External links
Wikiquote has quotations related to TXF Season 3 .
- "Wetwired" on The X-Files official website
- "Wetwired" at IMDb
| "Wetwired" | |
|---|---|
| The X-Files episode | |
| Episode no. | Season 3 Episode 23 |
| Directed by | Rob Bowman |
| Written by | Mat Beck |
| Production code | 3X23 |
| Original air date | May 10, 1996 |
| Running time | 44 minutes |
| Guest appearances | |
| |
"Wetwired" is the twenty-third episode of the third season and the 72nd episode overall of the science fiction television series The X-Files . The episode first aired in the United States on May 10, 1996, on Fox. It was written by the show's visual effect designer Mat Beck, and directed by Rob Bowman. The episode earned a Nielsen rating of 9.7 and was viewed by 14.48 million people. The episode received mostly 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 committed by ordinary citizens angered after seeing illusory images. Scully's trust in Mulder is put to the ultimate test.
"Wetwired" was written by Mat Beck, the show's visual effects supervisor. Beck drew inspiration from debates about television violence and his desire to explore the effect that television has on people. Actor Steven Williams had scheduling conflicts due to his work on the series L.A. Heat , resulting in the creation of the Plain Clothed Man, who appeared in the episode as an emissary for X. Williams called his scene at the end of the episode with The Smoking Man one of his favorite scenes he performed on the show.
In Braddock Heights, Maryland, a man mistakenly kills his wife, believing her, as well as the police who soon arrive, to all be someone else. Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) is tipped off to the case by the mysterious Plain-Clothed Man, who provides him with a newspaper article discussing the case. Mulder and partner Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) visit the man, and his doctor, Dr. Stroman, in a psychiatric hospital and are told the man killed five people, believing them to all be the same person.
Mulder and Scully visit the murderer's house, where Mulder sees a repairman working on the cable line. They find hundreds of video tapes of a cable news channel. Scully believes all the violence the man watched on TV may have led him to the murders, something Mulder does not believe. That night Scully watches the tapes, seeing if there are any clues to why the man committed murder. She steps outside for a break and sees Mulder in a car talking to the Cigarette Smoking Man. In the morning Scully suspiciously asks Mulder if he moved the car in the night. When Mulder tells her he only went out for a paper earlier, she believes he is lying. The next day a similar murder occurs when a woman thinks she sees her husband in a hammock with another woman; in reality she has killed her neighbor who was in a hammock with his dog. Mulder sees the same cable repairman near the house, who escapes from him. Climbing up on the telephone pole Mulder finds a device inside the cable box.
Mulder brings the device to the Lone Gunmen, who tell him it is emitting some kind of signal. Mulder contacts Scully, who is growing increasingly paranoid. Hearing possible clicks while on the phone with Mulder, she frantically searches her hotel room for monitoring devices. When Mulder knocks at her door, Scully fires her weapon at it and runs off. Mulder believes her to be suffering from paranoid psychosis. The Lone Gunmen believe the device to be some sort of subliminal mind control device. Mulder was not affected due to his color blindness. The police find a body they believe to be that of Scully, but Mulder confirms that it is not her. Mulder is unable to contact Scully's mother, leading him to go to her house. He finds Scully there, who aims a gun at him. Scully claims Mulder never trusted her and blames him for her abduction and her sister's murder. Scully's mother calms her down, and she is hospitalized.
