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Audrey Pauley

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"Audrey Pauley"
The X-Files episode
FloatingHospital AudreyPauley.jpg
The strange hospital, floating in a void, in which Monica Reyes is trapped.
 
Episode no.
Season 9
 Episode 11
Directed by
Kim Manners
Written by
Steven Maeda
Production code
9ABX13
Original air date
March 17, 2002
Running time
44 minutes
Guest actors

Stan Shaw as Stephen Murdoch
Tracey Ellis as Audrey Pauley
Jack Blessing as Dr. Jack Preijers
Del Zamora as Mr. Barreiro
Michele Harrell as Mrs. Murdoch
Vernee Watson-Johnson as Nurse Whitney Edwards
Esther “Tita” Mercado as Mrs. Barreiro
Cynthena Sanders as ER Nurse
Joe Nieves as Barreiro's Son
Ana Maria Lagasca as Barreiro's Daughter[1]
 
Episode chronology

← Previous
 "Providence" Next →
 "Underneath"

List of The X-Files episodes
"Audrey Pauley" is the eleventh episode of the ninth season of the American science fiction television series The X-Files. It originally aired on the Fox network on March 17, 2002. It was written by Steven Maeda and directed by Kim Manners. The episode is a "monster-of-the-week" episode, a stand-alone plot which is unconnected to the mythology, or overarching fictional history, of The X-Files. The episode earned a Nielsen household rating of 4.8, being watched by 8 million viewers. It has generally received positive reviews from television critics.
The show centers on FBI special agents who work on cases linked to the paranormal, called X-Files; this season focuses on the investigations of John Doggett (Robert Patrick), Monica Reyes (Annabeth Gish), and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson). In this episode, after being in a car accident, Reyes awakens in a surreal hospital. Doggett and a comatose Reyes struggle to prevent her organ donor card from being acted upon. The two, however, soon discover a unique woman, Audrey Pauley, who has the ability to communicate with both those conscious and unconscious.
"Audrey Pauley" guest starred Tracey Ellis as the titular character; she had previously appeared as a major character in the third season episode "Oubliette". Gish has called the episode one of her favorites to film. In addition, it contained several elaborate stunts and effect sequences, many of which were created in unique manners.

Contents
  [hide] 1 Plot
2 Production
3 Broadcast and reception
4 Notes
5 References
6 External links
Plot[edit]
After driving home from work, Monica Reyes (Annabeth Gish) is struck by a drunk driver and transported to a hospital, where she is examined by Dr. Preijers (Jack Blessing) and Nurse Edwards; she soon slips into a coma. Reyes, however, wakes up moments later in the same room all alone. Running to the door, she discovers that the hospital is floating in a dark void. She soon finds two other patients, Stephen Murdoch (Stan Shaw), and Mr. Barreiro (Del Zamora). They assume that they are dead and in hell. Reyes, however, maintains that they are still alive.
Meanwhile, Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) tells John Doggett (Robert Patrick) that Reyes is braindead, a fact that Doggett refuses to believe. Preijers informs Doggett and Scully that, since Reyes was an organ donor, in a few days her life-support will be pulled and the hospital will harvest her remains. In the floating hospital, Reyes sees a woman (Tracey Ellis) standing in the hallway, but she disappears. At that moment, Barreiro begins screaming and is engulfed in blue electricity before disappearing. In the real world, it is revealed that Barreiro, a fellow comatose patient, has had his life support removed by Preijers. Nearby stands the mystery woman that Reyes encountered: Audrey Pauley.
Doggett begins looking into ways to save Reyes, noting an anomaly in her electrocardiograph that suggests stifled brain activity. While visiting her room, Doggett runs into Audrey who tells her that Reyes' soul is not gone yet. Audrey walks to her room in the basement, where a model of the hospital has been built. By concentrating her mind, she is able to move into the floating hospital where Reyes is trapped. Once there, she finds Reyes and asks her to tell Doggett that he's a "dog person", a reference to a conversation the two had before Reyes' crash. After relaying the message, Doggett is determined that Reyes is not gone and, following Audrey, learns about her hospital model.
Meanwhile, Nurse Edwards (Vernee Watson-Johnson) confronts Preijers about an injection she saw him give Reyes; he kills Edwards to cover his tracks. Later, in the floating hospital, Stephen collapses and disappears when he too is pulled off of life support. After Doggett is spotted with Audrey in the basement by Preijers, he begins to worry that she could expose what he is doing. He injects the same drug he used to kill Edwards, but Audrey is able to concentrate and move into the floating hospital one last time. She informs Reyes that her only way out is to jump into the void. Reyes does so and wakes up in her hospital bed moments before her organs are to be harvested. Doggett runs down to Audrey's room only to find that Preijers has killed her. Doggett manages to capture Preijers before he can escape.[2]
Production[edit]
"Audrey Pauley" was written by Steven Maeda and directed by Kim Manners. The entry was Maeda's second ninth season entry after "4-D".[3] The episode features guest star Tracey Ellis as the titular Audrey Pauley. Ellis had previously appeared as a major character in the third season episode "Oubliette".[4] Annabeth Gish later noted that the episode, along with "4-D", were her "two favorite episodes" because they "are stand-alone episodes about Reyes and Doggett. Wonderful acting challenges, and the stories were fantastic."[4] Robert Patrick, whose friend Ted Demme had recently died, was worried about bringing too much emotion onto the set. He later noted, "I was kind of raw. I remember being a little worried about bringing too much emotion to it. I felt safe with Kim; he knew I was going through a tough time."[4]
The episode contained several elaborate stunts and effect sequences. Gish performed all of her stunts in the episode, including one shot when she jumped from a thirty foot descender. She later called the sequence "the biggest stunt of my career."[5] For several of the special effect shots, Manners was forced to compromise on his original decision. One specific shot, wherein Audrey Pauley had to disappear after appearing in front of Gish, was originally going to be done via CGI. Eventually, Manners decided to "tie the two actresses [Gish and Ellis] together [...] and then you [cut] to Annabeth and in her face there's an 'oh shit' reaction, and then [pan] straight up on a crane, all right, and see that she's completely alone."[6] He called effects like these "creative ways to trim [the] budget."[6] To create the floating hospital scene, a small door set was merged with a CGI hospital. Initially, the scene used a straight flat "piece of cement" as the bottom of the building. The effects team tried adding a "big piece of earth" under the building, but Paul Rabwin felt it looked too much like The Little Prince, so the piece of earth was removed. The final result also removed the cement-like base.[7]
Broadcast and reception[edit]
"Audrey Pauley" originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on March 17, 2002, and was first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC One on January 26, 2003.[3] The episode's initial broadcast was viewed by approximately 5.1 million households, [nb 1] 8 million viewers,[9] and ranked as the sixty-eighth most watched episode of television that aired during the week ending March 17.[8] "Audrey Pauley" earned a Nielsen household rating of 4.8, meaning that roughly 4.8 percent of all television-equipped households, were tuned in to the episode.[8]
The episode has generally received positive reviews from television critics. Robert Shearman and Lars Pearson, in their book Wanting to Believe: A Critical Guide to The X-Files, Millennium & The Lone Gunmen, gave the episode a glowing review and rated it five stars out of five. The two noted that "this is what The X-Files should be doing now" and that "this would have been the template on which to have built a series starring Doggett and Reyes."[10] Furthermore, they noted that the script was "written and directed with so much restraint", that is makes many of the emotional scenes "more affecting".[10] Shearman and Pearson ultimately called the end result "clever, thoughtful, […] very moving" and "beautiful".[10] John Keegan from Critical Myth gave the episode a largely positive review and awarded it an 8 out of 10. He wrote, "Overall, this was a strong episode, with a lot of wonderful character exploration and an interesting concept. However, there were some weaknesses throughout, typical of Steve Maeda’s episodes, and that detracted from the episode in some places. Still, another winner in this underrated final season."[11] Lionel Green from Sand Mountain Reporter named the episode one of his "13 all-time favorite episodes" of The X-Files, ranking it at number three. He wrote that the episode was "powerful" due to its themes of "faith, love and sacrifice."[12] He concluded that it was "the best one starring the new agents, Doggett and Reyes."[12]
Jessica Morgan, however, from Television Without Pity, gave the episode a more mixed review. She criticized the character of Monica Reyes and called her "Moronica".[13] She ultimately gave the episode a C+ grade.[13] Jeffrey Robinson from DVD Talk called the entry "borderline weird" and used it as evidence that "the ninth season [is] arguably the worst season of the series."[14]
Notes[edit]
1.Jump up ^ At the time of airing, the estimated number of households was 105.5 million.[8] Thus, 4.8 percent of 105.5 million is 5.1 million households.
References[edit]
Footnotes
1.Jump up ^ Audrey Pauley - Cast Credits (DVD). The X-Files: The Complete Ninth Season: 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment. 2002.
2.Jump up ^ "Audrey Pauley". BBC Cult. BBC. Retrieved 17 July 2012.
3.^ Jump up to: a b The X-Files: The Complete Ninth Season (Media notes). Fox. 2001–02.
4.^ Jump up to: a b c Huwritz and Knowles, pp. 202–204
5.Jump up ^ Fraga, p. 215
6.^ Jump up to: a b Fraga, p. 216
7.Jump up ^ Paul Rabwin (2002). Special Effects by Mat Beck with Commentary by Paul Rabwin: "Hospital Floating in Void" (DVD). The X-Files: The Complete Ninth Season: 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment.
8.^ Jump up to: a b c The Associated Press (20 March 2002). "This Weeks Top TV Shows". Press-Telegram (MediaNews Group). p. A18. Retrieved 19 July 2012. (subscription required)
9.Jump up ^ Canton, Maj. "The X-Files – Series – Episode List – Season 9". TV Tango. Retrieved February 24, 2013.
10.^ Jump up to: a b c Shearman and Pearson, pp. 269–270
11.Jump up ^ Keegan, John. "Audrey Pauley". Critical Myth. Retrieved 19 July 2012.
12.^ Jump up to: a b Green, Lionel (22 July 2008). "'The X-Files' Was a Rare Magic". Sand Mountain Reporter (Southern Newspapers Inc.). Retrieved 19 July 2012. (subscription required)
13.^ Jump up to: a b Morgan, Jessica. "Audrey Pauley". Television Without Pity. NBCUniversal. Retrieved 19 July 2012.
14.Jump up ^ Robinson, Jeffrey (11 May 2004). "X-Files Ninth Season". DVD Talk. Internet Brands. Retrieved 14 July 2012.
BibliographyFraga, Erica (2010). LAX-Files: Behind the Scenes with the Los Angeles Cast and Crew. CreateSpace. ISBN 9781451503418.
Hurwitz, Matt; Knowles, Chris (2008). The Complete X-Files. Insight Editions. ISBN 1933784806.
Kessenich, Tom (2002). Examination: An Unauthorized Look at Seasons 6–9 of the X-Files. Trafford Publishing. ISBN 1553698126.
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 9
"Audrey Pauley" at XFiles.com
"Audrey Pauley" at the Internet Movie Database
"Audrey Pauley" at TV.com

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

 
­Seasons: 1·
 ­2·
 ­3·
 ­4·
 ­5·
 ­6·
 ­7·
 ­8·
 ­9
 
 
Season 9
­"Nothing Important Happened Today"·
 ­"Dæmonicus"·
 ­"4-D"·
 ­"Lord of the Flies"·
 ­"Trust No 1"·
 ­"John Doe"·
 ­"Hellbound"·
 ­"Provenance"·
 ­"Providence"·
 ­"Audrey Pauley"·
 ­"Underneath"·
 ­"Improbable"·
 ­"Scary Monsters"·
 ­"Jump the Shark"·
 ­"William"·
 ­"Release"·
 ­"Sunshine Days"·
 ­"The Truth"
 

 

Categories: The X-Files (season 9) episodes
2002 television episodes



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Underneath (The X-Files)

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Jump to: navigation, search

"Underneath"
The X-Files episode
Episode no.
Season 9
 Episode 12
Directed by
John Shiban
Written by
John Shiban
Production code
9ABX09
Original air date
March 31, 2002
Running time
44 minutes
Guest actors

W. Earl Brown as Robert Fassl
Lisa Darr as Jana Fain
Arthur Nascarella as Duke Tomasick
Robert Curtis Brown as Damon Kaylor
Alan Davidson as Bearded Man
Mary-Margaret Lewis as Mrs. Dowdy
Paul Vincent O'Connor as Superintendent Brian Hutchinson
Kelly McNair as Teenage Girl
Michael Patterson as Dad
Carol Kiernan as Mom
Aaron D. Spears as Guard[1]
 
Episode chronology

← Previous
 "Audrey Pauley" Next →
 "Improbable"

List of The X-Files episodes
"Underneath" is the twelfth episode of the ninth season of the American science fiction television series The X-Files. The episode first aired in the United States on March 31, 2002 on the Fox network. The episode was written and directed by executive producer John Shiban. The episode is a "monster-of-the-week" episode, a stand-alone plot which is unconnected to the mythology, or overarching fictional history, of The X-Files. The episode earned a Nielsen rating of 4.4 and was viewed by 4.64 million households and 7.3 million viewers. It received mixed reviews from critics.
The show centers on FBI special agents who work on cases linked to the paranormal, called X-Files; this season focuses on the investigations of John Doggett (Robert Patrick), Monica Reyes (Annabeth Gish), and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson). In this episode, Doggett is determined to find an error in the DNA evidence that freed the convicted Robert Fassl, the "Screwdriver Killer", whom he nearly caught in the act 13 years earlier. In the end, it is revealed that Fassl has a mental condition that splits him into two parts: the religious innocent and the vengeful killer.
"Underneath" marked the directorial debut of Shiban, who had been a writer for series for several seasons. Reportedly, the episode contained "so many problems" that the Fox executives nearly refused to allow the finished product to air. At the last minute, however, they relented, and allowed the episode to be aired later on in the season, several weeks after its intended air date. Shiban originally wanted to film the sewer scenes in Los Angeles' actual sewer system, but due to the events of September 11, a sewer mock-up was built on Stage 11 at the Fox studios.

Contents
  [hide] 1 Plot
2 Production
3 Reception
4 Notes
5 References
6 External links
Plot[edit]
Thirteen years before the present, Robert Fassl (W. Earl Brown) sits in his van. He later approaches a home and claims to be there to repair the cable. As Fassl holds up a piece of paper to look show the family who called for the repair, blood spatter splashes across the paper. He looks up and sees the house's occupants with slit throats in pools of blood. Abruptly, two police officers burst into the house and apprehend Fassl. One of the officers who goes to check out the kitchen, turns to reveal he is John Doggett (Robert Patrick) as a young NYPD officer.
In the present, Monica Reyes (Annabeth Gish) discusses Fassl's release — due to DNA evidence — with an outraged Doggett. Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) confirms that the test results conclusively disprove Fassl as the killer. Meanwhile, in court, Fassl notices a mysterious Bearded Man. After being released, he stays in a room belonging to his lawyer, Jana Fain, where he clutches a Rosary beads and prays frantically. When the Bearded Man appears, Fassl begs for the man not to hurt her. While Fain is unharmed, Fassl learns that the housekeeper, Mrs. Dowdy, has gone missing. Fassl finds her body, cleans up the blood, and dismembers her remains to cover up what has happened.
Scully tells Doggett that while the DNA test disproves Fassl's culpability, it implicates a possible blood relative; Fassl, however, is an only child. Reyes proposes that the murders are being conducted by an entity rather than a person. Meanwhile, Fassl approaches Assistant District Attorney Damon Kaylor and begs to be sent back to prison. Kaylor refuses, but is killed by the Bearded Man. After hearing of Kaylor's disappearance, Reyes theorizes that Fassl's piety and his unwillingness to acknowledge his darker half has given him the unwanted ability to physically change into another, more violent person.
The Bearded Man demands that Fassl kill Fain, beating him up when he doesn't comply. As she tends to Fassl, Fain first sees the Bearded Man in his place. While staking out Fain's house, the agents see the Bearded Man flee. Doggett pursues the Bearded Man while Reyes finds Fain alive. In the pursuit, Reyes falls through into a sewer, where she finds the remains of the Bearded Man's victims. After a struggle with the Bearded Man, Doggett ends up apprehending Fassl, much to his confusion. Reyes tries to remind him that it does not matter as long as the case is solved.[1]
Production[edit]
"Underneath" was written and directed by executive producer John Shiban. This marked his directorial debut.[2] According to Shiban, part of the inspiration for the episode was that the series production staff had "actually talked for some time about doing a Jekyll/Hyde story but never quite found a way to do it" until the idea to use DNA came into play.[3] Another inspiration for the episode was the 1949 film The Third Man, which featured a climactic chase through a sewage system.[3]
The episode, which explores John Doggett's backstory as a New York City police officer, was described as containing similar themes as those "explored on the Millennium series."[4] The episode guest-starred Arthur Nascarella, who was a friend of series co-star Robert Patrick. Patrick was essential in getting Nascarella cast on the show; he later joked "I stole [Nascarella's] New York accent in Copland [sic] and I stole it to do The X-Files, but I got him cast in The X-Files show."[4]
As the ninth season progressed and the show's ratings began to plummet, Fox became more and more actively involved in the show's style and direction.[5] Although "Underneath" was the twelfth episode aired, it was actually the ninth episode produced during the season; reportedly, the episode contained "so many problems" that the Fox executives very nearly nixed the finished product.[5] At the last minute, however, they relented, and allowed the episode to be aired later on in the season, several weeks after its intended air date.[5]
Shiban originally wanted to film the sewer scenes in Los Angeles' actual sewer system, but the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power vetoed the idea and stated that "there's a moratorium on shooting there since September 11", an act that Shiban called "understandable."[3] In order to make up for this, series art director Corey Kaplan was tasked with building a sewer replica; she used the blueprints from the 1952 version of Les Misérables as an inspiration. Eventually, a complete set was built on Stage 11 at the Fox studios.[3]
Reception[edit]
"Underneath" first aired in the United States on March 31, 2002 on the Fox network. The episode later debuted in the United Kingdom on February 2, 2003 on BBC One.[6] The episode earned a Nielsen household rating of 4.4, meaning that it was seen by 4.4% of the nation's estimated households and was viewed by 4.64 million households[7][nb 1] and over 7.3 million viewers.[8] "Underneath" was the 71st most watched episode of television that aired during the week ending March 31.[7]
The episode received mixed reviews from television critics. Jessica Morgan from Television Without Pity gave the episode a B– rating.[9] John Keegan from Critical Myth gave the episode a negative review and called it "easily the worst of the season".[10] He awarded it a 4 out of 10 and concluded that, "We can only hope that none of the remaining episodes are Shiban-related, and pray that he can do a much better job when he writes for Enterprise next season."[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 three-and-a-half stars out of five, and called the entry "solid and efficient".[11] The two complimented Shiban's directorial efforts, noting that "as a director [he] makes 'Underneath' shine", but were critical of some of the "trademark X-File moments", citing "the surprise appearance of a face in the bathroom mirror" and "the climactic fight in a sewer" as examples.[11] Shearman and Pearson, however, wrote positively of Shiban's realistic depiction of Doggett.[11]
Notes[edit]
1.Jump up ^ At the time of airing, the estimated number of households was 105.5 million.[7] Thus, 4.4 percent of 105.5 million is 4.64 million households.
References[edit]
Footnotes
1.^ Jump up to: a b "Underneath". TheXFiles.com. Fox Broadcasting Company. 31 March 2002. Archived from the original on 16 December 2002. Retrieved 7 May 2012.
2.Jump up ^ Hurwitz and Knowles, pp. 236–240
3.^ Jump up to: a b c d Narazzo, Joe (April 2002). "Underneath The X-Files: An Interview with John Shiban". The X-Files Magazine (3).
4.^ Jump up to: a b Hurwitz and Knowles, p. 204
5.^ Jump up to: a b c Kessenich pp. 193–194
6.Jump up ^ Kim Manners, et al (booklet). The X-Files: The Complete Ninth Season (Liner notes). Fox.
7.^ Jump up to: a b c The Associated Press (2 April 2002). "Prime-Time Nielsen Ratings". Associated Press Archive.
8.Jump up ^ Kessenich, p. 193
9.Jump up ^ Morgan, Jessica. "Underneath". Television Without Pity. NBC Universal. Retrieved 17 July 2012.
10.^ Jump up to: a b Keegan, John. "Underneath". Critical Myth. Retrieved 10 July 2012.
11.^ Jump up to: a b c Shearman and Pearson, pp. 270–271
BibliographyHurwitz, Matt; Knowles, Chris (2008). The Complete X-Files. Insight Editions. ISBN 1933784806.
Kessenich, Tom (2002). Examination: An Unauthorized Look at Seasons 6–9 of the X-Files. Trafford Publishing. ISBN 1553698126.
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]
"Underneath" at TheXFiles.com
 Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: TXF Season 9
"Underneath" at the Internet Movie Database
"Underneath" at TV.com

