"Existence" is the twenty-first episode and final episode of the eighth-season of the science fictiontelevision seriesThe 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.
"Existence", along with previous season eight episodes starting with "Per Manum", introduce the story arc revolving around the "super soldiers", which continued throughout the ninth season. The episode was the last to include David Duchovny's character until the series finale the following year. As such, the last scene with Doggett and Reyes in Kersh's office was intended to show the "New X-Files" without Duchovny.
Plot
A metal box containing the remains of Billy Miles is brought to a coroner. The coroner examines it and notices what appears to be a metal vertebra. After he leaves the room, the metal vertebra begins to spin, growing into what looks like the beginnings of a metallic spine.
In Assistant Director Walter Skinner's office, a surveillance video shows Billy Miles leaving the morgue alive and well. Questioned by Skinner and Agents Mulder and Doggett, Alex Krycek (Nicholas Lea) reveals that Miles is a "new type of alien replacement agent" and there are others like him. Doggett is called out of the office on behalf of his source Knowle Rohrer, who claims that Miles is part of a secret military project to create "super soldiers" and that Scully had a chip put in the back of her neck during her abduction to make her pregnant with the first organic version of a super soldier.
Suddenly, Miles appears at the FBI headquarters. Sensing this, Krycek tries to escape with Skinner in pursuit, but as they manage to escape in an elevator, Miles' hand breaks through the elevator door, injuring Skinner and knocking him unconscious. At the hospital, Doggett relates Rohrer's claims to Mulder, who rejects the story, and the two agents set out to find out how trustworthy Rohrer really is. As they observe the FBI garage, they see Krycek and Rohrer arriving in a car. Doggett covertly pursues Rohrer and sees him meet with FBI Agent Crane. After learning of this, Mulder believes that Crane gave Krycek access to the FBI. Suddenly, Krycek smashes through the car window and crushes Mulder's phone. Krycek threatens Mulder with a gun, but is disarmed and eventually shot dead by Skinner. Doggett confronts Rohrer and Crane but ends up being chased by the two. The pursuit ends violently with Crane being run over and Rohrer crashing his car into the garage wall, going up in flames. Both men are presumed dead but later disappear.
Meanwhile, Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) and Monica Reyes have arrived in Georgia at the abandoned town to hide Scully and her unborn child. They are detected by a female trooper, who agrees to bring them supplies for the birth. At night, Miles attacks the hideout but is shot by the trooper. Scully goes into labor, while a revived Miles and other alien Super Soldiers surround the house. The trooper, revealed to be another Super Soldier, exclaims: "This baby will be born!" Monica Reyes helps Scully deliver an apparently normal baby, with the Super Soldiers witnessing the birth in a cold stare. Without explanation, the aliens leave the area as Mulder arrives.
At FBI Headquarters, Doggett and Reyes report to an enraged Deputy Director Alvin Kersh, who objects to Doggett co-opting Reyes to the X-Files without his permission. Doggett retorts by informing Kersh that he is himself under investigation after a late night meeting between him, Rohrer and Crane. Mulder visits Scully and her baby, William, at her apartment. After marveling over the baby and discussing recent events, the two share a long, passionate kiss.[2]
Production
The birth of William was supposed to allude to the birth of Jesus Christ.
Writing and casting
"Existence" was written during filming, which led to Kim Manners—the director of the episode—helping with the script. Because of this, several of the action scenes, such as the fight at the FBI headquarters, were Manners' ideas. According to Manners, the last scene with Doggett and Reyes in Kersh's office was the "birth" of the "New X-Files" without David Duchovny as a lead.[3] From here on, Monica Reyes became a main character on the show.[3]Star Trek: The Next Generation regular Denise Crosby briefly appears as Scully's gynecologist. The episode features the last appearance of Nicholas Lea, sans the series finale. Reportedly, Lea had become tired of the role and was growing weary of the ambiguous nature of the character. When Lea learned that his character was to be killed off in "Existence", he reportedly welcomed the news. The night the episode aired, Lea wrote on his personal website: "I felt that [Krycek] wasn't getting a fair shake anyway. [...] I wanted more in-depth ideas about the character and it never came to pass. It kind of stopped being fun to play."[4]
The final scene of the episode featuring Mulder and Scully kissing almost was not filmed. Initially, the script called for Mulder to kiss Scully's forehead. Both Duchovny and Manners argued that the scene was "mundane" and that they had "been teasing and doing that bull for so long" that they wanted "a real kiss at this point".[5] During the birth of Scully's child, several allusions to the story of the birth of Jesus are made, including Mulder following a star to find Scully and The Lone Gunmen bringing gifts for the baby, much like the Three Wise Men. Scully's child was portrayed by Jerry Shiban, who is the son of John Shiban, a producer who worked on The X-Files as well as The Lone Gunmen. He was the first of seven babies to represent the character and the only one to play Baby William for a single episode.[3]
Effects and filming
Chris Carter included a scene with whale calls after listening to a Paul Winter album.
