"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.
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 a series of murders in which the heart has been removed from the victims. A writer who lives next door to Mulder is writing a novel about the murders before they actually happen and soon, Scully finds herself confused and drawn to the writer, who has a romantic interest in her.
"Milagro" was inspired by the idea of someone thinking of something so much that it becomes a reality, a topic Shiban later noted was "familiar" to anyone who had written a script. The part of Phillip Padgett had been written specifically for the actor John Hawkes. In addition, the production for "Milagro" was decidedly low-budget due to its "intimate and personality-driven" nature. The episode's title means "miracle" in Spanish. The episode has been analyzed for its use of symbolism, its exploration of motive, and the role reversal of Mulder and Scully.
Plot
Phillip Padgett (John Hawkes), a fledgling author, sits at a desk, suffering from writer's block. He eventually retires to the bathroom to discard a spent cigarette. Without warning or concern, the man suddenly reaches into his chest and removes a bloody heart. Later, he walks down metal stairs into a cluttered basement, and opens the door of an incinerator. Noticing a beating heart amidst the flames, and unfazed by the vision, he nonchalantly tosses in a paper bag.
Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) later encounters the stranger as she walks into an elevator. Both ride in silence up to the fourth floor, with Scully somewhat unsettled by the experience. At Fox Mulder's (David Duchovny) apartment, Mulder and Scully begin discussing a case the pair are working on, wherein the heart of the victim had been removed with the absence of any significant physical evidence. Mulder believes the heart was removed with a technique known as psychic surgery. Meanwhile, Padgett, who is Mulder's neighbor, stands on a chair with his ear to an air vent, listening to the conversation.
Later that night, two teenagers get into a fight in the woods. The girl, named Maggie (Jillian Bach), runs into the woods to be alone and Kevin (Angelo Vacco), her boyfriend, gives chase. However, he is attacked and his heart is removed. Meanwhile, the writer intensely transcribes the event on his typewriter. The next day, Mulder and Scully discuss this latest incident via phone. An unmarked envelope is discovered by Scully in the office containing a milagro, a type of pendant. While she examines the pendant, a voice-over from the writer describes Scully's most intimate feelings as she examines the unsolicited gift.
Scully later runs into the author at a church. He admits sending Scully the pendant and discusses with her the Sacred Heart of Jesus. She leaves, visibly shaken. Scully meets Mulder and relays her most recent encounter with the writer to Mulder. Later, Padgett woos Scully into his apartment with more character revelations. Mulder bursts in and arrests him based on accurate descriptions of the case murders in his novel, which he secretly read after discovering it in the mail. While Padgett is in custody, Maggie is murdered in the same fashion as Kevin. This establishes a de factoalibi for the author. Lacking concrete and connective evidence to the murders, and hoping Padgett might lead them to his partner in crime, Mulder releases Padgett from custody.
Back at his apartment, Padgett converses with the killer from his book, a deceased Brazilian surgeon named Ken Naciamento (Nestor Serrano). It is revealed that through some sort of psychic connection, Padgett's Naciamento has come back to life and has been removing hearts from victims. The two discuss motivations for the killings. Realizing that his novel prognosticates Scully's murder, Padgett heads to the incinerator to destroy his novel. Mulder intercepts him, thinking Padgett is instead simply destroying incriminatory evidence. Meanwhile, Naciamento accosts Scully. After hearing gunshots, Mulder runs toward his apartment and finds Scully on the ground, covered in blood but alive. The episode closes with a voice-over from the author, explaining his final actions. The stranger lies stricken on the basement floor in front of the incinerator, his beating heart in hand, having "... given what he could not receive".[3]
Production
Writing and casting
The part of author Phillip Padgett was written for John Hawkes, who was chosen for his "dignity and simplicity".
