List of The X-Files episodes
"Oubliette" is the eighth episode of the third season of the American science fiction television series The X-Files, and originally aired on the Fox network on November 17, 1995. Written by Charles Grant Craig and directed by Kim Manners, "Oubliette" is a "Monster-of-the-Week" story, unconnected to the series' wider mythology. It earned a Nielsen rating of 10.5 and was watched by 15.90 million people on its initial broadcast. The episode received positive reviews. Both the emotional nature of the story and David Duchovny's performance received positive critical attention.
The show centers on FBI special agents Fox Mulder (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 the installment, a little girl named Amy is kidnapped and imprisoned by a mentally unstable photographer. Mulder discovers a psychic connection between the recently kidnapped victim and Lucy, another girl kidnapped by the same man years ago. He attempts to use the connection to help solve the investigation, but discovers that the event may be too traumatic for Lucy to handle.
"Oubliette" is the only X-Files screenplay written by Craig, who exited the writing staff before the entry was produced. The extensive outdoor filming lead to several difficulties for the production crew. Amy was 12 years-old in the original screenplay. The Fox network was concerned her situation was an uncomfortable parallel to the recent Polly Klaas case, resulting in her age being increased before filming could begin. Critics have complimented the thematic resonance of the kidnapping and its effect on Mulder.
Contents
[hide] 1 Plot
2 Production 2.1 Writing
2.2 Filming
3 Themes
4 Broadcast and reception
5 References 5.1 Footnotes
5.2 Bibliography
6 External links
Plot[edit]
Carl Wade (Michael Chieffo) takes a photograph of 15 year-old Amy Jacobs (Jewel Staite) during school picture day. He becomes obsessed with her following the event, eventually kidnapping her. Her younger sister is the only witness to the incident, which takes place in their bedroom in the middle of the night. At exactly the same time, fast food worker Lucy Householder (Tracey Ellis) collapses with a nosebleed. Agent Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) investigates Amy's disappearance, drawn to the case because his younger sister was kidnapped in a similar situation. The investigation leads Mulder to Lucy, who was taken from her bedroom at age eight and held in a dark basement for five years before she escaped.
Mulder's partner Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) suspects that Lucy may be connected to Amy's disappearance, due to the fact that her nosebleed contained not her blood type, but Amy's. In her room at a halfway house, scratches appear on Lucy's face and she experiences temporary blindness—injuries that are identical to Amy's, who is being tortured in a basement elsewhere. The two develop an unexplainable psychic connection; everything that happens to Amy physically also happens to Lucy. Mulder tries to convince Lucy that she can help them find Amy, but she declares she is too afraid to assist. Scully informs Mulder of their new lead in the case, the school photography assistant Wade, who was recently fired. Mulder is adamant that Lucy is not working with Wade and snaps at Scully when she suggests that Samantha's disappearance is causing him to become too involved with the case.
The investigation team receives a tip concerning Wade's location, which corresponds to the area where Lucy was found years ago. They find Wade's cabin in the woods, discovering Lucy in the basement with no clear indication of why she came there. Lucy begins to feel cold and wet; Mulder deduces that because of Lucy's connection to Amy, she must be at the local river. Mulder and Scully arrive there to find Wade attempting to drown Amy. Back with the police, Lucy begins to drown despite not even being near water. Mulder shoots Wade while Scully attempts to perform CPR on Amy, but because of the connection it resuscitates Lucy instead. Suddenly, the process is reversed; Amy recovers and Lucy dies before Mulder returns. Overwhelmed by Lucy's sacrifice and his inability to save her, Mulder breaks down sobbing over her body. He later speculates that she died not only to save Amy, but to forget what Wade did to her years ago. [4][5]
Production[edit]
Writing[edit]
A smiling blonde woman.
The producers felt that Jewel Staite—who was only 13 at the time—looked old enough to play the role of a 15 year-old girl.
The screenplay for "Oubliette" was authored by Charles Grant Craig, a writer who at the time had little background or experience within television.[6][7] Before joining the writing staff of The X-Files during the third season, his most significant writing credits included episodes for Renegade and Booker.[8] His most notable television screenplay was The New Alfred Hitchcock Presents entry "Final Escape".[9][10] Though Craig left the staff shortly before "Oubliette" entered production for unknown reasons, he was credited as an executive producer on several installments for the third season.[1][11] The title was derived from the French word "oubliette", which refers to a pit-like dungeon consisting of "total darkness" with a hole that opens from the top.[12][13]
The narrative centers on Mulder's identification with Lucy which is based on the abduction of his sister, Samantha.[11] It was decided that time would not be spent on Scully's sympathy with the victim, despite her own abduction experience in the second season episode "Ascension".[14] Despite this, Scully is gentle towards Mulder and "wanted to believe" him until the evidence pointed overwhelmingly to Lucy.[11] After that point, Scully takes on an antagonistic role, going against the wishes of her partner.[15] Though not originally included the script, David Duchovny added the line about how his connection to the case was not just because of Samantha.[11]
Series creator Chris Carter stated that in Craig's original draft Lucy was more "hard-boiled", but actress Tracey Ellis played her as a more wounded person.[11] Fox's standards and practices department was uncomfortable with the screenplay, because it featured a 12 year-old girl being kidnapped. The network requested that she be in her late teens and that the plot would not heavily feature Amy's ordeal or suffering.[16] Jewel Staite had just turned 13 when she was cast, but the producers felt she looked older and even applied make-up to add to that effect.[17][16]
The reason for the concern was because the original screenplay featured similarities to the Polly Klaas case, which had received large public attention around the time of production.[17][16] Polly Klaas was a 12 year-old girl who was kidnapped during a slumber party, and eventually strangled to death.[17] The antagonist of the episode was compared to Richard Allen Davis, the culprit of the case, who was convicted and sentenced to death for his crimes.[18] Ngaire Genge in his novel The Unofficial X-Files Companion commented that "tragically, unlike Amy, Klass didn't survive her abduction".[19]
Filming[edit]
View of a mountain landscape.
The episode was filmed at Mount Seymour because it was the only location that met all the conditions of the crew.
"Oubliette" was shot in Vancouver, British Columbia, as were the rest of the episodes of the third season.[20] The location of the antagonist's house was an important factor during production. Craig's screenplay called for a remote house in the "middle of nowhere", but the producers required a site closer to the studio.[21] With a production crew consisting of 60 members, it was decided to use somewhere that could appear "rustic while being next to a parking lot."[21] A suitable area was found near the peak of Mount Seymour, a location that had previously been used in "Ascension".[22] The mountain featured both a parking lot and a log cabin that met the needs of the filming crew.[3] An issue arose because the mountain had a ski lift, which needed to be avoided while composing shots.[21] Over 1000 prop trees had to be brought to the filming site to camouflage surroundings, to give the atmosphere a "remote" feel.[23][24]
The crew encountered a larger issue with the contract with the Provincial Park committee. The park required a seven-day notice before filming of any kind was approved.[23] The production manager had to contact the park Representative directly, who assured him that their needs would be met.[23] For the final sequence, both the Capilano River and Lynn Headwaters were considered; however, the Seymour River was ultimately chosen because it was the safest filming location.[23] The filming of the episode was plagued by rain heavy weather conditions. In one example, while directing the climax, the river had risen by four or five inches, causing the crew to move to another position to shoot at a week later.[17] This cost the crew several days worth of production and a large sum of money.[17][23] Shooting conditions were further complicated because shoots involving water are notably difficult, requiring a new set of costumes for each take.[17]
Because of the extensive outdoor shooting, director Kim Manners hated directing the episode, commenting that "it couldn't be fucking worse."[23] Despite a negative experience with shooting on the mountain, the episode "Gethsemane" from the fourth season was filmed there with similar issues.[25][26] Gillian Anderson's stand-in Bonnie Hay, who appears in a cameo, previously played a doctor in both "Colony" and "End Game" and a nurse in "D.P.O.".[27]
Themes[edit]
The kidnapping of Amy shares several similarities with the abduction of Mulder's sister.[28] Mulder's sister Samantha was abducted by aliens when Mulder was a child, before the timeline of The X-Files.[29] Both Amy and Lucy are kidnapped and victimized by the same pedophile, who represents the "logic of duplication".[30][31] Wade treats both girls in virtually identical ways, kidnapping them both at the same age and photographing them obsessively in the same manner.[32] David Lavery in Deny All Knowledge asserts that Mulder is capable of seeing beyond "simple equivalents", caring about each individual girl separately.[30] Lavery argues that this grants Mulder the ability to separate the case from his own personal experience with his sister.[30] The scene that best exemplifies this trait is when Mulder comforts Amy's mother following her daughter's kidnapping. Mulder comments that he "knows how she feels", not because of what happened to his sister, but because he can identify with her general sense of loss.[33] Thematic elements concerning the concept of "remote viewing"—the paranormal ability to perceive feelings from a distance—are later explored in greater detail in the fifth season installment "Mind's Eye".[34]
Broadcast and reception[edit]
A man standing in front of purple background.
The performance by David Duchovny as Fox Mulder received positive reviews from critics. Several critics viewed that he brought warmth to the character.
"Oubliette" was first broadcast on the Fox network on November 17, 1995.[35] It earned a Nielsen rating of 10.2, with an 17 share, meaning that roughly 10.2 percent of all television-equipped households, and 17 percent of households watching television, were tuned in to the episode. It was watched by a total of 15.90 million viewers.[36] In the UK it premiered the following year on BBC1 on October 17, 1996.[37]
"Oubliette" received mostly positive reviews from critics. Todd VanDerWerff of The A.V. Club assessed it as a "B+", commenting that it "belongs to a subcategory of X-Files episodes that can often be more satisfying than the usual categories" due to the villain being a human being.[38] He described it as "impressively dark and occasionally moving", and praised the cinematography, editing, and storytelling. However, he was critical of Ellis's performance as Lucy, finding that her characterization did not fit the character, and he noted that the installment fell into the trope of using women as victims.[38] Paula Vitaris from Cinefantastique gave the program three and a half stars out of four. She felt that Mulder and Lucy's relationship was "believable" and, in contrast to VanDerWerff, thought that Ellis's performance was "perfect".[11]
Robert Shearman and Lars Pearson, in their book Wanting to Believe: A Critical Guide to The X-Files, Millennium & The Lone Gunmen, rated "Oubliette" five stars out of five, noting that it was difficult and uncomfortable to watch with its parallels to the real world which made it "nevertheless one of the series' boldest and greatest achievements".[39] The two praised the depth of Mulder's charicterization as well as Duchovny's performance.[39] Entertainment Weekly gave "Oubliette" a grade of "B-", stating that the plot wasn't as scary as it could have been considering the subject matter, positively critiquing that the episode was "worth it for Lucy's channeling sequences".[40] The review also criticized Scully's "aggressive I'm-not-buying-it mode".[40]
Writer Sarah Stegall awarded the entry five out of five, commenting that the subject matter made it hard for her to watch, as a mother herself.[15] She praised the characterization of Mulder, and the performance by Duchovny, commenting that he brought warmth to the plot. Sarah positively described Mulder as "a truly gentle man who can show compassion without being maudlin about it", but wrote negatively about Scully, who seemed "antagonist" towards the well-meaning Mulder.[15] Duchovny was particularly pleased with his work in the episode, feeling that it was amongst his best acting performance during the entire run of The X-Files. He later cited the episode as one of his favorites.[41]
References[edit]
Footnotes[edit]
1.^ Jump up to: a b R. W. Goodwin, et al (booklet). The X-Files: The Complete Third Season (Liner notes). Fox.
2.Jump up ^ "The X-Files, Season 3". iTunes Store. Apple. Retrieved 28 August 2012.
3.^ Jump up to: a b Hatfield (1997), p. 29
4.Jump up ^ "The X-Files: Oubliette (1995)". AllMovie. All Media Guide. Retrieved 27 November 2009.
5.Jump up ^ Hatfield (1997), p. 194
6.Jump up ^ Kenneth Muir (2001), p. 374
7.Jump up ^ Hatfield (1997), p. 392
8.Jump up ^ "Charles Grant Craig". The New York Times. Retrieved April 6, 2012.
9.Jump up ^ M. Lentz (2001), p. 1723
10.Jump up ^ Kenneth Muir (2001), p. 149
11.^ Jump up to: a b c d e f Vitaris, Paula (October 1996). "The X-Files Season Three Episode Guide". Cinefantastique 28 (3): 16–62.
12.Jump up ^ Hatfield (1997), p. 252
13.Jump up ^ Lowry (1996), p. 120
14.Jump up ^ Keegan, John. "Ascension". Critical Myth. Retrieved November 8, 2010.
15.^ Jump up to: a b c Stegall, Sarah (1996). "Oubliette". The Munchkyn Zone. Retrieved 21 November 2012.
16.^ Jump up to: a b c Lowry (1995), p. 121
17.^ Jump up to: a b c d e f Lowry (1995), p. 120
18.Jump up ^ "Before Being Sentenced to Die, Killer Disrupts a Courtroom". The New York Times. September 27, 1996. Retrieved April 8, 2012.
19.Jump up ^ Genge (1995), p. 79
20.Jump up ^ Vitaris, Paula (October 1998). "X-Files: A Mixed Bag of Episodes and a Feature Film Pave the Way for Season Six". Cinefantastique 30 (7/8): 27.
21.^ Jump up to: a b c Gradnitzer (2002), p. 90
22.Jump up ^ Gradnitzer (2002), p. 66
23.^ Jump up to: a b c d e f Gradnitzer (2002), p. 91
24.Jump up ^ Lowry (1996), p. 21
25.Jump up ^ Meisler (2000), p. 270
26.Jump up ^ Graham Murray & Rob Maier (narrators). Behind the Truth: Ice Cave (DVD). The X-Files: The Complete Fourth Season.
27.Jump up ^ Lowry (1995), p. 119
28.Jump up ^ Goldman (1997), p. 93
29.Jump up ^ Handlen, Zack (15 August 2008). "Little Green Men/The Host/Blood". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 9 November 2011.
30.^ Jump up to: a b c Lavery(1996), p. 203
31.Jump up ^ Genge (1995), p. 78
32.Jump up ^ Macintyre(1997), p. 108
33.Jump up ^ Hatfield (1997), p. 169
34.Jump up ^ Vitaris, Paula (October 1998). "Fifth Season Episode Guide". Cinefantastique 30 (7/8): 29–50.
35.Jump up ^ Mitchell (1996), p. 264
36.Jump up ^ Lowry (1995), p. 251
37.Jump up ^ Cornell (1998), p. 203
38.^ Jump up to: a b VanDerWerff, Todd (July 18, 2010). "The Walk/Oubliette/Nisei". The A.V. Club. Retrieved May 15, 2012.
39.^ Jump up to: a b Shearman and Pearson (2009), pp. 63–64
40.^ Jump up to: a b "X Cyclopedia: The Ultimate Episode Guide, Season III". Entertainment Weekly. November 29, 1996. Retrieved May 16, 2012.
41.Jump up ^ Strachan, Alex (January 27, 2009). "Kim Manners, Vancouver director of X-Files, Supernatural, dies". Vancouver Sun. Retrieved May 29, 2012.
Bibliography[edit]
Cornell, Paul (1998). X-Treme Possibilities: A Comprehensively Expanded Rummage Through Five Years of the X-Files. Virgin Publications, Ltd. ISBN 978-0753502280.
Genge, Ngaire (1995). The Unofficial X-Files Companion. Three Rivers Press. ISBN 978-0517886014.
Goldman, Jane (19957). X-Files Book of the Unexplained. Harper Paperbacks. ISBN 978-0061053344.
Gradnitzer, Louisa (2002). X Marks the Spot: On Location With The X-Files. Arsenal Pulp Press. ISBN 978-1551520667.
Hatfield, James; Butt, George (1997). The Unauthorized X-Cyclopedia: The Definitive Reference Guide to the X-Files. Kensington. ISBN 978-1575662336.
Kenneth Muir, John (2001). Terror Television: American Series, 1970-1999. McFarland & Company. ISBN 978-0786408900.
Lavery, David (1995). Deny All Knowledge: Reading the X-Files. Syracuse University Press. ISBN 978-0815604075.
Lowry, Brian (1995). The Truth is Out There: The Official Guide to the X-Files. Harper Prism. ISBN 978-0-06-105330-6.
Lowry, Brian (1996). Trust No One: The Official Third Season Guide to The X-Files. Harper Prism. ISBN 978-0061053535.
M. Lentz, Henry (2001). The Truth is Out There: The Official Guide to the X-Files. McFarland & Company. ISBN 978-0786409426.
Macintyre, Ken (1996). Reel Vancouver: An insider's guide. Whitecap Books. ISBN 978-1551105062.
Meisler, Andy (2000). The End and the Beginning: The Official Guide to the X-Files Season 6. HarperCollins. ISBN 978-0-06-107595-7.
Mitchell, Paul (1996). The Duchovny Files: The Truth Is in Here. ECW Press. ISBN 978-1550222845.
Shearman, Robert; Pearson, Lars (2009). Wanting to Believe: A Critical Guide to The X-Files, Millennium & The Lone Gunmen. Mad Norwegian Press. ISBN 978-0-9759446-9-1.
External links[edit]
Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: TXF Season 3
"Oubliette" on The X-Files official website
"Oubliette" at the Internet Movie Database
"Oubliette" at TV.com
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Nisei (The X-Files)
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"Nisei"
The X-Files episode
Nisei YXF.jpg
An alien corpse being autopsied. The episode references the 1995 alien autopsy video hoax which Fox had previously aired as genuine.
Episode no.
Season 3
Episode 9
Directed by
David Nutter
Written by
Chris Carter
Frank Spotnitz
Howard Gordon
Production code
3X09
Original air date
November 24, 1995
Guest actors
Raymond J. Barry as Richard Matheson
Tom Braidwood as Melvin Frohike
Dean Haglund as Richard Langly
Bruce Harwood as John Fitzgerald Byers
Steven Williams as X
Stephen McHattie as Red Haired Man
Robert Ito as Dr. Takio Ishimaru/Shiro Zama
Gillian Barber as Penny Northern
Corrine Koslo as Lottie Holloway
Brendan Beiser as Pendrell
Lori Triolo as Diane
Paul McLean as Coast Guard Officer
Yasuo Sakurai as Kazuo Sakurai
Mitch Pileggi as Walter Skinner[1]
Episode chronology
← Previous
"Oubliette" Next →
"731"
List of season 3 episodes
List of The X-Files episodes
"Nisei" is the ninth episode of the third season of the American science fiction television series The X-Files. It premiered on the Fox network on November 24, 1995. It was directed by R.W. Goodwin, and written by series creator Chris Carter. "Nisei" featured guest appearances by Steven Williams, Raymond J. Barry and Stephen McHattie. The episode helped explore the series' overarching mythology. "Nisei" earned a Nielsen household rating of 9.8, being watched by 16.36 million people in its initial broadcast. The episode received largely 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 investigate the origins of an alien autopsy Mulder believes is real. The investigation uncovers Japanese involvement and sees Mulder smuggle himself onto a secret cargo train to find out more. "Nisei" is a two-part episode, with the plot continuing in the next episode, "731".
Inspired by the atrocities committed by Unit 731, a Japanese research program during World War II, "Nisei" was originally intended to be a stand alone mythology episode, but was lengthened into two separate parts. The episode featured several scenes that required stunt work, which David Duchovny performed himself. The episode's title refers to the term nisei, meaning the son or daughter of an Issei couple born outside Japan. In addition, the episode has been critically examined, due to its themes pertaining to "arrogated" scientists and their "connection to ancient evil".
Contents
[hide] 1 Plot
2 Production 2.1 Writing
2.2 Filming
3 Themes
4 Reception
5 Footnotes 5.1 References
6 External links
Plot[edit]
In Knoxville, Tennessee, a mysterious train car is left in a rail yard. That night, a group of Japanese scientists enter the car and conduct an autopsy on an alien body. The scene is recorded and transmitted via satellite. Suddenly, a strike team storms the car and kills the scientists, taking the alien corpse away in a body bag. Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) purchases an edited video of the autopsy. He believes the tape is authentic, but Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) is skeptical.
When the agents go to Allentown, Pennsylvania, to track down the distributor of the tape, they find him murdered. At the scene, they pursue and capture a Japanese man, Kazuo Sakurai, who is identified as a high-ranking diplomat. Skinner appears and orders Sakurai released. Before doing so, Mulder searches his briefcase and finds both a list of Mutual UFO Network members and satellite images of a ship. The Lone Gunmen identify the ship as the Talapus, a salvage vessel docked in Newport News, Virginia. Meanwhile, Sakurai is killed by an assassin called the Red-Haired Man.
Scully investigates the MUFON group, discovering several women who claim to recognize her from her abduction experience. They have similar implants to Scully's, and inform her that they are all dying of cancer. Meanwhile, Mulder goes to the Newport News shipyard and searches the Talapus. Armed men arrive and scour the ship, but Mulder manages to escape. That night, he discovers a warehouse where a craft is being fumigated by a hazmat team. Mulder believes the craft to be of alien origin, recovered by the Talapus.
Skinner later confronts Mulder over the briefcase, the absence of which has caused an international incident with Japan. He refuses to assist Mulder any further with his case. Mulder meets with Senator Richard Matheson, who gives him the details on the videotaped autopsy and links it with the larger conspiracy of the alien-human hybrids. Mulder investigates further, discovering that the Japanese scientists were members of the notorious Unit 731 during World War II; like Victor Klemper, they were recruited by the U.S. government to develop the hybrids. Mulder believes that the scientists killed on the videotape were working on a secret railway, transporting test subjects.
After sharing her MUFON findings with Mulder, Scully runs her implant through the FBI labs to gather technological information about it. She also analyzes the autopsy video, realizing that one of the scientists seen, Dr. Ishimaru, experimented on her during her abduction. Meanwhile, Mulder goes to West Virginia and tracks down the secret train car, watching a group of Japanese men place what seems to be an alien-human subject on board. Meanwhile, another Japanese scientist, Dr. Shiro Zama, waits for the train at a station in Ohio; he is forced to board after his bodyguard is killed by the Red-Haired Man in the restroom. The Red-Haired Man follows Zama aboard the train, which is headed for Vancouver, Canada.
Mulder tracks the train to the Ohio station, but learns it has just left when he arrives. Meanwhile, Scully goes to Mulder's apartment and is met by X, who warns her to keep Mulder from getting on the train. Scully calls Mulder, who has managed to drive ahead of the train and is just about to jump onto it from a bridge. Despite Scully's pleas, Mulder jumps onto the top of the train as it speeds past below.[1]
Production[edit]
Lead actor David Duchovny performed the stunt involving his character jumping off a train by himself.
Writing[edit]
The idea to create a story involving the 731 unit came from series creator Chris Carter. He noted, "Unit 731 first came to my attention at the same time as it did for a lot of other people, when I read it in the New York Times about what the Japanese did to prisoners of war during the Second World War."[2] Carter decided that an episode based around former war criminals who had received "clemency so [Americans] could use their science" would be "interesting".[2]
Frank Spotnitz was assigned writing duties for "Nisei", which was originally intended to be a stand alone mythology story and to air as the seventh episode of the third season. However, as Spotnitz developed his script, the episode hit several logistical snags. Most notably, Spotnitz's script featured several scenes filmed on trains: Chris Carter explained, "We found that we were going to have some trouble shooting with trains." Eventually, the sheer scope of the episode caused co-executive producer R. W. Goodwin so much trouble that he wanted to scrap the story. Spotnitz explained, "Goodwin called Chris and said, 'This is unproducable. […] you've got to throw out the script, basically.' I was devastated, and Chris [said] 'Let's make it a two-parter.'"[3] So, the episode was bumped back to number nine and was lengthened to a two parter, resulting in it being delayed several weeks.[2]
Filming[edit]
A co-executive producer called this episode and its second part "731" logistically huge.[4] The stunt where Mulder jumped on a moving train was worked on for six weeks. While there was some alarm in having David Duchovny do the stunt, the actor, who had previously performed his own stunts in the episode "Ascension" was willing to do it and considered it a fun experience.[3] The producers used trained rangers to play the soldiers in the teaser, part of an attempt to keep the show grounded in reality at all times. An 11-year-old boy was used to play the dead alien on the autopsy table. The boy's twin sister was used to play the alien on the train car. Both underwent extensive makeup including oversized dark contact lenses to create the effect of the alien eyes.[4][5]
After watching the video bought by Mulder, Scully criticizes it citing the 1995 alien autopsy video—a hoax made by Ray Santilli, a British video producer. Coincidentally, Fox ended up re-airing the alien autopsy video the night following this episode's original air date.[5] The episode features the first appearance of Agent Pendrell, who appeared in several other episodes in the third and fourth seasons. Pendrell was named after a street in Vancouver.[6] The title, "Nisei", refers to the term used, in countries of North and South America, to specify the son or daughter of an Issei couple born outside Japan. The term nisei Japanese American refers to nisei living in the United States.[4]
Themes[edit]
Jan Delasara, in the book PopLit, PopCult and The X-Files argues that episodes like "Nisei" and "731," or the earlier episode "Paper Clip," show the public's trust in science "eroding." Delasara proposes that "arrogated" scientists who are "rework[ing] the fabric of life," are causing the public's faith in science to fade drastically, "a concern", she notes, "that is directly addressed by X-Files episodes". Moreover, she notes that almost all of the scientists portrayed in The X-Files are depicted with a "connection to ancient evil", with the lone exception being Agent Scully. In "Nisei," and later in "731", the scientists are former Japanese scientists who worked during WWII for the infamous 731 unit. In their attempts to create a successful human-alien hybrid, they become the archetypical scientists who "[go] too far," a serious factor that Delasara argues "'alienates' [the public] further from science and its practitioners."[7]
Reception[edit]
"Nisei" premiered on the Fox network on November 24, 1995, and was first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC Two on October 23, 1996.[8] The episode earned a Nielsen household rating of 9.8 with a 17 share, meaning that roughly 9.8 percent of all television-equipped households, and 17 percent of households watching television, were tuned in to the episode.[9] A total of 16.36 million viewers watched this episode during its original airing.[9] "Nisei" later won two Emmy Awards: one for "Outstanding Individual Achievement in Sound Editing for a Series" and one for "Outstanding Individual Achievement in Sound Mixing for a Drama Series."[10]
"Nisei" received largely positive reviews. In a retrospective of the third season in Entertainment Weekly, "Nisei" was rated an A. The review noted that the episode contained "lots of excitement for Scully", though it also described Mulder's plot thread as "equally gripping".[11] Writing for The A.V. Club, Todd VanDerWerff rated the episode an A-, calling it "a hell of a lot of fun". VanDerWerff described the cliffhanger ending as "just phenomenal", and felt that the episode had "the drive of a big-budget action film". However, he noted that it was becoming evident by this stage that the series' mythology was becoming "too big to ever resolve wholly satisfactorily".[12] Paula Vitaris from Cinefantastique gave the episode a largely positive review and awarded it three-and-a-half stars out of four.[13] Vitaris noted that, despite the teaser and first act being "promising enough", the episode "slides downhill rapidly with a storyline that crosses the border into ludicrous."[2] Vitaris called the scene where soldiers kill prisoners "a scene more disturbing than anything else previously seen on The X-Files."[13] Furthermore, she wrote that the final scene between Mulder and Scully was "beautifully written and acted."[13]
Robert Shearman and Lars Pearson, in their book Wanting to Believe: A Critical Guide to The X-Files, Millennium & The Lone Gunmen, were slightly more critical and rated the episode three-and-a-half stars out of five. The two criticized the plot—despite calling the action sequences "quite breathless"—noting that "it seems rather funny: an entire team of black ops are sent to a small boat, but Mulder is still able to evade them without their noticing."[14] Shearman and Pearson, called the episode "Planes, Trains, and Automobiles reinvented as an action movie."[14]
Footnotes[edit]
1.^ Jump up to: a b Lowry, pp. 122-131
2.^ Jump up to: a b c d Vitaris, Paula (October 1996). "Nisei & 731". Cinefantastique 28 (3): 41, 62.
3.^ Jump up to: a b Hurwitz and Knowles, p. 82
4.^ Jump up to: a b c Lovece, p. 206
5.^ Jump up to: a b Lowry, p. 80
6.Jump up ^ Lowry, p. 126
7.Jump up ^ Delasara, p. 181
8.Jump up ^ Chris Carter, et al (booklet). The X-Files: The Complete Third Season (Liner notes). Fox.
9.^ Jump up to: a b Lowry, p. 251
10.Jump up ^ Hurwitz and Knowles, p. 241
11.Jump up ^ "X Cyclopedia: The Ultimate Episode Guide, Season III | EW.com". Entertainment Weekly. November 29, 1996. Retrieved January 10, 2012.
12.Jump up ^ VanDerWerff, Todd (July 18, 2010). ""The Walk"/"Oubliette"/"Nisei" | The X-Files/Millennium | TV Club". The A.V. Club. Retrieved January 11, 2012.
13.^ Jump up to: a b c Vitaris, Paula (October 1996). "Episode Guide". Cinefantastique 28 (3): 18–40.
14.^ Jump up to: a b Shearman and Pearson, p. 64
References[edit]
Delasara, Jan (2000). PopLit, PopCult and The X-Files: A Critical Exploration. Mcfarland & Co. ISBN 0-7864-0789-1.
Edwards, Ted (1996). X-Files Confidential. Little, Brown and Company. ISBN 0-316-21808-1.
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 (1996). Trust No One: The Official Guide to the X-Files. Harper Prism. ISBN 0-06-105353-8.
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 3
"Nisei" on The X-Files official website
"Nisei" at the Internet Movie Database
"Nisei" at TV.com
[hide]
v·
t·
e
The X-Files episodes
Seasons: 1·
2·
3·
4·
5·
6·
7·
8·
9
Season 3
"The Blessing Way"·
"Paper Clip"·
"D.P.O."·
"Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose"·
"The List"·
"2Shy"·
"The Walk"·
"Oubliette"·
"Nisei"·
"731"·
"Revelations"·
"War of the Coprophages"·
"Syzygy"·
"Grotesque"·
"Piper Maru"·
"Apocrypha"·
"Pusher"·
"Teso Dos Bichos"·
"Hell Money"·
"Jose Chung's From Outer Space"·
"Avatar"·
"Quagmire"·
"Wetwired"·
"Talitha Cumi"
Categories: The X-Files (season 3) episodes
1995 television episodes
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731 (The X-Files)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
This is a good article. Click here for more information.
"731"
The X-Files episode
Seven-three-one XF.jpg
X saving Fox Mulder's life
Episode no.
Season 3
Episode 10
Directed by
Rob Bowman
Written by
Frank Spotnitz
Production code
3X10
Original air date
December 1, 1995
Guest actors
Stephen McHattie as Red-Haired Man
William B. Davis as Cigarette Smoking Man
Don S. Williams as First Elder
Steven Williams as X
Michael Puttonen as Conductor
Robert Ito as Dr. Takio Ishimaru/Shiro Zama
Colin Cunningham as Escalante
Brendan Beiser as Pendrell
Episode chronology
← Previous
"Nisei" Next →
"Revelations"
List of season 3 episodes
List of The X-Files episodes
"731" is the tenth episode of the third season of the American science fiction television series The X-Files. It premiered on the Fox network on December 1, 1995. It was directed by Rob Bowman, and written by Frank Spotnitz. "731" featured guest appearances by Stephen McHattie, Steven Williams and Don S. Williams. The episode helps explore the series' overarching mythology. "731" earned a Nielsen household rating of 12, being watched by 17.68 million people in its initial broadcast.
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 risks his life infiltrating a train carrying a human-alien hybrid. Meanwhile, Scully tries to uncover the truth about her abduction. "731" is a two-part episode, continuing the plot from the previous episode, "Nisei".
The production of "731" involved several stunts, including the explosion of a retired railway car. The episode's production was successful for two members of the crew—earning director of photography John Bartley an American Society of Cinematographers award nomination for his work, and securing Bowman the job of directing the series' subsequent film adaptation, The X-Files.
Contents
[hide] 1 Plot
2 Production 2.1 Conception and writing
2.2 Filming and post-production
3 Themes
4 Broadcast and reception
5 Footnotes 5.1 References
6 External links
Plot[edit]
In West Virginia, a team of soldiers arrives at an abandoned leprosy research compound, rounding up most of the patients. One patient, Escalante, hides beneath a trapdoor during the arrival and follows the group to a secluded field nearby. He watches as the soldiers shoot the other patients, including apparent alien-human hybrids, into a mass grave.
Fox Mulder loses his cell phone after jumping on top of the moving train, losing contact with Dana Scully. When questioned by Scully, X tells her to analyze her implant, saying that it will give her answers about the train and Melissa's murder. Meanwhile, Mulder enters the train and finds that the secret railcar is quarantined and protected by a security system. He searches for Zama, enlisting the train conductor for help. In Zama's compartment, they find hand-written journals in Japanese. However, elsewhere on the train, the Red-Haired Man intercepts and strangles Zama.
Scully sees Pendrell, who tells her that the implant contains highly advanced technology that can replicate the brain's memory functions and enable someone to know a person's very thoughts. The manufacturer of the chip was Zama, who created the implant at the West Virginia compound. Scully travels there, meeting a group of deformed patients who have eluded the "death squads." Escalante tells her that the patients were experimented on by Zama, who departed long ago; since then, the death squads have set out to massacre them. Escalante shows her the mass grave, but is killed when soldiers arrive to capture Scully. She is brought before the First Elder.
Mulder returns to the railcar, seeing its door ajar; an alien-human test subject is locked in a room inside. The Red-Haired Man attacks Mulder, causing the conductor to lock them both in the car. The Red-Haired Man claims to work for the NSA, and that a bomb in the car was triggered after he gained entry with Zama's pass code. Mulder doesn't believe him, but is called by Scully on the Red-Haired Man's cell phone. Scully – who is with the First Elder in a similar railcar – tells Mulder that unwitting subjects, including herself, were operated on by Zama in the secret railway, with the alien abduction theory used as a smokescreen. She also confirms that a bomb is in the car, and believes that the quarantined patient is infected with hemorrhagic fever. She fears that thousands will die from the disease if the car explodes. Mulder finds the bomb in the ceiling.
He has the car disconnected from the rest of the train on a remote rail siding. Mulder questions the Red-Haired Man, who says that the patient is immune to biological warfare. Zama had tried to sneak the patient out of the country, but the government would rather see it destroyed than let their research fall into Japanese hands; the Red-Haired Man was sent to kill them both. Mulder, however, believes that the patient is an alien-human hybrid. With help from Scully, Mulder successfully unlocks the door of the railcar, but he is knocked unconscious by the Red-Haired Man. As he is about to leave, X appears and shoots him. Realizing that the bomb is about to explode and that there is not enough time to both save Mulder and secure the patient, X decides to save Mulder. X exits carrying the still unconscious Mulder shortly before the bomb explodes.
After recovering from his injuries, Mulder attempts to find information on the railcar, but he is unable to do so. Scully returns the journal he found on the car, but Mulder realizes that it is a rewritten substitute. Meanwhile, the real journal is translated in a shadowy room as the Smoking Man watches.[1][2]
Production[edit]
The episode was inspired by Japan's Unit 731 (commander ShirÅ Ishii pictured)
Conception and writing[edit]
Writer Frank Spotnitz has claimed that his inspiration for the episode came from having read a New York Times article on the war crimes committed by Unit 731 of the Imperial Japanese Army, after which the episode is named. The unit was responsible for human subject research on both prisoners of war and civilians. Further inspiration was drawn from the films North by Northwest and The Train, which were the basis for the episode's train-car setting.[3] Spotnitz also noted that the episode offered the writers the opportunity to "set the counter back" for the series' premise, allowing the character of Scully to still maintain a sceptical standpoint after the events of "Paper Clip", an earlier third season episode in which the character witnesses a group of aliens.[4] The tagline for this episode was switched to "Apology is Policy."[5]
Filming and post-production[edit]
The scene at the start of the episode with Duchovny's character Fox Mulder clinging to the side of the train car was filmed using a harness cabled across the top of the car that was removed digitally during post production. Duchovny performed the stunt himself, without the use of a double.[6] Steven Williams and Duchovny separately recorded the scene in which Williams carries Duchovny from the car before it explodes against a blue screen. The results of this were flipped horizontally to aid the scene's "composition",[6] and superimposed over the explosion. Twenty-five masked actors, mostly children, laid over prop bodies for the scene with the mass grave.[7]
The producers built train car interiors for the quarantine car where the patient was being kept and the sleeper cars, and floated the train sets on inner tubes to create the feeling of movement. Seven different cameras were used by director Rob Bowman when filming the train car explosion. Forty-five gallons of gasoline and 120 black-powder bombs were used for the effect.[7] The car used had been obtained cheaply from a Vancouver-based rail company, and had been considered scrap due to being bent. After the explosion was recorded, a bell from the train was recovered some distance from the site by the physical effects supervisor Dave Gauthier, who had it polished and engraved with a message for Bowman.[8]
Bowman made use of a Steadicam for those scenes featured Mulder inside the train, and kept the character away from the centre of the screen, to accentuate his "paranoid" mindset. This was deliberately contrasted with the concurrent scene featuring Scully, who is speaking to Mulder over a telephone. This was shot using a camera dolly and a "graphically balanced" mise-en-scĆØne, intended to leave the character seeming as "balanced, confident, strong" as "the Rock of Gibraltar".[9] Bowman, who felt that the finished episode "was really like a movie", has stated that his cut of the episode impressed series creator Chris Carter enough for Carter to offer Bowman the job of directing the series' film adaptation.[10]
Themes[edit]
Jan Delasara, in her book '"PopLit, PopCult and The X-Files" argues that episodes such "731" and "Nisei", or the earlier third season episode "Paper Clip", show the public's trust in science "eroding". Delasara proposes that "arrogated" scientists who are "rework[ing] the fabric of life" are causing the public's faith in the scientific method to fade drastically, "a concern ... that is directly addressed by X-Files episodes". Moreover, she notes that almost all of the scientists portrayed in The X-Files are depicted with a "connection to ancient evil," with the lone exception being Agent Scully.[11] In "731," and earlier in "Nisei," the scientists are former Japanese scientists who worked for Unit 731. In their attempts to create a successful human-alien hybrid, they become the archetypical scientists who "[go] too far," a serious factor that Delasara argues "'alienates [the public] further from science and its practitioners".[11]
Critical opinion has also noted that both parts of the story arc offer an alternative explanation for the events of the series so far, a "less romantic" outcome that paints the ongoing plot as an elaborate hoax to defer attention from the government's experiments, both military and medical. Reviewer Todd VanDerWerff feels that such an explanation would "speak more to the sadness at the core of the X-Files to have Mulder find his answers and be forced to accept they weren't what he was looking for", comparing such a realisation to the hero of Don Quixote.[12] This "hoax" plot device would later be revisited in both the fourth season finale "Gethsemane" and the fifth season's opening two-part episodes "Redux and Redux II", although to a much lesser degree of effectiveness.[13]
Broadcast and reception[edit]
Scully finds some of the answers she's been looking for, and Mulder gets as close as he's ever gotten to the truth, and both of them are the driving forces behind the story. In the end, when all is said and done, neither can walk away from what happens here, not in the same way they can from their other cases.
—The A.V. Club's Zack Handlen on "731".[12]
"731" premiered on the Fox network on December 1, 1995, and was first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC Two on October 30, 1996.[14] The episode earned a Nielsen household rating of 12 with a 21 share, meaning that roughly 12 percent of all television-equipped households, and 21 percent of households watching television, were tuned in to the episode.[15] A total of 17.68 million viewers watched this episode during its original airing.[15]
In a retrospective of the third season in Entertainment Weekly, "731" was rated a B. The review noted that the episode was "Strangely tension-free", though it derided Scully's stubbornness to believe what the series had established as truth.[16] Writing for The A.V. Club, reviewer Zack Handlen rated the episode an A, calling it "terrific". However, Handlen felt that the version of events told to Scully in this episode was perhaps a better explanation for the series' mythology than its eventual resolution, noting that it might have offered "a conclusion whose emotional impact would've lived up to the intensity of early mythology episodes" such as this.[12]
Director Rob Bowman called the episode one of his all time favorites.[17] Actor Steven Williams felt that his portrayal of X in this episode helped endear him more to the show's viewers.[17] Director of Photography John Bartley earned a nomination for "Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography in a Regular Series" by the American Society of Cinematographers for his work on this episode.[2][18]
Footnotes[edit]
1.Jump up ^ Lowry, pp. 129–131
2.^ Jump up to: a b Lovece, pp. 206–208
3.Jump up ^ Edwards, p. 157
4.Jump up ^ Edwards, pp. 157–158
5.Jump up ^ Lowry, p. 133
6.^ Jump up to: a b Mat Beck (narrator). "Special Effects Sequences: 731". The X-Files: The Complete Third Season (DVD) (Fox).
7.^ Jump up to: a b Lowry, pp. 131–133
8.Jump up ^ Chris Carter (narrator). "Chris Carter Talks About Season 3: 731". The X-Files: The Complete Third Season (DVD) (Fox).
9.Jump up ^ Edwards, p. 158
10.Jump up ^ Chris Carter, Kim Manners and Frank Spotnitz. "The Truth Behind Season 3". The X-Files: The Complete Third Season (DVD) (FOX Home Entertainment).
11.^ Jump up to: a b Delasara, p. 181
12.^ Jump up to: a b c Handlen, Zack (July 25, 2010). ""731"/"Revelations"/"War of the Coprophages" | The X-Files/Millennium | TV Club". The A.V. Club. Retrieved January 12, 2012.
13.Jump up ^ Handlen, Zack (March 12, 2011). ""Demons"/"Gethsemane" | The X-Files/Millennium | TV Club". The A.V. Club. Retrieved January 20, 2012.
14.Jump up ^ The X-Files: The Complete Third Season (Media notes). Fox. 1995–1996.
15.^ Jump up to: a b Lowry, p. 251
16.Jump up ^ "X Cyclopedia: The Ultimate Episode Guide, Season III | EW.com". Entertainment Weekly. November 29, 1996. Retrieved January 12, 2012.
17.^ Jump up to: a b Lowry, pp. 131–132
18.Jump up ^ "The ASC -- Past ASC Awards". American Society of Cinematographers. Retrieved January 12, 2012.
References[edit]
Delasara, Jan (2000). PopLit, PopCult and The X-Files: A Critical Exploration. Mcfarland & Co. ISBN 0-7864-0789-1.
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 (1996). Trust No One: The Official Guide to the X-Files. Harper Prism. ISBN 0-06-105353-8.
External links[edit]
Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: TXF Season 3
"731" on The X-Files official website
"731" at the Internet Movie Database
"731" at TV.com
[hide]
v·
t·
e
The X-Files episodes
Seasons: 1·
2·
3·
4·
5·
6·
7·
8·
9
Season 3
"The Blessing Way"·
"Paper Clip"·
"D.P.O."·
"Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose"·
"The List"·
"2Shy"·
"The Walk"·
"Oubliette"·
"Nisei"·
"731"·
"Revelations"·
"War of the Coprophages"·
"Syzygy"·
"Grotesque"·
"Piper Maru"·
"Apocrypha"·
"Pusher"·
"Teso Dos Bichos"·
"Hell Money"·
"Jose Chung's From Outer Space"·
"Avatar"·
"Quagmire"·
"Wetwired"·
"Talitha Cumi"
Categories: 1995 television episodes
The X-Files (season 3) episodes
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Revelations (The X-Files)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
This is a good article. Click here for more information.
"Revelations"
The X-Files episode
Revelations TXF.jpg
Kevin Kryder receiving a stigmata
Episode no.
Season 3
Episode 11
Directed by
David Nutter
Written by
Kim Newton
Production code
3X11
Original air date
December 15, 1995
Guest actors
Kevin Zegers as Kevin Kryder
Sam Bottoms as Michael Kryder
Kenneth Welsh as Simon Gates
Michael Berryman as Owen Jarvis
Hayley Tyson as Susan Kryder
R. Lee Ermey as Reverend Patrick Findley
Leslie Ewen as Carina Maywald
Fulvio Cecere as Priest
Nicole Robert as Mrs. Tynes[1]
Episode chronology
← Previous
"731" Next →
"War of the Coprophages"
List of season 3 episodes
List of The X-Files episodes
"Revelations" is the eleventh episode of the third season of the science fiction television series The X-Files. It premiered on the Fox network on December 15, 1995. It was written by Kim Newton and directed by David Nutter. The episode is a "Monster-of-the-Week" story, unconnected to the series' wider mythology. "Revelations" earned a Nielsen household rating of 10, being watched by 15.25 million people in its initial broadcast. The episode received mostly positive reviews.
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. 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 case where fake stigmatics are being murdered. When a boy shows signs of being a real stigmatic, Mulder and Scully attempt to protect him, fearing that he will be the latest victim.
"Revelations" became a minor storyline milestone for the series with the exploration of Scully's faith as a devout Roman Catholic. Throughout the remainder of the series, her Catholic faith served as a cornerstone, although at times a contradiction to her otherwise rigid skepticism of the paranormal. Furthermore, while Mulder is usually the believer and Scully is usually the skeptic, "Revelations" features a role reversal with Scully becoming the believer and Mulder becoming the skeptic, a move that Duchovny called "a refreshing change of pace."
Contents
[hide] 1 Plot
2 Production
3 Reception
4 Footnotes 4.1 References
5 External links
Plot[edit]
A minister fakes stigmatic injuries to his hands during a sermon. Afterwards he is visited by a white haired man named Simon Gates, who strangles him—his hands smoking while he does so. Agents Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) investigate the case. Mulder says that the priest was the eleventh fake stigmatic who has been killed over the past three years in a series of international murders. Meanwhile at an elementary school in Ohio, a boy, Kevin Kryder starts bleeding from the palms of his hands. The agents arrive and meet with a social worker, who claims that Kevin has suffered injuries before and that his father was institutionalized, adding that Kevin was in danger from evil forces. The agents visit Kevin's father, who claims that his son is the chosen one and that evil forces will come to kill him as part of a great war between good and evil.
Kevin is abducted by a strange-looking bald man. Kevin's mother recognizes the man's description as Owen Jarvis, who had done yard work for the family in the past. Owen claims to be Kevin's guardian angel. By the time the agents arrive Kevin is gone. Owen claims he was asked by God to protect Kevin and criticizes Scully for her faith not being as strong as his. Owen jumps out the window and escapes. Kevin arrives at his home and is pursued by Gates, who kills Owen when he arrives to protect him. Scully performs an autopsy and finds that Owen's corpse is not decaying, reminding her of "incorruptibles" that she learned about in Catechism. Mulder tells Scully to not let her faith cloud her judgment. Scully finds that handprints on Owen's neck belong to Simon Gates, a rich and powerful executive.
Kevin travels with his mother in a car which breaks down. Gates arrives offering to help fix the car, and Kevin, who appears in two places at once, is able to distract him and help them escape. However, Kevin's mother, hurt by Gates, runs the car into a ditch, dying as a result. Scully tells Kevin she'll protect him. They bring him to a hotel where Scully finds an additional wound on Kevin's side. Scully becomes upset at Mulder for his unwillingness to accept the possibility of a miracle. As they talk, Gates breaks into the bathroom, kidnapping Kevin by prying an opening in the barred window. Scully returns to see Kevin's father but finds him heavily drugged.
Scully theorizes that Gates has brought Kevin to a recycling plant he owns in Jerusalem, Ohio. Mulder thinks that he has headed to the airport, as a man matching Gates' description was reported headed there. Mulder thinks Scully believes that she's been chosen to protect Kevin. Scully arrives at the recycling plant where Gates tells Kevin that he must die for the 'New Age' to come. Gates attempts to jump into a paper shredding machine with Kevin, but Kevin grabs onto the side as Gates falls into the shredder. Scully is able to pull Kevin to safety. Two days later Scully and Kevin say goodbye. Kevin tells Scully he'll see her again. Scully goes to the confessional for the first time in years, wondering if God is speaking, but no one is listening.[1]
Production[edit]
The presence of the stigmata in the episode was inspired by Pio of Pietrelcina.[2]
"Revelations" was written by Kim Newton, who would go on to write one further episode of The X-Files: the third season's "Quagmire". The episode was directed by David Nutter and would be his final episode of The X-Files.[3] Nutter decided that, after the episode, he wished to pursue different things and that the series was in excellent hands with fellow directors Rob Bowman and Kim Manners.[4] Actor Kenneth Welsh appears in the episode as the demonic Simon Gates. Welsh had previously appeared with Duchovny in the critically acclaimed 1990 serial drama Twin Peaks.[5]
The episode features a role reversal with Dana Scully the believer and Fox Mulder the skeptic, which David Duchovny called "a refreshing change of pace."[2] Nutter said that dealing with faith permitted the show's creators to further delve into Scully's character. The episode was the first to discuss Scully's faith in-depth. Series creator Chris Carter later emphasized that the theme of the episode was more on personal belief rather than organized religion, noting, "[The episode] deals with faith, not religion with a capital 'R' or Catholicism with a capital 'C'".[2] The producers for the series were cautious about presenting an overtly religious episode of the series for fear of "pissing certain people off", but, according to Carter, the show "handled it in such a way as to make it about miracle belief, or lack of belief."[2]
According to co-producer Paul Rabwin the episode had script problems and went through several rewrites while the episode was still in production. The producers felt it was difficult to sell the concept of religious magic and having Kevin appear in two places at once. The episode went through a detailed editing process, which including additional tweaks to the script. These changes required actor Kevin Zegers to be flown back to Vancouver to film additional scenes. The producers claimed to be in awe by the way the episode turned out after all the additional work had been done.[6] Several of the scenes were altered or cut during post-production. The producers were unhappy with the voice of the priest in the final scene, resulting in them using a new vocal track in post-production.[2] A scene with Kevin's father speaking in tongues—as well as quoting the famous "Klaatu barada nikto" line from The Day the Earth Stood Still—was cut in the final edit of the episode.[7]
Reception[edit]
Many critics wrote positively of Gillian Anderson's performance in the episode.
"Revelations" premiered on the Fox network on December 15, 1995.[8] This episode earned a Nielsen rating of 10, with a 17 share, meaning that roughly 10 percent of all television-equipped households, and 17 percent of households watching television, were tuned in to the episode.[9] This totaled 15.25 million viewers.[9]
Critical reception to the episode was moderately positive. Zack Handlen from The A.V. Club gave the episode a B+ and wrote positively of Scully's portrayal, noting "Really, this works best as a Scully episode. I prefer Darin Morgan's version of the character [...], but I doubt that version could support a full episode about God in the same way that this more searching, and lost, Scully does."[10] However, Handlen was critical of some of the religious aspects of the episode, noting that "If there's a Christian God in the X-Files universe, doesn't that trump just about everything else that Mulder and Scully have spent their time on? ... There are too many implications here for the show to support, and while it doesn't destroy the episode, it does make it difficult for me to back it as fully as I'd like to."[10] John Keegan from Critical Myth gave the episode a 7 out of 10 rating, noting "Overall, this episode highlights Scully and her faith, and in the process, manages to presage many of the future plot developments for the series and her character. The spiritual war at the foundation of the series mythology is reflected in a situation that speaks directly to Scully and her upbringing, and though some of the religious metaphors are heavy-handed, it works well enough."[11] Entertainment Weekly gave the episode a B+ and wrote positively of the episode's "inventiveness," which "derives from its choice of the most mainstream paranormality of all—Christianity."[12] The review also wrote positively of the Mulder-Scully role reversal, calling the change "always welcome".[12] Paula Vitaris from Cinefantastique gave the episode a moderately positive review and awarded it two-and-a-half stars out of four.[13] She noted that "Scully's search to reconcile her religious beliefs and her scientific training makes for powerful drama, and Gillian Anderson is up to the challenge."[13] Vitaris, however, criticized elements of the plot, most notably the "un-saintly" quality of Kevin and Kevin's lack of emotion after his mother is killed. Furthermore, she called the ending "a real mess".[13] Not all reviews were positive. 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 two stars out of five, and called it a "peculiarly bloodless episode".[14] The two wrote that many of the traits possessed by Kevin were only used to be helpful in certain, isolated scenes only, such as the ability to bilocate. Shearman and Pearson concluded that the show should "take a serious subject by all means, but then take the subject seriously."[14]
Director David Nutter was pleased with the finished product. He was most notably happy with Anderson's acting, saying that she delivered a sparkling performance, particularly in the final scene. He also stated "I really love working with Gillian. She's got such an ability to emote and give from the inside."[2]
Footnotes[edit]
1.^ Jump up to: a b Lowry, pp. 135–138
2.^ Jump up to: a b c d e f Lowry, pp. 138–139
3.Jump up ^ Hurwitz and Knowles, pp. 236–240
4.Jump up ^ Hurwitz and Knowles, pp. 79–82
5.Jump up ^ Lowry, p. 137
6.Jump up ^ Edwards, pp. 159–160
7.Jump up ^ Lowry, p. 136
8.Jump up ^ R.W. Goodwin, Rob Bowman, et al (booklet). The X-Files: The Complete Third Season (Liner notes). Fox.
9.^ Jump up to: a b Lowry, p. 251
10.^ Jump up to: a b Handlen, Zack (25 July 2010). ""731"/"Revelations"/"War of the Coprophages"". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 25 December 2011.
11.Jump up ^ Keegan, John. "Revelations". Critical Myth. Retrieved 21 May 2012.
12.^ Jump up to: a b "X Cyclopedia: The Ultimate Episode Guide, Season 3". Entertainment Weekly. 29 November 1996. Retrieved 21 May 2012.
13.^ Jump up to: a b c Vitaris, Paula (October 1996). "Episode Guide". Cinefantastique 28 (3): 18–40.
14.^ Jump up to: a b Shearman and Pearson, pp. 66–67
References[edit]
Edwards, Ted (1996). X-Files Confidential. Little, Brown and Company. ISBN 0-316-21808-1.
Hurwitz, Matt; Knowles, Chris (2008). The Complete X-Files. Insight Editions. ISBN 1933784806.
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 3
"Revelations" on The X-Files official website
"Revelations" at the Internet Movie Database
"Revelations" at TV.com
[hide]
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"D.P.O."·
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"The List"·
"2Shy"·
"The Walk"·
"Oubliette"·
"Nisei"·
"731"·
"Revelations"·
"War of the Coprophages"·
"Syzygy"·
"Grotesque"·
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"Apocrypha"·
"Pusher"·
"Teso Dos Bichos"·
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Categories: The X-Files (season 3) episodes
1995 television episodes
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War of the Coprophages
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
"War of the Coprophages"
The X-Files episode
Episode no.
Season 3
Episode 12
Directed by
Kim Manners
Written by
Darin Morgan
Production code
3X12
Original air date
January 5, 1996
Guest actors
Bobbie Phillips as Dr. Bambi Berenbaum
Raye Birk as Dr. Jeff Eckerle
Dion Anderson as Sheriff Frass
Bill Dow as Dr. Rick Newton
Alex Bruhanski as Dr. Bugger
Ken Kramer as Dr. Alexander Ivanov
Nicole Parker as Chick
Alan Buckley as Dude
Tyler Labine as Stoner
Maria Herrera as Customer #1
Sean Allan as Customer #2
Norma Wick as Reporter
Wren Robertz as Orderly
Tom Heaton as Resident #1
Bobby L. Stewart as Resident #2
Dawn Stofer as Customer #4
Fiona Roeske as Customer #5
Tony Marr as Motel Manager[1]
Episode chronology
← Previous
"Revelations" Next →
"Syzygy"
List of season 3 episodes
List of The X-Files episodes
"War of the Coprophages" is the twelfth episode of the third season of the science fiction television series The X-Files. It premiered on the Fox network on January 5, 1996. It was written by Darin Morgan, and directed by Kim Manners. The episode is a "Monster-of-the-Week" story, a stand-alone plot which is unconnected to the series' wider mythology. "War of the Coprophages" earned a Nielsen household rating of 10.1, being watched by 16.32 million people in its initial broadcast. The episode received mostly positive reviews from critics, who praised its humorous tone.
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 investigates a small town plagued by deaths in which the bodies are found covered in cockroaches. Working from home, Scully has scientific explanations for all of them, but Mulder — at the crime scene with an attractive bug expert — suspects the insects may not be organic, or earthly.
"War of the Coprophages" was Darin Morgan's third episode, after the second season episode "Humbug" and season three's "Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose". In order to achieve the effect of a cockroach infestation, the show used around three hundred cockroaches for the episode in addition to extremely detailed rubber cockroach props and "piles and piles" of faux-dung. The episode's title is a reference to the famous novel The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells, as well as its 1938 radio adaptation by Orson Welles. The character Dr. Berenbaum is named for entomologist May Berenbaum.
Contents
[hide] 1 Plot
2 Production
3 Reception
4 Footnotes 4.1 References
5 External links
Plot[edit]
In Miller's Grove, Massachusetts, an exterminator inspects the basement of Dr. Jeff Eckerle, intending to eradicate a cockroach infestation. However, the exterminator clutches his heart and collapses while being seemingly attacked by a cluster of cockroaches. When Eckerle finds the exterminator's body, it is covered with roaches.
Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) is coincidentally nearby, investigating reported UFO sightings in Miller's Grove. While having a phone conversation with Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson), Mulder is approached by the local sheriff, Frass, who tells him that a series of "roach attacks" have taken place in town. Frass allows Mulder onto the scene at Eckerle's residence.
Nearby a trio of teenagers drink beer and huff methane generated by filtering fumes from burnt manure. One of them sees a roach crawl underneath his skin. Trying to get rid of it, he slices himself to death with a razor. Scully provides Mulder with a logical explanation (that this is a case of Ekbom's syndrome or delusional parasitosis) but he finds a cockroach on the underside of a piece of furniture. When attempting to capture it and place it in a container for tests, the cockroach crumbles like an empty shell, and Mulder theorizes that the casing was made of metal.. Later, another death occurs when the medical examiner is found dead, also covered with cockroaches. Scully attributes his death to cerebral aneurysm.
Sheriff Frass theorizes that the government has been breeding killer cockroaches, informing Mulder about a nearby facility. Inside, he sees the walls rippling and is surprised by Dr. Bambi Berenbaum, a researcher from the Department of Agriculture who is studying cockroaches. Berenbaum has great interest in insects and believes that UFOs are actually nocturnal insect swarms. Yet another death occurs in Mulder's hotel. By this point Mulder believes Scully's theories about the people dying more logical deaths, although now it is Scully who is wondering what is going on and decides to head up there herself.
