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""Provenance" is the ninth episode of the ninth season of the American science fiction television series The X-Files. It premiered on the Fox network on . The episode was written by series creator Chris Carter and executive producer Frank Spotnitz, and directed by Kim Manners. "Provenance" helps to explore the series' overarching mythology. The episode received a Nielsen household rating of 5.5 and was watched by 5.8 million households and 9.7 million viewers. It received mixed to positive reviews from critics. The show centers on special agents of the FBI 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, when rubbings from the spaceship resurface the FBI hides its investigation from the X-Files. Meanwhile, Scully is forced to take drastic measures when she discovers a threat to William. "Provenance" introduced the character of the Toothpick Man, played by Alan Dale. This character became the leader of the New Syndicate and worked within the FBI during the show's ninth season. The episode makes reference to rubbings from an alien wreck, a direct continuation from the plots of the sixth season finale "Biogenesis" and the seventh season opener "The Sixth Extinction". Plot Navajo rubbings are found in the satchel of a motorcyclist who crashed while attempting to cross the U.S.-Canada border. Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) is called into a meeting with Alvin Kersh (James Pickens, Jr.), Walter Skinner (Mitch Pileggi), Brad Follmer (Cary Elwes) and a few unknown men. She is shown a copy of the rubbings and is asked whether she can identify them. After the meeting, Scully explains to John Doggett (Robert Patrick) and Monica Reyes (Annabeth Gish) that the rubbings are similar to ones she found on a wrecked spacecraft three years prior. Meanwhile, the motorcyclist uses an alien artifact which begins to heal the wounds from his crash. Meanwhile, in Alberta, a downed spacecraft is being excavated under the direction of Josepho, the leader of a UFO cult. At the FBI, Doggett breaks into Skinner's office and steals the rubbings, along with an FBI personnel file belonging to Agent Robert Comer (Neal McDonough), the motorcyclist. Reyes reveals that Comer's rubbings do not match those from Africa, suggesting the existence of a second craft. Meanwhile, Comer steals a truck, goes to Scully's apartment, overpowers Margaret Scully (Sheila Larken) and locks himself in William's room. Scully arrives and, after a struggle, is forced to shoot Comer when he tries to smother the baby. The mortally wounded Comer tells Scully that William "has to die". Scully searches his jacket and discovers the artifact. Later, in Calgary, one of the cultists, the Overcoat Woman, sees a newspaper headline about Comer's shooting; she rushes to the dig site and informs Josepho. In Washington, Kersh admits to Scully and Doggett that Comer had gone undercover into Josepho's cult, and reveals that he was a former U.S. military officer. Kersh explains that Comer was given the assignment to investigate a series of death threats against Fox Mulder (David Duchovny). As Reyes brings William back to Scully's apartment, Comer's artifact flies over William and hovers above his head. Scully, realizing something is wrong, plans to drive William to somewhere safe. At the same time, Doggett notices the Overcoat Woman watching them nearby. As Scully and Reyes drive away, Doggett confronts the woman at gunpoint, but she runs him over. Scully places William under the care of The Lone Gunmen, but they are soon ambushed by the Overcoat Woman. Upon finding an injured Doggett, Scully quickly rushes back to the Lone Gunmen, aware that someone is after her son. With Melvin Frohike (Tom Braidwood) and Richard Langly (Dean Haglund) incapacitated, the woman opens the back door of the van to find John Fitzgerald Byers (Bruce Harwood) holding William. The woman puts a gun to Byers' head. Production right "Provenance" was written by series creator Chris Carter and executive producer Frank Spotnitz, and directed by Kim Manners. Manners was very pleased with Anderson's performance in the episode, later saying that her acting "was very sexual." He further elaborated, "There's some burning within her that really comes across on screen. She really is brilliant, and she brings so much; the camera loves her." A large portion of the episode was based on the ancient astronaut theory; a theory that proposes intelligent extraterrestrial beings have visited Earth in antiquity or prehistory and made contact with humans.Hurwitz and Knowles, p. 169 The themes had previously been visited in the "Biogenesis"/"The Sixth Extinction"/"Amor Fati" story arc.Hurwitz and Knowles, p. 202 The episode marked the first appearance of Alan Dale as the Toothpick Man, the leader of the New Syndicate who works within the FBI. An interview with Digital Spy described him as "effectively [stepping] into the nicotine-stained chair of the departed Cigarette Smoking Man (William B. Davis) as the head of a shady new syndicate, although he was later exposed as an alien." Laura Leigh Hughes makes her third and final