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

 
­Seasons: 1·
 ­2·
 ­3·
 ­4·
 ­5·
 ­6·
 ­7·
 ­8·
 ­9
 
 
Season 9
­"Nothing Important Happened Today"·
 ­"Dæmonicus"·
 ­"4-D"·
 ­"Lord of the Flies"·
 ­"Trust No 1"·
 ­"John Doe"·
 ­"Hellbound"·
 ­"Provenance"·
 ­"Providence"·
 ­"Audrey Pauley"·
 ­"Underneath"·
 ­"Improbable"·
 ­"Scary Monsters"·
 ­"Jump the Shark"·
 ­"William"·
 ­"Release"·
 ­"Sunshine Days"·
 ­"The Truth"
 
 
This is a good article. Click here for more information.
 

Categories: The X-Files (season 9) episodes
2002 television episodes


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Improbable (The X-Files)

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"Improbable"
The X-Files episode
Improbable TXF.jpg
Burt's smiling face merged with a high city view.
 
Episode no.
Season 9
 Episode 13
Directed by
Chris Carter
Written by
Chris Carter
Production code
9ABX14
Original air date
April 14, 2002
Running time
44 minutes
Guest actors

Travis Riker as Baby William
Burt Reynolds as Burt/God
Ellen Greene as Vicki Burdick
John Kapelos as Fordyce
Ray McKinnon as Mad Wayne
Tighe Barry as Homeless Man
Shannon Maureen Brown as Pretty Blonde
Amy D'Allessandro as Amy
Nick De Marinis as Pizza Man
Ernesto Gasco as Heavy Italian Man
Benito Prezia as Old Italian Man
Cara Tripicchio as Italian Girl
Christine Trippichio as Italian Girl
Sandra Tripicchio as Italian Girl
Larry Udy as Middle-Aged Man
Angelo Vacco as Bartender
Angelo Vacco as Guido
Beth Watson as Woman[1]
 
Episode chronology

← Previous
 "Underneath" Next →
 "Scary Monsters"

List of The X-Files episodes
"Improbable" is 13th episode of the ninth season and the 195th episode overall of the science fiction television series The X-Files. The episode first aired in the United States on April 14, 2002 on Fox, and subsequently aired in the United Kingdom. It was written and directed by series creator and executive producer Chris Carter. The episode is a "monster-of-the-week" episode, a stand-alone plot which is unconnected to the mythology, or overarching fictional history, of The X-Files. The episode earned a Nielsen rating of 5.1 and was viewed by 9.1 million viewers. The episode received mostly positive reviews from critics.
The show centers on FBI special agents who work on cases linked to the paranormal, called X-Files; this season focuses on the investigations of John Doggett (Robert Patrick), Monica Reyes (Annabeth Gish), and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson). In this episode, Reyes and her fellow agents investigate a serial killer who uses numerology to choose his victims. Soon, Reyes and Scully meet an unusual man who may prove more of a hindrance than a help.
"Improbable" features Burt Reynolds playing God. Reynolds was chosen after he expressed his desire to appear in an episode of The X-Files to Robert Patrick. Carter approved the idea and Reynolds thoroughly enjoyed filming the episode. "Improbable" contains several elaborate effects, such as a cityscape rendered to look like Reynolds' head. Furthermore, the episode contains themes pertaining to fate, free will, and numerology. The tagline for this episode is "Dio Ti Ama", meaning "God loves you" in Italian, replacing the usual phrase "The Truth is Out There."

Contents
  [hide] 1 Plot
2 Production 2.1 Development
2.2 Casting
2.3 Effects and music
3 Themes
4 Reception
5 Notes
6 References
7 External links
Plot[edit]
Agent Monica Reyes (Annabeth Gish) is investigating a series of cases that she believes are linked by numerology. While explaining the case to Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson), Scully spots another possible link - a mark made by the killer's ring on the victims' faces. On consulting a numerologist, Reyes ties the murders together. However, the killer also finds the numerologist, murdering her.
Meanwhile, the killer is shown meeting up with a mysterious man (Burt Reynolds) who seems to know a lot about him and his murderous ways. He speaks in an enigmatic way, but his words do not seem to make any difference to the killer. Reyes' numerology theories do not go down well at the FBI, but the pattern of the killings, when viewed on a map, seem to show a spiral. Scully and Reyes revisit the murdered numerologist's office and meet the killer in the elevator. Scully recognizes the ring on the killer's hand as the agents exit the elevator, and draws her gun on him. The killer slips back into the elevator and gets to the parking lot first. Reyes and Scully arrive only to see a car fleeing the garage and the gate closing behind it.
They meet another person hiding in a car and demand that he come out. It is the strange man. To pass the time, Burt engages Reyes and Scully in a game of checkers, whose colors (red & black) are surrogates for Scully (a redhead) and Reyes (a brunette). These are the anticipated hair-colors of the next two victims. The exiting car was assumed to contain the killer, but realizing the killer might still be inside, they search the garage and are surprised by the killer. However, John Doggett (Robert Patrick) arrives in the nick of time to shoot him. The mysterious man has completely disappeared. In a nearby Italian neighborhood, a party is in progress. Two men sing a jovial song and lead a crowd through the streets. The camera zooms out to reveal that the entire neighborhood, when viewed from above, suggests the appearance of Burt's face, hinting to the fact that he might be God.[2]
Production[edit]

 

 The episode was written and directed by Chris Carter.
Development[edit]
Carter later explained that humorous episodes were important to the show, especially during the "pitch-black" ninth season.[3] He reasoned "there are the downbeats, and then you need the relief in the tension."[3] The name Vicki Burdick came from a high school student Chris Carter knew. Carter felt that he needed to kill the character "all out of fondness." Before casting Ellen Greene, Carter had first spotted her on the movie, The Little Shop of Horrors both in "New York and Los Angeles." The first scene shot for Greene's character took a "long day". Carter called her a "trooper" and said she was open to the direction he gave her. She had a lot of information to remember, which made the scene even more difficult. The set for that scene was created by Tim Stepeck who was the set decorator during the ninth season.[4] Annabeth Gish later revealed that her lines were difficult to remember. She explained, "I remember learning my lines and thinking, 'Oh my God. I've got to memorize this. It's scary. Like physics united theory, all of that."[3]

 

 The episode guest starred Burt Reynolds as God.
This was the last episode filmed by Carter to feature Scully in the FBI autopsy scene at 20th Century Fox. The different numbers seen in this scene was used to "conceit, this idea that numerology is an important part of our life and plays a part, but it really is just used here to illustrate the idea of patterns, patterns of behavior, of the ways in which numbers rule both the universe and our lives and our ability to solve things, to solve our mysteries of life, to solve these cases, which will lead them, as we'll see as the act comes to a close here, they are both [Scully and Reyes] believers of the numerological episode."[4] The tagline for this episode is "Dio Ti Ama", meaning "God loves you" in Italian, replacing the usual phrase "The Truth is Out There." The normal line "Executive Producer: Chris Carter" is also rendered in Italian, reading, "Produttore Esecutivo: Chris Carter".[2]
Casting[edit]
Burt Reynolds was chosen for "Improbable" after he expressed his desire to appear in an episode of The X-Files to Robert Patrick. Carter approved the idea and told Patrick that he would "write something good". He later noted that "as a young man, [Reynolds] meant something to me" and that the opportunity to work with him was "surreal". After Carter had written the script, he presented it to Reynolds for his approval; Reynolds approved of the script and agreed to be in the episode.[5] Robert Patrick later noted that Reynolds "had a great time, and he loved working with everybody."[3]
Effects and music[edit]
The final scene, featuring Burt's face superimposed onto the cityscape, was created by special effects supervisor Mat Beck. The only actual footage in the scene is a pull-back shot of the carnival that was filmed 110 feet in the air via crane. A CGI cityscape was then created that resembled Burt Reynolds' head. The two shots were sewn together, and a blur effect was added to "[make] it sell". An alternate version of the scene was created that featured Chris Carter's head instead of Reynolds'. This version was included as a bonus feature on the season nine DVD set.[6] The score for the episode, like the rest of the series, was composed by Mark Snow. Snow based much of the music in the episode off of records made by Karl Zéro, on the request of Carter. Carter later noted that "I had heard his music and it was so far out and it fit with exactly what I wanted to do because I wanted to recreate [the yearly celebration in] Little Italy. [...] I wanted to create that festival."[7]
Themes[edit]
According to Chris Carter, the "whole" idea behind the episode was about numbers and that the "significance of numbers in our lives starts here on the card table where the players are being dealt a hand each."[4] He continued with "the idea is that we're all dealt hands, genetic hands, and maybe even numerological hands that give us basically the tools with which we deal and/or use for our lives."[4] He further stated that the idea was that it was "free will" and "fate", continued with that fate was determined by our own genetics.[4]
The villain in the story, Mad Wayne, had been dealt a bad hand in life. Because of his situation, he acts on his bad impulses. Carter elaborated, "Is it fate that Wayne is about, the character, this is what I was interested in exploring here. As we'll see with the introduction in a moment of a character who throws all of this into question – God – we're going to see what his place is in all of this, or at least explore what Burt Reynolds, playing God here, has to do with the character Wayne."[4] The main idea behind the episode, was that God knows all the numbers, because they are his numbers and he is laying them down and is in "charge of the big game".[4] Being that God is trying to show "us the game", as it was a "game" to be "won or lost", and Wayne has lost this game.[4]
Reception[edit]
"Improbable" first aired in the United States on April 14, 2002.[8] The episode earned a Nielsen household rating of 5.1, meaning that it was seen by 5.1% of the nation's estimated households.[9] The episode was viewed by 5.38 million households[9][nb 1] and 9.1 million viewers[10] "Improbable" was the 57th most watched episode of television that aired during the week ending April 14.[9]
The episode received mostly positive reviews from critics. Jessica Morgan from Television Without Pity awarded the episode a B+.[2] UGO named God/Mr. Burt as one of the "Top 11 X-Files Monsters," noting that "As [series creator Chris Carter] imagines him, [God] is a benevolent deity, constantly prodding his creatures to look at the patterns before them, to see the overall plan that he's laid out. He's doomed to failure, and he knows it, though it doesn't stop him from trying."[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 the script "very witty".[12] The two wrote that "the brilliance of Chris Carter's direction" allowed the viewer of the episode to see it "from God's point of view".[12] Shearman and Pearson concluded that the episode "is not as smart as it thinks it is. But it's still pretty smart."[12] John Keegan from Critical Myth, on the other hand, gave the episode a more mixed review and awarded it a 6 out of 10. He wrote, "Overall, this episode was amusing enough, but there was nothing about it that would prompt me to rank it as highly as the more inspired “lite” episodes of previous seasons. And considering that the sixth and seventh seasons suffered tremendously from too many episodes like this, it’s a shame to see them do it again."[13]
Notes[edit]
1.Jump up ^ At the time of airing, the estimated number of households was 105.5 million.[9] Thus, 5.1 percent of 105.5 million is 5.38 million households.
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ Improbable - Cast Credits (DVD). The X-Files: The Complete Ninth Season: Fox Home Entertainment. 2002.
2.^ Jump up to: a b c Morgan, Jessica. "Improbable". Television Without Pity. NBC Universal. Retrieved 24 June 2012.
3.^ Jump up to: a b c d Hurwitz and Knowles, p. 204
4.^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h Carter, Chris (2002). Audio Commentary for "Improbable" (DVD). Fox Home Entertainment.
5.Jump up ^ Carter, Chris, et al (2002). The Truth Behind Season 9 (DVD). The X-Files: The Complete Ninth Season: Fox Home Entertainment.
6.Jump up ^ Paul Rabwin (2002). Special Effects by Mat Beck with Commentary by Paul Rabwin: "Burt as City Grid" (DVD). The X-Files: The Complete Ninth Season: Fox Home Entertainment.
7.Jump up ^ Fraga, p. 216
8.Jump up ^ Kim Manners, et al (booklet). The X-Files: The Complete Ninth Season (Liner notes). Fox.
9.^ Jump up to: a b c d The Associated Press (15 January 2002). "Prime-Time Nielsen Ratings". Associated Press Archive. Retrieved 24 March 2012. (subscription required)
10.Jump up ^ Collins, Scott (10 April 2002). "'CSI,' NCAA Spell CBS viewer win: NBC Holds Big Lead in 18-49 Demo; 'Late Night' Scores Big". The Hollywood Reporter (Lynne Segall). p. 4.
11.Jump up ^ "Top 11 X-Files Monsters". UGO Networks. UGO Entertainment. Retrieved 1 March 2012.
12.^ Jump up to: a b c Shearman and Pearson, pp. 271–272
13.Jump up ^ Keegan, John. "Improbable". Critical Myth. Retrieved 24 June 2012.
ReferencesFraga, Erica (2010). LAX-Files: Behind the Scenes with the Los Angeles Cast and Crew. CreateSpace. ISBN 9781451503418.
Hurwitz, Matt; Knowles, Chris (2008). The Complete X-Files. Insight Editions. ISBN 1933784806.
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 9
"Improbable" at the Internet Movie Database
"Improbable" at TV.com

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

 
­Seasons: 1·
 ­2·
 ­3·
 ­4·
 ­5·
 ­6·
 ­7·
 ­8·
 ­9
 
 
Season 9
­"Nothing Important Happened Today"·
 ­"Dæmonicus"·
 ­"4-D"·
 ­"Lord of the Flies"·
 ­"Trust No 1"·
 ­"John Doe"·
 ­"Hellbound"·
 ­"Provenance"·
 ­"Providence"·
 ­"Audrey Pauley"·
 ­"Underneath"·
 ­"Improbable"·
 ­"Scary Monsters"·
 ­"Jump the Shark"·
 ­"William"·
 ­"Release"·
 ­"Sunshine Days"·
 ­"The Truth"
 

 

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2002 television episodes



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Scary Monsters (The X-Files)

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"Scary Monsters"
The X-Files episode
Episode no.
Season 9
 Episode 14
Directed by
Dwight H. Little
Written by
Thomas Schnauz
Production code
9ABX12
Original air date
April 14, 2002
Running time
44 minutes
Guest actors

Robert Beckwith as FBI Cadet
Gavin Fink as Tommy Conlon
Jolie Jenkins as FBI Agent Leyla Harrison
Scott Paulin as Jeffrey Conlon
Brian Poth as Gabe Rotter
Steve Ryan as Sheriff Jack Coogan[1]
 
Episode chronology

← Previous
 "Improbable" Next →
 "Jump the Shark"

List of The X-Files episodes
"Scary Monsters" is the fourteenth episode of the ninth season of the American science fiction television series The X-Files. It originally aired on the Fox network on April 14, 2002. It was written by Thomas Schnauz and directed by Dwight H. Little. The episode is a "monster-of-the-week" episode, a stand-alone plot which is unconnected to the mythology, or overarching fictional history, of The X-Files. The episode earned a Nielsen household rating of 5.1 and was viewed by 8.2 million viewers in its initial broadcast. It received mixed to positive reviews from television critics.
The show centers on FBI special agents who work on cases linked to the paranormal, called X-Files; this season focuses on the investigations of John Doggett (Robert Patrick), Monica Reyes (Annabeth Gish), and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson). In this episode, Special Agent Leyla Harrison (Jolie Jenkins) takes Reyes and Doggett on a drive into the mountains after a woman stabs herself repeatedly and her widowed husband refuses to let anyone see their son. The three soon discover that the boy's imagination can bring killer bug-like creatures to life.
The idea for "Scary Monsters" stemmed from an idea that became the episode's teaser. Fellow writer Vince Gilligan suggested making Tommy the episode's villain. Originally, the story featured Doggett and Reyes investigating the case with a new agent. Executive producer Frank Spotnitz suggested to Schnauz that the new FBI agent should be Leyla Harrison, played by Jolie Jenkins, who had first appeared in the Spotnitz-penned eighth season episode "Alone". The writing staff used Leyla's character to comment on the state of the show and, most notably, the members of the audience who preferred Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) over Doggett.

