"Empedocles" is the seventeenth episode of the eighth season of the American science fiction television series The X-Files. It premiered on the Fox network on April 22, 2001. The episode was written by Greg Walker and directed by Barry K. Thomas. "Empedocles" is a "Monster-of-the-Week" story, unconnected to the series' wider mythology. The episode received a Nielsen rating of 7.3 and was viewed by 7.46 million households and over 12.46 million viewers. Overall, the episode received mixed reviews from critics.
"Empedocles" was named after the famed Greekpre-Socratic philosopher of the same name. The episode marked the return of Special Agent Monica Reyes, who was first introduced in the earlier season eight episode "This is Not Happening". Reyes would later become Doggett's partner, in the show's ninth season. The episode included an elaborate special effects sequence wherein actor Jay Underwood rips off his face to reveal fire underneath his skin, which was created via green screen technology.
Plot
In New Orleans, mild-mannered white-collar worker Jeb Larold Dukes (Jay Underwood) is fired from his job. After he leaves the office, Jeb witnesses a car chase which ends in a fiery crash. A burning figure that only Jeb can see emerges from the wreck and seems to merge with him. Jeb, now possessed by the being, returns to his office to massacre his boss and co-workers.
Monica Reyes (Annabeth Gish) arrives at the crime scene and meets NOPD detective Franklin Potter, who has called her in out of his belief that the murders are related to satanism. Reyes merely answers the detective that it was not devil worship, and that the killer probably was under stress. As she is leaving, she witnesses one of the bodies carbonize into a charred corpse in front of her, only to have it revert to normal.
Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) takes a pregnant Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) to the hospital when she doubles over in pain. There, Reyes phones him to ask about the case, but Mulder cedes to the authority of John Doggett (Robert Patrick), who is formally running the X-Files. However, Reyes says she can't call Doggett since it is about him. Meanwhile, Jeb is in a hotel room in Georgia trying to shoot himself in the head. Suddenly, he notices something wrong with his face; he claws at his face, peeling away the skin to reveal burning embers underneath.
Mulder and Reyes meet in an FBI records room, where she divulges that she was one of the agents called in to investigate the murder of Doggett's son Luke years previously. They never found the killer, and when they discovered Luke's body, both Reyes and Doggett saw it transform into ashes instantly, something Doggett has spent the last few years convincing himself he did not see. Reyes believes it was a psychic clue, and now with the other crime scene, she has seen it again.
Doggett soon attacks Mulder for looking into his son's case, but Reyes explains why they are investigating. She reveals that Bob Harvey, a suspect in Luke's murder, died in the car crash in New Orleans. Reyes stresses her vision's importance, but Doggett dismisses it. Reyes then visits Jeb's sister, Katha, and learns he did not know Bob Harvey. While Reyes is there, Katha receives a call from Jeb, but tells him to call later. As Jeb leaves the phone booth, he kills a female motorist. Meanwhile, Doggett learns from Scully that she has suffered a placental abruption. He asks her what made her start to believe in the paranormal. She says she realized she was "afraid to believe." Scully later tells Mulder to keep trying to help Doggett.
As Doggett approaches the body of Jeb's latest victim, he has a flashback of when he found Luke's body. Doggett storms off, but Reyes refuses to let it go, finally revealing her theory: she believes that the boy's murder was part of a "thread of evil," an interconnected series of terrible events. Meanwhile, Katha returns home with her daughter and finds Jeb there. He insists that it wasn't him who committed the murder, and pleads to his sister for help. Katha calls the agents and tries to separate her daughter from Jeb, but he realizes what she is planning and uses his niece as a hostage. Before Jeb can shoot Doggett, Reyes incapacitates him with a round to the throat.