Mulder brings a cockroach he finds to Berenbaum, who thinks it may be mechanical. Mulder visits the nearby Dr. Ivanov, a wheelchair-using scientist who works on insect-like robots. After showing the scientist the insect specimen, Ivanov is rendered speechless; he informs Mulder that the specimen is, technology-wise, vastly superior to anything he's ever seen before. Scully soon arrives in the town, finding it overrun with panic over the roaches. Scully's attempts to get people to calm down fail. Mulder catches another roach to bring to Berenbaum, but this time it is a seemingly normal cockroach. Scully finds out that Eckerle was researching methane and importing animal dung, which may have brought the roaches over.
Mulder goes with Berenbaum to see Eckerle at a facility, who is overrun with fear, pulling a gun on him, thinking in his panic that even Mulder may somehow be a cockroach. Scully arrives on the scene and meets Berenbaum. When Mulder's phone rings Eckerle believes it to be Mulder making a cockroach chirp, proving he really is a cockroach. Eckerle shoots at Mulder, releasing methane gas. The agents flee as the facility explodes, covering them in the animal dung. Dr. Ivanov arrives and meets Berenbaum, and the two leave with each other discussing their interests in insects and robots. That night Mulder writes his report on the case, wondering how humanity would react if insect-like robots visited Earth. Mulder finds a bizarre looking bug by his food, which he crushes with an X-File.[1]
Production[edit]
Debbie Cove, the animal trainer for The X-Files, used around three hundred cockroaches for this episode.
Writer Darin Morgan was inspired to write the episode when he saw a cover of a magazine featuring insect like robots created by roboticist Rodney Brooks.[2] Mass hysteria was also a key element to the episode, with many references to Orson Welles's famous radio play of War of the Worlds.[2] Most notably, the episode's title is a reference to The War of the Worlds and the town this episode takes place in—Miller's Grove—is a play on Grover's Mill, the setting of Orson Welles's 1938 radio adaptation.[3] Originally, a scene featuring the sheriff discussing a noted case of hysteria from the 1930s was planned to be included in the final episode, but was cut due to time.[4] The episode, like Morgan's previous effort, the second season's "Humbug," used a great deal of humor,[5] including an in-joke where Scully reads Breakfast at Tiffany's, referencing David Duchovny's Final Jeopardy! question when he appeared on Jeopardy!.[6] The last part of the episode's title, coprophages, refers to a dung eater.[7]
The show's animal trainer, Debbie Cove, used around three hundred cockroaches for this episode.[8] Cove later noted that only one of the cockroaches died during the filming, due to old age.[8] Director Kim Manners was very pleased with the way the cockroaches behaved, noting that "every shot I wanted to get, they got."[5] Cast and crew members later recalled that Manners began giving orders to the roaches. Cinematographer John Bartley explained, "when I saw Kim Manners talking to a bucket of cockroaches, that was a highlight for me."[3] Several "incredibly detailed" rubber cockroaches were created for the episode. These props were extremely detailed: prop master Ken Hawryliw explained that, "you could put one next to a real roach and no one would know the difference."[4] In addition, the "piles and piles" of faux-dung were created for the show by using an organic, feces-free substance.[9]
The episode came under heavy criticism by the standards and practices department at parent network Fox, who took exception to the initial script's heavy use of words such as "crap" to refer to the excrement that episode's cockroaches fed upon. Darin Morgan later attacked and parodied this approach in the twenty-first episode of the second season of the American crime-thriller television series Millennium called "Somehow, Satan Got Behind Me". In the episode, a network censor again targets the use of the word "crap" and storms onto the set of a show resembling The X-Files being taped, featuring lookalikes of Mulder and Scully with those series' theme music playing in the background.[10]
The episode marks a rare occasion in the series in which the fourth wall is broken: Although no character addresses the audience, an animated cockroach "walks" across the camera lens during one scene.[1]
Reception[edit]
"War of the Coprophages" premiered on the Fox network on January 5, 1996.[11] This episode earned a Nielsen rating of 10.1, with a 16 share, meaning that roughly 10.1 percent of all television-equipped households, and 16 percent of households watching television, were tuned in to the episode. It was viewed by 16.32 million viewers.[12]
The episode received positive reviews from critics. Entertainment Weekly gave "War of the Coprophages" an A-, and wrote, "Irreverent camp that's infested with laughs (and creepy-crawlies) but throws credibility out the window."[13] Reviewer Zack Handlen of The A.V. Club gave the episode an A and compared it to the previously Morgan-penned "Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose", writing, "So! This is the second Darin Morgan episode I've had to write about, and once again, I'm not sure I've done it justice. [...] The comedy here can be broad, but there's always enough self-aware commentary buried in it that it never becomes simplistic. While "Bruckman" dealt with the misery of knowing all the answers, "Coprophages" looks at how easy it is to convince yourself you know what's going on, even when you don't. It'd be better to believe in a bunch of bugs from outer space coming down to earth to mess with our minds, than it would be to accept the more likely truth that bugs like shit—and around here, there's always plenty to go around."[14] Critical Myth's John Keegan gave the episode an 8/10 and praised the episode's self-parodying style, saying, "Overall, this episode was a rare self-contained parody, well written by Darin Morgan. By standing on its own outside of continuity, the episode gives itself plenty of room to send-up the series premise and its early internet fandom. There’s no real sense of resolution, but that’s really incidental to the point of the parody."[15] Author Phil Farrand rated the episode as his second favorite episode of the first four seasons in his book The Nitpickers Guide to the X-Files.[16]
The cast and the crew of the show enjoyed the episode, for the most part. Co-producer Paul Rabwin said that the episode had some of the funniest material in The X-Files as well as some of the most horrific, such as the scene where a cockroach crawled into someone's arm.[17] Gillian Anderson rated the episode one of her favorite episodes of the third season.[4] On a more negative note, writer Darin Morgan ended up being unhappy with the final product, saying "The other day, my girlfriend was saying, 'I never understood that episode,' and I guess I don't either. It was an episode that had a lot of what I thought were really good ideas and never quite got it to work. I was really disappointed with that episode. Some people love it."[18]
Footnotes[edit]
1.^ Jump up to: a b c Lowry, pp. 141–144
2.^ Jump up to: a b Edwards, p. 161
3.^ Jump up to: a b Lowry, p. 145
4.^ Jump up to: a b c Lowry, p. 146
5.^ Jump up to: a b Lowry, p. 144
6.Jump up ^ Lowry, p. 142
7.Jump up ^ "Coprophagous - Definition and More". Merriam Webster. Retrieved 8 April 2012.
8.^ Jump up to: a b Lowry, p. 143
9.Jump up ^ Lowry, p. 147
10.Jump up ^ Shearman and Pearson, p. 161
11.Jump up ^ R.W. Goodwin, et al (booklet). The X-Files: The Complete Third Season (Liner notes). Fox.
12.Jump up ^ Lowry, p. 251
13.Jump up ^ "X Cyclopedia: The Ultimate Episode Guide, Season 3 | EW.com". Entertainment Weekly. November 29, 1996. Retrieved November 25, 2011.
14.Jump up ^ Handlen, Zack (July 25, 2010). ""731"/"Revelations"/"War of the Coprophages"". The A.V. Club. Retrieved December 25, 2011.
15.Jump up ^ Keegan, John. "War of the Coprophages". Critical Myth. Retrieved December 25, 2009.
16.Jump up ^ Farrand, p. 223
17.Jump up ^ Edwards, p. 162
18.Jump up ^ Hurwitz and Knowles, p. 82
References[edit]
Edwards, Ted (1996). X-Files Confidential. Little, Brown and Company. ISBN 0-316-21808-1.
Farrand, Phil (1998). The Nitpickers Guide to the X-Files. Doubleday Direct. ISBN 1-56865-503-7.
Hurwitz, Matt; Knowles, Chris (2008). The Complete X-Files. Insight Editions. ISBN 1-933784-80-6.
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 3
"War of the Coprophages" on The X-Files official website
"War of the Coprophages" at the Internet Movie Database
"War of the Coprophages" at TV.com
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This is a good article. Click here for more information.
Categories: The X-Files (season 3) episodes
1996 television episodes
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Syzygy (The X-Files)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
This is a good article. Click here for more information.
"Syzygy"
The X-Files episode
Episode no.
Season 3
Episode 13
Directed by
Rob Bowman
Written by
Chris Carter
Production code
3X13
Original air date
January 26, 1996
Guest actors
Dana Wheeler-Nicholson as Angela White
Wendy Benson as Margi Kleinjan
Lisa Robin Kelly as Terri Roberts
Garry Davey as Bob Spitz
Denalda Williams as Madame Zirinka
Gabrielle Miller as Brenda Jaycee Summerfield
Ryan Reynolds as Jay "Boom" DeBoom
Tim Dixon as Dr. Richard W. Godfrey
Ryk Brown as Minister
Jeremy Radick as Young Man
Russell Porter as Scott Simmons[1]
Episode chronology
← Previous
"War of the Coprophages" Next →
"Grotesque"
List of season 3 episodes
List of The X-Files episodes
"Syzygy" is the thirteenth episode of the third season of the science fiction television series The X-Files. The episode first aired in the United States on January 26, 1996, on Fox. It was written by series creator Chris Carter and directed by Rob Bowman. The episode is a "Monster-of-the-Week" story, unconnected to the series' wider mythology. "Syzygy" earned a Nielsen household rating of 10.8, being watched by 16.04 million people in its initial broadcast. The episode received mixed reviews, with many critics and fans upset by the negative portrayal of Mulder and Scully.
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 murders of high school students in a small town where everyone is acting strangely. They discover that two teens are responsible, due to a rare planetary alignment that affects their behavior.
The episode's title refers to an astronomical alignment of three celestial objects, usually the sun, the Earth, and a moon or planet. Mulder and Scully's behavior in the episode was written specifically by Carter to alert the show's audience that Mulder and Scully would not become a romantic partnership. In addition, the episode contained various fan in-jokes, such as Scully getting upset because Mulder always is driving the car, which was inspired by nitpicking from fans.
Contents
[hide] 1 Plot
2 Production
3 Reception
4 Footnotes 4.1 References
5 External links
Plot[edit]
In Comity, New Hampshire, a group of high school students hold a eulogy for their dead friend, the purported victim of a local Satanic cult. Two girls, Terri Roberts and Margi Kleinjan, get a ride home from a jock, Jay "Boom" DeBoom (Ryan Reynolds). During the drive, the girls tell Boom that the cult seeks a blonde virgin as a next victim, convincing him to turn off the road. The next day, the police find Boom hanging from a cliff. Out of sight of the police, Terri and Margi sit at the top, laughing.
Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) arrive in Comity after arguing over directions along the way. They meet a local detective, Angela White, and go to Boom's funeral. Scully, in a bad mood, is skeptical of these claims. The high school principal, Bob Spitz, interrupts the funeral by ranting Inquisitorial-style about Satanic cults murdering their children when suddenly the coffin starts smoking and catches on fire. Mulder and Scully go into separate rooms to interview Margi and Terri, both of whom offer an identical story about a satanic ceremony where a baby was sacrificed. Scully thinks their stories are clichƩ and points out the fact that the belief in a satanic conspiracy is illogical and paranoid. Looking at the latest victim's body, Mulder finds a burn mark in the shape of a horned beast. Scully says she doesn't see anything. Mulder goes to see Detective White to apologize for Scully's behavior and the two visit the local astrologist Madame Zirinka who claims the town's crazy behavior is due to the rare planetary alignment of the planets Mars, Uranus, and Mercury. Terri and Margi watch basketball practice, lusting over one of the players, Scott, whose girlfriend is fellow cheerleader Brenda. One of the other players accidentally spills a table of drinks on them, so they cause the basketball to bounce underneath the bleachers and it closes when he goes to get it, killing him. Scully is angry at Mulder for ditching her to be with Detective White.
A town mob searches for a mass grave in the woods and finds a bag belonging to the town pediatrician filled with bones. The angry mob goes to see the doctor, who claims the bag was sold. The bones end up belonging to "Mr. Tippy", a dog that belonged to Terri. Scully gets angry over a joke Mulder makes and tells him she's returning to Washington. Margi and Terri celebrate their birthday and Brenda uses a Ouija board that says she's going to marry Satan. She rushes to the bathroom where Margi and Terri are chanting "Bloody Mary" and is locked in, killed by glass from a shattered mirror. Detective White heads to Mulder's hotel room because she found a box which inside had her cats collar, and then she makes a romantic gesture towards Mulder but they are interrupted by Scully who informs them about Brenda's death. Terri and Margi try to console Scott, who tells them off. Terri is mad at him but Margi still likes him.
Mulder goes to visit Madame Zirinka again, who tells him that the planets come into alignment like this only once every 84 years, and additional alignments will cause anyone born on January 12, 1979 (Margi and Terri's birthdate) to have all the energy in the cosmos focused on them. Margi goes to see Scott alone but an angry Terri arrives. The two argue with each other and end up accidentally killing Scott. Margi goes to Mulder, telling him that Terri is responsible for the murders, while Terri goes to see Scully and tells her the opposite. The agents call each other and bring both girls to the police station, where the place starts shaking and all the guns go off on their own. Mulder locks the girls in a room together and their power goes away once the clock ticks midnight. Mulder and Scully drive home, arguing again over directions.[1]
Production[edit]
Noted actor Ryan Reynolds guest starred as a teenager in the episode.[1]
The episode was written by series creator Chris Carter and directed by Rob Bowman.[2] Bowman was not a fan of the episode, saying "The show proved to be much more difficult than I anticipated, and there wasn't enough time to shoot the show properly because we were so close to the Christmas break. I felt extremely pressured and frustrated, although there are things in it I love, particularly the banter between Mulder and Scully. But overall, I thought the show was very oblique. I don't feel that the characters ever knew what was going on and I don't think it is all that cool that kids are murdering people. I didn't feel like I was shooting an episode of the X-Files, and I think I let Chris Carter down a bit."[3]
The name of this episode, "Syzygy" refers to an astrological alignment of three celestial objects, usually the sun, the Earth, and a moon or planet.[4] The name of the high school in this episode, Grover Cleveland Alexander High School was a reference to a question David Duchovny got wrong during his appearance on a celebrity edition of Jeopardy.[5] The scene where Mulder sees a Keystone Kops movie playing on every channel was originally meant to include the movie A Clockwork Orange, but the rights to the footage were too expensive so the producers settled on another choice. Carter felt that in retrospect it ended up being a better fit.[6]
Fox Mulder and Dana Scully's fight in the episode where Scully gets upset due to Mulder always driving grew out of nitpicking from fans about the fact that Mulder always seems to be the one driving the car. Mulder's joke about Scully's "little feet" was a joke that Carter had made before at an X-Files convention in Pasadena, California. Gillian Anderson stated that these have been things that fans on the internet have been nitpicking about since the beginning of the show.[6] David Duchovny later explained that the comedic episodes of the series were often more ludicrous than the other episodes in the show. He noted, "There's The X-Files of the stand-alone, and then there's The X-Files of the mythology, and then there are the comedic X-Files as well, in which the characters are really not quite the characters that we know."[7]
Reception[edit]
"Syzygy" premiered on the Fox network on January 26, 1996, and was first broadcast in the United Kingdom on Sky One on November 13, 1996.[8] The episode earned a Nielsen household rating of 10.8 with a 17 share, meaning that roughly 10.8 percent of all television-equipped households, and 17 percent of households watching television, were tuned in to the episode.[9] A total of 16.04 million viewers watched this episode during its original airing.[9]
The episode received mixed reviews from critics. Entertainment Weekly gave "Syzygy" an A, describing the episode as "another uproarious send-up, this time of teen venom, B-movie paranoia, and our agents' painfully restrained rapport", with praise to the villains and the discussion on why Mulder always drives, considered "one of Mulder's and Scully's funniest exchanges".[10] Todd VanDerWerff of The A.V. Club gave a B-, describing it as "an entertaining hour that never rises to the level of those other episodes" like "Humbug" and "War of the Coprophages". VanDerWerff argued that "Syzygy" was an attempt by Carter to try and emulate the writing style of Darin Morgan's scripts, without success; he noted "the laughs here are emptier than they were the week before in 'Coprophages'" - and adding that "every time you think the episode has figured out a way to plant its foot firmly in comedic territory, there's a horribly judged moment of 'drama,' like Mulder's final monologue."[11] Connie Ogle of Popmatters listed Margi and Terri among the best monster-of-the-week characters of the series, describing "Syzygy" as a "hilarious send-up of Heathers".[12]
Not all reviews were positive. Paula Vitaris from Cinefantastique gave the episode a moderately negative review and awarded it one-and-a-half stars out of four.[13] Vitaris called the outing "a lost opportunity", noting that the episode's humor "falls flat because, because the humor exists in a vacuum".[13] Furthermore, she argued that if the episode had been played-straight, then "Syzygy" could have "been a horror classic".[13] Robert Shearman and Lars Pearson, in their book Wanting to Believe: A Critical Guide to The X-Files, Millennium & The Lone Gunmen, rated the two stars out of five. The two criticized the episode for following on the heels of Darin Morgan's "War of the Coprophages", which they argued was a superior episode of the series. Shearman and Pearson further noted that the episode was "simply not very funny".[14] Fox Mulder and Dana Scully's odd behavior towards each other resulted in criticism from critics and fans on the Internet.[6] Vitaris called the relationship between Mulder and Scully in the episode "ugly".[13] Shearman and Pearson called the scenes featuring Mulder and Scully's bickering "hard to stomach".[14] Chris Carter was somewhat disappointed in the reaction that the episode, stating that there were hints to the satiric nature of the episode strewn throughout "Syzygy" that fans simply did not understand.[6] Other fans understood what transpired, but disliked the episode due to their desire for Mulder and Scully to become a romantically involved couple.[6] X-Files fans in San Francisco printed up t-shirts featuring the phrase "Sure. Fine. Whatever." spoken multiple times by Scully in this episode.[6]
Footnotes[edit]
1.^ Jump up to: a b c Lowry, pp. 149–152
2.Jump up ^ Hurwitz and Knowles, pp. 236–240
3.Jump up ^ Edwards, p. 163
4.Jump up ^ Lowry, p. 151
5.Jump up ^ Lowry, p. 150
6.^ Jump up to: a b c d e f Lowry, pp. 152–153
7.Jump up ^ Hurwtiz and Knowles, p. 82
8.Jump up ^ Chris Carter, et al (booklet). The X-Files: The Complete Third Season (Liner notes). Fox.
9.^ Jump up to: a b Lowry, p. 251
10.Jump up ^ "X Cyclopedia: The Ultimate Episode Guide, Season 3 | EW.com". Entertainment Weekly. November 29, 1996. Retrieved November 27, 2011.
11.Jump up ^ VanDerWerff, Todd (August 1, 2010). "Syzygy"/"Grotesque"/"Piper Maru". The A.V. Club. Retrieved November 27, 2011.
12.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.
13.^ Jump up to: a b c d Vitaris, Paula (October 1996). "Episode Guide". Cinefantastique 28 (3): 18–40.
14.^ Jump up to: a b Shearman and Pearson, pp. 68–69
References[edit]
Edwards, Ted (1996). X-Files Confidential. Little, Brown and Company. ISBN 0-316-21808-1.
Lowry, Brian (1996). Trust No One: The Official Guide to the X-Files. Harper Prism. ISBN 0-06-105353-8.
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 3
"Syzygy" on The X-Files official website
"Syzygy" at the Internet Movie Database
"Syzygy" at TV.com
[hide]
v·
t·
e
The X-Files episodes
Seasons: 1·
2·
3·
4·
5·
6·
7·
8·
9
Season 3
"The Blessing Way"·
"Paper Clip"·
"D.P.O."·
"Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose"·
"The List"·
"2Shy"·
"The Walk"·
"Oubliette"·
"Nisei"·
"731"·
"Revelations"·
"War of the Coprophages"·
"Syzygy"·
"Grotesque"·
"Piper Maru"·
"Apocrypha"·
"Pusher"·
"Teso Dos Bichos"·
"Hell Money"·
"Jose Chung's From Outer Space"·
"Avatar"·
"Quagmire"·
"Wetwired"·
"Talitha Cumi"
Categories: The X-Files (season 3) episodes
1996 television episodes
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Grotesque (The X-Files)
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"Grotesque"
The X-Files episode
Grotesque TXF.jpg
The episode's main antagonist: The Gargoyle.
Episode no.
Season 3
Episode 14
Directed by
Kim Manners
Written by
Howard Gordon
Production code
3X14
Original air date
February 2, 1996
Running time
44 minutes
Guest actors
Mitch Pileggi as Walter Skinner
Kurtwood Smith as Bill Patterson
Levani Outchaneichvili as John Mostow
Greg Thirloway as Agent Nemhauser
Susan Bain as Agent Sheherlis
Kasper Michaels as Young Agent
Zoran Vukelic as Model[1]
Episode chronology
← Previous
"Syzygy" Next →
"Piper Maru"
List of season 3 episodes
List of The X-Files episodes
"Grotesque" is the fourteenth episode of the third season of the science fiction television series The X-Files and the show's 63rd episode overall. It premiered on the Fox network in the United States on February 2, 1996. It was written by Howard Gordon and directed by Kim Manners. The episode is a "Monster-of-the-Week" story, unconnected to the series' wider mythology. "Grotesque" earned a Nielsen household rating of 11.6, being watched by 18.32 million people in its initial broadcast. The episode received mostly positive reviews from television 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. 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 serial killer who claims a gargoyle spirit committed the crimes. When Mulder joins the case, his obsession with solving it causes Scully to question his sanity.
Gordon was inspired to write the episode after walking down the streets of New York and seeing several stone gargoyles on the corner, staring at him. Gordon developed the concept with series creator Chris Carter, who suggested the addition of more psychological aspects to the episode. Originally, the teaser was planned to be filmed at a Catholic hospital, but the shot was relocated to the site of a historic post office after concerns were raised about attaching a fake gargoyle to the building.
Contents
[hide] 1 Plot
2 Production
3 Reception
4 Footnotes
5 External links
Plot[edit]
At George Washington University, a group of artists sketch a nude male model. However, one of the artists, John Mostow (Levani Outchaneichvili), draws a demonic creature in the model's place; after cutting his hand trying to sharpen his pencil and smearing blood on the drawing, he hurriedly leaves as the session ends. When the model reaches his car afterwards, he is attacked and killed by an obscured assailant. The following morning, Mostow is arrested in his apartment by an FBI task force led by Agent Bill Patterson (Kurtwood Smith), who finds the utility knife used in the murder.
Mostow, an immigrant from Uzbekistan with a history of involuntary commitment, is charged with killing seven men by mutilating their faces. Agents Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) become involved in the investigation when Mostow insists that he was possessed during the killings; his claims are given credence when another murder occurs after his arrest. Mostow draws a gargoyle and claims it made him kill. Mulder meets with Patterson, his former mentor, who has spent three years on the case. The relationship between the two is tense, and Patterson is skeptical of Mulder's theories. Mulder and Scully go to Mostow's studio and discover a hidden room full of gargoyle sculptures, finding corpses within them.
A glassblower is attacked and hospitalized. Nemhauser (Greg Thirloway), another agent on the case, tells Scully that Patterson was responsible for getting Mulder assigned to the case and may admire him after all. Patterson finds Mulder in the library studying gargoyles; he tells Mulder that he's wasting his time and is a disappointment to him. Scully goes to Mulder's apartment and finds it covered with gargoyle drawings. Mulder, having sculpted a gargoyle himself in Mostow's studio before falling asleep, awakens to find a figure with a gargoyle-like face standing over him; he gives chase but is attacked, his face slashed with a utility knife. Mulder refuses to explain to Scully why he was in Mostow's studio. Scully confronts Patterson, who tells her not to try and stop Mulder from doing what he's doing, because she won't be able to. Mulder goes to see Mostow again, but Mostow will not tell him how to find the creature that attacked him.
Scully finds a disassembled utility knife at the latest crime scene with Mulder's prints on it and discovers that the murder weapon is missing from the evidence room. She meets with Assistant Director Walter Skinner (Mitch Pileggi), who is also worried about Mulder's behavior. Mulder has a nightmare about being attacked by a gargoyle that is really himself. He wakes up and goes to Mostow's studio again, finding a severed arm. Scully gets a message to call Nemhauser, but his phone is answered by Mulder, who denies taking the knife. Mulder searches Mostow's studio and finds Nemhauser's body inside a new sculpture. Mulder now believes that Patterson is the killer, based on his three-year obsession with Mostow and his request for Mulder to investigate the case. Mulder confronts him, but Patterson flees when Scully arrives. Mulder pursues him and they fight; Patterson is shot and apprehended. He is jailed for the murders, despite claiming innocence.[1]
Production[edit]
Howard Gordon was inspired to write the script for the episode after seeing a stone gargoyle.
Writer Howard Gordon conceived the idea for the episode while he was walking down the streets of New York and noticed several stone gargoyles on the corner staring at him. Gordon developed the idea into an X-File involving possession by a gargoyle spirit. He wrote a draft script for the episode but had to turn to series creator Chris Carter three days before production began in order to rework it. The two worked on the script over the weekend to add more psychological aspects to the episode.[2] Gordon claimed to be very proud of the final product. Assistant Art Director Gary Allen drew the gargoyle sketches used in this episode.[3]
The producers originally planned to film the teaser sequence at a Catholic hospital, but the hospital was reluctant to affix a faux gargoyle to the building. Thus, the shot was relocated to Heritage Hall, a noted filming location and former post office in Vancouver.[3] Some last minute scrambling was required when city workmen tore up the sidewalk on the very spot where the producers planned to film the scene. The construction crew reassured the show that the construction would be finished in time for filming. Indeed, the work was finished two hours before shooting of the episode started. Additional exterior shots were filmed at an alley near Bonanza Meat Market. The walls were painted to match those of Heritage Hall, although after filming was completed, they were returned to their original state.[4]
Kim Manners called "Grotesque" his favorite third season episode and praised David Duchovny's performance on this episode, saying "Duchovny drove himself, and he was brilliant in that show."[3][5] Manners also said of the episode: "I think 'Grotesque' is a frightening show. I think it is a disturbing show, and I think that's why—for me—it's such a good show. We pulled it off making the viewer feel uneasy. I even found it a difficult show to watch. Yeah, it was a pretty dark hour of television and I would like to do more of those."[5] In order to get a proper feel for the episode, Manners listened to the music from the 1990 film Jacob's Ladder until his wife "finally asked, 'Do we have to listen to that (bleeping) CD again?'"[3] Manners also theorized that the episode may have been the template for the show Millennium, which premiered on Fox the following television season.[5]
Reception[edit]
"Grotesque" premiered on the Fox network in the United States on February 2, 1996.[6] This episode earned a Nielsen rating of 11.6, with a 18 share, meaning that roughly 11.6 percent of all television-equipped households, and 18 percent of households watching television, were tuned in to the episode.[7] This totaled 18.32 million viewers.[7] The episode had the third highest ratings of the third season.[7] Cinematographer John Bartley received an Emmy nomination for his work on this episode.[8]
The episode received mostly positive reviews from television critics. Reviewer Todd VanDerWerff of The A.V. Club gave the episode a A− and noted that while the episode is "ponderous and pretentious", this aspect of the entry turns it into "a benefit".[9] VanDerWerff wrote, "here's the thing: 'Grotesque' is absolutely [...] self-serious, just as much as I feared it would be. It also, unquestionably, works. The reason it works is very simple: It's pretty scary".[9] Critical Myth's John Keegan gave the episode a largely positive review, awarding it an 8 out of 10.[10] He noted, "Overall, this is a solid effort by Howard Gordon. It’s good to see some of the methods that earned Mulder his nickname, and the underlying dynamic between Mulder and Scully is very well played. The central premise is vague enough to fall within the confines of the unusual, if not necessarily paranormal, and the supporting cinematography and score rise to the occasion."[10] 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, and praised the themes of the episode, writing that, "Because 'Grotesque' certainly surprises, and shocks, and even appals [sic]—this is the closest The X-Files ever gets to staring into the face of insanity."[11] Furthermore, Shearman and Pearson praised Duchovny's acting, calling it "his best performance yet seen in the series".[11] Paula Vitaris from Cinefantastique gave the episode a positive review and awarded it three-and-a-half stars out of four.[12] She referred to the episode as "one of the [the show's] darkest ever" and called it "a triumph for director Manners, cinematographer Bartley, and The X-Files art department."[12] Vitaris, however, was critical of the episode's closing monologue, noting that "[Mulder] spells out what the camera is saying a hundred times more effectively with its finale shot of a pairing of a gargoyle."[12]
Not all reviews were positive. Author Phil Farrand was critical of the episode, rating it his fourth least favorite episode of the first four seasons in his book The Nitpickers Guide to the X-Files.[13] Entertainment Weekly gave "Grotesque" a D, labeling it as "ponderous, oblique, and featuring one of Mulder's always annoying, easy-way-out soliloquy summations".[14]
Footnotes[edit]
1.^ Jump up to: a b Lowry, pp. 155–158
2.Jump up ^ Edwards, pp. 164–165
3.^ Jump up to: a b c d Lowry, p. 158
4.Jump up ^ Gradnitzer and Pittson, pp. 98–99
5.^ Jump up to: a b c Edwards, p. 165
6.Jump up ^ R.W. Goodwin, Rob Bowman, et al (booklet). The X-Files: The Complete Third Season (Liner notes). Fox.
7.^ Jump up to: a b c Lowry, p. 251
8.Jump up ^ Lowry, p. 159
9.^ Jump up to: a b VanDerWerff, Todd (1 August 2010). ""Syzygy"/"Grotesque"/"Piper Maru"". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 21 May 2012.
10.^ Jump up to: a b Keegan, John. "Grotesque". Critical Myth. Retrieved 21 May 2012.
11.^ Jump up to: a b Shearman and Pearson, pp. 69–70
12.^ Jump up to: a b c Vitaris, Paula (October 1996). "Episode Guide". Cinefantastique 28 (3): 18–40.
13.Jump up ^ Farrand, p. 222
14.Jump up ^ "X Cyclopedia: The Ultimate Episode Guide, Season 3". Entertainment Weekly. 29 November 1996. Retrieved 19 February 2012.
ReferencesEdwards, Ted (1996). X-Files Confidential. Little, Brown and Company. ISBN 0-316-21808-1.
Farrand, Phil (1998). The Nitpickers Guide to the X-Files. Doubleday Direct. ISBN 1-56865-503-7.
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.
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 3
"Grotesque" on The X-Files official website
"Grotesque" at the Internet Movie Database
"Grotesque" at TV.com
[hide]
v·
t·
e
The X-Files episodes
Seasons: 1·
2·
3·
4·
5·
6·
7·
8·
9
Season 3
"The Blessing Way"·
"Paper Clip"·
"D.P.O."·
"Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose"·
"The List"·
"2Shy"·
"The Walk"·
"Oubliette"·
"Nisei"·
"731"·
"Revelations"·
"War of the Coprophages"·
"Syzygy"·
"Grotesque"·
"Piper Maru"·
"Apocrypha"·
"Pusher"·
"Teso Dos Bichos"·
"Hell Money"·
"Jose Chung's From Outer Space"·
"Avatar"·
"Quagmire"·
"Wetwired"·
"Talitha Cumi"
Categories: The X-Files (season 3) episodes
1996 television episodes
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Piper Maru
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
This is a good article. Click here for more information.
"Piper Maru"
The X-Files episode
BlackOilPiperMaru.jpg
A man is possessed by the black oil. First introduced in "Piper Maru", The black oil would later go on to play a much larger role in the series, including playing a pivotal role in the 1998 X-Files movie.
Episode no.
Season 3
Episode 15
Directed by
Rob Bowman
Written by
Frank Spotnitz
Chris Carter
Production code
3X15
Original air date
February 9, 1996
Guest actors
Mitch Pileggi as Walter Skinner
Nicholas Lea as Alex Krycek
Robert Clothier as Christopher Johansen
Ari Solomon as Gauthier
Kimberly Unger as Joan Gauthier
Jo Bates as Jeraldine Kallenchuk
Morris Panych as Gray-Haired Man
Lenno Britos as Luis Cardinal
Stephen E. Miller as Wayne Morgan
Paul Batten as Dr. Seizer
Rochelle Greenwood as Waitress
Joel Silverstone as Engineer #1
David Neale as Navy Base Guard
Tom Scholte as Young Johansen
Robert F. Maier as World War II Pilot
Tegan Moss as Young Dana Scully
Episode chronology
← Previous
"Grotesque" Next →
"Apocrypha"
List of season 3 episodes
List of The X-Files episodes
"Piper Maru" is the fifteenth episode of the third season of the science fiction television series The X-Files. It premiered on the Fox network on February 9, 1996. The episode was written by executive producer Chris Carter and Frank Spotnitz, and directed by Rob Bowman. "Piper Maru" is one of those which helped to explore the series' overarching mythology. Its introduction of the black oil became a storyline milestone for the series. The black oil would later go on to play a much larger role in the series, including playing a pivotal role in the 1998 X-Files movie. "Piper Maru" earned a Nielsen household rating of 10.6, being watched by 16.44 million people in its initial broadcast. The episode 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, a French salvage ship sends a diving crew to recover a mysterious wreckage from World War II, but the crew falls prey to a bizarre illness forcing FBI special agents Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) to investigate the source. Their investigation brings them face-to-face with Alex Krycek (Nicholas Lea).
"Piper Maru" was based around two visual images Chris Carter had wanted to include in a script "since the beginning of the show". The first of these was that of a deep-sea diver finding a still-living pilot trapped in the wreckage of a World War II-era fighter plane and the second was that of a black-and-white flashback taking place in a submarine. The title of the episode is a reference to the first and middle name of Gillian Anderson's daughter, who had been born during the production of the second season.
Contents
[hide] 1 Plot
2 Production 2.1 Conception and writing
2.2 Filming and post-production
3 Broadcast and reception
4 Footnotes 4.1 References
5 External links
Plot[edit]
Piper Maru, a French salvage vessel, is exploring the Pacific Ocean. Gauthier, a member of the ship's crew, dives down into the sea and finds a sunken fighter plane from World War II. He is shocked to find a man alive in the plane's cockpit, with what looks like black oil in his eyes. When Gauthier returns to the surface, he has become possessed by the black oil.
In Washington, Walter Skinner tells agent Dana Scully that the FBI's investigation into her sister Melissa's murder has been made inactive, despite the evidence that had been recovered. Fox Mulder tells Scully about the Piper Maru, which had laid anchor at the same coordinates as another ship believed to have salvaged a UFO; when the Piper Maru came to port in San Diego, her crew was found suffering from radiation burns. Aboard the ship, the agents find traces of the black oil on Gauthier's diving suit. Upon viewing a video of the dive, Scully identifies the sunken plane as a P-51 Mustang. Meanwhile, Gauthier returns home and searches for something. When his wife Joan arrives, the black oil passes itself along to her.
Scully visits an old friend of her father's, Commander Christopher Johanson, seeking information about the plane. Johanson admits that he had been sent to find a sunken bomber aboard the submarine Zeus Faber, and recalls how many aboard the sub suffered from radiation burns while he joined a mutiny against his commanding officer, who became possessed by the black oil. Meanwhile, Mulder visits Gauthier's home and finds him passed out, covered in the black oil; he has no memory of his experience. Mulder finds a letter from a salvage broker, and visits the broker's "secretary" Jeraldine. Mulder follows Jeraldine after her office is invaded by several men.
Both Mulder and Joan follow Jeraldine to Hong Kong, where Mulder learns that she is a middleman selling government secrets. Mulder handcuffs himself to her and gets her to bring him to her office, where Alex Krycek (Nicholas Lea) waits inside, having been selling the contents of the digital tape. Krycek escapes through a window while Jeraldine is shot by a group of men coming down the hallway. Mulder unlocks the handcuffs and escapes. Meanwhile, Joan walks down the hall and encounters the men, creating a flash that causes them all to suffer from radiation burns.
Meanwhile, Skinner is initially confronted by several men, including the Gray-Haired Man, and is told not to pursue Melissa's case any further. Skinner is later shot by Luis Cardinal. After Mulder catches Krycek in an airport, he tells him the tape is in a locker back in Washington and that he'll give it to him in exchange for letting him go. Mulder lets Krycek go to the bathroom, where he is confronted by Joan. As he departs the bathroom to leave with Mulder, Krycek's eyes show he is now infected with the black oil.[1][2]
Production[edit]
The Majestic 12 documents resurface in "Piper Maru", having last been seen in "Paper Clip".
Conception and writing[edit]
Conception of the episode was based around two visual images series creator Chris Carter had wanted to include in a script "since the beginning of the show".[3] The first of these was that of a deep-sea diver finding a still-living pilot trapped in the wreckage of a World War II-era fighter plane; and the second was that of a black-and-white flashback taking place in a submarine.[4] Director Rob Bowman shared with Carter his experiences diving, feeling that an episode based on finding "something creepy" underwater would be a good idea.[5] Carter also wanted the episode to feature the re-emergence of the "MJ documents" last seen in the earlier "Paper Clip".[3]
Frank Spotnitz began working on the episode immediately after writing the earlier third season episode "731", fleshing out the rest of the concept while on a flight out of Minneapolis. Spotnitz ended up writing his ideas on a magazine, not having brought paper with him, and included in his outline the investigation of Scully's sister's murder and the reintroduction of Alex Krycek.[6] The title of the episode is a reference to the first and middle name of Gillian Anderson's daughter, who had been born during the production of the second season. The name Gauthier, used for the French diver and his wife, was a reference to special effects producer David Gauthier.[7]
Filming and post-production[edit]
A WWII-era P-51 Mustang. A plane of this model is the source of the black oil in "Piper Maru".
The episode's cold open was filmed in a water tank, using a replica P-51 Mustang plane which had been designed by the art director.[5] Bowman also needed to direct a scene in which Gillian Anderson would react to a memory of playing with her sister as a child; the scene involved digitally compositing the children playing into Anderson's footage. Bowman asked Anderson to act towards a tree as though it were her sister, later telling her "I'm going to tell everybody I can that you just did that great reaction to a tree".[8] Bowman also reshot the episode's ending, as originally Duchovny and Lea were to walk past the camera and continue off-screen. Feeling this was not effective, he replaced this with a walking shot which continued straight towards and into the camera, noting that "Nick will jump in front of a truck if he think it will make a scene better".[8]
The on-screen appearances of the black oil was achieved through visual effects, with the shimmering oil effect being digitally placed over the actors' corneas in post-production. The crew went through various iterations to find the two "right" types of fluids. According to physical effects crewman David Gauthier, they used a mix of oil and acetone, which he believed gave the substance a more globular look.[9] Special effects technician Mat Beck was able to digitally bend the oil effect around the shape of the actors' eyes.[10]
The man in the plane in the teaser, Robert Maier, worked as a construction coordinator on the show,[11] and felt that his part in the episode fulfilled a "life-long dream" of working as a stuntman.[10] Nicholas Lea's name was purposely left until the ending credits in order to preserve the sense of surprise.[12]
Broadcast and reception[edit]
It's at this point in the mythology that the onus subtly shifts from Scully coming up with alternate theories of what's going on that make just as much sense as what Mulder's saying to the show desperately trying to keep Scully from knowing things so she can fit into her predetermined "skeptic" role. It mostly works here, because she's busy grieving her sister and being angry that the case into her sister's murder has been closed and coming up with knowledge about radiation burns and stuff, but it becomes more and more of a problem as the series goes along and it becomes more and more obvious that Mulder was right all along.
—The A.V. Club's Todd VanDerWerff[13]
"Piper Maru" premiered on the Fox network on February 9, 1996, and was first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC Two on November 27, 1996.[14] The episode earned a Nielsen household rating of 10.6 with an 18 share, meaning that roughly 10.6 percent of all television-equipped households, and 18 percent of households watching television, were tuned in to the episode.[15] A total of 16.44 million viewers watched this episode during its original airing.[15]
"Piper Maru" received positive reviews from critics. In an overview of the third season in Entertainment Weekly, the episode was rated an A. The review described "Piper Maru" as featuring "a tough and sentimental Scully", noting that "action-packed detective work by Mulder enhance[s] an already crackling scenario."[16] Reviewer Todd VanDerWerff of The A.V. Club gave the episode an A and wrote positively of the unfolding mythology, noting that the "great thing about "Piper Maru" is that it still belongs to the period of time when the mythology episodes were exposing us to more pieces of the puzzle, fitting in various things that we were meant to incorporate into the whole. This is the first time we meet the black oil, but it's obvious that others know all about it".[13] Critical Myth's John Keegan gave the episode eight out of ten, and complimented the introduction of the black oil, writing "this episode is a good introduction to the black oil virus, providing a bridge from the mythology elements earlier in the season to the larger scope of the conspiracy to be revealed."[17]
The introduction of the sentient black oil in this episode has also been met with positive criticism. The oil has been described as "the most original and frightening creation of The X-Files' mythology",[13] and has been listed as number two on Den of Geek's "Top 10 X-Files Baddies" countdown, where it was described as "a central part" of the series' mythology.[18]
Gillian Anderson considered the episode an emotionally difficult one, saying "Piper Maru was challenging. There was something about it - having to pull from the past... how it brought the present and the past together. It was just good to play."[19] Director Kim Manners complimented Anderson's performance, stating "you look at season one and look at season three and that girl exploded as an actress in terms of talent and capability."[20] The 2004 film Alien vs. Predator featured an icebreaker named the Piper Maru, the naming of the ship being a nod to this episode.[21]
Footnotes[edit]
1.Jump up ^ Lowry, pp. 161–164
2.Jump up ^ Lovece, p. 211
3.^ Jump up to: a b Chris Carter (narrator). "Chris Carter Talks About Season 3: Piper Maru". The X-Files: The Complete Third Season (featurette) (Fox). Unknown parameter |titleyear= ignored (help)
4.Jump up ^ Edwards, p. 166
5.^ Jump up to: a b Edwards, p. 167
6.Jump up ^ Edwards, pp. 166–167
7.Jump up ^ Lowry, pp. 164–165
8.^ Jump up to: a b Edwards, p. 168
9.Jump up ^ Chris Carter, Dave Gauthier, Howard Gordon, Kim Manners, John Shiban and Frank Spotnitz (2005). "Threads of Mythology". The X-Files Mythology, Volume 2 – Black Oil (DVD) (Fox).
10.^ Jump up to: a b Frank Spotnitz, Mat Beck, Dave Gauthier, Gillian Anderson (narrators). "Behind the Truth: Piper Maru". The X-Files: The Complete Third Season (featurette) (Fox). Unknown parameter |titleyear= ignored (help)
11.Jump up ^ Lovece, pp. 103–105
12.Jump up ^ Lowry, p. 165
13.^ Jump up to: a b c Todd, VanDerWerff (August 1, 2010). ""Syzygy"/"Grotesque"/"Piper Maru"". The A.V. Club. Retrieved December 25, 2011.
14.Jump up ^ R. W. Goodwin, Rob Bowman, et al (booklet). The X-Files: The Complete Third Season (Liner notes). Fox.
15.^ Jump up to: a b Lowry, p. 251
16.Jump up ^ "X Cyclopedia: The Ultimate Episode Guide, Season 3 | EW.com". Entertainment Weekly. November 29, 1996. Retrieved January 15, 2012.
17.Jump up ^ Keegan, John. "Piper Maru". Critical Myth. Retrieved December 25, 2011.
18.Jump up ^ Moore, John (July 20, 2008). "The Top 10 X-Files Baddies". Den of Geek. Retrieved January 15, 2012.
19.Jump up ^ Lowry, p. 164
20.Jump up ^ Hurwitz, p. 83
21.Jump up ^ Turner, Matthew. "Alien Vs Predator (15)". View London. Retrieved December 25, 2011.
References[edit]
Edwards, Ted (1996). X-Files Confidential. Little, Brown and Company. ISBN 0-316-21808-1.
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 (1996). Trust No One: The Official Guide to the X-Files. Harper Prism. ISBN 0-06-105353-8.
External links[edit]
Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: TXF Season 3
"Piper Maru" on The X-Files official website
"Piper Maru" at the Internet Movie Database
"Piper Maru" at TV.com
[hide]
v·
t·
e
The X-Files episodes
Seasons: 1·
2·
3·
4·
5·
6·
7·
8·
9
Season 3
"The Blessing Way"·
"Paper Clip"·
"D.P.O."·
"Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose"·
"The List"·
"2Shy"·
"The Walk"·
"Oubliette"·
"Nisei"·
"731"·
"Revelations"·
"War of the Coprophages"·
"Syzygy"·
"Grotesque"·
"Piper Maru"·
"Apocrypha"·
"Pusher"·
"Teso Dos Bichos"·
"Hell Money"·
"Jose Chung's From Outer Space"·
"Avatar"·
"Quagmire"·
"Wetwired"·
"Talitha Cumi"
Categories: The X-Files (season 3) episodes
1996 television episodes
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Apocrypha (The X-Files)
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"Apocrypha"
The X-Files episode
Apopcrypha TXF.jpg
The black oil leaving its host
Episode no.
Season 3
Episode 16
Directed by
Kim Manners
Written by
Frank Spotnitz
Chris Carter
Production code
3X16
Original air date
February 16, 1996
Guest actors
Mitch Pileggi as Walter Skinner
Nicholas Lea as Alex Krycek
William B. Davis as Smoking Man
John Neville as Well-Manicured Man
Don S. Williams as First Elder
Lenno Britos as Luis Cardinal
Tom Braidwood as Melvin Frohike
Dean Haglund as Richard Langly
Bruce Harwood as John Fitzgerald Byers
Brendan Beiser as Pendrell
Kevin McNulty as Agent Brian Fuller
Suleka Mathew as Agent Linda Caleca
Barry Levy as Navy Doctor
Dmitry Chepovetsky as Young Bill Mulder
Craig Warkentin as Young Smoking Man[1]
Episode chronology
← Previous
"Piper Maru" Next →
"Pusher"
List of season 3 episodes
List of The X-Files episodes
"Apocrypha" is the sixteenth episode of the third season of the American science fiction television series The X-Files. It premiered on the Fox network on February 16, 1996. It was directed by Kim Manners, and written by Frank Spotnitz and series creator Chris Carter. "Apocrypha" featured guest appearances by John Neville, Don S. Williams and Brendan Beiser. The episode helped to explore the overarching mythology, or fictional history of The X-Files. "Apocrypha" earned a Nielsen household rating of 10.8, being watched by 16.71 million people in its initial broadcast.
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 returns from Hong Kong, having found rogue agent Alex Krycek (Nicholas Lea) while investigating a mysterious mind-altering black oil. Meanwhile, Scully pursues the man who she believes killed her sister. "Apocrypha" is the second part of a two-part episode, continuing the plot from the previous episode, "Piper Maru".
"Apocrypha" was the first mythology-centred episode to be directed by Manners, and made use of a mixture of physical and digital effects to create the episode's antagonistic black oil. The episode's sets were also augmented with digital effects, amplifying what could be constructed within the given budget.
Contents
[hide] 1 Plot
2 Production
3 Broadcast and reception
4 Footnotes 4.1 References
5 External links
Plot[edit]
In 1953, a burned crewman talks to three government agents about his experience on the submarine Zeus Faber, completing the story told in the previous episode. He explains that he and other crew members were locked in with their captain, who was infected by the black oil. After being knocked out from behind, the black oil leaves the captain's body and exits via a grate into the sea. It is revealed that Bill Mulder and the Smoking Man are two of the agents who are interviewing the crewman.
In the present, Fox Mulder and Alex Krycek return to the United States, but are run off the road by another vehicle. The assailants attempt to apprehend Krycek, but are severely injured when he emits a flashing light. The Smoking Man sees their bodies and orders their destruction. Mulder, who was knocked unconscious in the crash, awakens in the hospital. Dana Scully tells Mulder about Walter Skinner's condition, and says that an analysis of saliva has identified his shooter as the same person who killed her sister Melissa.
The Syndicate meets to discuss the events surrounding the Piper Maru and realize that there has been an information leak. Meanwhile, Skinner tells Scully that he recognizes his shooter as the man who was with Krycek when the digital tape was stolen from him. Mulder believes that the oil found on the diving suit and Gauthier is a medium used by an alien to transfer from body to body, and that Krycek is currently occupied by it. Mulder and the Lone Gunmen use Krycek's key to recover the tape from a locker at an ice rink, but Mulder finds the case empty. Krycek returns the tape to the Smoking Man in exchange for the location of the recovered UFO.
As Luis Cardinal is identified as Skinner's shooter, the Syndicate admonishes the Smoking Man for moving the UFO to a new location. By rubbing a pencil over the envelope containing the tape case, Mulder finds a phone number which connects him to the Syndicate's office. Mulder speaks to the Well-Manicured Man, who agrees to meet with him. The Well-Manicured Man tells Mulder that a UFO was sunk during World War II and that a cover story of a sunken atomic bomb was used to cover up its attempted recovery. He reveals that anyone can be gotten to, causing Mulder to ask Scully to check on Skinner.
Scully arrives at the hospital and accompanies Skinner as he is being transported in an ambulance. When Cardinal attempts to break in, she tracks him down and arrests him. Cardinal tells her that Krycek is headed to an abandoned missile silo in Black Crow, North Dakota. The agents travel there and go into one of the silos, where they are quickly captured by a group of armed soldiers led by the Smoking Man. They are escorted away. Deep inside, Krycek sits atop the UFO and coughs out the black oil, which heads into the ship. Skinner recovers and returns to work. Mulder sees Scully at Melissa's grave, explaining that Cardinal was found dead in his cell. Meanwhile, Krycek is trapped within the silo, banging on the door in an attempt to be let out.[1][2]
Production[edit]
Writers Frank Spotnitz (left) and Chris Carter (right) in 2008
Conception of the episode was based around a visual image series creator Chris Carter had wanted to include in a script "since the beginning of the show". The image was of a black-and-white flashback taking place in a submarine.[3]
The episode's title is a reference to Biblical apocrypha, which series creator Chris Carter felt was appropriate to the episode's thematic concerns—hidden documents and truths not brought to light.[4] Director Kim Manners had directed a number of stand alone episodes thus far, but this was his first episode directed featuring the series' overarching mythology.[5] Manners felt that directing a mythology-centred episode was significantly different from directing a stand-alone "monster of the week" episode. He explained that "there is some individual creative contribution from the directors" in stand-alone episodes, but that with mythology episodes "what you need to as a director is to be sure that the performances are there ... and that the yarn is presented in its cleanest and most interesting fashion".[6]
Nicholas Lea was fitted with a mask with tubes for the scene where the alien black oil leaves his body. Lea said filming the scene was horrible, and the scene ended up having to be filmed again a few days later. The similar scene from the start of the episode with the submarine captain was accomplished with a dummy head.[7] The depiction of the oil in this scene was originally filmed using a magnetic fluid pulled along with magnets, although the end result of this was deemed not be "menacing" enough, and looked "a little bit comic". To get around this, the sound stage used to represent the submarine's interior was constructed in a manner so as to be capable of rocking back and forth, with the movement being used to guide the flow of a different liquid. This effect was then enhanced digitally in post-production.[8] The black oil effect over people's eyes was accomplished by inserting the footage digitally in post production.[7]
The missile silo used for the episode's climactic scene was incomplete when the scene was filmed, as the crew did not have enough time or money left to complete the set. The crew built the incomplete silo on a sound stage around a completed spacecraft prop, and were able to digitally extend the set with computer generated interiors to give the impression of a much larger silo.[4] Exterior shots of the silo building were also enhanced digitally, with various buildings and machinery created with computer generated imagery and composited into the exterior shots.[8]
Broadcast and reception[edit]
I don't really know what's going on in mythology episodes. I never have. And I don't mean that I lost the thread once the writers stopped trying to make all the pieces fit. I mean that, right now, even after having watched "Apocrypha" and the episode that preceded it, and all the other mythology episodes before that, I don't know the details. To me, it's just creepy stuff happening for obscure reasons to the characters I care about.
—The A.V. Club's Zack Handlen on the general impression of "Apocrypha"[9]
"Apocrypha" premiered on the Fox network on February 16, 1996, and was first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC Two on December 4, 1996.[10] The episode earned a Nielsen household rating of 10.8 with an 18 share, meaning that roughly 10.8 percent of all television-equipped households, and 18 percent of households watching television, were tuned in to the episode.[11] A total of 16.71 million viewers watched this episode during its original airing, making it the most viewed episode of the third season.[11]
In an overview of the third season in Entertainment Weekly, "Apocrypha" was rated an A. The review noted that the episode offered "some interesting progressions in the grand theme" of the series, although it was also "worth it just for the awesome missile site finale" alone.[12] Writing for The A.V. Club, Zack Handlen also rated the episode an A. Handlen felt the episode was impressive in its general impression, but that the details were not necessarily important; he also added that the cyclical nature of the plot of most mythology episodes was not something he felt negatively about, noting that although the series' protagonists are often defeated, they "can't be corrupted or dissuaded or undone".[9] Co-writer Frank Spotnitz said of the episode "I actually think you didn't learn a lot more about the conspiracy in these two episodes, but emotionally, I think they were really good episodes ... It is really easy to go through a lot of these action things with people dying and never addressing them. So I thought it was very interesting to do so".[13]
Footnotes[edit]
1.^ Jump up to: a b Lowry, pp. 167–170
2.Jump up ^ Lovece, p. 212
3.Jump up ^ Edwards, p. 166
4.^ Jump up to: a b Chris Carter (narrator) (1995–1996). "Chris Carter Talks About Season 3: Apocrypha". The X-Files: The Complete Third Season (featurette) (The X-Files: The Complete Third Season: Fox).
5.Jump up ^ Lowry, p. 171
6.Jump up ^ Edwards, p. 170
7.^ Jump up to: a b Lowry, pp. 171–172
8.^ Jump up to: a b Mat Beck (narrator) (1995–1996). "Special Effects Sequences: Apocrypha". The X-Files: The Complete Third Season (featurette) (The X-Files: The Complete Third Season: Fox).
9.^ Jump up to: a b Handlen, Zack (August 8, 2010). ""Apocrypha"/"Pusher"/"Teso Dos Bichos" | The X-Files/Millennium". Retrieved January 14, 2012.
10.Jump up ^ The X-Files: The Complete Third Season (Media notes). Fox. 1995–1996.
11.^ Jump up to: a b Lowry, p. 251
12.Jump up ^ "X Cyclopedia: The Ultimate Episode Guide, Season III". Entertainment Weekly. November 29, 1996. Retrieved January 13, 2012.
13.Jump up ^ Edwards, p. 169
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 (1996). Trust No One: The Official Guide to the X-Files. Harper Prism. ISBN 0-06-105353-8.
External links[edit]
Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: TXF Season 3
"Apocrypha" on The X-Files official website
"Apocrypha" at the Internet Movie Database
"Apocrypha" at TV.com
[hide]
v·
t·
e
The X-Files episodes
Seasons: 1·
2·
3·
4·
5·
6·
7·
8·
9
Season 3
"The Blessing Way"·
"Paper Clip"·
"D.P.O."·
"Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose"·
"The List"·
"2Shy"·
"The Walk"·
"Oubliette"·
"Nisei"·
"731"·
"Revelations"·
"War of the Coprophages"·
"Syzygy"·
"Grotesque"·
"Piper Maru"·
"Apocrypha"·
"Pusher"·
"Teso Dos Bichos"·
"Hell Money"·
"Jose Chung's From Outer Space"·
"Avatar"·
"Quagmire"·
"Wetwired"·
"Talitha Cumi"
Categories: The X-Files (season 3) episodes
1996 television episodes
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Pusher (The X-Files)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
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"Pusher"
The X-Files episode
Episode no.
Season 3
Episode 17
Directed by
Rob Bowman
Written by
Vince Gilligan
Production code
3X17
Original air date
February 23, 1996
Running time
44 minutes
Guest actors
Mitch Pileggi as Walter Skinner
Robert Wisden as Robert Patrick Modell
Vic Polizos as Agent Frank Burst
Roger R. Cross as SWAT team member
Steve Bacic as Agent Collins
Don Mackay as Judge
Brent J.D. Sheppard as Prosecutor
D. Neil Mark as Deputy Scott Kerber
Julia Arkos as Holly
Meridith Bain-Woodward as Defense Attorney
Ernie Foort as Lobby Guard
Darren Lucas as Lead SWAT Cop[1]
Dave Grohl as Background Character (uncredited)[2]
Jennifer Youngblood as Background Character (uncredited)[3]
Episode chronology
← Previous
"Apocrypha" Next →
"Teso Dos Bichos"
List of The X-Files episodes
"Pusher" is the seventeenth episode of the third season of the American science fiction television series The X-Files. It originally aired on the Fox network on February 23, 1996, and was written by Vince Gilligan and directed by Rob Bowman. The episode is a "Monster-of-the-Week" story, unconnected to the series' wider mythology, or overarching fictional history of The X-Files. "Pusher" earned a Nielsen household rating of 10.8, being watched by 16.2 million viewers in its initial broadcast. "Pusher" received overwhelmingly positive reviews from television 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’s assistance is requested for a case involving a man, who goes by the pseudonym "Pusher", seemingly capable of bending people to his will. The suspect uses his mysterious abilities to manipulate Mulder into a dangerous end game.
"Pusher" was crafted by Gilligan with the intention to feature a tense cat and mouse game between Mulder and Pusher. The final scene, featuring a game of Russian roulette, was met with some resistance from the network. The standards and practices department argued that, because the game had never been featured on a television series before, it was unsuitable for broadcast. Several actors were considered for the role of Modell, even Lance Henriksen, who went on to play the lead role in Millennium, but Robert Wisden eventually won the role.
Contents
[hide] 1 Plot
2 Production 2.1 Writing
2.2 Casting
3 Themes
4 Broadcast and reception
5 References
6 External links
Plot[edit]
Robert Patrick Modell (Robert Wisden) walks through a supermarket, buying a large supply of energy drinks. Before he can leave, Modell is surrounded and arrested by FBI agents led by Frank Burst (Vic Polizos). While being escorted away in a police car, he repeatedly talks about the color cerulean blue. Modell's talking seemingly causes the driver to not see an approaching big rig of that color, causing a collision. Modell escapes after the driver unlocks his handcuffs before dying.
Burst, the only surviving agent of the crash, tells Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) about his pursuit of Modell—nicknamed "Pusher"—who has committed a series of contract killings over the past two years, making the acts appear to be suicide. Mulder spots the word "ronin" written at the crime scene, and tracks down Modell's classified ad in a mercenary magazine. Mulder believes that Modell has the psychic ability to "push" people to do his will. Using the phone number in the ad, the agents track down Modell to a golf course, where he makes a SWAT lieutenant douse himself in gasoline and light himself on fire. Mulder finds Modell exhausted in a car nearby, arresting him.