Mulder believes that the mind control device turns people's fears into paranoid delusions. Mulder tries to contact Dr. Stroman with no success. He traces Dr. Stroman's location to an empty hotel room where he finds cigarettes in the ash tray. Using the phone log for the room Mulder tracks Stroman to a house where he spots him meeting with the cable repairman. However, by the time Mulder enters, shots ring out, and Mulder finds both men dead, with X (Steven Williams) responsible for their murders. X used a third party to inform Mulder, knowing he had orders to kill the men, but Mulder was not able to piece things together in time. Mulder calls him a coward but X tells Mulder that Mulder needs him. Later, X meets in a car with The Smoking Man (William B. Davis). [1]
"Wetwired" was written by Mat Beck, who served as the series's visual effects supervisor. Beck was inspired to pen the episode after hearing the debates concerning violence on television and its effect on viewers. Beck's initial concept was more complex and pulled from neurology texts, but as the script progressed, it was simplified. Actor Steven Williams had scheduling conflicts due to his work on the series L.A. Heat , resulting in the creation of the "Plain Clothed Man", who appeared in the episode as an emissary for X. Paul Rabwin provided narration for a television show that plays in the background. Dana Scully's motel room as well as The Lone Gunmen's office were constructed on sound stage. The episode had late-stage sound problems which resulted in post-production dragging into the day the episode was scheduled to be broadcast. [2]
Williams called his scene at the end of the episode with The Smoking Man one of his favorite scenes. [3] Rob Bowman was happy with the final product and said, "I dug the script. I felt it was a good old-fashioned show, and people who didn't like 'Jose Chung's From Outer Space' would like 'Wetwired' because all the bad boys are back. A good clean steak-and-potatoes type of episode." [4]
"Wetwired" premiered on the Fox network in the United States on May 10, 1996. [5] The episode earned a Nielsen rating of 9.7, with a 17 share, meaning that roughly 9.7 percent of all television-equipped households, and 17 percent of households watching television, were tuned in to the episode. [6] The episode was watched by a total of 14.48 million viewers. [6]
The episode received moderately positive reviews from television critics. Entertainment Weekly gave the episode a B, noting its similarity to "Blood" but thought that "Anderson gives good unhinged". [7] Zack Handlen of The A.V. Club graded it a B+, also noting the similarity to "Blood" but he did "not entirely [mean it] as a criticism". Handlen was a "little disappointed" about the Monster-of-the-Week, as the concept was not fully explored. [8] John Keegan from Critical Myth gave the episode a positive review and awarded it an 8 out of 10. He wrote, "Overall, this was [a] strong psychological episode [...] melded with the conspiracy in a logical and consistent way. Some plot devices are a bit too contrived, but the strengths of the episode outweigh the weaknesses. Two great performances by David and Gillian give the episode the necessary gravitas, and there’s enough foreshadowing to make sense of some elements of the season finale." [9] Robert Shearman and Lars Pearson, in their book Wanting to Believe: A Critical Guide to The X-Files, Millennium & The Lone Gunmen, rated the episode three-and-a-half stars out of five. The two compared the episode positively to the earlier second season episode "Blood" and wrote, "['Blood'] had a clever premise which didn't quite translate into an actual plot; here writer Mat Beck remedies that, very wisely". [10] Shearman and Pearson, furthermore, praised the ending of the episode, where it is revealed that X's days "are surely numbered." [10] Paula Vitaris of Cinefantastique gave the episode a moderately positive review and awarded it three stars out of four. [11] She praised Anderson's acting, calling it "superb" and noting that watching Scully fall victim to insanity is "sickly fascinating". [11]
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.
"Gender Bender" is the fourteenth episode of the first season of the American science fiction television series The X-Files, premiering on the Fox network on January 21, 1994. It was written by Larry and Paul Barber, directed by Rob Bowman, and featured a guest appearance by Nicholas Lea, who would later appear in the recurring role of Alex Krycek. The episode is a "Monster-of-the-Week" story, a stand-alone plot which is unconnected to the series' overarching mythology.
"F. Emasculata" is the twenty-second episode of the second season of the American science fiction television series The X-Files. It first premiered on the Fox network in the United States on April 28, 1995. It was written by series creator Chris Carter and staff writer Howard Gordon, and directed by Rob Bowman. "F. Emasculata" received a Nielsen rating of 8.9 and was watched by 8.5 million households. The episode received mixed reviews from television critics.
"Roland" is the twenty-third episode of the first season of the American science fiction television series The X-Files, premiering on the Fox network on May 6, 1994. It was written by Chris Ruppenthal and directed by David Nutter. The episode featured guest appearances by Željko Ivanek, James Sloyan and Kerry Sandomirsky. The episode is a "Monster-of-the-Week" story, a stand-alone plot which is unconnected to the series' wider mythology. "Roland" earned a Nielsen household rating of 7.9, being watched by 7.4 million households in its initial broadcast; and received mixed reviews from critics, although Ivanek's guest role was met with acclaim.
