Leonard Betts, a cancer-eating mutant, creating a duplicate body. The effect required Toby Lindala to build a puppet with full-functioning mouth and eyes.
The show centers on FBI special agents Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) who work on cases linked to the paranormal, called X-Files. Mulder is a believer in the paranormal, while the skeptical Scully has been assigned to debunk his work. In this episode, Mulder and Scully investigate the supposed death and regeneration of an emergency medical technician (EMT) named Leonard Betts, a mutant who subsists on cancer and can regenerate severed body parts.
"Leonard Betts" was a story milestone for the series, introducing the detection of Agent Scully's cancer, which would go on to play a larger role in the latter part of season four and much of season five. In addition, the episode has been analyzed for its themes of physical drives and psychological egoism. The production for the episode required several physically exerting stunts coupled with special effects in order to bring the illusions of the episode to life. The episode received positive reviews, with critics commenting positively on the character of Betts and McCrane's performance, and still ranks as the most watched episode of the series, receiving a Nielsen household rating of 17.2, being watched by 29.1 million people in its initial broadcast.
Plot
In Pittsburgh, Leonard Betts (Paul McCrane), a paramedic, is decapitated when his ambulance collides with a truck. Later, at the morgue, his headless body leaves its cold chamber, knocks out the attendant, steals his clothes, and escapes. Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) visit the morgue, where they find Betts's head in a medical waste dumpster. Scully attempts a cranial examination, but the head's eyes and mouth both suddenly open when she begins the procedure. Meanwhile, Mulder goes to Betts's apartment, where he finds the attendant's discarded clothes. When Mulder leaves, Betts—who has regrown his head—rises out of his iodine-filled bathtub.
Mulder interviews Michelle Wilkes (Jennifer Clement), Betts's former partner, who recollects his ability to detect cancer. When an interior slice of Betts's polymerized head is examined, the agents discover that his frontal lobe displayed signs of pervasive cancer. Mulder has Chuck Burks (Bill Dow) subject the slice to a Kirlian photography test; the final image shows a corona discharge that takes the appearance of human shoulders.
Using fingerprint records, Scully learns that Betts shared fingerprints with a man called Albert Tanner. The agents visit his elderly mother, Elaine (Marjorie Lovett), who informs them that Albert died in a car accident six years previously. Meanwhile, Wilkes tracks down Betts at another hospital and confronts him. After an apology, he gives her a lethal injection of potassium chloride; Betts is then pursued and captured by a security guard. After he is handcuffed to his car, Betts escapes by tearing off his thumb. The agents search the car the next morning, finding disposed tumors in a cooler in the trunk. Mulder believes that Betts subsists on the tumors, and that his nature makes him the embodiment of a radical leap in evolution.
Upon learning that the car is registered to Elaine, the agents have the police search her home. Elaine recounts how her son endured bullying as a child "because he was different", and says that "he had his reasons" if he killed anybody. Meanwhile, Betts accosts a bar patron and kills him to obtain his cancerous lung. Later, in a storage unit, he seems to shed his body and create a duplicate. When the agents come across the storage unit, the duplicate Betts attempts to flee in a car, which explodes when fired upon and seemingly kills him. Scully suggests that Betts's first death as Albert Tanner was staged, but when they exhume Tanner's casket, they find his body still inside. Mulder becomes convinced that Betts can not only regenerate his body parts, but his entire body itself. Because of this, he believes that Betts is still at large.
At Elaine's behest, Betts removes a cancerous tumor from her body before summoning an ambulance. The agents, already staking out Elaine's house, encounter the paramedics when they arrive. Scully accompanies Elaine to the hospital while Mulder conducts a search of the neighborhood. However, after arriving at the hospital, Scully realizes that Betts has stowed himself away on the roof of the ambulance. Betts locks her inside the ambulance with him, calmly but apologetically telling her, like his earlier victim, that she has "something I need". After a struggle, Scully kills Betts by pressing charged defibrillator paddles against his head. Scully remains silently stunned by Betts's suggestion that she has cancer. Later, in her apartment, she wakes up with a cough and nosebleed, confirming her illness.[3]
Production
Writing
Gillian Anderson's character Dana Scully is revealed to be suffering from cancer in this episode.