During his arraignment, Modell uses his skills to make the judge let him go. The agents look into Modell's past and find that he failed to enter the FBI after a psychological examination deemed him to be grossly egocentric and sociopathic. Meanwhile, after writing the word "pass" on a piece of paper and putting it in his shirt pocket, Modell is able to pass security and enter FBI headquarters. He "pushes" an agent, Holly (Julia Arkos), into pulling up Mulder's file for him. When Walter Skinner (Mitch Pileggi) intervenes, Modell convinces Holly that he was a man who mugged her, causing her to spray Skinner with mace and beat him. Scully is unable to explain how Modell has his power, but now agrees with Mulder's theory that he can push people into doing whatever he wants.
Agents raid Modell's apartment, but find it empty. They find cans of energy drinks in the refrigerator and medicine for epilepsy. Mulder suspects that a brain tumor has given Modell his psychokinetic ability, but that using his power is physically exhausting, forcing him to constantly consume the energy drinks. Mulder believes that he is dying and wants to go out in a blaze of glory. Modell makes a taunting phone call to Agent Burst and causes him to have a fatal heart attack while they try to trace him. The agents track Modell down to a hospital, where he has made a guard to shoot an MRI technician and kill himself. Mulder ventures inside the hospital and is captured by Modell.
Scully finds the two sitting at a table with the dead guard's revolver. Modell forces Mulder to play Russian roulette with him. Despite Scully's pleading, Mulder pulls the trigger first at Modell and then himself, the hammer falling on an empty chamber both times. Modell then makes him aim the gun at Scully. At the last instant, Scully sees a fire alarm in a mirror and pulls it in desperation, breaking Modell's concentration. Mulder instantly switches his aim to Modell and pulls the trigger; the bullet is fired and Modell is severely wounded. Visiting Modell in the hospital later, the agents discuss the fact that his tumor was operable but he refused treatment due to the ability it gave him. Mulder says he was just a little man, but this was something that made him feel big.[1][4]
Production[edit]
In the episode, Modell advertises himself as a rÅnin—a samurai with no lord or master (famous rÅnin Miyamoto Musashi pictured).
Writing[edit]
"Pusher" was written by Vince Gilligan and directed by Rob Bowman.[5] Gilligan crafted the episode with the intention to feature a tense cat and mouse game between Mulder and Modell. He later explained, "the only conscious thing I wanted to do from the start was get them together as much as I could".[6] When Gilligan turned in his script, he told series creator Chris Carter that the episode was "the best work I'm ever gonna [sic] do for you." Carter retorted that the writers for the show should always "better yourself" by trying to out-do their last scripting effort.[7] The character of Modell would later return in the fifth season episode "Kitsunegari".[8]
The final scene, featuring a Russian roulette game, was met with resistance from the network. The standards and practices department argued that, because the game had never been featured in a television series before, it was unsuitable for broadcast. Furthermore, they argued that the scene could be harmful to impressionable young children. After tense negotiations, the scene was included in the episode largely uncut; Gilligan later noted that he could not "believe we got away with it".[6]
The episode contains several inside jokes and references to previously established canon in The X-Files universe. The Flukeman, from the episode "The Host", appears on a tabloid in the opening scene.[9] When Mulder is being fitted for a camera, the script originally had him ask if it received the Discovery Channel. Duchovny, knowing that his character had an interest in pornography, changed the line to "the Playboy Channel".[6] Several members of the show's cast and crew make appearances on the various magazine featured in the episode. The tabloid that featured the Flukeman also had a small image of props master Ken Hawryliw and the American Ronin magazine that Mulder flips through contained a "blink-and-you'll miss-it" shot of production assistant Danielle Faith.[9]
Casting[edit]
Musician Dave Grohl made a cameo appearance in the episode.
Several actors were considered for the role of Robert Modell, even Lance Henriksen, who went on to play the lead role in Millennium. Initially, Gilligan considered Harvey Fierstein for the role of Modell, but Robert Wisden read the script and "blew us away".[7] Rob Bowman was pleased with Wisden's performance and said, "I thought Robert Wisden was great as Pusher. He is a very energized kind of confident actor with lots of ideas of his own. It took me about a day and a half to get him into it, and then I never had to speak to him again, because he had that look in his eyes. I would walk up to talk to him about the scene and I could see that he was already there.[10]
Mitch Pileggi was disappointed in the fact that the episode featured his character, Walter Skinner, getting beat up, something which had occurred in multiple episodes already by this point: "I was feeling a little uncomfortable with him getting his ass kicked so much, and I think the fans were, too."[11] Dave Grohl, the leader singer and guitarist of the Foo Fighters and former drummer for Nirvana, made a small cameo, along with his then-wife Jennifer Youngblood, in the episode during the scene wherein Modell sneaks into the FBI building.[2][3] Grohl, who has an active interest in UFO lore,[12] called the episode "his acting debut".[2]
Themes[edit]
Robert Shearman and Lars Pearson, in their book Wanting to Believe: A Critical Guide to The X-Files, Millennium & The Lone Gunmen, wrote that the episode helps to illustrate the idea that "evil [is] a mundane and human and somewhat pathetic thing", a conceit that they note is rooted in many third season episodes of The X-Files.[13] The two reason that, despite Modell's ability, he is ultimately, "something of a loser" who wishes to "be special" rather than be cured of his brain disease.[13] Furthermore, they argue that Modell's boasting of being a samurai "is just a fantasy" that he plays-up; he really is a "little man" who yearns "to be big".[13]
Broadcast and reception[edit]
"Pusher" premiered on the Fox network in the United States on February 23, 1996.[5] The episode earned a Nielsen household rating of 10.8, with a 18 share, meaning that roughly 10.8 percent of all television-equipped households, and 18 percent of households watching television, were tuned in to the episode.[14] The episode was watched by a total of 16.2 million viewers.[14]
"Pusher" received overwhelmingly positive reviews from television critics. Zack Handlen of The A.V. Club gave it an A–, describing it as "smart, well-paced, and exciting, and Modell is memorable for being a very human monster who manages to be both well-drawn and unsympathetic".[15] Though he praised Modell and the climax, he felt that Holly was a stereotype and "the implication that Modell is able to get through to her because of her fear walks that weird line between plausible and not entirely necessary".[15] Handlen also felt that it was "an excellent starting point" for someone who wanted to get into the series.[16] Entertainment Weekly gave "Pusher" a B+, writing, "Much inscrutable warmth between Mulder and Scully parallels some inscrutable detective work. But the climactic mental tug-of-war between Mulder and Pusher makes up for any lapses in logic".[17] Robert Shearman and Lars Pearson gave the episode a glowing review and rated it five stars out of five. The two called Gilligan's script "witty and clever" and noted that it was "a triumph".[13] Furthermore, Shearman and Pearson praised Wisden's performance as Robert Modell, calling his portrayal "spot on".[13] Paula Vitaris of Cinefantastique gave the episode a positive review and awarded it a rare four stars out of four.[18] She called it an "intense nail biter" that "ranks with the best of The X-Files".[18]
Since its airing, many reviewers have list the episode as one of the best episodes of The X-Files. IGN named it the third best standalone episode of The X-Files, writing "[t]hough the episode is loaded with memorable scenes of terror [...] it's the emotional bond between our two leads that really resonates."[19] Den of Geek listed "Pusher" as their seventh best episode of the series, and called it "a good game of cat and mouse".[20] Tom Kessenich, in his book Examination: An Unauthorized Look at Seasons 6–9 of the X-Files, named the episode the third best episode of The X-Files and called it the "best MOTW ["monster-of-the-week"] in the series history".[21] XposĆ© magazine named the Russian roulette scene one of the "20 Coolest Moments in The X-Files", ranking it at number eight; the magazine called the sequence "completely gripping".[22]
References[edit]
Footnotes
1.^ Jump up to: a b Lowry, pp. 175–177
2.^ Jump up to: a b c "Dave Grohl's Cameo Appearance on The X-Files". Feelnumb. 3 February 2012. Retrieved 5 April 2012.
3.^ Jump up to: a b Lowry, p. 176
4.Jump up ^ Lovece, p. 213
5.^ Jump up to: a b R.W. Goodwin, Rob Bowman, et al (booklet). The X-Files: The Complete Third Season (Liner notes). Fox.
6.^ Jump up to: a b c Lowry, p. 178
7.^ Jump up to: a b Hurwitz and Knowles, p. 85
8.Jump up ^ Meisler, pp. 98–109
9.^ Jump up to: a b Lowry, p. 179
10.Jump up ^ Edwards, p. 171
11.Jump up ^ Lowry, p. 177
12.Jump up ^ Loder, Kurt. "The Table: Kurt Loder Interviews Dave Grohl". MTV. Viacom. Retrieved 5 April 2012.
13.^ Jump up to: a b c d e Shearman and Pearson, pp. 72–73
14.^ Jump up to: a b Lowry, p. 251
15.^ Jump up to: a b Handlen, Zack (8 August 2010). "'Apocrypha'/'Pusher'/'Teso Dos Bichos'". The A.V. Club. The Onion. Retrieved 1 June 2012.
16.Jump up ^ Handlen, Zack (21 October 2010). "Gateways To Geekery: The X-Files". The A.V. Club. The Onion. Retrieved 22 June 2012.
17.Jump up ^ "X Cyclopedia: The Ultimate Episode Guide, Season 3". Entertainment Weekly (Time Inc). 29 November 1996. Retrieved 29 February 2012.
18.^ Jump up to: a b Vitaris, Paula (October 1996). "Episode Guide". Cinefantastique 28 (3): 18–40.
19.Jump up ^ Collura, Scott, et al (12 May 2008). "IGN's 10 Favorite X-Files Standalone Episodes". IGN. News Corporation. Retrieved 15 November 2011.
20.Jump up ^ Sordi, Nina (22 September 2009). "Top 10 X-Files episodes". Den of Geek. Dennis Publishing. Retrieved 20 February 2012.
21.Jump up ^ Kessenich, p. 219
22.Jump up ^ "The 20 Coolest Moments in The X-Files". XposƩ (15). Retrieved 24 July 2012.
BibliographyEdwards, Ted (1996). X-Files Confidential. Little, Brown and Company. ISBN 0316218081.
Hurwitz, Matt and Knowles, Chris (2008). The Complete X-Files: Behind the Series the Myths and the Movies. New York, US: Insight Editions. ISBN 1933784725.
Lovece, Frank (1996). The X-Files Declassified. Citadel Press. ISBN 080651745X.
Lowry, Brian (1996). Trust No One: The Official Guide to the X-Files. Harper Prism. ISBN 0061053538.
Meisler, Andy (1999). Resist or Serve: The Official Guide to The X-Files, Vol. 4. London: HarperCollins. ISBN 0-00-257133-1
External links[edit]
Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: TXF Season 3
"Pusher" at TheXFiles.com
"Pusher" at the Internet Movie Database
"Pusher" at TV.com
[hide]
v·
t·
e
The X-Files episodes
Seasons: 1·
2·
3·
4·
5·
6·
7·
8·
9
Season 3
"The Blessing Way"·
"Paper Clip"·
"D.P.O."·
"Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose"·
"The List"·
"2Shy"·
"The Walk"·
"Oubliette"·
"Nisei"·
"731"·
"Revelations"·
"War of the Coprophages"·
"Syzygy"·
"Grotesque"·
"Piper Maru"·
"Apocrypha"·
"Pusher"·
"Teso Dos Bichos"·
"Hell Money"·
"Jose Chung's From Outer Space"·
"Avatar"·
"Quagmire"·
"Wetwired"·
"Talitha Cumi"
Categories: The X-Files (season 3) episodes
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Screenplays by Vince Gilligan
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Teso Dos Bichos
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"Teso Dos Bichos"
The X-Files episode
A broken pot is resting in the snow. A human skull is visible on the inside of the pot.
The burial urn that contains the remains of a female shaman, called an Amaru
Episode no.
Season 3
Episode 18
Directed by
Kim Manners
Written by
John Shiban
Production code
3X18
Original air date
March 8, 1996
Guest actors
Vic Trevino as Bilac
Janne Mortil as Mona Wustner
Gordon Tootoosis as Shaman
Tom McBeath as Dr. Lewton
Ron Sauve as Tim Decker
Alan Robertson as Carl Roosevelt
Garrison Chrisjohn as Dr. Winters[1]
Episode chronology
← Previous
"Pusher" Next →
"Hell Money"
List of season 3 episodes
List of The X-Files episodes
"Teso Dos Bichos" is the eighteenth episode of the third season of the science fiction television series The X-Files. It premiered on the Fox network on March 8, 1996. It was written by John Shiban, and directed by Kim Manners. The episode is a "Monster-of-the-Week" story, unconnected to the series' wider mythology. "Teso Dos Bichos" earned a Nielsen household rating of 10.7, being watched by 17.38 million people in its initial broadcast. The episode received mostly negative reviews.
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 a series of deaths that occur immediately after an ancient artifact is brought to Boston from an excavation site in South America. According to Scully, the deaths appear to be the result of political terrorism, but Mulder suspects something more improbable.
The production for "Teso Dos Bichos", which was strongly disliked by the cast and crew of The X-Files, was plagued by several issues. Director Kim Manners, who had particular disdain for the episode, later made T-shirts and gave them to the cast and crew that read "Teso Dos Bichos Survivor." The episode's title translates from archaic Portuguese into English as "Burial Mound of Small Animals," although other translations have been proposed.
Contents
[hide] 1 Plot
2 Production
3 Broadcast and reception
4 Footnotes 4.1 References
5 External links
Plot[edit]
At an archaeological dig in the Ecuadorian highlands, two archaeologists, Dr. Bilac and Dr. Roosevelt, get into an argument over the removal of a burial urn that contains an Amaru, or a female shaman. Roosevelt argues that the urn must be taken from the site and preserved in a museum, much to the chagrin of Bilac and the tribespeople present. Later, a native shaman distributes Yaje to the local villagers and Bilac. During this ritual, a jaguar spirit kills Roosevelt in his tent.
Later, in Boston, Fox Mulder and Dana Scully investigate the disappearance of Dr. Decker, an archaeologist from a local history museum, after a security guard discovers a large amount of blood in Decker's lab. They interview both the curator, Dr. Lewton, and graduate student Mona Wustner. They also visit a reclusive Bilac. After closing, Lewton is killed by the jaguar spirit after his car doesn't start. During an investigation of the crime scene, Scully come across rat corpses in the engine compartment of Lewton's vehicle. Mona denies that anything unusual has happened in the museum.
Mulder and a group of police search for Lewton's remains. Scully sees blood dripping on Mulder's face from above and, upon looking up, they see a portion of Lewton's intestine hanging from a tree. Scully, about to perform an autopsy on the intestine, is interrupted when Mona suddenly calls and reports that Bilac was under the influence of Yaje. At the museum, Mona hears noises from a restroom and, upon opening a toilet lid, she sees rats forcing their way out of the sewer. When the two agents arrive, they discover Bilac crying beside one of the toilets, saying that Mona is dead.
Later, Bilac escapes from the room in which he is being held without exiting through the only door. Mulder notices a large drag mark through the dust on the floor, discovering a hatch leading to the museum's old steam tunnels. While exploring the tunnels, the agents find the remains of the victims and are attacked by a multitude of feral cats. As they try to escape, they come across Bilac's mutilated body. The two agents make their way out and close the hatch on the pursuing cats. The episode closes with Mulder suspecting that the animal attacks were associated with the burial urn that had been removed against the wishes of the Ecuadorian tribespeople; it is shortly returned to the burial grounds, where the local shaman watches the urn's reburial with jaguar-like eyes.[1]
Production[edit]
"Teso Dos Bichos" was taken by John Shiban, the episode's writer, from an ancient chant. The words translate into archaic Portuguese as "Burial Mound of Small Animals," although other translations have been proposed. In Colombia and Venezuela, the word "bichos" is a euphemism for testicles, something Shiban was unaware of when writing the script. Shiban later joked that this "controversy" would be good for ratings.[2]
The production of the episode was plagued with issues. At the last minute the ending of the episode had to be rewritten; originally, the script called for "hordes" of common house cats to attack Mulder and Scully. Unfortunately, the cats refused to attack under direction and did "pretty much nothing".[3] To further complicate matters, Gillian Anderson revealed to the producers that she was severely allergic to cats.[3] Thus, the whole sequence was nixed. Director Kim Manners called the first three acts of the episode "the best three acts of televisions I ever directed", whereas he referred to the fourth act was as "an absolute disaster."[3] Manners later revealed that he asked series creator Chris Carter for permission to focus on a leopard during the fourth act instead of the cats, saying "I begged Carter 'Please let's revisit the leopard in the teaser because I'm never going to make these cats scary.'"[3]
"Teso Dos Bichos" was strongly disliked by the cast and crew of The X-Files, including both by David Duchovny and Manners. Manners, most notably, was not pleased with the plot and felt "pussycats are not scary."[4] He later made T-shirts and gave them to the cast and crew that read "Teso Dos Bichos Survivor." The episode earned two distinctive nicknames courtesy of Manners. The first, "Second Salmon," referred to the number of re-writes the episode went through.[4] Every time an episode was re-written, the color of the script changed accordingly. "Teso Dos Bichos" went through so many re-writes that the cast ended up with two salmon colored copies. The second nickname, again, courtesy of Manners, was "Teso Dos Bitches."[4]
Broadcast and reception[edit]
"Teso Dos Bichos" premiered on the Fox network on March 8, 1996.[5] This episode earned a Nielsen rating of 10.7, with a 18 share, meaning that roughly 10.7 percent of all television-equipped households, and 18 percent of households watching television, were tuned in to the episode. It was viewed by 17.38 million viewers.[6]
The episode received negative reviews from critics. A writer from Entertainment Weekly gave "Teso Dos Bichos" a C, and sardonically wrote, "No es bueno!"[7] Reviewer Zack Handlen of The A.V. Club gave the episode a C− and criticized the laziness of the writing, saying, "Maybe I'm missing something here. There could be some subtext in, um, yeah, I got nothing. The dead rats in the toilet were freaky, right? And they did kill that dog off, so that's hardcore. Really, though, I'm just too disappointed to say much else. This is paint-by-numbers at its most tedious, and while it's nice to have evident proof of how far the show has come since it started, that doesn't make it any easier to sit through."[8] Critical Myth's John Keegan gave the episode a scathing review, only awarding it 1/10.[9] He criticized the seriousness of the plot and wrote, "Overall, this has to be one of the worst episodes of the series. In nearly every possible way, the episode fails to live up to the usual expectations. Perhaps aware of how silly the whole thing sounds, the cast and crew seem weary of it all from beginning to end. Even some of the bad ideas in the later seasons don’t fall to this level of inadequacy."[9] Cyriaque Lamar from i09 called the Jaguar Spirit one of "The 10 Most Ridiculous X-Files Monsters" and wrote, "In this fairly ridiculous Season 3 episode, an Ecuadorian artifact possessed by a Jaguar Spirit (or something) causes tabbies to go bonkers and murder people. This scene of Scully fighting a cat deserves the GIF treatment. Make it happen, folks!"[10] 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 one stars out of five, calling the premise "achingly unambitious".[11] The two roundly criticized the plot, calling it a "retread of a cursed mummy movie without a mummy", as well as the performances of Trevino, Duchovny, and Anderson.[11] Despite the overall negativity, Shearman and Pearson noted that the "much derided" cat sequence was not "that badly handled."[11]
Footnotes[edit]
1.^ Jump up to: a b Lowry, pp. 181–183
2.Jump up ^ Lowry, p. 185
3.^ Jump up to: a b c d Hurwitz and Knowles, p. 85
4.^ Jump up to: a b c Lowry, p. 184
5.Jump up ^ R.W. Goodwin, et al (booklet). The X-Files: The Complete Third Season (Liner notes). Fox.
6.Jump up ^ Lowry, p. 251
7.Jump up ^ "X Cyclopedia: The Ultimate Episode Guide, Season 3 | EW.com". Entertainment Weekly. 26 November 1996. Retrieved 25 November 2011.
8.Jump up ^ Handlen, Zack (8 August 2010). ""Apocrypha"/"Pusher"/"Teso Dos Bichos"". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 25 December 2011.
9.^ Jump up to: a b Keegan, John. "Teso Dos Bichos". Critical Myth. Retrieved 25 December 2009.
10.Jump up ^ Cyriaque, Lamar (1 June 2011). "The 10 Most Ridiculous X-Files Monsters". i09. Retrieved 17 March 2012.
11.^ Jump up to: a b c Shearman and Pearson, pp. 73–74
References[edit]
Hurwitz, Matt; Knowles, Chris (2008). The Complete X-Files. Insight Editions. ISBN 1-933784-80-6.
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 3
"Teso Dos Bichos" on The X-Files official website
"Teso Dos Bichos" at the Internet Movie Database
"Teso Dos Bichos" at TV.com
[hide]
v·
t·
e
The X-Files episodes
Seasons: 1·
2·
3·
4·
5·
6·
7·
8·
9
Season 3
"The Blessing Way"·
"Paper Clip"·
"D.P.O."·
"Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose"·
"The List"·
"2Shy"·
"The Walk"·
"Oubliette"·
"Nisei"·
"731"·
"Revelations"·
"War of the Coprophages"·
"Syzygy"·
"Grotesque"·
"Piper Maru"·
"Apocrypha"·
"Pusher"·
"Teso Dos Bichos"·
"Hell Money"·
"Jose Chung's From Outer Space"·
"Avatar"·
"Quagmire"·
"Wetwired"·
"Talitha Cumi"
This is a good article. Click here for more information.
Categories: The X-Files (season 3) episodes
1996 television episodes
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Hell Money
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
For the type of ceremonial currency, see Hell bank note.
This is a good article. Click here for more information.
"Hell Money"
The X-Files episode
Hell Money TXF.jpg
A frog bursts out of a cadaver's chest. The scene was created by using molds to create a fake human torso that was then placed over an actor.
Episode no.
Season 3
Episode 19
Directed by
Tucker Gates
Written by
Jeffrey Vlaming
Production code
3X19
Original air date
March 29, 1996
Guest actors
BD Wong as Detective Glen Chao
Lucy Liu as Kim Hsin
Michael Yama as Mr. Hsin
James Hong as Hard Faced Man
Doug Abrahams as Detective Neary
Ellie Harvie as OPO Staffer
Derek Lowe as Johnny Lo
Donald Fong as Vase Man
Diana Ha as Dr. Wu
Stephen M.D. Chang as Large Man
Paul Wong as Wiry Man[1]
Episode chronology
← Previous
"Teso Dos Bichos" Next →
"Jose Chung's From Outer Space"
List of season 3 episodes
List of The X-Files episodes
"Hell Money" is the nineteenth episode of the third season of the science fiction television series The X-Files and 68th episode overall. It premiered on the Fox network in the United States on March 29, 1996. It was written by Jeffrey Vlaming and directed by Tucker Gates. The episode is a "Monster-of-the-Week" story, unconnected to the series' wider mythology. "Hell Money" earned a Nielsen household rating of 9.9, being watched by 14.86 million people in its initial broadcast. The episode received mostly mixed to positive reviews from television 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 a murder in San Francisco's Chinatown involving masked intruders, strange Chinese symbols, a lottery, and the clandestine selling of body parts.
The premise of the episode was based on three major ideas: a pyramid scheme involving body parts, a lottery in a small town, and the corporate beings assembling the destitute in Chinatown. The episode's writer, Vlaming, developed the latter two ideas and series creator Chris Carter merged all three ideas in the finalized script. The episode contained several elaborate special effects shots, most notably, the scene wherein a frog bursts out of a victim's chest, which was created by using molds to create a fake human torso that was then placed over an actor.
Contents
[hide] 1 Plot
2 Production 2.1 Writing
2.2 Filming
3 Reception
4 Footnotes 4.1 References
5 External links
Plot[edit]
In San Francisco's Chinatown, a Chinese immigrant, Johnny Lo, makes his way to his apartment. There, he is confronted by someone telling him to "pay the price", and is overtaken by three figures wearing shigong masks. A security guard later finds the three figures near a crematory oven, where Lo is being burned alive.
Fox Mulder and Dana Scully investigate Lo's death, the latest in a series of fatal incinerations in Chinatown; Mulder believes that ghost activity is behind the deaths, while Scully suspects a cult. The agents collaborate with Glen Chao, a Chinese-American detective with the San Francisco Police Department. When they find a Chinese character written inside the oven, Chao translates it as meaning "ghost." Mulder also finds a scrap of burned paper in the ashes, which Chao identifies as "hell money", a symbolic offering to deceased spirits. The agents locate Lo's apartment, where they find his collection of charms, as well as bloodstains underneath the recently-installed carpet.
Meanwhile, another Chinese immigrant, Hsin, tends to his leukemia-stricken daughter, Kim. To pay for her expensive treatments, Hsin attends an underground lottery in which participants either win money or lose an organ, depending on tiles chosen from a pair of vases. One man wins the lottery but selects a bad tile, and his body is found later that day. Scully, performs an autopsy on his body and finds that he had been selling body parts, noticing his numerous surgical scars. The agents question Chao, who claims that the local community maintains a code of silence and does not reveal anything to even him. Chao finds information that leads them to Hsin, who installed the carpet in Lo's apartment. Hsin has a bandage over his eye, having lost it to the lottery earlier. Returning to his home, Chao is confronted by the three masked figures.
The agents visit Chao at the hospital. Meanwhile, Hsin visits the Hard Faced Man, one of the heads of the lottery, wanting to end his participation in the lottery. The man warns him that ghostly fire will consume him if he leaves the lottery. The agents return to the hospital, finding Chao gone. They trace his blood to that on the carpet in Lo's apartment, finding a match. This causes the agents to visit Hsin, but find only his daughter at his apartment.
The agents find Chao outside a nearby Chinese restaurant and follow him inside. Hsin wins the lottery, but selects the tile representing his heart. Chao comes in, demanding the lottery end, and knocks over the table with the vases, revealing the lottery to be fixed. Mulder and Scully stop the Hard Faced Man seconds before he is about to operate on Hsin. They interrogate him, but because no one who participated will testify against him, it is unlikely he will be prosecuted. Hsin is brought to the hospital and his daughter is placed on an organ donor list. Chao disappears, awakening in a crematorium oven, being burned alive.[1]
Production[edit]
Exterior shots for the episode were filmed at Chinatown, in Vancouver.
Writing[edit]
"Hell Money" was written by Jeff Vlaming, making it his second and last script for the show after the earlier third season episode "2Shy". The episode was directed by Tucker Gates, making it the first of only two episodes of The X-Files—the other being the show's fourth season entry "El Mundo Gira"—to be directed by him.[2] The episode features pre-fame Lucy Liu in a guest star role. Liu would later gain prominence as a cast member of the show Ally McBeal in 1998.[3]
The premise of the episode originated from an idea that executive producer and series creator Chris Carter had about a pyramid scheme involving body parts. Writer Jeff Vlaming combined two additional concepts that he had developed; the first involved a lottery in a small town and the other concerned corporate beings assembling the destitute in Chinatown. When the initial script for "Hell Money" was submitted, Carter merged the three stories into one.[4] Entertainment Weekly later noted that "the twisted grotesquery of this story makes you think it must be based on a true story", but, according to Carter, the story was completely original.[5] Vlaming had originally hoped that the episode would be one of the rare entries where Scully's version of the events would be vindicated, but in the end Mulder, once again, put everything together.[6]
Filming[edit]
The episode's exterior scenes were shot in Vancouver, Canada's Chinatown while the crematorium scenes were shot on a soundstage.[4] Interior shots of the gambling parlor were shot at the Welsh Irish Scottish English (W.I.S.E.) Hall, a community building in Vancouver.[7] The production staff created a second balcony in the hall exclusively for the episode, with an agreement to tear it down once the episode was filmed. However, after the filming ended, the W.I.S.E. Hall's owners requested that the balcony be left in place "for aesthetic reasons".[8] The vase and tiles used in the episode were created entirely by the show's production department. The scene where a frog pops out of a victim's chest was created by using molds to create a fake human torso, which was then placed over the actor. For a close-up shot, the torso was placed on a table with a hole on it, allowing the show's animal wrangler to push a live frog through the opening in the torso.[4] Actors Michael Yama and Lucy Liu had to redo all of their dialogue in a Cantonese accent in post production. Their re-recorded lines were dubbed over the original soundtrack.[4]
Reception[edit]
"Hell Money" premiered on the Fox network in the United States on March 29, 1996.[9] This episode earned a Nielsen rating of 9.9, with a 17 share, meaning that roughly 9.9 percent of all television-equipped households, and 17 percent of households watching television, were tuned in to the episode.[10] This totaled 14.86 million viewers.[10]
The episode received mixed to positive reviews from critics, ranging from largely positive to negative. Entertainment Weekly gave the episode an A–, calling it "gorgeously shot", citing the "lush, smoky gaming sequences" in particular.[5] Television Without Pity ranked "Hell Money" the eleventh most nightmare-inducing episode of the shown noting, "If there’s one thing you don’t want to mess with, it’s the Chinese mafia. Especially the branch that dresses up like Slipknot and either a) burns you alive, if you’re lucky, or b) forces you to participate in a haunted organ-harvesting raffle only to slowly carve you up and sell your vital organs on the black market, whether you like it or not."[11] 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 stars out of five, and called it a "hard episode to love [but] sincere and purposeful".[12] The two praised the conceit of the episode, arguing that by presenting the situation from the Chinese immigrants—members of an alien culture—and Chao's point of view, "Mulder and Scully seem clumsy and arrogant. And by implication, the audience are made to feel just as arrogant."[12]
Other reviews were more mixed. John Keegan from Critical Myth gave the episode 5/10, noting "Overall, this episode attempted to make a mundane murder case interesting by forcing the agents to interact with an 'alien' culture. Unfortunately, the structure of the episode gave the audience answers long before the agents discovered them, making the bulk of the episode an exercise. By not taking the theme far enough or deepening the mystery, the writers ultimately fail to reach their goals."[13] Reviewer Todd VanDerWerff from The A.V. Club gave the entry a C+ and wrote that the episode "was also fairly bold for its time, providing a whole subplot that's mostly told through subtitles [but] it feels like a series of shocks that are strung together along a pretty standard story setup."[3] Ultimately, VanDerWerff concluded that, "the major problem with 'Hell Money' is that it feels, at times, like a backdoor pilot for a new series starring B.D. Wong as corrupt detective Glen Chao."[3] Paula Vitaris from Cinefantastique gave the episode a mixed review and awarded it two stars out of four.[14] She critiqued the fact that the episode lacked a paranormal mystery, noting that the theme of the episode "would fit nicely into any other police drama".[14] Vitaris described the "three actors in the black suits and ghost masks" as "not very convincing."[14]
Co-producer Paul Rabwin was not a fan of "Hell Money": he believed that the premise was not really an X-File due to the fact that nothing paranormal happened during the episode. He claimed that if Mulder and Scully were removed from the story, it would not have changed anything and that the two were not affected personally by the case.[6]
Footnotes[edit]
1.^ Jump up to: a b Lowry, pp. 187–190
2.Jump up ^ Hurwitz and Knowles, pp. 236–240
3.^ Jump up to: a b c VanDerWerff, Todd (15 August 2010). ""Hell Money"/"Jose Chung's From Outer Space"/"Avatar"". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 21 May 2011.
4.^ Jump up to: a b c d Lowry, pp. 190–191
5.^ Jump up to: a b "X Cyclopedia: The Ultimate Episode Guide, Season 3". Entertainment Weekly. November 29, 1996. Retrieved February 19, 2012.
6.^ Jump up to: a b Edwards, pp. 173–174
7.Jump up ^ Gradnitzer and Pittson, p. 106
8.Jump up ^ Gradnitzer and Pittson, pp. 108–110
9.Jump up ^ R.W. Goodwin, Rob Bowman, et al (booklet). The X-Files: The Complete Third Season (Liner notes). Fox.
10.^ Jump up to: a b Lowry, p. 251
11.Jump up ^ "Photo Gallery - X-Files: The 11 Most Nightmare-Inducing Episodes Ever - TV Shows & TV Series Pictures & Photos". Television Without Pity. Retrieved February 28, 2012.
12.^ Jump up to: a b Shearman and Pearson, pp. 74–75
13.Jump up ^ Keegan, John. "Hell Money". Critical Myth. Retrieved 21 May 2012.
14.^ Jump up to: a b c Vitaris, Paula (October 1996). "Episode Guide". Cinefantastique 28 (3): 18–40.
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 1933784806.
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 3
"Hell Money" on The X-Files official website
"Hell Money" at the Internet Movie Database
"Hell Money" at TV.com
[hide]
v·
t·
e
The X-Files episodes
Seasons: 1·
2·
3·
4·
5·
6·
7·
8·
9
Season 3
"The Blessing Way"·
"Paper Clip"·
"D.P.O."·
"Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose"·
"The List"·
"2Shy"·
"The Walk"·
"Oubliette"·
"Nisei"·
"731"·
"Revelations"·
"War of the Coprophages"·
"Syzygy"·
"Grotesque"·
"Piper Maru"·
"Apocrypha"·
"Pusher"·
"Teso Dos Bichos"·
"Hell Money"·
"Jose Chung's From Outer Space"·
"Avatar"·
"Quagmire"·
"Wetwired"·
"Talitha Cumi"
Categories: The X-Files (season 3) episodes
1996 television episodes
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Jose Chung's From Outer Space
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
This is a good article. Click here for more information.
"Jose Chung" redirects here. For the Millennium episode, see Jose Chung's Doomsday Defense.
"Jose Chung's From Outer Space"
The X-Files episode
JoseChungsFromOuterSpaceX-Files.jpg
Agent Dana Scully reading the titular book. The cover is a parody of Whitley Strieber's Communion.
Episode no.
Season 3
Episode 20
Directed by
Rob Bowman
Written by
Darin Morgan
Production code
3X20
Original air date
April 12, 1996
Guest actors
Charles Nelson Reilly as Jose Chung
William Lucking as Roky Crikenson
Daniel Quinn as Jack Scheaffer
Sarah Sawatsky as Chrissy Giorgio
Jason Gaffne as Harold Lamb
Alex Diakun as Dr. Fingers
Larry Musser as Detective Manners
Jaap Broeker as The Stupendous Yappi
Allan Zinyk as Blaine Faulkner
Michael Dobson as Sargeant Hynek
Mina E Mina as Dr. Hand
Jesse Ventura as Man in Black 1
Alex Trebek as Man in Black 2
Episode chronology
← Previous
"Hell Money" Next →
"Avatar"
List of season 3 episodes
List of The X-Files episodes
"Jose Chung's From Outer Space" is the 20th episode of the third season of the science fiction television series The X-Files. The episode first aired in the United States on April 12, 1996, on Fox. It was written by Darin Morgan and directed by Rob Bowman. "Jose Chung's From Outer Space" earned a Nielsen household rating of 10.5, being watched by 16.08 million people in its initial broadcast, and also received praise 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 hear, and promptly investigate, a story about an alien abduction of two teenagers. Each witness provides a different version of the same facts. Within the episode, a thriller novelist, Jose Chung, writes a book about the incident.
The episode is a stand alone episode, like most episodes of The X-Files, and follows the normal Monster-of-the-Week pattern of the show but features more humor than typical via manipulation of point of view, leading to multiple re-tellings of certain events with varying degrees of unreliable narrators.[1]
Contents
[hide] 1 Plot
2 Production
3 Reception
4 See also
5 Footnotes 5.1 References
6 External links
Plot[edit]
A teenage couple in their car are captured by a pair of grey aliens who are soon confronted by a giant third alien from another race. Agent Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) is interviewed concerning the case by author Jose Chung, who is seeking to write a book about alien abduction. Scully claims that the girl, Chrissy, was found with all her clothes inside out, appearing to be the victim of rape. Her date, Harold, is brought in by the police, claiming that they were abducted by aliens. The foul mouthed local detective, Manners (whose words are humorously replaced with the word "bleep"), does not believe him, but agent Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) has Chrissy undergo hypnosis in which she describes being on a spaceship surrounded by aliens. Harold claims to have encountered a cigarette-smoking alien on the ship who kept repeating, "This is not happening." Mulder is convinced that Chrissy and Harold were abducted by aliens, but Scully thinks it is more plausible that the two teenagers simply had sex and are struggling to deal with the emotional aftermath.
The agents then speak to a man named Roky Crikenson who claims he witnessed the abduction of Chrissy and Harold, having written his witness account as a screenplay entitled "The Truth About Aliens." He recounts a visit from a pair of men in black who told him what he thought he saw the night before was merely the planet Venus, and threatened to kill him if he told anyone otherwise. Roky's screenplay describes a giant third alien, calling himself Lord Kinbote who took him to the center of the Earth. In telling Roky's version of events to Jose Chung, Scully explains that Roky suffers from a "fantasy-prone personality." Mulder, however, thinks that Roky's story contains some partial truths and decides to have Chrissy re-hypnotized. This time Chrissy claims that she was captured by the military, not aliens, and that they brainwashed her.
Chung speaks to a science fiction fanatic, Blaine, who found an alien body that was recovered by the agents and Detective Manners. Blaine claims that Mulder shrieked like a woman when he saw the alien and that Scully threatened him not to say anything. Blaine video tapes Scully performing an autopsy on the alien, which is quickly released as a video labeled "Dead Alien! Truth or Humbug?" that is narrated by the Stupendous Yappi (from "Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose"). The autopsy reveals that the alien is actually a dead Air Force pilot in an alien costume. His superiors arrive to claim the body, but find it missing. Mulder tricks the military officers into revealing the identity of another missing Air Force pilot, Lieutenant Jack Schafer.
As Mulder remembers it, he found Schafer walking naked down the highway. Mulder takes Schafer to a diner, where the pilot explains that he and his partner were piloting a military UFO while dressed as aliens. He thinks that he and his partner were abducted by real aliens, but given that he may not even exist himself, he cannot be sure. His superiors soon come to take him away. A diner cook, however, claims that Mulder was there by himself and asked him questions while ordering piece after piece of sweet potato pie.
Mulder, returning to the motel, finds the men in black (played by Jesse Ventura and Alex Trebek), in Scully's room. The agents later head to a site where the reported UFO crashed, where the bodies of the two Air Force pilots are recovered. Mulder visits with Chung, pleading with him not to publish the book since it will further discredit aliens and those who believe in them. Chung publishes the book, which Scully reads in her office. Mulder watches footage of Bigfoot. Harold professes his love to Chrissy, who rejects him in favor of her newfound commitment to philanthropy.[2]
Production[edit]
Popular Jeopardy! host Alex Trebek appears as one of the Men in Black.
Writer Darin Morgan had pieces of the script for a long time, drawing inspiration from research he had done on hypnosis and a book on government coverups and UFOs that theorized that UFOs are a phenomenon that manipulate space and time, but are not piloted by aliens.[3] Morgan had the idea for the teaser in mind before becoming a staff member on the show. The narrative style was influenced by a casting session Morgan witnessed where an actor auditioning sounded like Truman Capote. From this he came up with the idea to have a writer covering the case. Capote died in 1984, and second choice Rip Taylor was unavailable, so the role of Jose Chung ended up going to Charles Nelson Reilly.[4] Jesse Ventura was cast as one of the men in black, while the other, which Morgan had originally wanted Johnny Cash for, went to Jeopardy! host Alex Trebek.[4] The role of Lord Kinbote went to stuntman Tony Morelli.[4]
The episode contained a number of references and in-jokes. Klass County was named after UFO author Philip Klass, whose line about the planet Venus being mistaken for UFOs was used by one of the men in black in the episode.[5] The pilots dressed up as aliens were named after UFO authors Robert Schaffer and Jacques Vallee.[5] MP Hynek was named after UFO researcher J. Allen Hynek.[5] The character of Roky Crikenson is named after musician Roky Erickson, who claims to be an alien abductee. Chung gives Mulder the pseudonym Reynard, after the legendary fox. The alien autopsy video: "Dead Alien! Truth or Humbug?" referenced Morgan's first episode for the series, "Humbug".[6] The video was a parody of the real life Alien Autopsy video aired by Fox.[7] Detective Manners was named after director Kim Manners; the character's tendency to swear a lot was also influenced by his real life counterpart.[6] Lt. Shaeffer molding his mashed potatoes into a mountain is a reference to the film Close Encounters of the Third Kind.[8] The cover to Jose Chung's book was a reference to the cover of the book Communion by Whitley Strieber.[7] Lord Kinbote was an homage to Ray Harryhausen, a director noted for his work in stop-motion model animation, with the footage of the character shot at high speed then slowed down and edited in post production to create a stop-motion effect.[9]
This episode would be the last that Darin Morgan wrote for the series. The writer claimed that he could not keep up with the frantic pace of the show.[4] Morgan would later write the similarly themed "Jose Chung's Doomsday Defense" for the TV series Millennium.[10]
Reception[edit]
"Jose Chung's From Outer Space" premiered on the Fox network on April 12, 1996.[11] This episode earned a Nielsen rating of 10.5, with a 19 share, meaning that roughly 10.5 percent of all television-equipped households, and 19 percent of households watching television, were tuned in to the episode.[12] This totaled 16.08 million viewers.[12]
The cast and crew of The X-Files reacted positively to the episode. Gillian Anderson cited the episode as being among her highlights of the third season.[5] She said the episode was like dessert, adding "That's what kept it fun and that's what kept it worth doing all the time."[4] Chris Carter said of writer Darin Morgan, "It's been a wonderful coincidence of timing, talent, and the success of the show, allowing it to stretch in a direction it would never have been able to if it had been a less successful or if it had been a younger show. Darin is a truly original comic mind. I don't know anybody in the world working in film, and that's what we work in here even though it appears on television, who has the voice Darin has. He is one in many million."[13] Co-Producer Paul Rabwin said of the episode "An instant classic. One of those seminal episodes. You know, when people talk about The Twilight Zone, they say 'Remember "Eye of the Beholder"?' Or "Trouble With Tribbles" on the original Star Trek. 'Jose Chung' is going to be one of those episodes that is immediately revered."[13] Assistant director Tom Braidwood appreciated Charles Nelson Reilly's presence, saying that he captivated virtually everyone and gave everyone a lift, nicknaming everyone on the crew.[14] Executive Producer Robert Goodwin said that the casting of Reilly was the most fun of the episode.[15]
"Jose Chung's From Outer Space" received praise from critics as well. Author Phil Farrand rated the episode as his favorite episode of the first four seasons in his book The Nitpickers Guide to the X-Files.[16] Entertainment Weekly gave the episode an A, writing "A series so bleepin' ripe for parody brilliantly turns the tables on itself. Two (of many) guffaw-worthy moments: Mulder's squeal and the smoking alien."[17] Reviewer Todd VanDerWerff from The A.V. Club gave the episode a rare A+ and wrote that the episode "is one of the very finest episodes of television I've ever seen, but I'm not sure it's a terrific episode of The X-Files. [...] If The X-Files were a Lord of the Rings-length novel, then "Jose Chung's" would be its first appendix, a source that is at once in love with the main text and critical of it, a place where real human concerns creep around the edges of the show's chilly implausibilities."[18] VanDerWerff's colleague Zack Handlen wrote that the episode was "brilliant", but he did not feel it was as satisfying as he anticipated because it did not contribute to the series as a whole.[19] Review website IGN named it the fourth best standalone X-Files episode of the entire series, writing, "it was 'Jose Chung's From Outer Space' in Season 3 that showed that X-Files could create a true comedy masterpiece that almost completely broke away from the show's usual format and tone."[20] Den of Geek listed it as the tenth best episode of the series.[21]
See also[edit]
Jose Chung's Doomsday Defense
Richard Sharpe Shaver
Footnotes[edit]
1.Jump up ^ Deans, Meghan (April 12, 2012). "Reopening The X-Files: 'Jose Chung's From Outer Space'". Tor.com. Retrieved July 21, 2013.
2.Jump up ^ Lowry, pp.193–195
3.Jump up ^ Edwards, p. 174
4.^ Jump up to: a b c d e Hurwitz and Knowles, p.87
5.^ Jump up to: a b c d Lowry, p. 196
6.^ Jump up to: a b Lowry, pp.196–197
7.^ Jump up to: a b Genge, p. 175
8.Jump up ^ Morgan, Darin and Bowman, Rob (2005). Audio Commentary for "Jose Chung's From Outer Space" (DVD). Fox Home Entertainment.
9.Jump up ^ Lowry, pp.198–99
10.Jump up ^ Darin Morgan (writer and director) (27 November 1997). "Jose Chung's Doomsday Defense". Millennium. Season 2. Episode 9. Fox.
11.Jump up ^ R.W. Goodwin, Rob Bowman, et al (booklet). The X-Files: The Complete Third Season (Liner notes). Fox.
12.^ Jump up to: a b Lowry, p.251
13.^ Jump up to: a b Edwards, p. 177}
14.Jump up ^ Lowry, p. 197
15.Jump up ^ Edwards, p. 176
16.Jump up ^ Farrand, p.223
17.Jump up ^ "X Cyclopedia: The Ultimate Episode Guide, Season 3 | EW.com". Entertainment Weekly. November 29, 1996. Retrieved November 27, 2011.
18.Jump up ^ VanDerWerff, Todd (August 15, 2010). ""Hell Money"/"Jose Chung's From Outer Space"/"Avatar"". The A.V. Club. Retrieved November 27, 2011.
19.Jump up ^ Handlen, Zack (August 22, 2010). ""Quagmire"/"Wetwired"/"Talitha Cumi"". The A.V. Club. Retrieved June 22, 2012.
20.Jump up ^ Collura, Scott (September 10, 2013). "IGN's 10 Favorite X-Files Standalone Episodes". IGN. Retrieved September 24, 2013.
21.Jump up ^ Sordi, Nina (September 22, 2009). "Top 10 X-Files episodes". Den of Geek. Retrieved February 20, 2012.
References[edit]
Edwards, Ted (1996). X-Files Confidential. Little, Brown and Company. ISBN 0-316-21808-1.
Farrand, Phil (1998). The Nitpickers Guide to the X-Files. Doubleday Direct. ISBN 1-56865-503-7.
Genge, Ngaire (1996). The Unofficial X-Files Companion II. Avon Books. ISBN 0-380-79024-6.
Hurwitz, Matt; Knowles, Chris (2008). The Complete X-Files. Insight Editions. ISBN 1-933784-80-6.
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 3
"Jose Chung's From Outer Space" on The X-Files official website
"Jose Chung's From Outer Space" at the Internet Movie Database
"Jose Chung's From Outer Space" at TV.com
[hide]
v·
t·
e
The X-Files episodes
Seasons: 1·
2·
3·
4·
5·
6·
7·
8·
9
Season 3
"The Blessing Way"·
"Paper Clip"·
"D.P.O."·
"Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose"·
"The List"·
"2Shy"·
"The Walk"·
"Oubliette"·
"Nisei"·
"731"·
"Revelations"·
"War of the Coprophages"·
"Syzygy"·
"Grotesque"·
"Piper Maru"·
"Apocrypha"·
"Pusher"·
"Teso Dos Bichos"·
"Hell Money"·
"Jose Chung's From Outer Space"·
"Avatar"·
"Quagmire"·
"Wetwired"·
"Talitha Cumi"
Categories: Fictional books
The X-Files (season 3) episodes
1996 television episodes
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Avatar (The X-Files)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
This is a good article. Click here for more information.
"Avatar"
The X-Files episode
Episode no.
Season 3
Episode 21
Directed by
James Charleston
Teleplay by
Howard Gordon
Story by
David Duchovny
Howard Gordon
Production code
3X21
Original air date
April 26, 1996
Running time
44 minutes
Guest actors
Mitch Pileggi as Walter Skinner
Tom Mason as Detective Waltos
Jennifer Hetrick as Sharon Skinner
William B. Davis as Cigarette Smoking Man
Amanda Tapping as Carina Sayles
Malcolm Stewart as Agent Bonnecaze
Morris Panych as Gray-Haired Man
Michael David Simms as Senior Agent
Tacha Simms as Jay "Jane" Cassal
Stacy Grant as Judy Fairly
Janie Woods-Morris as Lorraine Kelleher
Brendan Beiser as Pendrell[1]
Episode chronology
← Previous
"Jose Chung's From Outer Space" Next →
"Quagmire"
List of season 3 episodes
List of The X-Files episodes
"Avatar" is the twenty-first episode of the third season of the science fiction television series The X-Files. It premiered on the Fox network in the United States on April 26, 1996. The story for the episode was developed by David Duchovny and Howard Gordon, the teleplay was written by Gordon, and it was directed by James Charleston. The episode is a "Monster-of-the-Week" story, unconnected to the series' wider mythology. "Avatar" earned a Nielsen household rating of 9.3, being watched by 14.62 million viewers in its initial broadcast. The episode received mixed reviews from television 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. Mulder is a believer in the paranormal, while the skeptical Scully has been assigned to debunk his work. In this episode, when Assistant Director Walter Skinner (Mitch Pileggi) is accused of murdering a prostitute, Mulder and Scully investigate to determine the truth behind what happened.
"Avatar" was developed after Duchovny initially suggested having a Skinner-centric episode as a way to give himself a break. Skinner's popularity amongst fans had risen with his increased role in the episodes "The Blessing Way" and "Paper Clip" and these episodes helped re-establish the ground rules regarding where Skinner stood in regards to the X-Files. The episode title means the incarnation of a deity in Sanskrit.
Contents
[hide] 1 Plot
2 Production
3 Broadcast and reception
4 References
5 External links
Plot[edit]
FBI assistant director Walter Skinner (Mitch Pileggi) is given divorce papers from his wife, Sharon, after seventeen years of marriage. At a bar, he meets an attractive woman named Carina Sayles (Amanda Tapping); the two engage in a one night stand. However, after the tryst, Skinner has a nightmare of an old woman in bed with him. He awakens to find Sayles dead, her head twisted completely around.
As the murder investigation unfolds, Skinner tells agent Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) not to get involved. He refuses to take a polygraph test and is viewed as a suspect. Agent Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) examines Sayles' corpse, finding a phosphorescent glow around her lips. Mulder finds out that Sayles was a prostitute and interviews her madam, who claims that Skinner's credit card number was collected the previous night.
Skinner sees the old woman looking at him on a city street. However, when he pursues the old woman, he instead finds Sharon. The agents talk to Sharon, who says that the marriage failed because of Skinner's emotional distance. Scully learns that Skinner had been receiving treatment for a sleep disorder, in which he apparently had dreams about being suffocated in bed by an old woman. She fears that Skinner may have unwittingly killed Sayles in his sleep. However, Mulder believes that Skinner may be having visions of a succubus, a female demon.
Sharon visits Skinner at his home. After she leaves he falls asleep, seeing the old woman again. He awakens as detectives enter the house, telling him Sharon has been run off the road and severely injured. Skinner admits to Mulder that he saw the woman during his experience in Vietnam, but passed it off as being due to drugs. It is revealed that The Smoking Man is observing their conversation through the one-way mirror of the interrogation room.
Mulder investigates the airbag on Skinner's car, which was the one used to hit Sharon. Scully defends Skinner to the Office of Professional Responsibility, but it does no good and he is fired. Mulder believes this was done to weaken the X-Files. Mulder, with the help of Agent Pendrell finds a face imprint in the airbag which is not Skinner's. He goes to see the prostitute's boss again but discovers that she has been murdered. The agents hope to use Judy, an employee who saw the man who actually hired the prostitute and use her to set up another meeting with him. They agree to meet at the Ambassador Hotel in an hour. Skinner goes to see his wife, telling her why he could not sign the divorce papers, and witnesses the old woman again as she awakens from the coma.
Mulder waits in the hotel bar while Scully guards Judy in a hotel room. The assassin enters the room to attack them but is quickly killed by Skinner, who was also there. The dead man's identity is unknown. Skinner returns to work, declining to say to Mulder how he knew to be at the hotel. After Mulder leaves he reaches into his drawer and puts his wedding ring back on.[1]
Production[edit]
David Duchovny initially suggested having a Walter Skinner-centric episode as a way to give himself a break, although ultimately he still ended up having a large part in the episode.[2] Duchovny felt that Skinner was a good character who was not utilized to his full extent on the show.[3] Duchovny's idea, which was written in collaboration with writer Howard Gordon, also surrounded the conceit that what Mulder and Skinner do comes with a tremendous price.[4] Skinner's popularity amongst fans had risen with his increased role in the episodes "The Blessing Way" and "Paper Clip" and these episodes helped re-establish the ground rules regarding where Skinner stood in regards to the X-Files.[1] Writer Vince Gilligan noted that Skinner was originally intended to be a bad guy, but because Mitch Pileggi was such a good actor the writers decided to not take his character in that direction.[5]
A scene between Skinner and The Smoking Man was removed from the final cut due to time considerations, reducing his role in the episode to a very short dialogue-less appearance. Another scene where Mulder questions Skinner's allegiance was also removed when it was viewed as too combative.[6] The episode title means the incarnation of a deity in Sanskrit.[6]
Broadcast and reception[edit]
"Avatar" premiered on the Fox network in the United States on April 26, 1996.[7] The episode earned a Nielsen rating of 9.3, with a 16 share, meaning that roughly 9.3 percent of all television-equipped households, and 16 percent of households watching television, were tuned in to the episode.[8] The episode was watched by a total of 14.62 million viewers.[8] The episode later aired in the United Kingdom on January 30, 1997 on BBC One.[7]
The episode received mostly mixed reviews from critics. Todd VanDerWerff of The A.V. Club gave the episode a B+. He praised the storytelling, positively commenting on how it revolved around Skinner and his past life. In addition he wrote that the episode possessed some "good scares". However, he felt that the "central paranormal mystery of the episode is handled in a fashion that feels a bit muddled".[9] John Keegan from Critical Myth gave the episode a moderately negative review and awarded it a 4 out of 10. He wrote, "Overall, this episode fails to capitalize on the idea of delving into the world of Walter Skinner. The conspiracy elements seem a bit redundant, and the paranormal side of the episode is a forced and inconsistent mess. Instead of developing something unique about Skinner, the episode dwells on what is already known or suggested, leaving the character in the same emotional place at the end as in the beginning."[10] Entertainment Weekly gave "Avatar" a D+, describing it as "ridiculous" and saying, "The clench-toothed Skinner deserves more air time, but not this USA Network reject".[11]
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. The two were critical of the storyline, noting that it "doesn't really work as either a Don't Look Now ghost story or as a conspiracy piece", but praised the acting of Pileggi and the dialogue written by Gordon; the two called the former "great" and the latter "so terse and so real".[12] Paula Vitaris of Cinefantastique gave the episode a mixed review and awarded it two stars out of four.[13] She referred to the scenes between Skinner and Sharon as "contrived" and derided Skinner's bedside confession as "simply poor writing".[13] Vitaris was positive of Duchovny and Hetrick's acting, and wrote that Pileggi gave "his best" despite the fact that there was little chemistry between the characters to make it effective.[13] David Duchovny, on the other hand, was very pleased with the episode and Mitch Pileggi's performance; he later noted, "It was nice for Mitch, and I think he deserved an episode after two years. He did a great job".[6]
References[edit]
Footnotes
1.^ Jump up to: a b c Lowry, pp. 201–204
2.Jump up ^ Lowry, p. 204
3.Jump up ^ Edwards, p. 178
4.Jump up ^ Hurwitz and Knowles, pp. 87–89
5.Jump up ^ Hurwitz and Knowles, p. 89
6.^ Jump up to: a b c Lowry, p. 205
7.^ Jump up to: a b The X-Files: The Complete Third Season (Media notes). Fox. 1995–96.
8.^ Jump up to: a b Lowry, p. 251
9.Jump up ^ VanDerWerff, Todd (15 August 2010). ""Hell Money"/"Jose Chung's From Outer Space"/"Avatar"". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 4 June 2012.
10.Jump up ^ Keegan, John. "Avatar". Critical Myth. Retrieved 3 July 2012.
11.Jump up ^ "X Cyclopedia: The Ultimate Episode Guide, Season 3 | EW.com". Entertainment Weekly. 29 November 1996. Retrieved 4 June 2012.
12.Jump up ^ Shearman and Pearson, pp. 77–78
13.^ Jump up to: a b c Vitaris, Paula (October 1996). "Episode Guide". Cinefantastique 28 (3): 18–40.
BibliographyEdwards, Ted (1996). X-Files Confidential. Little, Brown and Company. ISBN 0-316-21808-1.
Hurwitz, Matt; Knowles, Chris (2008). The Complete X-Files. Insight Editions. ISBN 1-933784-80-6.
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 097594469X.
External links[edit]
Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: TXF Season 3
"Avatar" on The X-Files official website
"Avatar" at the Internet Movie Database
"Avatar" at TV.com
[hide]
v·
t·
e
The X-Files episodes
Seasons: 1·
2·
3·
4·
5·
6·
7·
8·
9
Season 3
"The Blessing Way"·
"Paper Clip"·
"D.P.O."·
"Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose"·
"The List"·
"2Shy"·
"The Walk"·
"Oubliette"·
"Nisei"·
"731"·
"Revelations"·
"War of the Coprophages"·
"Syzygy"·
"Grotesque"·
"Piper Maru"·
"Apocrypha"·
"Pusher"·
"Teso Dos Bichos"·
"Hell Money"·
"Jose Chung's From Outer Space"·
"Avatar"·
"Quagmire"·
"Wetwired"·
"Talitha Cumi"
Categories: The X-Files (season 3) episodes
1996 television episodes
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Quagmire (The X-Files)
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"Quagmire"
The X-Files episode
QuagmireXFiles.jpg
"Big Blue" moves silently through the water. The scene was created via digital effects and was criticized by several critics.
Episode no.
Season 3
Episode 22
Directed by
Kim Manners
Written by
Kim Newton
Production code
3X22
Original air date
May 3, 1996
Running time
44 minutes
Guest actors
Chris Ellis as Sheriff Lance Hindht
Timothy Webber as Dr. Paul Farraday
R. Nelson Brown as Ansel Bray
Mark Acheson as Ted Bertram
Peter Hanlon as Dr. William Bailey
Tyler Labine as Stoner
Nicole Parker as Chick
Terrance Leigh as Snorkel Dude[1]
Episode chronology
← Previous
"Avatar" Next →
"Wetwired"
List of season 3 episodes
List of The X-Files episodes
"Quagmire" is the twenty-second episode of the third season of the science fiction television series The X-Files. It premiered on the Fox network in the United States on May 3, 1996. It was written by Kim Newton and directed by Kim Manners. The episode is a "Monster-of-the-Week" story, unconnected to the series' wider mythology. "Quagmire" earned a Nielsen household rating of 10.2, being watched by 16 million viewers in its initial broadcast. The episode received mostly positive reviews from television 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. 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 deaths at a lake in Georgia that Mulder believes were caused by a "sea" monster that the locals have affectionately named Big Blue.
