The Search for Samantha

Spoiler Warning: Be advised, this post is one big, huge, enormous spoiler for The X-Files.

I want to believe...

Nowhere is the central theme of The X-Files - a government conspiracy to cover up the existence of extraterrestrial life - more perfectly embodied than in the abduction of Mulder's kid sister. His quest to find out what happened to Samantha - where she was taken and why, and whether she might ever return - fueled his search for the truth, and in turn, pushed the series forward. Even after the Syndicate collapsed, the lingering question of Samantha's fate kept viewers watching, until that mystery, too, was solved - effectively sabotaging the rest of the series' mythology. Let us now revisit the ups and downs of the roller coaster ride that was...the search for Samantha.

As Mulder recounted to Scully during their first case together (and as we later saw in flashback during a dream sequence), Mulder's sister was taken from their home right in front of his eyes, when she was 8 and he was 12. After investigating a tabloid case of a girl allegedly abducted by aliens - that Mulder decided to pursue in spite of the reputation such actions were earning him at the FBI - Scully reviewed audio tapes recorded from the hypnotic regression therapy sessions in which Mulder recovered his memories of his sister's abduction.

Occasionally, the subject of Mulder's sister would come up in the course of investigating paranormal cases. Mulder began to see visions of Samantha while investigating the claims of a faith healer in Tennessee. Scully eventually came to recognize that Mulder's determination to rescue kidnapped women was driven by the subconscious desire to save his own sister. At one point, an incarcerated serial killer taunted Mulder with the possibility that Samantha was one of his unclaimed victims, and it almost tore Mulder apart.

While pursuing the conspiracy to hide the government's involvement in an extraterrestrial plot to colonize the planet, Mulder encountered several false positives in the search for his sister. When a woman claiming to be Samantha appeared at the Mulder home, it was soon discovered that she was the product of a cloning experiment. Mulder later found other clones of Samantha as a child, which he was told were created as worker drones to aid in preparations for colonization.

In an ill-conceived bid to earn Mulder's loyalty, the Cigarette-Smoking Man arranged a meeting with another woman claiming to be Samantha, but it's doubtful that she was really Mulder's sister. In another encounter with the untrustworthy Smoking Man, Mulder entered a witness protection program in which his sister was leading a normal life, but eventually learned that it was an extended hallucination experienced during brain surgery.

In the course of his investigations, Mulder did finally learn some answers. As alluded to by his father in a near-death encounter, Mulder discovered - while exploring a secret government archive of abductee reports housed in a mining facility - that he was originally supposed to have been taken in Samantha's place. A radical and dangerous treatment to enhance his memories verified that his parents were forced to make a choice, and that the Cigarette-Smoking Man was involved in the decision.

The reason for the abduction was eventually revealed on the eve of the Syndicate's destruction by a faction of alien rebels. Mulder learned that a group of government agents - his father included - had struck a deal with alien invaders to pave the way for colonization, and were required to give up members of their family to be used as experimental test subjects in a hybridization program.

The remaining question of Samantha's current location was closed once and for all during an investigation into several cases of children doomed to terrible fates, who were preemptively claimed by "walk-in" spirits. After her abduction, Samantha was returned to the conspirators for further testing, and eventually taken by the walk-ins to spare her torment. She now lives eternally in starlight.

Episodes referenced: Pilot, Little Green Men, Conduit, Miracle Man, Oubliette, Paper Hearts, Colony/End Game, Herrenvolk, Redux II, Amor Fati, The Blessing Way/Paper Clip, Demons, Two Fathers/One Son, Sein und Zeit/Closure

The Trials and Tribulations of Dana Katherine Scully

Spoiler Warning: Be advised, this post is one big, huge, enormous spoiler for The X-Files.

This is not happening!

This series really put Scully through the ringer. It was a great opportunity to let Gillian Anderson flaunt her acting chops - but when you think about all the trauma the writers put her through, it gets to be ridiculous once they all begin to stack up. And that's even excluding all of the usual dangers and weekly mortal peril that's all in a day's work for an FBI agent! Let us now recount the trials and tribulations of Dana Katherine Scully.