"Leonard Betts" was written by Vince Gilligan, John Shiban, and Frank Spotnitz and directed by Kim Manners.[4] Scripts written by Gilligan, Shiban, and Spotnitz were humorously credited by the production crew to one "John Gillnitz"—a portmanteau of the three writers' names. According to Spotnitz, the script for "Leonard Betts" was "not particularly well-loved at the time", but it became "one of [his] favorite monster shows".[5] Originally, the episode "Never Again" was supposed to air before this episode, but, as Vince Gilligan explained, "[Series creator Chris Carter] really wanted to grab viewers who had never seen us before [the Super Bowl], and we knew the best way to do that would be with a really creepy stand-alone monster story."[6] Thus, the air date of "Leonard Betts" was flipped with "Never Again" in order to ensure that the former episode, which featured the show's two stars in their traditional roles, aired after the Super Bowl.[7]
The episode is the first to confirm Agent Scully's cancer. The idea of giving the character cancer had been floated by Spotnitz during the show's third season, but for whatever reason, the concept remained on the back-burner until storylines for the fourth season were being developed. Reportedly, when Chris Carter informed Gillian Anderson that her character would be diagnosed with cancer, she was "delighted" as it presented her with an artistic challenge and enabled her to portray her character in a new manner.[6] However, Anderson was only informed of this plotpoint after she filmed "Never Again", which was produced before "Leonard Betts" but aired after. Consequently, Anderson has said that had she known the twist ending of this episode while filming "Never Again", she "would have played the part [in 'Never Again'] differently".[7] Regardless, John Shiban considers "Leonard Betts" to be "a great X-Files story" and very important because it established the story-arc featuring Scully's cancer.[8]
Casting and filming
Actor Paul McCrane, who later went on to play Dr. Robert Romano on ER, was cast to play Leonard Betts.[9] Betts's character was supposed to be a "sympathetic" creature who "killed not out of vengeance or anger but for survival",[9] and director Kim Manners thus urged McCrane to perform with "emotional conviction."[6] Manners later explained that "I found that if you take the absurd and base it in the reality of human emotion, the audience is going to buy it as if it actually exists. You know?"[6] Actor Bill Dow also appears in the episode, reprising his character Chuck Burks.[9]
The show's design staff made extensive use of makeup to give McCrane the right look; applying all the makeup reportedly took "several hours".[9] McCrane's eyes were also augmented with specially-made contact lenses. Many of McCrane's scenes were physically exerting, such as the autopsy scene, which required McCrane to stick his head through a discreet hole in the set's mock dissection table. McCrane then held still, thereby giving the illusion that his head was severed and resting on the table. The scene in the bathtub required McCrane to spend several "long minutes" underwater motionless in full makeup.[9] The shot in which a new Betts emerges from the old one's mouth was created by Toby Lindala. Lindala intercut shots of McCrane with shots of a specially-designed puppet that had a full-functioning mouth and eyes. Laverne Basham and Lindala were later both nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Makeup in a Series for their roles in this episode.[9]
Academic analysis
Themes
According to Anne Simon, Betts's body is composed of blastema.