Although the episode was written by Newton, noted writer Darin Morgan provided assistance on the script. Because of this, the episode contains several references to previous Morgan-penned episodes, like "Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose" and "War of the Coprophages". One specific dialogue scene featuring Mulder and Scully stranded on a small rock, was praised by critics and included approximately 10 pages of dialogue. Series co-star Gillian Anderson later recalled that she "loved" the scene.
Contents
[hide] 1 Plot
2 Production 2.1 Writing
2.2 Filming
3 Reception 3.1 Ratings
3.2 Reviews
4 Footnotes
5 External links
Plot[edit]
In Millikan County, Georgia, biologists Paul Farraday and William Bailey discuss the decreasing frog population. Bailey goes looking for a missing beeper and ends up getting dragged into the lake by an unseen creature and killed.
Agents Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) drive down to Georgia to investigate. Scully is forced to bring her dog Queequeg with them due to the short notice. Mulder tells Scully that a Boy Scout Troop Leader has also disappeared near the lake. Scully soon finds that Mulder believes "Big Blue"—a plesiosaur-like cryptid—is responsible. The agents talk to Dr. Farraday and visit a local bait and tackle shop that sells Big Blue merchandise. Soon afterwards, the half eaten body of the Scout Leader is found.
Later that night, the bait and tackle shop owner walks through the swamp in boots, making fake dinosaur tracks. However, he is attacked and killed. Mulder wants the lake to be closed but the local sheriff declines and says that he does not have enough men to cover the 48 miles of shoreline. Two teenagers, previously seen in the episode "War of the Coprophages", head to the lake and discover the remains of a partially eaten diver. Scully, still skeptical about Big Blue being the killer, thinks that a boat propeller was responsible. A photographer named Ansel is also attacked and when the Sheriff feels something in the water. After falling into the lake, he orders the lake closed. Scully takes Queequeg for a walk while Mulder looks at Ansel's photographs and the dog ends up running off and disappearing, becoming the latest victim of the attacks. Mulder realizes that the Big Blue sightings have been occurring closer and closer to shore.
Mulder and Scully rent a boat and head out onto the lake; their boat is quickly struck by something and sinks. The two find a large rock to climb up on and talk for a while about Mulder's quest to catch Big Blue, and the book Moby-Dick. When Dr. Farraday walks by the two realize they are close to shore. Mulder thinks the drop in the frog supply has caused Big Blue to move closer to shore and seek alternative food sources. Farraday is soon attacked but manages to make it out alive. Mulder chases the attacker into the woods and fires at it, revealing it to be an alligator. Mulder is disappointed that the killer ended up being an alligator and not Big Blue. As the agents leave, Big Blue swims nearby in the lake, unnoticed.[1]
Production[edit]
Exterior shots for the episode were filmed at a variety of locales, including Buntzen Lake, in the Greater Vancouver area.
Writing[edit]
Kim Newton wrote the episode, but fellow writer Darin Morgan provided assistance on the script.[2] Several references to previous Morgan-penned episodes make an appearance in "Quagmire". Scully's dog Queequeg, which first appeared in the episode "Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose" was killed in this episode. Story editor Frank Spotnitz stated that the dog was brought back in this episode simply to kill it, seeking to incorporate it in an episode in a grisly fashion.[3] Furthermore, the "Stoner" kid first appeared in the episode "War of the Coprophages".[4] The episode also contained various series in-jokes and pop culture references. Millikan County, where the lake in the episode is located, is named after casting director Rick Millikan.[5] The boat that Mulder and Scully ride on in this episode, the Patricia Rae, is named after the mother of director Kim Manners.[3] Mulder's discussion about having a wooden leg in this episode is a reference to the book Games People Play.[5]
Filming[edit]
The episode was filmed around three British Columbian lakes: Buntzen Lake, north of Coquitlam; Pitt Lake, north of Pitt Meadows; and Rice Lake, part of the Seymour Demonstration Forest. Buntzen Lake was used for shots of the quagmire reeds. Pitt Lake was used for shots of the boat dock and Ted's Bait and Tackle Shop. Finally, Rice Lake and the Seymour Demonstration Forest were used for the final scene, featuring a discreet shot of Big Blue. The conversation scene was filmed on a "Rocky Island Set" at B.C. Research Wave Tank. During the day of filming, the artificial rock set was placed in the tank and filled with water. However, the rock set began to float and "an emergency crew of carpenters [...] worked furiously through the night" to reattach the platform.[6] The scene of Big Blue at the end of the episode was originally intended to feature a rubber sea serpent pulled through the water by a boat, but the producers were unhappy with how it turned out. Originally, they tried enhancing the image digitally but were still unhappy with the shot, so the entire scene was scrapped and Big Blue was created entirely by digital effects.[7]
Director Kim Manners said of the episode: "Not a great show, but a good one. It's a lighter show. There is a lot of humor in it, but I think it's a hit with fans because there is some wonderful Mulder and Scully's relationship stuff. The entire third act is just the two of them talking, which is actually kind of interesting.[8] The scene where Mulder and Scully talk while stranded on a rock included approximately 10 pages of dialogue. Gillian Anderson said of the scene: "I loved that. That was so much fun, and I think it was written really well... It was just neat to have us separated from everything and stuck on this island where we could wax philosophical and kind of tell the truth to each other in strange ways."[7]
Reception[edit]
Ratings[edit]
Mulder and Scully's conversation about Moby Dick was positively critiqued by critics.
"Quagmire" premiered on the Fox network in the United States on March 29, 1996.[9] The episode earned a Nielsen rating of 10.2, with a 18 share, meaning that roughly 10.2 percent of all television-equipped households, and 18 percent of households watching television, were tuned in to the episode.[10] The episode was watched by a total of 16 million viewers.[10]
Reviews[edit]
Critical reception to the episode was mostly positive. Many reviews praised the Moby Dick conversation between Mulder and Scully. Zack Handlen of The A.V. Club was positive towards the episode, grading it an A-. He wrote that it "starts off amazingly" and positively noted the way the monster was handled. However, he noted that it was the "linger[ing]" conversation scene that "sets 'Quagmire' apart from all the other standard Monster Of The Week procedurals."[11] John Keegan of Critical Myth gave the episode an 8 out of 10 rating, noting "Overall, this episode was a strong look into the psychological issues that Mulder and Scully are carrying around this season. The plot of the episode is little more than a tool chosen to pry into the minds of the two agents, revealing just how dependent they are on each other. A rare case of character development taking center stage."[12] Keegan also wrote positively of the conversation sequence, writing that the "isolation caused by the sinking of the boat [...] forces Mulder and Scully to actually discuss their issues."[12] 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 stars out of five, and called "Quagmire" a "delightful little gem" and "something rather magical".[13] Furthermore, Shearman and Pearson praised Anderson and Duchovny's acting, calling their performances "beautifully played".[13] Paula Vitaris of Cinefantastique gave the episode a positive review and awarded it three stars out of four.[14] She referred to the episode as "part Jaws, part The Lost World, and part Buster Keaton" and noted that the third act was when the episode "becomes truly special, when Mulder and Scully are forced to abandon ship and take refuge on a big rock in the middle of a pitch-black night."[14] Vitaris, however, was critical of the episode's closing shot, noting that the "shot destroys the story's ambiguity. A large ripple in the water would have been much more clever."[14]
Not all reviews were so positive. Entertainment Weekly gave the episode a C and was critical of the entry's monster, writing "hey, the show kinda had to tackle Loch Ness".[4] Furthermore, the review wrote that the episode was "notable only for Mulder and Scully's Moby Dick digression".[4]
Footnotes[edit]
1.^ Jump up to: a b Lowry, pp. 207–210
2.Jump up ^ Hurwitz and Knowles p. 89
3.^ Jump up to: a b Lowry, p. 211
4.^ Jump up to: a b c "X Cyclopedia: The Ultimate Episode Guide, Season 3". Entertainment Weekly. 29 November 1996. Retrieved 26 February 2012.
5.^ Jump up to: a b Lowry, p. 208
6.Jump up ^ Gradnitzer and Pittson, pp. 109–110
7.^ Jump up to: a b Lowry, p. 210
8.Jump up ^ Edwards, p. 179
9.Jump up ^ R.W. Goodwin, Rob Bowman, et al (booklet). The X-Files: The Complete Third Season (Liner notes). Fox.
10.^ Jump up to: a b Lowry, p. 251
11.Jump up ^ Handlen, Zack (22 August 2010). ""Quagmire"/"Wetwired"/"Talitha Cumi"". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 26 February 2012.
12.^ Jump up to: a b Keegan, John. "Quagmire". Critical Myth. Retrieved 21 May 2012.
13.^ Jump up to: a b Shearman and Pearson, pp. 78–79
14.^ Jump up to: a b c Vitaris, Paula (October 1996). "Episode Guide". Cinefantastique 28 (3): 18–40.
ReferencesEdwards, 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 1933784806.
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 3
"Quagmire" at The X-Files official website
"Quagmire" at the Internet Movie Database
"Quagmire" at TV.com
[hide]
v·
t·
e
The X-Files episodes
Seasons: 1·
2·
3·
4·
5·
6·
7·
8·
9
Season 3
"The Blessing Way"·
"Paper Clip"·
"D.P.O."·
"Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose"·
"The List"·
"2Shy"·
"The Walk"·
"Oubliette"·
"Nisei"·
"731"·
"Revelations"·
"War of the Coprophages"·
"Syzygy"·
"Grotesque"·
"Piper Maru"·
"Apocrypha"·
"Pusher"·
"Teso Dos Bichos"·
"Hell Money"·
"Jose Chung's From Outer Space"·
"Avatar"·
"Quagmire"·
"Wetwired"·
"Talitha Cumi"
Categories: The X-Files (season 3) episodes
1996 television episodes
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Wetwired
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
This is a good article. Click here for more information.
"Wetwired"
The X-Files episode
Episode no.
Season 3
Episode 23
Directed by
Rob Bowman
Written by
Mat Beck
Production code
3X23
Original air date
May 10, 1996
Running time
44 minutes
Guest actors
Mitch Pileggi as Walter Skinner
William B. Davis as Cigarette Smoking Man
Steven Williams as X
Sheila Larken as Margaret Scully
Tom Braidwood as Melvin Frohike
Dean Haglund as Richard Langly
Bruce Harwood as John Fitzgerald Byers
Colin Cunningham as Dr. Stroman
Tim Henry as Plain Clothed Man
Linden Banks as Joseph Patnik
Crystal Verge as Dr. Lorenz
Andre Danyliu as Country Coroner
Joe Maffei as Motel Manager
John McConnach as Officer #1
Joe DoSerro as Officer #2
Heather McCarthy as Duty Nurse[1]
Episode chronology
← Previous
"Quagmire" Next →
"Talitha Cumi"
List of season 3 episodes
List of The X-Files episodes
"Wetwired" is the twenty-third episode of the third season and the 72nd episode overall of the science fiction television series The X-Files. The episode first aired in the United States on May 10, 1996 on Fox, and subsequently aired in the United Kingdom on February 6, 1997 on BBC One. It was written by the show's visual effect designer Mat Beck, and directed by Rob Bowman. The episode earned a Nielsen rating of 9.7 and was viewed by 14.48 million people. The episode received mostly positive reviews from television 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. 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 murders committed by ordinary citizens angered after seeing illusory images, Scully's trust in Mulder is put to the ultimate test.
"Wetwired" was written by Mat Beck, the show's visual effects supervisor. Beck drew inspiration from debates about television violence and his desire to explore the effect that television has on people. Actor Steven Williams had scheduling conflicts due to his work on the series L.A. Heat, resulting in the creation of the Plain Clothed Man, who appeared in the episode as an emissary for X. Williams called his scene at the end of the episode with The Smoking Man one of his favorite scenes he performed on the show.
Contents
[hide] 1 Plot
2 Production
3 Broadcast and reception
4 References
5 External links
Plot[edit]
In Braddock Heights, Maryland, a man mistakenly kills his wife, believing her, as well as the police who soon arrive, to all be someone else. Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) is tipped off to the case by the mysterious Plain-Clothed Man, who provides him with a newspaper article discussing the case. Mulder and partner Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) visit the man, and his doctor, Dr. Stroman, in a psychiatric hospital and are told the man killed five people, believing them to all be the same person.
Mulder and Scully visit the murderer's house, where Mulder sees a repairman working on the cable line. They find hundreds of video tapes of the news. Scully believes all the violence the man watched on TV may have led him to the murders, something Mulder does not believe. That night Scully watches the tapes, seeing if there are any clues to why the man committed murder. She steps outside for a break and sees Mulder in a car talking to the Cigarette Smoking Man. In the morning Scully suspiciously asks Mulder if he moved the car in the night. When Mulder tells her he only went out for a paper earlier, she believes he is lying. The next day a similar murder occurs when a woman thinks she sees her husband in a hammock with another woman; in reality she has killed her neighbor who was in a hammock with his dog. Mulder sees the same cable repairman near the house, who escapes from him. Climbing up on the telephone pole Mulder finds a device inside the cable box.
Mulder brings the device to the Lone Gunmen, who tell him it is emitting some kind of signal. Mulder contacts Scully, who is growing increasingly paranoid. Hearing possible clicks while on the phone with Mulder, she frantically searches her hotel room for monitoring devices. When Mulder knocks at her door, Scully fires her weapon at it and runs off. Mulder believes her to be suffering from paranoid psychosis. The Lone Gunmen believe the device to be some sort of mind control device. Mulder was not affected due to his color blindness. The police find a body they believe to be Scully, but Mulder confirms that it is not her. Mulder is unable to contact Scully's mother, leading him to go to her home. He finds Scully there, who aims a gun at him. Scully claims Mulder never trusted her and blames him for her abduction and her sister's murder. Scully's mother calms her down and she is hospitalized.
Mulder believes that the mind control device turns people's fears into dementia. Mulder tries to contact Dr. Stroman with no success. He traces Dr. Stroman's location to an empty hotel room where he finds cigarettes in the ash tray. Using the phone log for the room Mulder tracks Stroman to a house where he spots him meeting with the cable repairman. By the time Mulder enters however, shots ring out and Mulder finds both men dead, with X (Steven Williams) responsible for their murders. X used a third party to inform Mulder, knowing he had orders to kill the men, but Mulder was not able to piece things together in time. Mulder calls him a coward but X tells Mulder that Mulder needs him. Later, X meets in a car with The Smoking Man (William B. Davis).[1]
Production[edit]
This episode was written by the show's visual effects supervisor, Mat Beck. Beck drew inspiration from debates about television violence and his desire to explore the effect that television has on people. The initial concept was more complex, which required Beck to study neurology texts. Eventually, however, as the script progressed, it became more simplified. Actor Steven Williams had scheduling conflicts due to his work on the series L.A. Heat, resulting in the creation of the Plain Clothed Man, who appeared in the episode as an emissary for X. Paul Rabwin provided narration for a television show heard in the background during the episode. Dana Scully's motel room as well as The Lone Gunmen's office were constructed within a studio soundstage. The episode had late-stage sound problems which resulted in post-production dragging into the day the episode was scheduled to be broadcast.[2]
Williams called his scene at the end of the episode with The Smoking Man one of his favorite scenes he performed on the show.[3] Rob Bowman was happy with the final product and said, "I dug the script. I felt it was a good old-fashioned show, and people who didn't like 'Jose Chung's From Outer Space' would like 'Wetwired' because all the bad boys are back. A good clean steak-and-potatoes type of episode."[4]
Broadcast and reception[edit]
"Wetwired" premiered on the Fox network in the United States on May 10, 1996.[5] The episode earned a Nielsen rating of 9.7, with a 17 share, meaning that roughly 9.7 percent of all television-equipped households, and 17 percent of households watching television, were tuned in to the episode.[6] The episode was watched by a total of 14.48 million viewers.[6] The episode later aired on February 6, 1997 in the United Kingdom on BBC One.[5]
The episode received moderately positive reviews from television critics. Entertainment Weekly gave the episode a B, noting its similarity to "Blood" but thought that "Anderson gives good unhinged".[7] Zack Handlen of The A.V. Club graded it a B+, also noting the similarity to "Blood" but he did "not entirely [mean it] as a criticism". Handlen was a "little disappointed" about the Monster-of-the-Week, as the concept was not fully explored.[8] John Keegan from Critical Myth gave the episode a positive review and awarded it an 8 out of 10. He wrote, "Overall, this was [a] strong psychological episode [...] melded with the conspiracy in a logical and consistent way. Some plot devices are a bit too contrived, but the strengths of the episode outweigh the weaknesses. Two great performances by David and Gillian give the episode the necessary gravitas, and there’s enough foreshadowing to make sense of some elements of the season finale."[9] 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-and-a-half stars out of five. The two compared the episode positively to the earlier second season episode "Blood" and wrote, "['Blood'] had a clever premise which didn't quite translate into an actual plot; here writer Mat Beck remedies that, very wisely".[10] Shearman and Pearson, furthermore, praised the ending of the episode, where it is revealed that X's days "are surely numbered."[10] Paula Vitaris of Cinefantastique gave the episode a moderately positive review and awarded it three stars out of four.[11] She praised Anderson's acting, calling it "superb" and noting that watching Scully fall victim to insanity is "sickly fascinating".[11]
References[edit]
Footnotes
1.^ Jump up to: a b Lowry, pp. 213–216
2.Jump up ^ Lowry, pp. 216–217
3.Jump up ^ Hurwitz and Knowles, p. 89
4.Jump up ^ Edwards, p. 180
5.^ Jump up to: a b R.W. Goodwin, Rob Bowman, et al (booklet). The X-Files: The Complete Third Season (Liner notes). Fox.
6.^ Jump up to: a b Lowry, p. 251
7.Jump up ^ "X Cyclopedia: The Ultimate Episode Guide, Season 3". Entertainment Weekly. 29 November 1996. Retrieved 26 February 2012.
8.Jump up ^ Handlen, Zack (22 August 2010). ""Quagmire"/"Wetwired"/"Talitha Cumi"". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 26 February 2012.
9.Jump up ^ Keegan, John. "Wetwired". Critical Myth. Retrieved 3 July 2012.
10.^ Jump up to: a b Shearman and Pearson, p. 79
11.^ Jump up to: a b Vitaris, Paula (October 1996). "Episode Guide". Cinefantastique 28 (3): 18–40.
BibliographyEdwards, Ted (1996). X-Files Confidential. Little, Brown and Company. ISBN 0-316-21808-1.
Hurwitz, Matt; Knowles, Chris (2008). The Complete X-Files. Insight Editions. ISBN 1-933784-80-6.
Lowry, Brian (1996). Trust No One: The Official Guide to the X-Files. Harper Prism. ISBN 0-06-105353-8.
Shearman, Robert; Pearson, Lars (2009). Wanting to Believe: A Critical Guide to The X-Files, Millennium & The Lone Gunmen. Mad Norwegian Press. ISBN 097594469X.
External links[edit]
Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: TXF Season 3
"Wetwired" on The X-Files official website
"Wetwired" at the Internet Movie Database
"Wetwired" at TV.com
[hide]
v·
t·
e
The X-Files episodes
Seasons: 1·
2·
3·
4·
5·
6·
7·
8·
9
Season 3
"The Blessing Way"·
"Paper Clip"·
"D.P.O."·
"Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose"·
"The List"·
"2Shy"·
"The Walk"·
"Oubliette"·
"Nisei"·
"731"·
"Revelations"·
"War of the Coprophages"·
"Syzygy"·
"Grotesque"·
"Piper Maru"·
"Apocrypha"·
"Pusher"·
"Teso Dos Bichos"·
"Hell Money"·
"Jose Chung's From Outer Space"·
"Avatar"·
"Quagmire"·
"Wetwired"·
"Talitha Cumi"
Categories: The X-Files (season 3) episodes
1996 television episodes
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Talitha Cumi (The X-Files)
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"Talitha Cumi"
The X-Files episode
Episode no.
Season 3
Episode 24
Directed by
R. W. Goodwin
Teleplay by
Chris Carter
Story by
David Duchovny
Chris Carter
Production code
3X24
Original air date
May 17, 1996
Guest actors
Mitch Pileggi as Walter Skinner
William B. Davis as The Smoking Man
Steven Williams as X
Roy Thinnes as Jeremiah Smith
Brian Thompson as The Bounty Hunter
Rebecca Toolan as Teena Mulder
Jerry Hardin as Deep Throat
Peter Donat as William Mulder
Stephen Dimopoulos as Detective
Hrothgar Matthews as Galen Muntz
John MacLaren as Dr. Laberge
Angelo Vacco as Door Man
Cam Cronin as Paramedic
Bonnie Hay as Night Nurse
Episode chronology
← Previous
"Wetwired" Next →
"Herrenvolk"
List of season 3 episodes
List of The X-Files episodes
"Talitha Cumi" is the twenty-fourth episode and the season finale of the third season of the science fiction television series The X-Files. It premiered on the Fox network on May 17, 1996 in the United States. The teleplay was written by Chris Carter, and directed by R. W. Goodwin. The episode is one of several that explored the series' overarching mythology. "Talitha Cumi" achieved a Nielsen household rating of 11.2, being watched by 17.86 million people in its initial broadcast. The episode 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 search for a man who seems to possess strange powers, who may have information about Mulder's family and the Syndicate.
The basic premise of "Talitha Cumi", most notably the scene featuring Jeremiah Smith's interrogation by The Smoking Man (William B. Davis), was heavily influenced by "The Grand Inquisitor"—a chapter in Fyodor Dostoyevsky's novel The Brothers Karamazov—on the suggestion of Duchovny. The title of the episode is Aramaic for "arise maiden," a reference to the healing power of Jeremiah Smith.
Contents
[hide] 1 Plot
2 Production 2.1 Conception and writing
2.2 Casting
2.3 Filming and post-production
3 Broadcast and reception
4 Footnotes 4.1 References
5 External links
Plot[edit]
At a cafe in Arlington, Virginia, a man draws a gun and shoots three people before he is shot by police snipers outside. An older man revives the gunman and his victims by touching them with the palms of his hands.
Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) arrive to investigate. They interview the victims and gunman, finding that the mysterious healer, Jeremiah Smith (Roy Thinnes), disappeared while being interviewed by a detective. Meanwhile, The Smoking Man (William B. Davis) meets with Mulder's mother Teena (Rebecca Toolan), and the two argue as someone photographs them from a distance. Later, Assistant Director Walter Skinner (Mitch Pileggi) notifies Mulder that Teena has suffered a stroke. At the hospital, Teena writes the word "PALM" on a notepad, which Mulder takes to mean her stroke is connected to Jeremiah Smith.
Mulder finds footage of Smith being interviewed, and sees that someone else appears in Smith's place when the detective looks away. Meanwhile, Smith is at his place of work at the Social Security Administration (SSA) when he is captured by the Smoking Man, and taken to a high-security prison. Mulder heads to his mother's home and encounters X (Steven Williams), who shows him his photos of Teena and the Smoking Man. Mulder searches the house and realizes that "PALM" was Teena's attempt to write "LAMP". He then finds an alien stiletto weapon inside one of the lamps—the same kind used by the alien bounty hunter in previous episodes.
At FBI headquarters, Scully meets a man who appears to be Smith, who has come to turn himself in. During an interview with Scully and Skinner, he claims to have no memory of the shooting or of healing anyone. Meanwhile, the Smoking Man interrogates the real Smith, who has lost faith in the Syndicate's project. He shapeshifts into Deep Throat (Jerry Hardin) and Bill Mulder (Peter Donat) to unnerve his captor. Finally Smith reveals that the Smoking Man is dying of lung cancer.
Mulder blames the Smoking Man for his mother's condition. When he learns about the statement given by "Smith", Mulder goes to the SSA to bring him in for questioning. "Smith" initially complies but flees into a crowd, shapeshifting into someone else. The impostor—a bounty hunter—arrives at Smith's cell to kill him, finding it empty. Mulder visits Teena at the hospital, but encounters the Smoking Man. Mulder threatens the Smoking Man with a gun, but he says that Teena met with him about the whereabouts of his sister, Samantha. In the parking garage, Mulder is confronted by X, who demands the alien stiletto. When Mulder refuses to hand it over, the two grapple to a stalemate.
Scully finds other identical "Jeremiah Smiths" working at SSA offices across the country. She is later met by Smith, who reveals she had met an imposter. Smith promises more information, and he and Scully meet Mulder at an abandoned site. Mulder wants to take Smith to see his mother, but the bounty hunter arrives seconds later.[1][2]
Production[edit]
Dostoyevsky's novel The Brothers Karamazov influenced the episode's writing.
Conception and writing[edit]
This episode, per David Duchovny's suggestions, was heavily influenced by "The Grand Inquisitor", a chapter in Fyodor Dostoyevsky's novel The Brothers Karamazov. This was particularly evident in the scenes in the prison between The Smoking Man and Jeremiah Smith.[3] In addition, this reference is woven into the story, in Smith healing the shooter and the shooting victims in the episode's teaser, in the title of the restaurant—"The Brothers K"—and the episode's title, originally from Mark 5:41, in which Jesus heals the daughter of Jairus and quotes the Aramaic phrase meaning, "Little girl, get up!" but which also figures in The Brothers Karamazov.[3] These references were originally suggested by David Duchovny for the episodes "Colony" and "End Game" but never made their way into those episodes and were used here.[4][5]
As Carter was writing "Talitha Cumi," he decided that the episode's main theme would be loyalty. It was decided that the commitment Mulder felt towards the X-Files would be tested by seeing if he would be willing to sacrifice those he cared about, most notably his mother, Scully, and the quest to find his sister, Samantha.[6] In addition, the Smoking Man's allegiances are in that he must decided whether or not to heal himself of cancer using the power of Jeremiah Smith.[7] Ultimately, Mulder's loyalties prove altruistic, whereas the Smoking Man chooses self-interest over The Syndicate's cause.[7]
Casting[edit]
Hrothgar Mathews was chosen as the suicidal gunman out of several actors, one of whom had even brought a fake gun to his audition.[8] During his audition, he tried out the test reading several ways, including a style that had a "messianic quality".[8] Mathews was chosen for the role and told by Chris Carter that, despite his character's life-changing event, he was "still a lunatic".[8]
Roy Thinnes, who portrayed the alien healer Jeremiah Smith, was suggested to Chris Carter by David Duchovny, after the latter had met and spoken to the Thinnes on an airplane flight.[9] Carter had seen Thinnes' television work before, and had been a fan of his appearance on the 1967–68 television series The Invaders.[10] Early on in pre-production, the writers decided to have Smith morph into various characters that the Smoking Man had, either personally or involuntarily, killed, including Deep Throat, Bill Mulder, and Melissa Scully.[11] Melinda McGraw, who portrayed Melissa Scully during the second season, was unavailable for filming, so her scene was cut.[7] In addition, a photo-double was brought in for Jerry Hardin, who played Deep Throat, because he was unavailable on one of the filming days.[12] Frank Spotnitz later called the prison sequence the scene with "the biggest cast ever."[11]
Gillian Anderson's stand-in, Bonnie Hay, was cast as the main hospital nurse, marking her fifth appearance as a character in the show. She had previously portrayed a nurse in the earlier third season episode "D.P.O." and the two-part second season episodes "Colony" and "End Game."[13]
Filming and post-production[edit]
The opening scene made use of overcranking (frame rates illustrated) to achieve a slow motion effect.
The fight between Mulder and X was heavily edited by Fox's broadcast standards department.[14] Despite the fact that most of the action was done by stunt doubles, Steven Williams was injured during the filming of the fight scene.[5][14] The opening scene with the restaurant shooting was filmed mostly on two handheld cameras, with director R. W. Goodwin using a variety of short shots and rapid cuts to different perspectives. This was done to create a chaotic scene which would contrast with how the character of Thinnes' character Jeremiah Smith was presented—shots focussed on him were filmed using a Steadicam to allow the character to seem "rock steady". The film used was also overcranked, where the frame rate of the recording is much higher than that which will be played back, slowing down the footage when it is played at a normal frame rate. This gave a slow motion effect to Thinnes' movements, in order to aid the "Godlike" impression Goodwin wanted.[15]
The "Grand Inquisitor" scene between Jeremiah Smith and The Smoking Man involved several instances of morphing from one character to another. The morph involving Smith assuming the guise of Peter Donat's character Bill Mulder was simply achieved by using static cameras, allowing Thinnes to leave the set and Donat to take his place, with the morphing effect bridging the change in actors. However, Jerry Hardin, who was involved in another morph to his character Deep Throat, was unavailable on the day this was shot, as he was filming for a movie elsewhere. The sections of the morph involving Thinnes were recorded, and the set was reconstructed later when Hardin was available, with the actors matched up based on footage and photography to recreate the same positions, which producer Paul Rabwin has described as "backwards" and "very difficult".[16]
Broadcast and reception[edit]
There's always something vaguely Freudian about conspiracy theories, isn't there? Powerful figures with impenetrable motives controlling the lives of the innocent--well, from a certain skewed angle, that's pretty much what parents do. Believing in conspiracy is believing that there's someone out there, somewhere, who can make everything make sense. And of course you have to stop them, because you want to make your own kind of sense.
—The A.V. Club's Zack Handlen[17]
"Talitha Cumi" premiered on the Fox network on May 17, 1996, and was first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC Two on September 3, 1997.[18] The episode earned a Nielsen household rating of 11.2 with a 21 share, meaning that roughly 11.2 percent of all television-equipped households, and 21 percent of households watching television, were tuned in to the episode.[19] A total of 17.86 million viewers watched this episode during its original airing.[19]
In an overview of the third season in Entertainment Weekly, "Talitha Cumi" was rated an "A–". The review called the episode a "frustratingly provocative cliff-hanger", calling the interrogation scene of Jeremiah Smith "a tour de force".[20] Chris Carter has also noted that the interrogation 'is really a summation of my feelings about science ... that it has definitely usurped religion and can explain everything now".[20] Writing for The A.V. Club, Zack Handlen rated the episode an "A", praising its cliffhanger ending and "good storytelling". Handlen felt that the episode dealt with themes familiar to the series, but in a manner which did not appear repetitive; and again noted Jeremiah Smith's confrontation with The Smoking Man as a highlight.[17]
Footnotes[edit]
1.Jump up ^ Lowry, pp. 219–222
2.Jump up ^ Lovece, pp. 216–217
3.^ Jump up to: a b Lowry, p. 18
4.Jump up ^ Lowry, p. 4
5.^ Jump up to: a b Lowry, p. 41
6.Jump up ^ Lowry, p. 12
7.^ Jump up to: a b c Lowry, p. 13
8.^ Jump up to: a b c Lowry, p. 19
9.Jump up ^ Lowry, p. 38
10.Jump up ^ Chris Carter (narrator) (1995–1996). "Chris Carter Talks About Season 3: Talitha Cumi". The X-Files: The Complete Third Season (featurette) (Fox).
11.^ Jump up to: a b Lowry, p. 9
12.Jump up ^ Lowry, p. 25
13.Jump up ^ Lowry, p. 224
14.^ Jump up to: a b Lowry, p. 223
15.Jump up ^ Edwards, p. 181
16.Jump up ^ Edwards, pp. 181–182
17.^ Jump up to: a b Handlen, Zack (August 22, 2010). ""Quagmire"/"Wetwired"/"Talitha Cumi" | The X-Files/Millennium". The A.V. Club. The Onion. Retrieved January 15, 2012.
18.Jump up ^ R. W. Goodwin, Rob Bowman, et al (booklet). The X-Files: The Complete Third Season (Liner notes). Fox.
19.^ Jump up to: a b Lowry, p. 251
20.^ Jump up to: a b "X Cyclopedia: The Ultimate Episode Guide, Season III". Entertainment Weekly. November 29, 1996. Retrieved January 15, 2012.
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 (1996). Trust No One: The Official Guide to the X-Files. Harper Prism. ISBN 0-06-105353-8.
External links[edit]
Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: TXF Season 3
"Talitha Cumi" on The X-Files official website
"Talitha Cumi" at the Internet Movie Database
"Talitha Cumi" at TV.com
[hide]
v·
t·
e
The X-Files episodes
Seasons: 1·
2·
3·
4·
5·
6·
7·
8·
9
Season 3
"The Blessing Way"·
"Paper Clip"·
"D.P.O."·
"Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose"·
"The List"·
"2Shy"·
"The Walk"·
"Oubliette"·
"Nisei"·
"731"·
"Revelations"·
"War of the Coprophages"·
"Syzygy"·
"Grotesque"·
"Piper Maru"·
"Apocrypha"·
"Pusher"·
"Teso Dos Bichos"·
"Hell Money"·
"Jose Chung's From Outer Space"·
"Avatar"·
"Quagmire"·
"Wetwired"·
"Talitha Cumi"
Categories: The X-Files (season 3) episodes
1996 television episodes
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The X-Files (season 4)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
The X-Files (season 4)
The X-Files Season 4.jpg
Region 1 DVD cover art
Country of origin
United States
No. of episodes
24
Broadcast
Original channel
Fox
Original run
October 4, 1996 – May 18, 1997
Home video release
DVD release
Region 1
November 13, 2001
Region 2
April 22, 2002
Season chronology
← Previous
Season 3
Next →
Season 5
List of The X-Files episodes
The fourth season of the American science fiction television series The X-Files commenced airing on the Fox network in the United States on October 4, 1996, concluding on the same channel on May 18, 1997, and contained 24 episodes. Following the filming and airing of the season, production began on The X-Files feature film, which was scheduled to be released in 1998 following the show's fifth season.
The fourth season of the series focused heavily on FBI federal agents Fox Mulder's (David Duchovny) and his partner Dana Scully's (Gillian Anderson) investigation of an alien conspiracy, which is protected by the mysterious Syndicate. Midway through the season, Scully is diagnosed with terminal cancer, a result of her previous abduction, and Mulder begins to lose his faith in the idea of extraterrestrials. The season ends on a cliffhanger, with the purported suicide of Mulder.
Debuting with high viewing figures and ranking as the twentieth most watched television series during the 1996–97 television year in the United States, the season was a success, with figures averaging around 20 million viewers an episode. This made it, at the time, the highest rated season of The X-Files to air. The season's twelfth episode, "Leonard Betts" was chosen as the Fox lead-out program following Super Bowl XXXI, and was viewed by 29.1 million viewers, making it the highest-rated episode in the series' run. Critical reception from television critics was mostly positive.
Contents
[hide] 1 Plot overview
2 Production 2.1 Writing
2.2 Filming
2.3 Crew
3 Reception 3.1 Ratings
3.2 Reviews
3.3 Accolades
4 Cast 4.1 Main cast
4.2 Recurring cast 4.2.1 Also starring
4.2.2 Guest starring
5 Episodes
6 DVD release
7 Notes
8 References 8.1 Footnotes
8.2 Bibliography
9 External links
Plot overview[edit]
See also: Mythology of The X-Files
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 the Syndicate suspect that one of their members is passing information to Mulder and Scully, they organize a canary trap to find the leak, using information about the safety of Mulder's mother as bait. X's (Steven Williams) role as an informant is discovered, and he is shot dead, although he is able to pass along the name of another informant who can be of use to Mulder—Marita Covarrubias (Laurie Holden), the Special Representative to the Secretary-General of the United Nations.[1][2] Covarrubias' aid is sought when Mulder attempts to reach Tunguska in Russia to investigate the source of a further black oil contamination. Whilst there, Mulder is held in a gulag and used as a successful test subject for a black oil vaccine. He escapes and is able to return to America, having found that Alex Krycek (Nicholas Lea) is working with the Russians.[3][4][5]
Having been diagnosed with cancer, Scully is unsure of her future with the FBI. Mulder is convinced that her condition is a result of her earlier abduction ("Ascension"), and is prepared to make a deal with the Syndicate to find a cure. He is dissuaded by Walter Skinner (Mitch Pileggi), who secretly makes such a deal instead.[6][7] While being pursued by an assassin responsible for a hoax alien corpse discovered on a mountaintop, Mulder fakes his own suicide, mutilating the assassin's face to provide a decoy body. He uses the distraction this offers to infiltrate The Pentagon to find a cure for Scully's cancer, while Scully is able to uncover and reveal a Syndicate connection within the FBI.[8][9][10][11]
Production[edit]
Writing[edit]
The writers for The X-Files decided to give Gillian Anderson's character cancer in season four.
The season saw drastic changes to the series' alien mythology. In the premiere episode, "Herrenvolk", Williams—the actor who played Mulder's informant X—was written out of the show. He said that, "Carter called me up personally [and said] 'Got good news, got bad news. The good news is we're gonna bring you up for another episode this week. The bad news is you're gonna take a bullet." [12] The writers created a new character, Marita Covarrubias, to function as Mulder's informant. Carter felt it would be "more interesting for Mulder's next contact to be a woman", noting that he "wanted there to be some suspicion about whether Mulder would become involved with her romantically.[13] "Herrenvolk" also introduced the killer bees, who would go on to play a larger part in the 1998 movie.[12]
The season is notable in that it introduced a story arc about Scully developing terminal cancer, which would not be resolved until the beginning of the fifth season. The show's producers decided to give Gillian Anderson's character Dana Scully cancer early in the season. Carter initially discussed giving Scully's mother cancer but decided to have Scully suffer from it instead. Carter felt the move would give the show an interesting platform on which to discuss things such as faith, science, health care and a certain element of the paranormal.[14] Some of the writing staff felt that the decision was a poor one to make, citing it as "a cheap TV thing". However, Frank Spotnitz felt that, given the appearances of cancer-stricken abductees in previous episodes, it was an "obligatory" move to have Scully follow suit.[15]
Following the cancellation of the Fox television series Space: Above and Beyond, Carter called the series' creators Glen Morgan and Wong—who had previously been writers for the first two seasons of The X-Files—and asked if they wanted to rejoin the series. Morgan told Carter that the two of them would rejoin, but only for four episodes, and only if they could use members for the cast of Space: Above and Beyond, so that "the world can finally see them".[12] Carter accepted this condition, and the two dutifully provided four of the seasons episodes.[12]
Filming[edit]
The season finale, "Gethsemane", was notable in that an entire set created to emulated icy caverns was constructed inside a warehouse which had previously been used for cold storage;[16] and required the use of truckloads of lumber and 10,000 square feet (930 m2) of Styrofoam. The set would become one of the most expensive and elaborate built during the series' history.[17] The set required a constant temperature of −21 °F (−29 °C) in order to maintain the real snow and ice used to decorate it. This refrigeration allowed the actors' breath to visibly fog up, and allowed the cast to "have a place that feels real" to aid their acting.[16] The outdoor scenes for the episode were filmed around Vancouver's Mount Seymour, with weather conditions making shooting difficult enough to require an extra day of work.[17]
Although the series' 1998 movie would take place after the events of the fifth season, the movie was actually filmed in the hiatus between the show's fourth and fifth season and re-shoots were conducted during the filming of the show's fifth season.[18]
Crew[edit]
Series creator Chris Carter also served as executive producer and showrunner and wrote eight episodes. Howard Gordon continued as executive producer and wrote five episodes for his final season on the series. Spotnitz was promoted to co-producer and wrote seven episodes. Vince Gilligan was promoted to co-producer and wrote five episodes. Former X-Files writers Glen Morgan and James Wong returned after an one season absence from the series as consulting producers and wrote three episodes together, with Morgan writing an additional episode solo that Wong directed. John Shiban was promoted to story editor and wrote four episodes. David Greenwalt joined mid-season as co-executive producer and wrote one episode for his only season on the series. Writing team Valerie and Vivian Mayhew wrote one freelance episode. Executive producer and frequent series director R. W. Goodwin wrote his first and only episode for the series. Other producers included producer Joseph Patrick Finn, co-producer Paul Rabwin, and consulting producer Ken Horton, who joined the series with this season.[19]
Producing-directors for the show included Rob Bowman and Kim Manners, who directed the bulk of the episodes for the season. Manners directed eight episodes, while Bowman directed seven. Executive producer R. W. Goodwin again directed the season premiere and finale. James Charleston directed three episodes, while Tucker Gates, Michael Lange, Cliff Bole, and series writer James Wong each directed one episode.[19]
Reception[edit]
Ratings[edit]
The fourth season of The X-Files debuted with "Herrenvolk" on October 4, 1996. This episode earned a Nielsen rating of 13.2, with a 23 share, meaning that roughly 13.2 percent of all television-equipped households, and 23 percent of households watching television, were tuned in to the episode.[20] The episode was viewed by 21.11 million people, a marked increase from the third season's finale, "Talitha Cumi", which was viewed by 17.86 million viewers.[20][21] "Herrenvolk" was, at the time, the highest-rated episode of The X-Files to air, as well as the first episode of the series to be watched by over 20 million viewers.[20] As the season continued, however, ratings began to drop slightly, stabilizing around approximately less than 20 million viewers-per-episode.[20] The season hit a high with its twelfth episode, "Leonard Betts", which had been chosen as the Fox lead-out program following Super Bowl XXXI. The episode was viewed by 29.1 million viewers, making it the highest-rated episode in the series' run.[20] The season hit a low with the fifteenth and sixteenth episodes, "Kaddish" and "Unrequited", respectively, which were both viewed by 16.56 million viewers.[20] The season finale, "Gethsemane", earned a Nielsen rating of 13.2, with a 19 share, and was viewed by 19.85 viewers,[20] marking a 5.9 percent drop in viewers when compared to the season premiere,[nb 1] but a 10 percent increase in viewers when compared to the previous season finale.[nb 2] The season ranked as the twelfth most watched television series during the 1996–97 year, with an average of 19.2 million viewers, making it, at the time, the highest-rated season of The X-Files to air.[20][22]
Reviews[edit]
The fourth season of The X-Files received largely positive reviews from television critics, although several critics noted that the season was not as good as its predecessors. The Contra Costa Times noted that The X-Files during its fourth year was creatively good and "always fascinating even when it's frustrating."[23] Rick Kushman Bee of the Sacramento Bee wrote that Fox' Sunday block of The Simpsons, King of the Hill and The X-Files was televisions "real 'Must See TV'".[24] Matt Roush of USA Today wrote that the fourth season was not the series' best year, but "when good, [The X-Files is] still shockingly great".[25] Zack Handlen of The A.V. Club gave an overall positive review of the season and wrote that the many of the episodes dabbled in existentialism. However, he also contended that many of the mythology episodes—especially the season finale—began to have "a ring of familiarity to" them and that "the repetition is getting old".[26]
Episodic reviews were diverse. Some episodes were praised. Robert Shearman and Lars Pearson, in their book Wanting to Believe: A Critical Guide to The X-Files, Millennium & The Lone Gunmen, rated the episodes "Home", "Unruhe", "Musings of a Cigarette Smoking Man", "Paper Hearts", and "Small Potatoes" five stars out of five.[27] Paula Vitaris of Cinefantastique also awarded "Musings of a Cigarette Smoking Man", "Paper Hearts", and "Small Potatoes" perfect scores of four out of four.[28] Tom Kessenich named "Memento Mori" the fourth best episode of the series, writing that it was the definitive example of Mulder and Scully's devotion for each other.".[29] He also wrote highly of "Home", "Paper Hearts", Small Potatoes", and "Never Again", ranking them as the fifth, eleventh, sixteenth, and twenty-fourth best episodes of The X-Files, respectively.[29] Other episodes were derided. Shearman and Pearson called "El Mundo Gira" an "aching unambitious take on Latin American culture" and "rubbish".[27] Vitaris summaried "Unrequited" as a "slight story that collapses under the weight of its message".[28]
"Gethsemane" created intense media speculation about whether or not Mulder was actually dead. An article in the Wall Street Journal discussed fan theories behind Mulder's madness while a cartoon ran in The New Yorker a few weeks later surrounding Mulder's "death".[30] Series creator Chris Carter noted that "the whole plot line of 'Gethsemane' revolved around a hoax, but there are actually huge revelations in this show. And it's an amazing thing that we could get people to believe that Mulder could actually kill himself because his belief system was stolen from him".[30] UGO Networks listed the episode at number 21 in a countdown of "TV's Best Season Finales", noting that it "rocked the core of the series' entire mythology".[31]
Accolades[edit]
The fourth season earned the series twelve Primetime Emmy Award nominations, with three wins. Anderson won for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series, after being nominated the previous year. The episodes "Memento Mori" and "Tempus Fugit" won for Outstanding Art Direction for a Series and Outstanding Sound Editing for a Series, respectively. Notable nominations included its third consecutive nomination for Outstanding Drama Series, Duchovny's first nomination for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series, James Wong nominated for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series for "Musings of a Cigarette Smoking Man", and Carter, Gilligan, Shiban, and Spotnitz being nominated for Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series for "Memento Mori". Other nominations were Jim Gross and Heather MacDougall each being nominated for Outstanding Editing for a Series – Single Camera Production for the episodes "Tempus Fugit" and "Terma", respectively; Outstanding Makeup for a Series for "Leonard Betts"; Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Drama Series for "Tempus Fugit"; and Mark Snow being nominated for Outstanding Music Composition for a Series (Dramatic Underscore) for "Paper Hearts".[32] The series also won its second Golden Globe Award for Best Television Series – Drama, while Gillian Anderson and David Duchovny won in the television series drama acting categories.[33]
Cast[edit]
The following actors and actresses appear in the season:[nb 3]
Main cast[edit]
David Duchovny as Special Agent Fox Mulder
Gillian Anderson as Special Agent Dana Scully (Does not appear in "Zero Sum")
Recurring cast[edit]
Also starring[edit]
Mitch Pileggi as Deputy Director Walter Skinner (12 episodes)
William B. Davis as Cigarette Smoking Man (7 episodes)
Guest starring[edit]
Laurie Holden as Marita Covarrubias (5 episodes)
Brendan Beiser as Pendrell (5 episodes)
Tom Braidwood as Melvin Frohike (3 episodes)
Rebecca Toolan as Teena Mulder (3 episodes)
Don S. Williams as First Elder (3 episodes)
Dean Aylesworth as Young Bill Mulder (2 episodes)
Scott Bellis as Max Fenig (2 episodes)
Bruce Harwood as John Fitzgerald Byers (2 episodes)
Dean Haglund as Richard Langly (2 episodes)
Sheila Larken as Margaret Scully (2 episodes)
Nicholas Lea as Alex Krycek (2 episodes)
Greg Michaels as Scott Garrett (2 episodes)
John Neville as Well-Manicured Man (2 episodes)
Chris Owens as Young Cigarette Smoking Man (2 episodes)
Morris Panych as Grey-Haired Man (2 episodes)
Charles Cioffi as Scott Blevins (1 episode)
John Finn as Michael Kritschgau (1 episode)
Jerry Hardin as Deep Throat (1 episode)
Steve Makaj as Scott Ostelhoff (1 episode)
John Moore as Third Elder (1 episode)
Pat Skipper as Bill Scully (1 episode)
Roy Thinnes as Jeremiah Smith (1 episode)
Brian Thompson as Alien Bounty Hunter (1 episode)
Arnie Walters as Father McCue (1 episode)
Steven Williams as X (1 episode)
Episodes[edit]
Episodes marked with an double dagger (double-dagger) are episodes in the series' Alien Mythology arc.[nb 4]
See also: List of The X-Files episodes
The X-Files season 4 episodes
No. in
series
No. in
season
Title
Directed by
Written by
Original air date
Production
code[19]
U.S. viewers
(millions)
74
1 "Herrenvolk"double-dagger R. W. Goodwin Chris Carter October 4, 1996 4X01 21.11[20]
Pursued by an Alien Bounty Hunter, Jeremiah Smith (Roy Thinnes) takes Mulder to a farm where he finds several girls who are clones of his sister.
75
2 "Home" Kim Manners Glen Morgan & James Wong October 11, 1996 4X03 18.85[20]
In a small, otherwise peaceful town, the agents investigate the death of an infant with disturbing birth defects, and the trail leads to a clan of inbred, genetic mutants.
76
3 "Teliko" James Charleston Howard Gordon October 18, 1996 4X04 18.01[20]
Mulder and Scully are called in to investigate the unexplained deaths of several African and African-American people whose skin color has turned white as the result of either a rare medical disorder or a bizarre curse.
77
4 "Unruhe" Rob Bowman Vince Gilligan October 27, 1996 4X02 19.10[20]
Agents Mulder and Scully investigate a group of bizarre kidnappings in which the only clues are inexplicable photographs. But when Scully is the next intended victim, Mulder must get into the killer’s head.
78
5 "The Field Where I Died" Rob Bowman Glen Morgan & James Wong November 3, 1996 4X05 19.85[20]
FBI Agent Mulder’s search for an informant inside a cult compound leads Scully and him to one of the cult leader’s wives. What they soon discover is an unexpectedly close connection with the woman.
79
6 "Sanguinarium" Kim Manners Valerie Mayhew & Vivian Mayhew November 10, 1996 4X06 18.85[20]
Bizarre murders in a hospital's plastic surgery unit lead Mulder and Scully to suspect a supernatural force may be responsible.
80
7 "Musings of a Cigarette Smoking Man" James Wong Glen Morgan November 17, 1996 4X07 17.09[20]
Mulder, Scully and Byers meet with Frohike, where he details what may have been Cigarette Smoking Man’s real life.
81
8 "Tunguska"double-dagger Kim Manners Frank Spotnitz & Chris Carter November 24, 1996 4X09 18.85[20]
A diplomatic courier carrying deadly cargo involves Agents Mulder and Scully in a dangerous web of intrigue, which leads Mulder on a trip to Russia.
82
9 "Terma"double-dagger Rob Bowman Frank Spotnitz & Chris Carter December 1, 1996 4X10 17.34[20]
Scully and Skinner attend a suspicious Senate hearing, while Mulder and Krycek face off in a Russian gulag.
83
10 "Paper Hearts" Rob Bowman Vince Gilligan December 15, 1996 4X08 16.59[20]
Agent Mulder is haunted by an old case in which young girls were killed and hearts cut from their nightgowns. Soon Mulder becomes suspicious when the killer taunts him with the idea that one of his victims may have been Samantha.
84
11 "El Mundo Gira" Tucker Gates John Shiban January 12, 1997 4X11 22.37[20]
Deadly rain in a migrant workers camp sends Agent Mulder and Scully on the trail of a mythical beast—El Chupacabra.
85
12 "Leonard Betts" Kim Manners Vince Gilligan & John Shiban & Frank Spotnitz January 26, 1997 4X14 29.15[20]
The disappearance of a man's body from a hospital morgue leads Mulder and Scully to investigate the strange circumstances surrounding the man’s death. However, for Scully it will lead to a horrifying revelation.
86
13 "Never Again" Rob Bowman Glen Morgan & James Wong February 2, 1997 4X13 21.36[20]
On a solo assignment out of town, Scully meets a man whose tattoo does not want to share him—especially not with Scully.
87
14 "Memento Mori"double-dagger Rob Bowman Chris Carter & Vince Gilligan & John Shiban & Frank Spotnitz February 9, 1997 4X15 19.10[20]
Fear for Scully's health sends Mulder to investigate the bizarre circumstances that may explain her mysterious abduction two years ago, while Scully takes a more practical course to quell her illness.
88
15 "Kaddish" Kim Manners Howard Gordon February 16, 1997 4X12 16.56[20]
A murder in a Jewish community leads to the deaths of the killers, forcing Mulder and Scully to determine whether vengeance or larger forces are at work.
89
16 "Unrequited" Michael Lange Story by: Howard Gordon
Teleplay by: Howard Gordon & Chris Carter February 23, 1997 4X16 16.56[20]
The mysterious assassination of a high-ranking military official has Mulder and Scully racing against the clock to stop a seemingly unstoppable—and invisible—assassin.
90
17 "Tempus Fugit"double-dagger Rob Bowman Chris Carter & Frank Spotnitz March 16, 1997 4X17 18.85[20]
While celebrating Scully's birthday, Mulder learns of Max Fenig's death in a plane crash. What the agents soon discover is that the circumstances surrounding the crash may have been alien.
91
18 "Max"double-dagger Kim Manners Chris Carter & Frank Spotnitz March 23, 1997 4X18 18.34[20]
The investigation continues for agents Mulder and Scully of the apparent downing of Flight 549 by a UFO. They encounter deadly opposition from the military, which continues to cover up the truth of incident.
92
19 "Synchrony" James Charleston Howard Gordon & David Greenwalt April 13, 1997 4X19 18.09[20]
Mulder and Scully investigate a murder for which the suspect presents an incredible alibi — that the death was foretold by an old man able to see into the future.
93
20 "Small Potatoes" Cliff Bole Vince Gilligan April 20, 1997 4X20 20.86[20]
A small town is “blessed” by babies being born with tails. Mulder and Scully arrive only to encounter a suspect who proves nearly impossible to identify.
94
21 "Zero Sum"double-dagger Kim Manners Howard Gordon & Frank Spotnitz April 27, 1997 4X21 18.60[20]
Agent Mulder launches a criminal investigation into a bizarre death which he finds has connections to A.D. Skinner. Meanwhile, Skinner makes his own deal with the devil in a desperate attempt to save Scully from the cancer that is taking over her body.
95
22 "Elegy" James Charleston John Shiban May 4, 1997 4X22 17.10[20]
Mulder and Scully track a series of murders that lead to a home for the mentally ill and a clue that makes no sense: each victim had a purported warning from the dead. However, while Mulder makes some surprising discoveries, Scully is reminded of her own mortality.
96
23 "Demons" Kim Manners R. W. Goodwin May 11, 1997 4X23 19.10[20]
Scully is concerned for Mulder’s well-being when he suffers from a memory loss while investigating a case — and is the only suspect in a brutal double murder.
97
24 "Gethsemane"double-dagger R. W. Goodwin Chris Carter May 18, 1997 4X24 19.85[20]
Researchers in northern Canada discover what may finally be irrefutable proof of alien existence, but even Mulder is skeptical until sinister agents begin to kill to prevent its revelation, leading to a shocking conclusion.
DVD release[edit]
The X-Files – The Complete Fourth Season
Set details[19] Special features[19]
24 episodes
7-disc set
1.33:1 aspect ratio
Subtitles: English, Spanish
English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround)
"The Truth About Season Four" Documentary
Interviews on specific episodes "Herrenvolk" and "Tunguska" – Chris Carter
"Unruhe" and "Paper Hearts" – Vince Gilligan
"Home" – James Wong
Audio Commentaries (Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo) "Memento Mori" – Frank Spotnitz
"Small Potatoes" – Vince Gilligan
8 special effects clips
9 deleted scenes
13 "Behind the Truth" F/X spots
Release dates
Region 1 Region 2
November 13, 2001 October 4, 2002
Notes[edit]
1.Jump up ^ "Gethsemane" was viewed by 19.85 million viewers whereas "Herrenvolk" was viewed by 21.11 million viewers.[20] Subtracting the two figures and then dividing them by 21.11 million, which represents the largest possible audience, yields a percent decrease of 5.9 percent.
2.Jump up ^ "Gethsemane" was viewed by 19.85 million viewers whereas "Talitha Cumi" was viewed by 17.86 million viewers.[20][21] Subtracting the two figures and then dividing them by 19.85 million, which represents the largest possible audience, yields a percent increase of 10 percent.
3.Jump up ^ Cast information taken from Andy Meisler's 1998 book I Want to Believe: The Official Guide to the X-Files Volume 3, published by Harper Collins.
4.Jump up ^ The episodes were included in the DVD collection The X-Files Mythology, Volume 2 – Black Oil, released by Fox.
References[edit]
Footnotes[edit]
1.Jump up ^ R. W. Goodwin (director); Chris Carter (writer) (October 4, 1996). "Herrenvolk". The X-Files. Season 4. Episode 1. Fox.
2.Jump up ^ Meisler (1998), pp. 19–25.
3.Jump up ^ Kim Manners (director); Chris Carter & Frank Spotnitz (writers) (November 24, 1996). "Tunguska". The X-Files. Season 4. Episode 8. Fox.
4.Jump up ^ Rob Bowman (director); Chris Carter & Frank Spotnitz (writer) (December 1, 1996). "Terma". The X-Files. Season 4. Episode 9. Fox.
5.Jump up ^ Meisler (1998), pp. 95–110
6.Jump up ^ Kim Manners (director); Howard Gordon & Frank Spotnitz (writers) (April 27, 1997). "Zero Sum". The X-Files. Season 4. Episode 21. Fox.
7.Jump up ^ Meisler (1998), pp. 221–230
8.Jump up ^ R.W. Goodwin (director); Chris Carter (writer) (May 18, 1997). "Gethsemane". The X-Files. Season 4. Episode 24. Fox.
9.Jump up ^ R.W. Goodwin & Kim Manners (directors); Chris Carter (writer) (November 2 & 9, 1997). "Redux". The X-Files. Season 5. Episode 1 & 2. Fox.
10.Jump up ^ Meisler (1998), pp. 259–270
11.Jump up ^ Meisler (1999), pp. 27–46
12.^ Jump up to: a b c d Hurwitz and Knowles (2008), p. 91
13.Jump up ^ Hughes, David (October 1999). "Laurie Holden: The UNblonde on playing femme fatale Marita Covvarubias". Cinefantastique 31 (8): 40–41.
14.Jump up ^ Meisler (1998), p. 164
15.Jump up ^ Chris Carter & Frank Spotnitz (narrators) (2008). "Introduction to Memento Mori". The X-Files: Essentials (DVD) (Fox).
16.^ Jump up to: a b Graham Murray & Rob Maier (narrators). Behind the Truth: Ice Cave (DVD). The X-Files: The Complete Fourth Season.
17.^ Jump up to: a b Meisler (1998), p. 270
18.Jump up ^ Carter, Chris, et al (1998). The Truth Behind Season 5 (DVD). Fox Home Entertainment.
19.^ Jump up to: a b c d e R. W. Goodwin, et al (booklet). The X-Files: The Complete Fourth Season (Liner notes). Fox.
20.^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah Meisler (1999), p. 298
21.^ Jump up to: a b Lowry (1996), p. 251
22.Jump up ^ "The Final Countdown". Entertainment Weekly (Time, Inc) (434). May 29, 1998. Retrieved December 2, 2010.
23.Jump up ^ "The Good, The Bad and the Ugly". Contra Costa Times (MediaNews Group). May 29, 1997. p. F01. Retrieved March 20, 2013. (subscription required)
24.Jump up ^ Bee, Rick (December 30, 1997). "Soaring and Snoring". The Sacramento Bee (The McClatchy Company). p. C1. Retrieved March 20, 2013. (subscription required)
25.Jump up ^ Roush, Matt (June 2, 1997). "TV's Moments to Remember". USA Today. p. 8D. Retrieved March 20, 2013. (subscription required)
26.Jump up ^ Handlen, Zack (March 12, 2011). "'Demons'/'Gethsemane' | The X-Files/Millennium | TV Club". The A.V. Club. The Onion. Retrieved March 20, 2013.