Contents
  [hide] 1 Plot
2 Production 2.1 Writing
2.2 Filming
3 Broadcast and reception
4 Notes
5 References
6 External links
Plot[edit]
In his room, Tommy Conlon (Gavin Fink) believes he sees a monster reflected in his mirror. He calls for his dad, Jeffrey Conlon (Scott Paulin), who looks under the bed and sees a crawling bug-like creature. He lies to his son and tells him to go back to sleep. Tommy sees the creature again and calls for his dad; Jeffrey holds the door shut.
Meanwhile, Agent Leyla Harrison (Jolie Jenkins) tells Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) about a woman who stabbed herself repeatedly. Harrison insists that the case is an X-File and that the woman was killed by monsters that her son Tommy saw. She also believes that the monster killed the family cat, Spanky. Although Scully dismisses Harrison's claims, John Doggett (Robert Patrick) and Monica Reyes (Annabeth Gish) decide to investigate. The three arrive in Pennsylvania where Tommy and Jeffrey are living. The agents talk to Tommy and conclude that something is going on. They soon discover that their car will not start. Back at her apartment, Scully is visited by Gabe Rotter (Brian Poth), a potential suitor of Harrison's. He presents Scully with the corpse of Spanky. Scully does an ad hoc necropsy and concludes that the cat bit its stomach open to try and get something out. She also discovers a cavity, where it appears something had lived inside the cat.
Doggett, Reyes, and Harrison camp out at the Conlon's house and soon stumble upon the monsters that Tommy sees: insect-like creatures that divide in half if shot by bullets. The local sheriff (Steve Ryan) arrives, alerted by Scully, but a scuffle ensues. The sheriff draws a gun, and Doggett punches him, only to have his hand go completely through the man's chest. Upon investigation, Reyes is unable to find any organs in the man's body. Tommy soon shows Reyes the pictures he has been drawing. They include the insect creatures, the sheriff with a gun, and Reyes with an insect creature bursting out of her stomach.
Suddenly, the sheriff's body disappears, and Reyes doubles over in pain. Doggett and Harrison pull up her shirt to reveal bulges in her stomach, as if something is trying to get out. Harrison then begins to bleed from her eyes. Doggett is tricked into falling into a blackened abyss, where he is attacked by the insects, but, due to his skepticism, he is able to fight off the illusions. He explains to Jeffrey that all of the creatures are imaginary and are produced by Tommy's imagination. This includes the bugs, as well as the "sheriff" who had no organs. Jeffrey's wife and their cat Spanky killed themselves trying to remove the insect creatures, believing they were real.
Doggett manages to trick and subdue Tommy—by pretending to set the house on fire—and Tommy is transported to a psychiatric ward, where his imagination is stifled by watching several televisions all at the same time.[2]
Production[edit]
Writing[edit]
"Scary Monsters" was written by Thomas Schnauz, who had previously penned the ninth season episode "Lord of the Flies". The entry was directed by Dwight H. Little, his first and only directing credit for the series.[3] Schnauz later admitted that his inspiration for the episode was "basically panic".[4] He explained that the writing staff needed to get the script done as quickly as possibly, but Schnauz only had the teaser conceived. When he went to pitch it, he even had a "whole other story that wasn't working."[4] Fellow writer Vince Gilligan suggested that Shnauz make the child the root of the all of the episode's problems. However, the writing staff did not want the story to develop into a "kid-in-the-cornfield" territory, according to Gilligan—a reference to a 1961 episode of The Twilight Zone wherein a monster-child can control the world through his mental powers.[4] Eventually, when the writers began to piece the script together, they realized that they needed a villain, and the only character that could play the part would be Tommy.[4]
Filming[edit]
Schnauz's original story featured Doggett and Reyes investigating the case with a new agent. Executive producer Frank Spotnitz suggested to Schnauz that the new FBI agent should be Leyla Harrison, played by Jolie Jenkins.[4] Harrison had first appeared in the Spotnitz-penned eighth season episode "Alone". Jenkins' character was created and named in memory of a The X-Files internet fan and prolific writer of fan fiction of the same name, who had died of cancer on February 10, 2001. Jenkins' characterization, according to Spotnitz, brought out the "Clint [Eastwood]" in Robert Patrick's character John Doggett and her performance was called "near perfection" by Spotnitz during the audio commentary for "Alone".[5] Near the end of "Scary Monsters", Leyla and Gabe Rotter were supposed to walk off-screen, holding hands, which promoted series director Kim Manners to sardonically ask "when did this turn into the fucking Brady Bunch?"[4] The sequence was subsequently cut.[4]
The writing staff used Leyla's character to comment on the state of the show and, most notably, the members of the audience who preferred Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) over Doggett.[4] Due to Harrison's extensive knowledge of the X-Files, the episode contains several references to previous episodes. Harrison suggests early on that Doggett and Reyes may be dealing with a person capable of channeling electricity, a reference to the third season entry "D.P.O." Doggett later suggests that the three of them may be experiencing some sort of hallucination, and cites the events in the sixth season episode "Field Trip" as an example.[6] Furthermore, when Tommy shows Reyes his drawing, he tells her "I made this", a potential reference to the tagline at the end of every Ten Thirteen Production.[7]
During the filming of the episode, The X-Files was canceled by the Fox network, meaning that the show would not return for a tenth season. Robert Patrick explained that series creator Chris Carter watched him film a scene—an act which he had reportedly not done since Patrick had been hired in 2000—and then informed him of the show's cancellation. Patrick noted that Fox's new show 24 was being heavily promoted instead of The X-Files, an act which he felt was like being "abandoned by Fox".[8]
Broadcast and reception[edit]
"Scary Monsters" originally aired in the United States on the Fox network on April 14, 2002, and was first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC Two on February 16, 2003.[9] The episode's initial broadcast was viewed by approximately 5.4 million households[nb 1] and 8.2 million viewers,[11] making it the fifty-seventh most watched episode of television that aired during the week ending January 27.[10] "Scary Monsters" earned a Nielsen household rating of 5.1, meaning that it was seen by 5.1% of the nation's estimated households.[10]
The episode received mixed to positive reviews from television critics. Jessica Morgan from Television Without Pity awarded the episode a "C–" grade.[12] John Keegan from Critical Myth gave the episode a largely positive review and awarded it an 8 out of 10. He wrote, "Overall, this was a very enjoyable and balanced episode. It gave us the scares, the humor, and the layered commentary that we had come to expect from the series. With only five episodes to go, it’s the perfect time for 1013 to be giving the series a good bit of resolution, even if it’s more metaphorical than actual."[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 episode four stars out of five. The two enjoyed Schnauz's script, calling it "better than most" of season nine's episodes, and noted that he wrote it with "pace and wit".[14] They noted, however, that the entry's self-references "feel like carping […] at the audience who are still left to complain." Despite this, Shearman and Pearson also positively critiqued several of the episode's juxtapositions, such as the scene featuring Scully performing an autopsy on a cat while wearing a kitchen apron that says "something smells goooood", calling them "the funniest of the season".[14]
Notes[edit]
1.Jump up ^ At the time of airing, the estimated number of households was 105.5 million.[10] Thus, 5.1 percent of 105.5 million is 5.4 million households.
References[edit]
Footnotes
1.Jump up ^ Scary Monsters - Cast Credits (DVD). The X-Files: The Complete Ninth Season: 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment. 2002.
2.Jump up ^ "Scary Monsters". BBC Cult. BBC. Retrieved 21 July 2012.
3.Jump up ^ Huwritz and Knowles, pp. 236–240
4.^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h Fraga, pp. 216–217
5.Jump up ^ Frank Spotnitz (2008). Audio Commentary for "Alone" (DVD). The X-Files: The Complete Eight Season: 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment.
6.Jump up ^ Dwight H. Little (director); Thomas Schnauz (writer) (14 April 2002). "Scary Monsters". The X-Files. Season 9. Episode 14. Fox.
7.Jump up ^ Shearman and Pearson, pp. 272–273
8.Jump up ^ Hurwitz and Knowles, pp. 204–206
9.Jump up ^ Kim Manners, et al (booklet). The X-Files: The Complete Ninth Season (Liner notes). Fox.
10.^ Jump up to: a b c The Associated Press (16 April 2002). "Prime-Time Nielsen Ratings". Associated Press Archive. Retrieved 21 July 2012. (subscription required)
11.Jump up ^ Canton, Maj. "The X-Files – Series – Episode List – Season 9". TV Tango. Retrieved February 24, 2013.
12.Jump up ^ Morgan, Jessica. "Scary Monsters". Television Without Pity. NBCUniversal. Retrieved 21 July 2012.
13.Jump up ^ Keegan, John. "Scary Monsters". Critical Myth. Retrieved 21 July 2012.
14.^ Jump up to: a b Shearman and Pearson, pp. 272–273
BibliographyFraga, Erica (2010). LAX-Files: Behind the Scenes with the Los Angeles Cast and Crew. CreateSpace. ISBN 9781451503418.
Hurwitz, Matt; Knowles, Chris (2008). The Complete X-Files. Insight Editions. ISBN 1933784806.
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 9
"Scary Monsters" at TheXFiles.com
"Scary Monsters" at the Internet Movie Database
"Scary Monsters" at TV.com

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

 
­Seasons: 1·
 ­2·
 ­3·
 ­4·
 ­5·
 ­6·
 ­7·
 ­8·
 ­9
 
 
Season 9
­"Nothing Important Happened Today"·
 ­"Dæmonicus"·
 ­"4-D"·
 ­"Lord of the Flies"·
 ­"Trust No 1"·
 ­"John Doe"·
 ­"Hellbound"·
 ­"Provenance"·
 ­"Providence"·
 ­"Audrey Pauley"·
 ­"Underneath"·
 ­"Improbable"·
 ­"Scary Monsters"·
 ­"Jump the Shark"·
 ­"William"·
 ­"Release"·
 ­"Sunshine Days"·
 ­"The Truth"
 

 

Categories: The X-Files (season 9) episodes
2002 television episodes



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Jump the Shark (The X-Files)

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Jump to: navigation, search

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"Jump the Shark"
The X-Files episode
Episode no.
Season 9
 Episode 15
Directed by
Cliff Bole
Written by
Vince Gilligan
John Shiban
Frank Spotnitz
Production code
9ABX15
Original air date
April 21, 2002
Running time
44 minutes
Guest actors

Bruce Harwood as John Fitzgerald Byers
Tom Braidwood as Melvin Frohike
Dean Haglund as Richard Langly
Stephen Snedden as Jimmy Bond
Zuleikha Robinson as Yves Adele Harlow
Michael McKean as Morris Fletcher
Jim Fyfe as Kimmy Belmont[1]
 
Episode chronology

← Previous
 "Scary Monsters" Next →
 "William"

List of The X-Files episodes
"Jump the Shark" is the fifteenth episode of the ninth season of the American science fiction television series The X-Files. The episode first aired in the United States on April 21, 2002 on the Fox network. It was written by executive producers Vince Gilligan, John Shiban and Frank Spotnitz, and directed by Cliff Bole. The episode is a "monster-of-the-week" episode—unconnected to the series' wider mythology—and was created to give closure for The Lone Gunmen television series, which was a spin off of The X-Files. The episode earned a Nielsen rating of 5.1 and was viewed by 8.6 million viewers. The episode received mixed to negative reviews from television critics.
The show centers on FBI special agents who work on cases linked to the paranormal, called X-Files; this season focuses on the investigations of John Doggett (Robert Patrick), Monica Reyes (Annabeth Gish), and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson). In this episode, Doggett and Reyes attempt to locate a female friend of The Lone Gunmen after former Area 51 Man-in-Black Morris Fletcher appears and claims that she is actually a super-soldier. What Doggett and Reyes soon discover is a bizarre plot to unleash a biological weapon via the use of grafted shark organs.
"Jump the Shark" features the death of The Lone Gunmen—popular recurring characters who first appeared in the first season episode "E.B.E.", although this plot was later retconned in the comic book series The X-Files Season 10. The episode proved difficult to make because, after the cancellation of The Lone Gunmen television series, Fox refused to allow the characters back on the show. The choice to kill off the trio was controversial. Writers Spotnitz and Gilligan later revealed some regret with the way the episode was handled. However, actors Bruce Harwood and Dean Haglund were happy with the way the episode ended. The episode title is a humorous reference to the phrase "jumping the shark", which is used to describe shows that are in decline so try a gimmick to get attention.

Contents
  [hide] 1 Plot 1.1 Events
1.2 Retcon
2 Production
3 Reception
4 Notes
5 References
6 External links
Plot[edit]
Events[edit]
When Morris Fletcher (Michael McKean) approaches agents Monica Reyes (Annabeth Gish) and John Doggett (Robert Patrick) with information related to the super-soldiers they turn to The Lone Gunmen. He provides an alleged photo of the super soldier, which The Lone Gunmen recognize as being Yves Adele Harlow (Zuleikha Robinson), a fellow hacker who went missing a year ago. The Gunmen refuse to believe the evidence, especially when they find that Fletcher provided it, although the agents continue to pursue the trail.
Harlow murders a biology professor, cuts out an organ and disposes of it in a furnace. After the Gunmen capture her, she reveals that he had been experimenting with the immune system of sharks and had been grafting pieces of shark onto his body in order to become a living host to a biological weapon. His research had been funded by Yves' arms dealing father, who had commissioned Fletcher to find her and prevent her from stopping his biological terrorism plot. She further informs them that there is another host, whom she is trying to identify and locate before he can unleash his deadly payload.
Once Fletcher realizes that he has been used by Harlow's father, he teams with the Gunmen to help Harlow find the second bioterrorist. After a few false starts and chases, the Lone Gunmen corner the bioterrorist with only a few minutes before his virus is due to be released. They realize that they lack the time to destroy his virus-filled organ and therefore pull a fire alarm, causing large emergency doors to seal shut, simultaneously containing the virus and entrapping them with it. Their sacrifice earns them a final resting place in Arlington National Cemetery, where Fletcher, Doggett, Reyes, Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson), and Jimmy Bond (Stephen Snedden) pay their respects to them.[2]
Retcon[edit]
In the comic book adaptation of the series The X-Files Season 10—which takes place after the events of The X-Files: I Want to Believe—it is revealed that the Lone Gunmen are alive and well, having faked their deaths during the events of "Jump the Shark". The group was aided by the FBI and have since been working underground, aiding the US government; for instance, Langly mentions that he was responsible for the Stuxnet virus in 2010.[3]
Production[edit]

 

 Executive producer Frank Spotnitz, one of the co-writers of the episode, had to contest Fox in order to get the episode made, due to the studio's disdain for the characters.
"Jump the Shark" was written by Vince Gilligan, John Shiban, and Frank Spotnitz; it was directed by Cliff Bole.[4] The episode proved difficult to make. After the cancellation of The Lone Gunmen television series, which aired in 2001, Fox reportedly "hated [the] characters".[5] Executive producer and co-writer Frank Spotnitz had to fight to get the episode made; the studio informed Spotnitz that The X-Files would not be allowed to bring the characters back in any capacity in the ninth season. Actor Bruce Harwood later explained that "I think if the studio objected to anything, it was wasting time on our characters long enough to kill us off."[5] Co-writer Gilligan later recalled "The Lone Gunmen was still kind of an open wound for me."[6] Thus, the episode was crafted as a way to wrap up the series.[6] Due to the nature of the episode—which effectively works as a tie-in—various long-term characters from both The X-Files and The Lone Gunmen make cameo appearances.[7]
The episode title is a humorous reference to the phrase "jumping the shark", which is used to describe shows that have reached their peak and started to decline in quality. Executive producer Chris Carter said that the title was tongue-in-cheek, and further stated that it was their "way of lowering the boom on anybody who thought that it did".[8] He further stated that the series was "good" until the end, even after the departure of David Duchovny as Fox Mulder.[8] According to IGN, the episode's title was a homage to the popular website Jump the Shark.[9] In fact, during the commentary for "Jump the Shark", Vince Gilligan makes a direct reference to the website.[10]
Various plotlines leaked before the episode's release, the most notable being the death of the Lone Gunmen.[7] The choice to kill off the trio was controversial; Gilligan himself later admitted that "I still think we made the wrong choice on that one."[6] Spotnitz later said, "I can't say I regret killing them off, as you know, no one really dies in The X-Files [...] But I do feel tonally it was a mistake to end the episode on such a somber note. I wish we'd ended it on a laugh or smile."[5] The actors who played The Lone Gunmen complimented the script. Harwood admitted that the episode would have either featured the trio's death or would have featured them "walk[ing] off into the sunset without hobo bags over our shoulders."[6] Ultimately, he concluded that "I was glad we were killed off in the end".[6] Dean Haglund said that he "liked the way we were sent off", and called the ending "cool".[5]
Reception[edit]
"Jump the Shark" first aired on the Fox network in the United States on April 21, 2002. The episode later aired in the United Kingdom on Sky One and later on BBC One on 23 February, 2003.[4] The episode earned a Nielsen household rating of 5.1, meaning that it was seen by 5.1% of the nation's estimated households and was viewed by 5.38 million households,[11][nb 1] and 8.6 million viewers.[12] "Jump the Shark" was the 58th most watched episode of television that aired during the week ending April 21.[11]
The episode received mixed to negative reviews from television critics. Aaron Kinney from Salon magazine said that the episode title showed that the creators at least still had a sense of humor, but that the episode demonstrated some of the flaws that caused the series to jump the shark in the first place: "cheesy melodrama, deathly slow pacing, and a lack of coherence".[13] John Keegan from Critical Myth was also negative about the episode and awarded it a 4 out of 10. He called it "one of the worst episodes of the season", and hoped that it was no indication of what the series finale was going to be like.[14] Furthermore, Keegan criticized the fact that David Duchovny did not make a cameo appearance "either full frame or in the distance", given his history with the Lone Gunmen.[14] 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 noted that "there's nothing celebratory" about the entry.[15] The two were highly critical of the episode's conclusion, calling it "such a bland way of dying that for a moment, you feel you must have missed the point".[15] Shearman and Pearson, furthermore, argued that "The Lone Gunmen deserved better. No, worse than that – we deserved better."[15]
Notes[edit]
1.Jump up ^ At the time of airing, the estimated number of households was 105.5 million.[11] Thus, 5.1 percent of 105.5 million is 5.38 million households.
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ Jump the Shark - Cast Credits (DVD). The X-Files: The Complete Ninth Season: Fox Home Entertainment. 2002.
2.Jump up ^ "Jump the Shark". BBC Cult. BBC. Retrieved 9 July 2012.
3.Jump up ^ Harris, Joe; Carter, Chris (July 17, 2013). Believers, Part II. IDW Publishing.
4.^ Jump up to: a b Kim Manners, et al (booklet). The X-Files: The Complete Ninth Season (Liner notes). Fox.
5.^ Jump up to: a b c d Fraga, pp. 218–219
6.^ Jump up to: a b c d e Hurwitz and Knowles, p. 206
7.^ Jump up to: a b Hinman, Michael (15 April 2002). "Lone Gunmen To Wrap It Up". Airlock Alpha (Nexus Media Group Inc.). Retrieved 3 August 2009.
8.^ Jump up to: a b Rhodes, Jesse (17 July 2008). "Q&A: Chris Carter of "The X Files"". Smithsonian (Smithsonian Institution). Retrieved 3 August 2009.
9.Jump up ^ KJN (5 March 2002). "X-Files Gets Set to Jump the Shark". IGN (News Corporation). Retrieved 3 August 2009.
10.Jump up ^ Vince Gilligan, John Shiban, and Frank Spotnitz (2003). Audio Commentary for "Jump the Shark" (DVD). The Lone Gunmen: The Complete First Season: 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment.
11.^ Jump up to: a b c The Associated Press (25 April 2002). "Nielsen Ratings". St. Paul Pioneer Press (MediaNews Group). Retrieved 24 March 2012. (subscription required)
12.Jump up ^ Canton, Maj. "The X-Files – Series – Episode List – Season 9". TV Tango. Retrieved February 24, 2013.
13.Jump up ^ Kinney, Aaron (17 May 2002). "The truth is, um, where, exactly?". Salon (Salon Media Group). Retrieved 3 August 2009.
14.^ Jump up to: a b Keegan, John. "Jump the Shark". Critical Myth. Retrieved 27 July 2009.
15.^ Jump up to: a b c Shearman and Pearson, pp. 2713–274
ReferencesFraga, Erica (2010). LAX-Files: Behind the Scenes with the Los Angeles Cast and Crew. CreateSpace. ISBN 9781451503418.
Hurwitz, Matt; Knowles, Chris (2008). The Complete X-Files. Insight Editions. ISBN 1933784806.
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]
"Jump the Shark" at TheXFiles.com
 Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: TXF Season 9
"Jump the Shark" at the Internet Movie Database
"Jump the Shark" at TV.com