In the first season, Scully lost her father, but that was only the beginning. In season 2, she was kidnapped by a lunatic in order to be abducted by aliens, where tests were performed on her that left her in a coma that she barely survived. The ensuing psychological trauma from her ordeal impaired her ability to perform her job. Then her sister was shot by a bullet that was meant for her, and subsequently died in the hospital.

Scully later learned that her abduction was part of a government conspiracy to perform unsanctioned medical tests on innocent civilians. In the third season, she rekindled her faith in God, and had an opportunity to confront the assassin who shot her sister. But, come the fourth season, she contracted brain cancer as a long-term effect of the tests performed on her during her abduction, which also left her barren. She suffered from the physical and psychological effects of her terminal illness, nearly succumbing to the disease before making a miraculous deathbed recovery.

Then, in the fifth season, Scully learned that she had a daughter, created using her genetic material; but the girl was severely ill, and could not survive. As if this weren't enough, Scully's faith was tested once again, and then she was infected with an alien virus and taken aboard a spacecraft. Despite being barren, she later discovered that she was pregnant, just as the man she had fallen in love with disappeared. He was eventually found dead (though he got better).

In season 8, Scully began to fear that the baby she was carrying might be an alien hybrid, and then a small army of alien replicants hunted her down as she gave birth. The baby was human, but became the target of an alien prophecy by men who wanted to kill it in season 9. Ultimately, she came to the difficult decision to give the baby up for adoption for its own protection.

Episodes referenced: Beyond The Sea, Duane Barry/Ascension, One Breath, Irresistible, The Blessing Way/Paper Clip, Nisei/731, Revelations, Apocrypha, Leonard Betts, Memento Mori, Elegy, Redux/Redux II, Christmas Carol/Emily, All Souls, Fight The Future, Requiem, This is Not Happening/Deadalive, Per Manum, Essence/Existence, Provenance/Providence, William

The X-Files - Writers Roundup (Part 4)

Barrel Scrapers

In this feature, I will place a focus on the various writers that contributed to The X-Files throughout its nine seasons. In this part, we will take a look at the cast and crew who contributed episodes, as well as the many freelancers whose scripts helped to fill out the series.


David Duchovny

There are probably a lot of fans who would take exception to me calling David Duchovny a "small fry", but strictly in terms of his writing contributions to the show, he only ever racked up a small handful of credits, and many of those were for comparatively small contributions anyway. His first four credits, in the second and third seasons, were for story ideas in three mythology episodes written by Chris Carter (all of which involve scenes with Mulder's family), and one Skinner-centric episode written by Howard Gordon - Avatar.

Duchovny's first directorial credit came in season 6, with the fan-favored The Unnatural. I personally didn't like it much, but in all honesty, I can't fault Duchovny's directing or storywriting abilities - I just didn't appreciate the more light-hearted tone of the episode, especially considering its tenuous but undeniable links to the series' mythology. The humorous tone of his second directing experiment, season 7's Hollywood A.D., similarly marred that episode, but to a lesser extent (it is a pretty funny spoof of Fight The Future).

In that same season, Duchovny earned a full-on writing credit alongside Chris Carter for the mythology episode Amor Fati, which concluded an epic three-parter with a sequence in which Mulder experiences something akin to The Last Temptation of Christ. This is actually the second example of Duchovny stretching his academic muscles, as he suggested themes from Dostoyevsky's The Brothers Karamazov to spice up the conversation between the Smoking Man and Jeremiah Smith in Talitha Cumi.

Duchovny's final writing credit on the show is for another episode he directed, which was written primarily by Chris Carter, with assistance also from Frank Spotnitz. The episode, William, is the series' final mythology episode prior to the series finale, and wraps up the oft-times frustrating storyline surrounding the titular character, via a compelling mystery that toys mischievously with the audience's expectations and lucid awareness of Mulder's absent presence on the show in its final season.

Credits:
 Season 2: Colony*, Anasazi*
 Season 3: Avatar**, Talitha Cumi*
 Season 6: The Unnatural
 Season 7: Amor Fati***, Hollywood A.D.
 Season 9: William†

* Story credit with Chris Carter; Teleplay by Chris Carter
** Story credit with Howard Gordon; Teleplay by Howard Gordon
*** with Chris Carter
† Story credit with Carter/Spotnitz; Teleplay by Chris Carter


Other Cast & Crew

Season 7 was a time for experimentation. In addition to David Duchovny's second directing effort, Gillian Anderson also had an opportunity to write and direct her own episode, all things. It is a fairly competent product, but suffers from an uncharacteristic tone. It feels more like a romantic drama, and has Scully embracing new age spirituality, much in conflict with her established character. On the other hand, the episode that William B. Davis wrote (but did not direct), En Ami, feels tailor-made for The X-Files, and is one of the highlights of the seventh season. In it, the Smoking Man constructs a plot to get closer to Scully by dangling the cure for cancer in front of her face.