27.^ Jump up to: a b Shearman and Pearson (2009), pp. 81–104
28.^ Jump up to: a b Vitaris, Paula (October 1997). "Episode Guide". Cinefantastique 29 (4/5): 35–62.
29.^ Jump up to: a b Kessencih (2002), pp. 216–220
30.^ Jump up to: a b Meisler (1998), p. 271
31.Jump up ^ Fitzpatrick, Kevin (May 27, 2011). "The X-Files – TV's Best Season Finales". UGO Networks. Retrieved April 28, 2012.
32.Jump up ^ "Primetime Emmy® Award Database". Emmys.com. Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Retrieved January 23, 2012.
33.Jump up ^ "HFPA – Award Search". GoldenGlobes.org. Hollywood Foreign Press Association. Retrieved January 23, 2012.
Bibliography[edit]
Kessenich, Tom (2002). Examination: An Unauthorized Look at Seasons 6–9 of the X-Files. Trafford Publishing. ISBN 1-55369-812-6.
Lowry, Brian (1996). Trust No One: The Official Guide to the X-Files. Harper Prism. ISBN 0-06-105353-8.
Meisler, Andy (1998). I Want to Believe: The Official Guide to the X-Files Volume 3. Harper Prism. ISBN 0-06-105386-4.
Meisler, Andy (1999). Resist or Serve: The Official Guide to The X-Files, Vol. 4. London: HarperCollins. ISBN 0-00-257133-1.
External links[edit]
Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: TXF Season 4
List of The X-Files episodes at the Internet Movie Database
List of The X-Files episodes at TV.com
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Herrenvolk (The X-Files)
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"Herrenvolk"
The X-Files episode
Herrenvolk 4x01.jpg
X naming Fox Mulder's next informant. The death of X was called "shocking" by one reviewer.
Episode no.
Season 4
Episode 1
Directed by
R. W. Goodwin
Written by
Chris Carter
Production code
4X01
Original air date
October 4, 1996
Guest actors
Mitch Pileggi as Walter Skinner
William B. Davis as The Smoking Man
Roy Thinnes as Jeremiah Smith
Brian Thompson as Alien bounty hunter
Steven Williams as X
Laurie Holden as Marita Covarrubias
Rebecca Toolan as Teena Mulder
Vanessa Morley as Samantha Mulder
Don S. Williams as First Elder
Morris Panych as Gray-Haired Man
Brendan Beiser as Pendrell
Michael David Sims as Senior Agent
Ken Camroux as Second Senior Agent
Casey Murphy as Young Blond Boy
Sean Murphy as Young Blond Boy
Garvin Cross as Repairman
Liza Huget as Nurse
Episode chronology
← Previous
"Talitha Cumi" Next →
"Home"
List of season 4 episodes
List of The X-Files episodes
"Herrenvolk" is the first episode of the fourth season of the American science fiction television series The X-Files. It premiered on the Fox network on October 4, 1996. It was directed by R.W. Goodwin, and written by series creator Chris Carter. "Herrenvolk" featured guest appearances by Roy Thinnes and Brian Thompson, and introduced Laurie Holden as the informant Marita Covarrubias. The episode helped to explore the overarching mythology, or fictional history of The X-Files. "Herrenvolk" earned a Nielsen household rating of 13.2, being watched by 21.11 million people in its initial broadcast.
FBI special agent Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) is shown more evidence of his sister's abduction by the mysterious Jeremiah Smith (Thinnes). Mulder's informant X is found out by those he has betrayed—with fatal consequences.
"Herrenvolk" saw the death of Steven Williams' character X and also featured another appearance of Mulder's sister Samantha, a character described by Carter as the "lifeblood" of the series. The episode featured scenes filmed using swarms of bees, which caused problems due to the difficulty of taming and directing the animals. Other special effects in the episode were achieved through motion control photography.
Contents
[hide] 1 Plot
2 Production
3 Broadcast and reception
4 Footnotes
5 External links
Plot[edit]
In rural Alberta, Canada, an electrician is stung by a bee as he works on a telephone pole. Five identical boys approach the pole and watch as the electrician's body adversely reacts to the sting, causing him to fall to the ground and die. The boys look down at his body, then walk off silently.
At a remote industrial site, Fox Mulder (David Duchovny), Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson), and Jeremiah Smith (Roy Thinnes) are approached by the Alien Bounty Hunter (Brian Thompson). Mulder and Smith flee with Scully and the Bounty Hunter in pursuit, eventually reaching a waterfront. Mulder sneaks up on the Bounty Hunter and stabs him in the neck with the stiletto weapon. Both he and Jeremiah escape on a boat, leaving Scully alone with the seemingly dead Bounty Hunter. When she approaches the body, the Bounty Hunter wakes up and chokes her, demanding to know where Mulder and Smith are heading. He releases her after realizing she has no such knowledge.
On the boat, Mulder and Smith debate whether they should save Mulder’s mother Teena, despite the risk of Men in Black awaiting them. Mulder ultimately agrees that it would be too dangerous to visit her. Instead, they head towards Canada, where Smith says Mulder will find his sister, Samantha. Meanwhile, the First Elder (Don S. Williams) meets with The Smoking Man (William B. Davis) in Teena's hospital room, confronting him with photos of his prior meeting with her, taken by X (Steven Williams). They realize that there is a leak, and plan to smoke out its source by releasing false information about Teena being in danger.
The Bounty Hunter learns of Mulder's whereabouts when he listens in on a phone call that between him and a captive Scully, leaving her to pursue him and Smith. In Washington, Scully reports to Walter Skinner (Mitch Pileggi), who informs her that the other Jeremiah Smiths have all disappeared. Scully and Pendrell investigate the data that the Smiths were compiling, trying to decipher the encrypted files. Scully contacts X, who tells her that it is related to the government's long-running smallpox eradication program. X also tells her that he believes Teena's life is in danger.
Meanwhile, in Canada, Smith and Mulder's car runs out of gas. Walking the last few miles on foot, they come across the corpse of the electrician, grossly disfigured and covered in ants. Jeremiah takes Mulder to a mysterious field where they find a group of identical children; the girls all resemble Samantha at the age when she was abducted. Jeremiah tells Mulder that the cloned children are mindless chattel used to tend the fields, incapable of speaking. After retrieving a gasoline can, Mulder tries to take one of the female clones with him. However, the Bounty Hunter arrives and chases them. As he corners them in a large bee hive, the Bounty Hunter is crushed and stung repeatedly in a trap set up by the trio.
Scully and Pendrell report to Skinner and the Office of Professional Responsibility on the data being tracked by the Smiths, which appears to be a cataloging of human beings. Meanwhile, the Bounty Hunter catches up to Mulder, Smith, and the clone, plowing into their car with a van. After knocking Mulder unconscious, the Bounty Hunter pursues a fleeing Jeremiah. Mulder returns to the hospital to see his mother, resigned to the fact that he won't be able to heal her. The Syndicate leads X to a trap at Mulder's apartment, causing his execution by the Gray-Haired Man. X crawls into the apartment and writes the letters "SRSG" in his blood before dying. The letters lead Mulder to Marita Covarrubias (Laurie Holden), the assistant to the Special Representative of the Secretary General of the United Nations. Covarrubias tells Mulder that the fields in Canada have been abandoned, but shows him a picture of the drone children tending to the shrubs. At the hospital, the Smoking Man directs the Bounty Hunter to heal Mulder's mother, telling him that the fiercest enemy is the one with nothing to lose.[1]
Production[edit]
Scenes in the episode were filmed in a ginseng field in Kamloops, British Columbia (Wisconsin pictured).
The appearance of Samantha Mulder, this time as a clone of her from when she was still a little girl, was due to series creator Chris Carter's desire to bring her back. Carter felt Samantha was an important element of the show, referring to her as being part of the lifeblood of the series. The decision to kill the character X was made at the end of the third season. The writers felt that they could only do so much with the character and decided that they would either make him a bigger player on the show, or have him pay the price for collaborating with Fox Mulder. Ultimately they decided on the latter. This led to the introduction of Marita Covarrubias at the end of the episode, Mulder's latest informant.[2]
The exterior shots of the crop fields in the episodes were filmed in ginseng fields, which writer Frank Spotnitz felt had an "otherworldly" quality to them.[3] These fields were located near the city of Kamloops, which is approximately a three-and-a-half hour drive from Vancouver;[4] a location from which the production had rarely strayed.[3] The hair, makeup and wardrobe truck ended up getting lost while driving there. A fiberglass composite lattice used by the aircraft industry was used to create the honeycombs through which the alien bounty hunter chased Mulder.[4]
The death of X was a prominent scene in the episode, and it took several takes to complete the final scene;[5] with Spotnitz feeling that "it was a good way to send him off".[3] Director R. W. Goodwin has noted that he is responsible for directing the episodes that featured the deaths of X, Deep Throat, Mulder's father, and Scully's sister.[5]
Thousands of live bees were used during production, under the understanding that the bees would not sting without a queen present. However, this theory proved incorrect, and Vanessa Morley, who played the Samantha Mulder clones, was stung during filming. She kept quiet and did not react until the scene had finished filming, leading Spotnitz to call her "a trooper".[3] The cold open for the episode, with multiple cloned boys, was achieved with motion control photography, allowing for two children to play all five of the clones—multiple takes were recorded with the boys in different positions, and with the camera controlled by a computer to follow exactly the same motions for each take, these could be seamlessly composited together.[6]
The episode title comes from the German word for "Master Race".[7] The tagline for this episode is "Everything Dies" instead of the usual "The Truth is Out There". This phrase is uttered by the bounty hunter to Mulder during the episode.[4] During the production of "Herrenvolk", Carter had already begun the pre-production phases of the series' feature film adaptation, which would be released in 1998.[8]
Broadcast and reception[edit]
This is the sort of mythology episode that would ultimately give the show a bad name, as it adjusts and shifts established elements, gives us a few token new pieces of information, but makes sure to tie up any loose end that could potentially change the show's dynamic too aggressively.
—The A.V. Club's Zack Handlen on the episode's plotting.[9]
"Herrenvolk" premiered on the Fox network on October 4, 1996, and was first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC Two on September 10, 1997.[10] The episode earned a Nielsen household rating of 13.2 with a 23 share, meaning that roughly 13.2 percent of all television-equipped households, and 23 percent of households watching television, were tuned in to the episode.[11] A total of 21.11 million viewers watched this episode during its original airing, making it the first episode of The X-Files watched by more than 20 million people.[11]
In an overview of the fourth season in Entertainment Weekly, "Herrenvolk" was rated an A-. It was noted that the episode "makes good use of locations", and the ambiguous resolution to Jeremiah Smith's plot arc was seen as a positive, as it "opens the door to all sorts of provocative potentialities".[12] Writing for The A.V. Club, Zack Handlen rated the episode a B+, though he felt it suffered from "treading-water plotting". Handlen also described the episode as being tense on its own, but suffering from "stagnation" when held as part of the series' ongoing mythology. He cited the death of X as an example of this, feeling that the scene was "appropriately shocking" and perhaps "one of the most memorable deaths in the series"—however, the almost immediate introduction of a successor character, Marita Covarrubias, was seen as "deflat[ing] the importance" of the events.[9]
Footnotes[edit]
1.Jump up ^ Meisler, pp. 19–25
2.Jump up ^ Meisler, pp. 25–27
3.^ Jump up to: a b c d Frank Spotnitz (narrator) (1996–1997). "Interview Clips: Herrenvolk". The X-Files: The Complete Fourth Season (featurette) (Fox).
4.^ Jump up to: a b c Meisler, p. 27
5.^ Jump up to: a b R. W. Goodwin, Chris Carter and Paul Rabwin (narrators) (1996–1997). "The Truth Behind Season 4". The X-Files: The Complete Fourth Season (featurette) (Fox).
6.Jump up ^ Paul Rabwin (narrator) (1996–1997). "Special Effects: Herrenvolk". The X-Files: The Complete Fourth Season (featurette) (Fox).
7.Jump up ^ Meisler, p. 25
8.Jump up ^ Edwards, pp. 191–192
9.^ Jump up to: a b Handlen, Zack (September 25, 2010). ""Herrenvolk"/"Pilot" | The X-Files/Millennium | TV Club". The A.V. Club. Retrieved January 14, 2012.
10.Jump up ^ R. W. Goodwin et al (1996–1997) (booklet). The X-Files: The Complete Fourth Season (Liner notes). Fox.
11.^ Jump up to: a b Meisler, p. 298
12.Jump up ^ "X Cyclopedia: The Ultimate Episode Guide, Season IV". Entertainment Weekly. November 29, 1996. Retrieved January 14, 2012.
ReferencesEdwards, Ted (1996). X-Files Confidential. Little, Brown and Company. ISBN 0-316-21808-1.
Meisler, Andy (1998). I Want to Believe: The Official Guide to the X-Files Volume 3. Harper Prism. ISBN 0-06-105386-4.
External links[edit]
Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: TXF Season 4
"Herrenvolk" on The X-Files official website
"Herrenvolk" at the Internet Movie Database
"Herrenvolk" at TV.com
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Home (The X-Files)
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"Home"
The X-Files episode
Three men in the rain, one is holding a shovel.
The Peacock family burying their child alive. Due to its graphic nature, "Home" became the first episode of The X-Files to receive a viewer discretion warning.
Episode no.
Season 4
Episode 2
Directed by
Kim Manners
Written by
Glen Morgan
James Wong
Production code
4X03[1]
Original air date
October 11, 1996
Running time
45 minutes[2]
Guest actors
Tucker Smallwood as Sheriff Andy Taylor
Sebastian Spence as Deputy Barney Paster
Judith Maxie as Barbara Taylor
Chris Nelson Norris as Edmund Peacock
John Trottier as George Peacock
Adrian Hughes as Sherman Peacock
Karin Konoval as Mrs. Peacock[3]
Episode chronology
← Previous
"Herrenvolk" Next →
"Teliko"
List of The X-Files episodes
"Home" is the second episode of the fourth season of the American science fiction television series The X-Files, which originally aired on the Fox Broadcasting Company network on October 11, 1996. Directed by Kim Manners, it was written by Glen Morgan and James Wong. "Home" is a "Monster-of-the-Week" story—a stand-alone plot unconnected to the overarching mythology of The X-Files. Watched by 18.85 million viewers, the initial broadcast of the episode earned a Nielsen rating of 11.9. "Home" was the first episode of The X-Files to get a viewer discretion warning for graphic content. Critics were generally complimentary, and praised the disturbing nature of the plot with several comparing it to the work of director David Lynch. Despite this, some reviewers felt that the violent subject matter went too far.
The series 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". Mulder is a believer in the abnormal; the skeptical Scully has been assigned to debunk his work, but the two have developed a deep friendship. In this episode, Mulder and Scully investigate the death of an infant with severe birth defects. Traveling to a small town isolated from the rest of the world, the pair meet a family of deformed farmers named the Peacocks who have not left their house in a decade. Initially, Mulder suspects that the mutants kidnapped and raped a woman to father the child, but the investigation uncovers a long history of incest involving the Peacock boys' very own mother.
"Home" features the return of writers Morgan and Wong, who left the show following its second season. The duo intended for their first episode back to be as ambitious and shocking as possible. They took inspiration from true events, including a story from Charlie Chaplin's autobiography about an encounter in an English tenement home. The graphic content of the script attracted controversy from an early stage in the production process. Commentators have identified themes within the episode which satirize the American dream, address the concept of globalization, and explore the nature of motherhood. It has been cited as a seminal episode of The X-Files by both crew members and critics.
Contents
[hide] 1 Plot
2 Production 2.1 Background
2.2 Writing
2.3 Filming and post-production
3 Themes
4 Broadcast and reception 4.1 Initial ratings and reception
4.2 Later reception
5 References 5.1 Footnotes
5.2 Bibliography
6 External links
Plot[edit]
In the small town of Home, Pennsylvania, a woman gives birth to a deformed baby. Three similarly deformed men bury it near their dilapidated house during a rainstorm. Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) are sent to investigate after the corpse is found by children during a sandlot ball game. While talking to Home's local sheriff Andy Taylor (Tucker Smallwood), Mulder asks whether the Peacock brothers—the inhabitants of the house nearest to the crime scene—have been questioned about the baby. Taylor informs him that the house dates back to the American Civil War and is still without electricity, running water, or heat. He also insinuates that the family has been inbreeding since the war. The three Peacock brothers watch the agents from their front porch.
During an autopsy, the agents discover that the baby suffocated by inhaling dirt—meaning it was buried alive. Scully suggests that the baby's defects could be caused by inbreeding. Mulder insists that this would be impossible, since the Peacocks supposedly live in an all-male household. Suspecting that the Peacocks may have kidnapped and raped a woman, Mulder and Scully investigate their now-abandoned residence and discover blood, scissors, and a shovel on a table. Arrest warrants are issued for all three Peacock brothers. In retaliation, the brothers break into Sheriff Taylor's house in the middle of the night, bludgeoning him and his wife to death with baseball bats.
Laboratory test results indicate the baby's parents were members of the Peacock family. When forensic evidence links the Peacocks to the Taylor murders, the agents and Deputy Barney Paster (Sebastian Spence) go to the Peacock residence to arrest the brothers. When Paster breaks down the front door, he is decapitated by a booby trap. Mulder and Scully sneak around the house and release the Peacock's pigs to lure them out of the house. While searching the residence, the agents find a quadruple amputee hidden under a bed. She turns out to be Mrs. Peacock, the mother of the boys, who has been breeding with her sons for years. The Peacock boys soon realize Mulder and Scully are inside their house and attack. The two youngest sons withstand several gunshots before dying, one of them impaled on another booby trap. Afterwards, the agents discover that Mrs. Peacock and her eldest son have escaped in their car, planning to start a new family elsewhere.[3][4][5]
Production[edit]
Background[edit]
The episode marked the return of former writers Glen Morgan (left) and James Wong (right).
"Home" marked the return of writers Glen Morgan and James Wong, who had left production of The X-Files after the second season to work on other television projects.[6][7] Before their departure, Morgan and Wong had written many episodes of the series and were instrumental in its success during its first season.[8] The two developed Space: Above and Beyond, a science fiction television series canceled after one season.[9] Subsequently, the two rejoined the staff of The X-Files and became writers for the fourth season.[10] They decided to write an ambitious story to return "with a bang," attempting to produce a script so shocking that it would push the boundaries of television.[11] Space: Above and Beyond co-star Kristen Cloke suggested that they should study books about nature and evolution in preparation for their return, to help them research topics like survivalism.[11]
Tucker Smallwood, who portrays Sheriff Andy Taylor, was the first of many actors from Space: Above and Beyond to appear in the fourth season.[3][12][13] The influence of the short-lived series was so strong that when Morgan first pitched "Home" to Chris Carter, he specifically described three actors from the show—James Morrison, Rodney Rowland and Morgan Weisser—as a trio of "big freak brothers".[11] The episode contained references to popular television, such as the use of the names Andy Taylor and Barney, which are references to characters from The Andy Griffith Show.[14]
Writing[edit]
Sources consulted by the writers included Brother's Keeper (1992), a documentary film depicting the story of the four Ward brothers,[11][15] who were "barely literate" and lived on a farm that had been passed on through their family for generations.[11][16] The brothers drew international attention following the alleged murder of William Ward by his brother Delbert.[17] With an estimated IQ of 68, Delbert escaped prosecution by claiming that the police had tricked him during interrogation.[18] Wong chose to base the Peacock family on the Ward family and incorporate their lifestyles into the script.[11] The name "Peacock" came from the former neighbors of Morgan's parents.[3]
A black and white picture depicting a man with a mustache and boiler hat.
Glen Morgan and James Wong drew inspiration from a story in Charlie Chaplin's autobiography.
The episode was also inspired by a story in Charlie Chaplin's autobiography, about the time he stayed at a tenement home while touring with a British musical theatre.[19][20] After dinner, the family took him upstairs to meet their son, pulling him out from under a bed.[20] The son was a quadruple amputee who "flopp[ed] around" while they sang and danced.[20] Morgan decided to use this incident for the basis of the screenplay, though Wong suggested that they change the son into a mother.[11][20] It took a long time for the concept to finally be featured in one of his episodes.[21][22] Elements first appeared in the episode "Humbug", written by Morgan's brother Darin Morgan, which featured a cast of circus sideshow performers and incorporated several themes that had an influence on "Home," including the use of a "benign soul trapped in the body of a monster".[5][23]
When director Kim Manners read the script for "Home," he called it "as classic a horror script [as] I'm ever going to see."[24] When the script was sent to Vancouver, British Columbia, the producers felt the show had "gone too far," calling it tasteless.[24] William B. Davis, the actor who portrayed the series main antagonist The Smoking Man, mused that Morgan and Wong were unfamiliar with the direction that the series had taken during its third season.[25] According to Davis, the screenplay read like the two deliberately wanted to go back to the origins of the series.[25] Elements of the script were mirrored in the sixth season episode "Terms of Endearment," which also featured child-murdering antagonists.[26][27][28]
Filming and post-production[edit]
A man holding a microphone, dressed in a tuxedo.
Johnny Mathis refused to allow his version of "Wonderful! Wonderful!" to be used in "Home", because of the episode's content.
"Home" was filmed in British Columbia, as were the rest of the fourth season episodes.[3][29] Most of the scenes depicting buildings were shot in and around the town of Fort Langley. Because the town was a "mix of new and old" buildings, careful reverse angles were employed to preserve the "small-town American illusion".[30] The Peacock house used in "Home" had earlier been used as the house of the antagonist in the season two episode "Aubrey". During the filming for "Aubrey," the produces noted that the house had been "untouched for years" and was "so good" that they had to return to film it again.[3][31][32] The car that served as the Peacock family's vehicle was found on a farm outside Vancouver. It was rented and restored for use in the episode, and was painted pink. Cadillac later sent the producers a letter thanking them for including one of their cars in the show.[3]
The filming of "Home" was an unpleasant experience for Tucker Smallwood. He entered production of the episode with little knowledge of the nature of The X-Files, and he was surprised when he first received the screenplay. During his first day on set, he asked other cast members if most episodes of the series were as violent. An unidentified crew member said, "this is awful even for us," and commented that it was probably the most gruesome episode of the series run.[11] During the death scene of the sheriff, Smallwood insisted that he perform his own stunts. However, he quickly changed his mind after he hit his head on the ground while performing a dive.[11] Another uncomfortable moment for the actor involved lying face down in a pool of fake blood for over an hour and a half.[11]
The episode utilizes the song "Wonderful! Wonderful!" by musician Johnny Mathis.[33][34] After reading the screenplay, Mathis refused to allow his version of the song to appear in the episode due to the graphic content of the program, and a cover version had to be created.[35] Producer David Nutter, who had a background as a singer, originally intended to record the vocals, but at the last minute another singer was used who sounded more like Mathis. Manners explained that he wanted to use the song because "certain songs have a creepy, icky quality that none of us have really openly acknowledged".[35]
"Home" was first submitted to the censors featuring audio of the baby screaming while being buried alive. Ten Thirteen Productions was asked by Fox executives to alter the audio so that the baby would be dead during the burial.[20] After omitting the controversial audio and applying some careful editing, the censors eventually approved the episode.[11][24] Manners referred to the shot of the baby's point of view while being buried as "the most awful shot of my career."[35] Manners said that he approached filming as seriously as he could, because he felt that the script was a classic. When production on "Home" was finished, he said that he loved the episode and called it one of his favorites.[36] Duchovny agreed with Manners' response to the episode, saying, "I really like that one. Although it didn't scare me."[36] He explained that it "touched" him with its themes concerning the desire to "live and to propagate."[36]
Themes[edit]
Just as silence can bind family members in a net of conspiracy and oppression, so are the inarticulate and grotesque Peacock brothers of "Home" entangled in a hopeless web of silence, ignorance, and depravity.
—Writer Sarah Stegall on the Peacock family's depiction.[5]
"Home" presents a satirical view of traditional family values, showcasing the conflict between classic American values, and more modern culture.[34][37] It contains parallels to Sam Shepard's play Buried Child, opening the narrative with the image of a child's corpse being discovered in the family's backyard.[5] Writer Sarah Stegall viewed the opening as a commentary on the ideology of the American dream, utilizing the death of a child to "speak to us of buried hopes and fears, and the dark secrets that can hold a family together."[5]
The town of Home encompasses the traditional values of the nuclear family—only for it to be victimized by the Peacock family—who represent the darker side of paradise.[38] The town depicted in "Home" showcases the positive qualities of a world without globalization, but the Peacock family exhibit the negative aspects.[39] The installment's closing scene has been described as "quintessentially American," featuring the final Peacock brother driving away in a pink Cadillac with his mother "safely stowed in the trunk," ready to explore a brand new life.[39] M. Keith Booker, in Blue-Collar Pop Culture, compared the brothers to the cannibalistic Leatherface family from The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1972).[40] Booker also identified similarities between the brothers and the family from The Hills Have Eyes (1977), expressing the view that the brothers represented "pure evil".[40]
The concept of motherhood is also explored in the episode. According to Elyce Rae Helford, in her book Fantasy Girls: Gender in the New Universe of Science Fiction and Fantasy Television, Mrs. Peacock functions as a being whose sons have "reduce[ed] her to all female functions". She is "the grotesquely willing mother who has lost any sense of individual purpose" other than to do anything for her children.[41] According to Sonia Saraiya of The A.V. Club writes that "Scully’s sympathy for a mother that she imagines to be persecuted is turned violently on its head, to reveal a monster whose priorities are not quite so straightforward."[42] In fact, the episode is also one of the first to explore Scully's desire to become a mother. M. Keither Booker, in his book Blue-Collar Pop Culture states that the episode presents the dual nature of Scully's "modern desire for motherhood," as opposed to Mrs. Peacock's "perverted notion of family".[43] Helford writes that the entry predicts "Scully's fate as the mother of 'immaculately' (technologically) conceived and monstrous progeny".[28] In the fifth season, Scully indeed learns that she is a mother, albeit accidentally, after her ova was harvested following her abduction in second season, and an alien/human hybrid named Emily is the result.[44] With the revelation that Scully is pregnant at the end of the seventh season finale, "Requiem," the concept revolving around Scully as a mother would take center stage in both season eight and nine with the birth of baby William.[45]
The use of the up-tempo "Wonderful! Wonderful!" during a violent murder sequence attracted attention for its ironic presentation.[46][47] Jan Delasara in X-Files Confidential called the murder of Sheriff Taylor and his wife the most "chilling moment in the series run," highlighted by the use of a bouncy, classic pop song.[34][46] It further establishes the episode's subversion of nostalgia, by using a well-known pop song during a death scene.[11]
Broadcast and reception[edit]
Initial ratings and reception[edit]
"Home" originally aired on the Fox network on October 11, 1996.[10][48] It earned a Nielsen rating of 11.9, with a 21 share, translating to roughly 11.9 percent of all television-equipped households, and 21 percent of households watching television, were tuned in to the episode. It was watched by approximately 18.85 million viewers.[49] "Home" also became the first of two entries to get a viewer discretion warning for graphic content, the second being the season eight episode, "Via Negativa."[50][51] "Home" was the only episode of the show that was banned from being repeated by the network due to its content.[35] In 1997, when the channel FX ran an all-day marathon of the most popular X-Files episodes, the "Home" episode was the number one choice.[14] A writer from DVD Journal commented that this was because it "was initially buried by the network after its first airing".[52]
Upon its first broadcast, "Home" received moderately positive reviews from critics, although some were critical of the violence in the episode. Entertainment Weekly gave the episode an "A," describing it as "one of TV's most disturbing hours" and as "a cinematic feast for the eyes, packed with audacious wit".[53] Sarah Stegall awarded the episode three stars out of five, comparing it positively to the more gruesome work of directors David Lynch and Tobe Hooper.[5] Stegall praised the atmosphere and commented that Morgan and Wong's "long-awaited return" to the series was "definitely disturbing, thought-provoking, and nasty."[5]
In a negative review, author Phil Farrand called "Home" his least-favorite episode of the first four seasons of the show in his book The Nitpickers Guide to the X-Files.[54][55] Paul Cornell, Keith Topping, and Martin Day, in their book X-Treme Possibilities, were critical of the violent content of the episode. Topping called the episode "sick," Cornell felt that Mulder and Scully's wisecracks made them come off as cruel, and Day felt that the violence went overboard.[14] Day, however, offered a few complimentary observations, noting that "Home" did, indeed, have merit, and that the juxtaposition of "Wonderful! Wonderful!" with the violent antics of the Peacocks was something "David Lynch would be proud of".[14]
Later reception[edit]
An older man in a dress suit standing in front of a wood background.
Series regular William B. Davis commented that the episode was so incredibly gruesome that some fans questioned if they should continue watching the series.
Several years after its initial broadcast, "Home" has continued to receive positive reviews. In a 2011 review, Todd VanDerWerff from The A.V. Club gave the episode an "A" rating and wrote that, like many episodes of The X-Files, the episode was a statement of its time and likely could not be produced in a Post-9/11 climate.[56] He praised the depiction of urban sensibilities and the frightening Peacock family, observing that it represented a "sad farewell to a weird America that was rapidly smoothing itself out."[56] Author Dean A. Kowalskin, in The Philosophy of The X-File, cited "Home," "Squeeze," and "The Host" as the most notable "monster-of-the-week" episodes.[57]
"Home" has often been cited as one of the best of the series. VanDerWerff of The A.V. Club listed it among the 10 best chapters of the series, describing it was one of the scariest hours of television that he had seen.[58] In 2009, The Vancouver Sun listed it as one of the best stand-alone episodes of the series and wrote that, because of its horrific themes of incest, the episode "doesn't pull any punches".[59] Den of Geek writer Nina Sordi placed the entry as the fourth best of the series in 2009, viewing its bleak humor and "thought-provoking moments" of dialogue as the factors that made it one of the most popular episodes.[60] In 2008, Starpulse gave the installment an honorable mention as one of the 10 best X-Files installments.[61] In 2009, Connie Ogle from PopMatters rated the Peacock family among the greatest monsters of the series, viewing that it was a miracle that the program "slipped past" the censors.[62]
"Home" has been described as one of the most scary installments of the series. Novelist Scott Heim in The Book of Lists: Horror rated it at number 10 on a list of the 10 most frightening television broadcasts.[63] Heim wrote that several aspects of the episode were creepy, including the gothic house and the family itself.[64] Tom Kessenich, in his 2002 book Examination: An Unauthorized Look at Seasons 6–9 of the X-Files, listed the program as the fifth best of the series. Kessenich reported that it was the pinnacle of the horror episodes featured on The X-Files.[46] William B. Davis said that "Home" was both well written and directed, but was so gruesome that it led to some fans questioning whether or not they wanted to continue watching the series.[25] He argued that modern horror films were far more violent than anything depicted in "Home" but, at the time, "it was quite disturbing."[25]
References[edit]
Footnotes[edit]
1.Jump up ^ Delasara (2000), p. 81.
2.Jump up ^ "The X-Files, Season 4". iTunes Store. Apple. Retrieved August 28, 2012.
3.^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g Meisler (1998), pp. 39–46
4.Jump up ^ "The X-Files: Home (1996)". AllMovie. AllRovi. Retrieved November 27, 2009.
5.^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g Stegall, Sarah (1996). "Family Plot". The Munchkyn Zone. Retrieved September 14, 2012.
6.Jump up ^ Kellner (2003), p. 158.
7.Jump up ^ Short (2011), p. 60.
8.Jump up ^ "X Cyclopedia: The Ultimate Episode Guide, Season 1". Entertainment Weekly (Time Inc). November 29, 1996. Retrieved July 7, 2011.
9.Jump up ^ Johnson-Smith (2005), p. 134.
10.^ Jump up to: a b R. W. Goodwin, et al (booklet). The X-Files: The Complete Fourth Season (Liner notes). Fox.
11.^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h i j k l Vitaris, Paula (October 1997). "X-Files: Behind the Scenes of Morgan and Wong's Controversial Episode". Cinefantastique 29 (4/5): 60.
12.Jump up ^ Booker (2002), p. 126.
13.Jump up ^ Smallwood (2007), p. 45.
14.^ Jump up to: a b c d Cornell et al (1998), pp. 284–288
15.Jump up ^ Merritt (1999), p. 394.
16.Jump up ^ Niemi (2006), p. 421.
17.Jump up ^ D'Imperio (2006), p. 34.
18.Jump up ^ The Associated Press. (18 August 2007) Lyman Ward, 85, Last of 4 Brothers, Dies. The New York Times. The New York Times Company. Retrieved 6 January 2010.
19.Jump up ^ S. Clarke, Frederick (October 1997). "Cinefantastique". Cinefantastique 29 (7): 97.
20.^ Jump up to: a b c d e Wong, James (2002). "Home": Interview with James Wong (DVD). Fox Home Entertainment.
21.Jump up ^ Booker (2002), p. 129.
22.Jump up ^ Kirby, Jonathan (October 29, 2007). "Not Just a Fluke: How Darin Morgan Saved The X-Files". PopMatters. PopMatters Media. Retrieved July 11, 2010.
23.Jump up ^ Morgan, Darin and Bowman, Rob (2005). Audio Commentary for "Jose Chung's From Outer Space" (DVD). Fox Home Entertainment.
24.^ Jump up to: a b c Rabwin, Paul, et al (2002). The Truth Behind Season 4 (DVD). Fox Home Entertainment.
25.^ Jump up to: a b c d B. Davis (2011), p. 129.
26.Jump up ^ Todd, VanDerWerff (July 21, 2012). "'Terms of Endearment'/'Through a Glass Darkly'". The A.V. Club. The Onion. Retrieved July 22, 2012.
27.Jump up ^ Kessenich (2002), p. 27.
28.^ Jump up to: a b Helford (2000), p. 83.
29.Jump up ^ Vitaris, Paula (October 1998). "X-Files: A Mixed Bag of Episodes and a Feature Film Pave the Way for Season Six". Cinefantastique 30 (7/8): 27.
30.Jump up ^ Gradnitzer and Pittson (1999) p. 122.
31.Jump up ^ Lowry (1995), pp. 188–189
32.Jump up ^ Gradnitzer and Pittson (1999) p. 70.
33.Jump up ^ Cornell et al (1998), p. 286.
34.^ Jump up to: a b c Delasara (2000), p. 125.
35.^ Jump up to: a b c d Hurwitz & Knowles (2008), pp. 91–92
36.^ Jump up to: a b c Manners, Kim and Duchovny, David (2002). FX Behind the Truth Spots: "Home" (DVD). Fox Home Entertainment.
37.Jump up ^ Booker (2012), p. 85.
38.Jump up ^ Booker (2002), p. 210.
39.^ Jump up to: a b Booker (2002), p. 209.
40.^ Jump up to: a b Booker (2012), p. 87.
41.Jump up ^ Helford (2000), p. 82.
42.Jump up ^ Nowalk, Brandon, et al (October 17, 2013). "The X-Files Goes After Incest and Genetic Mutation, Way Before it Was Cool". The A.V. Club. The Onion. Retrieved October 18, 2013.
43.Jump up ^ Booker (2012), p. 91.
44.Jump up ^ Helford (2000), pp. 83–84.
45.Jump up ^ Waddell (2006), pp. 112–113.
46.^ Jump up to: a b c Kessenich (2002), p. 219.
47.Jump up ^ Booker (2012), p. 90.
48.Jump up ^ Soter (2001), p. 125.
49.Jump up ^ Meisler (1998), p. 298.
50.Jump up ^ Spelling, Ian. (5 February 2002) "Doggett's Pursuit". The X-Files Magazine. Retrieved 1 October 2009.
51.Jump up ^ Abbott 2008, p. 330.
52.Jump up ^ DDJ. "The X-Files: Season Six". DVD Journal. Retrieved January 11, 2012.
53.Jump up ^ "X Cyclopedia: X Cyclopedia: The Ultimate Episode Guide, Season 4". Entertainment Weekly (Time Inc). November 29, 1996. Retrieved December 30, 2011.
54.Jump up ^ Farrand (1997), p. 222.
55.Jump up ^ Farrand (1997), p. 271.
56.^ Jump up to: a b VanDerWerff, Todd (October 2, 2010). "'Home'/'Gehenna'". The A.V. Club. The Onion. Retrieved December 31, 2011.
57.Jump up ^ Kowalski 2007, p. 77.
58.Jump up ^ VanDerWerff, Todd (July 20, 2012). "10 Must-See Episodes of The X-Files". The A.V. Club. The Onion. Retrieved July 20, 2012.
59.Jump up ^ "A Look Back on Some of the Best Stand-Alone Episodes from the X-Files Series". The Vancouver Sun. September 12, 2009. Retrieved December 30, 2011.
60.Jump up ^ Sordi, Nina (September 22, 2009). "Top 10 X-Files Episodes". Den of Geek. Retrieved December 30, 2011.
61.Jump up ^ Payne, Andrew (July 25, 2008). "'X-Files' 10 Best Episodes". Starpulse. Starpulse.com. Retrieved December 30, 2011.
62.Jump up ^ Ogle, Connie (September 29, 2009). "The X-Factor: A Look Back at 'The X-Files' Greatest Monsters". PopMatters. PopMatters Media. Retrieved July 28, 2009.
63.Jump up ^ Heim (2008), p. 327.
64.Jump up ^ Heim (2008), p. 330.
Bibliography[edit]
Abott, Stacey; Lavery, David (2011). TV Goes to Hell: An Unofficial Road Map of Supernatural. ECW Press. ISBN 978-1-77041-020-6.
Davis, William B. (2011). Where There's Smoke: Musings of a Cigarette Smoking Man, a Memoir. ECW Press. ISBN 978-1-77041-052-7.
Booker, M. Keith (2002). Strange TV: Innovative Television Series From The Twilight Zone To The X-Files. Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-313-32373-7.
Booker, M. Keith (2012). Blue-Collar Pop Culture. Praeger. ISBN 978-0-313-39198-9.
Cornell, Paul; Day, Martin; Topping, Keith (1998). X-Treme Possibilities: A Comprehensively Expanded Rummage Through Five Years of the X-Files. Virgin Publications, Ltd. ISBN 978-0-7535-0228-0.
D'Imperio, Chuck (2006). Great Graves of Upstate New York!. AuthorHouse. ISBN 978-1-4208-9676-3.
Delasara, Jan (2000). PopLit, PopCult and The X-Files: A Critical Exploration. McFarland & Company. ISBN 978-0-7864-0789-7.
Farrand, Phil (1997). The Nitpicker's Guide for X-Philes. Dell Publishing. ISBN 978-0-440-50808-3.
Gradnitzer, Louisa (2002). X Marks the Spot: On Location With The X-Files. Arsenal Pulp Press. ISBN 978-1-55152-066-7.
Hurwitz, Matt; Knowles, Chris (2008). The Complete X-Files: Behind the Series the Myths and the Movies. Insight Editions. ISBN 978-1-933784-72-4.
Helford, Elyce Rae (2000). Fantasy Girls: Gender in the New Universe of Science Fiction and Fantasy Television. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 978-0-8476-9835-6.
Johnson-Smith, Jan (2005). American Science Fiction TV: Star Trek, Stargate, and Beyond. Wesleyan. ISBN 978-0-7864-4315-4
Kellner, Douglas (2003). Media Spectacle. Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-26829-5
Peterson, Mark C. E.; Flannery, Richard; Louzecky, David (2007). Kowalski, Dean A., ed. The Philosophy of The X-Files. University Press of Kentucky. ISBN 978-0-8131-9227-7.
Lowry, Brian (1995). The Truth is Out There: The Official Guide to the X-Files. Harper Prism. ISBN 978-0-06-105330-6.
Meisler, Andy (1998). I Want to Believe: The Official Guide to the X-Files, Vol. 3. Harper Perennial. ISBN 978-0-06-105386-3
Merritt, Greg (1999). Celluloid Mavericks: A History of American Independent Film Making. Harper Perennial. ISBN 978-1-56025-232-0
Niemi, Robert (2006). History in the Media: Film and Television. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 978-1-57607-952-2
Short, Sue (2011). Cult Telefantasy Series. McFarland & Company. ISBN 978-0-7864-4315-4
Smallwood, Tuckler (2016). Return To Eden. Lulu. ISBN 978-1-84728-169-2
Soter, Tom (2001). Investigating Couples: A Critical Analysis of the Thin Man, the Avengers and The X-Files. McFarland & Company. ISBN 978-0-7864-1123-8.
Waddell, Terrie (2006). Mis/takes: Archetype, Myth and Identity in Screen Fiction. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-58391-721-3.
Wallace, Amy; Howison, Del; Heim, Scott (2008). The Book of Lists: Horror: An All-New Collection Featuring Stephen King, Eli Roth, Ray Bradbury, and More, with an Introduction by Gahan Wilson. Harper Perennial. ISBN 978-0-06-153726-4
This is a good article. Click here for more information.
External links[edit]
Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: The X-Files
"Home" at the Internet Movie Database
"Home" at TV.com
[hide]
v·
t·
e
The X-Files episodes
Seasons: 1·
2·
3·
4·
5·
6·
7·
8·
9
Season 4
"Herrenvolk"·
"Home"·
"Teliko"·
"Unruhe"·
"The Field Where I Died"·
"Sanguinarium"·
"Musings of a Cigarette Smoking Man"·
"Tunguska"·
"Terma"·
"Paper Hearts"·
"El Mundo Gira"·
"Leonard Betts"·
"Never Again"·
"Memento Mori"·
"Kaddish"·
"Unrequited"·
"Tempus Fugit"·
"Max"·
"Synchrony"·
"Small Potatoes"·
"Zero Sum"·
"Elegy"·
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Categories: 1996 television episodes
Incest in television
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Teliko
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
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"Teliko"
The X-Files episode
Xfilesteliko.jpg
The pigment loss of one of the black victims. To achieve this look, several layers of cover-up cream and white powder needed to be applied.
Episode no.
Season 4
Episode 3
Directed by
James Charleston
Written by
Howard Gordon
Production code
4X04[1]
Original air date
October 18, 1996
Running time
44 minutes[2]
Guest actors
Mitch Pileggi as Walter Skinner
Laurie Holden as Marita Covarrubias
Willie Amakye as Samuel Aboah
Carl Lumbly as Marcus Duff
Don Stewart as Businessman
Maxine Guess as Flight Attendant
Bob Morrisey as Dr. Simon Bruin
Brendan Beiser as Agent Pendrell
Dexter Bell as Alfred Kittel
Zakes Mokae as Diabria
Sean Campbell as Lt. Madsen[3]
Episode chronology
← Previous
"Home" Next →
"Unruhe"
List of season 4 episodes
List of The X-Files episodes
"Teliko" is the third episode of the fourth season of the American science fiction television series The X-Files. It was written by Howard Gordon and directed by James Charleston. The episode originally aired in the United States on October 18, 1996 on the Fox network. It is a "Monster-of-the-Week" story, a stand-alone plot which is unconnected to the series' wider mythology. "Teliko" earned a Nielsen rating rating of 11.3, being watched by 18.01 million people upon its initial broadcast.
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 the unexplained deaths of several African and African-American people whose skin color has turned white as the result of either a rare medical disorder or a bizarre curse.
The episode features the second appearance by Laurie Holden as Marita Covarrubias, following her debut in the fourth season premiere "Herrenvolk". Carl Lumbly guest stars as a social worker. Inspired by the topics of racial discrimination, "Teliko" explores xenophobia and prejudice. The make-up effects in the episode were difficult to apply and took several hours to be completed. The episode received mixed reviews from critics, who compared the episode to older episodes of the series. The racial topics of the episode drew mixed attention.
Contents
[hide] 1 Plot
2 Production
3 Themes
4 Broadcast and reception
5 References 5.1 Bibliography
6 External links
Plot[edit]
On an international airline flight, an African man enters the bathroom, where he is attacked by a man exhibiting albino traits. The man leaves the bathroom with his normal black skin tone. After the plane lands, a flight attendant discovers the victim in the bathroom, devoid of his skin pigmentation.
Three months later, Walter Skinner (Mitch Pileggi) calls in Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) and informs her that four African-American men have been kidnapped in Philadelphia. One of them has been found dead exhibiting de-pigmentation. A specialist from CDC believes that the men have died from a disease, and has requested Scully to investigate the case. Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) joins Scully and has some of the evidence samples from Sanders' autopsy analyzed by Agent Pendrell, who finds a seed from a rare West African passionflower. Mulder takes the seed to his UN informant Marita Covarrubias and asks for her help; she provides him with information on the incident on the plane.
Meanwhile, Samuel Aboah (Willie Amakye), an African immigrant who is seeking citizenship, attacks a young black man while he is waiting for a bus, kidnapping him. Investigating Kittel's disappearance, Mulder finds a seed at the bus stop. They have Marcus Duff (Carl Lumbly), a social worker who is helping Aboah apply for citizenship, cross-reference the names from the flight with those applying for premanent residency or a work visa. This leads them to Aboah, who runs when they try to question him, but they manage to tackle him. Aboah appears to have no symptoms of disease when he is analyzed at a local medical center, but Scully plans to examine him more.
Mulder sees Diabra, a diplomat from Burkina Faso. Diabra tells him an old folk tale about the Teliko, which were nocturnal "spirits of the air". Meanwhile, Scully examines a PET scan of Aboah, which shows that he has no pituitary gland. Aboah escapes the hospital and meets Duff in a car; he paralyses Duff in the same manner as his other victims and inserts a long metal object up his nose. A policeman finds Duff and requests an ambulance, and the police tell Mulder and Scully that they are sweeping the area for Aboah. Driving around, Mulder tells Scully that he thinks Aboah is the mythical Teliko. He stops at a demolition site, remembering that Pendrell found asbestos fibers on Sanders' body. Mulder and Scully split up at the site; Scully finds the missing men dead, and Mulder is pierced as Kittel was. Scully finds him, calls for medical help, and shoots Aboah. In her field journal, Scully writes that Aboah will stand trial if he lives long enough. She muses that Aboah's condition and survival may be discovered by science, but humans have a fear of an alien among them which causes them to "deceive, inveigle, and obfuscate".[3]
Production[edit]
The concept of the episode originated from Howard Gordon, who wanted to write an episode with an immortal antagonist.
Writer and executive producer Howard Gordon was originally working on an episode about someone who appeared to be immortal, but after discussions with consulting producer Ken Horton he added in the notion of xenophobia and "melanin-sucking albino vampires". Series creator Chris Carter approved the storyline, but the first draft of the script was met with disapproval by the writing staff, and the story was restructured and rewritten.[4] As the episode entered pre-production, Carter asked Gordon to refine the script to give it a purpose, and it was then that Gordon came up with the theme of "deceive, inveigle, and obfuscate".[4] The same phrase is also uttered by Scully in the episode during her closing sentiments.[5]
This replaces the usual "The Truth is Out There" tagline during the title sequence of the episode.[6] Carter also came up with Aboah's weapons used to extract the pituitary gland that he kept hidden in his esophagus.[6] "Teliko" is Greek for "end", though it is the name of a "spirit of the air" in African mythology which is sometimes thought to be an albino.[6] Fellow writer John Shiban suggested that the Teliko emerge from the country of Burkina Faso based on his former job of programming foreign air-mail rates for a computer software company.[6]
Casting for the episode was difficult, as the production team wanted real Africans. They auditioned every one they could find, including an African theater troupe that was passing by.[6] The role of Marcus Duff eventually went to Carl Lumbly, who was known for his role on CBS's Cagney & Lacey.[6] The role of Aboah went to Willie Amakye, a Ghanaian Olympic runner who had just returned to his home in Southern California from the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia.[6] To appear albino, Amakye's skin underwent several layers of cover-up cream, layers of white powder, and a little pink powder for color. He also wore contacts for the transparent pink eyes.[6] Amakye's hair was dyed orange for post-production special effects to change it back and forth from black and white.[6] As revealed on his resident alien card, Aboah's birthday is September 25, a reference to the birthday of Gillian Anderson's daughter.[6]
"Teliko"'s opening sequence makes use of an airplane cabin set built for the later season episodes "Tempus Fugit" and "Max", though the set's hydraulic shaking rig had not been completed yet.[6] Composer Mark Snow used African drums, flutes, and chants in his score for the episode. He also used samples from "The Bulgarian Women's Chorus", a recording known in Southern California in promotion for a local radio station.[6][7] Compositions by Snow often utilized elements of African tribal drums, but "Teliko" features rather prominent usage.[8]
Themes[edit]
Law, or more usually, fails to be fully integrated into the civil order. In the "Teliko" example I have noted from the X-Files, this other is of course the illegal immigrant who lives among the ethnic minorities of his own color and preys upon them. Thus, the image of otherness in The X-Files is conjoined to a major concern of political systems in the West.
—Writer Henry Schwarz on the themes of the episode.[9]
"Teliko" explores the concept of the other, with the "other" representing characters of a different race.[8][9] In the episode, the US and its culture are treated as the norm, wherein the African culture in the episode is depicted in an intimidating way. African Folk tales, which are not often considered strange in their own nation, are shown in the episode as ominous and bizarre.[9] The episode prominently features tribal music, and according to Allan F. Moore in his book Analyzing Popular Music, the usage of the episode reinforces a "dangerous but culturally dangerous slippage between the others."[8] The writer claimed that linking the supernatural ethnic character to the tribal music adds a more "exotic" feeling to the character.[10]
By making the character seem more unnatural, it adds an "extraterrestrial" quality to him, making him seem even more unusual in nature.[10] Charles D. Martin mused in The White African American Body that "blackness is clearly attached to racial identity" in the episode, commenting that the episode equates the cultural understanding of race to mere skin color.[11] Martin cites Mulder's joke about Michael Jackson as a self-aware comment on "another contemporary white negro" which reinforces a stereotype.[12]
Zoe Detsi-Diamanti, in her book The Flesh Made Text Made Flesh, commented on the episode's depiction of race.[13] She argues that the episode makes the point that a "perfectly normal" black man looks a certain way, pointing out that the episode states that a black man is defined by a "certain skin pigment".[13] Any exception to this norm is depicted in a negative manner, with science being the only answer to unnatural phenomena.[13] Dean Kowalski agreed with the analysis in The Philosophy of The X-Files, commenting that one of the main themes of the episodes revolved around science's attempt to explain folk theories and paranormal phenomena.[14] The episode's antagonist Aboah, escapes the FBI by fitting into a dinner cart, a feat that was compared to slaves escaping in unconformable slave ships.[13]
Broadcast and reception[edit]
"Teliko" originally aired on the Fox network on October 18, 1996.[15] The episode marked the final time that an episode of the series aired on a Friday.[16] This episode earned a Nielsen rating of 11.3, with a 20 share, meaning that roughly 11.3 percent of all television-equipped households, and 20 percent of households watching television, were tuned in to the episode. "Teliko" was seen by 18.01 million viewers on first broadcast.[17]
The episode received generally mixed reviews from critics. Entertainment Weekly gave "Teliko" a grade of "C–", finding it similar to the first season episode "Squeeze".[18] Zack Handlen of The A.V. Club gave it a "B–", also noting its similarity to "Squeeze" and finding that it had uncomfortable racial overtones. However, he did feel that the climax was "wonderfully tense" and "one of the better climaxes the show's done".[19] Sarah Stegall awarded the episode two stars out of five, also noting the similarities to "Squeeze".[20] She criticized the depiction of Mulder and Scully, commenting that the two lacked quality scenes together. She did compliment the scene where Agent Pendrell is disappointed at not seeing Scully, describing it as the highlight of the episode.[20] In his book The Nitpicker's Guide for X-Philes, author Phil Farrand pointed out an inconsistency in the episode; before the timeline of the episode, Aboah only kills four men in three months, but during the duration of the episode he kills two men in a matter of days.[21]
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ R. W. Goodwin, et al (booklet). The X-Files: The Complete Fourth Season (Liner notes). Fox.
2.Jump up ^ "The X-Files, Season 4". iTunes Store. Apple. Retrieved 28 August 2012.
3.^ Jump up to: a b Meisler, pp. 48–56
4.^ Jump up to: a b Meisler, p. 56
5.Jump up ^ Howie, p. 163
6.^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h i j k l Meisler, p. 57
7.Jump up ^ Diamanti, p. 127
8.^ Jump up to: a b c F. Moore, p. 74
9.^ Jump up to: a b c Meisler, p. 106
10.^ Jump up to: a b F. Moore, p. 75
11.Jump up ^ D. Martin, p. 162
12.Jump up ^ D. Martin, p. 163
13.^ Jump up to: a b c d Detsi-Diamanti, p. 129
14.Jump up ^ Kowalski , p. 162
15.Jump up ^ R.W. Goodwin, Kim Manners, et al (booklet). The X-Files: The Complete Fourth Season (Liner notes). Fox.
16.Jump up ^ Hurwitz and Knowles, p. 92
17.Jump up ^ Meisler, p. 298
18.Jump up ^ "X Cyclopedia: The Ultimate Episode Guide, Season IV". Entertainment Weekly. November 29, 1996. Retrieved June 16, 2012.
19.Jump up ^ Handlen, Zack (October 9, 2010). ""Teliko"/"Dead Letters"". The A.V. Club. Retrieved June 16, 2012.
20.^ Jump up to: a b Stegall, Sarah (1996). "Deja Tooms". The Munchkyn Zone. Retrieved 14 September 2012.
21.Jump up ^ Ferand, p. 173
Bibliography[edit]
Meisler, Andy (1998). I Want to Believe: The Official Guide to the X-Files Volume 3. Harper Prism.
Diamanti, Zoe Detsi (2007). The Flesh Made Text Made Flesh. Harper Prism.
Schwarz, Henry (2000). A Companion to Postcolonial Studies (Blackwell Companions in Cultural Studies). Wiley-Blackwell.
F. Moore, Alan (2009). Analyzing Popular Music. Cambridge University Press.
Howie, Luke (2002). The White African American Body: A Cultural and Literary Exploration. Rutgers University Press.
D. Martin, Charles (2009). Terrorism, the Worker and the City. Gower.
Kowalski, Dean (2007). The Philosophy of The X-Files. The University Press of Kentucky.
Farrand, Phil (1997). The Nitpicker's Guide for X-Philes. Dell Publishing. ISBN 0-440-50808-8.
Hurwitz, Matt, Chris Knowles (2008). The Complete X-Files. Insight Editions. ISBN 1-933784-72-5.
External links[edit]
Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: TXF Season 4
"Teliko" at the Internet Movie Database
"Teliko" at TV.com
[hide]
v·
t·
e
The X-Files episodes
Seasons: 1·
2·
3·
4·
5·
6·
7·
8·
9
Season 4
"Herrenvolk"·
"Home"·
"Teliko"·
"Unruhe"·
"The Field Where I Died"·
"Sanguinarium"·
"Musings of a Cigarette Smoking Man"·
"Tunguska"·
"Terma"·
"Paper Hearts"·
"El Mundo Gira"·
"Leonard Betts"·
"Never Again"·
"Memento Mori"·
"Kaddish"·
"Unrequited"·
"Tempus Fugit"·
"Max"·
"Synchrony"·
"Small Potatoes"·
"Zero Sum"·
"Elegy"·
"Demons"·
"Gethsemane"
Categories: The X-Files (season 4) episodes
1996 television episodes
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Unruhe
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
This is a good article. Click here for more information.
"Unruhe"
The X-Files episode
Unruhe.jpg
The psychic photograph. A majority of the episode is spent discovering the purpose or meaning behind the mysterious image.
Episode no.
Season 4
Episode 4
Directed by
Rob Bowman
Written by
Vince Gilligan
Production code
4X02
Original air date
October 27, 1996
Running time
44 minutes
Guest actors
Pruitt Taylor Vince as Gerry Schnauz
Sharon Alexander as Mary Lefante
Scott Heindl as Boyfriend
Walter Marsh as Druggist
Angela Donahue as Alice Brandt
William MacDonald as Officer Trott
Ron Chartier as Postal Inspector Puett
Bob Dawson as Iskenderian
Michael Cram as Officer Corning
Christopher Royal as Photo Tech
Michele Melland as ER Doctor
John D. Sampson as Second Cop
Episode chronology
← Previous
"Teliko" Next →
"The Field Where I Died"
List of season 4 episodes
List of The X-Files episodes
"Unruhe" is the fourth episode of the fourth season of the American science fiction television series The X-Files. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on October 27, 1996, and was the first episode to air on Sunday night when the show was moved from Fridays to Sundays. "Unruhe" was written by Vince Gilligan, directed by Rob Bowman, and featured a guest appearance from Pruitt Taylor Vince. The episode is a "Monster-of-the-Week" story, unconnected to the series' wider mythology. "Unruhe" earned a Nielsen rating of 11.7, being watched by 19.10 million people upon its initial broadcast.
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 a man who kidnaps women and lobotomizes them. The agents' only clues to catching him are distorted photos of the victims taken just before their kidnapping.
Gilligan wrote the episode after being inspired by stories of serial killers he read as a child. Other inspirations include the concept of thought-photographs, and common fears associated with dentist chairs. The episode received a generally positive reception, though critics criticized the plotline featuring Scully being kidnapped. Critical attention also expressed a positive opinion of how scary the episode was in nature. Guest actor Taylor Vince received positive reviews as the episode's antagonist.
Contents
[hide] 1 Plot
2 Production
3 Broadcast and reception
4 References 4.1 Footnotes
4.2 Bibliography
5 External links
Plot[edit]
In Traverse City, Michigan, a young woman goes to a local pharmacy to get her passport photo taken. While waiting for it to develop, she returns to her car and finds that her boyfriend has been murdered. The hooded killer renders Lefante unconscious with a hypodermic needle, then kidnaps her. Meanwhile, in the pharmacy, the elderly clerk discovers Lefante's developed photo, showing her screaming amidst a distorted background.
Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) join the case. When discussing the photograph, Mulder tells Scully about Ted Serios, who was famous for making photos which showed what was in his mind. He takes pictures using a camera found in Lefante's apartment, and they all appear the same as the one from the pharmacy. Mulder deduces that the kidnapper has been stalking his victims.
Lefante turns up alive, but appears to have been given an improperly-performed lobotomy. Another woman, Alice Brandt, is later kidnapped. She wakes up bound in a dentist's chair with her kidnapper brandishing an ice pick and speaking in German. Mulder returns to Washington, D.C. to examine the photos and finds no evidence that they were doctored. By closely examining the photos, he finds the face of an old man as well as the shadow of the kidnapper.