[hide]
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 ­e
 
The X-Files episodes

 
­Seasons: 1·
 ­2·
 ­3·
 ­4·
 ­5·
 ­6·
 ­7·
 ­8·
 ­9
 
 
Season 9
­"Nothing Important Happened Today"·
 ­"Dæmonicus"·
 ­"4-D"·
 ­"Lord of the Flies"·
 ­"Trust No 1"·
 ­"John Doe"·
 ­"Hellbound"·
 ­"Provenance"·
 ­"Providence"·
 ­"Audrey Pauley"·
 ­"Underneath"·
 ­"Improbable"·
 ­"Scary Monsters"·
 ­"Jump the Shark"·
 ­"William"·
 ­"Release"·
 ­"Sunshine Days"·
 ­"The Truth"
 

 

Categories: The X-Files (season 9) episodes
2002 television episodes
Crossover drama television series
Screenplays by Vince Gilligan



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William (The X-Files)

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For the character from The X-Files named "William", see Baby William.
This is a good article. Click here for more information.

"William"
The X-Files episode
MulderinEyeScully.jpg
Fox Mulder appears as a reflection in Dana Scully's eye. This scene marked the first appearance of David Duchovny since his departure at the end of season eight.
 
Episode no.
Season 9
 Episode 16
Directed by
David Duchovny
Teleplay by
Chris Carter
Story by
David Duchovny
 Chris Carter
Frank Spotnitz
Production code
9ABX17
Original air date
April 28, 2002
Running time
44 minutes
Guest actors

Cyd Strittmatter as Dr. Whitney Edwards
James Riker as Baby William
Travis Riker as Baby William
Chris Owens as Jeffrey Spender
Adam Nelson as Mr. Van De Kamp
Shannon Hile as Mrs. Van De Kamp
David Fabrizo as ER Physician
Dallas Munroe as ER Nurse
Annie Abbott as Older Social Worker
Kiersten Van Horne as Young Social Worker
Dan Shor as Second ER Nurse
Jason Waters as The Breather Photo Double[1]
 
Episode chronology

← Previous
 "Jump the Shark" Next →
 "Release"

List of The X-Files episodes
"William" is the sixteenth episode of the ninth season of the American science fiction television series The X-Files, which originally aired on the Fox network on April 28, 2002. The teleplay of the episode was written by series creator Chris Carter, from a story by former series star David Duchovny, Carter, and executive producer Frank Spotnitz; the entry was directed by Duchovny. "William" helps to explore the series' overarching mythology. The episode received a Nielsen household rating of 5.8, being watched by 6.1 million households and 9.3 million viewers upon its initial broadcast. It received mixed reviews from television critics, many of whom were unhappy with the episode's conclusion.
The show centers on FBI special agents who work on cases linked to the paranormal, called X-Files; this season focuses on the investigations of John Doggett (Robert Patrick), Monica Reyes (Annabeth Gish), and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson). In this episode, Doggett finds a strange, disfigured man (Chris Owens) in the X-Files office and, and, on a whim of Scully's, they test his DNA. They learn that the man shares DNA with Fox Mulder (Duchovny), and may possibly even be him. The answers become even more surprising when Scully's son, baby William, is put on the line.
"William" marked the return of David Duchovny to the series, after his departure following the eighth season finale "Existence". The genesis for the episode was a storyline Duchovny had developed during the series' eighth season; he originally pitched an idea featuring a mysteriously disfigured person introducing himself to Scully and admitting that he possessed a connection to Mulder. Chris Owens, whose character Jeffrey Spender had previously been killed off in the sixth season episode "One Son", was asked to return to the series for the episode.

Contents
  [hide] 1 Plot
2 Production
3 Broadcast and reception
4 Notes
5 References 5.1 Footnotes
5.2 Bibliography
6 External links
Plot[edit]
In the teaser, a couple, the Van De Kamps (Adam Nelson and Shannon Hile), adopt Dana Scully's (Gillian Anderson) infant son, William (James and Travis Riker). The episode then jumps back a week. Scully takes William out of her car while an unknown man (Chris Owens) watches them. Later, John Doggett (Robert Patrick) is attacked in the X-Files office by the same man. After a struggle, Doggett subdues him. His face is revealed to be horribly scarred.
Later, Scully speaks with the man. He claims he received his burns due to alien testing and that he knew Fox Mulder (David Duchovny). He further elaborates that he was sent to the FBI to retrieve certain files. Scully suspects the man is lying, but asks to examine his burns to investigate his strange claims. He notes that they are the result of an injection that failed to transform him into one of the aliens. The man claims a new conspiracy has formed after the previous one was destroyed; the new one being hidden within the government and the conspirators involved being alien. Doggett theorizes that the man is actually Mulder. Scully takes the man to her house to give him the files he seeks. Suddenly, William begins to cry, only to be quieted when the scarred man picks him up. Meanwhile, Walter Skinner (Mitch Pileggi) meets with Doggett and the two discuss the idea that the man is actually Mulder. Skinner points out the inconsistencies in Doggett's reasoning, but a DNA test is undertaken anyway.
Scully is told by the scarred man that William is part alien and that she is being used to raise the child. Monica Reyes (Annabeth Gish) and Doggett tell Scully that the man's DNA is a match to Mulder's, but Scully refuses to believe it. While the three are talking, the scarred man quietly slips into William's room with a syringe. Though William's crying alerts the agents, the scarred man manages to sneak out of the room before they reach William. Reyes and Scully take the baby to the hospital and Doggett discovers the man's syringe. The doctor reports that William is fine except for an elevated amount of iron in his blood. In interrogation, Scully confronts the scarred man about his motives. It is revealed that he is actually Jeffrey Spender, a former FBI agent supposedly killed by The Smoking Man (William B. Davis) three years earlier. Spender is also Mulder's half-brother. Spender admits his actions were a ruse and that the syringe contained magnetite meant to make William normal. He explains that the aliens need the child in order to successfully invade the world, but now they have lost him. However, he notes that the conspirators will always pursue the child, despite what he has done. Spender says that he acted out of his hatred for his father, since the new conspiracy was created by The Smoking Man after the alien rebels burned the original group.
Scully muses over Spender's words and decides that the only way to truly protect William is to give him up for adoption so that he may have a better life. The episode then jumps to the Van De Kemps, who tuck in their new son. William looks at his mobile but he can no longer move it telekinetically, an event which happened in "Nothing Important Happened Today".[2]
Production[edit]

 

 "William" featured the return of David Duchovny to the series.
The story for "William" was written by former series co-star David Duchovny, series creator Chris Carter, and executive producer Frank Spotnitz; the screenplay was written solely by Carter, and the entry was directed by Duchovny.[3][4] "William" marked the return of David Duchovny, in some capacity, to the series, after his departure following the eighth season finale "Existence". In fact, Duchovny makes a cameo appearance in the episode, appearing as a reflection in Scully's eye.[4]
The genesis for the episode was a storyline Duchovny had developed during the series' eighth season. He had originally pitched an idea featuring a mysteriously disfigured person introducing himself to Scully and admitting that he has a connection to Mulder. Reportedly, the idea for Scully to give William up for adoption was mandated by Carter and Spotnitz. Duchovny, Anderson, and executive producer John Shiban were not happy with this turn of events, due to them being parents and feeling that the action was not realistic, but "grudgingly consented".[4]
Three years after Spender had been written out of the series—in the sixth season episode "One Son"—and actor Chris Owens had moved to Toronto, Canada, Owens received an unexpected phone call from David Duchovny, who said that The X-Files' production crew was filming the series' finale as well as another episode late in the season, and that he wanted to bring Spender back for these two episodes. Duchovny reassured Owens that Spender's survival of the shooting years earlier could be explained away via the plot device of an alien injection but mentioned that the experience would not be fun for Owens, as he would be "under all that shit"; Owens did not realize what Duchovny meant until he got to the studio and personally saw the makeup for Spender's disfigured appearance, a sight that shocked Owens.[5]
Broadcast and reception[edit]
"William" originally aired on the Fox network on April 28, 2002, and was first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC One on March 2, 2003.[3] The episode's initial broadcast was viewed by approximately 6.1 million households,[nb 1] and 9.3 million viewers.[7] "William" earned a Nielsen household rating of 5.8, meaning that roughly 5.8 percent of all television-equipped households, were tuned in to the episode. It was the fifty-fourth most watched episode of television that aired during the week ending April 28.[6] The episode was later included on The X-Files Mythology, Volume 4 – Super Soldiers, a DVD collection that contains episodes involved with the alien super soldiers arc.[8]
The episode received mixed reviews from television critics. Jessica Morgan from Television Without Pity gave the episode an A– grade.[9] John Keegan from Critical Myth gave the episode a largely positive review and awarded it an 8 out of 10. He wrote, "Overall, this was an uneven yet highly enjoyable mythology episode, far better than the episode that appears to have spawned it ('Trustno1') [sic]. I look forward to whatever directorial/writing work David Duchovny might do in the future. And if this is indeed the last we see of William, well, I’m not going to complain! Still, by now, Carter and Spotnitz ought to know how to write an episode with the time constraints in mind."[10]
Other reviews were not as 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 three stars out of five. The two criticized the idea that Scully would give her child up for adoption solely based on the word of Jeffrey Spender, noting "if she wasn't going to give it away for the sake of its own protection after a UFO cult abducted it [in 'Provenance'/'Providence'], then why should she because Jeffrey Spender of all people comes along and informs her that it's under threat?"[11] Shearman and Pearson, however, did praise Chris Owens' acting, writing that he did a "great job".[11] Tom Kessenich, in his book Examinations, wrote a largely negative review of the episode and derided its plot. He heavily criticized the idea that Scully would offer William up for adoption. Kessenich did however praise Duchovny's directing, noting that "[he] did a masterful job of luring me back to this world of The X-Files".[12] Aaron Kinney from Salon wrote that the episode "scuttled the entire" baby William subplot.[13]
Notes[edit]
1.Jump up ^ At the time of airing, the estimated number of households was 105.5 million.[6] Thus, 5.8 percent of 105.5 million is 6.1 million households.
References[edit]
Footnotes[edit]
1.Jump up ^ William – Cast Credits (DVD). The X-Files: The Complete Ninth Season: 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment. 2002.
2.Jump up ^ "William". BBC Cult. BBC. Retrieved July 16, 2012.
3.^ Jump up to: a b Kim Manners, et al (booklet). The X-Files: The Complete Ninth Season (Liner notes). Fox.
4.^ Jump up to: a b c Kessenich (2002), p. 204
5.Jump up ^ Hurwitz and Knowles (2008), p. 206
6.^ Jump up to: a b The Associated Press (April 28, 2002). "Prime-Time Nielsen Ratings". Associated Press Archives.
7.Jump up ^ Littleton, Cynthia (April 30, 2002). "'Dead' rises on Sunday for CBS: Part 1 of Mini Helps Eye to Viewers Win, Tie with Fox in Demo". The Hollywood Reporter (Prometheus Global Media). p. 6.
8.Jump up ^ Kim Manners, et al. The X-Files Mythology, Volume 4 – Super Soldiers (DVD). 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment.
9.Jump up ^ Morgan, Jessica. "William". Television Without Pity. NBCUniversal. Retrieved July 16, 2012.
10.Jump up ^ Keegan, John. "William". Critical Myth. Retrieved July 16, 2012.
11.^ Jump up to: a b Shearman and Pearson (2009), pp. 274–276
12.Jump up ^ Kessenich (2002), pp. 203–208
13.Jump up ^ Kinney, Aaron (May 17, 2002). "The truth is, um, where, exactly?". Salon (Salon Media Group). Retrieved August 3, 2009.
Bibliography[edit]
Fraga, Erica (2010). LAX-Files: Behind the Scenes with the Los Angeles Cast and Crew. CreateSpace. ISBN 9781451503418.
Hurwitz, Matt; Knowles, Chris (2008). The Complete X-Files. Insight Editions. ISBN 1933784806.
Kessenich, Tom (2002). Examination: An Unauthorized Look at Seasons 6–9 of the X-Files. Trafford Publishing. ISBN 1553698126.
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: The X-Files

Portal icon Television portal
"William" at XFiles.com
"William" at the Internet Movie Database
"William" at TV.com

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

 
­Seasons: 1·
 ­2·
 ­3·
 ­4·
 ­5·
 ­6·
 ­7·
 ­8·
 ­9
 
 
Season 9
­"Nothing Important Happened Today"·
 ­"Dæmonicus"·
 ­"4-D"·
 ­"Lord of the Flies"·
 ­"Trust No 1"·
 ­"John Doe"·
 ­"Hellbound"·
 ­"Provenance"·
 ­"Providence"·
 ­"Audrey Pauley"·
 ­"Underneath"·
 ­"Improbable"·
 ­"Scary Monsters"·
 ­"Jump the Shark"·
 ­"William"·
 ­"Release"·
 ­"Sunshine Days"·
 ­"The Truth"
 

 

Categories: 2002 television episodes
The X-Files (season 9) episodes



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Release (The X-Files)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 
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This is a good article. Click here for more information.

"Release"
The X-Files episode
Episode no.
Season 9
 Episode 17
Directed by
Kim Manners
Teleplay by
David Amann
Story by
John Shiban
 David Amman
Production code
9ABX16
Original air date
May 5, 2002
Guest actors

Cary Elwes as Brad Follmer
Barbara Patrick as Barbara Doggett
Jared Poe as Rudolph Hayes/Stuart Mimms
Sal Landi as Nicholas Regali
Victoria Gallegos as Follmer's Assistant
Avery Glymph as Diener
Kate Lomabrdi as Woman
Kipp Shiotani as Cadet No. 1
Mandy Levin as Ellen Persich[1]
 
Episode chronology

← Previous
 "William" Next →
 "Sunshine Days"

List of The X-Files episodes
"Release" is the seventeenth episode of the ninth season of the American science fiction television series The X-Files. The episode originally aired on the Fox network on May 5, 2002. The teleplay for the episode was written by David Amann, from a story by John Shiban and Amann, and the entry was directed by Kim Manners. The episode helps to explore one of the show's story arc involving John Doggett finding the truth behind his son's murder. The episode earned a Nielsen rating of 5.1, being watched by 5.38 million households, and 7.8 million viewers in its initial broadcast. The episode received largely positive reviews from critics.
The show centers on FBI special agents who work on cases linked to the paranormal, called X-Files; this season focuses on the investigations of John Doggett (Robert Patrick), Monica Reyes (Annabeth Gish), and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson). In this episode, Doggett stumbles upon a case that may hold a connection to the murder of his son. With the help of an FBI cadet named Rudolph Hayes (Jared Poe), Doggett acquires information to help his current case as well as establish the link between the present, his Jane Does, and the past—his son, Luke. The link is a man named Nicholas Regali, an organized crime participant who has an association with Bob Harvey, the only suspect in Luke's case. Though the cadet, Hayes, is not who he says he is, his information proves invaluable in Doggett's search for release from his son's death.
The idea for "Release" was developed by Shiban, who handed the script over to Amann. The character of Rudolph Hayes was crafted to be an ambitious character: either he was a genius who was adept at solving crime, comparable to Sherlock Holmes, or he was a criminal mastermind, like Professor Moriarty. The final scene, featuring Doggett scattering his son's ashes, was difficult for Patrick to film, but thanks to Manners' help, he was able to achieve the desired effect.

