·
 ­"Ice"·
 ­"Space"·
 ­"Fallen Angel"·
 ­"Eve"·
 ­"Fire"·
 ­"Beyond the Sea"·
 ­"Gender Bender"·
 ­"Lazarus"·
 ­"Young at Heart"·
 ­"E.B.E."·
 ­"Miracle Man"·
 ­"Shapes"·
 ­"Darkness Falls"·
 ­"Tooms"·
 ­"Born Again"·
 ­"Roland"·
 ­"The Erlenmeyer Flask"
 

 

Categories: The X-Files (season 1) episodes
1993 television episodes



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Fire (The X-Files)

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"Fire"
The X-Files episode
Fire 1x11.jpg
L'Ively showing his fire powers
 
Episode no.
Season 1
 Episode 12
Directed by
Larry Shaw
Written by
Chris Carter
Production code
1X11
Original air date
December 17, 1993
Guest actors

Mark Sheppard as Bob / Cecil L'Ively
Amanda Pays as Phoebe Green
Dan Lett as Sir Malcolm Marsden
Laurie Paton as Mrs. Marsden
Duncan Fraser as Mr. Beatty
Phil Hayes as Driver # 1
Keegan Macintosh as Michael
Lynda Boyd as Woman in Bar
Christopher Gray as Jimmie
Alan Robertson as Gray-Haired Man
 
Episode chronology

← Previous
 "Eve" Next →
 "Beyond the Sea"

List of season 1 episodes
List of The X-Files episodes
"Fire" is the twelfth episode of the first season of the American science fiction television series The X-Files. It premiered on the Fox network on December 17, 1993. It was written by series creator Chris Carter, directed by Larry Shaw and featured guest appearances by Mark Sheppard and Amanda Pays. The episode is a "Monster-of-the-Week" story, unconnected to the series' wider mythology. "Fire" earned a Nielsen household rating of 6.8, being watched by 6.4 million households in its initial broadcast; and received mostly positive reviews from critics.
The show centers on FBI special agents Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) who work on cases linked to the paranormal, called X-Files. In this episode, Mulder and Scully are visited by a Metropolitan Police detective who studied at Oxford University with Mulder; and who enlists their aid with a case involving a serial killer capable of pyrokinesis.
Due to its nature, the episode featured many dangerous stunts utilizing fire. In the scene where Mulder and L'ively confront each other at either end of a corridor in the Marsden family home, and L'ively sets fire to the entire hallway, Mark Sheppard, who played L'ively, ducked out of the shot in order to protect himself from the intense heat. The only injury involved in the production was when David Duchovny burned his hand, leaving a small permanent scar. The character of Phoebe Green was considered as a recurring role, but this episode ended up being her only appearance.

Contents
  [hide] 1 Plot
2 Production
3 Broadcast and reception
4 Footnotes 4.1 References
5 External links
Plot[edit]
In Bosham, England, a wealthy elderly man says goodbye to his wife before leaving for work, but suddenly catches fire in an apparent case of spontaneous human combustion. His Irish gardener, Cecil L'Ively, watches as his employer burns to death on his front lawn.
Later, in Washington, Fox Mulder and Dana Scully are met by Phoebe Green, an investigator from London's Metropolitan Police and Mulder's former lover from Oxford University. Green explains that a serial arsonist is targeting the British aristocracy, burning his victims alive while leaving no trace of evidence. The only links between the crimes are the suspect's love letters to the victims' wives. His latest target is Sir Malcolm Marsden, who is visiting Cape Cod for protection after escaping an attack by the killer. Mulder and Scully visit a pyrotechnics expert who says that only rocket fuel can burn hot enough to destroy evidence of its origins.
Mulder tells Scully that Green is using the case to play a mind game, exploiting his debilitating fear of fire. Meanwhile, L'Ively—having killed a caretaker and assumed his identity—greets the Marsden family as they arrive at their Cape Cod vacation home, faking an American accent. Unbeknownst to the Marsdens, "Bob the Caretaker" is painting a layer of rocket fuel onto the exterior of the house. L'Ively befriends the Marsdens' sick family driver, offering to go into town to get him some cough syrup. While there, he uses his pyrokinetic abilities to burn down a local bar without any apparent motive.
At the hospital, Mulder and Green interview a witness to the bar fire, who tells them of the assailant's apparent ability to will fire into existence. The Marsdens' driver becomes even sicker due to the poisoned cough syrup provided by L'Ively. Because of his illness, L'Ively is recruited to drive the family into Boston that night to attend a party at a luxury hotel. Mulder flies up to Boston to watch over the party with Green, hoping to set a trap for the suspect; Scully continues working on compiling a criminal profile of the killer.
Mulder and Green dance during the party and afterwards kiss; Scully arrives at the hotel and sees them. She also spots L'Ively in the lobby, watching her. A fire alarm goes off after a blaze starts in the Marsdens' room, where the children are located. Mulder attempts to rescue them, but is overcome both by his phobia and the intense smoke; they are instead saved by L'Ively. When Mulder awakens, Scully questions "Bob", but is told by Green that he is a long-time employee whose background checks out. Green tells Mulder that she will be accompanying the Marsdens when they return to England the next day.
Scully discusses her research with Mulder, suspecting that L'ively is the arsonist; this is confirmed by a police sketch taken from the witness' description. Upon reaching the Marsdens' house, Mulder and Scully find the driver's charred body in the bathroom before the second floor bursts into flames. Mulder faces his phobia and is able to save the Marsden children. Scully holds L'Ively at gunpoint, but is forced to hold her fire when L'Ively informs her of the rocket fuel he has painted on the house. However, Green throws a can of rocket fuel in his face, causing him to lose control and set himself alight outside.
With the case solved, Green returns to England with the Marsden family. L'Ively is held in a medical facility as he awaits trial, healing at an alarming rate. The episode's final scene shows him asking a nurse for a cigarette.[1][2]
Production[edit]
The show's hairstylist in the first season was Malcolm Marsden, whose name is given to the threatened lord in this episode.[3] In the scene where Mulder and L'ively confront each other at either end of a corridor in the Marsden family home, and L'ively sets fire to the entire hallway, Mark Sheppard, who played L'ively, ducked out of the shot in order to protect himself from the intense heat. The only injury involved in the production was when David Duchovny burned his hand, leaving a small permanent scar.[3][4] The exterior shots of the hotel were filmed on location at the Venable Plaza Hotel in Vancouver which had, coincidentally, been rebuilt after burning to the ground. The interior shots used for the fire-based stunts were shot on a sound stage built to resemble the hotel's interior, while some stock footage was used for establishing shots.[5] The exterior shots of the mansion at the beginning of the episode were filmed at a Vancouver mansion that had previously been used in the episode "The Jersey Devil".[6]
The character of Phoebe Green was considered as a recurring role, but this episode ended up being her only appearance.[3] Chris Carter explained the character's origins, saying "I thought it was interesting to show a little bit of Mulder's history by bringing an old girlfriend back. I've always wanted to do a Scotland Yard detective who was a woman. I also thought it was an interesting chance to use Amanda Pays and make a villainess of her".[3][4] Executive producer Robert Goodwin felt that the episode "was a hard one. Any kind of a fire stunt is a major undertaking, because it involves so many overlapping things. It was a major feat, a real logical and creative feat, because you wanted it to look good".[7]
Broadcast and reception[edit]
"Fire" premiered on the Fox network on December 17, 1993, and was first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC Two on December 8, 1994.[8] The episode earned a Nielsen household rating of 6.8, with a 12 share—meaning that roughly 6.8 percent of all television-equipped households, and 12 percent of households watching TV, were tuned in to the episode. "Fire" was viewed by 6.4 million households.[9]
Series creator Chris Carter called "Fire" a "very popular episode, and I'm just somewhat happy with the way it turned out. Having written it and imagined it in certain ways, I think it could have been a lot better. Although I thought it was generally well directed, the show felt very 'wide' to me—very loose and lacking some things.[10] A retrospective of the first season in Entertainment Weekly rated the episode a B, praising Mark Sheppard's "sizzling performance", though finding that the "annoying" character of Phoebe Green was a detriment to the episode, who kept "any real sparks from flying".[11] Keith Phipps, writing for The A.V. Club, rated the episode a C, finding it "contrived and unnecessary", and feeling that the relationship between Mulder and Phoebe Green was not believable.[12] Matt Haigh, writing for Den of Geek, felt that "Fire" was "a great episode", believing that it worked well for "highlighting the sexual tension between our two leads".[13]
Footnotes[edit]
1.Jump up ^ Lowry, pp.128–129
2.Jump up ^ Lovece, pp.74–75
3.^ Jump up to: a b c d Lowry, p.129
4.^ Jump up to: a b Edwards, p.58
5.Jump up ^ Gradnitzer and Pittson, pp.40–41
6.Jump up ^ Gradnitzer and Pittson, pp.35–36
7.Jump up ^ Edwards, pp.57–58
8.Jump up ^ The X-Files: The Complete First Season (Media notes). Fox. 1993–1994.
9.Jump up ^ Lowry, p.248
10.Jump up ^ Edwards, p.57
11.Jump up ^ "X Cyclopedia: The Ultimate Episode Guide, Season 1 | EW.com". Entertainment Weekly. 29 November 1996. Retrieved 7 July 2011.
12.Jump up ^ Phipps, Keith (11 July 2008). ""Fallen Angel" / "Eve" / "Fire" | The X-Files/Millennium | TV Club | TV | The A.V. Club". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 19 July 2011.
13.Jump up ^ Haigh, Matt (4 November 2008). "Revisiting The X-Files: Season 1 Episode 12 - Den of Geek". Den of Geek. Dennis Publishing. Retrieved 15 August 2011.
References[edit]
Edwards, Ted (1996). X-Files Confidential. Little, Brown and Company. ISBN 0-316-21808-1.
Gradnitzer, Louisa; Pittson, Todd (1999). X Marks the Spot: On Location with The X-Files. Arsenal Pulp Press. ISBN 1-55152-066-4.
Lovece, Frank (1996). The X-Files Declassified. Citadel Press. ISBN 0-8065-1745-X.
Lowry, Brian (1995). The Truth is Out There: The Official Guide to the X-Files. Harper Prism. ISBN 0-06-105330-9.
External links[edit]
 Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: TXF Season 1
"Fire" on The X-Files official website
"Fire" at the Internet Movie Database
"Fire" at TV.com

[hide]
­v·
 ­t·
 ­e
 
The X-Files episodes

 
­Seasons: 1·
 ­2·
 ­3·
 ­4·
 ­5·
 ­6·
 ­7·
 ­8·
 ­9
 
 
Season 1
­"Pilot"·
 ­"Deep Throat"·
 ­"Squeeze"·
 ­"Conduit"·
 ­"The Jersey Devil"·
 ­"Shadows"·
 ­"Ghost in the Machine"·
 ­"Ice"·
 ­"Space"·
 ­"Fallen Angel"·
 ­"Eve"·
 ­"Fire"·
 ­"Beyond the Sea"·
 ­"Gender Bender"·
 ­"Lazarus"·
 ­"Young at Heart"·
 ­"E.B.E."·
 ­"Miracle Man"·
 ­"Shapes"·
 ­"Darkness Falls"·
 ­"Tooms"·
 ­"Born Again"·
 ­"Roland"·
 ­"The Erlenmeyer Flask"
 

 

Categories: The X-Files (season 1) episodes
1993 television episodes


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Beyond the Sea (The X-Files)

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Jump to: navigation, search

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"Beyond the Sea"
The X-Files episode
Episode no.
Season 1
 Episode 13
Directed by
David Nutter
Written by
Glen Morgan
James Wong
Production code
1X12
Original air date
January 7, 1994
Running time
43 minutes
Guest actors

Brad Dourif as Luther Lee Boggs
Don Davis as Captain William Scully
Sheila Larken as Margaret Scully
Lawrence King-Phillips as Lucas Jackson Henry
Fred Henderson as Agent Thomas
Don MacKay as Warden Joseph Cash
Lisa Vultaggio as Liz Hawley
Chad Willett as Jim Summers
Kathrynn Chisholm as Nurse
Randy Lee as Paramedic
Len Rose as E.R. Doctor
 
Episode chronology

← Previous
 "Fire" Next →
 "Gender Bender"

List of season 1 episodes
List of The X-Files episodes
"Beyond the Sea" is the thirteenth episode of the first season of the American science fiction television series The X-Files. It was written by co-executive producers Glen Morgan and James Wong, and directed by David Nutter. The episode first aired in the United States on January 7, 1994, on the Fox Network. Despite a mediocre Nielsen rating compared to other episodes of the first season, "Beyond the Sea" received a generally positive reception amongst critics.
The show centers on FBI special agents Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) who work on cases linked to the paranormal, called X-Files. In this "monster-of-the-week" episode, Scully's father dies and her skepticism is 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 was continued 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.

Contents
  [hide] 1 Plot
2 Production
3 Cultural references and continuity
4 Themes and analysis
5 Broadcast and reception
6 References
7 External links
Plot[edit]
Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) entertains her parents, William Scully (Don Davis) and Margaret Scully (Sheila Larken), on Christmas Eve. After they leave, she falls asleep on her sofa. Later, she wakes up to see William sitting across from her, speaking silently. The telephone rings, and after looking at the phone, she finds the chair empty again. She answers the call--from Margaret, who tells her that William has died of a heart attack.
Meanwhile in Raleigh, North Carolina, a young romantic and loving couple are kidnapped from their parked car by a man dressed as a police officer. Several days later, Scully and her partner Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) discuss the case in Mulder's office at FBI headquarters. Mulder relates that the case seems to be the work of a repeat offender, and there is reason to believe the couple will be killed in a matter of days. He also tells Scully that Luther Lee Boggs (Brad Dourif), a serial killer he had helped to apprehend years before, has claimed to have had psychic revelations about the kidnapping and has offered to help police in exchange for his death sentence being commuted. Mulder is unusually skeptical about Boggs' claims.
Later, the agents visit Boggs in prison, where he makes an impassioned revelation about the kidnapped couple based on a piece of "evidence" that is really a shred of Mulder's t-shirt. Satisfied that he is lying, the pair prepare to leave. Scully looks back at Boggs and sees another vision of her father, speaking to her and singing the song that had been played at his funeral, "Beyond the Sea". She does not tell Mulder about this, and the pair discuss the possibility that Boggs has orchestrated the kidnapping with a partner to avoid execution. They have a fake newspaper made which declares the couple to have been found, hoping to trick Boggs into contacting his accomplice. He does not fall for the trick, but gives the agents vague clues about the case. Scully, acting on these, first finds a warehouse where the couple had been held, and later leads Mulder and several other agents to a boathouse where the kidnapper is holding the couple. The girl is rescued, but the kidnapper shoots Mulder and escapes with the boyfriend.
Convinced of Boggs' involvement in the kidnapping, the prison warden rules out any kind of clemency. Boggs speaks to Scully again, claiming to be able to contact her father. He offers to relay one last message to her from him if she will attend his execution. He also gives her information about the kidnapper's new location, warning her to avoid "the devil". Scully then leads several agents to the location Boggs gave her—a brewery—where they are able to rescue the kidnapped boyfriend. Scully chases the kidnapper as he flees, but stops in her tracks when he runs along a gantry beneath the brewery's logo—a leering devil. The gantry gives way, and the kidnapper falls to his death.
Boggs is led to his execution and sees that Scully has not attended. Instead, Scully visits Mulder in hospital, where he is recovering from his gunshot wound. She has come to believe Mulder's assertion that Boggs arranged everything. Mulder asks her why she refused the chance to hear from her father again through Boggs. She tells him that she did not need to hear anything, because she already knew what her father would have said.[1]
Production[edit]

 

 Don Davis played Captain William Scully.
"Beyond the Sea" was written by The X-Files co-executive producers and long-time writing partners, Glen Morgan and James Wong; it was their fourth script for the series. The episode was directed by David Nutter.[1] As Morgan and Wong explained, their episode was written in response to criticisms of the show's initially limited characterization of Scully. Wong said, "Gillian Anderson needed to show off her talents more, and this was a perfect opportunity to dispel those notions that Scully will never believe. It was time for the character to grow, because she was just doing the same kind of thing too often." Executives at Fox vetoed the idea two times before Carter told the network, "we're doing it."[2]
Don Davis was cast as Agent Scully's father and was one of several Twin Peaks actors to appear in the series.[3] Davis returned as William Scully in "One Breath" (season 2).[4] Sheila Larken, who played Scully's mother, Margaret, is the wife of the show's co-executive producer R.W. Goodwin.[1] Larken returned for a further 15 episodes in the role. Morgan and Wong fought hard to have veteran film actor Brad Dourif play the role of Luther Lee Boggs against concerns about the cost of hiring him. X-Files creator Chris Carter called the president of Twentieth Century Fox, Peter Roth, during thanksgiving dinner and convinced him to let them cast Dourif for the part.[5] Dourif was asked to appear in the episode with only four days of preparation. He originally refused the part, until the producers gave him an extra week to prepare.[6] While getting into character between takes, his deep breathing exercises turned his face bright purple.[6]
This episode is a favorite of both creator Carter, who calls it his favorite episode of the first season[5] and actress Gillian Anderson.[1] Co-writer Morgan also praises it as a script he is proud of.[5] Director Nutter says of the episode, "I think it's the most accomplished piece of directing of actors I've been able to do ... I think this episode really made a difference in how the audience looks at Scully. I think it brought a lot of dimension to her character and for her person it definitely had a lot of impact."[5]
Cultural references and continuity[edit]
The episode title, "Beyond the Sea", references Bobby Darin's 1959 song, which is played at the funeral for Scully's father.[7] The appearance of Luther Lee Boggs greatly resembles Ricardo Ramirez. The names Luther Lee Boggs and Lucas Henry were inspired by real-life serial killer Henry Lee Lucas.[7] The Luther Lee Boggs character is mentioned by Dakota Whitney (Amanda Peet's character) in The X-Files: I Want to Believe (2008).[8] In one scene from this episode, Max Fenig's National Investigations Committee On Aerial Phenomena (NICAP) hat from the episode "Fallen Angel" can be seen hanging in Mulder's office.[9]
Scully and her father's nicknames for each other—Ahab and Starbuck—are taken from Herman Melville's 1851 nautical novel Moby-Dick.[10] Further references to the novel appear later in the series in the second season episode "One Breath" and the third season episode "Quagmire".[11]
Themes and analysis[edit]
In the episodes prior to "Beyond the Sea", the protagonists of The X-Files are firmly established in the roles of believer (Mulder) and rational scientist/skeptic (Scully). "Beyond the Sea" is the first episode in which these roles are reversed.[12] Scully, vulnerable after the death of her father, is persuaded by Boggs' apparent psychic ability.[13] Meanwhile, Mulder refuses to believe the serial killer, discounts any evidence in Boggs' favor and will only consider rational explanations. According to Jan Delsara, Scully is inclined to believe Boggs because she identifies with him: they both understand the pressure of high family expectations. Scully strongly desired to make her father proud, despite not fulfilling his expectation that she become a doctor, and Boggs, in killing his family, had hoped to kill their expectations and judgment of him.[14] In contrast, Mulder's relationship with his parents, based on resentment of them for their failure to protect his sister (themes developed later in the series), makes him unwilling to identify with Boggs.[14] While Scully follows her instinct and solves the case, Mulder gets shot and ends up in the hospital because of his doubts and skepticism.[15] According to Joe Bellon, as the episode progresses, even Scully's personality becomes like Mulder's and "for all narrative purposes, she becomes Mulder for almost an entire episode."[16] According to Dean A. Kowalski, this role reversal of the partners represents a "blending" of Mulder and Scully's characters that is present throughout the series.[17]
Scully's co-option of Mulders' usual role also demonstrates the complexity of her character. Although she is strongly influenced by her scientific background, she has religious faith too.[18] Paul C. Peterson notes that although this episode is not directly about religion, it shows the first of several visions Scully experiences throughout the series; later visions appear in episodes more directly related to religion and Scully's faith, such as "One Breath", "Elegy" and "All Souls".[17][18] In this episode, her faith in her father ultimately proves stronger than her belief in the paranormal as she refuses to be tempted by Boggs. Rather than take him up on his offer to help her contact her father, Scully visits her partner in the hospital.[10]
"Beyond the Sea" is the first episode to explore a central theme of Scully's character development—her attraction to, and conflict with, authoritative men.[19] Throughout her career with the FBI she experiences conflict with patriarchal figures.[20] In the fourth season episode "Never Again", she expresses a long-held fascination with father-figures. This theme is introduced with her guilt and need for approval following her father's death in "Beyond the Sea" and continues in later episodes including "Irresistible", "Small Potatoes", "Bad Blood", and "Milagro".[19]
The theme of father-figures is one that is explored throughout The X-Files, in relation to both Mulder and Scully.[10] As well as their own fathers, a number of characters play a paternal role to the agents in later episodes, including Deep Throat, the Cigarette-Smoking Man and Senator Matheson.[21] Both of the protagonists have deep-rooted family issues and this episode is the beginning of the exploration of that story arc.[14] A motif often employed in the show is that of mirroring, doubling or cloning.[21] Scully's relationship with her father, first dealt with in "Beyond the Sea", is mirrored by that of Mulder's with his father—also named William—who dies at the end of the second season.[10][21]
Comparisons have been drawn between the character of Dana Scully and that of FBI student Clarice Starling in The Silence of the Lambs.[22] Rhonda Wilcox and J. P. Williams note the similarities in their appearances, as well as their positions in a patriarchal working environment.[23] In "Beyond the Sea" in particular, parallels can be seen. Like Starling, Scully has an emotional connection with—and a need to prove herself to—her dead father.[23] After William Scully's death, his daughter becomes particularly concerned with whether or not he was proud of her. Although by the end of the episode, Scully seems to have come to terms with her father's opinion of her, her worries resurface later in the series when she fears that he would have been ashamed of her actions ("Anasazi"). The connection to Clarice Starling is further shown by Scully's encounter with Luther Lee Boggs, an apparently helpful serial killer, which echoes Starling's relationship with serial killer Hannibal Lecter.[22]
Broadcast and reception[edit]
"Beyond the Sea" was first broadcast in the United States on January 7, 1994, on the Fox network.[24] In its original broadcast it was watched by 6.2 million households and 10.8 million viewers, according to the Nielsen ratings system.[24][25] It received a 6.6 rating/11 share among viewers meaning that 6.6 percent of all households in the US, and 11 percent of all people watching television at the time, viewed the episode.[24]
Author Phil Farrand rated the episode as the sixth-best episode of the first four seasons in his book The Nitpicker's Guide for X-Philes.[26] A writer from the Vancouver Sun listed "Beyond the Sea" as one of the best stand alone episodes of the show, saying that Brad Dourif's acting was "remarkably chilling". They noted that this episode was the first to center around Gillian Anderson's character, and showed signs of Scully's vulnerability.[27] Connie Ogle from PopMatters ranked the episode amongst her "best" monster-of-the-week episodes. Ogle felt that Luther Lee Boggs was one of the "greatest" monster-of-the-week characters of the show, saying: "Spend a few minutes in Luther's skeevy presence, and alien abduction seems like a blessing".[28] Writers for IGN named the episode their second favourite stand alone episode of the show, noting favourably how it "flips" the established dynamic between Mulder and Scully.[29] In The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Science Fiction and Fantasy, Gary Westfahl described the episode as one of the most "highly regarded" stand alone episodes.[30]
In a retrospective of the first season, Entertainment Weekly gave "Beyond the Sea" an A+, noting how it "humanizes" Scully and praising the casting of Dourif.[31] Zack Handlen of The A.V. Club graded the episode a B+, praising Dourif as Boggs but wondered specifically about his intentions. Despite liking the fact that Scully was the focus of the episode and praising Anderson's performance, he thought that its "main flaw" was the way it handled her moral crisis, opining that she appeared too weak.[32]
References[edit]
Footnotes
1.^ Jump up to: a b c d Lowry (1995), pp. 130–131
2.Jump up ^ Vitaris, Paula (December 1995). "X-Writers". Starlog. The Brooklyn Company, Inc. Archived from the original on March 27, 2006. Retrieved July 21, 2013.
3.Jump up ^ Reeves, Jimmie L., Rodgers, Mark C. & Epstein, Michael in Lavery et al. (1996), p. 32
4.Jump up ^ Kubek, Elizabeth in Lavery et al. (1996), p. 186
5.^ Jump up to: a b c d Edwards (1997), pp. 59–60
6.^ Jump up to: a b Carter, Chris. (1994). "Chris Carter talks about 12 of his favorite episodes from Season: Beyond the Sea". Fox Home Entertainment.
7.^ Jump up to: a b Lovece (1996), p. 78
8.Jump up ^ Chris Carter. "I Want to Believe". The X-Files. Episode 2. Fox.
9.Jump up ^ Cornell, Day & Topping (1997), p. 60
10.^ Jump up to: a b c d Kubek, Elizabeth in Lavery et al. (1996), pp. 181–182
11.Jump up ^ Delsara (2000), p. 46
12.Jump up ^ Jagodzinski, Jan; Hipfl, Brigitte (May 2001), "Youth Fantasies: Reading "The X-Files" Psychoanalytically", Studies in Media & Information Literacy Education (University of Toronto Press) 1 (2): 1–14, doi:10.3138/sim.1.2.002
13.Jump up ^ Kowalski (2007), p. 132
14.^ Jump up to: a b c Delsara (2000), pp. 118–119
15.Jump up ^ Malach, Michele in Lavery et al. (1996), p. 72
16.Jump up ^ Bellon, Joe (1999), "The Strange Discourse of The X-Files: What it is, What it Does, and What is at Stake", Critical Studies in Media Communication 16 (2): 151, doi:10.1080/15295039909367083
17.^ Jump up to: a b Kowalski (2007), p. 130
18.^ Jump up to: a b Peterson, Paul C. (13 November 2009), "Religion in The X-Files", Journal of Media and Religion 1 (3): 184, doi:10.1207/S15328415JMR0103_4
19.^ Jump up to: a b Helford (2000), p. 71
20.Jump up ^ Kellner (2003), p. 148
21.^ Jump up to: a b c Delsara (2000), p. 10
22.^ Jump up to: a b Mizejewski (2004), p. 101
23.^ Jump up to: a b Wilcox, Rhonda & Williams, J. P. in Lavery et al. (1996), pp. 102–103
24.^ Jump up to: a b c Lowry (1995), p. 248
25.Jump up ^ "Nielsen Ratings". USA Today (Gannett Company, Inc.). 12 January 1994. p. D3. Retrieved 28 November 2012.
26.Jump up ^ Farrand (1997), p. 223
27.Jump up ^ "A Look Back on Some of the Best Stand-Alone Episodes From The X-Files Series", The Vancouver Sun (CanWest MediaWorks Publications Inc.), July 25, 2008, retrieved August 25, 2010
28.Jump up ^ Ogle, Connie (July 28, 2008), "The X-Factor: A Look Back at 'The X-Files' Greatest Monsters", PopMatters (PopMatters Media), retrieved August 25, 2010
29.Jump up ^ Collura, Scott; Fickett, Travis; Goldman, Eric; Seghers, Christine. "IGN's 10 Favourite X-Files Standalone Episodes - TV Feature at IGN". IGN. Retrieved April 18, 2011.
30.Jump up ^ Westfahl (2005), p. 1354
31.Jump up ^ "X Cyclopedia: The Ultimate Episode Guide, Season I". Entertainment Weekly. November 29, 1996. Retrieved April 5, 2012.
32.Jump up ^ Handlen, Zack (July 18, 2008). ""Beyond the Sea"/"Gender Bender"/"Lazarus"". The A.V. Club. Retrieved April 5, 2012.
Sources
Badley, Linda (2000), "Scully Hits the Glass Ceiling: Postmodernism, Postfeminism, Posthumanism and The X-Files", in Helford, Elyce Rae, Fantasy Girls: Gender in the New Universe of Science Fiction and Fantasy Television, Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield, ISBN 978-0-8476-9834-9
Cornell, Paul; Day, Martin; Topping, Keith (1997), X-Treme Possibilities: A Paranoid Rummage Through the X-Files, Virgin Books, ISBN 0-7535-0019-1
Delsara, Jan (2000), PopLit, PopCult and The X-Files: A Critical Exploration, McFarland, ISBN 0-7864-0789-1
Edwards, Ted (1997), X-Files Confidential: The Unauthorized X-Philes Compendium, Little, Brown and Company, ISBN 0-316-21808-1
Farrand, Phil (1997), The Nitpicker's Guide for X-Philes, Dell Publishing, ISBN 0-440-50808-8
Kellner, Douglas (2003), Media Spectacle, Routledge, ISBN 0-415-26828-1
Kowalski, Dean A. (2007), The Philosophy of The X-Files, University Press of Kentucky, ISBN 0-8131-2454-9
Lavery, David; Hague, Angela; Cartwright, Marla, eds. (1996), Deny All Knowledge: Reading The X-Files, Syracuse University Press, ISBN 0-8156-0407-6
Lovece, Frank (1996), The X-Files Declassified: The Unauthorized Guide, Citadel, ISBN 0-8065-1745-X
Lowry, Brian (1995), The Truth Is Out There: The Official Guide To The X-Files, HarperPrism, ISBN 0-06-105330-9
Mizejewski, Linda (2004), Hardboiled & High Heeled: The Woman Detective in Popular Culture, Routledge, ISBN 0-415-96971-9
Westfahl, Gary (2005), The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Science Fiction and Fantasy, Greenwood Publishing Group, ISBN 0-313-32953-2
External links[edit]
 Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: The X-Files Season 1
"Beyond the Sea" on The X-Files official website
"Beyond the Sea" at the Internet Movie Database
"Beyond the Sea" at TV.com