Scully, finding a construction company referenced at both crime scenes, investigates the possible lead, meeting Gerry Schnauz (Pruitt Taylor Vince), who worked near both scenes of the kidnapping. The man attempts to run by Scully, but she pursues and catches him. The agents interrogate Schnauz, who was once institutionalized for beating his father with an axe handle. When questioned on the location of Brandt, Schnauz claims she is safe from the "howlers". Brandt is soon found in the woods, lobotomized. Mulder believes that Schnauz thinks he is rescuing his victims from howlers and that the photos show his nightmares.
Schnauz manages to escape police custody and then robs a nearby drug store, taking cameras, film, and an assortment of drug-related materials. While investigating the robbery, Scully is knocked unconscious and is kidnapped by Schnauz. Mulder heads to the office where Schnauz's father used to work as a dentist, and finds the chair missing. Scully awakens bound to the chair with Schnauz claiming he's going to kill the howlers in her head. Schnauz takes a photo of himself, then prepares to lobotomize Scully. Mulder, having found a clue in the photo of Scully from the drugstore, finds a trailer in a cemetery and realizes it belongs to Schnauz. He manages to break in and shoot Schnauz in the nick of time. Mulder looks at the photo Schnauz took, in which he is lying dead on the floor.[1][2]
Production[edit]
A dentistry chair was prominently featured in the episode because Vince Gilligan thought most people had a natural fear of going to the dentist.
Writer Vince Gilligan was inspired to write the episode based on Time-Life mail order books he read as a child discussing the lives of serial killers.[1] One of the books featured mass murderer Howard Unruh.[1] The episode was also inspired by Ted Serios, whose thought-photographs were mentioned by Fox Mulder in the episode.[1] The use of the dentist chair where Schnauz sat his victims was included considering people's common fear of the dentist.[1] Gilligan had written the role of Schnauz with Taylor Vince in mind when he saw him in the Adrian Lyne film Jacob's Ladder.[1] Vince had been approached to be a guest star on the show in the first season but declined the role due to it being too small.[1]
Most of the scenes featuring Schnauz on plasterer's stilts were shot using stuntmen.[1] In the scene where Scully meets Schnauz using them a safety cable was attached to Vince to keep him upright that was edited out in post-production.[1] Ken Hawryliw created the lobotomy instrument Schnauz used from scratch when he was unsuccessful with his attempts to borrow one from a doctor or hospital.[1] The title of the episode, "Unruhe", is the German word for "unrest" or "anxiety". When Scully talks in German to Schnauz, she says "Ich habe keine Unruhe" (literally "I do not have anxiety").[1][3] The episode prominently features the drug scopolamine which can cause people to quickly become unconscious, and twilight sleep, which is a condition that can render people unconscious following great moments of pain.[1]
Broadcast and reception[edit]
Vince Gilligan's writing received positive reviews, with comparisons to his prior episode "Pusher" being made.[4]
"Unruhe" premiered on the Fox network on October 27, 1996.[5] This episode earned a Nielsen rating of 11.7, with a 18 share, meaning that roughly 11.7 percent of all television-equipped households, and 18 percent of households watching television, were tuned in to the episode. It was viewed by 19.10 million people.[6] This episode was the first episode in the series that was broadcast out of order in the series' production schedule. Once the producers of the show knew that they would be moving to Sundays starting with the fourth episode of the season, they decided to push this episode back, feeling that it would be an excellent representative of the show for its first Sunday night episode and a better representative than the fourth episode of the season filmed, "Teliko".[1]
Entertainment Weekly gave the episode a "C", feel that the "interesting concept" of the psychic photographs were ruined by "boilerplate Scully-in-distress shtick".[7] Todd VanDerWerff of The A.V. Club was more positive, grading it as a "B+". He felt that its "greatest virtue" was being terrifying and that it worked for being an "urban fairytale". However, he also criticized it for putting Scully in danger.[8] Sarah Stegall awarded the episode four stars out of five, praising the writing by Gilligan, who she commented was "genius for tight confrontation scenes", complimenting the atmosphere and presentation of the episode.[4] She criticized the final scene featuring Scully tied up with duct-tape, commenting that the way she was loosely tied up was un realistic.[4] The fact that the episode's "absurd concept" was simply a "side-story" also drew positive attention, summarizing her review with, "otherwise a creepy and engaging detective story".[4]
Taylor Vince's performance as Gerry Schnauz received positive critical attention. Writer Barbara Barnett in her book Chasing Zebras stated that he was memorable as a "psychotic killer".[9] John Kenneth Muirin his book Horror Films of the 1990s wrote that Taylor Vince portrayed one of the "memorable and frightening serial killers" of the series.[10] In a later book, Terror Television American Series 1970–1999, Muir praised the episode as a whole, writing that the episode "is nightmare provoking because it subjects a wonderful individual to a terrifying situation which will remove all traces of individuality from that character".[11] Television Without Pity ranked "Unruhe" the sixth most nightmare-inducing episode of the show.[12]
References[edit]
Footnotes[edit]
1.^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h i j k l m Meisler (1998), pp. 36–37
2.Jump up ^ Soter (2001), p. 204
3.Jump up ^ Gradnitzer (1999), p. 120
4.^ Jump up to: a b c d Stegall, Sarah (1996). "The Light of Reason". The Munchkyn Zone. Retrieved 14 September 2012.
5.Jump up ^ R.W. Goodwin, Kim Manners, et al (booklet). The X-Files: The Complete Fourth Season (Liner notes). Fox.
6.Jump up ^ Meisler (1998), p. 298
7.Jump up ^ "X Cyclopdia: The Ultimate Episode Guide, Season IV". Entertainment Weekly. November 29, 1996. Retrieved June 9, 2012.
8.Jump up ^ VanDerWerff, Todd (October 16, 2010). "'Unruhe'/'The Judge' | The X-Files/Millennium | TV Club". The A.V. Club. Retrieved June 9, 2012.
9.Jump up ^ Barnett (2010), pp. 36–37
10.Jump up ^ Kenneth Muir (2007), p. 80
11.Jump up ^ Kenneth Muir (2001), p. 258
12.Jump up ^ "Photo Gallery – X-Files: The 11 Most Nightmare-Inducing Episodes Ever – TV Shows & TV Series Pictures & Photos". Television Without Pity. Retrieved February 28, 2012.
Bibliography[edit]
Barnett, Barbara (2010). Chasing Zebras: The Unofficial Guide to House, M.D. Harper Prism.
Gradnitzer, Louisa; Pittson, Todd (1999). X Marks the Spot: On Location with The X-Files. Arsenal Pulp Press.
Kenneth Muir, John (2001). Terror Television American Series 1970–1999. McFarland & Company.
Kenneth Muir, John (2007). Horror Films of the 1990s. Virgin Books.
Meisler, Andy (1998). I Want to Believe: The Official Guide to the X-Files Volume 3. Harper Prism.
Soter, Tom (2001). Investigating Couples: A Critical Analysis of the Thin Man, the Avengers and the X-Files. McFarland & Company.
External links[edit]
Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: TXF Season 4
"Unruhe" at the Internet Movie Database
"Unruhe" at TV.com
[hide]
v·
t·
e
The X-Files episodes
Seasons: 1·
2·
3·
4·
5·
6·
7·
8·
9
Season 4
"Herrenvolk"·
"Home"·
"Teliko"·
"Unruhe"·
"The Field Where I Died"·
"Sanguinarium"·
"Musings of a Cigarette Smoking Man"·
"Tunguska"·
"Terma"·
"Paper Hearts"·
"El Mundo Gira"·
"Leonard Betts"·
"Never Again"·
"Memento Mori"·
"Kaddish"·
"Unrequited"·
"Tempus Fugit"·
"Max"·
"Synchrony"·
"Small Potatoes"·
"Zero Sum"·
"Elegy"·
"Demons"·
"Gethsemane"
Categories: The X-Files (season 4) episodes
1996 television episodes
Screenplays by Vince Gilligan
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The Field Where I Died
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Jump to: navigation, search
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"The Field Where I Died"
The X-Files episode
TheFieldPicturesXFiles.jpg
Fox Mulder looks at pictures of his past life. The photographs were created by combining different public domain photographs with computer effects.
Episode no.
Season 4
Episode 5
Directed by
Rob Bowman
Written by
Glen Morgan
James Wong
Production code
4X05
Original air date
November 3, 1996
Running time
44 minutes
Guest actors
Mitch Pileggi as Walter Skinner
Kristen Cloke as Melissa Riedal-Ephesian
Michael Dobson as BATF Agent
Michael Massee as Vernon Ephesian
Les Gallagher as Attorney
Dough Abrahams as Harbaugh
Donna White as Therapist
Anthony Harrison as Agent Riggins
Douglas Roy Dack as Mighty Man[1]
Episode chronology
← Previous
"Unruhe" Next →
"Sanguinarium"
List of The X-Files episodes
"The Field Where I Died" is the fifth episode of the fourth season of the American science fiction television series The X-Files. It was written by Glen Morgan and James Wong, and directed by Rob Bowman. The episode originally aired in the United States on November 3, 1996 on the Fox network. It is a "Monster-of-the-Week" story, a stand-alone plot which is unconnected to the series' wider mythology. This episode earned a Nielsen rating of 12.3 and was seen by 19.85 million viewers upon its initial broadcast.
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's search for an informant inside a cult compound leads him and Scully to one of the cult leader's wives. What they soon discover is an unexpectedly close connection with the woman involving reincarnation. Scully discovers that spirits inhabit living beings in order to tell their stories. After Mulder's regression scene, he details all of his past lives.
Morgan and Wong wrote the episode specifically for Kristen Cloke, who had previously been the protagonist of their science fiction series Space: Above and Beyond. The two also wanted to write an episode to challenge Duchovny as an actor. The installment was also inspired by Ken Burns' eponymous Civil War documentary. "The Field Where I Died" received mixed to positive reviews from television critics, with many praising the episode's exploration of loss and grief as well as Cloke's acting. Others, however, felt that the entry was bogged down by Duchovny's performance and the entry's over-use of emotion.
Contents
[hide] 1 Plot
2 Production
3 Broadcast and reception
4 References 4.1 Footnotes
4.2 Bibliography
5 External links
Plot[edit]
When authorities receive a telephone tip from someone named Sidney, the FBI and BATF stage a raid at Temple of the Seven Stars, a religious cult in Apison, Tennessee, which Sidney claims is abusing children and has a cache of illegal firearms. When they arrive they find no sign of the cult leader Vernon Ephesian (Michael Massee), and believe he was tipped off that they would arrive. Agent Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) experiences dĆ©jĆ vu and proceeds out of the temple to a neighboring field, followed by his partner Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson). Mulder leads her to a trapdoor in the field and opens it, finding Ephesian inside with his six wives, who are all about to drink a red liquid. Mulder prevents them from drinking the liquid and handcuffs Ephesian, but he feels a strange connection to one of the women, Melissa Riedal-Ephesian (Kristen Cloke), as if he has seen her before.
Assistant director Walter Skinner (Mitch Pileggi) warns the FBI and BATF that Ephesian and his wives will be released in a day unless they can find hard evidence of the weapons or Sidney. Mulder and Scully question Ephesian, and he states that there was no member of the temple named Sidney. They then interview Melissa, who suddenly begins to talk like Sidney and states that the President of the United States is Harry Truman. Scully believes she is exhibiting multiple personality disorder, but Mulder thinks she is recalling a past life. Mulder and Scully take her back to the temple, where she takes on the personality of a Civil War woman, who says that the weapons were hidden in a secret bunker in a field. She also states that Mulder, in a past life, was in the field with her, and she watched him die.
Mulder takes Melissa to regression hypnosis for her to recount her past lives. She implies that she and Mulder have met over their past lives, only in passing. To confirm her events, Mulder has himself hypnotized. He recalls a time when he was a Jewish Polish woman with a son, who has the same soul as his sister Samantha. His father, who was Scully, is dead, and he is prevented from seeing him by a Gestapo officer who is The Smoking Man. His husband is being taken away from him to a Nazi concentration camp; it seems that Melissa's soul is connected to Mulder's. Mulder also recalls the time he died in the field with his sergeant, who is Scully. In their Civil War lives, he is a man named Sullivan Biddle, while Melissa is Sarah Kavanaugh. Scully finds pictures of the two of them in the county's hall of records and gives them to Mulder.
The FBI and BATF plan to make another search of the compound. Ephesian, realizing that he will not survive another siege, passes out poison to the cult members and all but he and Melissa die, Melissa having feigned drinking it. As Mulder rushes into the temple, Ephesian forces Melissa to drink the poison, and when Mulder arrives he finds both of them dead. Mulder caresses Melissa, looking out into the field.[1]
Production[edit]
The penultimate scene has been compared to the Waco siege.
Writers Glen Morgan and James Wong developed the episode specially for Kristen Cloke, both for her experience as the protagonist of their series Space: Above and Beyond, to translate Morgan's feelings as his friendship with Cloke became an emotional relationship, and for showcasing her acting. Morgan stated, "I knew she did a lot of characters and voices, so I wanted to incorporate that ... I wanted to write something for her that challenged her".[2] Cloke did research on multiple personality disorders before filming, and based the various personalities on people she knew.[3] Morgan also stated that he "wanted to write something for David Duchovny that challenged him." When pitching the idea to director Rob Bowman, the writers stated they wanted "this episode to feel like the part in Ken Burns' Civil War documentary where they read the Sullivan Ballou letter."[2] Michael Massee wanted his characterization of Ephesian to be "normal looking" and "nondemonic", explaining, "You have to believe that he believes his own rap. When he speaks, he's just explaining that 'this is the way it is' – and that's when it gets very scary."[3] The name "Vernon" comes from cult leader David Koresh's real name, and "Ephesian" is taken from one of the books of the Bible.[4]
The Temple of the Seven Stars was built on a soundstage at North Shore Studios, one of the most expensive sets built for the show.[3] Composer Mark Snow used samples of Gregorian chants in his score for Melissa's death scene.[3] The production team contacted officials of Apison, Tennessee, who sent them a real citizen's registry from the Civil War era which was reproduced by the props department and an expert calligrapher to make those Scully finds in the county courthouse.[3] The photographs of Sullivan Biddle and Sarah Kavanaugh are "hybrids" of different public domain photographs, with computer effects "melding" the different features taken from different photographs. The face used for Sullivan was chosen because it bore an "uncanny" resemblance to Mulder.[3] The poem Mulder reads at the beginning and end is from Paracelsus by Robert Browning.[4] The first cut of "The Field Where I Died" was over an hour long, an excess length record for The X-Files. Eighteen minutes had to be cut, which included two additional personalities of Melissa, and most of a third, Lily, which only makes a brief appearance in the final cut.[3]
Sarah Stegall later noted that the penultimate scene, which features federal agents raiding the religious compound and finding that everyone inside has committed suicide, very similar to the Waco Siege. Stegall even points out that the real name of the church leader in the episode, Vernon Warren, also resembles the name of the compound leader during the Waco Siege: Vernon Wayne.[5]
Broadcast and reception[edit]
"The Field Where I Died" originally aired on the Fox network on November 3, 1996.[6] This episode earned a Nielsen rating of 12.3, with a 18 share, meaning that roughly 12.3 percent of all television-equipped households, and 18 percent of households watching television, were tuned in to the episode. "The Field Where I Died" was seen by 19.85 million viewers on first broadcast.[7]
The episode received mixed to positive reviews from television critics. The episode is a favorite of Anderson's, who said she "loved the script" and that it made her cry.[4] Series creator Chris Carter received angry calls after the Heaven's Gate, a UFO religion cult, committed mass suicide less than six months after the episode had aired. He declined to comment.[3][4] Zack Handlen of The A.V. Club gave "The Field Where I Died" a "B+". He felt that it worked "pretty well" and there was a lot to appreciate about it, and while he noted that "the episode isn't quite good enough for the conclusion to be as devastating as it should be", he still praised the tragic ending. However, he felt it not believable that Mulder quickly accepts his past lives and Melissa's part in it, and thought it would have worked better if he eased into believing it.[8] Paula Vitaris from Cinefantastique gave the episode a largely positive review and awarded it three-and-a-half stars out of four.[9] She called the entry "unabashedly emotional episode" that is "unafraid to plumb the depths of human loss and grief".[9] Furthermore, Vitaris praised Cloke's acting; she called her "a truly gifted actor, slipping faultlessly into the skin of all of Melissa's personalities."[9] She was, however, more critical of Duchovny, noting that his hypnosis scene was underacted.[9] Stegall wrote that, while the episode was "drowned in tears and soaked in muted sunlight, [and] teeters on the brink of sentimentality", it manages "to stay just this side of it for a dynamite, gripping episode that showcases some fine actors."[5]
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-a-half stars out of five, and wrote that, while the episode "stumbles around a lot", it gives the viewer "the impression there's nothing else on TV quite like it".[10] The two felt that the idea that Mulder and Scully were friends throughout their various lives was "one of the best things about the story".[11] They also wrote that the fact that Melissa and Mulder were somehow soul mates also prevented the story from being "obvious and pat".[11] However, Shearman and Pearson felt that Morgan and Wong added "a few too many ingredients" which yielded an uneven episode.[11] Entertainment Weekly, on the other hand, was negative, giving the episode an "F" and describing it as "stultifyingly awful".[12]
References[edit]
Footnotes[edit]
1.^ Jump up to: a b Meisler, pp. 58–63
2.^ Jump up to: a b Vitaris, Paula (October 1997). "Morgan and Wong Return to The X-Files". Cinefantastique 29 (4/5).
3.^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h Meisler, p. 64
4.^ Jump up to: a b c d Meisler, p. 65
5.^ Jump up to: a b Stegall, Sarah (1996). "Review of 'The Field Where I Died'". The Munchkyn Zone. Retrieved October 31, 2012.
6.Jump up ^ R.W. Goodwin, Kim Manners, et al (booklet). The X-Files: The Complete Fourth Season (Liner notes). Fox.
7.Jump up ^ Meisler, p. 298
8.Jump up ^ Handlen, Zack (October 23, 2010). "'The Field Where I Died'/'522666' | The X-Files/Millennium | TV Club". The A.V. Club. The Onion. Retrieved June 17, 2012.
9.^ Jump up to: a b c d Vitaris, Paula (October 1997). "Episode Guide". Cinefantastique 29 (4/5): 35–62.
10.Jump up ^ Shearman and Pearson, p. 86
11.^ Jump up to: a b c Shearman and Pearson, p. 85
12.Jump up ^ "X Cyclopedia: The Ultimate Episode Guide, Season IV". Entertainment Weekly. November 29, 1996. Retrieved June 17, 2012.
Bibliography[edit]
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, Chris Knowles (2008). The Complete X-Files. Insight Editions. ISBN 1-933784-72-5.
Meisler, Andy (1998). I Want to Believe: The Official Guide to the X-Files Volume 3. Harper Prism. ISBN 0061053864.
Shearman, Robert; Pearson, Lars (2009). Wanting to Believe: A Critical Guide to The X-Files, Millennium & The Lone Gunmen. Mad Norwegian Press. ISBN 097594469X.
External links[edit]
Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: TXF Season 4
"The Field Where I Died" at the Internet Movie Database
"The Field Where I Died" at TV.com
[hide]
v·
t·
e
The X-Files episodes
Seasons: 1·
2·
3·
4·
5·
6·
7·
8·
9
Season 4
"Herrenvolk"·
"Home"·
"Teliko"·
"Unruhe"·
"The Field Where I Died"·
"Sanguinarium"·
"Musings of a Cigarette Smoking Man"·
"Tunguska"·
"Terma"·
"Paper Hearts"·
"El Mundo Gira"·
"Leonard Betts"·
"Never Again"·
"Memento Mori"·
"Kaddish"·
"Unrequited"·
"Tempus Fugit"·
"Max"·
"Synchrony"·
"Small Potatoes"·
"Zero Sum"·
"Elegy"·
"Demons"·
"Gethsemane"
Categories: The X-Files (season 4) episodes
1996 television episodes
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Sanguinarium
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
This is a good article. Click here for more information.
"Sanguinarium"
The X-Files episode
250
A doctor is shocked to discover he has mutilated the face of a patient with acid. Critics commented that the episode featured a high degree of gore.
Episode no.
Season 4
Episode 6
Directed by
Kim Manners
Written by
Vivian Mayhew
Valerie Mayhew
Production code
4X06
Original air date
November 10, 1996
Running time
44 minutes
Guest actors
O-Lan Jones as Nurse Rebecca Waite
Nancy J. Lilley as Liposuction Patient
John Juliani as Dr. Harrison Lloyd
Andrew Arlie as Attorney
Celine Lockhart as Skin Peel Patient
Arlene Mazerolle as Dr. Theresa Shannon
Richard Beymer as Dr. Jack Franklin
Paul Raskin as Dr. Eric Ilaqua
Gregory Thirloway as Dr. Mitchell Kaplan
Nina Roman as Jill Holwagerm
Martin Evans as Dr. Hartman
Marie Stillin as Dr. Sally Sanford
Episode chronology
← Previous
"The Field Where I Died" Next →
"Musings of a Cigarette Smoking Man"
List of season 4 episodes
List of The X-Files episodes
"Sanguinarium" is the sixth episode of the fourth season of the American science fiction television series The X-Files. "Sanguinarium" was written by newcomers Vivian and Valerie Mayhew and directed by Kim Manners, and is a "Monster-of-the-Week" story, a stand-alone plot which is unconnected to the series' wider mythology. It first aired in the United States on November 10, 1996 on the Fox network, earning a Nielsen rating of 11.1 and being seen by 19.85 million viewers upon its initial broadcast.
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 "Sanguinarium", bizarre murders in a hospital's plastic surgery unit lead Mulder and Scully to suspect a supernatural force may be responsible. As the uncontrolled killings continue, Mulder discovers a link between the victims' dates of birth and key dates on the witchcraft calendar.
The episode started as a spec script written by two fans of the series. It features several references to real life witchcraft sources. "Sanguinarium" received mixed reviews from critics; negative criticism was given to the number of inconsistencies in the plot. The episode's use of gore also drew a mixed reaction; some critics felt that the gore helped, while others felt that "Sanguinarium" relied too heavily on it to cover up weaknesses in its storyline.
Contents
[hide] 1 Plot
2 Production
3 Broadcast and reception
4 References 4.1 Footnotes
4.2 Bibliography
5 External links
Plot[edit]
During a routine liposuction operation, Dr. Harrison Lloyd (John Juliani) suddenly begins to violently remove such large amounts of fat from a patient that he dies. Following the unusual experience, the doctor tells Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) that he killed the patient due to being spiritually possessed. Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) is skeptical about the doctor's claims, believing he's only making it up to escape legal consequence. Mulder inspects the operation room and discovers pentagrams burned into the floor, suspecting witchcraft as the cause.
Upon reviewing the tapes of the operation, Mulder decides to check what type of medication the doctor was taking. The staff of the procedure place are shocked when Dr. Ilaqua (Paul Raskin) murders a patient under unusual circumstances. Scully interviews Ilaqua and he claims to not be able to remember anything from what happened. Scully deduces that both Ilaqua and Lloyd were taking the same medicine. Mulder's belief in the cause for the unexplained phenomena strengthens when he reviews the tape of the second murder, observing a pentagram-like pattern on the stomach of the victim.
Worried by the events, the staff of the hospital tell Mulder and Scully about a similar case of unexplained deaths that occurred at the same hospital 10 years prior. The staff suspect Nurse Rebecca Waite (O-Lan Jones) who is the only person present at all the death scenes. Mulder and Scully go to investigate the house of the nurse, discovering evidence that she practiced witchcraft; however, the evidence was planted there by a staff member of the hospital. Elsewhere, Dr. Jack Franklin (Richard Beymer) is non-fatally assaulted at his house by Waite. Attempts to question Waite are prevented when she starts to vomit pins, and then dies shortly after.
Mulder deduces that the birthdays of all the victims match up with the dates of the Witches' Sabbath, meaning that continued murders will occur. Back at the hospital, another patient is murdered when her face is melted by acid. With no suspects left to turn to, Mulder uses the hospital's computer program to determine what Dr. Jack Franklin would look like under heavy plastic surgery. He is shocked to find that the doctor resembles Dr. Richard Cox, a cosmetic doctor who presumably died ten years prior during the first spree of murders. It turns out that Franklin actually is Cox, who attempts to murder his fifth and final victim. Every 10 years Cox is forced to murder five victims to achieve the appearance of eternal youth. The attempted murder of the fifth victim is spoiled though, causing Cox to kill another patient. He removes the skin on his own face, using a ritual to make him appear younger. The doctor is never caught, with the episode ending with him successfully applying at another medical hospital.
Production[edit]
The nurse in the episode was named after Rebecca Nurse, a woman executed for witchcraft during the Salem witch trials.
In the 1990s, spec scripts were widely used in television, wherein unexperienced writers could write a teleplay for their favorite shows. The X-Files had a large staff of writers, however occasionally to fill the large amount of ordered episodes per season, the staff would have to take a risk on a teleplay written by a freelance writer.[1] "Sanguinarium" was such a case, being written by sisters Vivian Mayhew and Valerie Mayhew, their first experience with writing an one-hour network program.[2] They would later be responsible for several episodes in the television series Charmed.[3] The sisters asked staff writers Glen Morgan and James Wong for suggestions. Morgan and Wong stated that "the scariest things are those which repeat every day". After Vivian was paged by a number she did not know, she concluded that a pager qualified as a scary thing because an unknown person could connect with its owner. Then the Mayhews went from the pagers to a class that normally uses them, doctors, and concluded that doctors losing control and being bewitched could be a good plot. After writing the spec script, they presented them to Morgan and Wong, who suggested they change the villain from a woman to a man as "plastic surgery is related to vanity, and everyone expects that from a woman, but not a man."[2] The spec script written by the Mayhew sisters was chosen to become a full episode. "Sanguinarium" stands as the siblings' only work in The X-Files.[4]
After the spec script was picked, series creator Chris Carter and the show's staff reworked the ideas into a teleplay. Carter focused the plot on the themes of greed and vanity, and executive producer Howard Gordon created some of the most graphic moments, such as a phrase written in blood on Franklin's bathroom. Vince Gilligan named Theresa Shannon after actress Shannon Tweed. After Carter had the idea of placing a subtle pentagram on the reunion table, production designer Graeme Murray decided to take this further by creating rooms with five sides, and having the plastic surgery unit with five operating rooms represent an imaginary pentagram. Like previous episode "Home", Fox Standards and Practices objected to the graphical content, and Carter had to intervene to help retain some scenes.[2]
The episode features references to witchcraft and occultism.[5] The nurse from the episode, Rebecca Waite, was named after a friend of the writers called Rebecca White, with a slight change as a real nurse also called White existed in Chicago. Viewers ended up finding Waite's name as an unintended reference to Rebecca Nurse, an innocent woman prosecuted during the Salem witch trials, and the Rider-Waite tarot deck, the most popular tarot deck utilized in the world.[2] The episode itself references Gerald Gardner, a wiccan known for publishing several novels on witchcraft..[6][7] While the Mayhew sisters tried to depict occultism without offending anybody, not connecting Franklin and Waite to any known cult, many Wiccans sent angry letters and e-mails to Fox regarding the portrayal of their beliefs.[2]
Broadcast and reception[edit]
"Sanguinarium" premiered on the Fox network on November 10, 1996.[4] This episode earned a Nielsen rating of 11.1, with a 18 share, meaning that roughly 11.1 percent of all television-equipped households, and 18 percent of households watching television, were tuned in to the episode. "Sanguinarium" was seen by 18.85 million viewers on first broadcast.[8]
Gillian Anderson described "Sanguinarium" as "one of the most repulsive scripts I ever shot", explaining that she could not watch scenes such as the doctor stabbing a patient. David Duchovny stated that "I didn't understand the plot, but I liked the script", noting that Carter and his team improved a weak teleplay and director Kim Manners "did an excellent job".[2] Entertainment Weekly gave "Sanguinarium" a "B–", feeling that it was "redeemed" by the gore. However, they were "worried" by the "fourth consecutive phoned-in performance by Duchovny and Anderson".[9] Todd VanDerWerff of The A.V. Club was more negative, grading it a "D". He felt that the episode was "too much", with gore shown directly instead of suggested. He also criticized the characterization, especially Scully's, the "predictable" scares, "ludicrously bad" dialogue, and a story that did not make much sense. Despite this, he did praise the "strong" guest acting.[1] Sarah Stegall awarded "Sanguinarium" two stars out of five, commenting that "several things went wrong", and also noting the reliance on gore.[5] She mused that she thought it was odd that the "bad" magic seemed to succeed, noting that the "good" magic seemed useless, summarizing, "Where's the logic in that?"[5] In addition, Stegall thought the episode's biggest flaw was its lack of logical writing, and that it required too much suspension of belief from the viewer.[5]
Tom Kessenich in Examinations: An Unauthorized Look at Seasons 6-9 of the X-Files commented that the ending of "Sanguinarium" was similar to the ending of episode "Signs and Wonders", wherein the antagonist manages to get away.[10] Frederick S. Clarke from Cinefantastique gave "Sanguinarium" a mixed review, writing that the episode "combines plastic surgery and black magic into an unsatisfying mix that fails to lampoon our obsession with beauty."[11] Not all reviews were as negative. Writer Preston Nichols took a liking to the episode, having viewed it "eighteen times and counting".[12] Michael Avalos and George Liedtke, writing for Knight Ridder, speculated that "Sanguinarium" provided viewers with "haunting memories".[13] Mark Daivs of The Daytona Beach News-Journal, in 1998, named the episode one of the "Best of The X-Files".[14]
References[edit]
Footnotes[edit]
1.^ Jump up to: a b VanDerWerff, Todd (October 30, 2010). "'Sanguinarium'/'Kingdom Come' | The X-Files/Millennium | TV Club". The A.V. Club. The Onion. Retrieved July 27, 2012.
2.^ Jump up to: a b c d e f Meisler, pp. 57-8
3.Jump up ^ E. Genge, p 123
4.^ Jump up to: a b R.W. Goodwin, Kim Manners, et al (booklet). The X-Files: The Complete Fourth Season (Liner notes). Fox.
5.^ Jump up to: a b c d Stegall, Sarah (1996). "The Good Witch of the West". The Munchkyn Zone. Retrieved September 14, 2012.
6.Jump up ^ Delasara, p. 100
7.Jump up ^ Heselton, pp. 169–181
8.Jump up ^ Meisler, p. 298
9.Jump up ^ "X Cyclopedia: The Ultimate Episode Guide, Season IV". Entertainment Weekly. November 29, 1996. Retrieved July 27, 2012.
10.Jump up ^ Kessenich, p. 108
11.Jump up ^ S. Clarke, Frederick (1997). "Cinefantastique, Volume 29". Cinefantastique 29: 105.
12.Jump up ^ S. Hornsby, p. 185
13.Jump up ^ Avalos, George; Liedtke, Michael (October 30, 1998). "X-Cursions: For Halloween—The Scariest `X-Files'". Knight Ridder. Retrieved January 5, 2013. (subscription required)
14.Jump up ^ Davis, Mark (July 24, 2008). "X-Philes—From an X-Files Fan". The Daytona Beach News-Journal. Retrieved January 5, 2013. (subscription required)
Bibliography[edit]
Meisler, Andy (1998). I Want to Believe: The Official Guide to the X-Files Volume 3. Harper Prism.
S. Hornsby, Jason (2007). Every Sigh, the End: A Novel About Zombies. Permuted Press.
Delasara, Jan (2000). X-Files Confidential. PopLit, PopCult and The X-Files: A Critical Exploration.
Charles, Upham (1980). Salem Witchcraft. Frederick Ungar Publishing.
Heselton, Philip (2012). Witchfather: A Life of Gerald Gardner. Vol 1: Into the Witch Cult. Thoth Publications.
Kessenich, Tom (2002). Examination: An Unauthorized Look at Seasons 6–9 of the X-Files. Trafford Publishing.
Genge, Ngaire (2000). The Book of Shadows : The Unofficial Charmed Companion. Three Rivers Press – Random House.
External links[edit]
Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: TXF Season 4
"Sanguinarium" at the Internet Movie Database
"Sanguinarium" at TV.com
[hide]
v·
t·
e
The X-Files episodes
Seasons: 1·
2·
3·
4·
5·
6·
7·
8·
9
Season 4
"Herrenvolk"·
"Home"·
"Teliko"·
"Unruhe"·
"The Field Where I Died"·
"Sanguinarium"·
"Musings of a Cigarette Smoking Man"·
"Tunguska"·
"Terma"·
"Paper Hearts"·
"El Mundo Gira"·
"Leonard Betts"·
"Never Again"·
"Memento Mori"·
"Kaddish"·
"Unrequited"·
"Tempus Fugit"·
"Max"·
"Synchrony"·
"Small Potatoes"·
"Zero Sum"·
"Elegy"·
"Demons"·
"Gethsemane"
Categories: The X-Files (season 4) episodes
1996 television episodes
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Musings of a Cigarette Smoking Man
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Jump to: navigation, search
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"Musings of a Cigarette Smoking Man"
The X-Files episode
Musings of a Cigarette Smoking Man TXF.jpg
The Smoking Man assassinates President Kennedy. Glen Morgan, co-writer of the episode, wanted to show that the The Smoking Man was the most dangerous human being alive.
Episode no.
Season 4
Episode 7
Directed by
James Wong
Written by
Glen Morgan
Production code
4X07
Original air date
November 17, 1996
Guest actors
William B. Davis as The Smoking Man
Chris Owens as Young Smoking Man
Tom Braidwood as Melvin Frohike
Bruce Harwood as John Fitzgerald Byers
Jerry Hardin as Deep Throat
Morgan Weisser as Lee Harvey Oswald
Donnelly Rhodes as General Francis
Peter Hanlon as Aide
Dean Aylesworth as Young Bill Mulder
Paul Jarrett as James Earl Ray
David Fredericks as Director
Laurie Murdoch as Lydon
Jude Zachary as Jones
Tim Bissett as Cook
Fred Beale as Newstand Operator[1]
Episode chronology
← Previous
"Sanguinarium" Next →
"Tunguska"
List of season 4 episodes
List of The X-Files episodes
"Musings of a Cigarette Smoking Man" is the seventh episode of the fourth season of the science fiction television series The X-Files. It premiered on the Fox network in the United States on November 17, 1996. It was written by Glen Morgan, directed by James Wong, and featured a guest appearance by Chris Owens, appearing as a younger Smoking Man. "Musings of a Cigarette Smoking Man" earned a Nielsen household rating of 10.7, being watched by 17.09 million people in its initial broadcast. The episode received moderately positive reviews from television 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. Mulder is a believer in the paranormal, while the skeptical Scully has been assigned to debunk his work. In this episode, Lone Gunman Melvin Frohike (Tom Braidwood) finds a tell-tale magazine story supposedly revealing the history of The Smoking Man (William B. Davis). The episode illustrates his possible involvement in several historical events and assassinations, although the reliability of the source is unresolved at the end of the episode.
Executive producer Frank Spotnitz later noted that, while parts of "Musings of a Cigarette Smoking Man" may indeed be factual, the majority is not actual canon. The production of the episode did not require extensive use of Duchovny and Anderson on screen. The former's voice is only heard and the latter appears only in archival footage. Davis, who portrayed the titular character, was pleased with the episode, although confused with some of the contradictions in the script. Although not directly furthering the series' overarching mythology, the episode involves several of its events and characters.
Contents
[hide] 1 Plot
2 Production 2.1 Writing
2.2 Filming
3 Reception
4 References 4.1 Footnotes
4.2 Bibliography
5 External links
Plot[edit]
The Smoking Man, armed with a sniper rifle and surveillance equipment, spies on a meeting between Fox Mulder, Dana Scully, and the Lone Gunmen. Frohike claims to have discovered information about the Smoking Man's mysterious past, stating that his father was an executed communist spy and that his mother died of lung cancer, causing him to be raised in various Midwest orphanages.
The narrative changes to 1962. The Smoking Man is an Army captain stationed at Fort Bragg in North Carolina. He talks to a friend and fellow soldier, Bill Mulder, who shows him a photo of his infant son, Fox. The Smoking Man is summoned to attend a meeting with a general and several strange men in suits. They assign him to assassinate President John F. Kennedy. In 1963, posing as a "Mr. Hunt", the Smoking Man frames Lee Harvey Oswald and shoots Kennedy.
Five years later, the Smoking Man writes a novel entitled Take a Chance: A Jack Colquitt Adventure, using the pen name "Raul Bloodworth". After hearing Martin Luther King, Jr. give a speech criticizing America's attitude towards the distribution of wealth at home and social revolutions abroad, the Smoking Man meets with a group of men, including J. Edgar Hoover. The Smoking Man convinces the group to have King assassinated and volunteers to perform the task. Shortly thereafter, a publishing company rejects his novel.
In 1991, the Smoking Man meets with subordinates, discussing his orchestration of the Anita Hill controversy and the Rodney King trial. He orders that the Buffalo Bills not win the Super Bowl. He further reveals his drugging of a Soviet goalkeeper to ensure the outcome of the "Miracle on Ice" hockey match. One of the Smoking Man's subordinates invites him for a family dinner. Although flattered, the Smoking Man declines the invitation and states that he is scheduled to visit family. He is next seen walking past Fox Mulder's office.
Later, while at home, the Smoking Man receives an urgent phone call from Deep Throat, who meets him near the site of a UFO wreck. An alien from the UFO is alive. Deep Throat and Smoking Man reminisce about the multiple times they changed the course of history. They flip a coin over who is tasked to kill the alien survivor. Deep Throat loses, and thus reluctantly shoots the alien.
A few months later, in March 1992, the Smoking Man attends the meeting where Scully is assigned to the X-Files and eavesdrops on the agents' first meeting. In 1996, he receives a letter telling him that his novel will be serialized in the magazine Roman a Clef. He types up a resignation letter, and excitedly finds the magazine at a newsstand. However, he finds that the ending has been changed. Bitter, the Smoking Man sits on a bench with a homeless man, giving a monologue on how "life is like a box of chocolates". He tears up his resignation letter and leaves the magazine at the bench.
Back in the present, Frohike tells Mulder and Scully that what he's told them is based on a story he found in a magazine he subscribes to. He leaves to verify the story. As he leaves, the Smoking Man has a clear shot. However, he decides not to kill him and quotes the last line from his unpublished novel: "I can kill you whenever I please, but not today".[1]
Production[edit]
Writing[edit]
William B. Davis was pleased to have an episode revolve around his character.
The episode was inspired by the DC Graphic Novel Lex Luthor: The Unauthorized Biography. Glen Morgan stated that he wanted the episode to show that The Smoking Man was the most dangerous human being alive.[2] The episode was originally intended to end with The Smoking Man killing Melvin Frohike, but the show's executive staff vetoed the idea.[2]
The episode contains several references to Morgan and Wong's former series Space: Above and Beyond including the name of The Smoking Man's novel, Take a Chance, the reference to "classified compartmentalized", and the name Jack Colquitt. In addition, Morgan Weisser, who played Lee Harvey Oswald, was an actor who appeared on that show.[3] U.N. Resolution 1013, quoted by Deep Throat, is a reference to Carter's birthday and production company.[3] Walden Roth, the editor who buys The Smoking Man's novel, is a reference to 20th Century Fox executives Dana Walden and Peter Roth.[3] The Smoking Man's ambition to be a novelist was based on E. Howard Hunt.[2]
Davis was happy to have an episode of his own, but was puzzled at some of the contradictions in the script, such as having him assassinate John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr., but being concerned with something as minor as keeping the Buffalo Bills from winning the Super Bowl. Chris Carter said "I had to speak with Bill several times; I spent hours with him on the telephone talking about the character, because the actor felt that the episode really made the character something that it wasn't. I tried to explain to him, as I think Jim and Glen were trying to express, that even if your mission in life is a destroyer, that you still have some hope in the back of your mind that you can be a creator — and that this all of a sudden, this vanity, is his vanity. And we see that so clearly here and it makes him sort of a silly person".[3]
Filming[edit]
Davis later said "Jim Wong [...] was a big help, too. A lot of the stage directions point toward farce, but Jim told me to play against that and just let the situation play out. The Forrest Gump scene was difficult, too. When I prepared it and did it the first time, I was almost Shakespearean in my approach. Jim made me toss it off more, and it worked fine".[3] Chris Owens who portrayed the Young Smoking Man spent time watching how Davis smokes to ensure that he did it just like him. Owens later appeared as a young version of The Smoking Man again in the episode "Demons", and as his son Jeffrey Spender.[3]
The episode was the first in the series that did not feature Mulder, and featured Scully only in archival footage from "Pilot". The episode was not intended to give the actors a week off, but ended up that way, which Duchovny was very pleased with.[3] Producer J.P. Finn coordinated the sequence where The Smoking Man assassinates John F. Kennedy. It was filmed in a downtown Vancouver location doubling for Dealey Plaza. The show's costume designer contacted the costume designer for the film JFK and borrowed a reproduction of Jackie Kennedy's pink suit used in the film. The Lincoln Continental limousine ridden by Kennedy was created by picture vehicle coordinator Nigel Habgood.[3]
Reception[edit]
"Musings of a Cigarette Smoking Man" premiered on the Fox network on November 17, 1996.[4] This episode earned a Nielsen rating of 10.7, with a 15 share, meaning that roughly 10.7 percent of all television-equipped households, and 15 percent of households watching television, were tuned in to the episode. It was viewed by 17.09 million viewers.[5] James Wong earned the show's first ever Emmy nomination for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series for this episode,[6] although he later lost to NYPD Blue's Mark Tinker.[7]
Few viewers picked up on the notion that the events of this episode were not necessarily factual. Story editor Frank Spotnitz said "In the closing scene Frohike tells Mulder and Scully that the whole story was something he read in a crummy magazine. A lot of people didn't pick up on that subtlety. They thought that this was indeed the factual history of the CSM. As far as I'm concerned, it's not. Some of it may indeed be true, and some of it may — well, never mind".[3]
"Musings of a Cigarette Smoking Man" received moderately positive praise from critics. Entertainment Weekly gave the episode an "A–", noting that "one has to wonder to what extent this episode is intended as information, and to what extent sheer entertainment".[8] Reviewer Zack Handlen of The A.V. Club spoke positively of the episode, saying "I love this ... and watching it now, I still do".[9] He ultimately gave the episode an "A" and wrote, "'Musings' is great because it transforms CSM from a living ghost into the walking dead—still horrifying, still dangerous, but pitiable just the same".[9] Robert Shearman and Lars Pearson, in their book Wanting to Believe: A Critical Guide to The X-Files, Millennium & The Lone Gunmen, named the episode "one of The X-Files' true masterpieces" and awarded it five stars out of five.[10] The two praised Morgan and Wong's combination of mythological story elements with more dry and dark humor. Furthermore, Shearman and Pearson wrote positively of the ambiguousness of the episode's authenticity, noting that "the answers that the viewers are craving are handed out here on such a large plate, you can only take them as a delicious parody."[10] Paula Vitaris from Cinefantastique gave the episode a glowing review and awarded it four stars out of four.[11] She praised the way that the viewer is able to see the "barren emotional landscape in which the Cigarette Smoking Man dwells" via the "tone of the script".[11] Furthermore, Vitaris applauded the Forrest Gump-esque rant, calling it "a comic high point of verbal venom".[11]
Not all reviews were so positive. Author Phil Farrand was critical of the episode, rating it his fifth least favorite episode of the first four seasons. He criticized the entry for having an uninteresting first half, and relying on the "cliche" of the John F. Kennedy assassination. Furthermore, he was unhappy with the fact that viewers did not have any way of knowing whether the content of the episode really happened.[12][13] Alan Kurtz criticized the episode for being inconsistent with the timetable of The X-Files, pointing to the fact that the episode contradicts canon that was established in the third season episode "Apocrypha". Furthermore, he derided the show for too closely mirroring the plots of the 1979 movie Apocalypse Now as well as Forrest Gump.[14]
References[edit]
Footnotes[edit]
1.^ Jump up to: a b Meisler, pp. 75–82
2.^ Jump up to: a b c Hurwitz and Knowles, pp. 94–96
3.^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h i Meisler, pp. 82–83
4.Jump up ^ R.W. Goodwin, Kim Manners, et al (booklet). The X-Files: The Complete Fourth Season (Liner notes). Fox.
5.Jump up ^ Meisler, p. 298
6.Jump up ^ "The X-Files". Emmys.com. Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Retrieved December 3, 2007.
7.Jump up ^ "Primetime Emmy Awards nominations for 1997 - Outstanding Directing For A Drama Series". Emmys.com. Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Retrieved January 27, 2012.
8.Jump up ^ "X Cyclopedia: The Ultimate Episode Guide, Season 4 | EW.com". Entertainment Weekly. November 29, 1996. Retrieved December 30, 2011.
9.^ Jump up to: a b Handlen, Zack (November 6, 2010). "'Musing of a Cigarette Smoking Man'/'Blood Relative'". The A.V. Club. Retrieved December 5, 2011.
10.^ Jump up to: a b Shearman and Pearson, pp. 87–88
11.^ Jump up to: a b c Vitaris, Paula (October 1997). "Episode Guide". Cinefantastique 29 (4/5): 35–62.
12.Jump up ^ Farrand, p. 222
13.Jump up ^ Farrand, pp. 289–290
14.Jump up ^ Kurtz, Alan (2012). "Season Four, Episode 7: 'Musings of a Cigarette Smoking Man' (Airdate November 17, 1996)". The X-Files: Pathway to Paranoia (Subversive TV).
Bibliography[edit]
Farrand, Phil (1997). The Nitpicker's Guide for X-Philes. Dell Publishing. ISBN 0-440-50808-8.
Hurwitz, Matt, Chris Knowles (2008). The Complete X-Files. Insight Editions. ISBN 1-933784-72-5.
Meisler, Andy (1998), I Want to Believe: The Official Guide to the X-Files, Vol. 3, Perennial Currents, ISBN 0-06-105386-4
Shearman, Robert; Pearson, Lars (2009). Wanting to Believe: A Critical Guide to The X-Files, Millennium & The Lone Gunmen. Mad Norwegian Press. ISBN 097594469X.
External links[edit]
Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: TXF Season 4
"Musings of a Cigarette Smoking Man" at the Internet Movie Database
"Musings of a Cigarette Smoking Man" at TV.com
[hide]
v·
t·
e
The X-Files episodes
Seasons: 1·
2·
3·
4·
5·
6·
7·
8·
9
Season 4
"Herrenvolk"·
"Home"·
"Teliko"·
"Unruhe"·
"The Field Where I Died"·
"Sanguinarium"·
"Musings of a Cigarette Smoking Man"·
"Tunguska"·
"Terma"·
"Paper Hearts"·
"El Mundo Gira"·
"Leonard Betts"·
"Never Again"·
"Memento Mori"·
"Kaddish"·
"Unrequited"·
"Tempus Fugit"·
"Max"·
"Synchrony"·
"Small Potatoes"·
"Zero Sum"·
"Elegy"·
"Demons"·
"Gethsemane"
Categories: The X-Files (season 4) episodes
1996 television episodes
Works about the John F. Kennedy assassination
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Tunguska (The X-Files)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
This is a good article. Click here for more information.
"Tunguska"
The X-Files episode
Episode no.
Season 4
Episode 8
Directed by
Kim Manners
Written by
Chris Carter
Frank Spotnitz
Production code
4X09
Original air date
November 24, 1996
Guest actors
Mitch Pileggi as Walter Skinner
Nicholas Lea as Alex Krycek
William B. Davis as The Smoking Man
John Neville as Well-Manicured Man
Laurie Holden as Marita Covarrubias
Brendan Beiser as Pendrell
Fritz Weaver as Senator Sorenson
David Bloom as Stress Man
Malcolm Stewart as Dr. Sacks
Campbell Lane as Committee Chairman
Stefan Arngrim as Prisoner
Brent Stait as Timothy Mayhew
Dawn Murphy as 1st Customs Officer
Andy Thompson as 2nd Customs Officer
Phillip Heinrich as Assault Agent
Jano Frandsen as Older Agent[1]
Episode chronology
← Previous
"Musings of a Cigarette Smoking Man" Next →
"Terma"
List of season 4 episodes
List of The X-Files episodes
"Tunguska" is the eighth episode of the fourth season of the American science fiction television series The X-Files. It premiered on the Fox network on November 24, 1996. It was directed by Kim Manners, and written by Frank Spotnitz and series creator Chris Carter. "Tunguska" featured guest appearances by John Neville, Nicholas Lea and Fritz Weaver. The episode helped explore the series' overarching mythology. "Tunguska" earned a Nielsen household rating of 12.2, being watched by 18.85 million people in its initial broadcast.
In the episode, FBI special agent Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) travels to Russia to investigate the source of a black oil contamination. His partner Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) and assistant director Walter Skinner (Mitch Pileggi) are summoned to attend a United States Senate hearing on Mulder's whereabouts. "Tunguska" is a two-part episode, with the plot continuing in the next episode, "Terma".
"Tunguska" was inspired by reports of evidence of extraterrestrial life possibly being found in the Allan Hills 84001 meteorite, while the gulag setting was inspired by the works of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn. The story offered the writers a chance to expand the scale of the series' mythology globally, although production of the episode was described as troublesome and expensive.
Contents
[hide] 1 Plot
2 Production
3 Reception
4 Footnotes
5 External links
Plot[edit]
The episode opens in medias res to Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) as she is brought before a Senate select committee to be questioned about the whereabouts of Fox Mulder (David Duchovny). Scully refuses to answer the committee's questions and attempts to read a statement denouncing the conspiracy within the government. Senator Sorenson, the committee's adversarial chairman, threatens to hold Scully in contempt of Congress.
Ten days earlier, at Honolulu Airport, a courier returning from the Republic of Georgia is searched by customs officers. One of the officers removes a glass canister from the courier's briefcase and accidentally shatters it, exposing both men to the black oil. Meanwhile, in New York City, Mulder and Scully take part in an FBI raid against a domestic terrorist group. Mulder's tipster within the group is revealed to be Alex Krycek (Nicholas Lea), whom the terrorists released from the missile silo where he had been trapped. Krycek has turned against The Smoking Man (William B. Davis), and tells the distrustful agents that he can help expose him.
Krycek leads the agents to Dulles International Airport, where they try to apprehend a second courier carrying a diplomatic pouch from Russia. The courier leads the agents on a pursuit through the airport, but drops the pouch before escaping. The pouch is revealed to carry a seemingly unremarkable rock. Mulder has Krycek confined at the high rise apartment of Assistant Director Walter Skinner before having the rock analyzed at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. Dr. Sacks, a NASA scientist, tells Mulder and Scully that the rock is a prehistoric meteorite fragment that might contain fossilized alien bacteria.
Skinner is approached by the Smoking Man, who demands that the pouch be returned. The courier breaks into Skinner's apartment and searches for the pouch, only to be thrown off Skinner's patio by Krycek. Meanwhile, Dr. Sacks cuts into the fragment, but inadvertently releases the black oil inside; the organism penetrates the scientist's hazmat suit and puts him in a coma-like state. Mulder travels to New York to visit Marita Covarrubias (Laurie Holden), who reveals that the fragment originated from the Russian province of Krasnoyarsk and provides the documents needed to travel there. Mulder reluctantly brings along Krycek, who is fluent in Russian.
In Charlottesville, Virginia, the Smoking Man is admonished by the Well-Manicured Man (John Neville) when the latter learns about Mulder's travels. Skinner and the agents are subpoenaed to appear before Senator Sorenson's panel over the missing pouch; when Skinner questions Scully about Mulder's whereabouts, she is not forthcoming. Meanwhile, as Mulder and Krycek hike through the forests of Krasnoyarsk, the former theorizes that the fragment may be tied to the Tunguska event, a mysterious cosmic impact that occurred in the area in 1908. The two men come across a slave labor camp, but are captured by the taskmasters and thrown into a gulag.
Skinner and Scully meet with Senator Sorenson who questions them on the death of the courier and the location of Agent Mulder. Mulder talks with a fellow prisoner who tells him that innocent people have been captured and brought here to be subjected to experiments. Immediately afterwards guards burst into the room and inject Mulder with a syringe. When Mulder awakens he is in a large room bound with chicken wire along with many other prisoners. Black material is dumped onto his face, infecting him with the black oil.[1]
Production[edit]
The possible discovery of life in the Allan Hills 84001 meteorite inspired the episode's script.
"Tunguska" and its follow-up "Terma" were conceived by the writers when they were trying to conceive a "big and fun canvas" to tell stories. They decided to create a story connected to the Russian gulags, which led to the "natural" idea that the Russians were experimenting separately from the Syndicate to create a vaccine for the black oil. Series writer John Shiban felt it was natural to create an arms race-like story between the United States and Russia, being that the Cold War had ended a few years earlier.[2] The writers desired to expand the series' mythology globally, a concept that continued into the fifth season and the series' 1998 feature film adaptation.[3] The idea of a conspiracy with a global reach was first broached in the series' second season, and it was felt that this two-part story was a good place to expand upon this, allowing the production crew to "stretch the limits" of their resources and imagination.[4] The inspiration for the oil-containing rocks was NASA's announcement of possible evidence of extraterrestrial life in the Allan Hills 84001 meteorite; while the gulag scenes were based on Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn's books The Gulag Archipelago and One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich.[3]
The scenes featuring the SWAT raid on a terrorist cell found to be harbouring Alex Krycek were filmed in a single night, requiring sixty individual film setups split between three camera crews working simultaneously. By dawn, only four of the sixty required shots had not been filmed, and these were later completed on a sound stage.[5] Additional scenes shot for the episode featuring The Smoking Man and the Well-Manicured Man were cut due to time constraints.[6] A scene featuring Scully briefing Skinner on the events of the episode was also cut, as it was felt that it was "redundant" within the narrative, repeating information that had already been shown to the audience.[7] David Duchovny's father was present during production of the episode, leaving the actor to enjoy the shoot; although the crew described production as expensive and "stubbornly trouble-plagued". "Tunguska" marked the fourth appearance in the series by Malcolm Stewart, who had previously appeared in "Pilot", "3" and "Avatar".[6]
Reception[edit]
"Tunguska" just doesn't work as well because it abandons the central idea of the conspiracy's American-ness, the idea that the American government is out there, ready to snatch you at a moment's notice and do nasty things to you, that said government has been up to this for a long, long time. The move to make the conspiracy a global one must have seemed smart at the time, but it also robs the series of something essential, of a sense that the worst monsters are the ones who purport to have our own best interests at heart.
—The A.V. Club's Todd VanDerWerff on the episode's scope.[8]
"Tunguska" premiered on the Fox network on November 24, 1996, and was first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC Two on October 28, 1997.[9] The episode earned a Nielsen household rating of 12.2 with an 18 share, meaning that roughly 12.2 percent of all television-equipped households, and 18 percent of households watching television, were tuned in to the episode.[10] A total of 18.85 million viewers watched this episode during its original airing.[11]
Writing for The A.V. Club, Todd VanDerWerff rated the episode a B, noting that the move to a global scale detracted from the series' overall relevance. VanDerWerff felt that "the action setpieces in this episode and the next one are really terrific", and praised William B. Davis' portrayal of The Smoking Man. However, he described "Tunguska" as being "one of the first really unfocused mythology episodes in the show's run", and found the plot of the episode to not be moving the series forward enough, noting that "for the first time, Mulder feels less like he's driving the action and more like he's a messenger boy".[8] Based on an advance viewing of the episode's script, Entertainment Weekly rated "Tunguska" an A-, praising the "arms race" plotline.[12] David Duchovny described this episode, along with "Terma", as being action-heavy and "lots of fun".[6]
Footnotes[edit]
1.^ Jump up to: a b Meisler, pp. 95–101
2.Jump up ^ Chris Carter, Dave Gauthier, Howard Gordon, Kim Manners, John Shiban and Frank Spotnitz (2005). "Threads of Mythology". The X-Files Mythology, Volume 2 – Black Oil (DVD) (Fox).
3.^ Jump up to: a b Meisler, p.102
4.Jump up ^ Chris Carter (narrator) (1996–1997). "Interview Clip: Tunguska". The X-Files: The Complete Fourth Season (featurette) (Fox).
5.Jump up ^ Edwards, pp. 200–201
6.^ Jump up to: a b c Meisler, p. 103
7.Jump up ^ Chris Carter (narrator). "Deleted Scenes: Tunguska". The X-Files: The Complete Fourth Season (DVD) (Fox).
8.^ Jump up to: a b VanDerWerff, Todd (November 13, 2010). ""Tunguska"/"The Well-Worn Lock" | The X-Files/Millennium | TV Club". The A.V. Club. Retrieved January 16, 2012.
9.Jump up ^ R. W. Goodwin et al (booklet). The X-Files: The Complete Fourth Season (Liner notes). Fox.
10.Jump up ^ Edwards, p. 201
11.Jump up ^ Meisler, p. 298
12.Jump up ^ "X Cyclopedia: The Ultimate Episode Guide, Season IV". Entertainment Weekly. November 29, 1996. Retrieved January 7, 2012.
ReferencesEdwards, Ted (1996). X-Files Confidential. Little, Brown and Company. ISBN 0-316-21808-1.
Meisler, Andy (1998). I Want to Believe: The Official Guide to the X-Files Volume 3. Harper Prism. ISBN 0-06-105386-4.
External links[edit]
Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: TXF Season 4
"Tunguska" at the Internet Movie Database
"Tunguska" at TV.com
[hide]
v·
t·
e
The X-Files episodes
Seasons: 1·
2·
3·
4·
5·
6·
7·
8·
9
Season 4
"Herrenvolk"·
"Home"·
"Teliko"·
"Unruhe"·
"The Field Where I Died"·
"Sanguinarium"·
"Musings of a Cigarette Smoking Man"·
"Tunguska"·
"Terma"·
"Paper Hearts"·
"El Mundo Gira"·
"Leonard Betts"·
"Never Again"·
"Memento Mori"·
"Kaddish"·
"Unrequited"·
"Tempus Fugit"·
"Max"·
"Synchrony"·
"Small Potatoes"·
"Zero Sum"·
"Elegy"·
"Demons"·
"Gethsemane"
Categories: The X-Files (season 4) episodes
1996 television episodes
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Terma (The X-Files)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
This is a good article. Click here for more information.
"Terma"
The X-Files episode
Black, worm-like, creatures infect an older woman while she is sleeping.
The black oil alien virus infects a sleeping host. The episode explored the global "arms race" to develop a vaccine.
Episode no.