Contents
  [hide] 1 Plot
2 Production
3 Reception
4 Notes
5 References 5.1 Bibliography
6 External links
Plot[edit]
John Doggett (Robert Patrick) arrives at an abandoned apartment building after getting a tip, and sees a figure bolt out of one of the rooms during the night. He hears a scratching sound and claws away at the fresh plaster wall until blood begin streaming downward. Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) performs an autopsy on the body Doggett found and one of her FBI cadets, Rudolph Hayes, accurately guesses that the victim hooked up with a psychotic killer at a bar. Hayes' suggestions lead Scully to connect this murder to another killing two weeks earlier. In the meantime, Doggett wonders why anyone tipped him of the murder, since it is not an X-File.
Doggett and Monica Reyes (Annabeth Gish) try to get more help from Hayes. He tells them that the killer they are looking for is a criminal linked to organized crime. The two agents later meet up with Nicholas Regali, a former mobster who claims he is looking for a job in the area. They later find out that Hayes' intuition about Regali was correct. Meanwhile, Hayes returns to his apartment complex where walls are covered with crime scene photos related to the death of Luke Doggett. Eventually, Doggett asks Hayes for help solving the case about his son's death. Hayes tells Doggett that he believes that Robert Harvey was behind the kidnapping of Luke, but that Regali killed him.
Looking for help, Doggett approaches FBI Assistant Director Brad Follmer (Cary Elwes) for help on the case. Doggett's ex-wife, Barbara Doggett, meets up for a lineup at a police station. Barbara does not recognize Regali or anyone else on the lineup. Scully finds some similarities between Luke and the two dead bodies, but no forensic proof. Doggett comes to realise that Regali has had help from someone within the FBI all along. Follmer informs Reyes and Doggett that Cadet Hayes is really Stuart Mimms, a former mental patient. He also informs them that Mimms lived in New York City during the year of Luke's murder, hinting that Mimms is the murderer and not Regali. Doggett and Reyes assemble a SWAT team to raid Mimms apartment. Mimms is taken into police custody and at a new lineup, Barbara recognizes Mimms.
At a meeting between Follmer and Regali, Follmer says he is finished consorting with him, but Regali reminds him he was being bribed, and threatens to blackmail him. In the meantime, Mimms tells Scully that he first noticed the case of Luke Doggett when he read it in a newspaper. He further stated that he lied about his name so that he could help solve the case. At the end, he still pushes that Regali is the real murderer of Doggett's son, and not him. Later on, Doggett approaches Regali. Regali tells him a "hypothetical" story about how a pedophile took a young boy to his home. A "businessman" then walked in on the incident, realized that the boy has seen his face, and feared that the boy might associate him with the crime. The businessman then found a solution to the boy seeing his face: he murdered him. Regali then walks away and Doggett, filled with rage, unholsters gun and follows. But a gunshot rings out and when Doggett gets outside, he sees Regali has been killed by Follmer. Later, Doggett and Barbara scatter Luke's ashes into the ocean, finally achieving the release he has sought.[2]
Production[edit]

 

 Rudolph Hayes was modeled after both Sherlock Holmes and Professor Moriarty, literary characters created by Arthur Conan Doyle (pictured).
The story for "Release" was developed by John Shiban and David Amman; the teleplay was written by Amann. Kim Manners helmed the directing of the episode.[3] "Release" was originally going to be written by Shiban alone, but he later turned the script over to Amann because he was needed elsewhere at the time. Shiban had been desiring to write a story like "Release" for a while. The character of Hayes was crafted as an ambitious character, inspired by the works of Arthur Conan Doyle: he was written to be either a "brilliant guy who's solving crimes with his amazing intuition", comparable to Sherlock Holmes, or "a guy who's actually doing those crimes and playing a game", like Professor Moriarty.[4] Shiban and Amman came up with a story wherein Scully encounters a "genius" from her classes at the FBI Academy at Quantico. Later on, they extrapolated on the story, allowing the "genius" crime solver to help John Doggett find out what happened to his son, Luke Doggett.[4]
The final scene wherein Doggett and his ex-wife scatter Luke's remains was called "difficult" by Robert Patrick. He later noted that Manners "was there to guide us along; I can think of no worst [sic] nightmare for a parent than to lose their child."[5] The episode was written to create closure to Doggett's story. Patrick later said that, if the series had continued for a tenth season, he would have liked to see his character develop a relationship with Reyes, because "I think Doggett was very attracted to Reyes […] I would have liked to see the relationship with Reyes explored more."[5] Gish agreed, noting that the show's ending never allowed the idea to be fleshed out, but that Reyes "would have definitely gone further with their relationship."[6]
Reception[edit]
"Release" first aired in the United States on May 5, 2002, and was first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC Two on March 9, 2003.[3] The episode's initial broadcast was viewed by approximately 5.38 million households,[nb 1] and 7.8 million viewers.[8] It ranked as the fifty-fifth most watched episode of television that aired during the week ending May 5.[7] "Release" earned a Nielsen household rating of 5.1, meaning that it was seen by 5.1% of the nation's estimated households.[7]
Jessica Morgan from Television Without Pity gave the episode an A– grade.[9] In a season review, Michelle Kung from Entertainment Weekly called the episode "worthy", but noted that it was overshadowed by the show's "ludicrous conspiracy plots".[10] Jeffrey Robinson from DVD Talk concluded that "Release" was a "good episode" because it "presented conclusions to [one of the] long running stories in the series [in that it] featured the conclusion to John Doggett's personal trial, his quest for closure with his son's murder."[11] Robert Shearman and Lars Pearson, in their book Wanting to Believe: A Critical Guide to The X-Files, Millennium & The Lone Gunmen, gave the episode a glowing review and rated it five stars out of five. The two argued that, because of the "minimal emphasis" Doggett's son's murder was given in the show, the episode "packs [a] punch".[12] Shearman and Pearson saw similarities between Doggett's trials and those of Fox Mulder (David Duchovny). They noted that while "Mulder was always identified by his quest for his sister [Samantha]", Doggett "carried the loss of his son as a private grief."[12] They concluded that this structuring made the entry "emotionally powerful" and "moving".[12] Other reviews were not as glowing. John Keegan from Critical Myth gave the episode a negative review and awarded it a 4 out of 10. He wrote, "Overall, this episode made about as much sense as 'Underneath' or 'Jump the Shark'. It was entirely inappropriate for John Doggett’s struggle to end with someone else’s actions. If this is the way the series is going to end, then I have to say, my hopes for a rousing finale are dwindling."[13]
Notes[edit]
1.Jump up ^ At the time of airing, the estimated number of households was 105.5 million.[7] Thus, 5.1 percent of 105.5 million is 5.38 million households.
References[edit]
Footnotes
1.Jump up ^ Release - Cast Credits (DVD). The X-Files: The Complete Ninth Season: 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment. 2002.
2.Jump up ^ "Release". BBC Cult. BBC. Retrieved 19 July 2012.
3.^ Jump up to: a b Kim Manners, et al (booklet). The X-Files: The Complete Ninth Season (Liner notes). Fox.
4.^ Jump up to: a b Narazzo, Joe (April 2002). "Underneath The X-Files: An Interview with John Shiban". The X-Files Magazine (3).
5.^ Jump up to: a b Fraga, p. 221
6.Jump up ^ Hurwitz and Knowles, p. 208
7.^ Jump up to: a b c The Associated Press (7 May 2002). "Prime-Time Nielsen Ratings". Associated Press Archive. Retrieved 24 March 2012. (subscription required)
8.Jump up ^ Kessenich, p. 193
9.Jump up ^ Morgan, Jessica. "Release". Television Without Pity. NBCUniversal. Retrieved 14 July 2012.
10.Jump up ^ Kung, Michelle (14 May 2004). "The X-Files: The Complete Ninth Season". Entertainment Weekly (Time Inc.). Retrieved 12 July 2012. (subscription required)
11.Jump up ^ Robinson, Jeffrey (11 May 2004). "X-Files Ninth Season". DVD Talk. Internet Brands. Retrieved 14 July 2012.
12.^ Jump up to: a b c Shearman and Pearson, pp. 276–277
13.Jump up ^ Keegan, John. "Release". Critical Myth. Retrieved 14 July 2012.
Bibliography[edit]
Kessenich, Tom (2002). Examination: An Unauthorized Look at Seasons 6–9 of the X-Files. Trafford Publishing. ISBN 1553698126.
External links[edit]
 Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: TXF Season 9
"Release" at the Internet Movie Database
"Release" at TV.com

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Sunshine Days

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"Sunshine Days"
The X-Files episode
SunshineDaysXFiles.jpeg
Oliver Martin manages to telekinetically turn his house into an outdoor landscape. The shot required elaborate effects and green-screening.
 
Episode no.
Season 9
 Episode 18
Directed by
Vince Gilligan
Written by
Vince Gilligan
Production code
9ABX18
Original air date
May 12, 2002
Running time
44 minutes
Guest actors

David Faustino as Mike Daley
Michael Emerson as Oliver Martin
John Aylward as John Rietz
Tyson Turrou as Blake McCormick
Stephen W. Bridgewater as Henry Jacocks
Arlene Pileggi as Arlene
Damon Kaylor as Orderly
Eric Don as Young Anthony Fogelman
Robbie Troy as "Carol Brady"
Keith Forster as "Mike Brady"
Marice Lynn Ross]as "Alice"
Danielle Savre as "Marcia Brady"
Nick Campisano as "Greg Brady"
Stephanie M. Herrera as "Jan Brady"
Nolan Irwin as "Peter Brady"
Sharayah Montgomery as "Cindy Brady"
Jack Bensinger as "Bobby Brady"[1]
 
Episode chronology

← Previous
 "Release" Next →
 "The Truth"

List of The X-Files episodes
"Sunshine Days" is the eighteenth and penultimate episode of the ninth season of the American science fiction television series The X-Files, and the series' 200th episode overall. It originally aired on the Fox network on May 12, 2002. The entry was written and directed by executive producer Vince Gilligan. The episode is a "monster-of-the-week" episode, a stand-alone plot which is unconnected to the mythology, or overarching fictional history, of The X-Files. "Sunshine Days" earned a Nielsen household rating of 6.2, was viewed by 6.5 million households, and 10.4 million viewers in its initial broadcast. It received mixed reviews from television critics.
The show centers on FBI special agents who work on cases linked to the paranormal, called X-Files; this season focuses on the investigations of John Doggett (Robert Patrick), Monica Reyes (Annabeth Gish), and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson). In this episode, Doggett, Reyes, Walter Skinner (Mitch Pileggi) and Scully stumble on to a bizarre murder case where the main suspect is a man with an unusual obsession for The Brady Bunch. Despite their initial differences—both in investigative style and love of The Brady Bunch—the four of them soon learn that the man's telekinetic ability is the ultimate, undeniable proof of an X-File.
"Sunshine Days" was Gilligan's second directorial effort, after season seven's "Je Souhaite". The Brady Bunch house set featured in the episode was completely rebuilt. According to Anderson, people came "from all over Los Angeles" to get their pictures taken on the set. In addition, it contained several elaborate effects. "Sunshine Days" was the final "monster-of-the-week" entry in the series; the series finale, "The Truth" would deal with the series' overarching alien colonization mythology.

Contents
  [hide] 1 Plot
2 Production
3 Broadcast and reception
4 Notes
5 References
6 External links
Plot[edit]
In Van Nuys, California, two teenagers named Blake and Mike (Tyson Turrou and David Faustino) sneak into a house that Blake claims was where the comedy television series The Brady Bunch was filmed. Inside, they find a perfect recreation of the house from the series; Mike, unsettled, gets worried and leaves, but Blake plods on. Blake is subsequently sent hurtling through the air and smashes into Mike's car, killing Blake.
John Doggett (Robert Patrick) and Monica Reyes (Annabeth Gish) are called in to investigate. They interview Mike, who claims that Blake died after visiting "The Brady Bunch House". The three speak to the owner, Oliver Martin (Michael Emerson), but upon entering discover that the house looks nothing like the one featured in the teaser. Doggett, feeling something is not right, checks Martin's trashcan and finds asphalt shingles; earlier, on top of Mike's car, Doggett had found a piece of a shingle. He deduces that Blake was thrown through Martin's roof. Later that night, Mike looks into Martin's house and sees the whole Brady family eating dinner. He storms into the house, only to find that the family has disappeared. Suddenly, he is confronted by Martin, who tells him to leave. Mike refuses, and is thrown through the roof, only to be imbedded in the yard.
Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) looks through various X-Files and discovers one about a young boy named Anthony Fogelman who possessed psychokinesis. She learns that Fogelman later changed his named to Oliver Martin. She meets with Dr. John Rietz (John Aylward), a parapsychologist who worked with the young Fogelman. Rietz claims that, despite being extremely lonely, Martin was not dangerous and that his power faded as he grew up. Reyes makes the connection that Fogelman changed his name to Oliver based on Cousin Oliver from The Brady Bunch. Scully notes that, in the show, Oliver was portrayed as a "jinx", and the three agents deduce that Fogelman must see himself as one, too.
Doggett and Reitz decide to talk to Fogelman. Initially, he is apprehensive and nearly sends Doggett hurtling through the roof. It is revealed that Fogelman's powers are temperamental and sometimes he cannot control them, such as the case with Mike and Blake. Reyes and Scully show up and convince him that his powers could positively impact the world. The agents take him to Washington, D.C. and his powers to Walter Skinner (Mitch Pileggi) by making him float in midair. Suddenly, however, Fogelman collapses. Scully later reports that his body is destroying itself because of his extreme power. Doggett realizes that Fogelman must stop using his powers; he notes that his power had faded earlier when Dr. Rietz was studying him as a boy. Doggett tells Rietz that his power faded because, with Rietz around, Fogelman did not feel lonely. Rietz visits Fogelman in the hospital, and the two rekindle their friendship, saving Fogelman's life. Scully laments the fact that there may not be any vindication for the X-Files, but that cases like Fogelman's might show that there is proof of "more important things."[2]
Production[edit]

 

 "Sunshine Days" was Vince Gilligan's last writing and directing credit for The X-Files.
"Sunshine Days" was written and directed by executive producer Vince Gilligan.[3] The episode marked Gilligan's second directorial effort, after season seven's "Je Souhaite".[4] Gilligan called the episode his "goodbye to the audience, and goodbye to the characters" because he realized that "would be the last time I'd ever be writing from them."[5] Furthermore, "Sunshine Days" was the final "monster-of-the-week" entry in the series; the show's finale, "The Truth" would deal with the series' overarching alien colonization mythology.[6]
The elaborate The Brady Bunch house set featured in the episode was built completely by the production crew, according to series co-star Gillian Anderson. She recounts the fact that, due to the original set having been long ago disassembled, people came "from all over Los Angeles" to get their pictures taken on the set.[5] Anderson, who was a fan of popular sitcoms made by Sherwood Schwartz, like Gilligan's Island and The Brady Bunch, called the experience "wild".[5] The scene wherein Fogelman's house turns into an outside field was created via the technique of Chroma Keying. A shot of both The Brady Bunch house and an outside field were filmed. Then, the actors were filmed against a blue screen. A matte of the scenes were then cut and the scenes were composited against each other. Due to the fact that the shot was an extended scene, Paul Rabwin later noted that the effects were "a little tricky" to get right; Rabwin noted that the shots' mattes had to cover the "little strands of hair" on Anderson's head, because missing the strands is what "gives [the effect] away".[7]
Broadcast and reception[edit]
"Sunshine Days" originally aired on the Fox network on May 12, 2002, and was first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC Two on March 16, 2003.[3] The episode's initial broadcast was viewed by approximately 6.5 million households[nb 1] and by 10.4 million viewers.[9] "Sunshine Days" earned a Nielsen household rating of 6.2, meaning that roughly 6.2 percent of all television-equipped households, were tuned in to the episode. It was the forty-sixth most watched episode of television that aired during the week ending May 12.[8] Fox promoted the episode with the promise that it was the "most bizarre" episode of The X-Files to ever been shown.[6]
Critical reception to "Sunshine Days" was mixed. Aaron Kinney from Salon magazine was critical of the producers' idea to air the entry as the penultimate episode leading up to the heavily-promoted series finale. Kinney pointed out that the episode had little to do with the show's overarching storyline, but it was nevertheless touted as part of The X-Files "Endgame" promotion strategy.[6] Jessica Morgan from Television Without Pity gave the episode a mixed review and awarded it a "C" grade. She sarcastically wrote, "nine years of mytharc to start to wrap up. And so the penultimate episode of The X-Files, naturally, is devoted to The Brady Bunch."[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 three-and-a-half stars out of five. The two noted that the episode "is not one of Gilligan's very best stories", citing issues with its tone and its characterization of Oliver Martin.[11] The two, however, did praise Gilligan's humanized style, writing, "he gives Scully the proof of the paranormal she's been needing" but shows that the most important "things to care about in life" are "humans".[11] John Keegan from Critical Myth gave the episode a moderately positive review and awarded it a 7 out of 10. He wrote, "Overall, this was a pleasant yet bittersweet episode, one that leaves the characters in relative peace. It is the first time that we get a glimpse of what the writers are thinking as the series comes to a close. Now all that's left is the mythology, which I can only hope will end on a similarly pleasant note."[12]
Notes[edit]
1.Jump up ^ At the time of airing, the estimated number of households was 105.5 million.[8] Thus, 5.8 percent of 105.5 million is 6.1 million households.
References[edit]
Footnotes
1.Jump up ^ Sunshine Days - Cast Credits (DVD). The X-Files: The Complete Ninth Season: 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment. 2002.
2.Jump up ^ "Sunshine Days". BBC Cult. BBC. Retrieved 21 July 2012.
3.^ Jump up to: a b Kim Manners, et al (booklet). The X-Files: The Complete Ninth Season (Liner notes). Fox.
4.Jump up ^ Hurwitz and Knowles, pp. 236–240
5.^ Jump up to: a b c Hurwitz and Knowles, p. 208
6.^ Jump up to: a b c Kinney, Aaron (17 May 2002). "The truth is, um, where, exactly?". Salon (Salon Media Group). Retrieved 3 August 2009.
7.Jump up ^ Paul Rabwin (2002). Special Effects by Mat Beck with Commentary by Paul Rabwin: "Rooms Turns into Outdoors" (DVD). The X-Files: The Complete Ninth Season: 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment.
8.^ Jump up to: a b Associated Press (15 May 2002). "The Nielsens: Last Week's Top Television Shows". Press-Telegram (MediaNews Group). pp. A16. Retrieved 21 July 2012. (subscription required)
9.Jump up ^ Andreeva, Nellie (14 May 2002). "'Dinotopia' ABC Ratings Monster: Part 1 of Mini Trounces Rivals, Spurs Net to Sunday Victories". The Hollywood Reporter (Prometheus Global Media). p. 4.
10.Jump up ^ Morgan, Jessica. "X-Files". Television Without Pity. NBCUniversal. Retrieved 21 July 2012.
11.^ Jump up to: a b Shearman and Pearson, pp. 277–278
12.Jump up ^ Keegan, John. "Sunshine Days". Critical Myth. Retrieved 21 July 2012.
BibliographyFraga, Erica (2010). LAX-Files: Behind the Scenes with the Los Angeles Cast and Crew. CreateSpace. ISBN 9781451503418.
Hurwitz, Matt; Knowles, Chris (2008). The Complete X-Files. Insight Editions. ISBN 1933784806.
Kessenich, Tom (2002). Examination: An Unauthorized Look at Seasons 6–9 of the X-Files. Trafford Publishing. ISBN 1553698126.
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 9
"Sunshine Days" at XFiles.com
"Sunshine Days" at the Internet Movie Database
"Sunshine Days" at TV.com