According to Jan Delasara, one of the major themes of "Leonard Betts" is the exploration of "irresistible physical drives."[10] Delasara argues that in Betts's case, his desire to kill is due to a biological need, not a malevolent desire to murder.[11]The A.V. Club's Emily VanDerWerff agrees, writing in her review of the episode, "It also helps that Leonard's such an understandably human monster. On some level, he just wants to survive, and he's not happy about what he has to do to be able to survive."[12] Conversely, Amy Donaldson, in her book We Want to Believe argues that Betts's condition, in which he is "riddled with cancer" but can "see the sickness within people", is a metaphor for someone who "has let sin or evil become the regular course of life".[13] Although Betts can detect and consume the illness, his motives are derived from "his own self appetite".[13] Donaldson contrasts him with the soul eater, from eight season entry "The Gift". In the episode, Agent John Doggett, played by Robert Patrick, stumbles upon a creature that altruistically absorbs the diseases and ailments of others. Donaldson argues that the soul eater is the polar opposite of Betts because it takes an illness in order to help a person, even though it hurts itself in the process. In other words, the soul eater is altruistic, whereas Betts is selfish.[14]
"Leonard Betts" serves as the first story in a multi-season story-arc that features Agent Scully being diagnosed with terminal cancer. Richard Edwards and Dean Kowalski, in the chapter "Some Philosophical Reflections on 'Trust No One'" of the book The Philosophy of The X-Files, argue that Scully withholding the knowledge of her cancer from Mulder is an example of psychological egoism in a protagonist.[15] They reason that by not telling her partner, she is withholding the information in an act of self-interest.[15]
Elyce Rae Helford in her book Fantasy Girls: Gender in the New Universe of Science Fiction and Fantasy Television notes that the episode contains themes of "maternal sacrifice and maternal monstrosity" that are common throughout the series.[16] Leonard Betts's mother nearly sacrifices her own life to give her son the cancer he needs in order to escape death. Helford argues that these motifs concerning maternal figures are most notable in the season four and five "Monster-of-the-Week" episodes, such as "Home".[16]
Scientific research
According to biology professor and science advisor to the X-Files Anne Simon, the manner in which Betts can regrow limbs is somewhat similar to the way in which amphibians and newts can regenerate tails and other limbs. She notes that many amphibian cells can "turn back the clock [and] revert back to an [embryonic] time when any fate was possible".[17] In humans, several types of cells — skin, endometrial, blood cells and liver cells—are able to regenerate, however, the process is different via the stem cell. Simon also postulates that Betts was able to regenerate because he had a specific relationship between his immune system and his cellular growth. She notes that what Scully and Burks mistook for tumors were actually blastema, or masses of cells capable of growth and regeneration into organs or body parts.[18] Simon also suggests that, for Betts to truly be composed entirely of cancer cells, he would have to lack functioning p53, the tumor suppressor protein. This condition, however, is always fatal.[19]
Broadcast and reception
Ratings
"Leonard Betts" premiered on the Fox network on January 26, 1997 immediately followingSuper Bowl XXXI.[1][20] The episode earned a Nielsen rating of 17.2 with a 29 share, meaning that it was seen by 17.2% of all 18- to 49-year-olds, and 29% of all 18- to 49-year-olds watching television at the time of the broadcast; this made the episode the highest-rated episode in the series' run. The episode was viewed by over 29.1 million people, making it the most-watched episode of the series.[21][22] David Lavery, in his book The Essential Cult Reader, argues that the Super Bowl switch that the series made with "Leonard Betts" in order to make the episode more appealing to non-viewers was instrumental in the trend that favored programs being aired sequentially later on during syndication.[22]
Reviews
The episode received largely positive reviews from critics. The A.V. Club gave the episode an A, with critic Emily VanDerWerff noting that "'Leonard Betts' deserves to be remembered [...] There's very little in this episode that doesn't work. 'Leonard Betts' isn't the best episode of The X-Files, but it signifies that we're moving into one of the show's very best periods, and it does so with a confidence and verve that the series didn't always display."[12] Many critics praised the tenacity of the writers for airing an episode featuring such a creepy character after the Super Bowl. Writing for Den of Geek, John Moore listed Betts as one of his "Top 10 X-Files Baddies", writing that "Fox had the Superbowl[sic], the Superbowl happens on a Sunday, Fox decides to run the show in the prime slot after the big game... [...] So, did, they soft-pedal things in order to grab a wider audience? Er... no. Instead they decided to feature a cancer-eating living tumour that could re-grow his own limbs at will. That's why I love the X-Files."[20]
