Plot
While imprisoned in a gulag in Krasnoyarsk, Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) learns that Alex Krycek (Nicholas Lea) is a double agent working for the Russian taskmasters and that all prisoners have been subjected to a black oil vaccine. In his dungeon, Mulder is given a sharp object by another prisoner, who had made it to commit suicide. When all the prisoners are taken out and are arranged in a line, Mulder sees Krycek talking to one of the captors and runs toward them, tackling them. Mulder then steals a truck and flees with an unconscious Krycek in the back of it; a pursuit by his captors ensues. As Mulder drives the truck, Krycek awakes and jumps off the truck. Mulder, having been unable to stop the truck due to its faulty brakes, runs the truck off the road and it crashes. Mulder quickly makes his way out of the truck and hides under the dry leaves, while Krycek is found by a group of men whose left arms have all been amputated and has his arm forcibly severed to prevent his involvement in black oil vaccination tests.
Meanwhile, Vasily Peskow (Jan Rubeš), a former KGB agent, has come out of retirement and traveled to America where he assassinates Bonita Charne-Sayre, a doctor who is developing a black oil vaccine for the Syndicate. He then tracks down Charne-Sayre's test subjects and tests the Russian vaccine on them before killing them to cover his tracks.
Mulder is found by a group of Russian peasants (one of whom owns the truck that Mulder stole), who help him return to America, and rejoins his partner Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson). Scully and assistant director Walter Skinner (Mitch Pileggi) had been detained by a United States Senate committee seeking to uncover Mulder's whereabouts when they cannot reveal his current location, but the committee was adjourned upon Mulder's arrival. The agents attempt to track down Peskow, following a trail of murders in Boca Raton, Florida, as well as locating a stolen truck. However, the assassin is able to outwit the agents, and destroys the last of the oil-containing rocks seen in the previous episode in an oil-well explosion after Mulder fails to remove the bomb. He returns to Russia, where it is revealed that he had been hired for this task by Krycek. [2]
Production
The episode's title refers to terma, a set of Buddhist teachings hidden from the world. Series creator Chris Carter felt these represented the secrets kept by the Syndicate. [3] The opening credits of the episode saw the series' usual tagline of "The truth is out there" replaced with "E pur si muove". The phrase is Italian for "and yet, it moves", and is attributed to the astronomer Galileo Galilei, when forced by the Roman Inquisition to denounce his belief in heliocentrism. [4] The episode's gulag scenes were inspired by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn's works The Gulag Archipelago (1973) and One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich (1963). [4]
Shots of the oil refinery seen in the episode were filmed at a thermal energy station situated in Port Moody, British Columbia. [4] The climactic oil-well explosion was achieved through physical effects, with crew member Dave Gauthier building a replica wellhead in a disused rock quarry, through which liquid was piped at pressures of 250 pounds per square inch (1,700,000 Pa) [4] to create a plume 300 feet (91 m) high. [3] This wellhead was rigged to spray oil-colored water for shots of the plume itself, which was switched with a remote control to a stream of kerosene and liquid propane for the shots involving the oil catching fire. [4]
Actor Nicholas Lea, who plays recurring character Alex Krycek, worked with a Russian-speaking vocal coach to ensure that his dialogue was delivered with the correct accent and stresses. [4] Malcolm Stewart, who portrayed NASA scientist Dr. Sacks in the episode, had previously appeared in several earlier episodes of the series, including "Pilot", [5] the second season episode "3", [6] and the third season's "Avatar". [7] Carter has called "Terma", along with its companion piece "Tunguska", "an action piece from beginning to end". [3]
Reception
"Terma" premiered on the Fox network on December 1, 1996, and was first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC Two on November 4, 1997. [8] The episode earned a Nielsen household rating of 10.6 with a 15 share, meaning that roughly 10.6 percent of all television-equipped households, and 15 percent of households watching television, were tuned in to the episode. [9] A total of 17.34 million viewers watched this episode during its original airing. [10]
Writing for The A.V. Club, Zack Handlen rated the episode a B−, finding that it contained too much "vamping for time", without enough focus on any of the individual plot threads. Handlen felt that the plot thread based on the murder of the Well-Manicured Man's doctor friend should have been the episode's focus, and derided the "pomposity" of the dialogue elsewhere in the episode. [11] Based on an advance viewing of the episode's script, Entertainment Weekly rated "Terma" an A−, praising the "arms race" plotline. [12] Robert Shearman and Lars Pearson, in their book Wanting to Believe: A Critical Guide to The X-Files, Millennium & The Lone Gunmen, rated "Terma" one star out of five, comparing it unfavorably with the previous episode. Shearman and Pearson described the episode as "awful", noting that there "is virtually no structure to it at all". The episode's dialogue was described as being "dreadful, boring and facile", with its long, clumsy lines and "ever more complex and ever less interesting" speeches. [13]
The third season of the American science fiction television series The X-Files commenced airing on Fox in the United States on September 22, 1995, concluded on the same channel on May 17, 1996, and contained 24 episodes. The season continues to follow the cases of FBI special agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully, portrayed by David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson respectively, who investigate paranormal or supernatural cases, known as X-Files by the FBI.