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Gender Bender (The X-Files)

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"Gender Bender"
The X-Files episode
Episode no.
Season 1
 Episode 14
Directed by
Rob Bowman
Written by
Larry Barber
 Paul Barber
Production code
1X13
Original air date
January 21, 1994
Running time
43 minutes
Guest actors

Brent Hinkley as Brother Andrew
Michele Goodger as Sister Abigail
Peter Stebbings as Marty (male)
Kate Twa as Marty (female)
Nicholas Lea as Michel
Mitchell Kosterman as Detective Horton
Paul Batten as Brother Wilson[1]
 
Episode chronology

← Previous
 "Beyond the Sea" Next →
 "Lazarus"

List of The X-Files episodes
"Gender Bender"[nb 1] is the fourteenth episode of the first season of the American science fiction television series The X-Files. Premiering on the Fox network on January 21, 1994, it was written by Larry and Paul Barber, directed by Rob Bowman, and featured guest appearances by Brent Hinkley and Nicholas Lea. The episode is a "Monster-of-the-Week" story, a stand-alone plot which is unconnected to the series' overarching mythology.
The show centers on FBI special agents Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) who work on cases linked to the paranormal, called X-Files. In this episode, Mulder and Scully begin investigating a series of murders following sexual encounters. The two soon discover that a member of a religious sect living in Massachusetts may be responsible—and may not be human.
The episode was inspired by producer Glen Morgan's desire for "an episode with more of a sexy edge"; the writers found it difficult to write a story that showed sex as scary and introduced an Amish-like community as well. "Gender Bender" was seen by approximately 6.8 million households in its initial broadcast. The episode has subsequently been met with mixed critical responses, facing criticism for its abrupt deus ex machina ending. Academic analysis of the episode has placed it within a science-fiction tradition that attributes a powerful, supernatural element to physical contact with aliens. It has also been seen as reflecting anxieties about emerging gender roles in the 1990s.

Contents
  [hide] 1 Plot
2 Production
3 Themes
4 Broadcast and reception
5 Notes
6 Footnotes 6.1 References
7 External links
Plot[edit]
In a dance club, a young man is taken by a young woman, Marty (Kate Twa), for casual sex. The man dies afterwards, and Marty leaves the room as a man (Peter Stebbings). FBI agents Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) are called to the scene; Mulder believes that the man's death was caused by a fatal dose of pheromones. There is also ambiguity in similar murders as to the sex of the killer. Evidence from the crime scene leads the duo to an Amish-like community in Steveston, Massachusetts, which Mulder calls the Kindred.
Mulder approaches some of the Kindred, only to be shunned. Meanwhile, Scully befriends a member, Brother Andrew (Brent Hinkley), who is reluctant to talk. While shaking hands with him, Scully appears entranced, not coming to until Mulder catches her attention. The agents visit the Kindred's remote community, where they are asked to surrender their guns before entering. Mulder and Scully are invited to dinner. When the Kindred refuse to allow Scully to treat Brother Aaron, a sick participant at the table, Brother Andrew states that the Kindred take care of their own. Meanwhile, in another nightclub, a man convinces a girl to dance with him by touching her hand.
When the Kindred escort the agents out of the village, Mulder comments on the lack of children in the community and states that he recognizes some of the faces from photographs taken in the 1930s. Curious, he returns to the village that night, and hears chanting as a procession of the Kindred moves to a barn. Scully is led off by Brother Andrew, who claims to be able to give her information about the murderer, whom he calls Brother Martin. Downstairs in the barn, the group can be seen bathing Brother Aaron's body in watery clay. Mulder hides in a crevice, where he discovers that the sick man has been buried alive and has begun to take on feminine features. Meanwhile, Brother Andrew uses his power to seduce Scully. She is unable to resist, and eventually needs to be rescued by Mulder. The agents are again escorted out of the village.
Another man, Michael (Nicholas Lea), is having sex with the female form of Brother Martin in a parked car, before a patrol officer interrupts them. As Michael suddenly starts retching, the officer is attacked by Brother Martin, who changes into a man and escapes. In the hospital Michael reluctantly reveals to Mulder and Scully that when he looked out of the car, the girl he was with "looked like a man". The agents are then alerted about activity on a previous victim's credit card, which was stolen by Brother Martin. The agents chase Brother Martin into an alley, only to have the Kindred appear and take him away. That night the agents rush back to the village which now bears a deserted look. The tunnels are blocked entirely with the white clay. Mulder and Scully walk into the nearby field where they find a large crop circle, suggesting that the Kindred are aliens.[4][5]
Production[edit]

A man in a leather jacket smiling at the camera

Peter Stebbings was cast due to his similarity to actress Kate Twa; both portrayed versions of the same character.
While discussing the installment's origins, producer Glen Morgan said that he "wanted an episode with more of a sexy edge".[6] It proved difficult to portray sex as convincingly scary, which caused the producers to introduce the concept of "people like the Amish who are from another planet".[6] "Gender Bender" was penned by freelance writers Larry and Paul Barber, whose initial draft focused heavily on the contrast between the farming community of the Kindred and a version of city life "with very sexual connotations", influenced by the works of Swiss artist H. R. Giger.[7] This script went through various rewrites during the development process, including the removal of a scene where someone's crotch rots away, to address concerns about the content of the episode.[8] The chants uttered by the Kindred were not in the script handed in by the Barbers; they were added later by producer Paul Rabwin.[9]
The character of Marty was portrayed by two actors—Kate Twa plays its female form and Peter Stebbings the male. Twa was the first of the two to be cast, leading producer R. W. Goodwin to base the casting of Stebbings mostly on his "very strong resemblance" to the actress.[10] This resemblance was exploited in a scene showing Twa morphing into Stebbings; Goodwin felt that the two actors were too similar for the effect to be readily apparent, "zapp[ing] the energy out of the moment".[10] Nicholas Lea, who played a would-be victim in the episode, returned to the series in a recurring role as Alex Krycek, beginning with the second season's "Sleepless".[8][11] Twa also returned that season, playing a former colleague of Scully in "Soft Light".[12]
"Gender Bender" marked Rob Bowman's directorial debut on the series; he became one of the series' most prolific directors,[8] even directing the 1998 film adaptation, The X-Files: Fight the Future.[13] Bowman found "Gender Bender" a difficult episode to work on—the script had initially called for lantern light to illuminate several scenes, but this was found to be unworkable. In addition, an interior set constructed to represent the catacombs under the Kindred's barn was so encumbering to film in that a second unit crew were required to reshoot a large degree of camera coverage. This need for extra footage necessitated an additional day of filming for scenes featuring Duchovny.[14]
The exterior shots of the village inhabited by the Kindred were filmed at a farm preserved from the 1890s in Langley, British Columbia, while interior sets were built on a sound stage.[15] The small town visited by the agents was filmed on location in Steveston, British Columbia—a location which was revisited to film the first-season episode "Miracle Man".[16] The music used in the episode's nightclub scenes was recycled from composer Mark Snow's earlier work on the television film In the Line of Duty: Street War.[8]
Themes[edit]
"Gender Bender" has been interpreted as representing contemporary sexual anxieties in a figurative manner, conflating seduction with alien abduction. M. Keith Booker has described the Kindred's shapeshifting as representative of contemporary sexual anxieties caused by the changing gender roles of the decade, coupled with "a basic fear of sexual contact".[17] Antonio Ballesteros González has stated that the episode is representative of the series' exploration of both seduction and abduction, noting that "both are seen as part of sexual aggression",[18] further describing the episode's villain as representing "the fear of sex and reproduction".[19] The lethal nature of the Kindred's touch has been cited as representing the potency of their sexual repression;[20] and has been placed within a science-fiction tradition that depicts aliens or outsiders with a "potent" touch, alongside similar depictions in the films Communion and E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial, and the novel The Puppet Masters.[21]
Broadcast and reception[edit]

A couple in dark clothes walk along a road, backs to the camera, while a young man on a bicycle heads in the opposite direction.

 Asked about similarities between the Kindred and the Amish, Chris Carter said "they don't watch TV, so I wasn't worried about it".[8]
"Gender Bender" originally aired on Fox on January 21, 1994, and was first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC Two on December 22, 1994.[22] The episode earned a Nielsen household rating of 7.2, with a 12 share. It was viewed by 6.8 million households and 11.1 million viewers, meaning that roughly 7.2 percent of all television-equipped households, and 12 percent of households watching television, were tuned in to the episode.[23][24]
The episode faced criticism from the crew over its ending using a deus ex machina to indicate that the Kindred may have been aliens. Producer James Wong felt that the episode's ending seemed overly abrupt and unexpected, describing it as appearing "like we tried to play a trick on the audience to make them say 'Ooh, what the heck was that?'".[6] He added that the lack of a real connection to the episode's plot meant that the revelation lost any sense of catharsis for the viewer.[6] Morgan said that the episode "went too far. At what point do we become unbelievable?"[6] When asked about the similarity between the Kindred and the Amish, series creator Chris Carter noted that "they [the Amish] don't watch TV, so I wasn't worried about it".[8]
"Gender Bender" received generally positive to mixed reviews from critics. In a retrospective of the first season in Entertainment Weekly, "Gender Bender" was rated "B−", being described as a "clever idea" that was "undermined by a bushel of burning questions".[25] Zack Handlen, writing for The A.V. Club, praised the episode, rating it an "A". He felt that the plot was "a perfect mixture of scientific theory, unsubstantiated rumor, and memorable visuals".[26] Handlen felt that the episode represented the ideal plot for The X-Files, featuring someone briefly interacting with supernatural phenomena without ever learning the truth of their experience.[26] Matt Haigh, writing for Den of Geek, reviewed "Gender Bender" positively, feeling that it was "a nicely refreshing and original idea", with "strikingly atmospheric" sets and "impressively spooky" villains.[27]
Robert Shearman and Lars Pearson, in their book Wanting to Believe: A Critical Guide to The X-Files, Millennium & The Lone Gunmen, rated "Gender Bender" one-and-a-half stars out of five, finding that it "finishes up ... entirely clichéd".[28] Shearman felt that Bowman's direction, and the contrast between "decadent" night-life and the "restraint and denial" of the Kindred, were highlights of the episode. He also felt that it approached its themes too conservatively and tamely, leaving a "boring" end result.[28] In his book The Nitpicker's Guide for X-Philes, author Phil Farrand has highlighted several inconsistencies in the episode, focusing on the implausible nature of the ending. Farrand cites the mention of the Kindred's pheromones containing human DNA and their use of the English language when in private as elements which seem incongruous for an alien race.[29]
Notes[edit]
1.Jump up ^ Some sources give the episode's title as "Genderbender".[2][3]
Footnotes[edit]
1.Jump up ^ Lowry 1995, p. 132.
2.Jump up ^ Edwards 1996, p. 60.
3.Jump up ^ Erickson, Hal. "The X-Files: Genderbender – Trailers, Reviews, Synopsis, Showtime, and Cast". AllMovie. AllRovi. Retrieved July 2, 2012.
4.Jump up ^ Lowry 1995, pp. 132–133.
5.Jump up ^ Lovece 1996, pp. 79–80.
6.^ Jump up to: a b c d e Edwards 1996, p. 61.
7.Jump up ^ Edwards 1996, pp. 61–62.
8.^ Jump up to: a b c d e f Lowry 1995, p. 133.
9.Jump up ^ Lovece 1996, p. 81.
10.^ Jump up to: a b Edwards 1996, pp. 62–63.
11.Jump up ^ Edwards 1996, p. 97.
12.Jump up ^ Edwards 1996, p. 124.
13.Jump up ^ Rob Bowman (director); Chris Carter & Frank Spotnitz (writers) (June 19, 1998). "The X-Files". Fox.
14.Jump up ^ Edwards 1996, pp. 61–63.
15.Jump up ^ Gradnitzer & Pittson 1999, p. 42.
16.Jump up ^ Gradnitzer & Pittson 1999, p. 42–43.
17.Jump up ^ Booker 2002, p. 142.
18.Jump up ^ González 2001, p. 376.
19.Jump up ^ González 2001, p. 377.
20.Jump up ^ Lavery, Hague & Cartwright 1996, p. 158.
21.Jump up ^ Westfahl 2005, p. 826.
22.Jump up ^ The X-Files: The Complete First Season (Media notes). Fox. 1993–1994.
23.Jump up ^ Lowry 1995, p. 248.
24.Jump up ^ "Nielsen Ratings". USA Today (Gannett Company, Inc.). 26 January 1994. p. D3. Retrieved 28 November 2012.
25.Jump up ^ "X Cyclopedia: The Ultimate Episode Guide, Season 1". Entertainment Weekly. Time Inc. November 29, 1996. Retrieved July 7, 2011.
26.^ Jump up to: a b Handlen, Zack (July 18, 2008). "'Beyond the Sea' / 'Gender Bender' / 'Lazarus' | The X-Files/Millennium | TV Club | TV". The A.V. Club. The Onion. Retrieved September 25, 2012.
27.Jump up ^ Haigh, Matt (November 10, 2008). "Revisiting The X-Files: Season 1 Episode 14". Den of Geek. Dennis Publishing. Retrieved August 1, 2011.
28.^ Jump up to: a b Shearman & Pearson 2009, pp. 22–23.
29.Jump up ^ Farrand 1997, p. 91.
References[edit]
Booker, M. Keith (2002). Strange TV: Innovative Television Series from The Twilight Zone to The X-Files. Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 0-313-32373-9.
Edwards, Ted (1996). X-Files Confidential. Little, Brown and Company. ISBN 0-316-21808-1.
Farrand, Phil (1997). The Nitpicker's Guide for X-Philes. Dell Publishing. ISBN 0-440-50808-8.
González, Antonio Ballesteros (2001). Popular Texts in English: New Perspectives. Univ de Castilla La Mancha. ISBN 84-8427-126-9.
Lavery, David; Hague, Angela; Cartwright, Marla (1996). Deny All Knowledge: Reading The X Files. Syracuse University Press. ISBN 0-8156-0407-6.
Gradnitzer, Louisa; Pittson, Todd (1999). X Marks the Spot: On Location with The X-Files. Arsenal Pulp Press. ISBN 1-55152-066-4.
Lovece, Frank (1996). The X-Files Declassified. Citadel Press. ISBN 0-8065-1745-X.
Lowry, Brian (1995). The Truth is Out There: The Official Guide to the X-Files. Harper Prism. ISBN 0-06-105330-9.
Shearman, Robert; Pearson, Lars (2009). Wanting to Believe: A Critical Guide to The X-Files, Millennium & The Lone Gunmen. Mad Norwegian Press. ISBN 0-9759446-9-X.
Westfahl, Gary (2005). The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Science Fiction and Fantasy: Themes, Works, and Wonders, Volume 2. Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 0-313-32952-4.
External links[edit]
 Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: TXF Season 1
"Gender Bender" on The X-Files official website
"Gender Bender" at the Internet Movie Database
"Gender Bender" at TV.com

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­Seasons: 1·
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 ­8·
 ­9
 
 
Season 1
­"Pilot"·
 ­"Deep Throat"·
 ­"Squeeze"·
 ­"Conduit"·
 ­"The Jersey Devil"·
 ­"Shadows"·
 ­"Ghost in the Machine"·
 ­"Ice"·
 ­"Space"·
 ­"Fallen Angel"·
 ­"Eve"·
 ­"Fire"·
 ­"Beyond the Sea"·
 ­"Gender Bender"·
 ­"Lazarus"·
 ­"Young at Heart"·
 ­"E.B.E."·
 ­"Miracle Man"·
 ­"Shapes"·
 ­"Darkness Falls"·
 ­"Tooms"·
 ­"Born Again"·
 ­"Roland"·
 ­"The Erlenmeyer Flask"
 
 
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Categories: 1994 television episodes
LGBT-related television episodes
The X-Files (season 1) episodes
Androgyny
1994 in American television


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Lazarus (The X-Files)

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"Lazarus"
The X-Files episode
Lazarus (X-Files).jpg
Episode no.
Season 1
 Episode 15
Directed by
David Nutter
Written by
Alex Gansa
Howard Gordon
Production code
1X14
Original air date
February 4, 1994
Running time
43 minutes
Guest actors

Cec Verrell as Lula Phillips
Christopher Allport as Agent Jack Willis
Jason Schombing as Warren Dupre
Jackson Davies as Agent Bruskin
Callum Keith Rennie as Tommy
Jay Brazeau as Prof. Varnes
Lisa Bunting as Doctor #1
Peter Kelamis as O'Dell
Brenda Crichlow as Reporter
Mark Saunders as Doctor #2
Alexander Boynton as Clean Cut Man
Russell Hamilton as Officer Daniels
 
Episode chronology

← Previous
 "Gender Bender" Next →
 "Young at Heart"

List of season 1 episodes
List of The X-Files episodes
"Lazarus" is the fifteenth episode of the first season of the American science fiction television series The X-Files. It premiered on the Fox network on February 4, 1994. It was written by Alex Gansa and Howard Gordon, directed by David Nutter, and featured guest appearances by Cec Verrell and Christopher Allport. The episode is a "Monster-of-the-Week" story, unconnected to the series' wider mythology. "Lazarus" earned a Nielsen household rating of 7.6, being watched by 7.2 million households in its initial broadcast; and received mixed reviews from critics.
The show centers on FBI special agents Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) who work on cases linked to the paranormal, called X-Files. After an old partner of Scully's is wounded in a bank robbery, Scully and Mulder come to believe that the injured man has been possessed by the spirit of the dead bank robber.
In the episode's original plot, Dupre was to have jumped into Mulder's body. There was, however, a belief at the time that neither Scully nor Mulder should directly experience such phenomena. After Fox and the studio argued against the idea of using Mulder in such a way, the producers agreed to make the change. The opening bank robbery scene was filmed on location in Vancouver, where Jason Schombing's acting led some bystanders to believe that robbery was a real one.