appearance as Kersh's Assistant. She had previously appeared in the sixth-season episodes "Triangle" and "Dreamland." The scenes in Calgary were actually shot in the back of the Universal Studios lot in Los Angeles. In order to convert the Los Angeles cityscape into Calgary's, Mat Beck created a matte of the shot; the background buildings were then edited out. A separate shot of Calgary was superimposed in the background and the scenes were composited in post-production editing. Broadcast and reception "Provenance" first premiered on the Fox network in the United States on March 3, 2002. The episode earned a Nielsen household rating of 5.5, meaning that it was seen by 5.5% of the nation's estimated households and was viewed by 5.8 million households. "Provenance" was viewed by 9.7 million viewers and was the 61st most watched episode of television that aired during the week ending March 3. The episode eventually aired on BBC Two on January 12, 2003. "Provenance" 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. "Provenance" received mixed to positive reviews from television critics. Jessica Morgan from Television Without Pity awarded the episode an A– grade. Jeffrey Robinson from DVD Talk concluded that "Provenance", along with its follow-up "Providence", "does a fairly good job without including Duchovny" due to its adherence to "the series' main storyline [about] the government conspiracies." Other reviews were more negative. 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. The two noted that Anderson was constantly playing "a mother who's always crying, shouting or looking miserable" in the episode. They wrote that the episode's "characters no longer make sense" and that the plot has "been so required to dance through the little conspiracy hoops that there's no consistency any more." Furthermore, Shearman and Pearson criticized the idea to suggest that Mulder died in the episode, due to the fact that Carter announced Duchovny would return for the season finale.Shearman and Pearson, p. 268 M.A. Crang, in his book Denying the Truth: Revisiting The X-Files after 9/11, criticised the plot of the episode, saying that it "throws up many elements that we've seen the series do better elsewhere...in the hope that something will stick". Explanatory notes FootnotesBibliography * * External links *"Provenance" at XFiles.com * * "Provenance" at TV.com Category:2002 American television episodes Category:Television episodes set in Canada Category:Television episodes set in Maryland Category:Television episodes set in North Dakota Category:The X-Files (season 9) episodes Category:Television episodes set in Washington, D.C. "
""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 . 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. Plot In his room in Fairhope, Pennsylvania, 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, telling him that he sees nothing, and tells Tommy to go back to sleep. Tommy sees the creature again and calls for his dad; Jeffrey holds the door shut as Tommy bangs on the door. 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. Scully dismisses Harrison's claims, so Harrison dupes John Doggett (Robert Patrick) and Monica Reyes (Annabeth Gish) into investigating. Doggett, Reyes, and Harrison arrive at the Conlon residence in Fairhope, Pennsylvania. 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 to 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 witness the monsters: large, silverfish-like creatures that multiply when shot by Doggett. Alerted by Scully, the local sheriff (Steve Ryan) arrives, but a scuffle ensues. The sheriff draws a gun, and Doggett gut punches him, only to have his hand go completely through the man's stomach. Upon investigation, Reyes is unable to find any organs in the man's body. Tommy shows Reyes the pictures he has been drawing. They include the sheriff with a gun, insect creatures, and Reyes with an insect creature bursting from her body. Reyes asks Tommy why he would imagine such things, and Tommy replies because he is very scared. Suddenly, the sheriff's body disappears, and Reyes doubles over in pain. Doggett and Harrison pull up her shirt to reveal movement in her abdomen, as if something is trying to get out. Harrison then begins to bleed from her eyes. Doggett approaches Tommy, orders him to stop, and follows him down the hall when he fails to stop. Doggett follows Tommy into a room, but plummets into a blackened abyss where he is attacked by the insects. However, due to Doggett's skepticism, he is able to fight off the illusion. Because he does not believe they are real, they cease to be real. Doggett explains to Jeffrey that all of the creatures are imaginary and are produced by Tommy's imagination. This includes the bugs, the "sheriff" who had no organs, and Reyes's and Harrison's ailments. Jeffrey's wife and their cat Spanky killed themselves trying to remove the insect creatures, believing they were real. Doggett tricks and subdues Tommy by pretending to set the house on fire. He pours a gas canister filled with water over the floor and furniture, acting as though it is gasoline. Because Tommy believes it to be real, when Doggett lights a match, he sees an inferno surrounding him in the living room. Tommy passes out in fear. Tommy is eventually transported to a psychiatric ward where his imagination is suppressed by watching a wall of television screens. ProductionWriting= "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.Huwritz and Knowles, pp. 236–40. Schnauz explained that before the episode was green-lit, 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." 