Doggett finally embraces the memory of his vision. Mulder tells him that when he worked in violent crimes and saw the horrible things people did, he began to think of evil like a disease that infected people. Some lack immunity to this disease of evil because of some tragedy in their lives. Jeb dies while Reyes and Katha are in the room. After the doctors leave, Katha's eyes glow, much like Jeb's. She hits Reyes over the head with an oxygen tank and takes her gun. Before she can execute Reyes for killing her brother, Doggett appears and wrestles her to the ground. At the end Dogget looks in on Katha seeming to be drugged laying in a hospital bed. [2]
Production
The episode was named after the famed philosopher Empedocles.
Writing
The episode was written by Greg Walker and directed by Barry K. Thomas, marking his directoral debut.[3] The episode takes its title from the famed Greekpre-Socratic philosopher of the same name. Empedocles believed that out of the four classic elements—earth, wind, fire, and water—fire was the most superior. As such, Empedocles is often associated with fire.[4] According to legend recorded by Diogenes Laërtius, in order to ascend to godhood, Empedocles threw himself into a volcano in Mount Etna.[4][5]
The episode marked the return of Special Agent Monica Reyes, who was first introduced in the earlier season eight episode "This is Not Happening".[6] Although Reyes would later become Doggett's partner, the series attempted to differentiate the Doggett/Reyes relationship from the Mulder/Scully relationship. Robert Patrick later noted, "We're not going to try to duplicate [the Mulder and Scully relationship], we're not going to try to regenerate the magic chemistry."[7] However, he later did say "that Gillian and I had our own chemistry that was unique unto itself, and likewise with the addition of Annabeth. It was different."[7]
Special effects
In order to create the "Lava Face" effect, actor Jay Underwood's face was painted green. A mask with pre-cut slits was then placed over the skin. Underwood then tore the mask off of his own face, revealing streaks of the green coloring. A matte of the scene was then cut and various fire effects were placed into Underwood's face via green screen technology. In order to make the "cracks" appear, digital technology was created to "smooth over" the skin and then slowly reveal the pre-cut slits. Producer Paul Rabwin later joked that Underwood "had fire for brains".[8]
Reception
"Empedocles" first aired on Fox on April 22, 2001.[9] The episode earned a Nielsen household rating of 7.3, meaning that it was seen by 7.3% of the nation's estimated households.[10] The episode was viewed by 7.46 million households[10][nb 1] and over 12.46 million viewers.[11] The episode ranked as the 40th most-watched episode for the week ending April 22.[10] The episode subsequently aired in the United Kingdom on the BBC Two on July 28, 2002.[9] Fox promoted the episode with the tagline "The murder of Doggett's son is about to become an X-file."[12]
Critical reception to the episode was mostly mixed. 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 "X-File in itself is an interesting concept, but left frustratingly vague." Shearman and Pearson, however, did positively write that the episode is "a character study which gives its new leads some background and depth and, better yet, somewhere new to develop."[13] VanDerWerff later awarded the episode a "C+" and wrote that "there are a lot of things to like in "Empedocles," but the central conceit is just too stupid for the episode as a whole to work."[14] While she enjoyed the "way that [the episode] features all four FBI agents in the same episode", she was critical of both the plot and the Mulder and Scully dynamic, noting that it fell flat.[14]
Paula Vitaris from Cinefantastique gave the episode a negative review and awarded it one-and-a-half stars out of four.[15] She criticized several of the plot points in the episode, most notably how a "big-city" New Orleans detective could mistake Marilyn Manson CDs as signs of blatant satanic imagery. Vitaris further criticized the "sidelined" behavior of Scully and the "shoehorned" characterization of Reyes.[15] Tom Kessenich, in his book Examinations, wrote a largely negative review of the episode. He criticized the downsized role Mulder and Scully played in the episode, noting that they had been "reduced to mere footnotes".[16] Furthermore, Kessenich reasoned that, by trying to "prep for [a] future" of just Doggett and Reyes and "[connect] to the past" with Mulder and Scully, the episode ultimately "served to remind us how Doggett and Reyes pale in comparison to the magic of Mulder and Scully."[17]
Not all reviews were negative. Television Without Pity writer Jessica Morgan rated the episode a B−.[18]Sarah Stegall awarded the episode five stars out of five and noted "Being dead has done wonders for Fox Mulder."[19] Stegall concluded that the episode "is one of the best episodes of the new era. Mulder and Scully get one last chance to remind us why we will miss them, and Doggett and Reyes get a chance to earn their stripes. [...] If this is the season where the torch gets passed, it's good to see that it's got one last flare in it."[19]
Notes
↑ At the time of airing, the estimated number of households was 102.2 million.[10] Thus, 7.3 percent of 102.2 million is 7.46 million households.