Paula Vitaris from Cinefantastique gave the episode a positive review and awarded it three stars out of four.[23] Vitaris praised the episode's balance of humor and horror, noting "Although 'Leonard Betts' is not a comedy, the three writers take such pleasure in the story that you buy the situation. There's a lot of situational (and scary) humor in the script."[23] Furthermore, she noted that the ending revelation that Scully has cancer and the following conversation between Mulder and Scully was "one of the season's best scenes."[23]Robert Shearman, in his book Wanting to Believe: A Critical Guide to The X-Files, Millennium & The Lone Gunmen, rated the episode four stars out of five. The author wrote positively of the "amiable quality to the story which makes its finale moments all the more of a kick in the teeth."[24] Shearman also wrote that "Leonard Betts" was the first episode "to come along [in the fourth season] which feels light and frothy, and it deliberately makes the unkindest cut of all."[24]
The character of Leonard Betts itself has also attracted positive criticism. Connie Ogle from PopMatters ranked the character among the "greatest" monsters-of-the-week, describing him as someone who could "grow back his own head after being decapitated, a feat that resulted in the show’s best-rated episode."[25] VanDerWerff praised the humanistic way Betts was presented.[12]
Richard Edwards; Kowalski, Dean (2009), "Some Philosophical Reflections on 'Trust No One'", in Dean Kowalski (ed.), The Philosophy of The X-Files, University Press of Kentucky, ISBN9780813192277
Dr. Dana Katherine Scully, M.D., is a fictional character and one of the two protagonists in the Fox science-fiction, supernatural television series The X-Files, played by Gillian Anderson. Scully is a Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Special Agent and a medical doctor (MD), partnered with fellow Special Agent Fox Mulder for seasons one to seven and seasons 10 and 11, and with John Doggett in the eighth and ninth seasons. In the television series, they work out of a cramped basement office at FBI headquarters in Washington, DC to investigate unsolved cases labeled "X-Files." In 2002, Scully left government employment, and in 2008, she began working as a surgeon in Our Lady of Sorrows, a private Catholic hospital – where she stayed for seven years, until rejoining the FBI. In contrast to Mulder's credulous "believer" character, Scully is the skeptic for the first seven seasons, choosing to base her beliefs on what science can prove. She later on becomes a "believer" after Mulder's abduction at the end of season seven.
The fourth season of the American science fiction television series The X-Files commenced airing on the Fox network in the United States on October 4, 1996, concluding on the same channel on May 18, 1997, and contained 24 episodes. Following the filming and airing of the season, production began on The X-Files feature film, which was released in 1998 following the show's fifth season.
"Never Again" is the thirteenth episode of the fourth season of the American science fiction television series The X-Files. It was written by producers Glen Morgan and James Wong, and directed by Rob Bowman. The episode aired in the United States on February 2, 1997, on the Fox network and in the United Kingdom on BBC One on December 3, 1997. The episode is a "Monster-of-the-Week" story, a stand-alone plot which is unconnected to the series' wider mythology. The episode received a Nielsen rating of 13 and was viewed by 21.36 million viewers. It received mostly positive reviews from television critics.
"Memento Mori" is the fourteenth episode of the fourth season of the American science fiction television series The X-Files. It premiered on the Fox network on February 9, 1997. It was directed by Rob Bowman, and written by series creator Chris Carter, Vince Gilligan, John Shiban and Frank Spotnitz. "Memento Mori" featured guest appearances by Sheila Larken, David Lovgren and Morris Panych. The episode helped to explore the overarching mythology, or fictional history of The X-Files. "Memento Mori" earned a Nielsen household rating of 15.5, being watched by 19.1 million people in its initial broadcast. The title translates from Latin as "remember that you will die."
"Max" is the eighteenth episode of the fourth season of the American science fiction television series The X-Files. It premiered on the Fox network on March 23, 1997. It was directed by Kim Manners, and written by Frank Spotnitz and series creator Chris Carter. "Max" featured guest appearances by Joe Spano, Tom O'Brien and Scott Bellis, and saw the final appearance of Brendan Beiser as special agent Pendrell. The episode helped to explore the overarching mythology, or fictional history of The X-Files. "Max" earned a Nielsen household rating of 11.6, being watched by 18.34 million people in its initial broadcast. The episode received mixed to positive reviews from critics.
"Elegy" is the twenty-second episode of the fourth season of the American science fiction television series The X-Files. It was written by John Shiban and directed by James Charleston. The episode aired in the United States on May 4, 1997, on the Fox network. It is a "Monster-of-the-Week" story, a stand-alone plot which is unconnected to the series' wider mythology, although Scully's battle with cancer is an important plot point. "Elegy" earned a Nielsen rating of 10.6 and was seen by 17.1 million viewers upon its initial broadcast. The episode received mostly positive reviews from televisions critics; the performance of lead actress Gillian Anderson was especially praised.