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 entitled "It's a Good Life", in which a monster-child can control the world. 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.Fraga, pp. 216–17. =Filming= 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. Harrison, who had first appeared in the Spotnitz-penned eighth season episode "Alone", was created and named in memory of an Internet fan of The X-Files and prolific writer of fan fiction of the same name, who had died of cancer on February 10, 2001. Jenkins' character, 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". Near the end of "Scary Monsters", Leyla and Gabe Rotter were supposed to walk off-screen, holding hands, which prompted series director Kim Manners to sardonically ask "when did this turn into the fucking Brady Bunch?" The sequence was subsequently cut. 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. 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 episode "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. Finally, when Tommy shows Reyes his drawing, he tells her "I made this", a possible reference to the tagline at the end of every Ten Thirteen Production.Shearman and Pearson, pp. 272–73. 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 news. 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".Hurwitz and Knowles, pp. 204–06. Broadcast and reception "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. The episode's initial broadcast was viewed by approximately 5.4 million households and 8.2 million viewers, making it the fifty-seventh most watched episode of television that aired during the week ending January 27. "Scary Monsters" earned a Nielsen household rating of 5.1, meaning that it was seen by 5.1% of the nation's estimated households. The episode received mixed to positive reviews from television critics. Jessica Morgan from Television Without Pity awarded the episode a "C–" grade. 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". 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". M.A. Crang, in his book Denying the Truth: Revisiting The X-Files after 9/11, called the episode a "solid little entry", saying that it was a "nice spin on the isolation stories that the series has always done so effectively". Notes References ;Footnotes ;Bibliography External links *"Scary Monsters" at TheXFiles.com * * "Scary Monsters" at TV.com Category:2002 American television episodes Category:Television episodes set in Pennsylvania Category:The X-Files (season 9) episodes Category:Television episodes set in Virginia Category:Television episodes set in Washington, D.C. "
""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 . 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, on his whim, 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. Plot 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 Kamps, 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". Production right 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. "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.Kessenich (2002), p. 204 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. In the end, they "grudgingly consented".Kessenich (2002), pp. 194–195 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, Ontario, in 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 would 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.Hurwitz and Knowles (2008), p. 206 Broadcast and reception "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. The episode's initial broadcast was viewed by approximately 6.1 million households, and 9.3 million viewers. "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. 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. The episode received mixed reviews from television critics. Jessica Morgan from Television Without Pity gave the episode an A– grade. 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?" Shearman and Pearson, however, did praise Chris Owens' acting, writing that he did a "great job".Shearman and Pearson (2009), pp. 274–276 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".Kessenich (2002), pp. 203–208 Aaron Kinney from Salon wrote that the episode "scuttled the entire" baby William subplot. M.A. Crang, in his book Denying the Truth: Revisiting The X-Files after 9/11, praised the decision to conclude the William subplot but called the episode's conclusion "sappy".Crang (2015), p. 151 Notes Footnotes Bibliography * * External links *"William" at XFiles.com * * "William" at TV.com Category:2002 American television episodes Category:The X-Files (season 9) episodes Category:television episodes set in Washington, D.C. Category:Television episodes set in Wyoming "