The idea behind the episode occurred when John Shiban and Frank Spotnitz were discussing how stressful being an X-Files writer could be. The episode's theme of someone thinking of something so much that it becomes real was "familiar" to anyone who had written a script, Shiban later explained.[5] Shiban and Spotnitz created a rough draft for the episode and then sent it to series creator Chris Carter, who was busy shooting the pilot for the new television series Harsh Realm. Carter re-wrote portions of the script, including the ending, to show that the writer, although confused, does indeed "have love in his heart".[5]
Spotnitz later called the episode "personal".[6] He noted that the cards that hang on Padgett's wall were put up to emulate the original writing style of The X-Files, saying, "The cards that are on the writer’s wall are the same format that we wrote The X-Files in. We would use those same cards when figuring out stories for the series."[6] Spotnitz wrote the notes himself "because the prop guy couldn’t do it as well as we could because that’s really the way we did it. It’s a very emotional love story and it’s really about our love for these characters as writers".[6][7] The writers eventually settled on the title of "Milagro," which means miracle in Spanish.[8]
Several weeks before production of "Milagro" began, John Hawkes had auditioned for the part of Pinker Rawls in the episode "Trevor". Both Chris Carter and Frank Spotnitz felt that Hawkes was not right for the part; however, they believed he possessed a "dignity and simplicity", and so they wrote the part of Philip Padgett specifically for him, as they believed his acting would prevent the main character in "Milagro" from becoming a one-dimensional, stock villain.[4]
Filming and effects
The production for "Milagro" was decidedly low-budget due to its "intimate and personality-driven" nature.[4] Director Kim Manners sought to film most of the episode "very simply", because he wanted "the characters to carry it".[9] Manners wanted to frame the opening scene in a way that told "the story […] in a series of images", and so, he utilized quick cuts between shots.[10] Many of the scenes, such as the opening pan, were created by means of a crane shot.[11][12]
The sequence in which Mulder runs was shot on a motorcycle; the production staff decided to use motorcycles because Duchovny had been able to outrun two horses in the fourth-season episode "Tunguska".[13] Several locations that were scouted for the episode proved difficult to use.[4] Two churches that had been selected for the episode rescinded filming permission just before production commenced, requiring the location scouts to find replacements as quickly as they could.[4] The scenes in the woods were filmed at Griffith Park in Los Angeles because of its many pine trees.[14] Due to the fact that the actual park is rather sparsely populated by brush, the foliage was all created by the crew of the series.[15] Manners shot several of the forest scenes with a 200 millimeter lens to obscure the lights of Los Angeles in the distance.[16] Padgett's furnace was filmed on a set called the "red/blue room". It had originally been created for the sixth-season opener "The Beginning".[17] The jail set was constructed in a large warehouse by a different production company.[18]The X-Files rented the space for several days for filming, for five thousand dollars.[19] Finding a graveyard with "old-fashioned vertical tombstones" proved a challenge for locations manager Ilt Jones. Eventually one was found in Altadena, California.[4] The fog in the cemetery was created by burying small "misters" that produced water vapor. Because the vapor was cold, it hugged the ground, emulating the properties of actual fog.[20]
The sequence in which Padgett rips his heart out was created with a rubber heart. The blood that leaks from Padgett's chest was added to "hide the fact that [the crew was] doing a little sleight of hand".[21] The image of the beating heart in the furnace was created by overlapping a shot of a fake beating heart and a shot of actual fire. The two were then merged in post-production by animator John Wash, because the fire would have melted the actual heart model.[22] The hearts of Naciamento's victims were created via a pump that was operated off-screen.[23] The actual milagro prop was crafted several times because, according to Manners, the face was particularly difficult to get right.[24] In fact, the second time the medallion appears in the episode, it is a different prop.[25]
Music and cultural references
For his score, Mark Snow incorporated human heartbeats so as to complement the themes of the episode.[26] During the graveyard scene, one of the tombstones is marked "Salinger," with the names "Nicholas" and "Diana" visible underneath, a reference to the parents of Charlie, Bailey, Julia, Claudia, and Owen in the Fox television series Party of Five.[27][28] The date on the tombstone reads 1994, the date the series premiered.[28] P.K. Simonds, writer and executive producer for the show was initially unaware that the tombstone made an appearance.[27] Others, including Spotnitz, had believed the tombstone to be a joking reference to famous author J.D. Salinger.[26]
Themes
A medallion featuring the Sacred Heart; the symbol serves an important part in the episode.