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The Truth (The X-Files)

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

"The Truth"
The X-Files episode
Episode no.
Season 9
 Episode 19 & 20
Directed by
Kim Manners
Written by
Chris Carter
Production code
9ABX19[1]
 9ABX20[1]
Original air date
May 19, 2002
Running time
87 minutes[2]
Guest actors

Nicholas Lea as Alex Krycek
James Pickens, Jr. as Alvin Kersh
Laurie Holden as Marita Covarrubias
Jeff Gulka as Gibson Praise
Chris Owens as Jeffrey Spender
Adam Baldwin as Knowle Rohrer
William B. Davis as The Smoking Man
Steven Williams as X
Bruce Harwood as John Fitzgerald Byers
Dean Haglund as Richard Langly
Tom Braidwood as Melvin Frohike
Matthew Glave as Kallenbrunner
Alan Dale as Toothpick Man
William Devane as General Mark A. Suveg
Patrick St. Esprit as Dark-Suited Man
Julia Vera as Indian Woman[3]
 
Episode chronology

← Previous
 "Sunshine Days" Next →
I Want to Believe

List of The X-Files episodes
"The Truth" is the collective name for the 201st and 202nd episodes of the American science fiction television series The X-Files. The last episodes of the show's ninth season, "The Truth" serves as the finale of the entire series. First aired together on the Fox network on May 19, 2002, the episodes were written by series creator Chris Carter and directed by Kim Manners. "The Truth" was the most-watched episode of the ninth season in the United States, receiving a Nielsen rating of 7.5, attracting 7.5 percent of the available audience and being viewed by approximately 13 million viewers upon its initial broadcast. The finale received mixed reviews, with many commentators criticizing the episode's lack of closure. Others were pleased with the full return of actor David Duchovny to the series, as well as the episode's conclusion.
The show centers on FBI special agents who work on unsolved paranormal cases called X-Files; this season focuses on the investigations of John Doggett (Robert Patrick), Monica Reyes (Annabeth Gish), and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson). In this episode, after not knowing Fox Mulder's (Duchovny) whereabouts for the past year, Walter Skinner (Mitch Pileggi) and Scully learn that Mulder is being held for the murder of a military man he could not possibly have killed: Knowle Rohrer (Adam Baldwin), one of the government's secret "Super Soldiers". Mulder breaks out of prison with the help of Skinner, Reyes, Doggett, Scully and Alvin Kersh (James Pickens, Jr.). Mulder and Scully travel to New Mexico where helicopters destroy an Anasazi cliff dwelling ruin along with The Smoking Man (William B. Davis).
The episode featured the return of Duchovny—following his departure after the eighth season finale—as well as several other recurring characters. "The Truth" served to conclude many long-time story arcs while creating new ones for a possible film franchise. Shooting took place at various California locales, including a hydroelectric power plant east of Fresno and Anza-Borrego State Park, located in Borrego Springs. Carter would return to The X-Files universe with a feature film, The X-Files: I Want to Believe (2008), and has publicly discussed the possibility of a third film, which would focus on the impending extraterrestrial invasion revealed in "The Truth".

Contents
  [hide] 1 Plot
2 Production 2.1 Writing
2.2 Casting
2.3 Filming
3 Themes
4 Broadcast and reception
5 Notes
6 References 6.1 Footnotes
6.2 Filming locations
6.3 Bibliography
7 External links
Plot[edit]
At the Mount Weather military base, Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) appears with several government officials. He gains access to highly-classified documents on a secure computer system, and is shocked and dismayed to read the documents, which provide details of the final colonization of the planet by alien forces. Before he can continue reading, Mulder hears another person approaching. He hides quickly and observes Knowle Rohrer (Adam Baldwin), a former friend of John Doggett (Robert Patrick) but who has been irreversibly transformed into an enemy "Super Soldier", approach the computer system. Rohrer immediately realizes the system has been accessed. Mulder attempts to attack Rohrer, but Rohrer overpowers him. Mulder frantically flees, but Rohrer outflanks him. In a violent altercation, Mulder flips Rohrer off a catwalk onto high-voltage wiring, and Rohrer apparently dies by electrocution. Mulder attempts to escape, but is quickly arrested by several soldiers.
News of Mulder's arrest spreads to the FBI. Upon hearing that he has resurfaced, and in such a dire manner, Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) and Walter Skinner (Mitch Pileggi) visit him in military custody. During his time in captivity, Mulder receives mysterious visits from two phantoms of his past: Alex Krycek (Nicholas Lea) and X (Steven Williams). Meanwhile, Scully and Skinner go to great lengths to get him released, but are unsuccessful. Mulder's fate is ultimately made the subject of a military tribunal. At the outset, it appears Mulder will become the hopeless victim of a show trial stacked against him.
Skinner takes Mulder's defense, while Scully, Doggett, Monica Reyes (Annabeth Gish), Marita Covarrubias (Laurie Holden), Gibson Praise (Jeff Gulka) and Jeffrey Spender (Chris Owens) testify on Mulder's behalf. The prosecution presents Rohrer's body as evidence against Mulder. Aware that Rohrer is a seemingly-invincible "Super Soldier", Scully performs a medical examination and proves that the body is not that of Rohrer. Despite this, the defense is ultimately overruled, and Mulder is sentenced to death for the murder of a military officer. With the unexpected help of Deputy Director Alvin Kersh (James Pickens, Jr.), the agents help Mulder escape. Despite being advised to immediately leave the continent via Canada, Mulder instead takes Scully to New Mexico. On their way, Mulder receives a visit by three additional ghosts: The Lone Gunmen, who advise him to flee for his life rather that continue his pursuit of the truth. Mulder politely declines. Meanwhile, Doggett and Reyes find their office emptied, suggesting that the X-Files have been closed down for the third time.
Mulder and Scully arrive at Anasazi ruins to find a "wise man" who they believe can make sense of the classified documents Mulder has read. They discover the so-called "wise man" is none other than The Smoking Man (William B. Davis), who is hiding to survive the colonization—an event that will happen on December 22, 2012, the predicted end of the world. Outside, Reyes and Doggett arrive and fight Rohrer, who has been sent to kill Mulder and The Smoking Man. Rohrer is killed when the magnetite in the ruins affects his superhuman body. Switching cars with Mulder and Scully, Doggett and Reyes drive off. Black helicopters destroy the cliff dwellings—and The Smoking Man within—before giving chase to the wrong car. Doggett and Reyes are last seen speeding away with the helicopters in pursuit.
In a motel room in Roswell, New Mexico, Mulder and Scully prepare for bed and talk. Mulder explains his belief "that the dead are not lost to us. That they speak to us as part of something greater than us—greater than any alien force. And if you and I are powerless now, I want to believe that if we listen to what's speaking, it can give us the power to save ourselves." Despite their slim chance for success, Mulder declares, "Maybe there's hope."[4][5]
Production[edit]

A man with white hair is looking and smiling at the camera.

Chris Carter wrote the episode and noted that "it was strange to be writing these things knowing it was the last time".[6]
Writing[edit]
The episode was written by series creator Chris Carter. He noted, "It's the end—you don't get another chance. So you'd better put everything you've ever wanted to put in into the episode. There were things to distract us from what was really going on. The band was breaking up."[7] He expounded on the idea, saying that executive producer Frank Spotnitz and he decided "it was probably time to go [...] it was strange to be writing these things knowing it was the last time we'd see Scully doing certain things or hear Mulder saying certain things."[6] Spotnitz explained that Carter made the announcement in January so that "we had time to wrap our minds around the end and plan for it and give all of the characters their due."[6] Gish later said, "I have a great respect for the elegant way in which they're closing the curtain".[8] Actor Bruce Harwood, who played Jonathan Byers on the show, called the finale the "passing of a generation".[8]
Several of the episode's scenes feature elements that reference earlier installments. The final scene in which Mulder and Scully speak in a hotel room is reminiscent of the series' pilot episode.[9] Furthermore, in "The Truth," it is revealed to Mulder by The Smoking Man that the aliens plan to colonize the earth on December 22, 2012, an event that, according to the show, the Mayans predicted.[10][11][12] This is a throw-back to the second season episode "Red Museum," which featured members of a new religious movement who believed that the year 2012 would bring about the dawning of the New Age.[10][13]
Before the release of the 2008 film The X-Files: I Want to Believe, Carter expressed an intent to make a third X-Files feature film that would focus on the impending alien invasion revealed in this episode, depending on the success of The X-Files: I Want to Believe.[14] As of July 2013, Fox has not yet approved the movie, although Carter, Spotnitz, Duchovny, and Anderson have all expressed their interest in making one.[15][16][17]
Casting[edit]

A man with dark brown hair is smirking and looking near the camera.

 "The Truth" marked David Duchovny's return as Fox Mulder
With this episode, Duchovny rejoined the main cast of The X-Files after his departure following the eighth season finale "Existence". The episode marks the only time that all five principal actors—Duchovny, Anderson, Patrick, Gish, and Pileggi—are credited together in the opening titles.[11] Mulder, Scully, and the The Smoking Man are the only characters to appear in both this episode and the series' pilot.[11][18] This episode is the fourth of only four episodes in season nine where Duchovny appeared, the others being "Trust No 1", "Jump the Shark", and "William". Duchovny appeared in the first two via archival footage and only made a small cameo in the third.[19][20][21] The episode marks the return of several characters who had either previously been killed-off or had left the show, including X, who was killed in the season four opener "Herrenvolk";[22] Deep Throat, who was murdered in the first season finale "The Erlenmeyer Flask";[23] Alex Krycek, who was shot and killed by Skinner in the eighth season finale "Existence";[24] The Smoking Man, who was purportedly killed in "Requiem";[25] Gibson Praise, who was last seen in the eighth season episode "Without";[26] The Lone Gunmen, who were killed-off in the ninth season episode "Jump the Shark";[27] Jeffrey Spender, who originally was killed-off in the sixth season episode "One Son" but reappeared in the ninth season episode "William";[28][29] and Marita Covarrubias, who last appeared in the seventh season finale "Requiem".[25]
Originally, this episode was to feature the recurring character Shannon McMahon. However, actress Lucy Lawless became pregnant shortly after filming the two-part episode, "Nothing Important Happened Today" and was not available for subsequent episodes.[30] Actress Julia Vera was called in to play the role of the woman who is helping the Smoking Man live in the Anasazi ruins. Vera had previously appeared in the sixth season two-part episode "Dreamland". She later called the opportunity "amazing" and declared that "my greatest experience was The X-Files".[31] The final scene of the episode was originally going to feature the Toothpick Man, the alien leader of the New Syndicate played by Alan Dale, informing U.S. President George W. Bush, played by actor Gary Newton, of Mulder's escape. The scene was filmed, but was not included in the broadcast version; executive producer Frank Spotnitz later said that he was "so happy" that the producers cut the scene, noting that—despite "a lot of debate about it, on both sides"—the scene was unable to top the final scene with Mulder and Scully.[32] On the DVD's audio commentary, the producers mentioned that they had considered filming the shot on the Oval Office set created by The West Wing, a serial drama created by Aaron Sorkin that was originally broadcast on NBC. In addition, they originally wanted to have Martin Sheen appear as his character on The West Wing, Josiah Bartlet, instead of Bush, noting that the cameo would have been "a nice, sort of wink" to the television audience.[32] Despite being cut from the final episode, the shot was featured as a deleted scene on the season nine video release.[32]
Filming[edit]

The shot is of a barren desert environment. There are several canyons, and it is framed against a blue sky.

 The Anasazi ruins were filmed at Anza-Borrego State Park
The majority of the episode—like the rest of seasons six, seven, eight and nine—was filmed in Los Angeles, California.[33] The first scene, featuring Mulder breaking into a military base, was shot in a hydroelectric power plant east of Fresno, California. The rooms that were featured in the episode were the main rooms for the power plant that The X-Files design team redecorated; the crew later called the set the "war room". Most of the decoration and interior scene was done by the visual effect crew; the only visible part seen in real life was a large generator that pumped water. Bill Roe, the cinematographer for the episode, spent four to five days lighting the set for filming. Kim Manners called his work "a great job".[30] The scenes that take place in the main computer terminal room were shot on a sound stage at 20th Century Fox; the crew built the set themselves. The scenes with Mulder being tortured by the military guards were shot at Fort MacArthur, an abandoned military base in Long Beach, California.[30][location 1] Filming also took place at The Marine Mammal Care Center in San Pedro, California.[34][location 2] Filming the court room was one of the "most challenging sequences" Manners had ever done.[30] Carter wanted the courtroom to have no spectators and no jury. This meant that Manners had to shoot each scene with a limited amount of actors and make them look "fresh".[30] Manners was terrified to film the 40-page long courtroom scene, pointing out that the show was basically re-telling a nine-year history of The X-Files. Corey Kaplan designed the set.[30]
The Anasazi ruins were constructed in Anza-Borrego State Park, located in Borrego Springs, California.[location 3] Location manager Mac Gordon later noted that, due to the presence of a rare "spiny black horned toad" in the area, he and his crew were forced to hire several biologists to locate any lizards in the area and move them elsewhere. In addition, Gordon had a difficult time persuading the park rangers to build and then blow up faux-ruins. He explained, "we were on a state park property that was an off road park, with motorcycles and [All-terrain vehicles] flying all over the place, but they still blanched when I said we have to build Indian ruins and then blow it up."[34] However, the cameo of The Smoking Man was filmed on a sound stage back at 20th Century Fox. Manners noted that Davis had "a hell of a time" trying to smoke his cigarettes through a hole in his neck, due to the fact that the hole was fake.[30] The scene featuring The Smoking Man being burnt up by the fire from a missile was done via computer animation. The missiles were created via CGI technology by animator Mat Beck. The helicopter, however, included real smoke bombs. A shot of William B. Davis was overlapped with fire, and eventually a skull to give the effect that The Smoking Man's flesh was burnt away. Paul Rabwin later called the scene a "great sequence".[35]
The last scene of the episode shot was between Anderson and Duchovny and was called "extremely tough" by Manners, due to it being "very emotional".[30] He noted that the scene "sums up the series" about a "man who believed and a woman who was skeptical but became a believer".[30] The scene was filmed at an actual motel, called La Cresenta. The location had previously been used in episodes "Sein Und Zeit" and "This is Not Happening".[34]
Themes[edit]