On the crew front, we have two excellent and underrated episodes from the earlier seasons. Special effects guru Mat Beck is responsible for writing the penultimate episode of season 3, Wetwired, which is a fantastically paranoid thriller featuring one of X's last appearances. And the penultimate episode of season 4 was written by R.W. Goodwin, who directed the series' season premiere and finale episodes up until the production moved to L.A. Titled Demons, it addresses Mulder's memories of his sister's abduction via a murder mystery involving short-term amnesia.

Credits:
 Season 3: Wetwired (Mat Beck)
 Season 4: Demons (R.W. Goodwin)
 Season 7: En Ami (William B. Davis), all things (Gillian Anderson)

Combined Ranking (from best to worst):
Anasazi, Colony, Demons, Wetwired, En Ami, Talitha Cumi, Amor Fati,
Avatar, William, Hollywood A.D., The Unnatural, all things


Small Fries

Starting in the sixth season, after the first movie and following the move to L.A., there were a few writers who came on to the show and managed to rack up more than just one or two credits, but not enough to ever join the big leagues. The most prolific of these was David Amann, who earned a respectable seven credits. For the most part, he was responsible for writing somewhat retro episodes - more or less straightforward freak-of-the-weeks at a time when the series' main writers were stretching out and experimenting with format (to more and less effective results). Terms of Endearment stars an understated Bruce Campbell caught up in a twist on the typical antichrist plot, and Agua Mala effectively conjures the atmosphere of a raging Florida hurricane from which a deadly sea creature emerges.

In season 7, Amann wrote two more solid-but-not-stellar freak-of-the-week episodes, one serving as a drug metaphor about a group of teens who learn how to move at the speed of light (Rush), and another that gives form to the green-eyed monster that is jealousy in a not-so-ideal suburban neighborhood (Chimera). Amann's only writing credit for season 8, Invocation, is a pretty good rehash of themes similar to those in Gilligan's Paper Hearts, but reoriented for Agent Doggett's son instead of Mulder's sister. In the ninth season, Amann wrote Hellbound, an episode with potential, but marred by its convoluted conclusion. However, he also wrote Release with some help from John Shiban, which revisits the subject of Doggett's son, and is one of the standout episodes of the ninth season.

The next biggest small fry is Jeffrey Bell, who earned five writing credits. He, too, arrived in the sixth season, splitting his efforts between a traditional freak-of-the-week episode (the fan-panned Alpha), and a more original romantic comedy (The Rain King), which panders shamelessly to the shipper demographic. In the seventh season, he again struck out in two separate directions, with one oddball episode about the determinism of lucky coincidences (The Goldberg Variation), and one of the better straightforward freak-of-the-week episodes of the season, about a snake-handling church in Tennessee (Signs & Wonders). Bell's last credit was for Salvage in the eighth season, which, despite some cool effects, is not one of the better episodes of the season.

Steven Maeda & Greg Walker both came onto the scene in the seventh season, for a collaboration on Brand X, a conspiracy thriller about the tobacco industry that I rate as one of the better episodes of the season. Walker went on to write two episodes in the eighth season - the not-so-great Surekill, which fumbled its clever premise, and Empedocles, a decent episode that was the first to directly address Agent Doggett's trauma regarding his son. Maeda also wrote two episodes in the eighth season - the decent but somewhat overrated Redrum (co-written with Daniel Arkin), and Vienen, which puts Mulder and Doggett together on a standalone case that features the series' final brush-in with the Black Oil. Maeda continued on to write two more solid episodes in the ninth season, ably restructuring the traditional format around the show's new leads, Doggett and Reyes. 4-D examines a creepy killer who can manipulate spacetime, and Audrey Pauley treats Reyes to a Twilight Zone-like near-death experience.