Margaret Kaner, in the book The X-Files and Literature, notes that, instead of merely utilizing symbolism, "Milagro" makes "symbolism as a subject".[29] Kaner points out that the Christian symbol of the burning human heart is infused into the episode in a variety of different ways—hearts are both removed from human victims, as well as burned in furnaces. The episode's plot and the Christian symbol are connected when Padgett leaves Scully the milagro charm.[29]
The concept of motive is also explored.[30][31] When confronting Padgett, Mulder asks him why he is murdering his victims. Padgett, in turn, admits that he cannot answer the question. Kaner suggests that Padgett is representative of a version of Mulder, and that there is a direct parallel between being a criminal profiler—who must think like the criminal—and a writer—who must think like his characters.[30] In the end, however, Padgett sacrifices his personal quest—his manuscript—in order to be free. This presents a distinct contrast to Mulder, who will never truly give up his obsession.[31][32] Michelle Bush, in her book Myth-X, writes that the episode sheds light on Scully's motive throughout the series: she wants to gain Mulder's attention, something she feels she does not have. Padgett eventually realizes this, and sacrifices himself for her love.[31]
The episode also presents a temporary role reversal for Mulder and Scully. When discussing the lack of evidence at the crime scenes, Scully says that "a crime is only as perfect as the man […] Even if he made not one mistake, there still is a motive. If you find his motive, you find the murderer". Kaner argues that this logic is more in line with what Mulder has subscribed to throughout the series.[29] Furthermore, after Mulder discovers Padgett's manuscript, he arrests him "without a second thought".[30] By relying on empirical logic, Mulder is acting in the way Scully normally thinks.[30]
Reception
Ratings
"Milagro" first aired in the United States on April 18, 1999.[1] This episode earned a Nielsen rating of 9, with a 14 share, meaning that roughly 9 percent of all television-equipped households, and 14 percent of households watching television, were tuned in to the episode.[33] It was viewed by 15.2 million viewers.[33] The episode aired in the United Kingdom and Ireland on Sky1 on June 27, 1999, and received 0.85 million viewers, making it the second most watched episode that week.[34] Fox promoted the episode with the tagline "Someone's trying to steal Scully's heart... literally."[35]
Reviews
"Milagro" received mixed to positive reviews from critics. Tom Kessenich, in his book Examination: An Unauthorized Look at Seasons 6–9 of the X-Files gave the episode a positive review, writing "The power of ['Milagro's] revelations was stunning. As was the episode."[36]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 five stars out of five, calling it "a study of overwriting with all the mistakes left in" and "one of the most remarkable" episodes of the series.[37] Shearman and Pearson also felt that Anderson's performance was "revelatory", and also praised guest star Hawkes as "both sinister and sympathetic".[37] The Munchkyn Zone reviewer Sarah Stegall rated the episode 6 stars out of 5, writing "my congratulations to Carter, Shiban and Spotnitz on a daring experiment for commercial television".[38] The character of Ken Naciamento has been listed as one of the best guest roles of the series, with TV Guide and UGO Networks both listing him amongst the greatest monster-of-the-week characters in The X-Files.[39][40]
Zack Handlen gave the episode a "B−" and wrote that it "works far better than it deserves to", due largely to the performance of Hawkes and the "bat shit weirdness" of the plot.[41] He was particularly critical of the "self-serious" and "pompous" tone of the episode.[41] Handlen concluded that the episode was "like watching someone's fan fiction getting brought to life".[41] He did, however, write that "there is something strangely fascinating about" the premise; in particular, he was pleased with the conclusion, calling it the moment when "things pick up".[41] Paula Vitaris from Cinefantastique gave the episode a negative review and awarded it one-and-a-half stars out of four.[42] Vitaris, despite noting the potential in the episode's theme of the relationship between writer and their characters, felt that "Milagro" betrayed Scully's personality and featured her doing things that were out of character.[42]
Kim Manners was pleased with the episode; he noted that he "felt it was a very interesting character study".[43] He later called it "one of my favorite episodes".[44] Frank Spotnitz considered "Milagro" to have been an "underappreciated" episode. For this reason, it was later included on the X-Files Essentials DVD compilation, along with seven other episodes.[6] Scully's portrayal in the episode was given special attention. Stegall noted that "if 'Milagro' has one message about perception, it is shown in Scully, who is seen through everyone's eyes (Mulder, Padgett, even Naciamento) but her own. Ultimately, we can't know which ones of these portraits of her character are 'right'. Maybe none of them are. It's a bravura performance from Gillian Anderson, well matched by Duchovny's low-key Mulder, acting on his instincts."[38] Handlen argued that the episode reduces Scully "to a victim waiting to find out which handsome man will rescue her".[41] Elyce Rae Helford, in her book Fantasy Girls: Gender in the New Universe of Science Fiction and Fantasy Television, accused the show of "reinforc[ing] the stereotype […] of independent women as lonely, neurotic, and nostalgic for sexual attention from men."[45] Anderson herself felt that the character needed to "loosen up".[45] She was once approached by a fan who applauded Scully as the "epitome of womanhood" because she is a character who "not only can kick ass but she […] works with Mulder without jumping him".[45] Anderson, in return jokingly replied, "So the epitome of womanhood is sexual restraint? […] I don't think so."[45] The episode was particularly analyzed by fans of the show, and the fact that Scully was almost seduced provoked "lively internet discussion".[45]
↑ "BARB's multichannel top 10 programmes". barb.co.uk. Retrieved January 1, 2012. Note: Information is in the section titled "w/e June 21–27, 1999", listed under Sky 1
Kaner, Margaret (2007). "Believing the Lie". In Yang, Sharon (ed.). The X-Files and Literature: Unweaving the Story, Unraveling the Lie to Find the Truth. Cambridge Scholars Publishing. ISBN9781847182395.