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 Well-Manicured Man is a fictional character in the American science fiction television series The X-Files. He serves as an antagonist to FBI special agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully, being a member of the sinister Syndicate the agents seek to foil. Introduced in the third season, the Well-Manicured Man served to highlight discord within the ranks of the Syndicate, and ultimately betrayed them by leaking information to Mulder before committing suicide in the series' first feature film.
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.
Marita Covarrubias is a fictional character on the American science fiction television series The X-Files. She was initially introduced as an informant, leaking diplomatic information to FBI Special Agent Fox Mulder to aid his investigation of paranormal cases, dubbed X-Files. However, she was revealed to be an agent of the secretive Syndicate, although ultimately betraying that organization on several occasions. Introduced in the fourth season opener "Herrenvolk", the character remained a recurring presence until the series' finale, "The Truth".
"Sleepless" is the 4th episode of the second season and 28th overall of the science fiction television series The X-Files, premiering on the Fox network on October 7, 1994. The episode was written by supervising producer Howard Gordon and directed by Rob Bowman. The episode is a "Monster-of-the-Week" story, unconnected to the series' wider mythology, although it features the first on-screen appearances of recurring characters X and Alex Krycek, who are central to the show's continuity. Its closing scene also sets the stage for the subsequent story arc of Scully's abduction. "Sleepless" earned a Nielsen rating of 8.6 and was viewed by 8.2 million households. The episode received mostly positive reviews from critics.
"Tunguska" is the eighth episode of the fourth season of the American science fiction television series The X-Files. It premièred on the Fox network on November 24, 1996. It was directed by Kim Manners, and written by Frank Spotnitz and series creator Chris Carter. "Tunguska" featured guest appearances by John Neville, Nicholas Lea and Fritz Weaver. The episode helped explore the series' overarching mythology. "Tunguska" earned a Nielsen household rating of 12.2, being watched by 18.85 million people in its initial broadcast.
"El Mundo Gira" is the eleventh episode of the fourth season of the American science fiction television series The X-Files. It premiered on the Fox network in the United States on January 12, 1997. It was written by John Shiban and directed by Tucker Gates. The episode is a "Monster-of-the-Week" story, unconnected to the series' wider mythology. "El Mundo Gira" received a Nielsen rating of 13.3 and was viewed by 22.37 million people in its initial broadcast, and received mixed to negative reviews from television critics.
"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.
"Demons" is the twenty-third episode of the fourth season of the American science fiction television series The X-Files. It premiered on the Fox network in the United States on May 11, 1997 and in the United Kingdom on BBC One on February 25, 1998. It was written by R. W. Goodwin and directed by Kim Manners. The episode helps explore the series' overarching mythology. "Demons" received a Nielsen rating of 11.8, being watched by 19.1 million viewers in its initial broadcast. The episode received mostly positive reviews from television critics, with many complimenting the episode's look into Mulder's mind.
"Gethsemane" is the twenty-fourth and final episode of the fourth season of the American science fiction television series The X-Files. It premiered on the Fox network on May 18, 1997. It was directed by R.W. Goodwin, and written by series creator Chris Carter. "Gethsemane" featured guest appearances by Charles Cioffi, Sheila Larken and Pat Skipper, and introduced John Finn as recurring character Michael Kritschgau. The episode helped to explore the overarching mythology, or fictional history of The X-Files. "Gethsemane" earned a Nielsen household rating of 13.2, being watched by 19.85 million people in its initial broadcast.
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".
"Patient X" is the thirteenth episode of the fifth season of American science fiction television series The X-Files. It was written by series creator Chris Carter and Frank Spotnitz, directed by Kim Manners and aired in the United States on March 1, 1998, on the Fox network. The episode earned a Nielsen household rating of 12.6, being watched by 20.21 million people in its initial broadcast. The episode received moderately positive reviews from critics.
"The Red and the Black" is the fourteenth episode of the fifth season of American science fiction television series The X-Files. It was written by series creator Chris Carter and Frank Spotnitz, directed by Carter and aired in the United States on March 8, 1998, on the Fox network. The episode earned a Nielsen household rating of 12.0, being watched by 19.98 million people in its initial broadcast. The episode received moderately positive reviews from critics.
"The End" is the 20th and final episode of the fifth season, and 117th overall of the science fiction television series The X-Files. The episode first aired in the United States and Canada on May 17, 1998. "The End" subsequently aired in the United Kingdom on March 17, 1999, on BBC One. The episode was written by executive producer Chris Carter, and directed by R. W. Goodwin. "The End" earned a Nielsen household rating of 11.9, being watched by 18.76 million people in its initial broadcast. The episode received mixed to positive reviews from television 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.
"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.
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.
"Tempus Fugit" is the seventeenth episode of the fourth season of the American science fiction television series The X-Files. It premiered on the Fox network on March 16, 1997. It was directed by Rob Bowman, and written by Frank Spotnitz and series creator Chris Carter. "Tempus Fugit" featured guest appearances by Joe Spano, Tom O'Brien and Brendan Beiser, and saw the return of Scott Bellis as alien abductee Max Fenig. The episode helped to explore the overarching mythology, or fictional history of The X-Files. "Tempus Fugit" earned a Nielsen household rating of 11.9, being watched by 18.85 million people in its initial broadcast. The title translates from Latin as "time flies."