The episode featured several elaborate CGI scenes. The first scene with the vertebrae was entirely computer generated by visual effects head John Wash.[3]
According to director Kim Manners, the most difficult scene to shoot was in the elevator with Mitch Pileggi and Nicholas Lea. Conversely, Manners' favorite scene was the one in which Skinner kills Krycek. Manners himself proposed the uniqueness of the shot, which features a CGI bullet going straight through Krycek's head. Extra money was budgeted for Krycek's death.[6]Mitch Pileggi was very happy when he was told he would be killing Krycek; he explained, "when they came to me and told me that I was the one that was going to kill Krycek, I was elated. Not because I wanted Nick to go away or anything, it was just from a character stand-point; Skinner just wanted to kill Krycek so bad."[6] Manners later called it one of his "favorite scenes [he'd] ever directed" and one of the "best scenes [he's] seen in a long time on television."[3]
The car scene with Gillian Anderson and Annabeth Gish was shot at Kanan Road, Malibu. Anderson and Gish sat in what is known as an insert car, while the crew sat in a pickup car in front of them. The birth scene was filmed at Paramount Ranch. Gish had never filmed with guns before joining The X-Files, so the producers hired a retired LAPD officer to teach her more about firearms. She also did some shooting practices before returning to the set. The FBI garage scenes were shot in Century City and took a total of four days to finish.[3]
The episode also contains a scene wherein Reyes serenades Scully by imitating whale calls. Gish later noted that "[Series creator Chris Carter] gave me a tape of whale songs, which was hysterical to be playing in my trailer."[6] Carter was inspired to write the scene after a friend gave him a Paul Winter album that incorporated whale sounds into the music. Carter later explained that, "I just thought it was kind of much like [Reyes'] character to appreciate that."[7]
Reception
Ratings
"Existence" premiered on May 20, 2001, in the United States on Fox.[8] The episode earned a Nielsen household rating of 8.4, meaning that it was seen by 8.4% of the nation's estimated households.[9] The episode was watched by 8.58 million households[9][nb 1] and by 14 million viewers, overall.[10] In the United Kingdom, "Existence" premiered on June 28, 2001, and received 0.65 million viewers, placing The X-Files number three in the top ten broadcasts for Sky1 that week behind Star Trek: Voyager and The Simpsons.[11] Fox promoted the episode with the tagline "Will the beginning be the end?"[12] 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.[13]
Reviews
"Existence" received mostly positive reviews from critics. Zack Handlen of The A.V. Club awarded the episode a "B". While offering a positive opinion in regards to the finale as a whole, he felt that "Existence" dragged more so than "Essence", resulting in a less interesting episode. He also felt that the overarching mythology of the series had long ago become too convoluted to make sense, but that the "human pieces of the show still work, and that includes Doggett."[14]Contra Costa Times columnists George Avalos and Michael Liedtke were pleased with the episode noting that the last scene was "beautifully written".[15] Avalos and Liedtke also reacted positively to the death of Alex Krycek at the hands of Skinner, saying it was the best scene in the episode.[15] Despite their praise, however, they stressed that "Existence" was not as exciting as the previous episode, "Essence," or the 1998 The X-Files feature film.[15] Jessica Morgan of Television Without Pity gave the episode an A− rating, noting that "season eight's finale goes out with a big fat juicy kiss between Mulder and Scully, at long last".[16] Gareth Wigmore of TV Zone was positive toward both "Essence" and "Existence". Wigmore gave the episodes a 9 out of 10 rating and wrote "the reason that this two-parter works is that its plot is simple enough for the audience to still have a handle on".[17]
Not all reviews were positive. Robert Shearman and Lars Pearson, in their book Wanting to Believe: A Critical Guide to The X-Files, Millennium & The Lone Gunmen, gave the episode a more mixed two-and-a-half stars out of five.[18] Paula Vitaris from Cinefantastique gave the episode a scathing review and awarded it no stars out of four.[19] She heavily derided the plot, and wrote, "Thus endeth the Mulder-and-Scully era of The X-Files, and what a load of sanctimonious crap it turned out to be!"[19]
Notes
↑ At the time of airing, the estimated number of households was 102.2 million.[9] Thus, 8.4 percent of 102.2 million is 8.58 million households.
↑ "BARB's multichannel top 10 programmes". barb.co.uk. Retrieved 1 January 2012. Note: Information is in the section titled "w/e June 25 – July 1, 2001", listed under Sky 1
Shearman, Robert; Pearson, Lars (2009). Wanting to Believe: A Critical Guide to The X-Files, Millennium & The Lone Gunmen. Mad Norwegian Press. ISBN978-0-9759446-9-1.
FBI Assistant Director Walter Sergei Skinner is a fictional character portrayed by American actor Mitch Pileggi on The X-Files and its short-lived spin-off The Lone Gunmen, both broadcast on Fox.