"Redux" is the two-part fifth season premiere of the science fiction television series The X-Files. "Redux" first aired on November 2, 1997, on Fox in the United States, with "Redux II" airing on November 9. Both episodes subsequently aired in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Both episodes were written by series creator Chris Carter, with "Redux" directed by R. W. Goodwin and "Redux II" helmed by Kim Manners. "Redux" became the second-most-watched episode ever broadcast, earning more than 27 million viewers in the United States alone. The first part of the episode received mixed to negative reviews, whereas the second part received mixed to positive reviews from critics.
"Christmas Carol" is the sixth episode of the fifth season of American science fiction television series The X-Files. It was written by Vince Gilligan, John Shiban and Frank Spotnitz and directed by Peter Markle. The episode explores the series' overarching mythology. The episode premiered in the United States on December 7, 1997 on the Fox network, earning a Nielsen household rating of 12.8 and being watched by 20.91 million people in its initial broadcast. It received moderately positive reviews from television critics, with many complimenting Gillian Anderson's performance.
"Emily" is the seventh episode of the fifth season of American science fiction television series The X-Files. It was written by Vince Gilligan, John Shiban and Frank Spotnitz and directed by Kim Manners. The episode explores the series' overarching mythology. The episode premiered in the United States on December 14, 1997, on the Fox network, earning a Nielsen household rating of 12.4 and being watched by 20.94 million people in its initial broadcast. It received mixed reviews from television critics.
Volume 2 of The X-Files Mythology collection is the second DVD release containing selected episodes from the third to the fifth seasons of the American science fiction television series The X-Files. The episodes collected in the release form the middle of the series' mythology, and are centered on the discovery of a mind-altering extraterrestrial "black oil".
The X-Files Mythology – Volume 3 collection is the third DVD release containing selected episodes from the fifth to the eighth seasons of the American science fiction television series The X-Files. The episodes collected in the release form the middle of the series' mythology, and are centered on alien colonization efforts, the fall of the Syndicate, and Fox Mulder's abduction.
"Travelers" is the fifteenth episode of the fifth season of American science fiction television series The X-Files, and the 111th episode of the series overall. It was written by John Shiban and Frank Spotnitz, directed by William A. Graham and aired in the United States on March 29, 1998, on the Fox network. The episode earned a Nielsen household rating of 9.9, being watched by 15.06 million people in its initial broadcast. The episode received mixed reviews from television critics.
"All Souls" is the seventeenth episode of the fifth season of the American science fiction television series The X-Files. The episode originally aired on the Fox network on April 26, 1998. The episode's teleplay was written by Frank Spotnitz and John Shiban, from a story by Dan Angel and Billy Brown; it was directed by Allen Coulter. The episode is a "Monster-of-the-Week" story, a stand-alone plot which is unconnected to the mythology, or overarching fictional history, of The X-Files. "All Souls" received a Nielsen household rating of 8.5 and was watched by 13.44 million viewers in its initial broadcast. It received mixed reviews from television critics.
"Milagro" is the eighteenth episode of the sixth season of the American science fiction television series The X-Files. It originally aired on the Fox network on April 18, 1999. The episode's teleplay was written by Chris Carter from a story by John Shiban and Frank Spotnitz, and directed by Kim Manners. The episode is a "Monster of the Week" story, unconnected to the series' wider mythology. "Milagro" earned a Nielsen household rating of 9, being watched by 15.2 million people upon its initial broadcast. The episode received mixed to positive reviews from television critics.
"Theef" is the fourteenth episode of the seventh season of the science fiction television series The X-Files. It premiered on the Fox network in the United States on March 12, 2000. It was written by Vince Gilligan, John Shiban, and Frank Spotnitz and directed by Kim Manners. The episode is a Monster-of-the-Week" story, unconnected to the series' wider mythology. "Theef" earned a Nielsen household rating of 7.4, being watched by 11.91 million people in its initial broadcast. The episode received mixed to 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.
"The Gift" is the eleventh episode of the eighth season of the American science fiction television series The X-Files. It premiered on the Fox network in the United States on February 4, 2001. The episode was written by Frank Spotnitz and directed by Kim Manners. "The Gift" has elements of both a "Monster-of-the-Week" episode, and an entry in the series' mythology. The episode received a Nielsen rating of 8.8 and was viewed by 14.6 million viewers. Overall, the episode received largely mixed reviews from television critics; while many appreciated the focus on Fox Mulder's absence, others felt that the plot revelations were unnaturally forced into the show.
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.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