Credits (David Amann):
 Season 6: Terms of Endearment, Agua Mala
 Season 7: Rush, Chimera
 Season 8: Invocation
 Season 9: Hellbound, Release*

* with story ideas by John Shiban

Credits (Jeffrey Bell):
 Season 6: The Rain King, Alpha
 Season 7: The Goldberg Variation, Signs & Wonders
 Season 8: Salvage

Credits (Steven Maeda):
 Season 7: Brand X*
 Season 8: Redrum**, Vienen
 Season 9: 4-D, Audrey Pauley

* with Greg Walker
** with Daniel Arkin

Credits (Greg Walker):
 Season 7: Brand X*
 Season 8: Surekill, Empedocles

* with Steven Maeda

Combined Ranking (from best to worst):
Release, Signs & Wonders, 4-D, Brand X, Empedocles,
Audrey Pauley, Vienen, Invocation, Terms of Endearment,
Agua Mala, Rush, Hellbound, Alpha, Redrum, Chimera,
Surekill, Salvage, The Rain King, The Goldberg Variation


Freelancers

Finally, we come down to the various names that litter the series, none of which earned more than one or two credits. It would be tempting to write these individuals off as insignificant next to the contributions of the bigwigs, but you might be surprised by what you find - especially considering how I feel about the direction the series took in its later years. Sometimes it seemed to me that while the veteran writers were busy twisting around the format that they had become bored with (to greater and lesser results), it took the newbie writers who were just passing through to remember the formula that made the show a success in the first place, and keep it (just barely, at times) from completely losing sight of its roots. Regardless, these are the people who padded out the series, giving Mulder and Scully (and later Doggett and Reyes) new and weird cases to investigate week after week, from the first season to the last.


Two-fers: In the category of those who earned not just one, but two writing credits, we have nine names (technically ten, but two of them worked together). Chris Ruppenthal wrote a very decent episode in the first season (Roland), followed by one of the most-panned episodes in the entire series (in spite of Morgan & Wong's contributions to the script), season 2's 3. (As we'll see, this pattern of one good episode and one bad will be fairly common). Paul Brown wrote the fantastic mythology episode Ascension, followed by the very forgettable Excelsis Dei, both in the second season. Also in that season, Sara B. Cooper wrote one episode I didn't like all that much (Aubrey), and one that was considerably better (The Calusari, which leads to a Romanian exorcism).

Moving into the third season, Jeffrey Vlaming pumped out two good scripts - 2Shy (featuring a fat-sucking vampire), and Hell Money (one of the better "ethnic" episodes, featuring a Chinatown organ auction). In the same season, Kim Newton gave us our first exploration of Scully's faith (for better or worse) in Revelations, and the fantastic Quagmire (which was probably helped along by Darin Morgan's uncredited contributions). In the fifth season, Tim Minear joined forces with Vince Gilligan to write Kitsunegari, a fairly decent sequel to Pusher, and then by himself wrote Mind's Eye, a captivating episode in its own right.

Still in the fifth season, sci-fi authors William Gibson & Tom Maddox gave us the thrilling cyberpunk episode Kill Switch, although their followup episode in season 7, First Person Shooter, was a notorious disappointment. Daniel Arkin provided us with Arcadia in the lighthearted season 6, in which Mulder and Scully go undercover as a married couple. He then worked with Steven Maeda to bring us season 8's Redrum, which I've mentioned above. Finally, in the ninth season, Thomas Schnauz - who had written for The Lone Gunmen spinoff series - gave us the head-shakingly ridiculous Lord of the Flies, and the slightly less odious Scary Monsters (in spite of its bad special effects).

Credits (Two-fers):
 Season 1: Roland (Chris Ruppenthal)
 Season 2: Ascension (Paul Brown), 3 (Chris Ruppenthal*), Excelsis Dei (Paul Brown),
                 Aubrey (Sara B. Cooper), The Calusari (Sara B. Cooper)
 Season 3: 2Shy (Jeffrey Vlaming), Revelations (Kim Newton),
                 Hell Money (Jeffrey Vlaming), Quagmire (Kim Newton)
 Season 5: Kitsunegari (Tim Minear**), Kill Switch (Gibson & Maddox),
                 Mind's Eye (Tim Minear)
 Season 6: Arcadia (Daniel Arkin)
 Season 7: First Person Shooter (Gibson & Maddox)
 Season 8: Redrum (Daniel Arkin***)
 Season 9: Lord of the Flies (Thomas Schnauz), Scary Monsters (Thomas Schnauz)