Contents
  [hide] 1 Plot
2 Production
3 Reception
4 Footnotes 4.1 References
5 External links
Plot[edit]
Dana Scully assists a fellow FBI agent, Jack Willis, in apprehending violent bank robbers Warren Dupre and Lula Phillips. Following an anonymous tip, the two agents corner Dupre during an attempted robbery. Dupre shoots Willis with a shotgun, but is himself shot by Scully. Dupre dies, but Willis is eventually revived; however, Dupre's corpse is seen reacting to the jolts from the defibrillators used on Willis.
Willis wakes up a few days later, but now has a more sinister personality. He finds Dupre's body and cuts off his fingers to retrieve a wedding ring before fleeing the hospital. Scully explains to Fox Mulder that Willis has been obsessed with the Dupre-Phillips case for the past year, and admits to dating Willis while he was her instructor at the FBI Academy. It is discovered that left-handed shears were used to cut off Dupre's fingers, despite the fact that Willis is right-handed, leading Mulder to believe that Willis' body is inhabited by Dupre's consciousness. The agents visit a University of Maryland medical professor who theorizes that during near death experiences, an energy release can occur that could radically change someone's personality.
Willis, who finds Dupre's tattoo appearing on his arm, confronts Lula's brother Tommy and kills him, believing that he sold him out to the FBI and caused his "death". When Mulder and Scully investigate the next day, Willis arrives. He passes the tests that Scully gives him, but when Mulder asks him to sign a fake birthday card for Scully—whose birthday is months away—he signs it. Scully is skeptical of Mulder's claims that Dupre is in Willis's body, believing that he is under stress due to his near-death experience.
When a landlord calls the FBI to tip them off about Phillips' location, Scully and Willis move in to capture her. However, when Scully corners Phillips, Willis holds Scully at gunpoint and forces her to instead handcuff herself. Scully is taken to Phillips' house, where she is beaten and handcuffed to a radiator. Willis then successfully convinces Lula that he is actually Dupre. Willis calls Mulder to tell him that he and Phillips are holding Scully hostage, leaving Mulder frustrated and angry.
After seeing Willis/Dupre consume a large quantity of soda, Scully reveals that Willis is a diabetic and will require insulin to survive. Phillips and Willis/Dupre rob a pharmacy to obtain the necessary insulin. However, Phillips refuses to let Willis use it, revealing that it was she who betrayed him, having fled the scene the night of the botched bank robbery. Phillips calls Mulder, demanding a $1 million ransom for Scully. By using audio of a plane nearby, Mulder and his task force are able to track their general location, and a disguised cop going door to door spots Phillips.
Willis/Dupre feigns death, and when Phillips drops her wedding ring on him, he grabs her gun and kills her. He dies seconds later due to the lack of insulin. Mulder, who has just arrived on the scene, releases Scully. Later Scully retrieves Willis' possessions from the morgue, including a watch she gave him for his thirty-fifth birthday. The watch stopped at 6:47, the moment Willis died after the bank shooting.[1][2]
Production[edit]


"Pacing was the key for [Lazarus]. It was the opposite of 'Beyond the Sea'. I thought a lot of movement had to happen. The camera was moving, the actors were moving, all of which was designed to move the script along. It wasn't one of the more involved scripts. Just a pretty basic, straightforward story."
–"Lazarus" director David Nutter.[3]
In the episode's original plot, Dupre was to have jumped into Mulder's body. There was, however, a belief at the time that neither Scully nor Mulder should directly experience such phenomena; Fox and the studio argued against the idea of using Mulder in such a way. With more than a little reluctance, the producers agreed to make the change. As writer Howard Gordon later recalled, "We'd wanted Mulder to experience the soul switch".[4] Eventually, however, Fox's stance was changed; most notably, in the two-part sixth season episode, "Dreamland", when Mulder's consciousness is exchanged with government agent Morris Fletcher.[5] Gordon ultimately came to believe that the final decision was almost certainly for the best and saw the benefit of introducing Scully's former boyfriend as it provided a welcome opportunity to delve into her history.[4]
The opening bank robbery scene was filmed on location in Vancouver, where Jason Schombing's acting led some bystanders to believe that robbery was a real one.[6] Interior shots set in Dupre's basement were filmed in an asbestos-lined apartment building, where a translator was required to interface with the mostly-Asian tenants.[7] This episode features the first of several occasions in which Scully is abducted.[4] Her birthday, February 23, is revealed for the first time in this episode;[4] though the year of her birth, 1964, would not be established until the second season episode "One Breath".[8]
Reception[edit]
"Lazarus" premiered on the Fox network on February 4, 1994, and was first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC Two on January 5, 1995.[9] The episode earned a Nielsen household rating of 7.6, with a 12 share and was viewed by 7.2 million households, meaning that roughly 7.2 percent of all television-equipped households, and 12 percent of households watching television, were tuned in to the episode.[10]
Series creator Chris Carter had a very positive opinion of the episode, stating that it was "a very good and well-acted episode. I like it because it actually seemed to real to me. It played less as a paranormal science fiction show than as whether or not something could really happen. The entire cast was wonderful. Overall that was a terrific episode".[11] In a retrospective of the first season in Entertainment Weekly, "Lazarus" was rated a C+, being described as "as exciting as Scully's taste in men (not very)". The episode's supporting cast, however, was described as "solid".[12] Zack Handlen, writing for The A.V. Club, rated episode a B-, finding that it had "no real thematic resonance". He found that the episode left its premise "largely unexplored", and would have benefited from a stronger focus on the relationship between the characters of Willis and Dupre.[13] Matt Haigh, writing for Den of Geek, reviewed the episode negatively, feeling that it "wasn't up to much", and that it "plays more like an episode of Diagnosis Murder than anything else". However, the exploration of Scully's character history was cited as a positive aspect of the episode.[14] Anna Johns, writing for TV Squad, was critical of "Lazarus", stating that its opening scene was "the only good part" of the episode.[15]
Footnotes[edit]
1.Jump up ^ Lowry, pp.134–135
2.Jump up ^ Lovece, pp.81–82
3.Jump up ^ Edwards, p.64
4.^ Jump up to: a b c d Lowry, p.135
5.Jump up ^ Kim Manners & Michael Watkins (November 29 & December 6, 1998). "Dreamland". The X-Files. Season 6. Episode 4 & 5. Fox.
6.Jump up ^ Gradnitzer and Pittson, p.43
7.Jump up ^ Gradnitzer and Pittson, p.44
8.Jump up ^ R. W. Goodwin (November 11, 1994). "One Breath". The X-Files. Season 8. Episode 2. Fox Broadcasting Company.
9.Jump up ^ Robert Mandel, Daniel Sackheim, et al (booklet). The X-Files: The Complete First Season (Liner notes). Fox.
10.Jump up ^ Lowry, p.248
11.Jump up ^ Edwards, pp.63–64
12.Jump up ^ "X Cyclopedia: The Ultimate Episode Guide, Season 1 | EW.com". Entertainment Weekly. November 29, 1996. Retrieved July 7, 2011.
13.Jump up ^ Handlen, Zack (July 18, 2008). ""Beyond the Sea" / "Gender Bender" / "Lazarus" | The X-Files/Millennium | TV Club | TV | The A.V. Club". The A.V. Club. Retrieved July 25, 2011.
14.Jump up ^ Haigh, Matt (November 13, 2008). "Revisiting The X-Files: Season 1 Episode 15 - Den of Geek". Den of Geek. Dennis Publishing. Retrieved August 1, 2011.
15.Jump up ^ Johns, Anna (August 20, 2006). "The X-Files: Lazarus". TV Squad, AOL. Retrieved August 8, 2011.
References[edit]
Edwards, Ted (1996). X-Files Confidential. Little, Brown and Company. ISBN 0-316-21808-1.
Gradnitzer, Louisa; Pittson, Todd (1999). X Marks the Spot: On Location with The X-Files. Arsenal Pulp Press. ISBN 1-55152-066-4.
Lovece, Frank (1996). The X-Files Declassified. Citadel Press. ISBN 0-8065-1745-X.
Lowry, Brian (1995). The Truth is Out There: The Official Guide to the X-Files. Harper Prism. ISBN 0-06-105330-9.
External links[edit]
 Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: "Lazarus"
"Lazarus" on The X-Files official website
"Lazarus" at the Internet Movie Database
"Lazarus" at TV.com

[hide]
­v·
 ­t·
 ­e
 
The X-Files episodes

 
­Seasons: 1·
 ­2·
 ­3·
 ­4·
 ­5·
 ­6·
 ­7·
 ­8·
 ­9
 
 
Season 1
­"Pilot"·
 ­"Deep Throat"·
 ­"Squeeze"·
 ­"Conduit"·
 ­"The Jersey Devil"·
 ­"Shadows"·
 ­"Ghost in the Machine"·
 ­"Ice"·
 ­"Space"·
 ­"Fallen Angel"·
 ­"Eve"·
 ­"Fire"·
 ­"Beyond the Sea"·
 ­"Gender Bender"·
 ­"Lazarus"·
 ­"Young at Heart"·
 ­"E.B.E."·
 ­"Miracle Man"·
 ­"Shapes"·
 ­"Darkness Falls"·
 ­"Tooms"·
 ­"Born Again"·
 ­"Roland"·
 ­"The Erlenmeyer Flask"
 

 

Categories: The X-Files (season 1) episodes
1994 television episodes


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Young at Heart (The X-Files)

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"Young at Heart"
The X-Files episode
Youngatheart.jpg
John Barnett's hand
 
Episode no.
Season 1
 Episode 16
Directed by
Michael Lange
Written by
Chris Carter
 Scott Kaufer
Production code
1X15
Original air date
February 11, 1994
Guest actors

Jerry Hardin as Deep Throat
Alan Boyce as Young John Barnett
David Peterson as Old John Barnett
Dick Anthony Williams as Reggie Purdue
Christine Estabrook as Agent Henderson
Robin Mossley as Dr. Joe Ridley
William B. Davis as CIA Agent
Graham Jarvis as NIH Doctor
Merrilyn Gann as Prosecutor
Gordon Tipple as Joe Crandall
Courtney Arciaga as Progeria Victim
Robin Douglas as Computer Specialist
 
Episode chronology

← Previous
 "Lazarus" Next →
 "E.B.E."

List of season 1 episodes
List of The X-Files episodes
"Young at Heart" is the sixteenth episode of the first season of the American science fiction television series The X-Files. It premiered on the Fox network on February 11, 1994. It was written by Scott Kaufer and series creator Chris Carter, and directed by Michael Lange. The episode featured guest appearances by Dick Anthony Williams, William B. Davis and Alan Boyce, and saw Jerry Hardin reprise his role as Deep Throat. The episode is a "Monster-of-the-Week" story, unconnected to the series' wider mythology. "Young at Heart" earned a Nielsen household rating of 7.2, being watched by 6.8 million households in its initial broadcast; and received mostly negative reviews from critics.
The show centers on FBI special agents Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) who work on cases linked to the paranormal, called X-Files. When Mulder and Scully aid a former colleague of Mulder's in an investigation into a series of robberies, it becomes apparent that the culprit is an old nemesis of Mulder's—who had seemingly died in prison several years previously.
"Young at Heart" originated as a script from freelance writer Scott Kaufer, who was a friend of series creator Chris Carter and former employee of California magazine and Warner Bros comedy development department. Chris Carter rewrote the script, which included the addition of Barnett's salamander hand. Director Michael Lange felt the episode offered him excellent scope to try new techniques, noting that the series producers "encourage cinematic stuff". William B. Davis makes his second appearance of the series in this episode, although his role is simply credited as "CIA Agent", rather than the more well-known "Smoking Man".

Contents
  [hide] 1 Plot
2 Production
3 Broadcast and reception
4 Footnotes 4.1 References
5 External links
Plot[edit]
In 1989, Joe Crandall, an inmate at a federal penitentiary in Pennsylvania, hears screaming from the infirmary. Inside, he discovers the prison's doctor, Joe Ridley, amputating the hand of fellow inmate John Barnett. Ridley tells Crandall that Barnett is dead, threatening him with a scalpel. However, as Crandall leaves the room, he sees Barnett blinking at him.
Four years later, Fox Mulder is notified by his former FBI supervisor, Reggie Purdue, about a note from a jewelry store robbery mocking Mulder by name. Mulder recognizes the message as being from Barnett, a sociopathic multiple murderer whom he helped capture on his first case with the Bureau. Even though Barnett supposedly died in prison, the note seems to bear his handwriting. Purdue shows Dana Scully a video of Barnett's capture, which shows that Mulder didn't fire on Barnett due to him having a hostage, per FBI regulations. Mulder's hesitancy permitted Barnett to kill both the hostage and a fellow agent.
Scully looks into Barnett's cause of death and discovers that despite it being listed as heart attack, he had no history of heart problems; he had been sent to the infirmary over problems with his hand. Meanwhile, Barnett leaves Mulder another note in his car, along with photos of him and Scully.
Mulder and Scully visit the prison and meet Crandall, who recounts his experiences with Barnett and Ridley. Barnett makes taunting phone calls to Mulder, and strangles Purdue with his salamander-like hand. Scully looks into Ridley's past and finds that his medical license was revoked in 1979 due to malpractice; he had performed illegal medical trials on children with progeria, a disease that causes premature aging. Mulder theorizes that Ridley's experiments helped him find a way to reverse the aging process.
Scully summons Mulder when Ridley suddenly appears at her apartment. He tells the agents that he succeeded in making Barnett age in reverse after replacing his hand using salamander cells. However, Barnett stole Ridley's government-sponsored research. Deep Throat meets with Mulder and confirms Ridley's story, saying that the government is negotiating with Barnett to purchase Ridley's work.
Scully hears someone dialing into her answering machine and spots Barnett's fingerprint on it. After Barnett calls again, Mulder decides to set up a sting operation at the cello recital for a friend of Scully's, which Barnett learned about from her answering-machine.
That night, FBI agents wait at the concert hall for Barnett's arrival. Barnett, who goes completely unseen due to his youthful appearance, poses as a piano tuner. He shoots Scully in the chest during the recital and then flees, taking the cellist hostage. Mulder doesn't hesitate this time around and fires at Barnett, fatally wounding him. Scully is revealed to have survived the attack, having worn a bullet-proof vest. Despite the efforts of doctors and a mysterious CIA agent to resuscitate Barnett, he dies, and takes the secrets of Ridley's research to the grave. The episode ends with the camera zooming in on locker number 935 in a train station, implying the secrets along with Barnett's precaution, a bomb, are contained within and one day will be discovered.[1][2]
Production[edit]
This episode originated as a script from freelance writer Scott Kaufer, who was an acquaintance of Chris Carter and former employee of California magazine and Warner Bros comedy development department. Chris Carter rewrote the script, which included the addition of Barnett's salamander hand.[3] Fox's standards and practices department fought with the producers over the scene where Barnett strangles Reggie Purdue, and as a result the producers were forced to reduce the length of the scene.[4] The footage of the young girl with progeria was filmed after the production crew contacted the Progeria Society and were put in touch with the family of Courtney Arciaga, who was a young girl with the disease. She and her family were fans of the series, and were flown from their San Diego home to Vancouver to shoot the scene.[5]
Director Michael Lange felt the episode offered him excellent scope to try new techniques, noting that the series producers "encourage cinematic stuff". He felt a highlight of this approach was in shooting the episode's climactic stand-off, explaining that "instead of shooting at a normal eye level as the Salamander Man takes the gun, I tilt up, and now I'm shooting up his nose almost, and it was kind of like very disorienting. The show's got a certain ennui that appeals to me, the film noir-y movies of the '40s look, an undercurrent of tension and anxiety 'cause of all the weird things going on".[6]
William B. Davis makes his second appearance of the series in this episode, although his role is simply credited as "CIA Agent", rather than "Smoking Man", as per his credit in the pilot episode.[3] The character of Reggie Purdue would later be referenced in the fourth season episode "Paper Hearts",[7] and the fifth season episode "Unusual Suspects".[8]
Broadcast and reception[edit]
"Young at Heart" premiered on the Fox network on February 11, 1994, and was first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC Two on January 12, 1995.[9] The episode earned a Nielsen household rating of 7.2 with an 11 share, meaning that roughly 7.2 percent of all television-equipped households, and 11 percent of households watching TV, were tuned in to the episode.[10] A total of 6.8 million households watched this episode during its original airing.[10]
Director Michael Lange said that he "liked the script very much, and I think I stayed fairly close to the original draft. I liked it because it had a good spookiness to it. To me, the intriguing part was the doctor's research into being able to reverse the aging process, which I wish we could have explored more." Executive Producer Robert Goodwin considered the episode one of the most emotional episodes of the first season, due to the time spent working with Courtney Arciaga, the little girl with progeria.[11] In a retrospective of the first season in Entertainment Weekly, the episode was rated a C, being called "far-fetched" and criticised for its unoriginal themes.[12] Zack Handlen, writing for The A.V. Club, described it as "sloppy, poorly edited" and "thoroughly unexciting", pointing out the "forced" nature of the supporting characters' past involvement with Fox Mulder.[13] Matt Haigh, writing for Den of Geek, expressed mixed feelings over the episode, comparing it to Quincy, M.E. and stating that it "just wasn't weird enough" for an episode of The X-Files.[14] "Young at Heart" has been cited, along with the fourth season episode "Paper Hearts", as representing "the supreme irony and the hidden agenda of the series"—in both cases, Mulder, directly through his work on the X-Files, puts information permanently beyond reach by killing those who hold it, showing that "despite the fact that Mulder drives the car, he frequently ends up—and goes—nowhere".[15]
Footnotes[edit]
1.Jump up ^ Lowry, pp.136–137
2.Jump up ^ Lovece, pp.83–84
3.^ Jump up to: a b Lovece, p.85
4.Jump up ^ Lowry, p.137
5.Jump up ^ Edwards, p.65
6.Jump up ^ Appelo, Tim (March 18, 1994). "X Appeal". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved August 10, 2011.
7.Jump up ^ Director: Rob Bowman; Writer: Vince Gilligan (December 15, 1996). "Paper Hearts". The X-Files. Season 4. Episode 10. Fox.
8.Jump up ^ Director: Kim Manners; Writer: Vince Gilligan (November 16, 1997). "Unusual Suspects". The X-Files. Season 5. Episode 3. Fox.
9.Jump up ^ Robert Mandel, Daniel Sackheim, et al (booklet). The X-Files: The Complete First Season (Liner notes). Fox.
10.^ Jump up to: a b Lowry, p.248
11.Jump up ^ Edwards, pp.64–65
12.Jump up ^ "X Cyclopedia: The Ultimate Episode Guide, Season 1 | EW.com". Entertainment Weekly. November 29, 1996. Retrieved July 7, 2011.
13.Jump up ^ Handlen, Zack (July 24, 2008). ""Young at Heart" / "E.B.E." / "Miracle Man" | The X-Files/Millennium | TV Club | TV | The A.V. Club". The A.V. Club. Retrieved July 27, 2011.
14.Jump up ^ Haigh, Matt (November 18, 2008). "Revisiting The X-Files: Season 1 Episode 16 - Den of Geek". Den of Geek. Dennis Publishing. Retrieved August 1, 2011.
15.Jump up ^ Sharret, pp.325–326
References[edit]
Edwards, Ted (1996). X-Files Confidential. Little, Brown and Company. ISBN 0-316-21808-1.
Lovece, Frank (1996). The X-Files Declassified. Citadel Press. ISBN 0-8065-1745-X.
Lowry, Brian (1995). The Truth is Out There: The Official Guide to the X-Files. Harper Prism. ISBN 0-06-105330-9.
Sharrett, Christopher (1999). Mythologies of Violence in Postmodern Media. Wayne State University Press. ISBN 0-8143-2742-7.
External links[edit]
 Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: TXF Season 1
"Young at Heart" on The X-Files official website
"Young at Heart" at the Internet Movie Database
"Young at Heart" at TV.com

[hide]
­v·
 ­t·
 ­e
 
The X-Files episodes

 
­Seasons: 1·
 ­2·
 ­3·
 ­4·
 ­5·
 ­6·
 ­7·
 ­8·
 ­9
 
 
Season 1
­"Pilot"·
 ­"Deep Throat"·
 ­"Squeeze"·
 ­"Conduit"·
 ­"The Jersey Devil"·
 ­"Shadows"·
 ­"Ghost in the Machine"·
 ­"Ice"·
 ­"Space"·
 ­"Fallen Angel"·
 ­"Eve"·
 ­"Fire"·
 ­"Beyond the Sea"·
 ­"Gender Bender"·
 ­"Lazarus"·
 ­"Young at Heart"·
 ­"E.B.E."·
 ­"Miracle Man"·
 ­"Shapes"·
 ­"Darkness Falls"·
 ­"Tooms"·
 ­"Born Again"·
 ­"Roland"·
 ­"The Erlenmeyer Flask"
 

 

Categories: The X-Files (season 1) episodes
1994 television episodes


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E.B.E.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 
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"E.B.E."
The X-Files episode
Episode no.
Season 1
 Episode 17
Directed by
William Graham
Written by
Glen Morgan
James Wong
Production code
1X16
Original air date
February 18, 1994
Guest actors

Jerry Hardin as Deep Throat
Bruce Harwood as John Fitzgerald Byers
Tom Braidwood as Melvin Frohike
Dean Haglund as Richard Langly
Peter LaCroix as Ranheim/Frank Druce
Allan Lysell as Chief Rivers
 
Episode chronology

← Previous
 "Young at Heart" Next →
 "Miracle Man"

List of season 1 episodes
List of The X-Files episodes
"E.B.E." (short for Extraterrestrial Biological Entity) is the seventeenth episode of the first season of the American science fiction television series The X-Files. It premiered on the Fox network on February 18, 1994. It was written by Glen Morgan and James Wong, and directed by William Graham. The episode introduced the recurring characters of The Lone Gunmen, played by Bruce Harwood, Dean Haglund and Tom Braidwood; and saw Jerry Hardin reprise his role as Deep Throat. The episode helped explore the series' overarching mythology. "E.B.E." earned a Nielsen household rating of 6.2, being watched by 5.8 million households in its initial broadcast; and received positive reviews from critics.
The show centers on FBI special agents Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) who work on cases linked to the paranormal, called X-Files. When Mulder and Scully investigate the possible smuggling of a crashed UFO and its inhabitant across America, they find themselves being spied on and face doubts over the motives of a secretive informant.
Inspired by the movie All the President's Men, "E.B.E." was the first mythology-centred episode written for the show by writers Glen Morgan and James Wong. The episode also introduced the characters of The Lone Gunmen—conspiracy theorists John Fitzgerald Byers (Bruce Harwood), Richard Langly (Dean Haglund) and Melvin Frohike (Tom Braidwood). The characters, who were used to help Mulder appear more credible, later became recurring characters and eventually gained their own spin-off series, The Lone Gunmen.