Shearman, Robert; Pearson, Lars (2009). Wanting to Believe: A Critical Guide to The X-Files, Millennium & The Lone Gunmen. Mad Norwegian Press. ISBN9780975944691.
Fox William Mulder is a fictional FBI Special Agent and one of the two protagonists of the Fox science fiction-supernatural television series The X-Files, played by David Duchovny. Mulder's peers dismiss his many theories on extraterrestrial or paranormal activity as those of a conspiracy theorist and supernaturalist; however, his skeptical but supportive partner, Special Agent Dana Scully, often finds them to be unexpectedly correct. He and Scully work in the X-Files office, concerned with unsolved FBI cases that are often revealed to be supernatural or extraterrestrial in nature. Mulder was a main character for the first seven seasons, but was limited to a recurring character for the following two seasons. He returns as a main character for the tenth and eleventh seasons.
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.
The sixth season of the science fiction television series The X-Files commenced airing on the Fox network in the United States on November 8, 1998, concluding on the same channel on May 16, 1999, and consisted of twenty-two episodes. The season continued from the 1998 feature film and focused heavily on FBI federal agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully's separation from the X-Files Division and the demise of the Syndicate—a "shadow government" group attempting to cover up the existence of extraterrestrials—in the two-part episode "Two Fathers" and "One Son".
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X, sometimes referred to as Mr. X, is a fictional character on the American science fiction television series The X-Files. He serves as an informant, leaking information to FBI Special Agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully to aid their investigation of paranormal cases, dubbed X-Files. The character serves as a replacement for Deep Throat, who had been killed off in the first season finale, "The Erlenmeyer Flask". X himself would be killed off after appearing in several seasons, eventually being replaced by Marita Covarrubias.
"Leonard Betts" is the twelfth episode of the fourth season of the American science fiction television series The X-Files. It premiered on the Fox network on January 26, 1997. It was written by Vince Gilligan, John Shiban, and Frank Spotnitz, directed by Kim Manners, and featured a guest appearance by Paul McCrane as Leonard Betts/Albert Tanner. The episode is a "Monster-of-the-Week" story, unconnected to the series' wider mythology. Aired following Super Bowl XXXI, "Leonard Betts" became Fox's debut Super Bowl lead-out program since the network acquired NFL broadcast rights in 1994.
"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.
"Zero Sum" is the twenty-first episode of the fourth season of the American science fiction television series The X-Files. It premiered on the Fox network on April 27, 1997. It was directed by Kim Manners, and written by Frank Spotnitz and Howard Gordon. "Zero Sum" included appearances by William B. Davis, Laurie Holden and Morris Panych. The episode helped to explore the overarching mythology, or fictional history of The X-Files. "Zero Sum" earned a Nielsen household rating of 11.7, being watched by 18.6 million people in its initial broadcast. The episode has received mixed to positive responses from critics.
"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.
"Kitsunegari" is the eighth episode of the fifth season of American science fiction television series The X-Files. It was written by Vince Gilligan and Tim Minear, and directed by Daniel Sackheim. It aired in the United States on January 4, 1998 on the Fox network. "Kitsunegari" earned a Nielsen household rating of 11.6, being watched by 19.75 million people in its initial broadcast. The episode 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.
"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.
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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.
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