I want to believe that... the dead are not lost to us. That they speak to us... as part of something greater than us—greater than any alien force. And if you and I are powerless now, I want to believe that if we listen to what's speaking, it can give us the power to save ourselves.
—Fox Mulder. The line received philosophical attention due to its perceived religious undertones.[36]
The final scene, featuring a conversation between Mulder and Scully, has been examined by author V. Alan White due to its perceived religious undertones. In the book The Philosophy of The X-Files, he notes that the final scene "undermines Mulder's seemingly persistent scorn of traditional" religion and his subtle acceptance of theism.[36][37] In previous episodes—mainly those dealing with Scully's Catholicism—Mulder shows a lack of approval when it came to the concept of organized religion, often pointing out that "theologians can be just as dogmatic as scientists" when it comes to unexplained phenomena.[36] White proposes that this needling may be intentional on Mulder's part, as a form of "ironic reversal of [Scully's] skepticism about the paranormal".[36] However, the final lines of "The Truth" see Mulder talking about a belief in "something greater than us, greater than any alien force".[36] White also points out the fact that during this scene Mulder grabs Scully's gold cross, an icon that symbolizes her belief through much of the series.[36]
Several of the episode's scenes and motifs have been compared to popular myths and legends. Michelle Bush, in her book Myth-X, equated Mulder's overall quest to that of the search for the Holy Grail. She notes that in "The Truth", Mulder and Scully metaphorically "find their way to the Grail castle" only to discover that the Fisher King—the wounded knight charged with protecting the secret—is actually The Smoking Man.[38] Furthermore, Bush compared the final scene of the episode—featuring Mulder musing about hope regarding an alien invasion—to the myth of Pandora's Box. According to legend, the ancient Greek gods gave Pandora a box filled with evils and told her not to open it. Due to her curiosity, she disobeyed and unleashed various calamities unto the world. Bush argues that the Syndicate's tampering with alien technology—such as their alien-human hybrid experiments—are similar to the contents of the box. She notes that, in both cases, "man's curiosity is his downfall".[39] In the end, however, both Pandora's box and the world of The X-Files contain hope, which, in the legend, was the only thing in the box that Pandora did not let go of.[39]
Broadcast and reception[edit]
"The Truth" was originally aired on the Fox network on May 19, 2002,[1] and became the most-watched episode of the ninth season, receiving the season's highest Nielsen ratings. Nielsen ratings are audience measurement system that determine the audience size and composition of television programming in the United States. "The Truth" earned a household rating of 7.5, meaning that it was seen by 7.5 percent of the nation's estimated households.[40] It was viewed by 7.91 million households[40][nb 1] and gathered a total of 13 million viewers in the United States alone.[41] On the date of its airing, the episode ranked third in its timeslot, behind the season finale of Survivor: Marquesas and the heavily promoted reunion of The Cosby Show.[42] "The Truth", however, placed ahead of the season finale of The Practice.[42] In the United Kingdom and Ireland, the episode made its first appearance on Sky1 on September 26, 2002 and received 1.03 million viewers, placing The X-Files second in the top ten broadcasts for Sky1 for that week, behind The Simpsons.[43] The episode was included on The X-Files Mythology, Volume 4 – Super Soldiers, a DVD collection that contains installments involved with the alien "Super Soldiers" arc.[44]
The entry received mixed reviews by critics; the main reason for criticism was that, instead of creating a conclusion, the episode raised new questions for the audience. Robert Shearman and Lars Pearson, in their book Wanting to Believe: A Critical Guide to The X-Files, Millennium & The Lone Gunmen, gave the episode a scathing review and awarded it one star out of five.[12] The two, despite calling the opening "promising", derided the episode's ending—especially the revelation of alien colonization of December 22, 2012—writing, "is this really what the series was about?"[12] Furthermore, Shearman and Pearson concluded that the problem with the episode was that the show, which he called "brilliant—frequently, truly brilliant" decided "to define itself in the summing up" with the episode, which did not answer very many questions.[12] UGO named the episode the fourteenth "Worst Series Finale" and wrote that the episode—and the show's eighth and ninth seasons by extension—were negatively affected by the series' lack of a defining plot line. The article noted that, while the episode claimed to wrap up the story arcs for the series, "the trial of Mulder ultimately resulted in very little satisfying payoff to the series' overarching mysteries".[45] A review from The New York Times, after the premiere of "The Truth", said of the show: "The most imaginative show on television has finally reached the limits of its imagination."[46]
Not all reviews were critical. In 2011, the finale was ranked number twenty-two on the TV Guide Network special, TV's Most Unforgettable Finales, in which the various episodes were discussed by industry experts and television critics.[47] Tom Kessenich, in his book Examinations, wrote a rather positive review of the episode.[48] He noted that, while the episode "told us nothing of significance" regarding the "big picture" mythology story arc, the chance to see Mulder and Scully together one last time resulted in "an exquisite Mulder-Scully moment".[48] He was particularly pleased with the final scene, noting that it was an appropriate conclusion; he called it "fitting", as well as "wonderful".[48] Kessenich maintained that, were it not for the return of Duchovny, "nobody would have given a damn about the end of this series."[48]
Notes[edit]
1.Jump up ^ At the time of airing, there were 105.5 million television homes.[40] Thus, 7.5 percent of 105.5 million is 7.91 million households.
References[edit]
Footnotes[edit]
1.^ Jump up to: a b c Kim Manners, et al (booklet). The X-Files: The Complete Ninth Season (Liner notes). Fox.
2.Jump up ^ "The X-Files, Season 9". iTunes Store. Apple Inc. Retrieved September 6, 2012.
3.Jump up ^ The Truth — Cast Credits (DVD). The X-Files: The Complete Ninth Season: 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment. 2002.
4.Jump up ^ "The Truth". BBC Cult. BBC. Retrieved May 9, 2012.
5.Jump up ^ "The Truth, Part Two". BBC Cult. BBC. Retrieved May 9, 2012.
6.^ Jump up to: a b c Chris Carter et al (2002). The Truth Behind Season 9: "The Truth" (DVD). The X-Files: The Complete Ninth Season: 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment.
7.Jump up ^ Hurwitz and Knowles (2008), pp. 209–216
8.^ Jump up to: a b Paul Rabwin (2002). Reflections on the Truth (DVD). The X-Files: The Complete Ninth Season: 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment.
9.Jump up ^ Kessenich (2002), p. 211
10.^ Jump up to: a b Bush (2008), p. 58
11.^ Jump up to: a b c Kim Manners (director); Chris Carter (writer). "The Truth". The X-Files. Season 9. Episode 19 & 20. Fox.
12.^ Jump up to: a b c d Shearman and Pearson (2009), pp. 278–280
13.Jump up ^ Win Phelps (director); Chris Carter (writer). "Red Museum". The X-Files. Season 3. Episode 10. Fox.
14.Jump up ^ Collis, Clark (March 18, 2008). "'X-Files' Creator Chris Carter Wants to Believe in a Third Movie featuring Mulder and Scully". Entertainment Weekly (Time Inc). Retrieved July 16, 2009.
15.Jump up ^ Gallman, Brett (August 2, 2012). "Frank Spotnitz Still Wants to Do a Third 'X-Files' Film". Yahoo! Movies. Yahoo!. Retrieved September 7, 2012.
16.Jump up ^ "'X-Files' Movie: David Duchovny Is In". The Huffington Post (AOL). August 12, 2012. Retrieved 4, September 2012.
17.Jump up ^ Marcus, Stephanie (August 27, 2012). "Gillian Anderson: 'X-Files 3' Movie Is 'Looking Pretty Good'". The Huffington Post (AOL). Retrieved September 4, 2012.
18.Jump up ^ Robert Mandel (director); Chris Carter (writer). "Pilot". The X-Files. Season 1. Episode 1. Fox.
19.Jump up ^ Hurwitz and Knowles (2008), p. 201
20.Jump up ^ "Jump the Shark". Television Without Pity. NBCUniversal. Retrieved October 7, 2012.
21.Jump up ^ Kessenich (2002), p. 204
22.Jump up ^ R. W. Goodwin (director); Chris Carter (writer). "Herrenvolk". The X-Files. Season 4. Episode 1. Fox.
23.Jump up ^ R. W. Goodwin (director); Chris Carter (writer). "The Erlenmeyer Flask". The X-Files. Season 1. Episode 24. Fox.
24.Jump up ^ Kim Manners (director); Chris Carter (writer). "Existence". The X-Files. Season 8. Episode 21. Fox.
25.^ Jump up to: a b Kim Manners (director); Chris Carter (writer). "Requiem". The X-Files. Season 7. Episode 22. Fox.
26.Jump up ^ Kim Manners (director); Chris Carter (writer). "Without". The X-Files. Season 8. Episode 2. Fox.
27.Jump up ^ Cliff Bole (director); Vince Gilligan, John Shiban, & Frank Spotnitz (writers). "Jump the Shark". The X-Files. Season 9. Episode 15. Fox.
28.Jump up ^ Rob Bowman (director); Chris Carter & Frank Spotnitz (writers). "One Son". The X-Files. Season 6. Episode 12. Fox.
29.Jump up ^ David Duchovny (director); Chris Carter, Frank Spotnitz & Duchovny (writers). "William". The X-Files. Season 9. Episode 16. Fox.
30.^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h i Manners, Kim (2002). Audio Commentary for "The Truth". The X-Files: The Complete Ninth Season DVD: 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment.
31.Jump up ^ Fraga (2010), p. 222
32.^ Jump up to: a b c Frank Spotnitz (2002). Deleted Scenes with Optional Commentary by Frank Spotnitz: Scene 77 – President Bush (DVD). The X-Files: The Complete Ninth Season: 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment.
33.Jump up ^ Fraga (2010), passim
34.^ Jump up to: a b c Fraga (2010), p. 237–238
35.Jump up ^ Paul Rabwin (2002). Special Effects by Mat Beck with Commentary by Paul Rabwin – "CSM Incinerates" (DVD). The X-Files: The Complete Ninth Season: Fox Home Entertainment.
36.^ Jump up to: a b c d e f White (2007), p. 53
37.Jump up ^ White (2007), p. 44
38.Jump up ^ Bush (2008), p. 19
39.^ Jump up to: a b Bush (2008), p. 47
40.^ Jump up to: a b c Associated Press (May 2002). "Prime-Time Nielsen ratings". Associated Press Archive.
41.Jump up ^ "ARTS & TV in Brief 'Survivor: Marquesas' outwits the competition". Boston Herald (Herald Media): 48. May 2002.
42.^ Jump up to: a b McCollum, Charlie (May 2002). "'X-Files' Finale Posts Ratings Way Out There". San Jose Mercury News (MediaNews Group): 8F.
43.Jump up ^ "BARB's multichannel top 10 programmes". Broadcasters' Audience Research Board. Retrieved August 1, 2009. Note: Information is in the section titled "w/e 23–29 Sept, 2002", listed under Sky1
44.Jump up ^ Kim Manners, et al. The X-Files Mythology, Volume 4 – Super Soldiers (DVD). 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment.
45.Jump up ^ Fitzpatrick, Kevin (March 16, 2011). "TV's Worst Series Finales". UGO Networks. UGO Entertainment. Retrieved June 6, 2012.
46.Jump up ^ "The Nearly Ex Files". The New York Times (The New York Times Company). October 10, 2002. Retrieved August 17, 2009.
47.Jump up ^ "TV's Most Unforgettable Finales". May 22, 2011. TV Guide Network.
48.^ Jump up to: a b c d Kessenich (2002), pp. 195–200
Filming locations[edit]

[show]Map of all coordinates from Google
Map of up to 200 coordinates from Bing



 
1.Jump up ^ Fort MacArthur: 33.7120°N 118.2962°W
2.Jump up ^ The Marine Mammal Care Center: 33.716915°N 118.29649°W
3.Jump up ^ Anza-Borrego State Park: 33.2565°N 116.3991°W
Bibliography[edit]
Bush, Michelle (2008). Myth-X. Lulu. ISBN 1435746880.
Fraga, Erica (2010). LAX-Files: Behind the Scenes with the Los Angeles Cast and Crew. CreateSpace. ISBN 9781451503418.
Hurwitz, Matt; Knowles, Chris (2008). The Complete X-Files. Insight Editions. ISBN 1933784806.
Kessenich, Tom (2002). Examination: An Unauthorized Look at Seasons 6–9 of the X-Files. Trafford Publishing. ISBN 1553698126.
Shearman, Robert; Pearson, Lars (2009). Wanting to Believe: A Critical Guide to The X-Files, Millennium & The Lone Gunmen. Mad Norwegian Press. ISBN 097594469X.
White, V. Alan (2007). "Freedom and Worldviews in The X-Files". In Kowalski, Dean A. The Philosophy of The X-files. University Press of Kentucky. ISBN 0813124549.
External links[edit]
 Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: The X-Files

Portal icon Television portal
"The Truth" at the Internet Movie Database
"The Truth" & "The Truth II" at TV.com

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The Truth (The X-Files)

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"The Truth"
The X-Files episode
Episode no.
Season 9
 Episode 19 & 20
Directed by
Kim Manners
Written by
Chris Carter
Production code
9ABX19[1]
 9ABX20[1]
Original air date
May 19, 2002
Running time
87 minutes[2]
Guest actors

Nicholas Lea as Alex Krycek
James Pickens, Jr. as Alvin Kersh
Laurie Holden as Marita Covarrubias
Jeff Gulka as Gibson Praise
Chris Owens as Jeffrey Spender
Adam Baldwin as Knowle Rohrer
William B. Davis as The Smoking Man
Steven Williams as X
Bruce Harwood as John Fitzgerald Byers
Dean Haglund as Richard Langly
Tom Braidwood as Melvin Frohike
Matthew Glave as Kallenbrunner
Alan Dale as Toothpick Man
William Devane as General Mark A. Suveg
Patrick St. Esprit as Dark-Suited Man
Julia Vera as Indian Woman[3]
 
Episode chronology

← Previous
 "Sunshine Days" Next →
I Want to Believe

List of The X-Files episodes
"The Truth" is the collective name for the 201st and 202nd episodes of the American science fiction television series The X-Files. The last episodes of the show's ninth season, "The Truth" serves as the finale of the entire series. First aired together on the Fox network on May 19, 2002, the episodes were written by series creator Chris Carter and directed by Kim Manners. "The Truth" was the most-watched episode of the ninth season in the United States, receiving a Nielsen rating of 7.5, attracting 7.5 percent of the available audience and being viewed by approximately 13 million viewers upon its initial broadcast. The finale received mixed reviews, with many commentators criticizing the episode's lack of closure. Others were pleased with the full return of actor David Duchovny to the series, as well as the episode's conclusion.
The show centers on FBI special agents who work on unsolved paranormal cases called X-Files; this season focuses on the investigations of John Doggett (Robert Patrick), Monica Reyes (Annabeth Gish), and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson). In this episode, after not knowing Fox Mulder's (Duchovny) whereabouts for the past year, Walter Skinner (Mitch Pileggi) and Scully learn that Mulder is being held for the murder of a military man he could not possibly have killed: Knowle Rohrer (Adam Baldwin), one of the government's secret "Super Soldiers". Mulder breaks out of prison with the help of Skinner, Reyes, Doggett, Scully and Alvin Kersh (James Pickens, Jr.). Mulder and Scully travel to New Mexico where helicopters destroy an Anasazi cliff dwelling ruin along with The Smoking Man (William B. Davis).
The episode featured the return of Duchovny—following his departure after the eighth season finale—as well as several other recurring characters. "The Truth" served to conclude many long-time story arcs while creating new ones for a possible film franchise. Shooting took place at various California locales, including a hydroelectric power plant east of Fresno and Anza-Borrego State Park, located in Borrego Springs. Carter would return to The X-Files universe with a feature film, The X-Files: I Want to Believe (2008), and has publicly discussed the possibility of a third film, which would focus on the impending extraterrestrial invasion revealed in "The Truth".

Contents
  [hide] 1 Plot
2 Production 2.1 Writing
2.2 Casting
2.3 Filming
3 Themes
4 Broadcast and reception
5 Notes
6 References 6.1 Footnotes
6.2 Filming locations
6.3 Bibliography
7 External links
Plot[edit]
At the Mount Weather military base, Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) appears with several government officials. He gains access to highly-classified documents on a secure computer system, and is shocked and dismayed to read the documents, which provide details of the final colonization of the planet by alien forces. Before he can continue reading, Mulder hears another person approaching. He hides quickly and observes Knowle Rohrer (Adam Baldwin), a former friend of John Doggett (Robert Patrick) but who has been irreversibly transformed into an enemy "Super Soldier", approach the computer system. Rohrer immediately realizes the system has been accessed. Mulder attempts to attack Rohrer, but Rohrer overpowers him. Mulder frantically flees, but Rohrer outflanks him. In a violent altercation, Mulder flips Rohrer off a catwalk onto high-voltage wiring, and Rohrer apparently dies by electrocution. Mulder attempts to escape, but is quickly arrested by several soldiers.
News of Mulder's arrest spreads to the FBI. Upon hearing that he has resurfaced, and in such a dire manner, Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) and Walter Skinner (Mitch Pileggi) visit him in military custody. During his time in captivity, Mulder receives mysterious visits from two phantoms of his past: Alex Krycek (Nicholas Lea) and X (Steven Williams). Meanwhile, Scully and Skinner go to great lengths to get him released, but are unsuccessful. Mulder's fate is ultimately made the subject of a military tribunal. At the outset, it appears Mulder will become the hopeless victim of a show trial stacked against him.
Skinner takes Mulder's defense, while Scully, Doggett, Monica Reyes (Annabeth Gish), Marita Covarrubias (Laurie Holden), Gibson Praise (Jeff Gulka) and Jeffrey Spender (Chris Owens) testify on Mulder's behalf. The prosecution presents Rohrer's body as evidence against Mulder. Aware that Rohrer is a seemingly-invincible "Super Soldier", Scully performs a medical examination and proves that the body is not that of Rohrer. Despite this, the defense is ultimately overruled, and Mulder is sentenced to death for the murder of a military officer. With the unexpected help of Deputy Director Alvin Kersh (James Pickens, Jr.), the agents help Mulder escape. Despite being advised to immediately leave the continent via Canada, Mulder instead takes Scully to New Mexico. On their way, Mulder receives a visit by three additional ghosts: The Lone Gunmen, who advise him to flee for his life rather that continue his pursuit of the truth. Mulder politely declines. Meanwhile, Doggett and Reyes find their office emptied, suggesting that the X-Files have been closed down for the third time.
Mulder and Scully arrive at Anasazi ruins to find a "wise man" who they believe can make sense of the classified documents Mulder has read. They discover the so-called "wise man" is none other than The Smoking Man (William B. Davis), who is hiding to survive the colonization—an event that will happen on December 22, 2012, the predicted end of the world. Outside, Reyes and Doggett arrive and fight Rohrer, who has been sent to kill Mulder and The Smoking Man. Rohrer is killed when the magnetite in the ruins affects his superhuman body. Switching cars with Mulder and Scully, Doggett and Reyes drive off. Black helicopters destroy the cliff dwellings—and The Smoking Man within—before giving chase to the wrong car. Doggett and Reyes are last seen speeding away with the helicopters in pursuit.
In a motel room in Roswell, New Mexico, Mulder and Scully prepare for bed and talk. Mulder explains his belief "that the dead are not lost to us. That they speak to us as part of something greater than us—greater than any alien force. And if you and I are powerless now, I want to believe that if we listen to what's speaking, it can give us the power to save ourselves." Despite their slim chance for success, Mulder declares, "Maybe there's hope."[4][5]
Production[edit]

A man with white hair is looking and smiling at the camera.

Chris Carter wrote the episode and noted that "it was strange to be writing these things knowing it was the last time".[6]
Writing[edit]
The episode was written by series creator Chris Carter. He noted, "It's the end—you don't get another chance. So you'd better put everything you've ever wanted to put in into the episode. There were things to distract us from what was really going on. The band was breaking up."[7] He expounded on the idea, saying that executive producer Frank Spotnitz and he decided "it was probably time to go [...] it was strange to be writing these things knowing it was the last time we'd see Scully doing certain things or hear Mulder saying certain things."[6] Spotnitz explained that Carter made the announcement in January so that "we had time to wrap our minds around the end and plan for it and give all of the characters their due."[6] Gish later said, "I have a great respect for the elegant way in which they're closing the curtain".[8] Actor Bruce Harwood, who played Jonathan Byers on the show, called the finale the "passing of a generation".[8]
Several of the episode's scenes feature elements that reference earlier installments. The final scene in which Mulder and Scully speak in a hotel room is reminiscent of the series' pilot episode.[9] Furthermore, in "The Truth," it is revealed to Mulder by The Smoking Man that the aliens plan to colonize the earth on December 22, 2012, an event that, according to the show, the Mayans predicted.[10][11][12] This is a throw-back to the second season episode "Red Museum," which featured members of a new religious movement who believed that the year 2012 would bring about the dawning of the New Age.[10][13]
Before the release of the 2008 film The X-Files: I Want to Believe, Carter expressed an intent to make a third X-Files feature film that would focus on the impending alien invasion revealed in this episode, depending on the success of The X-Files: I Want to Believe.[14] As of July 2013, Fox has not yet approved the movie, although Carter, Spotnitz, Duchovny, and Anderson have all expressed their interest in making one.[15][16][17]
Casting[edit]

A man with dark brown hair is smirking and looking near the camera.