Contents
  [hide] 1 Plot
2 Production
3 Broadcast and reception
4 Footnotes 4.1 References
5 External links
Plot[edit]
In the skies over Iraq's border with Turkey, an Iraqi fighter pilot shoots down a UFO. Later, in rural Tennessee, a truck driver named Ranheim shoots something in the dark as another UFO flies overhead. Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) investigate the sighting the next day, but Ranheim is quickly let go by the uncooperative local authorities. In a seemingly inconsequential event, a woman briefly borrows Scully's pen before they leave Tennessee.
Back in Washington, D.C., Mulder introduces Scully to the Lone Gunmen, a trio of eccentric conspiracy theorists who collaborate with Mulder. After returning to FBI headquarters, Scully discovers a surveillance device within her pen. Mulder meets with Deep Throat, who provides him with documentation of an intercepted Iraqi transmission regarding the downed UFO. Scully continues to investigate the Tennessee incident, learning that two thousand pounds of extra weight had been added to Ranheim's truck. She also learns Ranheim's true identity as Frank Druce.
Mulder intends to track Druce's truck, which is on its way to Colorado. However, before he leaves, Deep Throat approaches Mulder at his apartment, offering the photo of a purported UFO at Fort Benning, Georgia. Mulder initially believes that Druce's truck is a decoy meant to distract him from the UFO, but discovers that Deep Throat's photo is a fake. When Mulder confronts Deep Throat, he admits his deception and confirms that the earlier transmission was genuine. He also divulges that the truck is being used to transport an extraterrestrial biological entity, or E.B.E., that was recovered from the Iraqi crash site. Mulder and Scully escape their pursuers and drive towards Las Vegas, the last known location of the truck.
Mulder and Scully catch up with the truck, and while pursuing it encounter strange weather. The truck stalls, but when they head inside it they find both Druce and the E.B.E. have vanished. With help from MUFON and NICAP, Mulder tracks Druce and the E.B.E. to a power plant in Mattawa, Washington. With assistance from the Lone Gunmen, the agents are able to enter the plant with fake identification. Their unfamiliarity soon gives them away, but Mulder flees from the guards through a restricted area and is about to approach the creature when armed guards stop him.
Deep Throat appears and calls off the guards, telling Mulder the E.B.E. is dead. He reveals an agreement made between multiple countries after Roswell that any living E.B.E. found would be killed, and that he is one of three men to have executed an E.B.E. Afterwards, Deep Throat lets Mulder and Scully go free.[1][2]
Production[edit]
This episode was the first mythology-centred episode written for the show by writers Glen Morgan and James Wong. Morgan claims that the tone of the episode was inspired by the movie All the President's Men.[3] Some of the scenes were inspired by photographs sent to Morgan and Wong by location scouts of a BC Hydro power station, which was used as a shooting location in the episode. The empty "lab" area that had held the episode's eponymous entity in the final scene was, in fact, a research facility used for testing electrical current events.[4]
The episode also introduced the characters of The Lone Gunmen—conspiracy theorists John Fitzgerald Byers (Bruce Harwood), Richard Langly (Dean Haglund) and Melvin Frohike (Tom Braidwood). The characters, who were used to help Mulder appear more credible,[5] were originally meant to only appear in this episode, but due to their popularity on the internet, they returned in the second season episode "Blood" and became recurring characters.[6] The inspiration for the Lone Gunmen came from a group of men that writers Glen Morgan and Marilyn Osborn met at a UFO convention in June 1993.[6] The trio would eventually feature in the spin-off series The Lone Gunmen. Tom Braidwood, who plays Lone Gunman Melvin Frohike, was the first assistant director for the series, and became Frohike after passing by the office where the producers were casting the roles of the Gunmen.[5] Braidwood's name had been used in several episodes, including this one, as an in-joke due to his assistant director role.[7][8]
Broadcast and reception[edit]
"E.B.E." premiered on the Fox network on February 18, 1994, and was first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC Two on January 19, 1995.[9] The episode earned a Nielsen household rating of 6.2 with a 9 share, meaning that roughly 6.2 percent of all television-equipped households, and 9 percent of households watching TV, were tuned in to the episode.[10] A total of 5.8 million households watched this episode during its original airing.[10]
Writer James Wong was disappointed with the episode, feeling that he "didn't do a great job on the script. We wanted to do a show that's all about paranoia and a conspiracy theory, but at the end I felt like we didn't really gain a lot of new ground or learn a lot of new things. I think we played a lot of texture instead of substance."[3] Series creator Chris Carter on the other hand claimed the episode was one of the most popular first season episodes and thought the teaser and the scene with Mulder meeting Deep Throat at a shark tank were memorable.[3] He also praised Jerry Hardin's performance in the episode, finding that he lent the show the "believability" that it needed.[11]
In a retrospective of the first season in Entertainment Weekly, the episode was rated an A, being called "dense, dazzling, and dark", with the introduction of The Lone Gunmen being praised.[12] Zack Handlen, writing for The A.V. Club, described it as "occasionally clunky but generally fun", finding the revelations of Deep Throat's motivation to be a highlight.[13] Matt Haigh, writing for Den of Geek, felt that the episode was a good example of the series refusing "to show its hand too early", saying that it would even have worked well as a season finale.[14] The plot for "E.B.E." was also adapted as a novel for young adults in 1996 by Les Martin.[15][16]
Footnotes[edit]
1.Jump up ^ Lowry, pp.138–139
2.Jump up ^ Lovece,pp.86–87
3.^ Jump up to: a b c Edwards, p.66
4.Jump up ^ Gradnitzer and Pittson, p.44
5.^ Jump up to: a b Hurwitz; Knowles, p.49
6.^ Jump up to: a b Lowry, pp.139–140
7.Jump up ^ Lowry, p.113
8.Jump up ^ Lowry, p.139
9.Jump up ^ The X-Files: The Complete First Season (Media notes). Fox. 1993–1994.
10.^ Jump up to: a b Lowry, p.248
11.Jump up ^ Chris Carter (narrator). Chris Carter Speaks about Season One Episodes: E.B.E. (DVD). Fox.
12.Jump up ^ "X Cyclopedia: The Ultimate Episode Guide, Season 1 | EW.com". Entertainment Weekly. November 29, 1996. Retrieved August 3, 2011.
13.Jump up ^ Handlen, Zack (July 24, 2008). ""Young at Heart" / "E.B.E." / "Miracle Man" | The X-Files/Millennium | TV Club | TV | The A.V. Club". The A.V. Club. Retrieved August 3, 2011.
14.Jump up ^ Haigh, Matt (November 20, 2008). "Revisiting The X-Files: Season 1 Episode 17 - Den of Geek". Den of Geek. Dennis Publishing. Retrieved August 3, 2011.
15.Jump up ^ Martin, Les (1996). E.B.E.: A Novel. HarperCollins. ISBN 0-06-440653-9.
16.Jump up ^ "E.B.E.: a novel (Book, 1996)". WorldCat. Retrieved August 10, 2011. "Based on the teleplay written by Glen Morgan and James Wong"
References[edit]
Edwards, Ted (1996). X-Files Confidential. Little, Brown and Company. ISBN 0-316-21808-1.
Gradnitzer, Louisa; Pittson, Todd (1999). X Marks the Spot: On Location with The X-Files. Arsenal Pulp Press. ISBN 1-55152-066-4.
Hurwitz, Matt; Knowles, Chris (2008). The Complete X-Files. Insight Editions. ISBN 1-933784-80-6.
Lovece, Frank (1996). The X-Files Declassified. Citadel Press. ISBN 0-8065-1745-X.
Lowry, Brian (1995). The Truth is Out There: The Official Guide to the X-Files. Harper Prism. ISBN 0-06-105330-9.
External links[edit]
 Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: TXF Season 1
"E.B.E." on The X-Files official website
"E.B.E." at the Internet Movie Database
"E.B.E." at TV.com

[hide]
­v·
 ­t·
 ­e
 
The X-Files episodes

 
­Seasons: 1·
 ­2·
 ­3·
 ­4·
 ­5·
 ­6·
 ­7·
 ­8·
 ­9
 
 
Season 1
­"Pilot"·
 ­"Deep Throat"·
 ­"Squeeze"·
 ­"Conduit"·
 ­"The Jersey Devil"·
 ­"Shadows"·
 ­"Ghost in the Machine"·
 ­"Ice"·
 ­"Space"·
 ­"Fallen Angel"·
 ­"Eve"·
 ­"Fire"·
 ­"Beyond the Sea"·
 ­"Gender Bender"·
 ­"Lazarus"·
 ­"Young at Heart"·
 ­"E.B.E."·
 ­"Miracle Man"·
 ­"Shapes"·
 ­"Darkness Falls"·
 ­"Tooms"·
 ­"Born Again"·
 ­"Roland"·
 ­"The Erlenmeyer Flask"
 

 

Categories: The X-Files (season 1) episodes
1994 television episodes


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Miracle Man (The X-Files)

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"Miracle Man"
The X-Files episode
Episode no.
Season 1
 Episode 18
Directed by
Michael Lange
Written by
Chris Carter
Howard Gordon
Production code
1X17
Original air date
March 18, 1994
Guest actors

R. D. Call as Sheriff Maurice Daniel
Scott Bairstow as Samuel Hartley
George Gerdes as Reverend Calvin Hartley
Dennis Lipscomb as Leonard Vance
 
Episode chronology

← Previous
 "E.B.E." Next →
 "Shapes"

List of season 1 episodes
List of The X-Files episodes
"Miracle Man" is the eighteenth episode of the first season of the American science fiction television series The X-Files. It premiered on the Fox network on March 18, 1994. It was written by Howard Gordon and series creator Chris Carter, directed by Michael Lange, and featured guest appearances by R. D. Call and Scott Bairstow. The episode is a "Monster-of-the-Week" story, unconnected to the series' wider mythology. "Miracle Man" earned a Nielsen household rating of 7.5, being watched by 7.1 million households in its initial broadcast; and received mixed reviews from critics.
The show centers on FBI special agents Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) who work on cases linked to the paranormal, called X-Files. When Mulder and Scully receive a video tape of a faith healer whose latest patient died mysteriously, the agents come to believe the healer's ministry may be covering up several murders.
"Miracle Man" was the first episode of The X-Files written by Howard Gordon without the aid of his long-term collaborator Alex Gansa. Chris Carter helped Gordon flesh out the details of the episode. Exterior shots for the episode were filmed on location in Steveston, British Columbia—a location which had previously been used in the earlier first season episode "Gender Bender".

Contents
  [hide] 1 Plot
2 Production
3 Broadcast and reception
4 Footnotes 4.1 References
5 External links
Plot[edit]
In 1983, a young boy, Samuel Hartley, appears at the scene of a car accident and pushes his way past an emergency crew. He opens a body bag and commands the severely burnt cadaver inside to "rise up and heal". Samuel's father, Calvin, convinces the paramedics to let him continue. The body inside the bag begins to revive.
Ten years later, Dana Scully shows Fox Mulder a videotape of a religious service led by the now-grown Samuel, who has become an evangelical faith healer for a ministry run by Calvin. The video shows a supposed healing which later left the follower dead. The agents travel to Tennessee, where they attend a service featuring an enthusiastic sermon by Leonard Vance, the man whom Samuel raised from the dead a decade earlier. The agents learn from Calvin that Samuel has gone missing.
Samuel eventually turns up drunk at a local bar, his faith shaken by the death. He is taken into custody. The agents doubt his ability, but he is able to convince Mulder that he knows the latter has lost a sister—Samantha—at a young age. Mulder has been seeing visions of Samantha, and continues to see them. At Samuel's bail hearing, the courtroom fills with a swarm of locusts, allowing him to escape.
Once he is released, Samuel returns to his ministry and attempts to heal a woman in a wheelchair. However, she suffers a seizure and dies, which leads to Samuel's second arrest. An autopsy reveals the woman died of cyanide poisoning, whilst Mulder and Scully find evidence that the swarm of locusts, which were actually common grasshoppers, was guided by someone to the courtroom through the building's ventilation system. Mulder believes Samuel to be innocent. However, the local sheriff, Maurice Daniel, allows two of his men to fatally beat Samuel in his cell.
At his home, Vance is confronted by a ghostly vision of Samuel, who accuses him of betraying the church and perpetrating the murders. Vance confesses and blames his bitterness at having been resurrected with such a scarred and deformed visage. Mulder and Scully, who have been able to trace a large purchase of grasshoppers to Vance, arrive to find the man dying of cyanide poisoning from his own glass of water. He confesses to the agents before falling dead.
As the agents prepare to finish work on the case, they receive a phone call to say that Samuel's body has gone missing from the morgue, and witnesses have seen him walking around, badly bruised. Meanwhile, Sheriff Daniels is arrested by one of his deputies for questioning by the district attorney over Samuel's death. As Mulder and Scully leave Tennessee, Samuel's ministry closes down, and Mulder sees one last vision of his missing sister before he gets into his car.
Production[edit]
"Miracle Man" was the first episode of The X-Files written by Howard Gordon without the aid of his long-term collaborator Alex Gansa.[1] The pair had worked on several other series before The X-Files,[1] and had also contributed the episodes "Conduit",[2] "Ghost in the Machine",[3] "Fallen Angel"[4] and "Lazarus"[5] to the series so far. Series creator Chris Carter recalls being asked to collaborate on the episode, saying "Howard came to my house, and said, 'Help me out,' so we went to my living room and put up this bulletin board and in a matter of hours we came up with this story".[6] Originally the script had called for more overt religious imagery, though censors at Fox objected to depictions of faith healer Samuel being beaten to death whilst in a cruciform pose, leading to scenes being cut.[7]
Exterior shots of the town were filmed on location in Steveston, British Columbia—a location which had previously been used in the earlier first season episode "Gender Bender".[8] Scenes set in the home of Reverend Hartley were shot in a mansion in the Langley area, with the crew taking advantage of an old filled-in swimming pool in the building to set up the necessary equipment.[9] All of the scenes set in the faith healer's tent were filmed in one day, and involved over three hundred extras. Producer R. W. Goodwin felt that the greatest difficulty in creating the episode was the challenge in finding enough actors in the Vancouver area who could portray a convincing Southern United States accent, leading to the hiring of a dialect coach to prevent the cast from sounding "like they were coming from fifteen different parts of the South".[10]
Broadcast and reception[edit]
"Miracle Man" premiered on the Fox network on March 18, 1994, and was first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC Two on January 26, 1995.[11] The episode earned a Nielsen household rating of 7.5 with a 13 share, meaning that roughly 7.5 percent of all television-equipped households, and 13 percent of households watching TV, were tuned in to the episode.[12] A total of 7.1 million households watched this episode during its original airing.[12]
In a retrospective of the first season in Entertainment Weekly, the episode was rated a B-. Scott Bairstow's guest role was praised, though it was noted that "an ultimately contrived plot and a stereotypical Bible-thumping Southern milieu make for a case more suited to Jessica Fletcher than Mulder and Scully".[13] Zack Handlen, writing for The A.V. Club, described it as "a largely predictable story that hits all the middle-of-the-road marks", finding the religious imagery to have been used to little effect.[14] Matt Haigh, writing for Den of Geek, felt that the identity of the killer was one of the few endings amongst first season episodes that he had found genuinely surprising, though he attributed this to the episode's focus on Mulder's personal history.[15] The use of Mulder's visions of his sister Samantha as a motivation for his actions in this episode has been seen as "opening up" the overarching search for the truth about her through the series.[16] The plot for "Miracle Man" was also adapted as a novel for young adults in 2000 by Terry Bisson.[17][18]
Footnotes[edit]
1.^ Jump up to: a b Lowry, p.142
2.Jump up ^ Daniel Sackheim (director); Howard Gordon & Alex Gansa (writers) (October 1, 1993). "Conduit". The X-Files. Season 1. Episode 1. Fox Broadcasting Company.
3.Jump up ^ Jerrold Freedman (director); Howard Gordon & Alex Gansa (writers) (October 29, 1993). "Ghost in the Machine". The X-Files. Season 1. Episode 7. Fox Broadcasting Company.
4.Jump up ^ Larry Shaw (director); Howard Gordon & Alex Gansa (writers) (November 19, 1993). "Fallen Angel". The X-Files. Season 1. Episode 9. Fox Broadcasting Company.
5.Jump up ^ David Nutter (director); Howard Gordon & Alex Gansa (writers) (February 4, 1994). "Lazarus". The X-Files. Season 1. Episode 15. Fox Broadcasting Company.
6.Jump up ^ Edwards, p.67
7.Jump up ^ Cantor, p.228
8.Jump up ^ Gradnitzer and Pittson, p.43
9.Jump up ^ Gradnitzer and Pittson, p.45–46
10.Jump up ^ Edwards, pp.68–69
11.Jump up ^ Robert Mandel, Daniel Sackheim, et al (booklet). The X-Files: The Complete First Season (Liner notes). Fox.
12.^ Jump up to: a b Lowry, p.248
13.Jump up ^ "X Cyclopedia: The Ultimate Episode Guide, Season 1 | EW.com". Entertainment Weekly. November 29, 1996. Retrieved August 6, 2011.
14.Jump up ^ Handlen, Zack (July 24, 2008). ""Young at Heart" / "E.B.E." / "Miracle Man" | The X-Files/Millennium | TV Club | TV | The A.V. Club". The A.V. Club. Retrieved August 6, 2011.
15.Jump up ^ Haigh, Matt (November 24, 2008). "Revisiting The X-Files: Season 1 Episode 18 - Den of Geek". Den of Geek. Dennis Publishing. Retrieved August 6, 2011.
16.Jump up ^ Parish, p.136
17.Jump up ^ Bisson, Terry (2000). Miracle Man: A Novelization. HarperEntertainment. ISBN 0-06-106617-6.
18.Jump up ^ "Miracle Man: A Novelization (Book, 2000)". WorldCat. Retrieved August 6, 2011. "…based on the teleplay written by Howard Gordon and Chris Carter"
References[edit]
Cantor, Paul A (2003). Gilligan Unbound: Pop Culture in the Age of Globalization. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 0-7425-0779-3.
Edwards, Ted (1996). X-Files Confidential. Little, Brown and Company. ISBN 0-316-21808-1.
Gradnitzer, Louisa; Pittson, Todd (1999). X Marks the Spot: On Location with The X-Files. Arsenal Pulp Press. ISBN 1-55152-066-4.
Lowry, Brian (1995). The Truth is Out There: The Official Guide to the X-Files. Harper Prism. ISBN 0-06-105330-9.
Parish, Jane (2001). The Age of Anxiety: Conspiracy Theory and the Human Sciences. Wiley-Blackwell. ISBN 0-631-23168-4.
External links[edit]
 Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: TXF Season 1
"Miracle Man" on The X-Files official website
"Miracle Man" at the Internet Movie Database
"Miracle Man" at TV.com

[hide]
­v·
 ­t·
 ­e
 
The X-Files episodes

 
­Seasons: 1·
 ­2·
 ­3·
 ­4·
 ­5·
 ­6·
 ­7·
 ­8·
 ­9
 
 
Season 1
­"Pilot"·
 ­"Deep Throat"·
 ­"Squeeze"·
 ­"Conduit"·
 ­"The Jersey Devil"·
 ­"Shadows"·
 ­"Ghost in the Machine"·
 ­"Ice"·
 ­"Space"·
 ­"Fallen Angel"·
 ­"Eve"·
 ­"Fire"·
 ­"Beyond the Sea"·
 ­"Gender Bender"·
 ­"Lazarus"·
 ­"Young at Heart"·
 ­"E.B.E."·
 ­"Miracle Man"·
 ­"Shapes"·
 ­"Darkness Falls"·
 ­"Tooms"·
 ­"Born Again"·
 ­"Roland"·
 ­"The Erlenmeyer Flask"
 

 

Categories: The X-Files (season 1) episodes
1994 television episodes


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Shapes (The X-Files)

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Jump to: navigation, search

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"Shapes"
The X-Files episode
Episode no.
Season 1
 Episode 19
Directed by
David Nutter
Written by
Marilyn Osborn
Production code
1X18
Original air date
April 1, 1994
Guest actors

Ty Miller as Lyle Parker
Michael Horse as Sheriff Charles Tskany
Donnelly Rhodes as Jim Parker
Jimmy Herman as Ish
 
Episode chronology

← Previous
 "Miracle Man" Next →
 "Darkness Falls"

List of season 1 episodes
List of The X-Files episodes
"Shapes" is the nineteenth episode of the first season of the American science fiction television series The X-Files. It premiered on the Fox network on April 1, 1994. "Shapes" was written by Marilyn Osborn, and directed by David Nutter. It featured guest appearances by Michael Horse, Ty Miller and Donnelly Rhodes. The episode is a "Monster-of-the-Week" story, a stand-alone plot which is unconnected to the series' wider mythology. "Shapes" earned a Nielsen household rating of 7.6, being watched by 7.2 million households in its initial broadcast; and received mixed reviews, with varied reaction to the episode's handling of the werewolf genre and of its Native American themes.
The show centers on FBI special agents Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) who work on cases linked to the paranormal, called X-Files. In this episode, Mulder and Scully are called to Montana after a shooting on a farm near a Native American reservation. Investigating the case, the agents find that the dead man, and those that he attacked, may be capable of shapeshifting into ferocious beasts—a phenomenon which was documented in the very first X-File.
"Shapes" was written after executives at Fox had suggested that the series should feature a "more conventional" type of monster, and producers James Wong and Glen Morgan began looking into Native American legends of the Manitou to form the basis of the episode's concept. Much of the episode was filmed in Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows, British Columbia.

Contents
  [hide] 1 Plot
2 Production
3 Broadcast and reception
4 See also
5 Footnotes 5.1 References
6 External links
Plot[edit]
FBI agents Dana Scully and Fox Mulder travel to rural Montana to investigate the killing of a Native American man, Joseph Goodensnake, by local ranch owner Jim Parker. Upon arriving in Montana, Mulder informs Scully that forty years previously there was a similar incident in the area, which was investigated by J. Edgar Hoover and became the FBI's first X-File case. The present killing appears to be motivated by a dispute over the ownership of a tract of land, although Parker claims that he fired on a monstrous animal rather than a human. Parker's son, Lyle, bears scars that lends credence to the story.
At the scene of the shooting, Scully reasons that at the short range from which Goodensnake was shot, it would have been impossible to mistake him for an animal. However, Mulder finds tracks leading to the area that appear to change from human to something more animal in nature. Scully dismisses this, but finds a large section of human skin nearby. She believes that the Parkers knowingly killed Goodensnake, but knows that they couldn't have skinned him since no signs of such injury were found on the body.
The matter is complicated by the difficulties Mulder and Scully have with dealing with the Native American population, stemming from the experience of the locals with the FBI at the Wounded Knee incident in 1973. Goodensnake's sister Gwen is also bitter that her neighbors are too frightened of native legends to confront his death. Despite these misgivings, the agents find a seeming ally in Sheriff Charles Tskany, who permits Scully to make a cursory examination of Goodensnake's body, but forbids a full autopsy. They discover that he had elongated canines, similar to those of an animal, and bears long-healed scars similar to those borne by Lyle.
Goodensnake's body is cremated in a traditional ceremony, while the agents watch from a distance. Mulder shares with Scully his belief that both the culprits in both the current case and Hoover's investigation are werewolves. Scully dismisses this theory and instead credits the belief to clinical lycanthropy. The elder Parker is subsequently ripped apart by an unseen animal outside his home, and Lyle is found naked and unconscious a few hundred yards away.
Ish, one of the elder men of the reservation, explains to Mulder the legend of the manitou, a creature which can possess and transform a man and which can pass to a new host, through a bite, or upon the death of the original host. Ish believes he had seen the creature in his youth, but was too frightened to confront it. He says it happens every eight years to someone in the region, and that it has been that long since the last sighting of a possible manitou.
An examination of Lyle reveals his father's flesh in his stomach, though not before Scully brings him home from the hospital. After the medical examiner calls, Mulder and Tskany hurry to the Parker ranch. The beast has already arrived at the ranch house, and has stalked Scully into the attic of the Parker home. Just as the creature luges from the shadows to attack Scully, she shoots it, thinking it was the Parker's pet mountain lion, escaped. Outside, Mulder and Tskany see that the mountain lion is still in its' cage, and discover Lyle's body in the attic. As the agents leave, they learn that Gwen has left town, whilst Ish cryptically warns Mulder, "See you in about eight years, agent man."
Production[edit]

 

Michael Horse, who played Sheriff Tskany in the episode, had previously appeared with series lead David Duchovny in Twin Peaks.
"Shapes" was written after executives at Fox had suggested that the series should feature a "more conventional" type of monster, and producers James Wong and Glen Morgan began looking into Native American legends of the Manitou to form the basis of the episode's concept, believing that "a horror show should be able to do these legends that have been around since the thirteen hundreds".[1] The episode made mention of the first X-File case to have been opened, apparently initiated by J. Edgar Hoover in 1946;[2] whilst it also references the events of the earlier first season episode "Beyond the Sea", as Scully is seen discussing her father's death.[3] "Shapes" marked the first time an episode of The X-Files had made use of Native American themes and folklore. Whilst this episode was a stand-alone 'monster-of-the-week' story, later episodes beginning with the second season finale "Anasazi", would begin to incorporate Navajo cultural references into the show's overarching mythology.[4]
Guest star Michael Horse, who plays Sheriff Charles Tskany, is the third guest star of the series to have previously appeared alongside David Duchovny in Twin Peaks, after fellow alumnui Claire Stansfield, who played the Jersey Devil in the episode of the same name, and Don Davis who had portrayed Agent Scully's father William in the earlier episode "Beyond the Sea". Davis would reappear in the second season's "One Breath", whilst other Twin Peaks actors would appear later episodes of the series—Michael J. Anderson in the second season's "Humbug", and Kenneth Welsh in the third season's "Revelations"[5]
Much of the episode was filmed in Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows, British Columbia, on a site named Bordertown—a "classic western" town that had been built specifically for film sets, located just a "ten-minute drive" from first assistant director Tom Braidwood's home. The area was chosen as it provided locations for the exterior shots of the reservation, plus all of the interior areas that were needed for the episode. Despite covering the area in gravel, heavy rains left the ground sodden and muddy enough to bog down equipment and vehicles.[6] Similar weather conditions would hinder the filming of the next episode, "Darkness Falls".[7] The funeral pyre scene was lit mostly using the natural light of the bonfire used; whilst the extras who sang and prayed were cast by director David Nutter after a visit to a weekly meeting of Native Americans in Vancouver, who felt that casting non-professionals would lend the scene more authenticity.[8]
Broadcast and reception[edit]
"Shapes" premiered on the Fox network on April 1, 1994, and was first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC Two on February 2, 1995.[9] The episode earned a Nielsen household rating of 7.6 with a 14 share, meaning that roughly 7.6 percent of all television-equipped households, and 14 percent of households watching TV, were tuned in to the episode.[10] A total of 7.2 million households watched this episode during its original airing.[10]
In a retrospective of the first season in Entertainment Weekly, the episode was rated a D+, being described as having a "garden-variety werewolf plot" that offered "nothing much to sink your teeth into".[2] Zack Handlen, writing for The A.V. Club, described the episode as "thoroughly predictable". He found the plot to be unoriginal, believing that it existed "more out of a sense of tradition than any real desire to tell a specific story"; however, he praised the acting in the episode, especially that of guest star Michael Horse.[3] Matt Haigh, writing for Den of Geek, described "Shapes" as being "a very basic and slightly drawn-out werewolf and detective story", though overall finding that the episode's visual effects and atmosphere meant that it "that mostly comes out good in the end".[11] "Shapes" has been criticized for seeming like a "werewolf tale with Native American trappings", with its attempts at political correctness being seen as forced.[12] However, it was praised for not adhering to the "noble savage" archetype in its portrayal of the Native American characters.[13] Jane Goldman, in The X-Files Book of the Unexplained, feels that the episode seriously misrepresents the folklore it portrays, noting that "for many natives, calling a crazed, man-eating beast 'Manitou' is like calling Charles Manson 'God'".[14] The plot for "Shapes" was also adapted as a novel for young adults in 1996 by Ellen Steiber.[15][16]
See also[edit]
Wendigo
Shape shifter
Footnotes[edit]
1.Jump up ^ Lowry, p.144
2.^ Jump up to: a b "X Cyclopedia: The Ultimate Episode Guide, Season 1 | EW.com". Entertainment Weekly. November 29, 1996. Retrieved August 7, 2011.
3.^ Jump up to: a b Handlen, Zack (August 1, 2008). ""Shapes" / "Darkness Falls" / "Tooms" | The X-Files/Millennium | TV Club | TV | The A.V. Club". The A.V. Club. Retrieved August 7, 2011.
4.Jump up ^ Cantor, p.158
5.Jump up ^ Lavery, Hague and Cartwright, p.32
6.Jump up ^ Gradnitzer and Pittson, p.46
7.Jump up ^ Lowry, p.146
8.Jump up ^ Mat Beck, Chris Carter, Howard Gordon, Dean Haglund, David Nutter, Paul Rawbin, Daniel Sackheim, Mark Snow. The Truth About Season One (DVD). Fox.
9.Jump up ^ Robert Mandel, Daniel Sackheim, et al (booklet). The X-Files: The Complete First Season (Liner notes). Fox.
10.^ Jump up to: a b Lowry, p.248
11.Jump up ^ Haigh, Matt (November 27, 2008). "Revisiting The X-Files: Season 1 Episode 19 – Den of Geek". Den of Geek. Dennis Publishing. Retrieved August 7, 2011.
12.Jump up ^ Gwenllian-Jones and Pearson, p.125
13.Jump up ^ Gwenllian-Jones and Pearson, p.124
14.Jump up ^ Goldman, p.158
15.Jump up ^ Steiber, Ellen (1996). Shapes: A Novel. HarperCollins. ISBN 0-06-440633-4.
16.Jump up ^ "Shapes: a novel (Book, 1996)". WorldCat. Retrieved August 8, 2011. "…based on the teleplay written by Marilyn Osborn"
References[edit]
Cantor, Paul A (2003). Gilligan Unbound: Pop Culture in the Age of Globalization. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 0-7425-0779-3.
Gradnitzer, Louisa; Pittson, Todd (1999). X Marks the Spot: On Location with The X-Files. Arsenal Pulp Press. ISBN 1-55152-066-4.
Goldman, Jane (1997). The X-Files Book of the Unexplained. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0-684-81962-7.
Gwenllian-Jones, Sara; Pearson, Roberta E. (2004). Cult television. University of Minnesota Press. ISBN 0-8166-3831-4.
Lavery, David; Hague, Angela; Cartwright, Marla (1996). Deny All Knowledge: Reading The X-Files. Syracuse University Press. ISBN 0-8156-2717-3.
Lowry, Brian (1995). The Truth is Out There: The Official Guide to the X-Files. Harper Prism. ISBN 0-06-105330-9.
External links[edit]
 Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: TXF Season 1
"Shapes" on The X-Files official website
"Shapes" at the Internet Movie Database
"Shapes" at TV.com