Season 4
Episode 9
Directed by
Rob Bowman
Written by
Chris Carter
Frank Spotnitz
Production code
4X10
Original air date
December 1, 1996
Guest actors
Mitch Pileggi as Walter Skinner
William B. Davis as The Smoking Man
Nicholas Lea as Alex Krycek
John Neville as the Well-Manicured Man
Jessica Schreier as Dr. Bonita Charne-Sayre
Stefan Arngrim as a Prisoner
Brendan Beiser as Agent Pendrell
Campbell Lane as the Committee Chairman
Pamela MacDonald as a Nurse
Brenda McDonald as Auntie Janet
Igor Morozov as a Russian Horseman
Robin Mossley as Dr. Kingsley Looker
Eileen Pedde as Angie
Jan Rubes as Vasily Peskow
Brent Stait as Terry Edward Mayhew
Malcolm Stewart as Dr. Sacks
Fritz Weaver as Senator Sorenson[1]
Episode chronology
← Previous
"Tunguska" Next →
"Paper Hearts"
List of season 4 episodes
List of The X-Files episodes
"Terma" is the ninth episode of the fourth season of the American science fiction television series The X-Files. It premiered on the Fox network on December 1, 1996. It was directed by Rob Bowman, and written by Frank Spotnitz and series creator Chris Carter. "Terma" featured guest appearances by John Neville, Nicholas Lea and Fritz Weaver. The episode helped explore the series' overarching mythology. "Terma" earned a Nielsen household rating of 10.3, being watched by 17.34 million viewers during its original airing.
FBI special agent Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) and assistant director Walter Skinner (Mitch Pileggi) attend a United States Senate hearing, while Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) attempts to escape from a Russian gulag. "Terma" is a two-part episode, continuing the plot from the previous episode, "Tunguska".
Several scenes in "Terma" were inspired by the novels of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, while its tagline—changed to "E pur si muove" from the usual "The truth is out there"—is a reference to Galileo Galilei's investigation by the Roman Inquisition. "Terma" features a climactic explosion at an oil refinery wellhead, requiring the physical effects staff to ignite a 300 feet (91 m) plume of flammable liquids.
Contents
[hide] 1 Plot
2 Production
3 Reception
4 Footnotes
5 External links
Plot[edit]
Having been imprisoned in a gulag in Krasnoyarsk, Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) learns that Alex Krycek (Nicholas Lea) is a double agent working for the Russian taskmasters. Mulder is able to escape from the camp while taking Krycek hostage, although the two become separated in the confusion. Krycek is found by a group of men whose left arms have all been amputated, and has his arm forcibly severed to prevent his involvements in black oil vaccination tests.
Meanwhile, Vasily Peskow (Jan Rubes), a former KGB agent, has come out of retirement and traveled to America. While there, he assassinates Bonita Charne-Sayre, a doctor working for the Syndicate to develop a black oil vaccine. From here, Peskow tracks down Charne-Sayre's test subjects, testing a Russian vaccine on them before killing them to cover his tracks.
Mulder has been able to return to America with the help of a group of Russian peasants, and rejoins his partner Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson). Scully and assistant director Walter Skinner (Mitch Pileggi) had been detained by a United States Senate committee seeking to uncover Mulder's whereabouts, but the committee was adjourned upon Mulder's arrival. The agents attempt to track down Peskow, following the trail of murders. However, the assassin is able to outwit the agents, and destroys the last of the oil-containing rocks seen in the previous episode in an oil-well explosion. He returns to Russia, where it is revealed that he had been hired for this task by Krycek.[2]
Production[edit]
The episode's gulag scenes were inspired by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn (left), while its tagline is a reference to Galileo Galilei (right)
The episode's title refers to terma, a set of Buddhist teachings hidden from the world. Series creator Chris Carter felt these represented the secrets kept by the Syndicate.[3] The opening credits of the episode saw the series' usual tagline of "The truth is out there" replaced with "E pur si muove". The phrase, Italian for "and yet, it moves", is attributed to astronomer Galileo Galilei, when forced by the Roman Inquisition to denounce his belief in heliocentrism.[4] The episode's gulag scenes were inspired by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn's novels The Gulag Archipelago (1973) and One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich (1963).[4]
Shots of the oil refinery seen in the episode were filmed at a thermal energy station situated in Port Moody, British Columbia.[4] The climactic oil-well explosion was achieved through physical effects, with crew member Dave Gauthier building a replica wellhead in a disused rock quarry, through which liquid was piped at pressures of 250 pounds per square inch (1,700,000 Pa)[4] to create a plume 300 feet (91 m) high.[3] This wellhead was rigged to spray oil-colored water for shots of the plume itself, which was switched with a remote control to a stream of kerosene and liquid propane for the shots involving the oil catching fire.[4]
Actor Nicholas Lea, who plays recurring character Alex Krycek, worked with a Russian-speaking vocal coach to ensure that his dialogue was delivered with the correct accent and stresses.[4] Malcolm Stewart, who portrayed NASA scientist Dr. Sacks in the episode, had previously appeared in several earlier episodes of the series, including "Pilot",[5] the second season episode "3",[6] and the third season's "Avatar".[7] Carter has called "Terma", along with its companion piece "Tunguska", "an action piece from beginning to end".[3]
Reception[edit]
"Terma" premiered on the Fox network on December 1, 1996, and was first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC Two on November 4, 1997.[8] The episode earned a Nielsen household rating of 10.6 with a 15 share, meaning that roughly 10.6 percent of all television-equipped households, and 15 percent of households watching television, were tuned in to the episode.[9] A total of 17.34 million viewers watched this episode during its original airing.[10]
Writing for The A.V. Club, Zack Handlen rated the episode a B-, finding that it contained too much "vamping for time", without enough focus on any of the individual plot threads. Handlen felt that the plot thread based on the murder of the Well-Manicured Man's doctor friend should have been the episode's focus, and derided the "pomposity" of the dialogue elsewhere in the episode.[11] Based on an advance viewing of the episode's script, Entertainment Weekly rated "Terma" an A-, praising the "arms race" plotline.[12] Robert Shearman and Lars Pearson, in their book Wanting to Believe: A Critical Guide to The X-Files, Millennium & The Lone Gunmen, rated "Terma" one star out of five, comparing it unfavourably with the previous episode. Shearman and Pearson described the episode as "awful", noting that there "is virtually no structure to it at all". The episode's dialogue was described as being "dreadful, boring and facile", with its long, clumsy lines and "ever more complex and ever less interesting" speeches.[13]
Footnotes[edit]
1.Jump up ^ Meisler, p. 104
2.Jump up ^ Edwards, pp. 200–201
3.^ Jump up to: a b c Chris Carter (narrator) (1996–1997). "Interview Clip: Tunguska". The X-Files: The Complete Fourth Season (featurette) (Fox).
4.^ Jump up to: a b c d e f Meisler, p. 102
5.Jump up ^ Robert Mandel (director); Chris Carter (writer) (September 10, 1993). "Pilot". The X-Files. Season 1. Episode 1. Fox.
6.Jump up ^ David Nutter (director); Glen Morgan, James Wong & Chris Ruppenthal (writers) (November 4, 1994). "3". The X-Files. Season 2. Episode 7. Fox.
7.Jump up ^ James Charleston (director); Howard Gordon & David Duchovny (writers) (April 26, 1996). "Avatar". The X-Files. Season 3. Episode 21. Fox.
8.Jump up ^ R. W. Goodwin et al (booklet). The X-Files: The Complete Fourth Season (Liner notes). Fox.
9.Jump up ^ Edwards, p. 201
10.Jump up ^ Meisler, p. 298
11.Jump up ^ Handlen, Zack (November 20, 2010). ""Terma"/"Wide Open" | The X-Files/Millennium | TV Club". The A.V. Club. Retrieved January 7, 2012.
12.Jump up ^ "X Cyclopedia: The Ultimate Episode Guide, Season IV". Entertainment Weekly. November 29, 1996. Retrieved January 7, 2012.
13.Jump up ^ Shearman and Pearson, pp. 89–90
ReferencesEdwards, Ted (1996). X-Files Confidential. Little, Brown and Company. ISBN 0-316-21808-1.
Meisler, Andy (1998). I Want to Believe: The Official Guide to the X-Files Volume 3. Harper Prism. ISBN 0-06-105386-4.
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 4
"Terma" at the Internet Movie Database
"Terma" at TV.com
[hide]
v·
t·
e
The X-Files episodes
Seasons: 1·
2·
3·
4·
5·
6·
7·
8·
9
Season 4
"Herrenvolk"·
"Home"·
"Teliko"·
"Unruhe"·
"The Field Where I Died"·
"Sanguinarium"·
"Musings of a Cigarette Smoking Man"·
"Tunguska"·
"Terma"·
"Paper Hearts"·
"El Mundo Gira"·
"Leonard Betts"·
"Never Again"·
"Memento Mori"·
"Kaddish"·
"Unrequited"·
"Tempus Fugit"·
"Max"·
"Synchrony"·
"Small Potatoes"·
"Zero Sum"·
"Elegy"·
"Demons"·
"Gethsemane"
Categories: The X-Files (season 4) episodes
1996 television episodes
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Paper Hearts
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
This is a good article. Click here for more information.
For the 2009 film, see Paper Heart.
"Paper Hearts"
The X-Files episode
Paper Hearts TXF.jpg
A heart cut out of a dress
Episode no.
Season 4
Episode 10
Directed by
Rob Bowman
Written by
Vince Gilligan
Production code
4X08
Original air date
December 15, 1996
Guest actors
Mitch Pileggi as Walter Skinner
Vanessa Morley as Samantha Mulder
Rebecca Toolan as Teena Mulder
Tom Noonan as John Lee Roche
Byrne Piven as Frank Sparks
Carly McKillip as Caitlin
Edward Diaz as El Camino Owner
Jane Perry as Care Operator
Paul Bittante as Local Cop
Episode chronology
← Previous
"Terma" Next →
"El Mundo Gira"
List of season 4 episodes
List of The X-Files episodes
"Paper Hearts" is the tenth episode of the fourth season of the American science fiction television series The X-Files. It premiered on the Fox network on December 15, 1996. It was written by Vince Gilligan, directed by Rob Bowman, and featured guest appearances by Tom Noonan, Rebecca Toolan and Vanessa Morley. The episode is a "Monster-of-the-Week" story, unconnected to the series' wider mythology. "Paper Hearts" was viewed by 16.59 million people in its initial broadcast, and received positive reviews, with critics praising Noonan's guest role.
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. Mulder is a believer in the paranormal, and the skeptical Scully has been assigned to debunk his work. In this episode, Mulder and Scully find that a child killer (Tom Noonan) who Mulder had helped to apprehend several years earlier had claimed more victims than he had confessed to; and in the resulting investigation, learn that the killer is now claiming to have killed Mulder's sister Samantha.
Gilligan came up with the concept for "Paper Hearts" when thinking about the series' longest running storyline, the abduction of Samantha Mulder; he came up with a story questioning whether Samantha had not been abducted by aliens, but was rather murdered by a child killer instead. "Paper Hearts" was written specifically with Tom Noonan in mind for the role of Roche, and was amongst the first television work the actor had done.
Contents
[hide] 1 Plot
2 Production
3 Broadcast and reception
4 Footnotes
5 External links
Plot[edit]
Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) dreams of a red light that leads him to the corpse of a young girl buried in a park. When he awakens, he heads to the park and finds the girl's skeleton. The girl was determined to have been murdered by John Lee Roche (Tom Noonan), a serial killer who murdered thirteen girls throughout the 1980s; his modus operandi was cutting a heart out of the clothes of each victim. Mulder had captured Roche by deducing that he committed the murders while traveling as a vacuum cleaner salesman. Roche's hearts were never found, although he confessed to all of the murders.
Dana Scully's (Gillian Anderson) autopsy of the skeleton finds that the victim died in 1975, suggesting that Roche's killing spree started much earlier than the FBI had previously thought. The agents search Roche's old car, where they discover sixteen cut-out hearts. Mulder and Scully subsequently visit Roche in prison, hoping to learn the identities of the remaining two victims. Roche, however, tries to play mind games with Mulder. That night Mulder, dreams of the night of Samantha's abduction, seemingly showing that his sister was abducted by Roche rather than aliens.
The next day, Mulder asks Roche where he was the night Samantha was abducted. Roche claims he was on Martha's Vineyard and had sold a vacuum cleaner to Mulder's father. Mulder later finds the vacuum in his mother's house. After convincing Walter Skinner to grant them further access to Roche, the agents question the killer and are told the location of one of his remaining victims. He also claims exactly what happened the night of Samantha's abduction. An autopsy of the body reveals it does not belong to Samantha. Roche tells Mulder the final body is Samantha's, but says that he will only reveal where it is if Mulder takes him to the scene of her abduction. Mulder secretly releases Roche from prison and brings him to Martha's Vineyard.
Upon arriving at his family's old summer house, Roche explains exactly what happened the night of Samantha's abduction. However, Mulder tells him that the house was bought by his father after Samantha's abduction, convincing him that Roche is not telling the truth. Mulder plans to bring Roche back to prison, but — following another dream about Samantha — awakens to find Roche gone, with his badge, gun and phone stolen.
Using Mulder's credentials, Roche kidnaps a girl whom he met on his flight with Mulder to Boston. Scully and Skinner arrive the next day and the agents head to the site of Roche's old apartment in Boston. They find him with the girl in an abandoned trolley bus nearby. Roche holds the gun on the girl and tells Mulder that he'll never know for sure whether the last victim is Samantha or not if he kills him. Mulder is then forced to shoot Roche, as he starts to pull on the trigger of the stolen gun. In his office Mulder stares at the final cloth heart and puts it away, unsure of whether it belonged to Samantha or not.[1]
Production[edit]
"Paper Hearts" was written specifically with Tom Noonan in mind for the role of John Lee Roche.
"Paper Hearts" was written specifically with Tom Noonan in mind for the role of Roche, and was amongst the first television work the actor had done.[2] Writer Vince Gilligan came up with the concept for the episode when thinking about the series' longest running storyline, the abduction of Samantha Mulder. Gilligan came up with a story questioning whether Samantha had not been abducted by aliens, but was rather murdered by a child killer instead. He decided to help convince Fox Mulder of this through a series of prophetic dreams. The laser lights in Mulder's dreams were influenced by Gilligan's experience with laser holograms while he was a film student. The laser was supposed to be the color blue, but was changed to red in production to reduce costs. Wanting to include some kind of fetish for the killer, Gilligan settled on having Roche cut heart shaped fragments from his victim's clothing, thinking that having him mutilate his victims bodies would be going too far.[3]
Guest actor Tom Noonan, who played the killer John Lee Roche, recalled filming the scene in which his character is introduced, playing basketball in prison. Noonan, a capable basketball player, was asked to "downplay" how well he could play; although he regretted not being able to play against David Duchovny, who had played basketball for Princeton University.[4] Episode writer Vince Gilligan and director Rob Bowman assert that Duchovny's successful basketball shot in this scene was filmed in just one take, without special effects.[5] While the episode was the eighth produced in the season, it was the tenth aired, having been delayed to free up production resources for the two part episodes "Tunguska" and "Terma".[6] The episode's climactic scene was filmed in a "bus graveyard" in Surrey, British Columbia, a location which had been scouted months previously with the intention of eventually including it in an episode of the series; although filming at the location did not even last a full day despite the long wait to use it.[7]
Broadcast and reception[edit]
"Paper Hearts" premiered on the Fox network on December 15, 1996, and was first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC Two on November 12, 1997.[8] The episode's initial broadcast was viewed by approximately 16.59 million people, which represented 16% of the viewing audience during that time.[9]
Both Gillian Anderson and David Duchovny consider this among the best episodes of the fourth season.[3] Composer Mark Snow was nominated for an Emmy Award for the music he produced for this episode.[10] He said of the episode's music, "It was a different kind of texture for the show. Light, magic, nothing terribly threatening". Snow received many requests for a recording of the music used at the end of the episode.[6]
Website IGN named "Paper Hearts" their sixth favorite "standalone" episode of the show, calling it "creepy and unsettling", and claiming Noonan's character was "one of the most disturbing villains to make an appearance in the series".[11] Noonan's acting has also been praised by Vince Gilligan, who says the "understated" manner in which Roche is portrayed "sends chills down [his] spine every time".[5] The A.V. Club's Todd VanDerWerff reviewed the episode positively, rating it an A. He felt that Noonan's performance was "terrific", noting that the actor "makes Roche into one of the series' great human monsters"; and believed that the episode's premise was important to developing the character of Mulder further.[12] The website later named the episode the sixth best example of a television dream sequence, noting that it "suggest[s] how this methodical man [Mulder] might puzzle over cold cases in his subconscious".[13] The article also complimented the entry's metaphor that laser pointers were Mulder's mind that pointed "out bits of evidence his conscious brain missed all those many years ago."[13] Starpulse named it the second best episode of the series.[14]
Footnotes[edit]
1.Jump up ^ Meisler, pp.84–91
2.Jump up ^ Rabin, Nathan (November 20, 2009). "Tom Noonan | Film | Random Roles". The A.V. Club. Retrieved September 15, 2011.
3.^ Jump up to: a b Meisler, p.92
4.Jump up ^ Chris Neumer. "Tom Noonan Interview - Interview - Stumped?". Stumped?. Retrieved 18 April 2011.[dead link]
5.^ Jump up to: a b Vince Gilligan. Interview for "Paper Hearts" (The X-Files season 4 DVD extra). Twentieth Century Fox & Ten Thirteen Productions.
6.^ Jump up to: a b Meisler, p.93
7.Jump up ^ Gradnitzer and Pittson, pp.126–127
8.Jump up ^ R.W. Goodwin, Kim Manners, et al (booklet). The X-Files: The Complete Fourth Season (Liner notes). Fox.
9.Jump up ^ Meisler, p.298
10.Jump up ^ "Primetime Emmy Award Database | Emmys.com". Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Retrieved April 18, 2011.
11.Jump up ^ Collura, Scott; Fickett, Travis; Goldman, Eric; Seghers, Christine (May 12, 2008). "IGN's 10 Favorite X-Files Standalone Episodes - TV Feature at IGN". IGN. Retrieved April 18, 2011.
12.Jump up ^ VanDerWerff, Todd (November 27, 2010). ""Paper Hearts" / The Wild And The Innocent" | The X-Files/Millennium | TV Club". The A.V. Club. Retrieved September 15, 2011.
13.^ Jump up to: a b Adams, Erik, et al (March 18, 2013). ""What a nightmare!" - 21 TV episodes that do dream sequences right". The A.V. Club. Retrieved March 20, 2013.
14.Jump up ^ Payne, Andrew (July 25, 2008). "'X-Files' 10 Best Episodes". Starpulse. Retrieved February 18, 2012.
ReferencesGradnitzer, Louisa; Pittson, Todd (1999). X Marks the Spot: On Location with The X-Files. Arsenal Pulp Press. ISBN 1-55152-066-4.
Meisler, Andy (1998). I Want to Believe: The Official Guide to the X-Files Volume 3. Harper Prism. ISBN 0-06-105386-4.
External links[edit]
Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: TXF Season 4
"Paper Hearts" at the Internet Movie Database
"Paper Hearts" at TV.com
[hide]
v·
t·
e
The X-Files episodes
Seasons: 1·
2·
3·
4·
5·
6·
7·
8·
9
Season 4
"Herrenvolk"·
"Home"·
"Teliko"·
"Unruhe"·
"The Field Where I Died"·
"Sanguinarium"·
"Musings of a Cigarette Smoking Man"·
"Tunguska"·
"Terma"·
"Paper Hearts"·
"El Mundo Gira"·
"Leonard Betts"·
"Never Again"·
"Memento Mori"·
"Kaddish"·
"Unrequited"·
"Tempus Fugit"·
"Max"·
"Synchrony"·
"Small Potatoes"·
"Zero Sum"·
"Elegy"·
"Demons"·
"Gethsemane"
Categories: The X-Files (season 4) episodes
1996 television episodes
Screenplays by Vince Gilligan
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El Mundo Gira
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
This is a good article. Click here for more information.
"El Mundo Gira"
The X-Files episode
Episode no.
Season 4
Episode 11
Directed by
Tucker Gates
Written by
John Shiban
Production code
4X11
Original air date
January 12, 1997
Running time
44 minutes
Guest actors
Mitch Pileggi as Assistant Director Walter Skinner
RubƩn Blades as Conrad Lozano
Raymond Cruz as Eladio Buente
Jose Yenque as Soledad Buente
Simi as Gabriel Buente
Lillian Hurst as Flakita
Susan Bain as County Coroner
Robert Thurston as Dr. Larry Steen
Michael Kopsa as Rick Culver
Markus Hondro as The Barber
Janeth Munoz as Village Woman
Pamela Diaz as Maria Dorantes
Fabricio Santin as Migrant Worker
Jose Vargas as INS Worker
Tito Mata as INS Guard
Tony Dean Smith as Store Clerk[1]
Episode chronology
← Previous
"Paper Hearts" Next →
"Leonard Betts"
List of season 4 episodes
List of The X-Files episodes
"El Mundo Gira" is the eleventh episode of the fourth season of the American science fiction television series The X-Files. It premiered on the Fox network in the United States on January 12, 1997. It was written by John Shiban and directed by Tucker Gates. The episode is a "Monster-of-the-Week" story, unconnected to the series' wider mythology. "El Mundo Gira" received a Nielsen rating of 13.3 and was viewed by 22.37 million people in its initial broadcast, and received mixed to negative reviews from television 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. Mulder is a believer in the paranormal, and the skeptical Scully has been assigned to debunk his work. In this episode, strange and deadly rain in a migrant workers camp sends Mulder and Scully on the trail of a mythical beast – El Chupacabra. What they discover is a bizarre fungal growth, affecting illegal immigrants.
Shiban was inspired to write "El Mundo Gira" after noticing the long lines of migrant workers he would often see at his job when working as a computer programmer in the Los Angeles area. He combined it with an idea he had about a contagious fungus. Series creator Chris Carter was attracted to the soap opera-like aspects of the episode, and the title of the episode means "The World Turns" in Spanish. The migrant camp used in the episode was built from scratch in a waste ground near Boundary Bay Airport in Vancouver. This site was later used again in the episode "Tempus Fugit".
Contents
[hide] 1 Plot
2 Production
3 Reception
4 References
5 External links
Plot[edit]
Agents Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) investigate the death of Maria Dorantes, an illegal immigrant living in the San Joaquin Valley, who was found dead with her face partially eaten away after yellow rain fell from the sky. Maria was the object of the love of two brothers, Eladio Buente (Raymond Cruz) and Soledad Buente, and Soledad blames his brother for her death. The illegal aliens for some reason believe that the "Chupacabra", the Latin American Goatsucker, was responsible for her death, despite the fact that none of the circumstances of the death resemble anything close to reports of the Chupacabra. Mulder is assisted on the case by Fresno, California INS agent Conrad Lozano, and the two are able to interrogate Eladio, who frightens the other immigrants. Scully meanwhile discovers that Maria was killed by a fungal growth known as Aspergillus.
Eladio escapes when a truck attempts to transport him to the Mexican border. The truck driver is found dead, and a clinical exam shows the death was caused by a rapid growth of Trichophyton – the Athlete's foot fungus. Scully brings samples of the fatal fungi to a mycologist who discovers that the abnormal rapid growth of the fungi was caused by an unidentifiable enzyme. This revelation leads Scully to suspect Eladio of being a carrier of the enzyme, necessitating his immediate capture to stop the enzyme's spread. Eladio seeks to return to Mexico, but needs money to do so. As such he meets with his cousin Gabrielle, who tells him to meet her at her job at the local grocery store later that night. Eladio works with a construction foreman for the day to make the money. Soledad comes after him, seeking to kill him, but finds the foreman dead. Eladio escapes in the foreman's truck and heads to the grocery store, spreading the fungal growth. The agents later confront Soledad at the supermarket, discovering another dead victim of the fungus.
Eladio returns to see Gabrielle, but by now has grown deformed from the fungus. Gabrielle, afraid of him, gives him her money and lies to the agents about his location when they come to see her. In actuality, Eladio has returned to the camp where Maria died, where Lozano tries to spur Soledad on in killing his brother. Soledad finds he can't do it and Lozano struggles with him, being accidentally killed when the gun goes off. Soledad becomes a carrier of the fungal growth himself and flees with Eladio towards Mexico.[1]
Production[edit]
Writer John Shiban was inspired to write the episode after noticing the long lines of migrant workers he would often see at his job when working as a computer programmer in the Los Angeles area. He combined it with an idea he had about a contagious fungus. Shiban originally intended to have the fungal infection spread by a schoolkid, but later changed it to a trucker in the second draft.[2] In the finalized script, it was changed to Eladio once the storylines were combined.[2] Executive producer and series creator Chris Carter was attracted to the soap opera-like aspects of the episode, and the title of the episode means "The World Turns" in Spanish, a reference to the popular American television soap opera As the World Turns. The Chupacabra is a Latin American folk myth that Shiban originally heard about in an article in the The Los Angeles Times about a year prior. To research the episode, Shiban spent time observing the processing of illegal aliens at an INS facility in San Pedro, California.[2] The usage of fake names by the detained immigrants in the episode was inspired by his experiences at the facility. Lozano was portrayed by popular Panamanian salsa singer and actor Ruben Blades. Chris Carter had been looking to use him in an episode for a while.[2] The actors who portrayed Eladio and Gabrielle were a couple at the time.[2]
The migrant camp used in the episode was built from scratch in a waste ground near Boundary Bay Airport in Vancouver. This site was later used again in the episode "Tempus Fugit". It snowed the night before filming occurred, requiring the production crew to use hot water and blow dryers to melt it. Originally, composer Mark Snow created a score that was deemed too "serious" by Carter; thus, Snow was forced to replace his entire score with a new one.[2]
Reception[edit]
"El Mundo Gira" was originally broadcast in the United States on the Fox network on January 12, 1997, and was first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC One on November 19, 1997.[3] This episode earned a Nielsen rating of 13.3, with a 19 share, meaning that roughly 13.3 percent of all television-equipped households, and 19 percent of households watching television, were tuned in to the episode.[4] It was viewed by 22.37 million viewers.[4]
The episode received mixed to negative reviews from critics. Zack Handlen of The A.V. Club reviewed the episode positively, rating it an B. He considered the episode "entertaining to watch" with "nifty direction from Tucker Gates", despite being formulaic and with the same problems he found in the previous episode penned by John Shiban, season three's "Teso Dos Bichos". Handlen had much praise for the second half, which he noted was filled with dark humor, and featured a "bizarre ending".[5] John Keegan from Critical Myth gave the episode a largely negative review and awarded it a 2 out of 10. He wrote, "Overall, this episode is a disastrous combination of political commentary and stereotypical “Mexican soap opera” caricatures. Mulder and Scully have nothing to do with the resolution of the episode, and in fact, the writers fail to provide that resolution. There are some good character moments, but they are too far and few between."[6] Author Keith Topping criticized the episode in his book X-Treme Possibilities, calling it an "awful episode with a heavy-handed, clod-hopping attempt at social comment that hardly sits well with the themes on display in the rest of the episode."[7] He called it the worst episode of the fourth season.[7] 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 one star out of five and wrote that it was "trying very hard to be clever".[8] Despite this the two explained that "if cleverness were only about intent, then we could all be geniuses".[8] Shearman and Pearson derided the episode's use of social criticism, referring to it as "rubbish [because it] only works if it isn't underlined each time it's made."[8] Furthermore, the two criticized the story's "Mexican soap opera" style, noting that it drowned out the themes in "unengaging melodrama".[8] Paula Vitaris from Cinefantastique gave the episode a largely negative review and awarded it one star out of four.[9] She wrote that "'El Mundo Gira' is so overloaded with ideas that it falls over and can't get up".[9]
References[edit]
Footnotes
1.^ Jump up to: a b Meisler, pp. 115–22
2.^ Jump up to: a b c d e f Meisler, pp. 122–3
3.Jump up ^ The X-Files: The Complete Fourth Season (Media notes). Fox. 1996–97.
4.^ Jump up to: a b Meisler, p. 298
5.Jump up ^ Handlen, Zack (December 4, 2010). ""El Mundo Gira"/"Weeds" | The X-Files/Millennium | TV Club". The A.V. Club. Retrieved September 15, 2011.
6.Jump up ^ Keegan, John. "El Mundo Gira". Critical Myth. Retrieved 30 June 2012.
7.^ Jump up to: a b Cornell et al, pp. 322–3
8.^ Jump up to: a b c d Shearman and Pearson, pp. 91–92
9.^ Jump up to: a b Vitaris, Paula (October 1997). "Episode Guide". Cinefantastique 29 (4/5): 35–62.
BibliographyCornell, Paul, Day, Martin, Topping, Keith (1998). X-Treme Possibilities. Virgin Publications, Ltd. ISBN 0-7535-0228-3.
Hurwitz, Matt; Knowles, Chris (2008). The Complete X-Files. Insight Editions. ISBN 1933784806.
Meisler, Andy (1998). I Want to Believe: The Official Guide to the X-Files Volume 3. Harper Prism. ISBN 0061053864.
Shearman, Robert; Pearson, Lars (2009). Wanting to Believe: A Critical Guide to The X-Files, Millennium & The Lone Gunmen. Mad Norwegian Press. ISBN 097594469X.
External links[edit]
Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: TXF Season 4
"El Mundo Gira" at the Internet Movie Database
"El Mundo Gira" at TV.com
[hide]
v·
t·
e
The X-Files episodes
Seasons: 1·
2·
3·
4·
5·
6·
7·
8·
9
Season 4
"Herrenvolk"·
"Home"·
"Teliko"·
"Unruhe"·
"The Field Where I Died"·
"Sanguinarium"·
"Musings of a Cigarette Smoking Man"·
"Tunguska"·
"Terma"·
"Paper Hearts"·
"El Mundo Gira"·
"Leonard Betts"·
"Never Again"·
"Memento Mori"·
"Kaddish"·
"Unrequited"·
"Tempus Fugit"·
"Max"·
"Synchrony"·
"Small Potatoes"·
"Zero Sum"·
"Elegy"·
"Demons"·
"Gethsemane"
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Leonard Betts
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"Leonard Betts"
The X-Files episode
A man graphically sheds his body and skin.
Leonard Betts, a cancer-eating mutant, creating a duplicate body. The effect required Toby Lindala to build a puppet with full-functioning mouth and eyes.
Episode no.
Season 4
Episode 12
Directed by
Kim Manners
Written by
Vince Gilligan
John Shiban
Frank Spotnitz
Production code
4X14[1]
Original air date
January 26, 1997
Running time
44 minutes[2]
Guest actors
Bill Dow as Charles Burks
Paul McCrane as Leonard Betts
Marjorie Lovett as Elaine Tanner
Jennifer Clement as Michelle Wilkes
Episode chronology
← Previous
"El Mundo Gira" Next →
"Never Again"
List of season 4 episodes
List of The X-Files episodes
"Leonard Betts" is the twelfth episode of the fourth season of the American science fiction television series The X-Files. It premiered on the Fox network on January 26, 1997. It was written by Vince Gilligan, John Shiban, and Frank Spotnitz, directed by Kim Manners, and featured a guest appearance by Paul McCrane as Leonard Betts/Albert Tanner. The episode is a "Monster-of-the-Week" story, unconnected to the series' wider mythology. "Leonard Betts" was Fox's lead-out program following Super Bowl XXXI and was the most watched episode, receiving a Nielsen household rating of 17.2, being watched by 29.1 million people in its initial broadcast. The episode received positive reviews, with critics commenting positively on the character of Betts, played by actor Paul McCrane.
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. 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 the supposed death and regeneration of an emergency medical technician (EMT) named Leonard Betts, a mutant who subsists on cancer and can regenerate severed body parts.
"Leonard Betts" was a story milestone for the series, introducing the detection of Agent Scully's cancer, which would go on to play a larger role in the latter part of Season Four and much of Season Five. In addition, the episode has been analyzed for its themes of physical drives and psychological egoism. The production for the episode required several physically exerting stunts coupled with special effects in order to bring the illusions of the episode to life.
Contents
[hide] 1 Plot
2 Production 2.1 Writing
2.2 Casting and filming
3 Academic analysis 3.1 Themes
3.2 Scientific research
4 Broadcast and reception 4.1 Ratings
4.2 Reviews
5 References 5.1 Footnotes
5.2 Bibliography
6 External links
Plot[edit]
In Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Leonard Betts (Paul McCrane), an EMT paramedic, is decapitated when his ambulance collides with a truck. Later, at the morgue, Betts' headless body leaves its cold chamber, knocks out the attendant, steals his clothes, and escapes. Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) visit the morgue, where they find Betts' head in a medical waste dumpster. Scully attempts a cranial examination, but the head's eyes and mouth both suddenly open when she begins the procedure. Meanwhile, Mulder goes to Betts' apartment, where he finds the attendant's discarded clothes. When Mulder leaves, Betts—who has regrown his head—rises out of his bathtub. Mulder interviews Michelle Wilkes (Jennifer Clement), Betts' former partner, who recollects his ability to detect cancer. When an interior slice of Betts' polymerized head is examined, the agents discover that his frontal lobe displayed signs of pervasive cancer. Mulder has Chuck Burks (Bill Dow) subject the slice to an aura photography test; the final image shows corona discharge that takes the appearance of human shoulders.
Using fingerprint records, Scully learns that Betts had an alter ego named Albert Tanner. The agents visit his elderly mother, Elaine (Marjorie Lovett), who claims that "Albert" died in a car accident six years previously. Meanwhile, Wilkes tracks down Betts at another hospital and confronts him. After an apology, he gives her a lethal injection of potassium chloride; Betts is then pursued and captured by a security guard. After he is handcuffed to his car, Betts escapes by tearing off his thumb. The agents search the car the next morning, finding disposed tumors in a cooler. Mulder believes that Betts subsists on the tumors, and that his nature makes him the embodiment of a radical leap in evolution.
Upon learning that the car is registered to Elaine, the agents have the police search her home. Elaine recounts how her son endured bullying as a child "because he was different", and says that "he had his reasons" if he killed anybody. Meanwhile, Betts accosts a bar patron and kills him to obtain his cancerous lung. Later, in a storage unit, he seems to shed his body and create a duplicate. When the agents come across the storage unit, the duplicate Betts attempts to flee in a car, which explodes and seemingly kills him. Scully suggests that Betts' first "death" as Albert Tanner was staged, but when they exhume Tanner's casket, they find his body still inside. Mulder becomes convinced that Betts can not only regenerate his body parts, but his entire body itself. Because of this, he believes that Betts is still at large.
At Elaine's behest, Betts removes a cancerous tumor from her body before summoning an ambulance. The agents, already staking out Elaine's house, encounter the paramedics when they arrive. Scully accompanies Elaine to the hospital while Mulder conducts a search of the neighborhood. However, after arriving at the hospital, Scully realizes that Betts has stowed himself away on the roof of the ambulance. Betts locks her inside the ambulance with him, calmly but apologetically telling her that she has "something I need". This leads Scully to realize that she herself has cancer. After a struggle, Scully kills Betts by pressing charged defibrillator paddles against his head. Scully remains silently stunned by the revelation of her illness. Later, in her apartment, she wakes up with a nosebleed, confirming her disease.[3]
Production[edit]
Writing[edit]
Gillian Anderson's character Dana Scully is revealed to be suffering from cancer in this episode.
"Leonard Betts" was written by Vince Gilligan, John Shiban, and Frank Spotnitz and directed by Kim Manners.[4] Scripts written by Gilligan, Shiban, and Spotnitz would later go on to be humorously referred to as creations of a "John Gillnitz"—a portmanteau of the three writers' names. According to Spotnitz, the script for "Leonard Betts" was "not particularly well-loved at the time".[5] Spotnitz later noted, however, that the episode became "one of [his] favorite monster shows".[5] Originally, the episode "Never Again" was supposed to come before the episode. Vince Gilligan, co-writer of the episode, explained, "[series creator Chris Carter] really wanted to grab viewers who had never seen us before [the Super Bowl], and we knew the best way to do that would be with a really creepy stand-alone monster story."[6] Thus, the air date of "Leonard Betts" was flipped with "Never Again" in order to ensure that the former episode, which featured the show's two stars in their traditional roles, aired after the Super Bowl. Anderson has said that she would have played the part differently in "Never Again"—which featured Scully acting notably out of character—had she been aware that Scully would get cancer at the time, as Scully only discovers this at the end of "Leonard Betts".[7]
The episode is notable in that it was the first episode of the series to confirm Agent Scully's cancer. Reportedly, when Chris Carter informed Gillian Anderson that her character would be diagnosed with cancer, she was "delighted" that she would be able to play her character in a different way.[6] John Shiban, who helped write the episode, considers the episode to be "a great X-Files story" and very important because it established the story-arc featuring Scully's cancer.[8]
Casting and filming[edit]
Actor Paul McCrane, who later went on to play the noted role of Dr. Robert Romano on ER, was cast to play the role of Leonard Betts.[9] Director Kim Manners urged McCrane to play the role of Betts with "emotional conviction."[6] Manners later explained that "I found that if you take the absurd and base it in the reality of human emotion, the audience is going to buy it as if it actually exists. You know?"[6]
McCrane had to spend hours in makeup in order to get the right effect and his eyes were colored with specially made contact lenses. Many of the scenes were physically exerting. The autopsy scene involved McCrane positioning himself through a hole in the table and sitting perfectly still, giving the illusion of a disembodied head. The scene in the bathtub required McCrane to spend several minutes motionless underwater. The shot in which a new Betts emerges from the old one's mouth was created by Toby Lindala. Lindala used shots of McCrane intercut with shots of a puppet with full-functioning mouth and eyes. Laverne Basham and Lindala were later both nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Makeup in a Series. In addition, the machine that created a slice of Betts' head was designed by Ken Hawryliew.[9]
Academic analysis[edit]
Themes[edit]
According to Anne Simon, Betts's body is composed of blastema.
According to Jan Delasara, one of the major themes of "Leonard Betts" is the exploration of "irresistible physical drives."[10] In Betts' case, his desire to kill is due to a biological need, not a malevolent desire to murder.[10] The A.V. Club's Todd VanDerWerff, in his review of the episode, wrote that "It also helps that Leonard's such an understandably human monster. On some level, he just wants to survive, and he's not happy about what he has to do to be able to survive."[11] "Leonard Betts" serves as the first story in a multi-season story-arc that features Agent Scully being diagnosed with terminal cancer. Richard Edwards, in the chapter "Some Philosophical Reflections on 'Trust No One'" of their book The Philosophy of The X-Files, argue that Scully withholding the knowledge of her cancer from Mulder is an example of psychological egoism in a protagonist.[12] They reason that by not telling her partner, she is withholding the information in an act of self-interest.[12]
Elyce Rae Helford in her book Fantasy Girls: Gender in the New Universe of Science Fiction and Fantasy Television notes that the episode contains themes of "maternal sacrifice and maternal monstrosity" that are common throughout the series.[13] In "Leonard Betts", the titular character's mother nearly sacrifices her own life to give her son the cancer he needs in order to escape death. Helford argues that these motifs concerning maternal figures are most notable in the season four and five "Monster-of-the-Week" episodes, such as "Home".[13]
Betts' condition, in which he is "riddled with cancer" but can "see the sickness within people", according to Amy Donaldson, is a metaphor for someone who "has let sin or evil become the regular course of life".[14] Although Betts can detect and consume the illness, his motives are derived from "his own self appetite".[14] Donaldson contrasts him with the soul eater, from eight season entry "The Gift". In the episode, Agent John Doggett, played by Robert Patrick, stumbles upon a creature that altruistically absorbs the diseases and ailments of others. The soul eater is the polar opposition of Betts, in that takes the illness to help others, rather than to harm them and keep living, which is Betts mode of operation.[15]
Scientific research[edit]
According to Anne Simon, the manner in which Betts can regrow limbs is somewhat similar to the way in which amphibians and newts can regenerate tails and other limbs. She notes that many amphibian cells can "turn back the clock [and] revert back to an [embryonic] time when any fate was possible".[16] In humans, only two types of cells—blood cells and liver cells—are able to regenerate, however, the process is different via the stem cell. Simon also postulates that Betts was able to regenerate because he had a specific relationship between his immune system and his cellular growth. She notes that what Scully and Burks mistook for tumors were actually blastema, or masses of cells capable of growth and regeneration into organs or body parts.[17] Simon also suggests that, for Betts to truly be composed entirely of cancer cells, he would have to lack functioning p53, the tumor suppressor protein. This condition, however, is always fatal.[18]
Broadcast and reception[edit]
Ratings[edit]
"Leonard Betts" premiered on the Fox network on January 26, 1997 immediately following Super Bowl XXXI.[1][19] The episode earned a Nielsen rating of 17.2 with a 29 share, meaning that it was seen by 17.2% of all 18- to 49-year-olds, and 29% of all 18- to 49-year-olds watching television at the time of the broadcast; this made the episode the highest-rated episode in the series' run. The episode was viewed by over 29.1 million people, making it the most-watched episode of the series.[20][21] David Lavery, in his book The Essential Cult Reader, argues that the Super Bowl switch that the series made with "Leonard Betts" in over to make the episode more appealing to non-viewers was instrumental in the trend that favored programs being aired sequentially later on during syndication.[21]
Reviews[edit]
The episode received largely positive reviews from critics. The A.V. Club gave the episode an A, noting that "'Leonard Betts' deserves to be remembered [...] There's very little in this episode that doesn't work. 'Leonard Betts' isn't the best episode of The X-Files, but it signifies that we're moving into one of the show's very best periods, and it does so with a confidence and verve that the series didn't always display."[11] Many critics praised the tenacity of the writers for airing an episode featuring such a creepy character after the Super Bowl. Writing for Den of Geek, John Moore listed Betts as one of his "Top 10 X-Files Baddies", writing that "Fox had the Superbowl, the Superbowl happens on a Sunday, Fox decides to run the show in the prime slot after the big game... [...] So, did, they soft-pedal things in order to grab a wider audience? Er... no. Instead they decided to feature a cancer-eating living tumour that could re-grow his own limbs at will. That's why I love the X-Files."[19]
Paula Vitaris from Cinefantastique gave the episode a largely positive review and awarded it three stars out of four.[22] Vitaris praised the episode's balance of humor and horror, noting "Although 'Leonard Betts' is not a comedy, the three writers take such pleasure in the story that you buy the situation. There's a lot of situational (and scary) humor in the script."[22] Furthermore, she noted that the ending revelation that Scully has cancer and the following conversation between Mulder and Scully was "one of the season's best scenes."[22] 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 stars out of five. The two wrote positively of the "amiable quality to the story which makes its finale moments all the more of a kick in the teeth."[23] Shearman and Pearson noted that "Leonard Betts" was the first episode "to come along [in the fourth season] which feels light and frothy, and it deliberately makes the unkindest cut of all."[23]
The character of Leonard Betts itself has also attracted positive criticism. Connie Ogle from PopMatters ranked the character among the "greatest" monster-of-the-weeks, describing him as someone who could "grow back his own head after being decapitated, a feat that resulted in the show’s best-rated episode."[24] The A.V. Club's Todd VanDerWerff praised the humanistic way Betts was presented.[11]
References[edit]
Footnotes[edit]
1.^ Jump up to: a b R. W. Goodwin, et al (booklet). The X-Files: The Complete Fourth Season (Liner notes). Fox.
2.Jump up ^ "The X-Files, Season 4". iTunes Store. Apple. Retrieved 28 August 2012.
3.Jump up ^ Meisler (1998), pp. 144–150.
4.Jump up ^ Hurwitz and Knowles (2008) pp. 236–240.
5.^ Jump up to: a b Spotnitz, Frank (2011). "The X-Files – Season 4 – Episode 14 – Leonard Betts". Big Light Productions. Retrieved 17 May 2012.
6.^ Jump up to: a b c d Hurwitz and Knowles (2008), pp. 99–105
7.Jump up ^ Meisler (1998), p. 142.
8.Jump up ^ Nazarro, Joe (April 2002). "Underneath". The X-Files Magazine (3). Retrieved January 16, 2012.
9.^ Jump up to: a b Meisler (1998), p. 153.
10.^ Jump up to: a b Delasara (2000), p. 152.
11.^ Jump up to: a b c VanDerWerff, Todd. "'Leonard Betts'/'Loin Like A Hunting Flame'". The A.V. Club. The Onion. Retrieved 23 November 2011.
12.^ Jump up to: a b Edwards (2009), p. 86.
13.^ Jump up to: a b Helford (2000), p. 82.
14.^ Jump up to: a b Donaldson (2011), p. 215.
15.Jump up ^ Donaldson (2011), p. 214.
16.Jump up ^ Simon (1999), p. 152.
17.Jump up ^ Simon (1999), p. 155.
18.Jump up ^ Simon (1999), p. 158.
19.^ Jump up to: a b Moore, John (July 20, 2008). "The Top 10 X-Files Baddies". Den of Geek. Retrieved July 28, 2011.
20.Jump up ^ Meisler (1998), p. 298.
21.^ Jump up to: a b Koven (2010), p. 341.
22.^ Jump up to: a b c Vitaris, Paula (October 1997). "Episode Guide". Cinefantastique 29 (4/5): 35–62.
23.^ Jump up to: a b Shearman and Pearson (2009), p. 92.
24.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
Bibliography[edit]
Delasara, Jan (2000), PopLit, PopCult, and The X-Files: Critical Exploration, McFarland, ISBN 9780786407897
Donaldson, Amy (2011). We Want to Believe. Cascade Books. ISBN 9781606083611.
Helford, Elyce Rae (2000). Fantasy Girls: Gender in the New Universe of Science Fiction and Fantasy Television. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 9780847698356.
Hurwitz, Matt; Chris Knowles (2008). The Complete X-Files. Insight Editions. ISBN 9781933784724.
Koven, Mikel J. (2010), "The X-Files", in Lavery, David, The Essential Cult TV Reader, Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, ISBN 9780813125688
Kowalski, Dean; Richard Edwards (2009), "Some Philosophical Reflections on 'Trust No One'", The Philosophy of The X-Files, University Press of Kentucky, ISBN 9780813192277
Meisler, Andy (1998), I Want to Believe, Perennial Currents, ISBN 9780061053863
Shearman, Robert; Lars Pearson (2009). Wanting to Believe: A Critical Guide to The X-Files, Millennium & The Lone Gunmen. Mad Norwegian Press. ISBN 9780975944691.
Simon, Anne (1999). The Real Science Behind the X-Files: Microbes, Meteorites, and Mutants. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 9780743284950.
External links[edit]
Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: TXF Season 4
"Leonard Betts" at the Internet Movie Database
"Leonard Betts" at TV.com
[hide]
v·
t·
e
The X-Files episodes
Seasons: 1·
2·
3·
4·
5·
6·
7·
8·
9
Season 4
"Herrenvolk"·
"Home"·
"Teliko"·
"Unruhe"·
"The Field Where I Died"·
"Sanguinarium"·
"Musings of a Cigarette Smoking Man"·
"Tunguska"·
"Terma"·
"Paper Hearts"·
"El Mundo Gira"·
"Leonard Betts"·
"Never Again"·
"Memento Mori"·
"Kaddish"·
"Unrequited"·
"Tempus Fugit"·
"Max"·
"Synchrony"·
"Small Potatoes"·
"Zero Sum"·
"Elegy"·
"Demons"·
"Gethsemane"
Categories: The X-Files (season 4) episodes
1997 television episodes
Super Bowl lead-out programs
Screenplays by Vince Gilligan
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Never Again (The X-Files)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
This is a good article. Click here for more information.
"Never Again"
The X-Files episode
Episode no.
Season 4
Episode 13
Directed by
Rob Bowman
Written by
Glen Morgan
James Wong
Production code
4X13
Original air date
February 2, 1997
Running time
44 minutes
Guest actors
Rodney Rowland as Ed Jerse
Jodie Foster as Voice of Betty
Bill Croft as Comrade Svo
Jay Donahue as Detective Gouveia
B.J. Harrison as a Jehovah's Witness
Igor Morozov as Vsevlod Pudovkin
Jillian Fargey as Kaye Schilling
Jan Bailey Mattia as Ms. Hadden
Ian Robison as Detective Smith
Barry "Bear" Hortin as Bartender
Marilyn Chin as Mrs. Shima-Tsuno
Rita Bozi as Ms. Vansen
Natasha Vasiluk as Russian Store Owner
Peter Nadler as Ed's Lawyer
Jenn Forgie as Ed's Ex-Wife
Sean Pritchard as Ed's Ex-Wife's Lawyer
Carla Stewart as Judge
Doug Devlin as Young Man[1]
Episode chronology
← Previous
"Leonard Betts" Next →
"Memento Mori"
List of season 4 episodes
List of The X-Files episodes
"Never Again" is the thirteenth episode of the fourth season of the American science fiction television series The X-Files. It was written by producers Glen Morgan and James Wong, and directed by Rob Bowman. The episode aired in the United States on February 2, 1997 on the Fox network and in the United Kingdom on BBC One on December 3, 1997. The episode is a "Monster-of-the-Week" story, a stand-alone plot which is unconnected to the series' wider mythology. The episode received a Nielsen rating of 13 and was viewed by 21.36 million viewers. It received mostly positive reviews from television 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. Mulder is a believer in the paranormal, while the skeptical Scully has been assigned to debunk his work. In this episode, Scully leaves town—and Mulder—for a solo assignment. She soon meets Ed Jerse, a man who is being mentally controlled by a drug-related side effect of his tattoo. His tattoo, affectionately named Betty, does not want to share him, especially not with Scully.
Although "Never Again" was directed by Bowman, it was originally scheduled to be directed by noted movie director Quentin Tarantino. Tarantino was unable to direct the entry due to a dispute with the Directors Guild of America. Gillian Anderson was particularly pleased with the episode showing a different side of Scully; she had specifically asked Morgan and Wong to write an episode that explored Scully's dark side. Several cast members from Morgan and Wong's series Space: Above and Beyond were cast in the episode.
Contents
[hide] 1 Plot
2 Production 2.1 Writing and directing
2.2 Casting and effects
3 Reception
4 See also
5 References
6 External links
Plot[edit]
In Philadelphia, Ed Jerse loses a divorce settlement to his ex-wife, who has sole custody of his children. After getting drunk at a local bar, Ed wanders into a tattoo parlor and impulsively receives a tattoo depicting a Sailor Jerry-like pin-up girl with the words "Never Again" under her. At work the next day, Ed hears a woman calling him a "loser"; he has a violent confrontation with a female co-worker—who denies saying anything—and is subsequently subdued.
In Washington, Fox Mulder and Dana Scully conduct a discreet meeting with a Russian informant, Vsevlod Pudovkin, who claims to have seen a UFO at a secret research center. Upon returning to FBI headquarters, Mulder heads out on vacation to visit Graceland, leaving Scully to follow up on the Pudovkin case for him. Scully is uninterested in the case and expresses serious doubts about Pudovkin's credibility, leading to an argument with an inconsiderate Mulder. Scully becomes upset over the direction her life and career are going.
Meanwhile, Ed is fired via telephone. He hears the same voice as before, and yells at the woman living below him, thinking it was her. Upon hearing the voice after a pair of Jehovah's Witnesses stop by, Ed goes downstairs and murders his neighbor, throwing her body in the furnace. The voice talks to him again and he realizes it is coming from his new tattoo. Scully heads to Philadelphia where she watches Pudovkin enter a tattoo parlor. Scully heads inside where she sees Ed arguing with the owner, wanting the tattoo to be removed. Ed strikes up a conversation with Scully and invites her out to dinner, to which she replies she has other business to take care of. That night Scully talks to Mulder, who is in Graceland, telling him that Pudovkin is a con man and part of the Russian mafia. Scully calls Jerse and tells him that she changed her mind. The two head to a nearby lounge but she is concerned about Ed's arm, where he has burned the tattoo with a cigarette butt. Ed convinces Scully to get a tattoo, and she has one of an Ouroboros applied to her back.
That night Scully stays at Ed's apartment. The tattoo is angry at him, saying she will be dead if he kisses her, which he does anyway. The next morning two detectives arrive at the apartment after Ed has gone out, who tell Scully that Ed's neighbor is missing and blood was found in her apartment with an unusual chemical substance in it. Scully researches the material on Ed's laptop and tries to call Mulder at the FBI headquarters but hangs up before Mulder has a chance to answer. When Ed arrives Scully tells him that they found blood in his neighbor's apartment and that it was likely his. She thinks that the chemical came from the tattoo ink and wants them both to head to the hospital to be tested. Ed tells Scully about the voice he has been hearing from his tattoo. As Scully heads to the other room to get ready, her FBI badge falls out of her coat pocket. Scully discreetly picks it back up without Ed noticing. Then, the tattoo begins to talk again, convincing Ed to redial Scully's last call to see who she was speaking to. An FBI operator answers and, upon learning that Scully is a FBI agent, the tattoo forces Ed to attack Scully. Scully tries to escape but is overpowered by Ed, who binds her in a bedsheet and carries her down to the basement to throw her in the furnace. At the last moment Ed is able to overpower the impulses of the tattoo and instead thrusts his own arm into the furnace.
Scully returns to Washington and is congratulated by Mulder for being the first person to make a second X-File appearance. Ed was brought to a burn center in Philadelphia where the chemicals (ergot) were found in his blood, also in Scully's blood but not enough to cause hallucinations. Mulder wonders if this all happened because of their earlier argument, to which Scully replies that not everything is about him.[1]
Production[edit]
Writing and directing[edit]
Quentin Tarantino was originally slated to direct the episode.
"Never Again" was written by Glen Morgan and James Wong, and directed by Rob Bowman. The episode was the final episode that Morgan and partner James Wong wrote for the show, as they took over as executive producers for the series' sister show Millennium shortly after.[2] The initial story the two developed was a “sort of Abraham Lincoln’s ghost in the White House type of thing”.[3] Both writers had desired to write a story wherein Lincoln's ghost haunts the White House and Mulder and Scully investigate. Morgan explained that he had "done a lot of research and I had always wanted to write a feature about Lincoln’s ghost".[4] However, due to the massive amounts of rewrites the two were forced to do for "Musings of a Cigarette Smoking Man", both Morgan and Wong lost interest in the story. Morgan explained, "I felt they didn’t want my heart and soul anymore, so I wouldn’t give this one to them".[4] The two later crafted "Never Again" in its place.[4] Years later, Frank Spotnitz said that he "always wondered about" the story and what the finished product would have been like.[5]
Gillian Anderson was particularly pleased with the episode showing a different side of Scully and said, "I thought it was a great idea. I personally was going through a dark period at the time, and I wanted to explore Scully's dark side. For some reason, Glen and Jim were on the same wavelength that week. Afterward, a lot of people told me that on that episode I was so 'unlike' Scully or that 'it showed my range'. I told them I thought they were wrong. I don't think that what I did here was out of character for Scully. The only thing different is that the audience hadn't seen it before."[6] Initially, Anderson called up Morgan and asked him to write a story wherein Scully "fall[s] hard" for another man, which leads to an "intense kind of romantic or passionate relationship".[2] Morgan obliged and wrote a scene where Scully enjoys a passionate night with Jerse. This was later removed from the script by series creator Chris Carter, the only time in Glen Morgan's tenure on the show where a scene of his was removed by Carter.[2] Morgan later noted "I think Chris thought that I was monkeying around with him, but I really wasn't."[2]
Quentin Tarantino was originally intended to direct this episode, but was stopped from doing so by the Directors Guild of America. Although the episode was written specifically for Tarantino to direct, the DGA complained that Tarantino, who is not a member, failed to join the union after working on ER as a director, per an agreement between the two entities.[7] A spokeswoman from 20th Century Fox later noted, "Quentin approached us, we were very excited at the opportunity. We made some special arrangements, and we're disappointed that it's not happening. But we bow to Quentin's philosophical stance [and] we hope something can be worked out for the future."[7] The episode's air date was flipped with the episode "Leonard Betts" in order to ensure that the latter episode, which featured the show's two stars in their traditional roles, aired after the Super Bowl. Anderson has said that she would have played the part differently had she been aware of this at the time, as Scully discovers she has cancer at the end of "Leonard Betts".[6]
Casting and effects[edit]
Rodney Rowland was a former cast member of Glen Morgan and James Wong's series Space: Above and Beyond. He and Anderson dated for a period of time after this episode.[8][9] Jodie Foster provided the voice for Ed's tattoo, Betty. Foster was a close friend of casting agent Randy Stone and Gillian Anderson.[8] Anderson initially volunteered to get a real Ouroboros—a depiction of a serpent coiled into a circle devouring its own tail—tattoo for the episode, but was later told by the production crew that getting an actual tattoo would create too many problems. As such, fake tattoos were created. These tattoos were decals designed by art department staffer Kristina Lyne and altered by makeup artist Laverne Basham. The Bettie Page tattoo was inspired by "Brooklyn Joe" Lieber, a tattoo artist from San Francisco.[9]
Reception[edit]
"Never Again" was originally broadcast in the United States on the Fox network on February 2, 1997, and was first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC One on December 3, 1997.[10] This episode earned a Nielsen rating of 13, with a 19 share, meaning that roughly 13 percent of all television-equipped households, and 19 percent of households watching television, were tuned in to the episode.[11] It was viewed by 21.36 million viewers.[11]
The episode received mostly positive reviews from television critics. Zack Handlen from The A.V. Club was positive towards the episode and gave it an A. He applauded the fact that it "lets Scully be flawed" and allowed her to be "far more human" than usual on the show.[12] Handlen concluded that the episode was a success because it illustrated "the way our need to connect with others makes us vulnerable".[12] He was, however, critical of Mulder's actions in the episode, calling him a "spoiled ass" and noted that there was a "little boy ignored feel to his dialogue at the end".[12] John Keegan from Critical Myth awarded the episode a 7 out of 10 and called it "one of the best character studies of the entire series".[13] He concluded that "Much of Scully’s underlying psychology is explored in this episode, and in keeping with what has been revealed about Mulder, it’s not pretty. The final act doesn’t quite match the intensity of the third, but it’s rather clear what the writers were trying to convey."[13] Meghan Deans from Tor.com wrote positively of the episode and noted that "[i]t is fortunate, I think, that the Super Bowl forced the change in sequence."[14] She argued that, had “Leonard Betts” not aired before "Never Again", the audience would have been forced to "read her actions as reactions to Mulder and Mulder alone" rather than against the fact that she has cancer.[14]
Paula Vitaris from Cinefantastique gave the episode a positive review and awarded it three stars out of four.[4] She called Scully's unhappiness with her situation "understandable" and positively critiqued Gillian Anderson, calling her performance "wonderful".[4] Vitaris, however, was critical of the "Leonard Betts"/"Never Again" switch, writing that "nothing in this episode points to fear of cancer as Scully's motivation". She concluded, however, that "['Never Again'] is a fascinating look at a whole new side of [Scully]."[4] Not all reviews were glowing. Robert Shearman and Lars Pearson, in their book Wanting to Believe: A Critical Guide to The X-Files, Millennium & The Lone Gunmen, on the other hand, gave the episode a mixed review and rated it two-and-a-half stars out of five. The two were critical of Scully's behavior, noting that "seeing Scully as angry and bored and believing her life is pointless isn't really Scully".[15] They argued that Scully's belief that her life is boring is easily countered by the fact that "she hunts fluke monsters, catches serial killers, and gets abducted by aliens".[15] Despite this, Shearman and Pearson wrote that "Gillian Anderson makes it work."[15]
See also[edit]
List of unmade episodes of The X-Files
References[edit]
Footnotes
1.^ Jump up to: a b Meisler, pp. 135–142
2.^ Jump up to: a b c d Hurwitz and Knowles, p. 105
3.Jump up ^ Hughes, David (31 March 1997). "Never Say Never Again". Dreamwatch.