Shearman, Robert; Pearson, Lars (2009). Wanting to Believe: A Critical Guide to The X-Files, Millennium & The Lone Gunmen. Mad Norwegian Press. ISBN978-0975944691.
Monica Julieta Reyes is a fictional character in the Fox science fiction-supernatural television series The X-Files. She is portrayed by Annabeth Gish. At first a Field Agent before becoming a Special Agent with the FBI, she works with her longtime friend and partner John Doggett in the X-Files office, which is concerned with the investigation of paranormal cases, dubbed "X-Files". Introduced in the series' eighth season, Reyes would become a main character throughout the entirety of its ninth season, before returning for a single-episode guest appearance in the tenth-season finale, and later in a recurring capacity during season eleven.
Alvin D. Kersh is a fictional character in the Fox science fiction television series The X-Files, played by James Pickens Jr. He serves as a figure of authority within the series, first introduced as an Assistant Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and is later promoted to the post of Deputy Director. Kersh acts as an antagonist who bureaucratically prevents Special Agents Fox Mulder, Dana Scully, John Doggett and Monica Reyes from investigating cases dealing with the paranormal, dubbed X-Files.
"The Truth" is the finale of the ninth season of the American science fiction television series The X-Files. "The Truth", the 19th and 20th episodes of the season and the 201st and 202nd episodes overall, originally served as the finale for the entire series, until the return of the series in January 2016. 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 and was seen by 13.25 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.
"Roadrunners" is the fourth episode of the eighth season and the 165th episode overall of the science fiction television series The X-Files. "Roadrunners" is a "Monster-of-the-Week" story, unconnected to the series' wider mythology. The episode first aired in the United States on November 26, 2000, on Fox and on March 1, 2001, on Sky1 in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It was written by Vince Gilligan and directed by Rod Hardy. The episode earned a Nielsen household rating of 8.3 and was watched by 13.6 million households. The episode received mixed reviews from television critics.
"Within" is the eighth season premiere of the science fiction television series The X-Files. The episode first aired in the United States on November 5, 2000, on the Fox Network. It was written by executive producer and series creator Chris Carter, and directed by Kim Manners. The episode earned a Nielsen rating of 9.5 and was watched by 15.87 million viewers, marking a slight increase from the previous season's finale "Requiem". "Within" was largely well-received by critics, although some fans felt alienated by the addition of Robert Patrick to the cast.
"Without" is the second episode of the eighth season of the science fiction television series The X-Files. The episode first aired in the United States and Canada on November 12, 2000, on Fox and subsequently aired in the United Kingdom on February 18, 2001. It was written by executive producer Chris Carter and directed by Kim Manners. The episode helps to explore the series' overarching mythology and continues from the seventh season finale, "Requiem", and season eight premiere, "Within", in which Fox Mulder was abducted by aliens who are planning to colonize Earth. The episode earned a Nielsen rating of 9.0 in the United States and was seen by 15.1 million viewers. As with the previous episode, "Within," it was generally well-received by critics, although some detractors criticized various plot points.
"Nothing Important Happened Today" refers to the two premiere episodes of the ninth season of the science fiction television series The X-Files. Part 1 first aired on November 11 and Part 2 aired on November 18, 2001, on Fox in the United States. The episodes were written by executive producers Chris Carter and Frank Spotnitz. "Nothing Important Happened Today I" was directed by Kim Manners and "Nothing Important Happened Today II" was directed by Tony Wharmby. The episode helped to explore the series' overarching mythology and earned a Nielsen rating of 6.5 and was viewed by 10.6 million viewers, whereas the second part earned a rating of 5.9 and was viewed by 9.4 million viewers. Critical reception to the episode was largely mixed.