[hide]
­v·
 ­t·
 ­e
 
The X-Files episodes

 
­Seasons: 1·
 ­2·
 ­3·
 ­4·
 ­5·
 ­6·
 ­7·
 ­8·
 ­9
 
 
Season 1
­"Pilot"·
 ­"Deep Throat"·
 ­"Squeeze"·
 ­"Conduit"·
 ­"The Jersey Devil"·
 ­"Shadows"·
 ­"Ghost in the Machine"·
 ­"Ice"·
 ­"Space"·
 ­"Fallen Angel"·
 ­"Eve"·
 ­"Fire"·
 ­"Beyond the Sea"·
 ­"Gender Bender"·
 ­"Lazarus"·
 ­"Young at Heart"·
 ­"E.B.E."·
 ­"Miracle Man"·
 ­"Shapes"·
 ­"Darkness Falls"·
 ­"Tooms"·
 ­"Born Again"·
 ­"Roland"·
 ­"The Erlenmeyer Flask"
 

 

Categories: The X-Files (season 1) episodes
1994 television episodes



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Darkness Falls (The X-Files)

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"Darkness Falls"
The X-Files episode
Episode no.
Season 1
 Episode 20
Directed by
Joe Napolitano
Written by
Chris Carter
Production code
1X19
Original air date
April 15, 1994
Running time
43 minutes
Guest actors

Jason Beghe as Larry Moore
Titus Welliver as Doug Spinney
Tom O'Rourke as Steve Humphreys
Barry Greene as Perkins
Ken Tremblett as Dyer
David Hay as Clean-Suited Man
 
Episode chronology

← Previous
 "Shapes" Next →
 "Tooms"

List of season 1 episodes
List of The X-Files episodes
"Darkness Falls" is the twentieth episode of the first season of the American science fiction television series The X-Files. It premiered on the Fox network on April 15, 1994. "Darkness Falls" was written by series creator Chris Carter, and directed by Joe Napolitano. It featured guest appearances by Jason Beghe and Titus Welliver. The episode is a "Monster-of-the-Week" story, a stand-alone plot which is unconnected to the series' wider mythology. "Darkness Falls" earned a Nielsen household rating of 8.0, being watched by 7.5 million households in its initial broadcast; and received positive reviews, earning an Environmental Media Award for its treatment of illegal logging.
The show centers on FBI special agents Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) who work on cases linked to the paranormal, called X-Files. In this episode, Mulder and Scully are called in to investigate when a team of loggers disappear without a trace. Initially suspecting eco-terrorism, the agents find themselves trapped by a seemingly ancient menace lurking in the woods.
Chris Carter was inspired to write this episode based on an interest in dendrochronology; a subject that involves analyzing annual growth rings found in non-tropical tree species. Carter credits the episode's ominous ending with his experience growing up in the era following the Watergate scandal, having spent his life coming to mistrust the government profoundly.

Contents
  [hide] 1 Plot
2 Production
3 Broadcast and reception
4 Footnotes 4.1 References
5 External links
Plot[edit]
In Olympic National Forest in Washington State, a group of loggers flee through the woods, trying to escape from an unseen force. They are eventually killed by a large swarm of small glowing green insects.
Later, at FBI headquarters, Fox Mulder shows Dana Scully a photo of the missing loggers, telling her that another group of loggers disappeared in the forest in 1934. The two agents head to the forest, where they meet Park Ranger Larry Moore and Steve Humphreys, head of security for the logging company. While driving through the forest, their truck hits caltrops left in the ground by eco-terrorists, forcing them to walk the rest of the way. Upon arriving at the camp site, Mulder and Scully find the cabins abandoned and the communication equipment destroyed. Searching the forest, they find a corpse encased in a large cocoon hanging from a tree.
While repairing one of the heat generators, Humphreys catches an eco-terrorist named Doug Spinney. He tells the group that there's a deadly swarm of insects in the forest and that they must avoid darkness to stay alive. The next morning, they find an old-growth tree cut down, with an unexplained band of green contained within its growth rings. Spinney suspects that an organism that was dormant in the tree for centuries was disturbed when the tree was illegally cut down. Humphreys hikes down to Moore's truck, but is killed by the swarm at nightfall. In the cabin, everyone else is kept safe by the light. The next morning, Spinney convinces Mulder to let him hike to his colleagues with gasoline so he can return with a Jeep to pick them up. Scully and Moore confront Mulder, since this will leave them with little fuel for the generator.
The night passes with only a single light bulb lighting the cabin, going out just as morning arrives. Spinney returns with the Jeep, telling the others his friends are all dead. They leave the camp site. The Jeep hits another spike left in the ground, and Spinney is killed when he leaves the Jeep after dark. Moore and the agents are engulfed by the insects, who enter the vehicle through the air conditioning. They are found soon after and brought to a quarantined facility, where one of the scientists tells Mulder that the forest is being bombarded with pesticides and controlled fire in the hopes of eradicating the insects.[1][2]
Production[edit]
Chris Carter was inspired to write this episode based on an interest in dendrochronology; a subject that involves analyzing annual growth rings found in non-tropical tree species;[3] as he believed that trees that were "thousands of years old" might end up acting as "time capsules" which would shed light on past events or species.[4] Carter also credits the episode's ominous ending with his experience growing up in the era following the Watergate scandal, having spent his life coming to mistrust the government profoundly.[4] The green insects in this episode were primarily computer-generated and added in during the post-production process.[3] The close up shots of the bugs were done using microscopic photography of mites.[5]
The episode was intended to be a bottle episode, meaning that it would be an episode that would be based in a single location and help save money, but bad weather plagued production and it was one of the toughest episodes for the crew of the season.[6] The episode was shot on location in Lynn Valley, British Columbia, in the Lower Seymour Conservation Reserve—known as the Seymour Demonstration Forest.[7] The atmosphere amongst many of the crew had grown quite tense towards the end of the shooting schedule, which culminated in a heated argument between director Joe Napolitano and first assistant director Vladimir Steffof, after which Napolitano would not appear on location again. "Darkness Falls" would be the last episode of the series Napolitano would direct.[8] The weather delayed production at the site so much that pick-up shots and inserts had to be filmed at a later date to finish the episode.[3] Delays were also caused by the inaccessibility of the location, as only generators, camera equipment and first aid crew were able to stay on-site, and time was wasted commuting staff in each day.[8] Jason Beghe, who played Ranger Larry Moore, was a childhood friend of David Duchovny and helped convince him to pursue an acting career. The camaraderie between the two actors is said to have helped lighten the mood during the episode's difficult production.[3]
Broadcast and reception[edit]
"Darkness Falls" premiered on the Fox network on April 15, 1994, and was first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC Two on February 9, 1995.[9] This episode earned a Nielsen rating of 8.0, with a 14 share, meaning that roughly 8 percent of all television-equipped households, and 14 percent of households watching television, were tuned in to the episode. It was viewed by 7.5 million households.[10]
In a retrospective of the first season in Entertainment Weekly, "Darkness Falls" was rated a B, with the episode being called an "eerie outing" set against a "torn-from-today's-headlines backdrop".[11] Zack Handlen, writing for The A.V. Club, called "Darkness Falls" an "excellent" episode that "hits the right notes". He praised the episode's setting, comparing it to the earlier first season episode "Ice"; and felt that the "on-the-nose" approach to the environmental themes worked well.[12] Matt Haigh, writing for Den of Geek, felt positively about the episode's ambiguous resolution, feeling that its "open-ended treatment" lent the episode "a real mysticism and strength"; and finding that the episode held a sense of "weight, credibility, and intrigue".[13] Writers for IGN named the episode their fifth-favourite standalone episode of the show, finding that it "boasts several interesting twists", and noting positively the episode's "smart" environmental themes.[14]
Although writer and series creator Chris Carter claims "Darkness Falls" was not written with an environmental message in mind, the episode was honored at the fourth annual Environmental Media Awards in 1994, winning in the "Television Episodic Drama" category.[3][15] The plot for "Darkness Falls" was also adapted as a novel for young adults in 1995 by Les Martin.[16][17]
Footnotes[edit]
1.Jump up ^ Lowry pp.145–146
2.Jump up ^ Lovece, pp.94–95
3.^ Jump up to: a b c d e Lowry, p.146
4.^ Jump up to: a b Chris Carter (narrator). Chris Carter Speaks about Season One Episodes: Darkness Falls (DVD). Fox.
5.Jump up ^ Edwards, p.72
6.Jump up ^ Edwards, p.71
7.Jump up ^ Gradnitzer and Pittson, p.46
8.^ Jump up to: a b Gradnitzer and Pittson, p.47
9.Jump up ^ The X-Files: The Complete First Season (Media notes). Fox. 1993–1994.
10.Jump up ^ Lowry, p.248
11.Jump up ^ "X Cyclopedia: The Ultimate Episode Guide, Season 1 | EW.com". Entertainment Weekly. November 29, 1996. Retrieved August 11, 2011.
12.Jump up ^ Handlen, Zack (August 1, 2008). ""Shapes" / "Darkness Falls" / "Tooms" | The X-Files/Millennium | TV Club | TV | The A.V. Club". The A.V. Club. Retrieved August 12, 2011.
13.Jump up ^ Haigh, Matt (December 4, 2008). "Revisiting The X-Files: Season 1 Episode 20 - Den of Geek". Den of Geek. Dennis Publishing. Retrieved August 11, 2011.
14.Jump up ^ Collura, Scott; Fickett, Travis; Goldman, Eric; Seghers, Christine. "IGN's 10 Favorite X-Files Standalone Episodes - TV Feature at IGN". IGN. Retrieved April 18, 2011.
15.Jump up ^ "EMA - 1994 Award Winners". Environmental Media Association. Archived from the original on July 19, 2011. Retrieved August 11, 2011.
16.Jump up ^ Martin, Les (1995). Darkness Falls: A Novel. HarperCollins. ISBN 0-06-440614-8.
17.Jump up ^ "Darkness Falls: a novel (Book, 1995)". WorldCat. Retrieved August 11, 2011. "based on the teleplay written by Chris Carter"
References[edit]
Edwards, Ted (1996). X-Files Confidential. Little, Brown and Company. ISBN 0-316-21808-1.
Gradnitzer, Louisa; Pittson, Todd (1999). X Marks the Spot: On Location with The X-Files. Arsenal Pulp Press. ISBN 1-55152-066-4.
Lovece, Frank (1996). The X-Files Declassified. Citadel Press. ISBN 0-8065-1745-X.
Lowry, Brian (1995). The Truth is Out There: The Official Guide to the X-Files. Harper Prism. ISBN 0-06-105330-9.
External links[edit]
 Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: TXF Season 1
"Darkness Falls" on The X-Files official website
"Darkness Falls" at the Internet Movie Database
"Darkness Falls" at TV.com

[hide]
­v·
 ­t·
 ­e
 
The X-Files episodes

 
­Seasons: 1·
 ­2·
 ­3·
 ­4·
 ­5·
 ­6·
 ­7·
 ­8·
 ­9
 
 
Season 1
­"Pilot"·
 ­"Deep Throat"·
 ­"Squeeze"·
 ­"Conduit"·
 ­"The Jersey Devil"·
 ­"Shadows"·
 ­"Ghost in the Machine"·
 ­"Ice"·
 ­"Space"·
 ­"Fallen Angel"·
 ­"Eve"·
 ­"Fire"·
 ­"Beyond the Sea"·
 ­"Gender Bender"·
 ­"Lazarus"·
 ­"Young at Heart"·
 ­"E.B.E."·
 ­"Miracle Man"·
 ­"Shapes"·
 ­"Darkness Falls"·
 ­"Tooms"·
 ­"Born Again"·
 ­"Roland"·
 ­"The Erlenmeyer Flask"
 

 

Categories: The X-Files (season 1) episodes
1994 television episodes


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Tooms

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 
Jump to: navigation, search

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"Tooms"
The X-Files episode
Episode no.
Season 1
 Episode 21
Directed by
David Nutter
Written by
Glen Morgan
James Wong
Production code
1X20
Original air date
April 22, 1994
Guest actors

Mitch Pileggi as Walter Skinner
William B. Davis as The Smoking Man
Doug Hutchison as Eugene Victor Tooms
Paul Ben-Victor as Dr. Aaron Monte
Henry Beckman as Frank Briggs
Timothy Webber as Detective Talbot
Frank C. Turner as Dr. Collins
Gillian Carfra as Christine Ranford
Pat Bermel as Frank Ranford
Jan D'Arcy as Judge Kann
Jerry Wasserman as Dr. Plith
Mikal Dughi as Dr. Karetzky
Glynis Davies as Nelson
Steve Adams as Myers
Andre Daniels as Arlan Green
Catherine Lough as Dr. Richmond
 
Episode chronology

← Previous
 "Darkness Falls" Next →
 "Born Again"

List of season 1 episodes
List of The X-Files episodes
"Tooms" is the twenty-first episode of the first season of the American science fiction television series The X-Files. It premiered on the Fox network on April 22, 1994. "Tooms" was written by Glen Morgan and James Wong, and directed by David Nutter. The episode featured Mitch Pileggi's first appearance as Assistant Director Walter Skinner, and saw Doug Hutchison and William B. Davis reprise their roles as Eugene Victor Tooms and The Smoking Man, respectively. The episode is a "Monster-of-the-Week" story, a stand-alone plot which is unconnected to the series' wider mythology. "Tooms" earned a Nielsen household rating of 8.6, being watched by 8.1 million households in its initial broadcast; and received positive reviews from critics.
The show centers on FBI special agents Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) who work on cases linked to the paranormal, called X-Files. When mutant serial killer Eugene Tooms, last seen in "Squeeze", is released from prison, Mulder and Scully try to stop him from resuming his killing spree. Tooms, however, sets out to frame Mulder for assault before the agent can apprehend him.
After seeing men working on an open escalator in a mall around Christmas time, Glen Morgan decided to revisit the character of Eugene Victor Tooms, from the first episode he and co-writer James Wong wrote for the series, "Squeeze". "Tooms" introduced the character of Walter Skinner, although this would be his only appearance in the first season. The character had been conceived as playing against the stereotypical bureaucratic "paper-pusher", being instead someone more "quietly dynamic".

Contents
  [hide] 1 Plot
2 Production
3 Reception
4 Footnotes 4.1 References
5 External links
Plot[edit]
After the events of "Squeeze", Eugene Victor Tooms has been placed in a sanatorium in Baltimore. He attempts to escape by squeezing his arm through the food slot of his cell door, but is forced to abort when he is visited by his psychologist, Dr. Aaron Monte.
Dana Scully is called before FBI assistant director Walter Skinner, who is accompanied by the Smoking Man. Despite the success of the X-Files investigations, Skinner criticizes their unconventionalism and wants both Scully and Fox Mulder to do by-the-book work. The agents attend a release hearing for Tooms, where Monte claims that Tooms' attack on Scully was due to being falsely accused of murder. Mulder tries to point out the physical evidence of Tooms' physiology and crimes, but is ignored by the hearing's panel. Tooms is released into the care of an elderly couple, and is ordered to continue his treatment with Dr. Monte.
Scully meets with Frank Briggs, the detective who investigated Tooms' 1933 murders. Briggs claims that the body of one of the victims from that spree was never discovered. Scully and Briggs visit a chemical plant where a piece of the victim's liver was found, ultimately discovering a skeleton encased in concrete. Meanwhile, Mulder harasses Tooms at work, and follows him when he tries to break into a man's house. Tooms flees without attacking anyone.
A researcher examining the skeleton identifies it as the missing victim from 1933. However, there seems to be no substantial evidence proving that Tooms was the murderer. Scully relieves Mulder, who is watching Tooms' new residence; they are unaware that Tooms is hiding in the trunk of Mulder's car. He manages to break into Mulder's apartment, where he injures himself and imprints Mulder's shoe print on his face. Tooms' frameup leads to Mulder being questioned by the police. Skinner forbids Mulder from contacting Tooms.
Further research on the skeleton reveals bite marks matching Tooms' teeth. When the old couple watching Tooms depart and Tooms is visited by Monte, he kills him and consumes the final liver he needs before his thirty-year hibernation. After discovering Monte's body, Mulder and Scully head to Tooms' former residence at 66 Exeter Street, which has been demolished and replaced with a shopping mall. Inside, Mulder crawls below an escalator and finds Tooms' nest. Tooms bursts out, covered in bile, and pursues Mulder, who makes it to the surface and activates the escalator, trapping and killing Tooms.
Skinner reads Scully's final report on the Tooms case and asks the Smoking Man if he believes it, to which he replies, "Of course I do." Outside, Scully finds Mulder, who is observing a caterpillar's cocoon. Mulder predicts that change is coming to the X-Files.[1][2]
Production[edit]

A headshot of a man seated at a microphone

 "Tooms" was directed by David Nutter, who the crew felt was the "best" director working on The X-Files.
Devising a sequel to "Squeeze" posed a challenge for writers Glen Morgan and James Wong, who had never written a follow-up to any of their work previously. Morgan felt that the primary difficulty was in moving the story forward while still leaving room to recap what had happened previously for the benefit of viewers who had not seen the first episode; this led to the use of the courtroom scene as a means to repeat any necessary information.[3] Morgan also felt that Harry Longstreet, the initial director for "Squeeze", had been "a problem", and a second episode allowed for the use of scenes which Longstreet had failed to film for the earlier episode. To this end, the episode was helmed by David Nutter, who series creator Chris Carter considered the "best" director working on the series.[3]
Morgan was inspired to write this episode after seeing men working on an open escalator in a mall around Christmas time. He thought of the scare factor from a creature living underneath the escalator, and felt Tooms would be the perfect choice for the creature. Tooms was the first villain in the show's history to make an appearance in a second episode. It was actor Doug Hutchison's idea to play Tooms nude during the escalator sequence,[4] a decision which Carter felt "caused a little discomfort", but that "actually added to the scene".[5] The bile-like substance coating Tooms and his nest was actually a yellow piping gel, which the cast found would stick to their skin and pull out hair upon removal.[6] Tooms framing Mulder for assault seems to have been inspired by a similar plot point in the film Dirty Harry.[7]
"Tooms" introduced the character of Walter Skinner, although this would be his only appearance in the first season.[1] The character had been conceived as playing against the stereotypical bureaucratic "paper-pusher", being instead someone more "quietly dynamic".[8] Actor Mitch Pileggi had auditioned unsuccessfully for several other parts on the series before being cast as Skinner. At first, the fact that he was asked back to audition for the role had puzzled him, until he discovered the reason he had not cast for the previous parts—Chris Carter had been unable to imagine Pileggi as any of those characters, due to the fact that the actor had been shaving his head. When Pileggi attended the audition for Skinner, he had been in a grumpy mood and had allowed his small amount of hair to grow back. Pileggi's attitude fit well with the character of Skinner, causing Carter to assume that the actor was only pretending to be grumpy. After successfully auditioning for the role, Pileggi thought he had been lucky that he had not been cast in one of the earlier roles, as he believed he would have appeared in only a single episode and would have missed the opportunity to play the recurring role of Skinner.[9]
The episode's climactic scene in the shopping mall where Tooms had made his nest was filmed in City Square Mall, Vancouver. Shooting at the location required the permission of every store owner on the premises, and care was taken to ensure that the stage blood used for the escalator scene did not seep into the escalator's motor to avoid possible damage.[10] "Tooms" includes The Smoking Man's first line of dialogue in the series, and his only lines of the first season.[11] Carter was initially unsure that the character would ever receive any dialogue, feeling that he would seem "more forbidding" if he remained silent. However, he described actor William B. Davis as "an extremely competent actor", noting the character's increasing popularity.[5]
Reception[edit]
"Tooms" premiered on the Fox network on April 22, 1994, and was first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC Two on February 16, 1995.[12] This episode earned a Nielsen rating of 8.6, with a 15 share, meaning that roughly 8.6 percent of all television-equipped households, and 15 percent of households watching television, were tuned in to the episode. It was viewed by 8.1 million households.[13]
In a retrospective of the first season in Entertainment Weekly, "Tooms" was rated an A, with the Hutchison's appearance being noted as "another sublimely slimy performance", whilst Pileggi's performance was said to have an "engagingly steely presence".[14] Zack Handlen, writing for The A.V. Club, called the episode "a richly rewarding one", finding the interaction between the characters of Mulder and Scully to have been a highlight of the episode.[15] However, Handlen felt that some of the episode's plot development was ultimately needless, and found the motives of several characters to have been unexplained and baffling.[15] Matt Haigh, writing for Den of Geek, felt that the plot thread of Tooms framing Mulder for assault "never really amounts to much", though he felt that the episode showed Tooms to be a creepier villain than his previous appearance in "Squeeze".[16] 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-and-a-half stars out of five, finding it to be a better instalment than "Squeeze". Shearman felt that the episode featured very little plotting, consisting simply of "a series of set pieces", but considered its wit and character development to adequately compensate for this.[17]
The character of Eugene Tooms has also attracted positive criticism. Author Neil Gaiman listed the character of Eugene Tooms as one of his favourite monsters in a guest column for Entertainment Weekly's 1000th issue;[18] whilst UGO Networks listed the character as one of their "Best TV Serial Killers", describing Hutchison's acting as "uber-creepy".[19] Writing for Den of Geek, John Moore listed Eugene Tooms as his "Top 10 X-Files Baddies", noting that the popularity of both "Squeeze" and "Tooms" proved to be "largely responsible for shifting the emphasis of the show" away from dwelling solely on alien conspiracy-based mythology episodes.[20]
Footnotes[edit]
1.^ Jump up to: a b Lowry 1996, pp. 147–148.
2.Jump up ^ Lovece 1997, pp. 96–97.
3.^ Jump up to: a b Edwards 1997, p. 73.
4.Jump up ^ Lowry 1995, pp. 148–149.
5.^ Jump up to: a b Chris Carter (narrator). Chris Carter Speaks about Season One Episodes: Tooms (DVD). Fox.
6.Jump up ^ Glen Morgan & James Wong (writers; Dave Gauthier (special effects coordinator); Mat Beck (visual effects). Behind the Truth: Squeeze and Tooms (DVD). Fox.
7.Jump up ^ Lovece 1997, p. 98.
8.Jump up ^ Lovece 1997, p. 26.
9.Jump up ^ Lowry 1996, p. 71.
10.Jump up ^ Gradnitzer & Pittson 1999, p. 48.
11.Jump up ^ Lowry 1996, p. 148.
12.Jump up ^ Robert Mandel, et al (booklet). The X-Files: The Complete First Season (Liner notes). Fox.
13.Jump up ^ Lowry 1996, p. 248.
14.Jump up ^ "X Cyclopedia: The Ultimate Episode Guide, Season 1 | EW.com". Entertainment Weekly. November 29, 1996. Retrieved August 12, 2011.
15.^ Jump up to: a b Handlen, Zack (August 1, 2008). "'Shapes' / 'Darkness Falls' / 'Tooms' | The X-Files/Millennium | TV Club". The A.V. Club. The Onion. Retrieved August 12, 2011.
16.Jump up ^ Haigh, Matt (December 9, 2008). "Revisiting The X-Files: Season 1 Episode 21". Den of Geek. Dennis Publishing. Retrieved August 12, 2011.
17.Jump up ^ Shearman & Pearson 2009, pp. 28–29.
18.Jump up ^ Gaiman, Neil (July 23, 2008). "The X-Files | Neil Gaiman: My Top 10 New Classic Monsters | Photo 7 of 12". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved July 14, 2011.
19.Jump up ^ Fitzpatrick, Kevin (April 15, 2011). "The Best TV Serial Killers". UGO Networks. Retrieved July 15, 2011.
20.Jump up ^ Moore, John (July 20, 2008). "The Top 10 X-Files Baddies". Den of Geek. Retrieved July 28, 2011.
References[edit]
Edwards, Ted (1996). X-Files Confidential. Little, Brown and Company. ISBN 0-316-21808-1.
Gradnitzer, Louisa; Pittson, Todd (1999). X Marks the Spot: On Location with The X-Files. Arsenal Pulp Press. ISBN 1-55152-066-4.
Lovece, Frank (1996). The X-Files Declassified. Citadel Press. ISBN 0-8065-1745-X.
Lowry, Brian (1995). The Truth is Out There: The Official Guide to the X-Files. Harper Prism. ISBN 0-06-105330-9.
Shearman, Robert; Pearson, Lars (2009). Wanting to Believe: A Critical Guide to The X-Files, Millennium & The Lone Gunmen. Mad Norwegian Press. ISBN 0-9759446-9-X.
External links[edit]
 Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: TXF Season 1
"Tooms" on The X-Files official website
"Tooms" at the Internet Movie Database
"Tooms" at TV.com