4.^ Jump up to: a b c d e f Vitaris, Paula (October 1997). "Returning from Space, Glen Morgan and James Wong re-join the X-Files". Cinefantastique 29 (4/5): 32–123.
5.Jump up ^ Spotnitz, Frank (28 June 2012). "Mailbag - Abandoned Scripts". Big Light. Retrieved 10 July 2012.
6.^ Jump up to: a b Meisler, p. 142
7.^ Jump up to: a b "Tarantino-Guild Differences Nix 'X-Files' Super-Slot Gig". Daily News (New York). 22, November 1996. Archived from the original on 29 June 2011. Retrieved 7 July 2012.
8.^ Jump up to: a b Hurwitz and Knowles, p. 109
9.^ Jump up to: a b Meisler, p. 143
10.Jump up ^ R. W. Goodwin, et al (booklet). The X-Files: The Complete Fourth Season (Liner notes). Fox.
11.^ Jump up to: a b Meisler, p. 298
12.^ Jump up to: a b c Handlen, Zack (18 December 2010). "'Never Again'/'Force Majeure'". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 23 November 2011.
13.^ Jump up to: a b Keegan, John. "Never Again". Critical Myth. Retrieved 30 June 2012.
14.^ Jump up to: a b Deans, Meghan (14 June 2012). "Reopening The X-Files: “Never Again”". Tor.com. Retrieved 7 July 2012.
15.^ Jump up to: a b c Shearman and Pearson, pp. 93–94
BibliographyHurwitz, Matt, Chris Knowles (2008). The Complete X-Files. Insight Editions. ISBN 1-933784-72-5.
Meisler, Andy (1998). I Want to Believe: The Official Guide to the X-Files Volume 3. Harper Prism. ISBN 0061053864.
Shearman, Robert; Pearson, Lars (2009). Wanting to Believe: A Critical Guide to The X-Files, Millennium & The Lone Gunmen. Mad Norwegian Press. ISBN 097594469X.
External links[edit]
"Never Again" at TheXFiles.com
Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: TXF Season 4
"Never Again" at the Internet Movie Database
"Never Again" at TV.com
[hide]
v·
t·
e
The X-Files episodes
Seasons: 1·
2·
3·
4·
5·
6·
7·
8·
9
Season 4
"Herrenvolk"·
"Home"·
"Teliko"·
"Unruhe"·
"The Field Where I Died"·
"Sanguinarium"·
"Musings of a Cigarette Smoking Man"·
"Tunguska"·
"Terma"·
"Paper Hearts"·
"El Mundo Gira"·
"Leonard Betts"·
"Never Again"·
"Memento Mori"·
"Kaddish"·
"Unrequited"·
"Tempus Fugit"·
"Max"·
"Synchrony"·
"Small Potatoes"·
"Zero Sum"·
"Elegy"·
"Demons"·
"Gethsemane"
Categories: The X-Files (season 4) episodes
1997 television episodes
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Memento Mori (The X-Files)
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"Memento Mori"
The X-Files episode
Memento Mori TXF.jpg
Fox Mulder and Dana Scully at the hospital
Episode no.
Season 4
Episode 14
Directed by
Rob Bowman
Written by
Chris Carter
Vince Gilligan
John Shiban
Frank Spotnitz
Production code
4X15
Original air date
February 9, 1997
Guest actors
Mitch Pileggi as Walter Skinner
William B. Davis as Cigarette Smoking Man
Sheila Larken as Margaret Scully
David Lovgren as Kurt Crawford
Tom Braidwood as Melvin Frohike
Dean Haglund as Richard Langly
Bruce Harwood as John Fitzgerald Byers
Morris Panych as Gray-Haired Man
Julie Bond as Real Estate Woman
Sean Allen as Dr. Kevin Scanlon
Gillian Barber as Penny Northern[1]
Episode chronology
← Previous
"Never Again" Next →
"Kaddish"
List of season 4 episodes
List of The X-Files episodes
"Memento Mori" is the fourteenth episode of the fourth season of the American science fiction television series The X-Files. It premiered on the Fox network on February 9, 1997. It was directed by Rob Bowman, and written by series creator Chris Carter, Vince Gilligan, John Shiban and Frank Spotnitz. "Memento Mori" featured guest appearances by Sheila Larken, David Lovgren and Morris Panych. The episode helped to explore the overarching mythology, or fictional history of The X-Files. "Memento Mori" earned a Nielsen household rating of 15.5, being watched by 19.1 million people in its initial broadcast.
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 Scully is diagnosed with a brain tumor, Mulder attempts to discover what happened to her during her abduction experience, believing the two events to be related.
"Memento Mori" was written when previous series writer Darin Morgan did not contribute a script for the season. Discussion between the writing staff led to the "obligatory" decision to have Scully diagnosed with cancer, although the decision was not unanimous. Guest actor Lovgren portrayed multiple clones of his character using post-production techniques to merge several shots together; while actor Pat Skipper had a scene cut from the final episode for time restraints, later appearing in the season finale.
Contents
[hide] 1 Plot
2 Production
3 Broadcast and reception
4 Footnotes
5 External links
Plot[edit]
Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) learns that she has a cancerous tumor between her sinus and cerebrum. She initially tells only Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Walter Skinner (Mitch Pileggi) of the diagnosis, and is determined to continue to work. Mulder and Scully head to Allentown, Pennsylvania, to see Betsy Hagopian, a Mutual UFO Network member who was previously discovered to be suffering from similar symptoms. The agents learn that Betsy has died, yet they find someone using her phone line. They trace the call to Kurt Crawford, a fellow MUFON member. Crawford tells them that all but one of the MUFON members Scully previously met have died of cancer. Scully is skeptical of Mulder and Crawford's claims that a government conspiracy and her abduction are behind her illness.
Scully visits the last surviving MUFON member, Penny Northern, who is being treated for cancer at the hospital. Meanwhile, Mulder discovers that all the abductees were childless but had been treated at a nearby fertility clinic. When Mulder is called away by Scully, an assassin, the Gray-Haired Man (Morris Panych) arrives and kills Crawford with a stiletto weapon, revealing him to be an alien-human hybrid. After meeting Penny's physician, Dr. Scanlon, Scully elects to begin chemotherapy. Mulder sneaks into the fertility clinic and finds Crawford there, seemingly alive. Mulder and Crawford hack into the clinic's computer database and find notes claiming Scully had been treated by the clinic. Mulder sees Skinner and asks to deal with The Smoking Man to save Scully, but Skinner convinces him not to do so.
Mulder recruits The Lone Gunmen to help him break into a research facility where he thinks he may be able to find more information on how to save Scully. Meanwhile, Skinner tries to deal directly with The Smoking Man for Scully's life, who tells him he will get back to him. Mulder and Byers head into the Lombard Facility; when Mulder discovers that Dr. Scanlon works there he sends Byers away to warn Scully. Mulder continues through the facility, discovering several clones of Kurt Crawford working on clones of a young boy (previously seen in "Herrenvolk"). The clones show Mulder ova harvested from Scully during her abduction and tell him they are trying to save the abducted women's lives since they acted as their birth mothers. Mulder takes Scully's ova and leaves, being pursued by the Gray-Haired Man as he escapes. Mulder returns to the hospital to see Scully, who tells him that Penny has died, but that she intends to fight the disease. Afterward, Mulder thanks Skinner for advising him not to negotiate with the Smoking Man, after which Skinner and the Smoking Man come to terms on their deal in seclusion.[1]
Production[edit]
Writers Spotnitz (left) and Carter (right) had debated whether or not the character of Scully should be diagnosed with cancer, ultimately calling it "obligatory".
The show's producers decided to give Gillian Anderson's character Dana Scully cancer early in the fourth season. Series creator Chris Carter initially discussed giving Scully's mother cancer but decided to have Scully suffer from it instead. Carter felt the move would give the show an interesting platform on which to discuss things such as faith, science, health care and a certain element of the paranormal.[2] Some of the writing staff felt that the decision was a poor one to make, citing it as "a cheap TV thing". However, Frank Spotnitz felt that, given the appearances of cancer-stricken abductees in previous episodes, it was an "obligatory" move to have Scully follow suit.[3]
The episode was written by Vince Gilligan, John Shiban, and Frank Spotnitz three days after another script idea fell through.[4] Spotnitz noted that "Darin Morgan had left the show but was going to contribute an episode. And we realized at the eleventh hour that it wasn't going to happen, and we were stuck with nothing. John, Vince and I broke that story in maybe two days. We split up the acts, wrote it in probably another two days, and gave the crew something to prep before Christmas break. That was the worst ever." Carter ended up rewriting the script over the holiday.[5] The initial cut ended up being too long, resulting in a scene introducing Scully's older brother Bill Scully, played by Pat Skipper, being removed. The character, still played by Skipper, would eventually make his first appearance in the fourth season finale "Gethsemane".[6] The scene which would have established the character was intended to echo a similar scene in the second season episode "One Breath", which featured Don S. Davis as Scully's father. Both scenes featured the actors standing over a supine Scully, wearing white United States Navy dress uniforms.[7] Also deleted from the episode was a kiss between Mulder and Scully, which would have been the first in the series' run. This was an ad-lib on Anderson and Duchovny's part, and was removed from the episode as it was something Chris Carter felt he wanted to make use of in the series' film adaptation. Such a kiss was eventually deferred to season six's "Triangle".[7]
The episode's opening scene, featuring a camera moving slowly towards Scully in a harsh white light, was achieved by constructing a long narrow set covered in aluminium foil, which amplified the light being used and downplayed any colors. This shot was drained of color entirely, and was combined with a series of blurring and framing effects in post-production to further enhance the intended image—to create the impression of waking from a dream.[8]
A scene featuring multiple clones of the character Kurt Crawford was achieved with motion control photography, allowing actor David Lovgren to portray all of the clones—multiple takes were recorded with the actor in different positions within the scene, and by using a camera controlled by a computer to follow exactly the same motions for each take, these could be seamlessly composited together. Producer Paul Rabwin has noted that achieving these shots was difficult due to the mixture of green and blue light sources in the scene.[8]
Broadcast and reception[edit]
"Memento Mori" premiered on the Fox network on February 9, 1997, and was first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC Two on December 10, 1997.[9] The episode earned a Nielsen household rating of 11.5 with a 17 share, meaning that roughly 11.5 percent of all television-equipped households, and 17 percent of households watching television, were tuned in to the episode.[10] A total of 19.10 million viewers watched this episode during its original airing.[10]
Writing for The A.V. Club, Todd VanDerWerff rated the episode an A, calling it "an occasionally beautiful, occasionally haunting, often overwritten story". He felt that the episode took the uncommon route of tying together several previously-mentioned aspects of the series' mythology, making it "easy to believe the pieces might come together at this point". However, VanDerWerff also noted that the episode's two main plot threads—Scully's cancer and Mulder's investigation—seemed "clumsily grafted" together, and did not explore the theme of living with the fear of death as well as the previous episode, "Never Again", had done.[11] Frank Spotnitz praised the episode, saying, "I think that was the best mythology episode we ever did. It's my favorite one".[5] Chris Carter has stated that he feels "Memento Mori" ranks "among the best mythology episodes of all nine seasons".[3]
This episode was submitted to the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences to represent The X-Files in that year's Primetime Emmy Awards. Episode writers Chris Carter, Vince Gilligan, John Shiban, and Frank Spotnitz were nominated for an Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series. Art directors Graeme Murray and Gary Allen and set decorator Shirley Inget won the Creative Emmy Award for Best Art Direction in a Series, while actress Gillian Anderson also won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series for her work in this episode and the fourth season as a whole.[6][12]
Footnotes[edit]
1.^ Jump up to: a b Meisler, pp. 155–163
2.Jump up ^ Meisler, p. 164
3.^ Jump up to: a b Chris Carter & Frank Spotnitz (narrators) (2008). "Introduction to Memento Mori". The X-Files: Essentials (featurette) (Fox).
4.Jump up ^ Spotnitz, Frank (2011). "BigLight.com - The official website for Frank Spotnitz's Big Light Productions". Big Light Productions. Retrieved 17 May 2012. Note: To retrieve information, click "Season 4" and navigate to "Memento Mori"
5.^ Jump up to: a b Hurwitz and Knowles, p. 109
6.^ Jump up to: a b Meisler, p. 165
7.^ Jump up to: a b Chris Carter (narrator) (1996–1997). "Deleted Scenes: Memento Mori". The X-Files: The Complete Fourth Season (featurette) (Fox).
8.^ Jump up to: a b Paul Rabwin (narrator) (1996–1997). "Special Effects: Memento Mori". The X-Files: The Complete Fourth Season (featurette) (Fox).
9.Jump up ^ R. W. Goodwin et al (1996–1997) (booklet). The X-Files: The Complete Fourth Season (Liner notes). Fox.
10.^ Jump up to: a b Meisler, p. 298
11.Jump up ^ VanDerWerff, Todd (January 1, 2011). ""Memento Mori"/"The Thin White Line" | The X-Files/Millennium | TV Club". The A.V. Club. Retrieved January 20, 2012.
12.Jump up ^ Meisler, p. 296
ReferencesHurwitz, Matt; Knowles, Chris (2008). The Complete X-Files. Insight Editions. ISBN 1-933784-80-6.
Meisler, Andy (1998). I Want to Believe: The Official Guide to the X-Files Volume 3. Harper Prism. ISBN 0-06-105386-4.
External links[edit]
Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: TXF Season 4
"Memento Mori" at the Internet Movie Database
"Memento Mori" at TV.com
[hide]
v·
t·
e
The X-Files episodes
Seasons: 1·
2·
3·
4·
5·
6·
7·
8·
9
Season 4
"Herrenvolk"·
"Home"·
"Teliko"·
"Unruhe"·
"The Field Where I Died"·
"Sanguinarium"·
"Musings of a Cigarette Smoking Man"·
"Tunguska"·
"Terma"·
"Paper Hearts"·
"El Mundo Gira"·
"Leonard Betts"·
"Never Again"·
"Memento Mori"·
"Kaddish"·
"Unrequited"·
"Tempus Fugit"·
"Max"·
"Synchrony"·
"Small Potatoes"·
"Zero Sum"·
"Elegy"·
"Demons"·
"Gethsemane"
Categories: The X-Files (season 4) episodes
1997 television episodes
Screenplays by Vince Gilligan
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Kaddish (The X-Files)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
This is a good article. Click here for more information.
"Kaddish"
The X-Files episode
KaddishTheXFiles.jpg
The ceremonial Jewish ring. The ring was a real Jewish relic owned by a rabbi who survived the Holocaust, and was used to wed two of Howard Gordon's friends. This later inspired him to write the episode.
Episode no.
Season 4
Episode 15
Directed by
Kim Manners
Written by
Howard Gordon
Production code
4X12
Original air date
February 16, 1997
Running time
44 minutes
Guest actors
Justine Miceli as Ariel Luria
David Groh as Jacob Weiss
Harrison Coe as Isaac Luria/Golem
Channon Roe as Derick Banks
Jabin Litwiniec as Clinton Bascombe
Timur Karabilgin as Tony Oliver
Jonathan Whittaker as Curt Brunjes
David Wohl as Kenneth Ungar
George Gordon the Detective
Murrey Rabinovitch as 1st Hasidic man
David Freedman as Rabbi[1]
Episode chronology
← Previous
"Memento Mori" Next →
"Unrequited"
List of The X-Files episodes
"Kaddish" is the fifteenth episode of the fourth season of the American science fiction television series The X-Files. It was written by producer Howard Gordon and directed by Kim Manners. The episode originally aired on the Fox network on February 16, 1997. The episode is a "Monster-of-the-Week" story, a stand-alone plot which is unconnected to the series' wider mythology, or overarching history. The episode received a Nielsen household rating 10.3 and was viewed by 16.56 million viewers. It received moderately 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 the episode, Isaac Luria (Harrison Coe), a Jewish man, is killed by a group of teenagers working for a racist shop owner. One of the assailants, however, is soon strangled to death and the fingerprints on his neck are Isaac's. Despite other factors, Mulder becomes convinced that a Golem is attempting to avenge Isaac's murder.
"Kaddish" was written by Gordon due to his fascination with the legend of the Golem from the Kabbalah. Originally, the script called for the protagonist to be an African American "Louis Farrakhan-like" character, but Gordon rewrote it. Gastown, Vancouver stood in for many of the exterior shots that were supposed to be Brooklyn. No Jewish synagogue would rent out their space for the episode, so Shaughnessy Heights United Church was renovated to look like one. This included completely redecorating the pews, carpet, and light fixtures, as well as crafting a Jewish altar. The episode's title is a reference to the Jewish mourning prayer service. Furthermore, "Kaddish" has been critically examined for its themes concerning love and hate.
Contents
[hide] 1 Plot
2 Production 2.1 Writing
2.2 Casting and characterization
2.3 Filming and music
3 Themes
4 Broadcast and reception
5 References 5.1 Footnotes
5.2 Bibliography
6 External links
Plot[edit]
In Brooklyn, New York, a group of Hasidic Jews gather at a cemetery for the funeral of Isaac Luria (Harrison Coe), who had been beaten and shot to death by a gang of three young Neo-Nazis. The last to leave is Isaac's wife, Ariel (Justine Miceli), and her father, Jacob Weiss (David Groh). During nightfall, a dark figure enters the cemetery and crafts a man-shaped sculpture out of mud.
When one of Isaac's assailants is found strangled with the dead man's fingerprints on his body, Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) are called in to investigate. Scully suggests that the murder was an act of retribution, and argues that the evidence was staged to look like revenge from beyond the grave. When the agents visit Ariel and Weiss, their request for the exhumation of Isaac's body angers the old man.
Mulder and Scully then interview Curt Brunjes (Jonathan Whittaker), a racist owner of a copy shop across the street from the market where Isaac worked. Mulder tells Brunjes that the other two boys, who work for Brunjes, are in danger. Scully mentions that there is a rumor spreading that Isaac has risen from the grave to avenge his death. The two boys, who are eavesdropping on the conversation, are terrified at his prospect.
That night, the boys dig up Isaac's grave and find his body intact. While retrieving tools from the car, one of the boys is brutally murdered. The next morning, Mulder and Scully find a book on Jewish mysticism buried with Isaac's body; it mysteriously bursts into flames. On the book is Weiss' name. The agents search for Weiss, finding him in a synagogue with the strangled body of the last remaining boy. Although Weiss admits to both of the murders, Mulder believes that a Golem—a creature from Jewish mysticism—is the true murderer.
Later, Brunjes is found murdered and Mulder and Scully watch the shop's surveillance tape. They discover that the Golem has features similar to Isaac. Mulder deduces that, because Ariel and Isaac were not officially wed in a Jewish synagogue, Ariel created the Golem out of love to serve as a surrogate for her late husband. The two agents arrive at the synagogue to find Ariel and the creature exchanging wedding vows. After an intense fight, in which Weiss and Mulder are both wounded, Ariel declares her love for Isaac and returns the creature to dust.[1]
Production[edit]
Writing[edit]
I was intrigued by the myth [of the Golem] from the time I was a kid. I revisited it at the very beginning of The X-Files four years ago, and for one reason or another, I was persuaded either not to do it or hadn't really figured out the way I wanted to do it.
“
”
Howard Gordon, talking about his interest in the myth of the Golem[2]
"Kaddish" was written by producer Howard Gordon and directed by Kim Manners.[3] The episode was dedicated to the memory of Lillian Katz, Gordon's grandmother. The episode's title is a reference to the Jewish mourning prayer service.[2] Gordon was inspired to write the episode based on his heritage. He noted, "I was always compelled by the Golem mythology. We had never dealt with the horrors of anti-Semitism and the power of the word [on The X-Files]. And because I'm Jewish, it was something that was really compelling to me personally."[4] The idea to create a story centering around a Golem, however, had been proposed several times before by "probably every Jewish writer who's passed through", according to Gordon.[5]
Gordon claimed that he had wanted to write a story like "Kaddish" since the first season, but that the "emotional basis" had eluded him.[2] The inspiration for Gordon was the communal ring featured in the episode.[2] The ring was a real Jewish relic owned by a rabbi who survived the Holocaust. In fact, the rabbi had used it to wed two of Gordon's friends.[6] During that wedding, Gordon developed a "Romeo and Juliet-like" story that revolved around themes of love and wanting to bring a loved one back from the dead.[2]
In order to ensure his story would be chosen to air, Gordon decided to play up the elements of anti-Semitism. Originally, however, the script called for both the protagonists and the antagonists to be African Americans, and the main protagonist to be a "Louis Farrakhan-like" character. Gordon later rewrote the script because he realized "black anti-Semitism is a very subtle and difficult subject and not what I needed in my dramatic structure."[5] To create the kind of hate propaganda that Brunjes and his printshop made in the episode, Gordon contacted the Anti-Defamation League and requested samples. The articles that were presented were used in the episode, with only "minor altercations".[6]
Casting and characterization[edit]
Justine Miceli was chosen to play the role of Ariel; she based her character's sorrowful demeanor on the memory of her own father's death due to cancer. Although she is not Jewish, Miceli was assisted by a friend's rabbi in order to successfully play the part; he helped her learn the proper pronunciation for many of the Jewish prayers used in the episode.[6] Gordon was adamant that he did not want Jacob Weiss to be portrayed in a stereotypical way. Initially, he was dismayed when actor David Groh affected a distinct Yiddish accent, for fear that Weiss' scenes could "lapse into parody rather easily".[2] Gordon, however, stated that Groh had a "certain verisimilitude" and that it was "the right choice" to have the accent.[2]
Many fans on the internet were hoping that the episode would reveal whether or not Mulder is Jewish.[2] In the episode, however, Mulder is unable to identify a Jewish book, states that he does not know Hebrew, and quips that Jesus returned from the dead. When asked whether or not Mulder is Jewish, Gordon said that he did not think that he is, nor did he think he is "even half-Jewish".[2] He did, however, note that "there's something about David [Duchovny] that could be Jewish or that has a Jewish sensibility."[2]
Filming and music[edit]
Outdoor shots were filmed at Gastown, Vancouver.
The scene featuring the burning book was difficult to film. For some unknown reason, the pyrotechnics required to create the fire refused to cooperate. David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson ended up spending hours trying to shoot the scene.[7] Gastown, Vancouver—described as "the only area in Vancouver that even remotely resembles residential Queens in New York"—stood in for many of the exterior shots.[8] Shots at the Weiss' apartment were filmed at the Winter's Hotel. Originally, the production team was going to remove the hotel's neon sign, but director Manners, instead, decided to "move the camera another five feet" to prevent "prohibitive" expenses.[8]
Unfortunately for the series, no Jewish synagogue would rent out their space for the episode.[6] The scenes in the synagogue were actually filmed at Shaughnessy Heights United Church. The church was chosen because it possessed a "gothic interior" and "stained glass windows" that "resembled many New York synagogues".[9] The church was booked for two weeks so that the entire interior could be redecorated to look like a legitimate Jewish temple. This included completely redecorating the pews, carpet, and light fixtures, as well as crafting a Jewish altar.[9] During the construction of the altar, a Hebrew translation of the Ten Commandments was scheduled to be created. However, the series' on-set Hebrew advisor was not available and so, according to art director Gary Allen, the staff ended up "faking" the text.[7]
Series composer Mark Snow mixed in "clarinet, violin, and cello solos" to the episode's score. In addition, he admits to borrowing elements of J.S. Bach's Fugue in G minor, "Little", BWV 578 piece. He noted, "the aim was to wind up somewhere between a Klezmer band and Schindler's List."[7]
Themes[edit]
Gordon said that love is the central conceit of the episode. Although, in the myth of the Golem, the creature is soulless, Gordon took "some liberties" with the legend.[2] He wanted "Kaddish" to "literally be about resurrection".[2] Ariel creates an imperfect reflection of her husband by crafting the Golem from mud. In essence, she is trying to play God, a role that Gordon later likened to Victor Frankenstein, the scientist from Mary Shelley's famous novel Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus (1823). However, Ariel and Frankenstein differ in the fact that Ariel's flaw was related to her "loving [Isaac] too much, not being able to let go, because of the cruelty and injustice of what she suffered."[2] In this manner, Ariel's motivation for creating the Golem are "slightly more romantically skewed".[2]
Robert Shearman and Lars Pearson, in their book Wanting to Believe: A Critical Guide to The X-Files, Millennium & The Lone Gunmen, analyzed Gordon's portrayal of racism and anti-Semitism. They wrote that Gordon "makes [a] very convincing point" when he argues that hatemongers like Carl Brunjes—who are openly hateful of other cultures but would never, personally, hurt them—are "just as guilty" as openly violent individuals, such as the "three Nazi thugs who beat and shoot a defenceless man."[10]
Broadcast and reception[edit]
"Kaddish" originally aired on the Fox network on February 16, 1997, and was first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC One on December 17, 1997.[3] This episode earned a Nielsen rating of 10.3, with a 15 share, meaning that roughly 10.3 percent of all television-equipped households, and 15 percent of households watching television, were tuned in to the episode.[11] It was viewed by 16.56 million viewers.[11]
The episode received moderately positive reviews from television critics. Andy Meisler, in his book I Want to Believe: The Official Guide to the X-Files Volume 3, called the episode "one of the best non-mythological episodes of the fourth season" due to its "seamless integration of character development, social commentary and the supernatural."[5] Juliette Harrisson of Den of Geek named "Kaddish" the best stand-alone episode of season four and called its conceit "absolutely real and utterly tragic" despite being "highly fantastical".[12] Zack Handlen of The A.V. Club rated the episode "B+", claiming that, while it was "the sort of episode that works best if you enjoy it for its style and presentation without getting too caught up in the script", it felt "appropriate".[13] Handlen did, however, criticize the episode's characterization of Scully, noting that her scientific counter-arguments were "becoming less about applying common sense to madness, and more just arguing for arguing's sake."[13]
Shearman and Pearson awarded the episode three stars out of five and called it "one of [Gordon's] best".[10] Furthermore, the two praised many aspects of the script, particularly the "real anger" which made the episode "something special".[10] Despite this, they felt that the plot "offer[ed] nothing unexpected" and that its position, after the revelation that Scully has cancer in "Leonard Betts" caused it to look "as if it's cheating on the consequences of Scully's illness".[10] Paula Vitaris from Cinefantastique gave the episode a positive review and awarded it three stars out of four.[14] She called it a "flawed yet unusually affecting episode".[14] Vitaris cited the Golem's disintegration as "a leitmotif, a reminder of death, a beautiful way to translate into visual terms the depth of Ariel's grief."[14]
References[edit]
Footnotes[edit]
1.^ Jump up to: a b Meisler, pp. 124–131
2.^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Vitaris, Paula (October 1997). "Howard Gordon's 'Kaddish' – X-Files Remakes the Golem Legend As a Love Story". Cinefantastique 29 (3/5): 38-39, 124.
3.^ Jump up to: a b R. W. Goodwin, et al (booklet). The X-Files: The Complete Fourth Season (Liner notes). Fox.
4.Jump up ^ Hurwitz and Knowles, p. 109
5.^ Jump up to: a b c Meisler, p. 131
6.^ Jump up to: a b c d Meisler, p. 132
7.^ Jump up to: a b c Meisler, p. 133
8.^ Jump up to: a b Gradnitzer and Pittson, p. 133
9.^ Jump up to: a b Gradnitzer and Pittson, p. 134
10.^ Jump up to: a b c d Shearman and Pearson, pp. 95–96
11.^ Jump up to: a b Meisler, p. 298
12.Jump up ^ Harrison, Juliette (September 6, 2011). "A look back over The X-Files' finest stand-alone episodes". Den of Geek. Dennis Publishing. Retrieved March 3, 2012.
13.^ Jump up to: a b Handlen, Zack (January 8, 2011). "'Kaddish'/'Sacrament'". The A.V. Club. The Onion. Retrieved March 3, 2012.
14.^ Jump up to: a b c Vitaris, Paula (October 1997). "Episode Guide". Cinefantastique 29 (4/5): 35–62.
Bibliography[edit]
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, Chris Knowles (2008). The Complete X-Files. Insight Editions. ISBN 1-933784-72-5.
Meisler, Andy (1998). I Want to Believe: The Official Guide to the X-Files Volume 3. Harper Prism. ISBN 0061053864.
Shearman, Robert; Pearson, Lars (2009). Wanting to Believe: A Critical Guide to The X-Files, Millennium & The Lone Gunmen. Mad Norwegian Press. ISBN 097594469X.
External links[edit]
Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: TXF Season 4
"Kaddish" at the Internet Movie Database
"Kaddish" at TV.com
[hide]
v·
t·
e
The X-Files episodes
Seasons: 1·
2·
3·
4·
5·
6·
7·
8·
9
Season 4
"Herrenvolk"·
"Home"·
"Teliko"·
"Unruhe"·
"The Field Where I Died"·
"Sanguinarium"·
"Musings of a Cigarette Smoking Man"·
"Tunguska"·
"Terma"·
"Paper Hearts"·
"El Mundo Gira"·
"Leonard Betts"·
"Never Again"·
"Memento Mori"·
"Kaddish"·
"Unrequited"·
"Tempus Fugit"·
"Max"·
"Synchrony"·
"Small Potatoes"·
"Zero Sum"·
"Elegy"·
"Demons"·
"Gethsemane"
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Unrequited (The X-Files)
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"Unrequited"
The X-Files episode
Episode no.
Season 4
Episode 16
Directed by
Michael Lange
Teleplay by
Howard Gordon
Chris Carter
Story by
Howard Gordon
Production code
4X16[1]
Original air date
February 23, 1997
Running time
44 minutes
Guest actors
Mitch Pileggi as Walter Skinner
Laurie Holden as Marita Covarrubias
Scott Hylands as General Benajamin Bloch
Peter LaCroix as Nathaniel Teager
Ryan Michael as Agent Cameron Hill
Don McWilliams as P.F.C. Gus Burkholder
Bill Agnew as Lt. General Peter MacDougal
Mark Holden as Agent Eugene Chandler
Larry Musser as Denny Markham
Lesley Ewen as Renee Davenport
Allan Franz as Dr. Ben Keyser
William Nunn as General Jon Steffan
William Taylor as General Leitch
Jen Jasey as Female Private[2]
Episode chronology
← Previous
"Kaddish" Next →
"Tempus Fugit"
List of season 4 episodes
List of The X-Files episodes
"Unrequited" is the sixteenth episode of the fourth season of the American science fiction television series The X-Files. It was written by Howard Gordon and series creator Chris Carter, and directed by Michael Lange. It originally aired in the United States on February 23, 1997 on the Fox network. The episode is a "Monster-of-the-Week" story, a stand-alone plot which is unconnected to the series' wider mythology. This episode earned a Nielsen rating of 10.9 and was seen by 16.56 million viewers upon its initial broadcast. "Unrequited" received mixed to negative reviews from television 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, the murder of a U.S. Army Lieutenant General has Mulder and Scully struggling to stop a seemingly invisible assassin. The two agents soon learn that they are doomed to failure from the start, as the U.S. government is attempting to cover up the existence of American POWs still being kept in Vietnam.
Gordon was inspired to write the episode after viewing an installment of the news series 60 Minutes that dealt with American secret agents the CIA left behind during the Vietnam War. The eventual concept that the assassin could create blind spots came after the writer spoke with his ophthalmologist brother. The entry featured a finished replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, and various Canadian locales substituted for various locations in Washington, D.C.
Contents
[hide] 1 Plot
2 Production
3 Reception
4 References 4.1 Footnotes
4.2 Bibliography
5 External links
Plot[edit]
The episode begins in medias res at the National Mall, where General Benjamin Bloch (Scott Hylands) gives a speech to a crowd of Vietnam War veterans. Fox Mulder (David Duchovny), Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson), and Walter Skinner (Mitch Pileggi) patrol the crowd, searching for a potential gunman. However, when the agents see the gunman, he repeatedly disappears and makes their efforts to track him difficult. Mulder finds himself aiming his gun towards the panicked crowd, desperately searching for the gunman.
Twelve hours earlier, at Fort Evanston, Maryland, Lieutenant General Peter MacDougal (Bill Agnew) is shot in his limousine by the gunman. Skinner briefs the agents on the killing, noting an ace of spades playing card — used by the soldiers in Vietnam to mark their kills — was left at the scene. The FBI suspects a far-right paramilitary group, the Right Hand, of killing MacDougal in an effort to stop an upcoming re-dedication of a Vietnam war memorial in Washington.
Mulder and Scully head to Virginia to question the Right Hand's leader, Denny Markham (Larry Musser). A search of his fenced-off cabin uncovers ammunition and a photograph showing him in the company of a Sergeant Nathaniel Teager (Peter LaCroix). After being arrested, Markham reveals that Teager was a soldier in Vietnam who was left for dead as a prisoner of war. Meanwhile, at the Vietnam memorial, Teager approaches a war widow and claims that her husband is still alive as a POW. After giving the woman her husband's dog tags, Teager mysteriously disappears.
Skinner informs the agents that Teager is officially dead, and that his remains are at the Army's forensics lab. However, Mulder learns that the lab only possesses Teager's dental remains, and that the cause of his death was recorded as "inconclusive". Mulder believes that General John Steffan (William Nunn), who signed Teager's death certificate, is his next target. Teager makes his way past Pentagon security and kills Steffan in his office. Upon seeing Teager on the Pentagon's surveillance tapes, Mulder notes the frequent unexplained appearances and disappearances of Viet Cong troops reported by POWs in Vietnam.
During a meeting with Marita Covarrubias (Laurie Holden), Mulder learns that Steffan, McDougal, and Bloch were all involved in negotiations concerning POWs. Meanwhile, as Bloch's motorcade makes it way to the Mall, Scully spots Teager in the crowd, only to see him vanish in an instant. Mulder tells Skinner and Scully that the government has arranged for their investigation to fail in an effort to cover up the truth about American POWs still being kept in Vietnam.
In the present, during the re-dedication ceremony, Mulder realizes that no one can see Teager if they are in his line of sight. Teager follows Skinner and Bloch to the motorcade, where he unsuccessfully shoots at the general. Teager is shot in turn by the agents. As he succumbs to his wounds, Teager repeats his Army identification. Afterwards, the Pentagon states that the assassin was a different person - which Mulder denounces as a lie. He leaves Skinner to silently ponder his own service in the Vietnam War.[2]
Production[edit]
Howard Gordon was inspired to write "Unrequited" after viewing an episode of 60 Minutes about American secret agents that were left behind during the Vietnam War.
After producer Howard Gordon saw on 60 Minutes episode about the American secret agents the CIA left behind during the Vietnam War, he was intrigued and decided to develop a future script based around this. Howard was scheduled to only write one episode of the season, the nineteenth entry "Synchrony". However, Gordon met with Chris Carter and Frank Spotnitz the day before the holiday break to pitch his idea. After getting frustrated developing the episode's plot summary, Gordon requested for Carter's help in exchange for a shared writing credit. Gordon then wrote the script during the break.[3]
Gordon had been considering a man that turned invisible in the political and metaphorical sense for a while, but he still needed a way for physical invisibility. The eventual concept came after the writer spoke with his ophthalmologist brother, who told about blind spots regarding malfunctioning retinal spots or optic nerves, which do not impair humans due to a brain compensation.[3] Gordon noted, "these stories come from scientific research ... So I said, what if someone could actually create a field of vision where none actually exists?"[4] Gordon decided to use a Vietnam War veteran given "they are getting old, and like the Holocaust survivor of 'Kaddish', starting to die", and the opportunity would allow a larger role for Skinner. General MacDougal was named after the show's editor, Heather MacDougall.[3]
The episode featured a finished replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial that was first featured in an incomplete state during "Never Again".[3][5] The replica was first put on Vancouver's Jericho Park due to the locale's "expansive, groomed, flat" characteristics.[5] Only portions of the wall were real, whereas the rest were created via computer generated imagery (CGI). Day scenes at the monument were shot at Jericho Park, whereas night scenes took place at Ballantyne Pier, which was a large warehouse. The grandstand that had been assembled at Jericho Park was dismantled and reassembled in the warehouse.[5] The replica had fake names created by the sister of art assistant Kristina Lyne due to legal reasons, which included names of The X-Files cast and crew. In addition, two of them, "Jesse R. Ellison" and "Harlan L. Hahn", referenced noted writer Harlan Ellison and model Jessica Hahn. The crowd for the memorial's reinauguration scene, which at times was duplicated through CGI, consisted of 500 extras, fifty of which won the opportunity to appear on the show in local radio contests.[3]
A civilian underpass in Stanley Park doubled as Freedom Plaza. During the filming in the park, several public photographers sought out Anderson. Because of a stipulation of filming in parks, the police cannot deny anyone access. To compensate for this, many of the available crew and production staff members formed a "human blockade" to prevent the paparazzi from disturbing the shots.[5] The terminal for the Canada Place waterfront building served as a stand-in for the interior of the Pentagon.[5]
Reception[edit]
"Unrequited" premiered on the Fox network on February 23, 1997.[1] This episode earned a Nielsen rating of 10.9, with a 16 share, meaning that roughly 10.9 percent of all television-equipped households, and 16 percent of households watching television, were tuned in to the episode. "Unrequited" was seen by 16.56 million viewers on first broadcast.[6] The episode first aired in the United Kingdom on January 7, 1998 on BBC One.[1]
Todd VanDerWerff of The A.V. Club gave the episode a "B–".[7] He wrote that "Unrequited" "isn't a very good episode" of the series, but that it is "a potent one all the same" due to its "great ideas" that are unfortunately never expand upon.[7] VanDerWerff felt that the episode's biggest problem was that it started in media res and revealed the episode's conclusion, writing "it's a pretty great starting point for an episode. Instead, it's actually the endpoint".[7] Despite the negativity towards the plot, he wrote that the entry was "a good episode for Skinner" in that it gives him a mission and alludes to his past in a realistic way.[7] Furthermore, VanDerWerff also applauded the way the show used the Vietnam War in a way that felt "fresh".[7] Independent reviewer Sarah Stegall awarded the episode a two out of five and derided it as a "pseudo-political story".[8] She was negative towards the "lack of emotional investment", which she felt was what damaged the episode; she called Teager a cipher who was portrayed as a "Twitchy Vet" rather than a "Tragic Hero".[8]
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 two stars out of five.[9] They heavily criticized the episode for taking place before the events of "Kaddish" and "Memento Mori" in an attempt to not deal with Scully's cancer. Furthermore, the two criticized the episode for being "thin stuff" and heavily padded; Shearman and Pearson note that the long teaser is replayed in the episode "to no new dramatic effect" and that Covarrubias's appearance offers no new information.[9] Paula Vitaris, writing for Cinefantastique, rated "Unrequited" one star out of four, writing that it "collapses under the weight of its message" and that it "fails to bring to life any of its guest characters".[10] Furthermore, she criticized the reusing of the teaser, noting that it "just comes off as a writer's device".[10]
References[edit]
Footnotes[edit]
1.^ Jump up to: a b c R.W. Goodwin, Kim Manners, et al. (booklet). The X-Files: The Complete Fourth Season (Liner notes). Fox.
2.^ Jump up to: a b Meisler, pp. 166–174
3.^ Jump up to: a b c d e Meisler, p. 174–5
4.Jump up ^ Hurwitz and Knowles, p. 111
5.^ Jump up to: a b c d e Gradnitzer and Pittson, pp. 139–140
6.Jump up ^ Meisler, p. 298
7.^ Jump up to: a b c d e VanDerWerff, Todd (October 30, 2010). "'Unrequited'/'Covenant' | The X-Files/Millennium | TV Club". The A.V. Club. The Onion. Retrieved July 27, 2012.
8.^ Jump up to: a b Stegall, Sarah (1997). "Now You See Him, Now You Don't". The Munchkyn Zone. Retrieved January 1, 2013.
9.^ Jump up to: a b Shearman and Pearson, pp. 96–97
10.^ Jump up to: a b Vitaris, Paula (October 1997). "Episode Guide". Cinefantastique 29 (4/5): 35–62.
Bibliography[edit]
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, Chris Knowles (2008). The Complete X-Files. Insight Editions. ISBN 1-933784-72-5.
Meisler, Andy (1998). I Want to Believe: The Official Guide to the X-Files Volume 3. Harper Prism. ISBN 0-06-105386-4.
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 4
"Unrequited" at the Internet Movie Database
"Unrequited" at TV.com
[hide]
v·
t·
e
The X-Files episodes
Seasons: 1·
2·
3·
4·
5·
6·
7·
8·
9
Season 4
"Herrenvolk"·
"Home"·
"Teliko"·
"Unruhe"·
"The Field Where I Died"·
"Sanguinarium"·
"Musings of a Cigarette Smoking Man"·
"Tunguska"·
"Terma"·
"Paper Hearts"·
"El Mundo Gira"·
"Leonard Betts"·
"Never Again"·
"Memento Mori"·
"Kaddish"·
"Unrequited"·
"Tempus Fugit"·
"Max"·
"Synchrony"·
"Small Potatoes"·
"Zero Sum"·
"Elegy"·
"Demons"·
"Gethsemane"
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The X-Files (season 4) episodes
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Tempus Fugit (The X-Files)
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"Tempus Fugit"
The X-Files episode
Episode no.
Season 4
Episode 17
Directed by
Rob Bowman
Written by
Chris Carter
Frank Spotnitz
Production code
4X17
Original air date
March 16, 1997
Guest actors
Joe Spano as Mike Millar
Tom O'Brien as Sergeant Louis Frish
Scott Bellis as Max Fenig
Chilton Crane as Sharon Graffia
Brendan Beiser as Pendrell
Greg Michaels as Scott Garrett
Robert Moloney as Bruce Bearfeld
Felicia Shulman as Motel Manager
Rick Dobran as Sergeant Armando Gonzales
Jerry Schram as Larold Rebhun
David Palffy as Dark Man
Mark Wilson as Pilot
Marek Wiedman as Investigator
Jon Raitt as Father
Kathy Rollheiser as Mother
Maria Lusia Cianni as Teenager
Peter Taraviras as Go Team Member
Mark Schooley as Go Team Member 2[1]
Episode chronology
← Previous
"Unrequited" Next →
"Max"
List of season 4 episodes
List of The X-Files episodes
"Tempus Fugit" is the seventeenth episode of the fourth season of the American science fiction television series The X-Files. It premiered on the Fox network on March 16, 1997. It was directed by Rob Bowman, and written by Frank Spotnitz and series creator Chris Carter. "Tempus Fugit" featured guest appearances by Joe Spano, Tom O'Brien and Brendan Beiser, and saw the return of Scott Bellis as alien abductee Max Fenig. The episode helped to explore the overarching mythology, or fictional history of The X-Files. "Tempus Fugit" earned a Nielsen household rating of 11.9, being watched by 18.85 million people in its initial broadcast.
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 the episode, Max Fenig—an old acquaintance of Mulder—is found dead following an airplane crash, which Mulder believes to have been caused by a UFO attempting to abduct Fenig. "Tempus Fugit" is a two-part episode, with the plot continuing in the next episode, "Max".
"Tempus Fugit" was conceived when the series' special effects supervisor Dave Gauthier constructed an elaborate rig capable of simulating a crashing airplane. Carter and Spotnitz expanded upon the idea of a crash to bring back the character of Fenig, who had last been seen in season one's "Fallen Angel". "Tempus Fugit" received mixed to positive critical reception, and earned the production crew two Emmy Award nominations, including a win for Outstanding Sound Editing For A Series.
Contents
[hide] 1 Plot
2 Production 2.1 Writing
2.2 Filming
3 Broadcast and reception
4 Footnotes
5 External links
Plot[edit]
Max Fenig (Scott Bellis) is traveling on an airplane, Flight 549, which flies over upstate New York. He watches another man on the plane who seems to be following him. The man heads to the plane's bathroom, where he assembles a zip gun. However, when he comes back out, the airplane begins shaking and a bright light flashes outside, showing that the plane is encountering a UFO. The emergency door next to Max's seat is opened.
Elsewhere, Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) celebrate Scully's birthday. They are approached by a woman named Sharon Graffia, who claims to be Max's sister; she tells them that Max planned to deliver something to Mulder, but that his flight to Washington has crashed. The agents head to the crash site in Northville, New York, and attend an NTSB meeting where Flight 549's final transmissions are shown. Mulder theorizes that the plane was forced down by aliens attempting to abduct Max; the NTSB team, led by chief investigator Mike Millar (Joe Spano), dismisses his claims.
When Mulder and Scully survey the crash site, they realize that there is a nine-minute disparity between the crash and the time on the victims' wristwatches, indicating missing time. Mulder believes that Max was abducted from the plane and that his body will not be found. Meanwhile, Scott Garrett, a Man in Black posing as an NTSB investigator, steals the zip gun from the assassin's body and erases his face and fingerprints with acid. Larold Rehbun, a passenger who sat next to Max, is found alive. His injuries indicate exposure to radiation.
Upon being confronted by Scully, Sharon denies that Max brought a radioactive substance aboard the plane, but divulges that she is not actually Max's sister. She also gives up details about his underground life. Scully subsequently tells Mulder that Max worked at an environmental energy plant in Colorado under an alias, and believes that he may have caused the crash after bringing plutonium on board; Mulder, however, believes that Max was taken off the plane by a UFO, and that Rehbun's injuries were caused by exposure to the craft. Scully informs Mulder that Max's body has already been pulled from the crash site. Meanwhile, Sharon is abducted from her hotel room.
After identifying Max's body, Mulder finds that the wristwatches have been stolen from the other victims. He refutes the NTSB's official explanation of malfunction as a cause of the crash, and is doubtful that the true cause will be found unless they discern what happened during the nine minutes of missing time. The agents visit Sergeant Louis Frish (Tom O'Brien), an air traffic controller from the U.S. Air Force who was on duty during the crash. Frish denies anything unusual happened. However, after the agents leave, Frish and a colleague argue over whether to reveal the "truth" about Flight 549's demise.
After finding Sharon's trashed hotel room, Mulder meets with Millar, who tells him that the door was pulled off the plane from the outside while it was in flight. Later, Frish finds his colleague dead from a faked suicide. A group of commandos arrive to capture Frish, but he escapes. Frish goes to see Mulder and Scully, telling them that he lied before and that his commanding officer had ordered him to track the plane's coordinates as it was being intercepted by a second aircraft. Seconds later, there was an explosion and the plane disappeared from his radar. Mulder believes that a third aircraft, a UFO, approached the plane and was destroyed by the second aircraft, also causing the Flight 549 crash. The agents leave with Frish and are soon chased by the commandos. Meanwhile, Millar returns to the crash site and encounters a UFO. He finds Sharon nearby, having just been returned by her abductors.
Scully returns to Washington with Frish while Mulder heads to Great Sacandaga Lake, searching for the crashed UFO. Scully brings Frish to a local bar where they run into fellow FBI agent Pendrell (Brendan Beiser). The Man in Black soon enters the bar seeking to kill Frish, accidentally shooting Pendrell instead. Meanwhile Mulder arrives at the lake where he finds a team of men already searching for the crashed UFO. He dives underwater and finds the craft, including an alien body.[1]
Production[edit]
Dave Gauthier's Boeing 737 rig was the basis of the episode's conception.
Writing[edit]
During the production of the third season, special effects supervisor Dave Gauthier constructed an elaborate mock-up of a Boeing 737 airplane in order to be able to simulate a crash.[2] Series creator Chris Carter decided to make use of this rig during the fourth season. When conceiving of the episode, the desire to add to Fox Mulder's emotional involvement by having someone he knew on board led to the writers bringing back the character of Max Fenig to be that person.[3]
Scott Bellis, who had previously portrayed Fenig in the first season episode "Fallen Angel", had auditioned for other roles on the show in the interim, but had always been rejected by the producers because his character was felt to be too memorable. Bellis met series star David Duchovny at a gym several times, and learnt from him that the character of Max was being considered for a two-part episode. The episode's co-writer Frank Spotnitz did not want to have Fenig's appearance "milked" or do something the show had already done. As such he came up with the idea to kill off Fenig in the first part of the episode, which he felt was "a bold choice".[3]
Filming[edit]
Gauthier's 737 rig—which required 400 US gallons (1,500 L) of hydraulic fluid to construct—was designed to move across multiple axes in order to better simulate turbulence; it could rotate 22 degrees each way about its length, and move four feet to either side.[2] The fuselage could be opened up at intervals every 6 feet (1.8 m) to better allow cameras to record inside it.[4] The show's producers wanted the plane crash site and investigation to be as authentic as possible, so they used a National Transportation Safety Board official to act as their technical advisor on the episode to ensure that everything was properly recreated. The NTSB officials noted that the site was authentic in every way "except for the smell"; Carter has noted that this level of verisimilitude left some of the crew members "frightened by their work". Director Rob Bowman admitted that the episode exceeded its given budget, noting that Carter would often defend him from Fox studio officials angry at his production costs.[5] Bellis' abduction scene, in which his character is levitated through the door of the airplane, was achieved by pulling the actor out of the airplane rig with a harness; additional coverage was achieved by repeated this with a stuntman, who Bellis notes was pulled out of the rig "a lot harder".[3]
Broadcast and reception[edit]
"Tempus Fugit" premiered on the Fox network on March 16, 1997, and was first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC Two on January 14, 1998.[6] The episode earned a Nielsen household rating of 11.9 with an 18 share, meaning that roughly 11.9 percent of all television-equipped households, and 18 percent of households watching television, were tuned in to the episode.[7] A total of 18.85 million viewers watched this episode during its original airing.[7]
The episode received mixed to positive reviews from critics. Zack Handlen, writing for The A.V. Club, rated "Tempus Fugit" an A−. Handlen praised the effectiveness of the cold open, and noted the episode highlighted how "particularly ruthless" the series was with its recurring cast, noting "the mortality rate helps to create a mood of ever-encroaching doom, as if the darkness that seems about to swallow Mulder and Scully in so many scenes ... is as much symbolic as it is literal".[8] Paula Vitaris, writing for Cinefantastique, rated "Tempus Fugit" two-and-a-half stars out of four, describing it as "gripping" with "lots of action". However, Vitaris felt that the fleeting use of guest star Scott Bellis was "a waste", and that the discovery of an alien corpse towards the end "robs this story of any ambiguity".[9] 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 stars out of five, calling it "the best conspiracy episode we've seen in nearly two years". Shearman and Peason felt that "Tempus Fugit" was "told very clearly, with remarkably little baggage", and praised the acting of guests Tom O'Brien and Joe Spano.[10] Twelve members of the show's post-production crew won the 1997 Emmy Award for Outstanding Sound Editing For A Series for their work on this episode; while four others received a nomination for Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Drama Series.[11][12]
Footnotes[edit]
1.^ Jump up to: a b Meisler, pp. 177–184
2.^ Jump up to: a b Edwards, p. 211
3.^ Jump up to: a b c Meisler, pp. 184–185
4.Jump up ^ Meisler, p. 196
5.Jump up ^ Hurwitz and Knowles, p. 111
6.Jump up ^ R. W. Goodwin et al (booklet). The X-Files: The Complete Fourth Season (Liner notes). Fox.
7.^ Jump up to: a b Meisler, p. 298
8.Jump up ^ Handlen, Zack (January 29, 2011). ""Tempus Fugit"/"Walkabout" | The X-Files/Millennium | TV Club". The A.V. Club. Retrieved May 2, 2012.
9.Jump up ^ Vitaris, Paula (October 1997). "Returning from Space, Glen Morgan and James Wong re-join the X-Files". Cinefantastique 29 (4–5): 57.
10.Jump up ^ Shearman and Pearson, p. 97
11.Jump up ^ Meisler, p. 296
12.Jump up ^ "The X-Files | Emmys.com". Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Retrieved May 2, 2012.
ReferencesEdwards, Ted (1996). X-Files Confidential. Little, Brown and Company. ISBN 0316218081.
Hurwitz, Matt; Knowles, Chris (2008). The Complete X-Files. Insight Editions. ISBN 1933784806.
Meisler, Andy (1998). I Want to Believe: The Official Guide to the X-Files Volume 3. Harper Prism. ISBN 0061053864.
Shearman, Robert; Pearson, Lars (2009). Wanting to Believe: A Critical Guide to The X-Files, Millennium & The Lone Gunmen. Mad Norwegian Press. ISBN 097594469X.
External links[edit]
Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: TXF Season 4
"Tempus Fugit" at the Internet Movie Database
"Tempus Fugit" at TV.com
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Categories: The X-Files (season 4) episodes
1997 television episodes
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Max (The X-Files)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
This is a good article. Click here for more information.
This article is about the episode. For the character, see Max Fenig.
"Max"
The X-Files episode
Episode no.
Season 4
Episode 18
Directed by
Kim Manners
Written by
Chris Carter
Frank Spotnitz
Production code
4X18
Original air date
March 23, 1997
Guest actors
Mitch Pileggi as Walter Skinner
Brendan Beiser as Pendrell
Scott Bellis as Max Fenig
Chilton Crane as Sharon Graffia
John Destrey as Mr. Ballard
Rick Dobran as Armando Gonzales
Stacy Fair as a Flight Attendant
Jaclynn Grad as a Stewardess
Dave Hannay as Waiter #1
Braden Kayce as an Airport Security Officer
Stewart Laine as an MP
Greg Michaels as Scott Garrett
Tom O'Brien as Louis Frish
Dafid Palffy as Dark Man
Regy Sayhay as Waiter #3
Jerry Schram as Larold Rebhun
Michael Short as Waiter #2
Joe Spano as Mike Millar
Val Stefoff as a Bartender
Mark Wilson as a Pilot[1]
Episode chronology
← Previous
"Tempus Fugit" Next →
"Synchrony"
List of season 4 episodes
List of The X-Files episodes
"Max" is the eighteenth episode of the fourth season of the American science fiction television series The X-Files. It premiered on the Fox network on March 23, 1997. It was directed by Kim Manners, and written by Frank Spotnitz and series creator Chris Carter. "Max" featured guest appearances by Joe Spano, Tom O'Brien and Scott Bellis, and saw the final appearance of Brendan Beiser as special agent Pendrell. The episode helped to explore the overarching mythology, or fictional history of The X-Files. "Max" earned a Nielsen household rating of 11.6, being watched by 18.34 million people in its initial broadcast. The episode received mixed to 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. Following the airplane crash that killed alien abductee Max Fenig, Mulder is pursued by an assassin looking to recover an alien artifact. "Max" is a two-part episode, with the plot continuing from the previous episode, "Tempus Fugit".
Manners praised the large cast of extras used during production, concluding that they were the best he had worked with. "Max" featured scenes filmed at Vancouver International Airport and in a studio water tank, as well as using the custom-built Boeing 737 set constructed for "Tempus Fugit". Dialogue in the episode was inspired by the 1949 film The Third Man.
Contents
[hide] 1 Plot 1.1 Background
1.2 Events
2 Production
3 Broadcast and reception
4 References
5 External links
Plot[edit]
Background[edit]
Max Fenig (Scott Bellis), a Mutual UFO Network member, has been repeatedly abducted by aliens throughout his life. After meeting with FBI agent Fox Mulder (David Duchovny), Fenig was abducted once again, and thought to have been lost entirely.[2] Several years later, Fenig is found dead amongst the victims of an airplane crash. Investigating the disaster, Mulder and his partner Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) learn that the airplane crashed after being intercepted by a military jet—and possibly by an alien spacecraft. Mulder's search for evidence of such a craft leads to him diving to the bottom of Great Sacandaga Lake to find it; while Scully is ambushed by an assassin seeking to kill a military witness, leading to her colleague Pendrell (Brendan Beiser) being shot.[3]
Events[edit]
Mulder is caught by a group of commandos after swimming to shore. In Washington, Scully tends to the critically wounded Pendrell while Man in Black Garrett escapes. Assistant Director Walter Skinner (Mitch Pileggi) arrives shortly afterwards and tells Scully that the orders to protect Frish have been countermanded and he is being arrested for providing false testimony. Scully releases Mulder from confinement and tells him the "official" explanation for the crash, that Frish and Gonzales caused the crash by mistakenly vectoring a military fighter craft with the plane, and that Frish has been lying to cover it up. Mulder is skeptical of this latest explanation and thinks the crashed UFO he found underwater is really what was involved in the crash. Scully tells Mulder that Sharon is not really Max's sister, but rather an unemployed aeronautical engineer who met Max in a mental institution. She also tells him that Agent Pendrell died from his wounds.
Mulder and Scully visit Max's trailer, and watch a tape of him where he talks about finding proof of alien existence. The military recovers the crashed UFO from the lake, including the alien body. The agents visit Millar, whose investigation has been unable to prove or disprove the military's cover story. Mulder tells Millar what he believed really happened. Mulder believes that Max boarded the plane with proof of alien life and that a UFO stopped the plane, abducting him. A military aircraft intercepted the two however, with orders to attack the UFO. While Max was being returned, the military aircraft struck, causing both the UFO and plane to crash.
Mulder visits Max's trailer again and looks through his mail, finding a luggage claim ticket. Scully visits Sharon, now in a mental institution, who tells Scully that she stole technology from her employer that Max believed was alien. The device was in three parts, one which she had, one that he brought on the plane and a third one. Mulder uses the claim ticket to obtain the third device at a New York airport and heads on a plane to return to Washington. Garrett, who is also aboard, sits next to him. Mulder soon realizes who Garrett is and holds him at gunpoint. Garrett does not care, telling Mulder that if he shoots him the plane will depressurize and he will be able to escape with a parachute he has with him. Mulder imprisons Garrett in the airplane bathroom but Garrett soon emerges with a zip gun and orders him to hand over the device. Suddenly the plane starts shaking and bright lights shine in through the windows. When the plane touches down and Mulder gets out both Garrett and the device are gone and Mulder is missing nine minutes, having no memory of what happened. The agents visit Sharon one last time in Max's trailer and say goodbye.[1]
Production[edit]
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