 "The Truth" marked David Duchovny's return as Fox Mulder
With this episode, Duchovny rejoined the main cast of The X-Files after his departure following the eighth season finale "Existence". The episode marks the only time that all five principal actors—Duchovny, Anderson, Patrick, Gish, and Pileggi—are credited together in the opening titles.[11] Mulder, Scully, and the The Smoking Man are the only characters to appear in both this episode and the series' pilot.[11][18] This episode is the fourth of only four episodes in season nine where Duchovny appeared, the others being "Trust No 1", "Jump the Shark", and "William". Duchovny appeared in the first two via archival footage and only made a small cameo in the third.[19][20][21] The episode marks the return of several characters who had either previously been killed-off or had left the show, including X, who was killed in the season four opener "Herrenvolk";[22] Deep Throat, who was murdered in the first season finale "The Erlenmeyer Flask";[23] Alex Krycek, who was shot and killed by Skinner in the eighth season finale "Existence";[24] The Smoking Man, who was purportedly killed in "Requiem";[25] Gibson Praise, who was last seen in the eighth season episode "Without";[26] The Lone Gunmen, who were killed-off in the ninth season episode "Jump the Shark";[27] Jeffrey Spender, who originally was killed-off in the sixth season episode "One Son" but reappeared in the ninth season episode "William";[28][29] and Marita Covarrubias, who last appeared in the seventh season finale "Requiem".[25]
Originally, this episode was to feature the recurring character Shannon McMahon. However, actress Lucy Lawless became pregnant shortly after filming the two-part episode, "Nothing Important Happened Today" and was not available for subsequent episodes.[30] Actress Julia Vera was called in to play the role of the woman who is helping the Smoking Man live in the Anasazi ruins. Vera had previously appeared in the sixth season two-part episode "Dreamland". She later called the opportunity "amazing" and declared that "my greatest experience was The X-Files".[31] The final scene of the episode was originally going to feature the Toothpick Man, the alien leader of the New Syndicate played by Alan Dale, informing U.S. President George W. Bush, played by actor Gary Newton, of Mulder's escape. The scene was filmed, but was not included in the broadcast version; executive producer Frank Spotnitz later said that he was "so happy" that the producers cut the scene, noting that—despite "a lot of debate about it, on both sides"—the scene was unable to top the final scene with Mulder and Scully.[32] On the DVD's audio commentary, the producers mentioned that they had considered filming the shot on the Oval Office set created by The West Wing, a serial drama created by Aaron Sorkin that was originally broadcast on NBC. In addition, they originally wanted to have Martin Sheen appear as his character on The West Wing, Josiah Bartlet, instead of Bush, noting that the cameo would have been "a nice, sort of wink" to the television audience.[32] Despite being cut from the final episode, the shot was featured as a deleted scene on the season nine video release.[32]
Filming[edit]

The shot is of a barren desert environment. There are several canyons, and it is framed against a blue sky.

 The Anasazi ruins were filmed at Anza-Borrego State Park
The majority of the episode—like the rest of seasons six, seven, eight and nine—was filmed in Los Angeles, California.[33] The first scene, featuring Mulder breaking into a military base, was shot in a hydroelectric power plant east of Fresno, California. The rooms that were featured in the episode were the main rooms for the power plant that The X-Files design team redecorated; the crew later called the set the "war room". Most of the decoration and interior scene was done by the visual effect crew; the only visible part seen in real life was a large generator that pumped water. Bill Roe, the cinematographer for the episode, spent four to five days lighting the set for filming. Kim Manners called his work "a great job".[30] The scenes that take place in the main computer terminal room were shot on a sound stage at 20th Century Fox; the crew built the set themselves. The scenes with Mulder being tortured by the military guards were shot at Fort MacArthur, an abandoned military base in Long Beach, California.[30][location 1] Filming also took place at The Marine Mammal Care Center in San Pedro, California.[34][location 2] Filming the court room was one of the "most challenging sequences" Manners had ever done.[30] Carter wanted the courtroom to have no spectators and no jury. This meant that Manners had to shoot each scene with a limited amount of actors and make them look "fresh".[30] Manners was terrified to film the 40-page long courtroom scene, pointing out that the show was basically re-telling a nine-year history of The X-Files. Corey Kaplan designed the set.[30]
The Anasazi ruins were constructed in Anza-Borrego State Park, located in Borrego Springs, California.[location 3] Location manager Mac Gordon later noted that, due to the presence of a rare "spiny black horned toad" in the area, he and his crew were forced to hire several biologists to locate any lizards in the area and move them elsewhere. In addition, Gordon had a difficult time persuading the park rangers to build and then blow up faux-ruins. He explained, "we were on a state park property that was an off road park, with motorcycles and [All-terrain vehicles] flying all over the place, but they still blanched when I said we have to build Indian ruins and then blow it up."[34] However, the cameo of The Smoking Man was filmed on a sound stage back at 20th Century Fox. Manners noted that Davis had "a hell of a time" trying to smoke his cigarettes through a hole in his neck, due to the fact that the hole was fake.[30] The scene featuring The Smoking Man being burnt up by the fire from a missile was done via computer animation. The missiles were created via CGI technology by animator Mat Beck. The helicopter, however, included real smoke bombs. A shot of William B. Davis was overlapped with fire, and eventually a skull to give the effect that The Smoking Man's flesh was burnt away. Paul Rabwin later called the scene a "great sequence".[35]
The last scene of the episode shot was between Anderson and Duchovny and was called "extremely tough" by Manners, due to it being "very emotional".[30] He noted that the scene "sums up the series" about a "man who believed and a woman who was skeptical but became a believer".[30] The scene was filmed at an actual motel, called La Cresenta. The location had previously been used in episodes "Sein Und Zeit" and "This is Not Happening".[34]
Themes[edit]


I want to believe that... the dead are not lost to us. That they speak to us... as part of something greater than us—greater than any alien force. And if you and I are powerless now, I want to believe that if we listen to what's speaking, it can give us the power to save ourselves.
—Fox Mulder. The line received philosophical attention due to its perceived religious undertones.[36]
The final scene, featuring a conversation between Mulder and Scully, has been examined by author V. Alan White due to its perceived religious undertones. In the book The Philosophy of The X-Files, he notes that the final scene "undermines Mulder's seemingly persistent scorn of traditional" religion and his subtle acceptance of theism.[36][37] In previous episodes—mainly those dealing with Scully's Catholicism—Mulder shows a lack of approval when it came to the concept of organized religion, often pointing out that "theologians can be just as dogmatic as scientists" when it comes to unexplained phenomena.[36] White proposes that this needling may be intentional on Mulder's part, as a form of "ironic reversal of [Scully's] skepticism about the paranormal".[36] However, the final lines of "The Truth" see Mulder talking about a belief in "something greater than us, greater than any alien force".[36] White also points out the fact that during this scene Mulder grabs Scully's gold cross, an icon that symbolizes her belief through much of the series.[36]
Several of the episode's scenes and motifs have been compared to popular myths and legends. Michelle Bush, in her book Myth-X, equated Mulder's overall quest to that of the search for the Holy Grail. She notes that in "The Truth", Mulder and Scully metaphorically "find their way to the Grail castle" only to discover that the Fisher King—the wounded knight charged with protecting the secret—is actually The Smoking Man.[38] Furthermore, Bush compared the final scene of the episode—featuring Mulder musing about hope regarding an alien invasion—to the myth of Pandora's Box. According to legend, the ancient Greek gods gave Pandora a box filled with evils and told her not to open it. Due to her curiosity, she disobeyed and unleashed various calamities unto the world. Bush argues that the Syndicate's tampering with alien technology—such as their alien-human hybrid experiments—are similar to the contents of the box. She notes that, in both cases, "man's curiosity is his downfall".[39] In the end, however, both Pandora's box and the world of The X-Files contain hope, which, in the legend, was the only thing in the box that Pandora did not let go of.[39]
Broadcast and reception[edit]
"The Truth" was originally aired on the Fox network on May 19, 2002,[1] and became the most-watched episode of the ninth season, receiving the season's highest Nielsen ratings. Nielsen ratings are audience measurement system that determine the audience size and composition of television programming in the United States. "The Truth" earned a household rating of 7.5, meaning that it was seen by 7.5 percent of the nation's estimated households.[40] It was viewed by 7.91 million households[40][nb 1] and gathered a total of 13 million viewers in the United States alone.[41] On the date of its airing, the episode ranked third in its timeslot, behind the season finale of Survivor: Marquesas and the heavily promoted reunion of The Cosby Show.[42] "The Truth", however, placed ahead of the season finale of The Practice.[42] In the United Kingdom and Ireland, the episode made its first appearance on Sky1 on September 26, 2002 and received 1.03 million viewers, placing The X-Files second in the top ten broadcasts for Sky1 for that week, behind The Simpsons.[43] The episode was included on The X-Files Mythology, Volume 4 – Super Soldiers, a DVD collection that contains installments involved with the alien "Super Soldiers" arc.[44]
The entry received mixed reviews by critics; the main reason for criticism was that, instead of creating a conclusion, the episode raised new questions for the audience. Robert Shearman and Lars Pearson, in their book Wanting to Believe: A Critical Guide to The X-Files, Millennium & The Lone Gunmen, gave the episode a scathing review and awarded it one star out of five.[12] The two, despite calling the opening "promising", derided the episode's ending—especially the revelation of alien colonization of December 22, 2012—writing, "is this really what the series was about?"[12] Furthermore, Shearman and Pearson concluded that the problem with the episode was that the show, which he called "brilliant—frequently, truly brilliant" decided "to define itself in the summing up" with the episode, which did not answer very many questions.[12] UGO named the episode the fourteenth "Worst Series Finale" and wrote that the episode—and the show's eighth and ninth seasons by extension—were negatively affected by the series' lack of a defining plot line. The article noted that, while the episode claimed to wrap up the story arcs for the series, "the trial of Mulder ultimately resulted in very little satisfying payoff to the series' overarching mysteries".[45] A review from The New York Times, after the premiere of "The Truth", said of the show: "The most imaginative show on television has finally reached the limits of its imagination."[46]
Not all reviews were critical. In 2011, the finale was ranked number twenty-two on the TV Guide Network special, TV's Most Unforgettable Finales, in which the various episodes were discussed by industry experts and television critics.[47] Tom Kessenich, in his book Examinations, wrote a rather positive review of the episode.[48] He noted that, while the episode "told us nothing of significance" regarding the "big picture" mythology story arc, the chance to see Mulder and Scully together one last time resulted in "an exquisite Mulder-Scully moment".[48] He was particularly pleased with the final scene, noting that it was an appropriate conclusion; he called it "fitting", as well as "wonderful".[48] Kessenich maintained that, were it not for the return of Duchovny, "nobody would have given a damn about the end of this series."[48]
Notes[edit]
1.Jump up ^ At the time of airing, there were 105.5 million television homes.[40] Thus, 7.5 percent of 105.5 million is 7.91 million households.
References[edit]
Footnotes[edit]
1.^ Jump up to: a b c Kim Manners, et al (booklet). The X-Files: The Complete Ninth Season (Liner notes). Fox.
2.Jump up ^ "The X-Files, Season 9". iTunes Store. Apple Inc. Retrieved September 6, 2012.
3.Jump up ^ The Truth — Cast Credits (DVD). The X-Files: The Complete Ninth Season: 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment. 2002.
4.Jump up ^ "The Truth". BBC Cult. BBC. Retrieved May 9, 2012.
5.Jump up ^ "The Truth, Part Two". BBC Cult. BBC. Retrieved May 9, 2012.
6.^ Jump up to: a b c Chris Carter et al (2002). The Truth Behind Season 9: "The Truth" (DVD). The X-Files: The Complete Ninth Season: 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment.
7.Jump up ^ Hurwitz and Knowles (2008), pp. 209–216
8.^ Jump up to: a b Paul Rabwin (2002). Reflections on the Truth (DVD). The X-Files: The Complete Ninth Season: 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment.
9.Jump up ^ Kessenich (2002), p. 211
10.^ Jump up to: a b Bush (2008), p. 58
11.^ Jump up to: a b c Kim Manners (director); Chris Carter (writer). "The Truth". The X-Files. Season 9. Episode 19 & 20. Fox.
12.^ Jump up to: a b c d Shearman and Pearson (2009), pp. 278–280
13.Jump up ^ Win Phelps (director); Chris Carter (writer). "Red Museum". The X-Files. Season 3. Episode 10. Fox.
14.Jump up ^ Collis, Clark (March 18, 2008). "'X-Files' Creator Chris Carter Wants to Believe in a Third Movie featuring Mulder and Scully". Entertainment Weekly (Time Inc). Retrieved July 16, 2009.
15.Jump up ^ Gallman, Brett (August 2, 2012). "Frank Spotnitz Still Wants to Do a Third 'X-Files' Film". Yahoo! Movies. Yahoo!. Retrieved September 7, 2012.
16.Jump up ^ "'X-Files' Movie: David Duchovny Is In". The Huffington Post (AOL). August 12, 2012. Retrieved 4, September 2012.
17.Jump up ^ Marcus, Stephanie (August 27, 2012). "Gillian Anderson: 'X-Files 3' Movie Is 'Looking Pretty Good'". The Huffington Post (AOL). Retrieved September 4, 2012.
18.Jump up ^ Robert Mandel (director); Chris Carter (writer). "Pilot". The X-Files. Season 1. Episode 1. Fox.
19.Jump up ^ Hurwitz and Knowles (2008), p. 201
20.Jump up ^ "Jump the Shark". Television Without Pity. NBCUniversal. Retrieved October 7, 2012.
21.Jump up ^ Kessenich (2002), p. 204
22.Jump up ^ R. W. Goodwin (director); Chris Carter (writer). "Herrenvolk". The X-Files. Season 4. Episode 1. Fox.
23.Jump up ^ R. W. Goodwin (director); Chris Carter (writer). "The Erlenmeyer Flask". The X-Files. Season 1. Episode 24. Fox.
24.Jump up ^ Kim Manners (director); Chris Carter (writer). "Existence". The X-Files. Season 8. Episode 21. Fox.
25.^ Jump up to: a b Kim Manners (director); Chris Carter (writer). "Requiem". The X-Files. Season 7. Episode 22. Fox.
26.Jump up ^ Kim Manners (director); Chris Carter (writer). "Without". The X-Files. Season 8. Episode 2. Fox.
27.Jump up ^ Cliff Bole (director); Vince Gilligan, John Shiban, & Frank Spotnitz (writers). "Jump the Shark". The X-Files. Season 9. Episode 15. Fox.
28.Jump up ^ Rob Bowman (director); Chris Carter & Frank Spotnitz (writers). "One Son". The X-Files. Season 6. Episode 12. Fox.
29.Jump up ^ David Duchovny (director); Chris Carter, Frank Spotnitz & Duchovny (writers). "William". The X-Files. Season 9. Episode 16. Fox.
30.^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h i Manners, Kim (2002). Audio Commentary for "The Truth". The X-Files: The Complete Ninth Season DVD: 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment.
31.Jump up ^ Fraga (2010), p. 222
32.^ Jump up to: a b c Frank Spotnitz (2002). Deleted Scenes with Optional Commentary by Frank Spotnitz: Scene 77 – President Bush (DVD). The X-Files: The Complete Ninth Season: 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment.
33.Jump up ^ Fraga (2010), passim
34.^ Jump up to: a b c Fraga (2010), p. 237–238
35.Jump up ^ Paul Rabwin (2002). Special Effects by Mat Beck with Commentary by Paul Rabwin – "CSM Incinerates" (DVD). The X-Files: The Complete Ninth Season: Fox Home Entertainment.
36.^ Jump up to: a b c d e f White (2007), p. 53
37.Jump up ^ White (2007), p. 44
38.Jump up ^ Bush (2008), p. 19
39.^ Jump up to: a b Bush (2008), p. 47
40.^ Jump up to: a b c Associated Press (May 2002). "Prime-Time Nielsen ratings". Associated Press Archive.
41.Jump up ^ "ARTS & TV in Brief 'Survivor: Marquesas' outwits the competition". Boston Herald (Herald Media): 48. May 2002.
42.^ Jump up to: a b McCollum, Charlie (May 2002). "'X-Files' Finale Posts Ratings Way Out There". San Jose Mercury News (MediaNews Group): 8F.
43.Jump up ^ "BARB's multichannel top 10 programmes". Broadcasters' Audience Research Board. Retrieved August 1, 2009. Note: Information is in the section titled "w/e 23–29 Sept, 2002", listed under Sky1
44.Jump up ^ Kim Manners, et al. The X-Files Mythology, Volume 4 – Super Soldiers (DVD). 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment.
45.Jump up ^ Fitzpatrick, Kevin (March 16, 2011). "TV's Worst Series Finales". UGO Networks. UGO Entertainment. Retrieved June 6, 2012.
46.Jump up ^ "The Nearly Ex Files". The New York Times (The New York Times Company). October 10, 2002. Retrieved August 17, 2009.
47.Jump up ^ "TV's Most Unforgettable Finales". May 22, 2011. TV Guide Network.
48.^ Jump up to: a b c d Kessenich (2002), pp. 195–200
Filming locations[edit]

[show]Map of all coordinates from Google
Map of up to 200 coordinates from Bing



 
1.Jump up ^ Fort MacArthur: 33.7120°N 118.2962°W
2.Jump up ^ The Marine Mammal Care Center: 33.716915°N 118.29649°W
3.Jump up ^ Anza-Borrego State Park: 33.2565°N 116.3991°W
Bibliography[edit]
Bush, Michelle (2008). Myth-X. Lulu. ISBN 1435746880.
Fraga, Erica (2010). LAX-Files: Behind the Scenes with the Los Angeles Cast and Crew. CreateSpace. ISBN 9781451503418.
Hurwitz, Matt; Knowles, Chris (2008). The Complete X-Files. Insight Editions. ISBN 1933784806.
Kessenich, Tom (2002). Examination: An Unauthorized Look at Seasons 6–9 of the X-Files. Trafford Publishing. ISBN 1553698126.
Shearman, Robert; Pearson, Lars (2009). Wanting to Believe: A Critical Guide to The X-Files, Millennium & The Lone Gunmen. Mad Norwegian Press. ISBN 097594469X.
White, V. Alan (2007). "Freedom and Worldviews in The X-Files". In Kowalski, Dean A. The Philosophy of The X-files. University Press of Kentucky. ISBN 0813124549.
External links[edit]
 Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: The X-Files

Portal icon Television portal
"The Truth" at the Internet Movie Database
"The Truth" & "The Truth II" at TV.com

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Categories: 2002 television episodes
2012 phenomenon
Television series finales
The X-Files (season 9) episodes




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