[hide]
­v·
 ­t·
 ­e
 
The X-Files episodes

 
­Seasons: 1·
 ­2·
 ­3·
 ­4·
 ­5·
 ­6·
 ­7·
 ­8·
 ­9
 
 
Season 1
­"Pilot"·
 ­"Deep Throat"·
 ­"Squeeze"·
 ­"Conduit"·
 ­"The Jersey Devil"·
 ­"Shadows"·
 ­"Ghost in the Machine"·
 ­"Ice"·
 ­"Space"·
 ­"Fallen Angel"·
 ­"Eve"·
 ­"Fire"·
 ­"Beyond the Sea"·
 ­"Gender Bender"·
 ­"Lazarus"·
 ­"Young at Heart"·
 ­"E.B.E."·
 ­"Miracle Man"·
 ­"Shapes"·
 ­"Darkness Falls"·
 ­"Tooms"·
 ­"Born Again"·
 ­"Roland"·
 ­"The Erlenmeyer Flask"
 

 

Categories: The X-Files (season 1) episodes
1994 television episodes


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Born Again (The X-Files)

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"Born Again"
The X-Files episode
Born again xfiles.jpg
A fish-tank ornament visible in the static of a video recording
 
Episode no.
Season 1
 Episode 22
Directed by
Jerrold Freedman
Written by
Alex Gansa
Howard Gordon
Production code
1X21
Original air date
April 22, 1994
Guest actors

Brian Markinson as Tony Fiore
Mimi Lieber as Anita Fiore
Maggie Wheeler as Detective Sharon Lazard
Andrea Libman as Michelle Bishop
Dey Young as Judy Bishop
Leslie Carlson as Dr. Spitz
P. Lynn Johnson as Dr. Shiela Braun
Peter Lapres as Harry Linhart
Richard Sali as Felder
Dwight Koss as Detective Barbala
 
Episode chronology

← Previous
 "Tooms" Next →
 "Roland"

List of season 1 episodes
List of The X-Files episodes
"Born Again" is the twenty-second episode of the first season of the American science fiction television series The X-Files. It premiered on the Fox network on April 22, 1994. "Born Again" was written by Howard Gordon and Alex Gansa, and directed by Jerrold Freedman. The episode featured guest appearances by Brian Markinson and Maggie Wheeler. The episode is a "Monster-of-the-Week" story, a stand-alone plot which is unconnected to the series' wider mythology. "Born Again" earned a Nielsen household rating of 8.2, being watched by 7.7 million households in its initial broadcast, and received mixed reviews from critics.
The show centers on FBI special agents Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) who work on cases linked to the paranormal, called X-Files. When Mulder and Scully are called to New York to investigate the death of a police officer, they come to believe that a young girl present at the incident may be the reincarnation of another officer murdered years earlier.
Several crew members disliked the episode, most notably, writer Howard Gordon and David Duchovny. Gordon felt that the episode was too similar to the other episodes that had been aired, whereas Duchovny bluntly stated that he "detested" the episode.

Contents
  [hide] 1 Plot
2 Production
3 Broadcast and reception
4 Footnotes 4.1 References
5 External links
Plot[edit]
In Buffalo, New York, police detective Sharon Lazard finds a little girl, Michelle Bishop, alone in an alley. Lazard takes the seemingly lost girl into her precinct, and leaves her alone to be interviewed by another detective, Rudolph Barbala. However, moments later, Barbala is jettisoned through a window, falling to his death.
Lazard turns to Fox Mulder and Dana Scully for help. She tells them of Michelle's claims that a man had attacked Barbala, even though she was the only person in the room when the detective was killed. The agents have Michelle describe the alleged attacker for a computerized facial composite; the computer seemingly glitches, displaying a face that Michelle identifies as the killer. The composite matches that of a Detective Charlie Morris — who died nine years previously in an apparent gangland hit. The agents speak to Michelle's psychiatrist, Dr. Braun, who tells them that she habitually mutilated dolls in a uniform manner during their sessions together, removing the same eye and arm each time; Mulder realizes that these mutilations match the circumstances of Morris' death.
The agents interview Barbala's partner, Tony Fiore, who attributes Morris' death to a triad gang they had been investigating together. Later that day, Fiore meets with a Leon Felder, and the two discuss claiming a large sum of money from a safety deposit box, but agree that they haven't waited the ten years they had intended to, ominously discussing that they are the last two claimants left. That night, Felder gets off a bus, but his scarf catches in the door as it drives off. The driver tries to brake, but the bus inexplicably continues to accelerate, strangling Felder as Michelle watches from inside the bus.
Investigating further, Mulder and Scully learn that Fiore, Barbala, Felder and Morris had all worked closely together in the past. They also find that Fiore's wife Anita keeps a collection of origami animals made by her first husband—Charlie Morris. Anita tells the agents that Fiore hasn't returned home from the previous night; meanwhile, the agents find that pages are missing from the file on Morris' murder, and Fiore was the last one to have checked the file out.
Michelle undergoes a session of regression hypnosis, where she claims to be twenty-four years old. She suddenly starts screaming in panic about someone trying to kill her, and the session is ended. Mulder reviews the video of the session, and is convinced that the girl is the reincarnation of Morris, having been conceived right around the time the detective was murdered. The tape contains a brief section of static noise just before Michelle begins screaming, which Mulder has an expert clean up. The noise is found to contain a grainy image of what appears to be a fish tank ornament of a man in an atmospheric diving suit. Meanwhile, Scully has tracked down Morris' autopsy findings, which show the presence of salt water in his respiratory tract, indicating he died of drowning. The agents realise from these findings that Morris was drowned in the exotic fish tank in Fiore's house.
Rushing to Fiore's house, Mulder and Scully find Michelle using telekinetic powers to try to kill Fiore. They prevent her from doing so, and Fiore confesses that he, Felder and Barbala had stolen a large sum of money, intending to keep it safe for ten years before claiming it. Morris learned of their plan and threatened to report them for it, and was killed to silence him. However, Fiore maintains that he never wanted to see Morris dead. Michelle uses her powers to destroy the fish-tank, but spares Fiore after hearing pleas from Anita. Later, Fiore pleads guilty to charges of murder and grand larceny, whilst Michelle seemingly recovers and goes on to become a normal little girl.[1][2]
Production[edit]


"I thought the direction was a little sloppy, but it's one of those episodes that plays a little closer to reality and I like that about it, There's a nice twist in it about a man marrying the wife of another man he had killed. There were actually some nice effects. Just not one of my favourites."
–Chris Carter on "Born Again"[3]
Writer Howard Gordon was disappointed with the episode, finding it too similar to other series being aired around the same time. He also believed that the episode seemed "a little too cop show-y" overall,[4] stating that he did not think it "was very well executed on any front".[3] David Duchovny also reportedly "detested" the episode, despite a guest appearance by his then-girlfriend Maggie Wheeler.[5]
Executive producer R. W. Goodwin recalls being on location for the episode's opening scene, in which Detective Barbala is thrown from a window. The room used for the scene had two windows side-by-side, and one had been replaced with sugar glass for the stunt. When the false window was blown out to simulate someone being thrown through it, the crew found that the glass window beside the false one had also accidentally been blown out. The episode's key grip, Al Campbell, suggested that the next shot show Barbala's dog lying beside his body to explain the second window breaking.[6]
Broadcast and reception[edit]
"Born Again" premiered on the Fox network on April 22, 1994, and was first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC Two on February 23, 1995.[7] This episode earned a Nielsen household rating of 8.2, with a 14 share, meaning that in the US, roughly 8.2 percent of all television-equipped households, and 14 percent of households watching television, were tuned in to the episode. It was viewed by 7.7 million households.[8]
Writer Howard Gordon has expressed his disappointment with the episode, feeling that it was too similar to his earlier work on the episode "Shadows", and finding that it was "not done particularly interestingly". Series creator Chris Carter also felt that "Born Again" was "just not one of [his] favourites", adding that he "thought the direction was a little sloppy, but it's one of those episodes that plays a little closer to reality and I like that about it".[3]
In a retrospective of the first season in Entertainment Weekly, "Born Again" was rated a B−, with the episode being described as "engaging but ultimately just serviceable", although Andrea Libman's casting as Michelle was called "inspired".[9] Zack Handlen, writing for The A.V. Club, felt negatively towards the episode, feeling that its plot was too reminiscent of earlier episodes, such as "Eve" or "Shadows". However, he found the scene in which an image is found in the static of a video recording to have been a highlight, calling it "a cool combination of hard science and the inexplicable".[10] Matt Haigh, writing for Den of Geek, was favourable towards the episode, again praising the performance of Libman as Michelle. He also drew comparisons to "Shadows", but felt that "Born Again" was the better episode of the two.[11]
Footnotes[edit]
1.Jump up ^ Lowry, pp.150–151
2.Jump up ^ Lovece, pp.98–100
3.^ Jump up to: a b c Edwards, p.74
4.Jump up ^ Lowry, p.151
5.Jump up ^ Lovece, p.100
6.Jump up ^ Edwards, pp.74–75
7.Jump up ^ The X-Files: The Complete First Season (Media notes). Fox. 1993–1994.
8.Jump up ^ Lowry, p.248
9.Jump up ^ "X Cyclopedia: The Ultimate Episode Guide, Season 1 | EW.com". Entertainment Weekly. November 29, 1996. Retrieved August 13, 2011.
10.Jump up ^ Handlen, Zack (August 8, 2008). ""Born Again/Roland/The Erlenmeyer Flask" | The X-Files/Millennium | TV Club | TV | The A.V. Club". The A.V. Club. Retrieved August 13, 2011.
11.Jump up ^ Haigh, Matt (December 11, 2008). "Revisiting The X-Files: Season 1 Episode 22 - Den of Geek". Den of Geek. Dennis Publishing. Retrieved August 12, 2011.
References[edit]
Edwards, Ted (1996). X-Files Confidential. Little, Brown and Company. ISBN 0-316-21808-1.
Lovece, Frank (1996). The X-Files Declassified. Citadel Press. ISBN 0-8065-1745-X.
Lowry, Brian (1995). The Truth is Out There: The Official Guide to the X-Files. Harper Prism. ISBN 0-06-105330-9.
External links[edit]
 Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: TXF Season 1
"Born Again" on The X-Files official website
"Born Again" at the Internet Movie Database
"Born Again" at TV.com

[hide]
­v·
 ­t·
 ­e
 
The X-Files episodes

 
­Seasons: 1·
 ­2·
 ­3·
 ­4·
 ­5·
 ­6·
 ­7·
 ­8·
 ­9
 
 
Season 1
­"Pilot"·
 ­"Deep Throat"·
 ­"Squeeze"·
 ­"Conduit"·
 ­"The Jersey Devil"·
 ­"Shadows"·
 ­"Ghost in the Machine"·
 ­"Ice"·
 ­"Space"·
 ­"Fallen Angel"·
 ­"Eve"·
 ­"Fire"·
 ­"Beyond the Sea"·
 ­"Gender Bender"·
 ­"Lazarus"·
 ­"Young at Heart"·
 ­"E.B.E."·
 ­"Miracle Man"·
 ­"Shapes"·
 ­"Darkness Falls"·
 ­"Tooms"·
 ­"Born Again"·
 ­"Roland"·
 ­"The Erlenmeyer Flask"
 

 

Categories: The X-Files (season 1) episodes
1994 television episodes


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Roland (The X-Files)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 
Jump to: navigation, search

This is a good article. Click here for more information.

"Roland"
The X-Files episode
Episode no.
Season 1
 Episode 23
Directed by
David Nutter
Written by
Chris Ruppenthal
Production code
1X22
Original air date
May 6, 1994
Guest actors

Željko Ivanek as Roland Fuller/Dr. Arthur Grable
James Sloyan as Dr. Frank Nollette
Kerry Sandomirsky as Tracy
Micole Mercurio as Mrs. Stodie
Garry Davey as Dr. Keats
Matthew Walker as Dr. Ronald Surnow
Dave Hurtubise as Mr. Barrington
Sue Matthew as Lisa Dole
 
Episode chronology

← Previous
 "Born Again" Next →
 "The Erlenmeyer Flask"

List of season 1 episodes
List of The X-Files episodes
"Roland" is the twenty-third episode of the first season of the American science fiction television series The X-Files. It premiered on the Fox network on May 6, 1994. It was written by Chris Ruppenthal and directed by David Nutter. The episode featured guest appearances by Željko Ivanek, James Sloyan and Kerry Sandomirsky. The episode is a "Monster-of-the-Week" story, a stand-alone plot which is unconnected to the series' wider mythology. "Roland" earned a Nielsen household rating of 7.9, being watched by 7.4 million households in its initial broadcast; and received mixed reviews from critics, although Ivanek's guest role was met with acclaim.
The show centers on FBI special agents Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) who work on cases linked to the paranormal, called X-Files. When Mulder and Scully investigate a series of murders at an aerospace testing facility, they find that a mentally handicapped janitor may be responsible—and that he is being telepathically controlled by one of the facility's former researchers.
"Roland" was the first of two episodes of The X-Files written by Chris Ruppenthal, who would go on to write the second season episode "3", which was heavily rewritten by series regulars Glen Morgan and James Wong. "Roland" contains the series' first mention of Fox Mulder's father Bill, although the character would not actually make an appearance until the second season episode "Colony".

Contents
  [hide] 1 Plot
2 Production
3 Broadcast and reception
4 Footnotes 4.1 References
5 External links
Plot[edit]
At the Mahan Washington Institute of Technology, in Colson, Washington, mentally retarded janitor Roland Fuller is scolded by research scientist Dr. Keats for forgetting how to use the facility's keycard locks. Keats then walks in on his colleagues, Frank Nollette and Ronald Surnow, as they argue over a prototype jet engine they are developing. Nollette wants to push testing of the engine to break mach 15, but Surnow is unwilling to risk damaging the prototype. After Keats and Nollette angrily leave, Surnow enters the facility's wind tunnel to make some adjustments. However, Roland activates the tunnel's turbines, sending Surnow flying to his death.
Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) are brought in to investigate Surnow's death. Scully notes that another member of the research team, Arthur Grable, had mysteriously died several months earlier, and believes it to be a case of industrial espionage. Mulder examines the handwriting on the team's whiteboard and concludes that it has been written by at least four different people, leading him to suspect that a fourth individual was present. Keats and Nollette both inform the agents that Roland Fuller was the only one left in the facility at the time of Surnow's death, but do not believe him to be capable of murder.
Nevertheless, Mulder and Scully visit the care home where Roland lives. When they gently ask him about the night of the murder, he tells them he had not seen anything out of the ordinary. He also inadvertently reveals his mathematical prowess by rapidly counting the star designs visible on Scully's blouse; however, his handwriting does not match the fourth sample taken from the whiteboard. The discussion ends when Roland experiences a violent vision and has what seems to be a fit; his caregiver asks the agents to leave while she attends to him. Later that night, Roland has another vision, seeing someone killing Keats. He appears at the facility and murders Keats by submerging his head in a tank of liquid nitrogen. Keats' frozen body is left to shatter as Roland begins typing at one of the computers.
The next day, Mulder and Scully notice that the computer had been used for five hours after Keats' death. Attempting to open the file that was being worked on, Mulder realizes that the number Roland had written on an art project the previous day is the computer's password. The file turns out to be the work of Grable, the scientist who had died several months earlier, and it had been worked on constantly since his death.
Looking into Grable's death, the agents find that it was him who had hired Roland. They begin to think that Grable faked his own death and is killing his former colleagues, using Roland as a patsy. Grable's body was never brought to the morgue, nor was a funeral ever held. However, Dr. Nollette brings the agents to a neuropreservation facility where Grable's remains are being stored, proving that he is not the one responsible. A photo of Grable is found, and he appears identical to Roland—leading the agents to discover that the two were actually twins. Speaking to Roland again, Mulder becomes convinced that the janitor is being controlled by the mind of Grable.
Meanwhile, Nollette sneaks into the cryogenic facility and tampers with Grable's storage unit, thawing his remains. Roland returns to the Mahan Institute, and is in the process of pushing the prototype engine to mach 15 when Nollette enters. Nollette admits to stealing Grable's work, and is about to shoot Roland, intending to claim self-defense, when he is distracted by some equations. Roland strikes him with a computer keyboard and drags him into the wind tunnel. The agents arrive in time to convince Roland not to kill Nollette. Roland is removed from the care home and taken to a psychiatric institute for testing, apparently now free of Grable's control.
Production[edit]
"Roland" was the first of two episodes of The X-Files written by Chris Ruppenthal.[1] He would return to write the second season episode "3", which was heavily rewritten by series regulars Glen Morgan and James Wong.[2] Željko Ivanek, who plays the episode's title character, was the first actor to read for the part. Series creator Chris Carter felt that Ivanek's audition "just blew [him] away", deciding almost immediately to cast him.[3] Garry Davey, who portrays scientist Dr. Keats, also appeared in several other episodes of the series,[4] and was also at one time the artistic director of the William Davis Centre for Actors Study, working alongside William B. Davis, who plays the series' villain The Smoking Man.[5] Art director Graeme Murrary spent time scouting universities and research facilities in Vancouver to aid in creating the right look for the episode's laboratory and wind tunnel sets.[6]
"Roland" contains the series' first mention of Fox Mulder's father Bill, although the character would not actually make an appearance until the second season episode "Colony".[7] In the original draft of the script for "Roland", however, Mulder's mention of his father was instead meant to be his sister, Samantha.[8] The scene depicting the aftermath of the Dr. Keats' murder—with the scattered pieces of his shattered frozen body marked off with multiple chalk outlines—has been described as "truly inspired". Chris Carter noted that "any shock and horror was eliminated by the laugh you got when you saw those little pieces on the floor", also commenting that the actual murder takes place off-screen, and is only heard.[9]
Broadcast and reception[edit]


"X-Files always set great stock in giving its secondary characters dignity–witness the level-headed portrayal of Native American culture in "Shapes"–and "Roland" no exception. As portrayed by Zeljko Ivanek, Roland himself never seems anything less than authentic, which gives his struggles a real bite, and his relationship with another mentally handicapped woman has an uncontrived sweetness."
–The A.V. Club's Zack Handlen on "Roland"[10]
"Roland" premiered on the Fox network on May 6, 1994, and was first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC Two on March 2, 1995.[11] This episode earned a Nielsen household rating of 7.9, with a 14 share, meaning that in the US, roughly 7.9 percent of all television-equipped households, and 14 percent of households watching television, were tuned in to the episode. It was viewed by 7.4 million households.[12]
Director David Nutter felt that casting Željko Ivanek was the key to creating the episode, feeling that "Roland" was "probably the weakest script from start to finish" that the director had seen, but that once Ivanek had been cast, it became "important to push that as much as possible, to help outweigh the frailties in the script". Chris Carter has also praised Ivanek's involvement with the episode, calling the actor's portrayal "just an amazing performance. This guy, Zeljko, should have won an award for this". Glen Morgan, a regular writer for the series, felt that the episode "wasn't completely effective", but also added that it offered a "softer" outlook compared to the series' other episodes so far, feeling that it was important to include several "episodes that demonstrate the paranormal isn't always horrifying".[13]
In a retrospective of the first season in Entertainment Weekly, "Roland" was rated a B+, with guest star Željko Ivanek's portrayal of the eponymous Roland being called " astonishing (and convincing)", and the episode's "excellent death scenes" noted as highlights.[14] Zack Handlen, writing for The A.V. Club, had mixed feelings about the episode, feeling that its plot was too similar to the previous episode "Born Again", though rating Ivanek's acting as "authentic" and "uncontrived"; ultimately calling the episode "well-built enough to be enjoyable despite its familiarity".[10] Matt Haigh, writing for Den of Geek, felt negatively about the episode, again finding it too similar to other episodes of the season, finding it to be "nothing incredibly exciting", noting that it "follows pretty much the same template as many of the other episodes".[15]
Footnotes[edit]
1.Jump up ^ Lovece, p.239
2.Jump up ^ Lovece, p.126
3.Jump up ^ Lowry, p.154
4.Jump up ^ Lovece, p.240
5.Jump up ^ "Williams Lake Tribune - Actor Garry Davey adjudicates zone drama festival". Williams Lake Tribune. May 27, 2011. Retrieved August 20, 2011.
6.Jump up ^ Edwards, pp.75–76
7.Jump up ^ Nick Marck (director); Chris Carter & David Duchovny (writers) (February 10, 1995). "Colony". The X-Files. Season 2. Episode 16. Fox.
8.Jump up ^ Lowry, p.153
9.Jump up ^ Lowry, pp.153–154
10.^ Jump up to: a b Handlen, Zack (August 8, 2008). ""Born Again/Roland/The Erlenmeyer Flask" | The X-Files/Millennium | TV Club | TV | The A.V. Club". The A.V. Club. Retrieved August 17, 2011.
11.Jump up ^ Robert Mandel, Daniel Sackheim, et al (booklet). The X-Files: The Complete First Season (Liner notes). Fox.
12.Jump up ^ Lowry, p.248
13.Jump up ^ Edwards, p.75
14.Jump up ^ "X Cyclopedia: The Ultimate Episode Guide, Season 1 | EW.com". Entertainment Weekly. November 29, 1996. Retrieved August 17, 2011.
15.Jump up ^ Haigh, Matt (December 16, 2008). "Revisiting The X-Files: Season 1 Episode 23 - Den of Geek". Den of Geek. Dennis Publishing. Retrieved August 17, 2011.
References[edit]
Edwards, Ted (1996). X-Files Confidential. Little, Brown and Company. ISBN 0-316-21808-1.
Lovece, Frank (1996). The X-Files Declassified. Citadel Press. ISBN 0-8065-1745-X.
Lowry, Brian (1995). The Truth is Out There: The Official Guide to the X-Files. Harper Prism. ISBN 0-06-105330-9.
External links[edit]
 Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: TXF Season 1
"Roland" on The X-Files official website
"Roland" at the Internet Movie Database
"Roland" at TV.com

[hide]
­v·
 ­t·
 ­e
 
The X-Files episodes

 
­Seasons: 1·
 ­2·
 ­3·
 ­4·
 ­5·
 ­6·
 ­7·
 ­8·
 ­9
 
 
Season 1
­"Pilot"·
 ­"Deep Throat"·
 ­"Squeeze"·
 ­"Conduit"·
 ­"The Jersey Devil"·
 ­"Shadows"·
 ­"Ghost in the Machine"·
 ­"Ice"·
 ­"Space"·
 ­"Fallen Angel"·
 ­"Eve"·
 ­"Fire"·
 ­"Beyond the Sea"·
 ­"Gender Bender"·
 ­"Lazarus"·
 ­"Young at Heart"·
 ­"E.B.E."·
 ­"Miracle Man"·
 ­"Shapes"·
 ­"Darkness Falls"·
 ­"Tooms"·
 ­"Born Again"·
 ­"Roland"·
 ­"The Erlenmeyer Flask"
 

 

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1994 television episodes


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The Erlenmeyer Flask

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"The Erlenmeyer Flask"
The X-Files episode
Two men both dressed in black suits standing in the middle of a road at night. The man on the right, is holding a gun and is aiming on the man on the left. Behind them, bright city lights and a car.
The "Crew Cut Man" (right), a government assassin, shoots "Deep Throat" (left)
 
Episode no.
Season 1
 Episode 24
Directed by
R. W. Goodwin
Written by
Chris Carter
Production code
1X23
Original air date
May 13, 1994
Guest actors

William B. Davis as "Cigarette Smoking Man"
Jerry Hardin as "Deep Throat"
Lindsey Ginter as "Crew Cut Man"
Simon Webb as Dr. William Secare
Ken Kramer as Dr. Terrance Berube
Anne DeSalvo as Dr. Anne Carpenter
Jim Leard as Captain Roy Lacerio
Phillip MacKenzie as Medic
Jaylene Hamilton as Reporter
Mike Mitchell as First Uniformed Cop
John Payne as Guard
 
Episode chronology

← Previous
 "Roland" Next →
 "Little Green Men"

List of season 1 episodes
List of The X-Files episodes
"The Erlenmeyer Flask" is the 24th episode and the first season finale of the science fiction television series The X-Files. Written by executive producer Chris Carter, and directed by R. W. Goodwin, the episode continues with the mythology story arc which started with "Pilot". The episode first aired in the United States on May 13, 1994 on the Fox network. With 8.3 million households turning in during its initial broadcast, the episode was the most-viewed episode of the show's first season. The episode received an Edgar Award nomination in the Best Episode in a TV Series category, and has, since broadcast, received positive responses from both critics and crew members.
The show centers on FBI special agents Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) who work on cases linked to the paranormal, called X-Files. In this episode, Mulder and Scully discover evidence of a secret government experimentation with alien DNA, but the evidence and everyone who has seen it is quickly eliminated.
"The Erlenmeyer Flask" introduced several new plot elements which would continue in later seasons and featured the death of recurring character, "Deep Throat" (Jerry Hardin). Carter described the inspiration for the episode as "the result of an year-long learning experience".