The eighth season of the American science fiction television series The X-Files commenced airing in the United States on November 5, 2000, concluded on May 20, 2001, and consisted of twenty-one episodes. Season eight takes place after Fox Mulder's alien abduction in the seventh season. The story arc for the search of Mulder continues until the second half of the season, while a new arc about Dana Scully's pregnancy is formed. This arc would continue, and end, with the next season. The season explores various themes such as life, death, and belief.
The ninth season of the American science fiction television series The X-Files commenced airing in the United States on November 11, 2001, concluded on May 19, 2002, and consists of twenty episodes. The season takes place after Fox Mulder goes into hiding, following the events of the eighth season finale, "Existence". As such, the main story arc for the season follows Dana Scully, John Doggett, and Monica Reyes on their hunt to reveal a government conspiracy involving the elaborate and malevolent creation of "Super Soldiers".
Alex Krycek is a fictional character in the Fox science fiction-supernatural television series The X-Files. Alex Krycek is played by Nicholas Lea. He is initially introduced in the second season as a partner for FBI Special Agent Fox Mulder in the absence of his previous partner, Dana Scully. As the show progressed, Krycek grew to become one of the show's primary antagonists, appearing subsequently in every season until Season 9. Krycek's machinations frequently pitted him against Mulder, with whom he shared a complicated relationship. He was variously seen as either a henchman or enemy of the show's primary antagonist, The Smoking Man, changing his allegiance when the situation suited him best.
FBI Special Agent John Jay Doggett is a fictional character in the Fox science fiction-supernatural television series The X-Files. With his FBI partners Dana Scully and Monica Reyes, they work on the X-Files together, which is concerned with cases with particularly mysterious or possibly supernatural circumstances that were left unsolved and shelved by the FBI. John Doggett is played by Robert Patrick. Doggett was a main character from the eighth to ninth seasons (2000–2002), replacing David Duchovny's character Fox Mulder. Doggett appeared in the opening credits and every episode from the season eight premiere to the final episode of season 9.
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 two-part season 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 series finale for the series until The X-Files was revived 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, though the full return of actor David Duchovny to the series, as well as the episode's conclusion, received praise.
The X-Files Mythology – Volume 4 collection is the fourth DVD release containing selected episodes from the eighth to the ninth seasons of the American science fiction television series The X-Files. The episodes collected in the release form the end of the series' mythology, and are centered on those that involve the alien "Super Soldiers" and Dana Scully's son, William.
"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.
"Providence" is the tenth episode of the ninth season of the American science fiction television series The X-Files. It premiered on the Fox network on March 10, 2002, and later aired in the United Kingdom on BBC One on January 19, 2003. The episode was written by series creator Chris Carter and executive producer Frank Spotnitz, and directed by Carter. "Providence" helps to explore the series' overarching mythology. The episode earned a Nielsen household rating of 5.2 and was viewed by 8.4 million viewers. The episode received mixed reviews from critics; some reviewers enjoyed the story and the show's way of integrating an absent Fox Mulder into the storyline, whereas others felt the plot was ludicrous.
"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 March 3, 2002. 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.
"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.
"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.
"Deadalive" is the fifteenth episode of the eighth season of the science fiction television series The X-Files. It was written by executive producers Chris Carter and Frank Spotnitz, and was directed by Tony Wharmby. It explores the series' alien mythology story arc. Following its North American premiere on April 1, 2001, it received a Nielsen household rating of 7.3 and was watched by 12.4 million viewers. It garnered mixed reviews; while most critics were happy with the return of actor David Duchovny, some criticized the episode's plot holes. It later won the show's last Emmy Award, for Outstanding Makeup.
"Per Manum" is the thirteenth episode of the eighth season of the American science fiction television series The X-Files. It premiered on the Fox network on February 18, 2001. Written by Frank Spotnitz and series creator Chris Carter, and directed by Kim Manners, the episode helps to explore the series' overarching mythology. "Per Manum" received a Nielsen rating of 9.4 and was watched by 9.61 million households. Overall, the episode received mostly positive reviews from 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.
The mythology of The X-Files, sometimes referred to as its "mytharc" by the show's staff and fans, follows the quest of FBI Special Agents Fox Mulder, a believer in supernatural phenomena, and Dana Scully, his skeptical partner. Their boss, FBI Assistant Director Walter Skinner, was also often involved. Beginning with season 8, another skeptic named John Doggett, and Monica Reyes, a believer like Mulder, were also introduced. The overarching story, which spans events as early as the 1940s, is built around a government conspiracy to hide the truth about alien existence and their doomsday plan. Not all episodes advanced the mythology plot, but those that did were often set up by Mulder or Scully via an opening monologue.
"Three Words" is the sixteenth episode of the eighth season of the science fiction television series The X-Files. It first aired in the United States and Canada on April 8, 2001, on Fox. Written by executive producers Chris Carter and Frank Spotnitz, and directed by Tony Wharmby, it explores the series' overarching mythology. It earned a Nielsen rating of 7.6, viewed by 7.77 million households, and received mixed to positive reviews from television critics.
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