"Trust No 1" is the sixth episode of the ninth season of the American science fiction television series The X-Files. It premiered on the Fox network on January 6, 2002. The episode was written by series creator Chris Carter and executive producer Frank Spotnitz, and directed by Tony Wharmby. "Trust No 1" helps to explore the series' overarching mythology. The episode received a Nielsen household rating of 5.1 and was viewed by 8.4 million viewers; it garnered mixed to negative reviews from television critics, with many feeling that it portrayed the series' characters in a way that was unfaithful to the show's history.
"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.
"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.
"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 was directed by Kim Manners. The episode helps to explore one of the show's story arcs 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.
"Badlaa" is the tenth episode of the eighth season of the American science fiction television series The X-Files. It premiered on the Fox network on January 21, 2001. The episode was written by John Shiban and directed by Tony Wharmby. "Badlaa" is a "Monster-of-the-Week" story, unconnected to the series' wider mythology. The episode received a Nielsen rating of 7.3 and was viewed by 11.8 million viewers. Overall, the episode received mostly negative reviews from critics.
"Salvage" is the ninth episode of the eighth season of the American science fiction television series The X-Files. It premiered on the Fox network on January 14, 2001. The episode was written by Jeffrey Bell and directed by Rod Hardy. "Salvage" is a "Monster-of-the-Week" story, unconnected to the series' wider mythology. The episode received a Nielsen rating of 7.1 and was viewed by 11.7 million viewers. Overall, the episode received largely negative reviews from critics.
"Invocation" is the fifth episode of the eighth season of the American science fiction television series The X-Files. It premiered on the Fox network on December 3, 2000. The episode was written by David Amman and directed by Richard Compton. "Invocation" is a "monster-of-the-week" story, unconnected to the series' wider mythology. The episode received a Nielsen rating of 8.2 and was viewed by 13.9 million viewers. Overall, the episode received mixed reviews from critics.
"Essence" is the twentieth and penultimate episode of the eighth season and the 181st episode overall of the science fiction television series The X-Files. The episode first aired in the United States on May 13, 2001, on Fox, and subsequently aired in the United Kingdom. It was written by executive producer Chris Carter and directed by Kim Manners. "Essence" earned Nielsen rating of 7.7 and was viewed by 12.8 million viewers. The episode received largely positive reviews from critics.
"Alone" is the nineteenth episode of the eighth season and the 180th episode overall of the science fiction television series The X-Files. The episode first aired in the United States on May 6, 2001 on Fox, and subsequently aired in the United Kingdom on Sky1 on June 14, 2001. It was written and directed by executive producer Frank Spotnitz. "Alone" earned a Nielsen household rating of 7.5 and was viewed by 12.7 million viewers. It received mixed to positive reviews from television critics.
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"Existence" is the twenty-first episode and final episode of the eighth-season of the science fiction television series The X-Files and 182nd episode overall. The episode first premiered on Fox in the United States on May 20, 2001, and subsequently aired in the United Kingdom on June 28, 2001, on Sky1. It was written by executive producer Chris Carter and directed by Kim Manners. "Existence" earned a Nielsen household rating of 8.4 and was watched by 8.58 million households and 14 million viewers, overall. The episode received largely positive reviews from television critics.
"This Is Not Happening" is the fourteenth episode of the eighth season and the 175th episode overall of the science fiction television series The X-Files. The episode first aired in the United States on February 25, 2001, on the Fox Network, and subsequently aired in the United Kingdom. It was written by executive producers Chris Carter and Frank Spotnitz, and directed by Kim Manners, and forms part of the series' overarching mythology. The episode received a Nielsen household rating of 9.7 and was watched by 16.9 million viewers, making it the highest-rated episode of the season. "This Is Not Happening" was received positively by television critics.
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