Contents
  [hide] 1 Plot
2 Production 2.1 Development
2.2 Filming and effects
3 Reception
4 Footnotes 4.1 Bibliography
5 External links
Plot[edit]
In Ardis, Maryland, a high-speed police chase unfolds at a waterfront. The driver of the car, Dr. William Secare, is shot in the pursuit but escapes into the water. The police find green blood on the spot where he was shot.
Soon afterwards, Deep Throat (Jerry Hardin) approaches Fox Mulder with Secare's case, saying he is of major importance to reveal the truth. When investigating the case, Mulder and Dana Scully visit Dr. Terrance Berube (Ken Kramer), a scientist working in Gaithersburg, Maryland whose car was involved in the chase. That night, Deep Throat meets a second time with Mulder and insists he continue, despite Mulder's uncertainty on what he should be looking for. That night, Berube is met by the "Crew Cut Man" (Lindsey Ginter), who kills him and makes the death look like a suicide.
While investigating the crime scene, Mulder finds an erlenmeyer flask labeled "Purity Control." Scully takes the flask to Georgetown University, where she meets Dr. Anne Carpenter (Anne De Salvo), who examines the contents. Meanwhile, Mulder heads to Berube's home and finds keys for a storage facility. Secare calls Berube's office, but Mulder answers the phone feigning to be Berube. Secare tells him about the secret government project which Mulder wants to reveal to the public. Meanwhile, the Crew Cut Man eavesdrops on the conversation. Secare collapses during the phone call. While he is driven away in an ambulance, a poisonous gas emits from Secare's body when the paramedics perform a needle decompression. Secare gets up and flees from the ambulance.
Mulder arrives at the storage facility and finds five men suspended in tanks, as well as a sixth empty tank. Mulder is pursued when he leaves the facility but escapes. Carpenter reveals that the "Purity Control" flask contains a sample of bacteria that doesn't exist anywhere in nature and can only be described as extraterrestrial. Upon revisiting the storage facility the next day with Scully, Mulder discovers the room to be completely empty. Deep Throat arrives, revealing that Berube was experimenting on humans with extraterrestrial viruses. Six terminally ill volunteers were experimented on, and all had begun recovering. When it was ordered that they be destroyed, Berube helped Secare escape.
Scully learns that Carpenter and her entire family have been killed in an automobile accident. Mulder returns to Berube's home and finds Secare, who is killed by the Crew Cut Man. Mulder passes out from exposure to the gas escaping from Secare's wound and is captured. Deep Throat meets Scully outside of Mulder's apartment and says that he may be able to make a deal with Mulder's captors. He gives Scully the credentials necessary to enter the High Containment Facility at Fort Marlene, where Scully finds an alien fetus contained within liquid nitrogen. At an exchange on the bridge, Deep Throat presents the fetus to the Crew Cut Man, who shoots him seconds later. Mulder is released from the Crew Cut Man's van as he drives off. Scully tends to Deep Throat, who utters his last words before dying: "Trust no one".
Several weeks later, a despondent Mulder calls Scully to inform her that the X-Files have been shut down. Meanwhile, in a scene mirroring the conclusion to the pilot, the Smoking Man stores the alien fetus in the massive evidence room within the Pentagon.[1][2]
Production[edit]
Development[edit]
Chris Carter wrote the story for the episode, which he described as "the result of an year-long learning experience". Carter tried to firmly establish the mythology of the series, "where we explored the different avenues of government conspiracy, and turning it into more than just flying saucers", and having what the writer called a "defining moment" for Scully, where the agent would hear from a fellow scientist that she was dealing with truly extraterrestrial material.[3] The scene where poisonous fumes were emitted by Dr. Secare was inspired by the case of Gloria Ramirez, which occurred in California in February 1994, and Carter remembered.[4] The writers killed off the recurring character "Deep Throat" in order to establish that anyone outside of Fox Mulder and Dana Scully were expendable. The decision of closing down the X-Files was done to separate Mulder and Scully such that the producers could work around Gillian Anderson's pregnancy.[5] Fox fought the idea, fearing that closing down the X-Files would cause viewers to believe that the show had been cancelled.[6] The ending of this episode mirrors that of the "Pilot", including Mulder calling Scully at 11:21 pm and the "Cigarette Smoking Man" putting away evidence in The Pentagon.[7] The tagline for this episode is "Trust No One", replacing the usual phrase "The Truth is Out There."[8] Executive producer R. W. Goodwin decided to make his directorial debut with the episode as he considered it "the best script by far", offering "a combination of elation and stark terror".[9]
Filming and effects[edit]
The opening piece, the car chase was shot by crew member J.P. Finn who was the lone producer and directed much of the second unit. It was shot at an abandoned shipyard in North Vancouver known as Versatal Shipyard. Goodwin went so far as saying that the location "was perfect" for them to shoot in. The scene with Fox Mulder and Dana Scully visiting Doctor Berube (Ken Kramer) was a "big challenge", being that in this scene they had monkeys. Goodwin wanted the monkeys to act "crazy" at the same time on cue when filming. When looking back, he said they did a "pretty good job".[10] The location used for the warehouse where Mulder finds the tanks had the address "1616 Pandora", which the producers decided to incorporate into the episode itself as a symbol of Mulder "opening Pandora's box".[3]
This was the first episode of the show to feature a tagline other than "The Truth is Out There". The scene with Dr. Secare resurfacing out of the water was created by the visual effects unit. Actor Simon Webb was moving through to a crane under the water, which had been levered to that he could "actually" be raised out of the bay. But according to Goodwin, the timing was not right, but he said that it "worked" and claimed it to be a "fascinated shot". The scene was later re-shot. When filming the episode the production crew did not know that Webb had a phobia towards water.[10] The first test diving and removing the alien fetus doll from liquid nitrogen went right, but under the hot studio lights the model started falling apart, leading the following take to flash the lighting in another direction.[9]
Reception[edit]
This episode earned a Nielsen rating of 8.8, with a 16 share. It was viewed by 8.3 million households, making it the most viewed episode of the first season.[11] The Mystery Writers of America nominated "The Erlenmeyer Flask" for an Edgar Award[5] in the Best Episode in a TV Series category; the eventual recipient of the award was the episode "Simone Says" of NYPD Blue.[12] John Keegan from Critical Myth gave the episode 9 out of 10, saying it was "the perfect ending to the first season" and a good introduction to The X-Files mythology.[13] Manuel Medoza from The Dallas Morning News said the episode was able to blend "absolutely chilling" moments with "completely silly" moments "at the same time".[14] Entertainment Weekly writer Bruce Fretts concluded that the death of "Deep Throat" made the character "very real".[15]
Crew members have also reacted positively towards the episode. Carter said of the episode "The Erlenmeyer Flask brings back nothing but good memories. It just has terrific images in it; it really brought the series in its first year full circle. It was successful in doing what we wanted to do, which was to close down the X-Files. It shocked a lot of people".[6] Goodwin commented "Everything about that episode is absolutely first class. The acting, the art direction, the camera work. There's nothing in it that isn't the best you can get, and that's really a credit to a lot of very talented people".[16] The episode introduced many concepts and themes that would appear in the mythology episodes for the show throughout the years including genetic experiments, alien-human hybrids, toxic alien blood, government conspiracies, alien fetuses and deadly assassins.[17]
Footnotes[edit]
1.Jump up ^ Lowry 1995, pp. 155–156.
2.Jump up ^ Lovece 1996, pp. 103–105.
3.^ Jump up to: a b Chris Carter (narrator). Chris Carter Speaks about Season One Episodes: The Erlenmeyer Flask (DVD). Fox.
4.Jump up ^ Lovece 1996, p. 105
5.^ Jump up to: a b Lowry 1995, pp. 157.
6.^ Jump up to: a b Edward 1997, p. 76
7.Jump up ^ Cornell, Day and Topping 1995, p. 98
8.Jump up ^ Lowry 1995, p. 156
9.^ Jump up to: a b R.W. Goodwin (executive producer/director); Toby Lindala (make-up effects). Behind the Truth: The Erlenmayer Flask (DVD). Fox.
10.^ Jump up to: a b Goodwin, R. W. (2005). Audio Commentary for "The Erlenmeyer Flask" (DVD). 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment.
11.Jump up ^ Lowry 1995, pp. 248.
12.Jump up ^ "Search the Edgar Award Winners And Nominees". Mystery Writers of America. Retrieved October 22, 2009.
13.Jump up ^ Keegan, John. "The Erlenmeyer Flask". Critical Myth. Retrieved October 20, 2009.
14.Jump up ^ Maniel Medoza (June 17, 1994). "A program that goes to X-tremes Fox's X-files blends subtlety and strangeness". The Dallas Morning News.
15.Jump up ^ Fretts, Bruce (April 5, 1996). "The X-Files (1996)". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved October 21, 2009.
16.Jump up ^ Edward 1997, pp. 77.
17.Jump up ^ Hurwitz and Knowles 2008, pp. 52–53.
Bibliography[edit]
Cornell, Paul Day, Martin and Topping, Keith (1995). X-Treme Possibilities. New York, US: Virgin Publishing. ISBN 0-7535-0228-3.
Lowry, Brian (1995). The Truth is Out There: The Official Guide to the X-Files. New York, US: HarperPrism. ISBN 0-06-105330-9.
Lovece, Frank (1996). The X-Files Declassified: The Unauthorized Guide. New York, US: Citadel Press. ISBN 0-8065-1745-X.
Edward, Ted (1997). X-Files Confidential: The Unauthorized X-Philes Compendium. New York, US: Little Brown. ISBN 0-316-21808-1.
Hurwitz, Matt and Knowles, Chris (2008). The Complete X-Files: Behind the Series the Myths and the Movies. New York, US: Insight Editions. ISBN 1-933784-72-5.
External links[edit]
 Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: TXF Season 1
"The Erlenmeyer Flask" on The X-Files official website
"The Erlenmeyer Flask" at the Internet Movie Database
"The Erlenmeyer Flask" at TV.com

[hide]
­v·
 ­t·
 ­e
 
The X-Files episodes

 
­Seasons: 1·
 ­2·
 ­3·
 ­4·
 ­5·
 ­6·
 ­7·
 ­8·
 ­9
 
 
Season 1
­"Pilot"·
 ­"Deep Throat"·
 ­"Squeeze"·
 ­"Conduit"·
 ­"The Jersey Devil"·
 ­"Shadows"·
 ­"Ghost in the Machine"·
 ­"Ice"·
 ­"Space"·
 ­"Fallen Angel"·
 ­"Eve"·
 ­"Fire"·
 ­"Beyond the Sea"·
 ­"Gender Bender"·
 ­"Lazarus"·
 ­"Young at Heart"·
 ­"E.B.E."·
 ­"Miracle Man"·
 ­"Shapes"·
 ­"Darkness Falls"·
 ­"Tooms"·
 ­"Born Again"·
 ­"Roland"·
 ­"The Erlenmeyer Flask"
 
 
This is a good article. Click here for more information.
 

Categories: The X-Files (season 1) episodes
1994 television episodes


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The X-Files (season 2)

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The X-Files (season 2)
The X-Files Season 2.jpg
Region 1 DVD cover art
 
Country of origin
United States
No. of episodes
25
Broadcast

Original channel
Fox
Original run
September 16, 1994 – May 19, 1995
Home video release
DVD release
Region 1
November 28, 2000
Region 2
April 30, 2001
Region 4
April 20, 2001
Season chronology

← Previous
Season 1
Next →
Season 3

List of The X-Files episodes
The second season of the science fiction television series The X-Files commenced airing on the Fox network in the United States on September 16, 1994, concluded on the same channel on May 19, 1995, after airing all 25 episodes. The series follows Federal Bureau of Investigation special agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully, portrayed by David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson respectively, who investigate paranormal or supernatural cases, known as X-Files by the FBI.
The second season of The X-Files takes place after the closure of the department following the events of the first season finale. In addition to stand-alone "Monster-of-the-Week" episodes, several episodes also furthered the alien conspiracy mythology that had begun to form. Season two introduced several recurring characters—X (Steven Williams), an informant to Mulder; Alex Krycek (Nicholas Lea), Mulder's partner-turned-enemy; and the Alien Bounty Hunter (Brian Thompson), a shape-shifting assassin.
The storylines were widely affected by the pregnancy of actress Gillian Anderson; it was decided that Scully would be kidnapped and abducted by aliens, explaining her absence and allowing her to appear comatose two episodes later, which ultimately added more intricacies to the mythology. The season earned seven Primetime Emmy Award nominations. The premiere "Little Green Men", debuted with a Nielsen household rating of 10.3 and was viewed by 9.8 million households, marking a noticeable increase in viewership since the previous year. The series rose from number 111 to number 63 for the 1994–95 television year. In addition, the show's second season has generally received positive reviews from television critics.

Contents
  [hide] 1 Plot overview
2 Production 2.1 Writing and development
2.2 Casting
2.3 Crew
3 Reception 3.1 Ratings
3.2 Reviews
3.3 Accolades
4 Cast 4.1 Main cast
4.2 Recurring cast
5 Episodes
6 DVD release
7 Notes
8 References
9 External links
Plot overview[edit]
See also: Mythology of The X-Files
Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) is reassigned to teach at the FBI Academy while Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) is given lowly surveillance assignments. After he investigates extraterrestrial cases at Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico,[1][2] Mulder is given a new partner, Alex Krycek (Nicholas Lea), and meets a secretive informant, X (Steven Williams).[3][4] Mulder is recruited to assist in a hostage negotiation when Duane Barry, an alien abductee, captures four people.[5][6] Barry eventually kidnaps Scully, believing that if he brings her to his original abduction site, Skyland Mountain, aliens will take her instead of him. Mulder follows but is delayed by Krycek, who is revealed to be a mole working for The Smoking Man (William B. Davis). When Mulder reaches Skyland Mountain, Scully is gone. Barry, who insists that aliens took her dies soon after an interrogation by Krycek. When Krycek vanishes, Skinner re-opens the X-Files, claiming that is what the conspirators will fear most.[7][8]
Scully turns up comatose in a hospital three months later with no explanation about how she got there. X provides Mulder with information allowing him to take revenge on her captors, but Mulder is instead convinced by Scully's sister Melissa to visit her bedside. Scully recovers and returns to work shortly thereafter.[9][10] The agents later investigate a case involving alien biology being injected into teenagers in Wisconsin, and once again they encounter Deep Throat's killer, who is killed by the local sheriff.[11][12]
When investigating a case involving the murder of identical doctors, the agents come across a shapeshifting Alien Bounty Hunter (Brian Thompson) responsible for executing a series of alien clones. During this case a grown woman claiming to be Mulder's sister Samantha appears, telling Mulder of the Bounty Hunter's objectives and that she has the ability to identify him.[13][14] When Scully is kidnapped by the Bounty Hunter, Mulder is forced to trade Samantha for her. During a botched attempt to kill the Bounty Hunter, Samantha is killed. However, it is discovered that this was simply one of many alien clones of Samantha. With the help of X, Mulder pursues the Bounty Hunter to a submarine in the Arctic. Mulder is nearly killed when exposed to the Bounty Hunter's toxic blood, but is saved by Scully.[15][16]
When a hacker downloads decades' worth of classified information about aliens onto a digital tape, he gives it to Mulder, who finds that the entire tape is written in Navajo. The Smoking Man begins searching for the tape and visits Mulder's father, who calls Mulder to see him shortly afterwards. Before he can reveal anything to Mulder however, he is murdered by Alex Krycek. Scully brings Mulder to New Mexico where she introduces him to Albert Hosteen, a code-talker who can translate the digital tape. Albert's grandson shows Mulder a boxcar filled with alien corpses. The Smoking Man tracks Mulder's location however and orders the boxcar burned.[17][18]
Production[edit]
Writing and development[edit]

 

 Gillian Anderson's pregnancy altered the storyline for the season (Pictured: Anderson pregnant with her third child, Felix, in 2008)
The season premiere, "Little Green Men", was originally supposed to have been written by series creator Chris Carter. In his initial pitch, Mulder would have been sent to Moscow. In fact, the producers wanted to film the episode in Russia, but they were not able to secure the appropriate arrangements. In the end, Carter was unable to complete the script idea, which would have also featured the reopening of the X-Files.[19] Instead, co-executive producers Glen Morgan, James Wong and Howard Gordon penned the opening premiere, "Little Green Men"; the episode was the first entry to actually show an alien in the series.[20] This delay gave Carter time to write "Duane Barry", the start of the first two-parter and also the entry wherein the X-Files are re-opened.[19]
As the series ended its first season, a problem had arisen for the producers: the pregnancy of Gillian Anderson, who played Dana Scully. Some network executives wanted the role recast, which Carter refused to do.[21] Though they considered having Scully giving birth to an alien child, the producers decided to work around Anderson's pregnancy by having her abducted and appearing comatose several episodes later.[22] This was described by executive producer Frank Spotnitz as "the best thing that ever happened to the series" as it helped form the intricate mythology that would run throughout the show.[23] The writers decided to close the X-Files at the end of the first season and thus separate Mulder and Scully in the earlier episodes of the season.[22] To hide Anderson's pregnancy in the early episodes, the producers disguised it with "very fancy trick angles, trench coats, and scenes where she is seated rather than standing".[24] Anderson was not featured at all in the episode "3", as she was giving birth to her daughter at the time.[25]
Casting[edit]
The season introduced the character X, played by Steven Williams, who replaced Deep Throat as Mulder's informant, following Deep Throat's assassination in the first season finale, "The Erlenmeyer Flask". X was originally intended to be a woman with Natalija Nogulich already cast in the role, but was replaced by Williams as the writers did not believe she had the "right chemistry" with her co-stars.[26] X was written to be different than Deep Throat; Deep Throat had been selfless, while X was intended to be selfish and scared.[27] Nicholas Lea, who had previously appeared in a small part in the season one's "Gender Bender", was cast as Alex Krycek.[28] Krycek was originally intended to temporarily replacement for Scully when she was abducted, but grew into a character that would last seven seasons on the show.[29]
During the production of the season, Duchovny asked Carter "wouldn't it be great if we had like an alien bounty hunter?"[30] Carter was positive towards the idea and acted upon it, creating with Spotniz the character of the Alien Bounty Hunter for the two-part episodes "Colony" and "End Game".[30] Actor Brian Thompson auditioned for the role in a casting session, where he was competing with another actor. Spotnitz and Carter did not have much time to cast the character, but they knew this casting would be important since they intended the character to become a recurring character. Thompson was chosen according to Spotnitz because he had a very "distinctive look" about him, most notably his face and mouth.[31] Megan Leitch also appeared in "Colony" and "End Game" as a grown-up clone version of Samantha Mulder, and would return to play Samantha or one of her clones over the other seasons. Carter did not want it to be the real Samantha, since that would have been "straight science fiction" and it was too "ridiculous" to give too many answers.[31] Darren McGavin, star of Kolchak: The Night Stalker, was sought out for the part of Senator Matheson in "Little Green Men" and Mulder's father in "Colony" and "End Game", but the roles went to Raymond J. Barry and Peter Donat respectively, while McGavin agreed to play X-Files founder Arthur Dales in season five.[32]
Crew[edit]
Carter also served as executive producer and showrunner and wrote seven episodes. Co-executive producers and writing team Glen Morgan and James Wong wrote five episodes for their final season as regular writers for the series, although they would both return as consulting producers for part of season four. Supervising producer Howard Gordon wrote five episodes. Frank Spotnitz joined the series, writing two episodes. Cast member David Duchovny collaborated with Carter for two episodes receiving story credit. Glen Morgan's younger brother Darin Morgan joined the series, contributing the story for an episode written by his older brother and James Wong, and writing another script solo. Paul Brown joined the series as a producer and wrote two episodes. Sara B. Charno wrote two freelance episodes. Vince Gilligan joined the series, writing one episode. Former supervising producer Alex Gansa returned to co-wrote one episode with writing partner Howard Gordon. Chris Ruppenthal returned to write one more freelance episode after last season. Steve De Jarnatt also contributed one freelance episode for the season. Line producer and production manager Joseph Patrick Finn was promoted to producer with this season. Paul Rabwin continued to serve as co-producer for the show.[33]
Producing-directors for the show included Rob Bowman, David Nutter, Kim Manners and co-executive producer R. W. Goodwin, who all directed the most of the season; Bowman with seven, Nutter with five, and Manners and Goodwin each with two.[33] Series creator Chris Carter directed one episode, making his directorial debut,[34] while Daniel Sackheim, Michael Lange, James Contner, James Whitmore, Jr., Michael Vejar, Nick Marck, Stephen Surjik and Win Phelps each directed one episode.[33]
Reception[edit]
Ratings[edit]
The second season of The X-Files debuted with "Little Green Men" on September 16, 1994. The episode earned a Nielsen household rating of 10.3, with a 19 share, meaning that roughly 10.3 percent of all television-equipped households, and 19 percent of households watching television, were tuned in to the episode.[35] The episode was viewed by 9.8 million households, an increase from the first season's finale, "The Erlenmeyer Flask", which was viewed by 8.3 million households.[35] "Little Green Men" was, at the time, the highest-rated episode of The X-Files to air.[35] As the season continued, ratings began to grow.[35] The season hit a high with the fifteenth episode, "Fresh Bones", which was viewed by 10.8 million households.[35] The season hit a low with the twenty-first episode, "The Calusari", which was viewed by 7.9 million households and received a rating of 8.3/16.[35] The season finale, "Anasazi", earned a Nielsen rating of 10.1, with a 18 share, and was viewed by 9.6 million households,[35] marking a 13.5 percent increase in households when compared to the previous season finale.[nb 1] The series was ranked as number 63 during the 1994–95 television season,[36] a significant increase in ratings when compared to the first season, which finished at number 111.[37]
Reviews[edit]
The DVD Journal gave the season four out of four stars, calling it a "memorable season". The review highlighted "The Host", "Duane Barry" and "Ascension", the cliffhanger finale "Anasazi", the "unforgettable" "Humbug", and meeting Mulder and Scully's families in "Colony" and "One Breath".[38] IGN gave the season a rating of 9 out of 10, with the reviewer noting it was an improvement upon the first as it had "started to explore a little" and the "evolution of the characters makes the product shine even though the plotlines have begun to seem familiar".[39] Robert Shearman and Lars Pearson, in their book Wanting to Believe: A Critical Guide to The X-Files, Millennium & The Lone Gunmen, rated several episodes across the season highly, awarding five stars out of five to "Little Green Men", "Duane Barry", "One Breath", "Irresistible", "Die Hand Die Verletzt", and "Anasazi". However, several episodes rated poorly, with "3", "Excelsis Dei", and "The Calusari" being considered particularly poor.[40]
Many critics considered the "Duane Barry"/"Ascension"/"One Breath" story arc to be the best part of the season. Shearman singled out the three-parter as the highlight of the season, noting that the "intimacy" and "sincerity [of] the emotion" of the episodes allowed the mythology of The X-Files to play out for a further seven seasons.[40] Tom Kessenich, in his book Examination: An Unauthorized Look at Seasons 6–9 of the X-Files named the story arc the top episode of The X-Files and wrote, "to this day, this remains the defining moment in the series run. So much sprang forth from this trio of episodes. ... Sensational."[41]
Accolades[edit]
The second season earned the series seven Primetime Emmy Award nominations, including its first for Outstanding Drama Series. The episode "Duane Barry" received four nominations for different categories; CCH Pounder for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series; Chris Carter for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Writing for a Drama Series; James Coblentz for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Editing for a Series – Single Camera Production; and for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Sound Editing for a Series. Other nominations included John S. Bartley for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Cinematography for a Series for "One Breath" and Stephen Mark for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Editing for a Series – Single Camera Production for "Sleepless".[42][43] This season would also earn the series its first of three wins for the Golden Globe Award for Best Television Series – Drama.[43][44]
Cast[edit]
The following actors and actresses appear in the season:[nb 2]
Main cast[edit]
David Duchovny as Special Agent Fox Mulder
Gillian Anderson as Special Agent Dana Scully (Does not appear in "3")
Recurring cast[edit]
Mitch Pileggi as Walter Skinner (9 episodes)
Steven Williams as X (7 episodes)
William B. Davis as The Smoking Man (6 episodes)
Nicholas Lea as Alex Krycek (4 episodes)
Tom Braidwood as Melvin Frohike (4 episodes)
Bruce Harwood as John Fitzgerald Byers (4 episodes)
Dean Haglund as Richard Langly (3 episodes)
Peter Donat as William Mulder (3 episodes)
Sheila Larken as Margaret Scully (2 episodes)
Megan Leitch as Samantha Mulder (2 episodes)
Steve Railsback as Duane Barry (2 episodes)
Brian Thompson as Alien Bounty Hunter (2 episodes)
Raymond J. Barry as Richard Matheson (1 episode)
Nick Chinlund as Donnie Pfaster (1 episode)
Don S. Davis as William Scully (1 episode)
Lindsey Ginter as Crew Cut Man (1 episode)
Melinda McGraw as Melissa Scully (1 episode)
Rebecca Toolan as Teena Mulder (1 episode)
Floyd Westerman as Albert Hosteen (1 episode)
Episodes[edit]
See also: List of The X-Files episodes
Episodes marked with a double dagger (double-dagger) are episodes in the series' Alien Mythology arc.[nb 3]
The X-Files season 2 episodes