"Little Green Men" is the first episode of the second season of the science fiction television series The X-Files, premiering on the Fox network on September 16, 1994, in the United States and on BBC Two in the United Kingdom on August 28, 1995. The episode was written by Glen Morgan and James Wong, and directed by David Nutter. The episode helped explore the series' overarching mythology. "Little Green Men" earned a Nielsen household rating of 10.3, being watched by 9.8 million households in its initial broadcast. The episode received largely positive reviews from critics.
"Blood" is the third episode of the second season of the science fiction television series The X-Files. It premiered on the Fox network on September 30, 1994. The teleplay was written by Glen Morgan and James Wong from a story by Darin Morgan, and was directed by David Nutter. The episode is a "Monster-of-the-Week" story, unconnected to the series' wider mythology. "Blood" earned a Nielsen household rating of 9.8, being watched by 8.7 million households in its initial broadcast. The episode received mostly positive reviews.
"Excelsis Dei" is the eleventh episode of the second season of the science fiction television series The X-Files. It premiered in the United States on the Fox network on December 16, 1994. It was written by Paul Brown and directed by Stephen Surjik. The episode is a "Monster-of-the-Week" story, unconnected to the series' wider mythology. "Excelsis Dei" earned a Nielsen household rating of 8.9, being watched by 8.5 million households in its initial broadcast. The episode received mixed reviews from television critics; although some complimented the episode's effects, others were critical of the way the show handled rape.
"Aubrey" is the twelfth episode of the second season of the American science fiction television series The X-Files, and the thirty-sixth episode overall. It premiered on the Fox network in the United States on January 6, 1995. It was written by Sara B. Charno and directed by Rob Bowman. The episode is a "Monster-of-the-Week" story, unconnected to the series' wider mythology. "Aubrey" received a Nielsen rating of 10.2 and was watched by 9.7 million households. The episode received mixed to positive reviews from television critics.
"The Walk" is the seventh episode of the third season of the American science fiction television series The X-Files. It was written by John Shiban and directed by Rob Bowman. The episode aired in the United States on November 10, 1995, on the Fox network. The episode is a "Monster-of-the-Week" story, a stand-alone plot which is unconnected to the series' wider mythology. "The Walk" earned a Nielsen household rating of 10.4, being watched by 15.91 million people in its initial broadcast. Critical reception was mixed.
"Revelations" is the eleventh episode of the third season of the science fiction television series The X-Files. It premiered on the Fox network on December 15, 1995. It was written by Kim Newton and directed by David Nutter. The episode is a "Monster-of-the-Week" story, unconnected to the series' wider mythology. "Revelations" earned a Nielsen household rating of 10, being watched by 15.25 million people in its initial broadcast. The episode received mixed to positive reviews.
"Syzygy" is the thirteenth episode of the third season of the science fiction television series The X-Files. The episode first aired in the United States on January 26, 1996, on Fox. It was written by series creator Chris Carter and directed by Rob Bowman.
"Avatar" is the twenty-first episode of the third season of the science fiction television series The X-Files. It premiered on the Fox network in the United States on April 26, 1996. The story for the episode was developed by David Duchovny and Howard Gordon, the teleplay was written by Gordon, and it was directed by James Charleston. The episode is a "Monster-of-the-Week" story, unconnected to the series' wider mythology, although The Smoking Man's machinations in the conspiracy against Skinner continues the feud between the characters started in "Paper Clip". "Avatar" earned a Nielsen household rating of 9.3, being watched by 14.62 million viewers in its initial broadcast. The episode received mixed reviews from television critics.
"Quagmire" is the twenty-second episode of the third season of the science fiction television series The X-Files. It premiered on the Fox network in the United States on May 3, 1996. It was written by Kim Newton and directed by Kim Manners. The episode is a "Monster of the Week" story, unconnected to the series' wider mythology. "Quagmire" earned a Nielsen household rating of 10.2, being watched by 16 million viewers in its initial broadcast. The episode received mostly positive reviews from television 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.
"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.
"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.
"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.
"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.
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