No. in
 series
No. in
 season
Title
Directed by
Written by
Original air date
Production
 code[33]
U.S. viewers
 (millions)

25
1 "Little Green Men"double-dagger David Nutter Glen Morgan & James Wong September 16, 1994 2X01 16.1[45]
With the X-Files shut down, FBI agent Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) finds his own belief in the truth waning. So when an old political ally (Raymond J. Barry) gives him a new reason to believe, he goes alone to an abandoned SETI program site—Arecibo Observatory—in Arecibo, Puerto Rico. Concerned for his safety, fellow FBI agent Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) has to track down his whereabouts before someone or something else does. 
26
2 "The Host" Daniel Sackheim Chris Carter September 23, 1994 2X02 15.9[46]
When a man's decomposed body is found in the sewers of Newark, Mulder is given the supposed "grunt" work. But after Scully's autopsy turns up a parasite living inside the body and a sewer worker is attacked and bitten by something, it opens up a whole new can of worms. Guest starring Darin Morgan. 
27
3 "Blood" David Nutter Story by: Darin Morgan
Teleplay by: Glen Morgan & James Wong September 30, 1994 2X03 14.8[47]
Prompted by messages from digital appliances with instructions to kill, several residents of a small farming community suddenly turn violent and dangerous. Guest starring William Sanderson and John Cygan. 
28
4 "Sleepless" Rob Bowman Howard Gordon October 7, 1994 2X04 13.4[48]
An audio cassette hidden in his morning paper brings Mulder to request the case of a scientist's death consistent with burning, despite the lack of any evidence of any flames or burns. He is given his request along with a new partner, Agent Alex Krycek (Nicholas Lea). Guest starring Tony Todd. 
29
5 "Duane Barry"double-dagger Chris Carter Chris Carter October 14, 1994 2X05 13.9[49]
An ex-FBI agent (Steve Railsback) escapes from a mental hospital and holds several people hostage in a travel agency. Mulder and Krycek are sent in to help with the negotiations since the man claims to have been a UFO abductee. 
30
6 "Ascension"double-dagger Michael Lange Paul Brown October 21, 1994 2X06 15.5[50]
Continuing from the previous episode, Mulder races to Scully's house after listening to the recording of her attack on his answering machine. Duane Barry (Steve Railsback) has kidnapped Scully, determined to offer her to the aliens in his place. 
31
7 "3" David Nutter Chris Ruppenthal and Glen Morgan & James Wong November 4, 1994 2X07 15.0[51]
Walter Skinner (Mitch Pileggi) reopens the X-Files, but Mulder is finding it difficult to work without the missing Scully. When he recognizes a Los Angeles killing as the work of the Trinity murderers, a trio of killers with a fetish for drinking blood, it gives him work in which to immerse himself. Guest starring Perrey Reeves. 
32
8 "One Breath"double-dagger R. W. Goodwin Glen Morgan & James Wong November 11, 1994 2X08 15.3[52]
When Scully mysteriously re-appears comatose in a hospital, Mulder drives himself crazy trying to find the people responsible. Though his quest for vengeance could make him exactly like those whom he despises. 
33
9 "Firewalker" David Nutter Howard Gordon November 18, 1994 2X09 15.2[53]
A malfunction in a robot designed for volcanic exploration yields evidence of a lifeform living in the caves. When this lifeform seemingly causes the death of a member of the research team, Mulder and a newly recovered Scully are flown out to the site in The Cascades to investigate before anyone else dies. Guest starring Bradley Whitford and Leland Orser. 
34
10 "Red Museum"double-dagger Win Phelps Chris Carter December 9, 1994 2X10 16.1[54]
Several Wisconsin teens are found wandering in the woods in their underwear with "He Is One" scrawled on their backs. Mulder and Scully travel to investigate this aberrant behavior, though the strangest thing in this meat-producing area is a cult of vegetarian "walk-ins." The Crew Cut Man (Lindsey Ginter) returns this time working alone. Several relics from the mythology like purity control and Deep Throat (Jerry Hardin) are revisited here. 
35
11 "Excelsis Dei" Stephen Surjik Paul Brown December 16, 1994 2X11 14.2[55]
Mulder and Scully's latest case begins with the rape and battery of a nurse (Teryl Rothery) in a Massachusetts convalescent home. What makes it an X-File is her claim that her attacker was invisible. But upon their arrival, they discover that the unrest is not limited only to the live in residents. 
36
12 "Aubrey" Rob Bowman Sara B. Charno January 6, 1995 2X12 16.2[56]
When a detective mysteriously uncovers the remains of an FBI agent who disappeared in the 1940s while investigating a murder case similar to a modern-day one she is investigating, Mulder and Scully believe that the original killer had passed his genetic trait of violence to his grandchild. Guest starring Terry O'Quinn and Deborah Strang. 
37
13 "Irresistible" David Nutter Chris Carter January 13, 1995 2X13 14.7[57]
Someone is excavating graves in Minneapolis, removing body parts from the corpses. Mulder and Scully are contacted because the agent on the case believes the crimes to be related to incidents of cattle mutilation. Mulder quickly dismisses the idea that the case is an X-File, profiling the perpetrator as a fetishist. Guest starring Nick Chinlund and Bruce Weitz. 
38
14 "Die Hand Die Verletzt" Kim Manners Glen Morgan & James Wong January 27, 1995 2X14 17.7[58]
New Hampshire teenagers feign an occult ritual in an attempt to score and inadvertently cause the murder of one of their group. When Mulder and Scully are called to look into the matter, the town's real worshipers attempt to hide their tracks, though they fear that the boys' attempt to "get some" got them more than they thought. Guest starring Susan Blommaert. 
39
15 "Fresh Bones" Rob Bowman Howard Gordon February 3, 1995 2X15 17.8[59]
One morning Private Jack McAlpin crashes his car into a tree after two separate hallucinatory incidents. The tree has a voodoo symbol drawn on it and this is the second death of a soldier in two weeks that has featured that symbol. The soldiers are guarding a processing centre for Haitians and suspicion falls on one of the Haitians identified by the colonel in charge. 
40
16 "Colony"double-dagger Nick Marck Story by: David Duchovny & Chris Carter
Teleplay by: Chris Carter February 10, 1995 2X16 15.9[60]
At the beginning, a frozen Mulder is brought to a hospital. The episode flashes back to a scene two weeks before, where the crew of a research vessel find the wreckage of a UFO in the Beaufort Sea. The pilot who survives this crash walks out of the hospital and kills identical-looking doctors in various abortion clinics. Guest starring Peter Donat, Brian Thompson, Megan Leitch and Dana Gladstone. 
41
17 "End Game"double-dagger Rob Bowman Frank Spotnitz February 17, 1995 2X17 17.5[61]
An alien bounty hunter kidnaps Scully and wants to trade her for Mulder's sister, Samantha Mulder (Megan Leitch). Mulder asks for Skinner's help in making the trade, and has the FBI Director set up a sniper to take down the bounty hunter. Guest starring Peter Donat, Brian Thompson and Megan Leitch. 
42
18 "Fearful Symmetry" James Whitmore, Jr. Steve De Jarnatt February 24, 1995 2X18 16.5[62]
The death of a federal construction worker and the destruction of various property can only be tied to an escaped elephant, yet the witnesses claim to have seen no animals which might have caused the turmoil. Soon, Mulder and Scully discover the local zoo whose claim to fame is that they've never had a successful animal birth. 
43
19 "Død Kalm" Rob Bowman Story by: Howard Gordon
Teleplay by: Howard Gordon & Alex Gansa March 10, 1995 2X19 17.1[63]
Mulder and Scully are called in when a boatload of survivors from a U.S. Navy destroyer are found. What particularly catches Agent Mulder's attention is that all of these Sailors appear to have aged many decades in the course of a few days. Mulder and Scully travel to Norway where they find a civilian fisherman who is willing to take them to the destroyer's last known position. Guest starring John Savage, David Cubitt and Vladimir Kulich. 
44
20 "Humbug" Kim Manners Darin Morgan March 31, 1995 2X20 15.7[64]
Mulder and Scully must find the paranormal among the abnormal when they are sent to investigate a long standing series of ritualistic killings which match no known patterns. The latest of which was the death of the "Alligator Man," just one of many sideshow acts around which the town of Gibsonton, Florida, is built. 
45
21 "The Calusari" Michael Vejar Sara B. Charno April 14, 1995 2X21 12.9[65]
A photograph taken just before the death of a two-year-old boy yields evidence of some supernatural intervention which piques Mulder's curiosity. When another death in the family occurs, the grandmother of the remaining child requests the aid of some Romanian ritualists (called "căluşari" or "horsemen") in order to cleanse the home of evil. Guest starring Helene Clarkson, Joel Palmer, Ric Reid, Lilyan Chauvin and Kay E. Kuter. 
46
22 "F. Emasculata" Rob Bowman Chris Carter & Howard Gordon April 28, 1995 2X22 14.0[66]
After several men in a prison die of a mysterious illness, Scully tries to discover the cause while Mulder attempts to find two escapees who could potentially spread the disease. 
47
23 "Soft Light" James Contner Vince Gilligan May 5, 1995 2X23 12.9[67]
An ex-student of Scully's (Kate Twa) asks the agents to help her with her first investigation concerning a number of disappearances with very few clues. Mulder ponders the idea of spontaneous human combustion but rethinks it when they find a man (Tony Shalhoub) who is afraid of his own shadow. The man is Dr. Banton, a scientist researching dark matter. Guest starring Tony Shalhoub, Kevin McNulty and Steven Williams as X. 
48
24 "Our Town" Rob Bowman Frank Spotnitz May 12, 1995 2X24 14.5[68]
Dudley, Arkansas, is the site of the latest investigation for Mulder and Scully, who are sent to find a missing poultry inspector. The case takes a twist when another poultry worker is shot after she goes insane, giving Mulder a hunch that the townsfolk really are what they eat. 
49
25 "Anasazi"double-dagger R. W. Goodwin Story by: David Duchovny & Chris Carter
Teleplay by: Chris Carter May 19, 1995 2X25 16.6[69]
The trust that Mulder and Scully have is sorely tested when Mulder begins acting strangely. His aberrant behavior is compounded when the Lone Gunmen direct him to a hacker who managed to break into some very closely guarded files. The files are encrypted in Navajo and need to be decoded by a former Navajo code talker. 
DVD release[edit]
The X-Files – The Complete Second Season
Set details[33] Special features[33]
25 episodes
7-disc set
1.33:1 aspect ratio
Subtitles: English, Spanish
English (Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround)
 "The Truth About Season Two" Documentary
Threads of Mythology
Chris Carter talks about 12 episodes: "Little Green Men", "The Host", "Sleepless", "Duane Barry", "Ascension", "One Breath", "Irresistible", "Die Hand Die Verletzt", "Colony", "End Game", "Humbug", and "Anasazi"
Selected special effects clips
Deleted scenes
9 "Behind-the-truth" spots from F/X
49 promotional television spots

Release dates
Region 1 Region 2 Region 4
November 28, 2000 April 30, 2001 April 20, 2001
Notes[edit]
1.Jump up ^ "The Erlenmeyer Flask" was viewed by 8.3 million households whereas "Anasazi" was viewed by 9.6.[35] Subtracting the two figures and then dividing them by 9.6 million, which represents the largest possible audience, yields a percent increase of 13.5 percent.
2.Jump up ^ Cast information taken from Brian Lowry's 1995 book The Truth is Out There: The Official Guide to the X-Files, published by Harper Prism.
3.Jump up ^ The episodes were included in the DVD collection The X-Files Mythology, Volume 1 – Abduction, released by Fox.
References[edit]
Footnotes
1.Jump up ^ David Nutter (director) (September 16, 1994). "Little Green Men". The X-Files. Season 2. Episode 1. Fox.
2.Jump up ^ Lowry, pp. 161–163
3.Jump up ^ Rob Bowman (director) (October 7, 1994). "Sleepless". The X-Files. Season 2. Episode 4. Fox.
4.Jump up ^ Lowry, pp. 169–170
5.Jump up ^ Chris Carter (writer and director) (October 14, 1994). "Duane Barry". The X-Files. Season 2. Episode 5. Fox.
6.Jump up ^ Lowry, pp. 171–172
7.Jump up ^ Michael Lange (October 21, 1994). "Ascension". The X-Files. Season 2. Episode 6. Fox.
8.Jump up ^ Lowry, pp. 173–174
9.Jump up ^ R.W. Goodwin (director) (November 11, 1994). "One Breath". The X-Files. Season 2. Episode 8. Fox.
10.Jump up ^ Lowry, pp. 179–180
11.Jump up ^ Win Phelps (director) (December 9, 1994). "Red Museum". The X-Files. Season 2. Episode 10. Fox.
12.Jump up ^ Lowry, pp. 184–185
13.Jump up ^ Nick Marck (director) (February 10, 1995). "Colony". The X-Files. Season 2. Episode 16. Fox.
14.Jump up ^ Lowry, pp. 199–201
15.Jump up ^ Rob Bowman (director) (February 17, 1995). "End Game". The X-Files. Season 2. Episode 17. Fox.
16.Jump up ^ Lowry, pp. 202–204
17.Jump up ^ R.W. Goodwin (director) (May 19, 1995). "Anasazi". The X-Files. Season 2. Episode 25. Fox.
18.Jump up ^ Lowry, pp. 225–227
19.^ Jump up to: a b Vitaris, Paula (December 1995). "X-Writers". Starlog Presents Eerie T.V.
20.Jump up ^ Hurwitz and Knowles, p. 55
21.Jump up ^ "About Gillian: Biography". The Official Website of Gillian Anderson. Gillian Anderson.ws. Retrieved November 14, 2011.
22.^ Jump up to: a b Lowry, p. 24
23.Jump up ^ Hurwitz and Knowles, p. 44
24.Jump up ^ Chris Carter (November 28, 2000). Chris Carter Talks About Season 2: "The Host" (DVD). The X-Files: The Complete Second Season: 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment.
25.Jump up ^ Lowry, p. 176
26.Jump up ^ Paul Rabwin (narrator). Deleted Scenes: Sleepless (DVD). The X-Files: The Complete Second Season: 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment.
27.Jump up ^ Lovece, pp. 28–29
28.Jump up ^ Carter, Chris, et al. (2002). The Truth Behind Season 2 (DVD). 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment.
29.Jump up ^ Hurwitz and Knowles, p. 57
30.^ Jump up to: a b Frank Spotnitz, et al. (2004). Threads of Mythology (DVD). The X-Files: The Complete Second Season: 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment.
31.^ Jump up to: a b Frank Spotnitz (2005). "Audio Commentary for "End Game"". The X-Files Mythology, Volume 1 – Abduction (DVD) (20th Century Fox Home Entertainment).
32.Jump up ^ Lowry, p. 162
33.^ Jump up to: a b c d e f David Nutter, et al. (booklet). The X-Files: The Complete Second Season (Liner notes). Fox.
34.Jump up ^ Carter, Chris (2005). Audio Commentary for "Duane Barry" (DVD). The X-Files: The Complete Second Season, Disc 2: 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment.
35.^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h Lowry (1996), p. 247
36.Jump up ^ "ABC Hits a 'Home' Run". Retrieved April 3, 2012.
37.Jump up ^ Mendoza, Manuel (June 17, 1994). "A Program That Goes to X-Tremes - Fox's 'X - Files' Blends Subtlety and Strangeness". The Dallas Morning News.
38.Jump up ^ JJB. "The X-Files: The Complete Second Season". The DVD Journal. Retrieved February 12, 2012.
39.Jump up ^ IGN Staff (December 7, 2000). "X-Files Season Two Gift Pack". IGN. News Corporation. Retrieved April 5, 2012.
40.^ Jump up to: a b Shearman and Pearson, pp. 32–55
41.Jump up ^ Kessenich, p. 220
42.Jump up ^ "Primetime Emmy® Award Database". Emmys.com. Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Retrieved November 30, 2011.
43.^ Jump up to: a b Lowry. pp. 257–258
44.Jump up ^ "HFPA - Award Search". GoldenGlobes.org. Hollywood Foreign Press Association. Retrieved November 30, 2011.
45.Jump up ^ "'Girl' Helps ABC Start Fall Season on Top – Nielsen Ratings". USA Today (Gannett Company, Inc.). September 21, 1994. p. 03D. Retrieved November 28, 2012.
46.Jump up ^ "Nielsen Ratings". USA Today (Gannett Company, Inc.). 28 September 199. p. D3. Retrieved November 28, 2012.
47.Jump up ^ "Nielsen Ratings". USA Today (Gannett Company, Inc.). October 5, 1994 D3. p. D3. Retrieved November 28, 2012.
48.Jump up ^ "CBS Edges Into No. 1 Spot, But Can It Stay? – Nielsen Ratings". USA Today (Gannett Company, Inc.). October 12, 1994. p. D3. Retrieved November 28, 2012.
49.Jump up ^ "Regular Series Put ABC Back on Top – Nielsen Ratings". USA Today (Gannett Company, Inc.). October 19, 1994. p. D3. Retrieved November 28, 2012.
50.Jump up ^ "'Grace' Leads ABC to Tie With CBS – Nielsen Ratings". USA Today (Gannett Company, Inc.). October 26, 1994. p. D3. Retrieved November 28, 2012.
51.Jump up ^ "'Cagney & Lacey' Makes Winning Return – Nielsen Ratings". USA Today (Gannett Company, Inc.). November 9, 1994. p. D3. Retrieved November 28, 2012.
52.Jump up ^ "CBS' 'Scarlett' Sweeps to No. 1 – Nielsen Ratings". USA Today (Gannett Company, Inc.). November 16, 1994. p. D3. Retrieved November 28, 2012.
53.Jump up ^ "'Scarlett,' CBS' Sweeping Epic – Nielsen Ratings". USA Today (Gannett Company, Inc.). November 23, 1994. p. D3. Retrieved November 28, 2012.
54.Jump up ^ "Nielsen Ratings". USA Today (Gannett Company, Inc.). December 14, 1994. p. D3. Retrieved November 28, 2012.
55.Jump up ^ "ABC's Winning Way With Comedy – Nielsen Ratings". USA Today (Gannett Company, Inc.). December 21, 1994. p. D3. Retrieved November 28, 2012.
56.Jump up ^ "Nielsen Ratings". USA Today (Gannett Company, Inc.). January 11, 1995. p. D3. Retrieved November 28, 2012.
57.Jump up ^ "'ER' Rolls Into the No. 1 Spot – Nielsen Ratings". USA Today (Gannett Company, Inc.). January 18, 1995. p. D3. Retrieved November 28, 2012.
58.Jump up ^ "Super Bowl Kicks ABC to the Top – Nielsen Ratings". USA Today (Gannett Company, Inc.). February 1, 1995. p. D3. Retrieved November 28, 2012.
59.Jump up ^ "Nielsen Ratings". USA Today (Gannett Company, Inc.). February 8, 1995. p. D3. Retrieved November 28, 2012.
60.Jump up ^ "Nielsen Ratings". USA Today (Gannett Company, Inc.). February 15, 1995. p. D3. Retrieved November 28, 2012.
61.Jump up ^ "Nielsen Ratings". USA Today (Gannett Company, Inc.). February 23, 1995. p. D3. Retrieved November 28, 2012.
62.Jump up ^ "Nielsen Ratings". USA Today (Gannett Company, Inc.). March 1, 1995. p. D3. Retrieved November 28, 2012.
63.Jump up ^ "Nielsen Ratings". USA Today (Gannett Company, Inc.). March 15, 1995. p. D3. Retrieved November 28, 2012.
64.Jump up ^ "Oscar Show, Celeb Chats Keep ABC on Top – Nielsen Ratings". USA Today (Gannett Company, Inc.). April 5, 1995. p. D3. Retrieved November 28, 2012.
65.Jump up ^ "Nielsen Ratings". USA Today (Gannett Company, Inc.). April 19, 1995. p. D3. Retrieved November 28, 2012.
66.Jump up ^ "Nielsen Ratings". USA Today (Gannett Company, Inc.). May 3, 1995. p. D3. Retrieved November 28, 2012.
67.Jump up ^ "Ratings Go to the Movies – Nielsen Ratings". USA Today (Gannett Company, Inc.). May 10, 1995. p. D3. Retrieved November 28, 2012.
68.Jump up ^ "Nielsen Ratings". USA Today (Gannett Company, Inc.). May 17, 1995. p. D3. Retrieved November 28, 2012.
69.Jump up ^ "Nielsen Ratings". USA Today (Gannett Company, Inc.). May 24, 1995. p. D3. Retrieved November 28, 2012.
BibliographyHurwitz, Matt; Knowles, Chris (2008). The Complete X-Files. Insight Editions. ISBN 1-933784-80-6.
Kessenich, Tom (2002). Examination. New York, US: Trafford Publishing. ISBN 1-55369-812-6.
Lovece, Frank (1996). The X-Files Declassified. Citadel Press. ISBN 0-8065-1745-X.
Lowry, Brian (1995). The Truth is Out There: The Official Guide to the X-Files. Harper Prism. ISBN 0-06-105330-9.
Shearman, Robert; Pearson, Lars (2009). Wanting to Believe: A Critical Guide to The X-Files, Millennium & The Lone Gunmen. Mad Norwegian Press. ISBN 0-9759446-9-X.
External links[edit]
 Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: TXF Season 2
List of The X-Files episodes at the Internet Movie Database
List of The X-Files episodes at TV.com