* with Glen Morgan & James Wong
** with Vince Gilligan
*** with Steven Maeda

My Ranking (from best to worst):
Ascension, Quagmire, Kill Switch, Hell Money, Mind's Eye, Kitsunegari,
Roland, 2Shy, The Calusari, Redrum, Revelations, 3, Arcadia,
Scary Monsters, Excelsis Dei, Aubrey, First Person Shooter, Lord of the Flies


One-offs: We're really scraping the bottom of the barrel now! And quite a few of the following episodes were written by team pairs, splitting the work of one episode across two people. But surprisingly few of them I'd rate among the all-time worst episodes in the series. At least for me, a truly bad episode of The X-Files is not simply one that adheres too strictly to formula, but one that tries to innovate too much, and ends up being something entirely other than The X-Files - and the big-name writers were mostly responsible for those (Chris Carter among them).

Our largest collection of one-offs comes not surprisingly in the first season. Chris Brancato and Kenneth Biller are responsible for what is likely the best one - Eve, about twin girls involved in genetic experimentation. Young At Heart, which revisits Mulder's first case with the FBI, is also decent, written by Scott Kaufer with Chris Carter. Gender Bender, written by Paul and Larry Barber (I have no idea if they're related) doesn't quite come together in the end, but features a creepy atmosphere, as well as Nicholas Lea's first appearance on the show, before he was cast as Alex Krycek. Meanwhile, Marilyn Osborn's Shapes struggles to put a new spin on the werewolf legend, using Native American lore.

In the second season, Steve De Jarnatt wrote Fearful Symmetry, about alien abductions of animals at a zoo. Fans often criticize it, but I thought it was pretty good. Charles Grant Craig's Oubliette in season 3, on the other hand, gets generally favorable reviews, but I really didn't like it. Season 4's one-offs include the gross-out episode Sanguinarium, written by Valerie & Vivian Mayhew, which ties witchcraft to modern medicine, and the time travel paradox of Synchrony, written by David Greenwalt (who worked on Buffy the Vampire Slayer and its spinoff series Angel) with Howard Gordon.

For season 5, Jessica Scott & Mike Wollaeger wrote Schizogeny, another one of those straightforward freak-of-the-weeks (about killer trees) that I seem to have liked better than most. Then there's Chinga, about a living doll, which was famously co-written by Stephen King with Chris Carter, but is mediocre in spite of that fact. Billy Brown & Dan Angel came up with the story for All Souls, the second episode focusing on Scully's dedication to the Catholic faith, which was then written up by John Shiban & Frank Spotnitz. In season 6, Jim Guttridge & Ken Hawryliw wrote Trevor, a solid episode about a man who can walk through walls. And Chip Johannessen, who was displaced following the cancellation of Millennium, wrote Orison, a sequel to Irresistible featuring death fetishist Donnie Pfaster, in season 7.

Credits (One-offs):
 Season 1: Eve (Chris Brancato, Kenneth Biller), Gender Bender (Paul & Larry Barber),
                 Young At Heart (Scott Kaufer*), Shapes (Marilyn Osborn)
 Season 2: Fearful Symmetry (Steve De Jarnatt)
 Season 3: Oubliette (Charles Grant Craig)
 Season 4: Sanguinarium (Valerie & Vivian Mayhew), Synchrony (David Greenwalt**)
 Season 5: Schizogeny (Jessica Scott & Mike Wollaeger), Chinga (Stephen King*),
                 All Souls (Billy Brown & Dan Angel***)
 Season 6: Trevor (Jim Guttridge & Ken Hawryliw)
 Season 7: Orison (Chip Johannessen)

* with Chris Carter
** with Howard Gordon
*** Story credit; Teleplay by John Shiban & Frank Spotnitz

My Ranking (from best to worst):
Synchrony, Eve, Orison, Young At Heart, Trevor, Schizogeny, Gender Bender,
Fearful Symmetry, Chinga, Sanguinarium, Shapes, All Souls, Oubliette


Thanks for tuning in!

The X-Files - Writers Roundup (Part 3)

John Gilnitz

In this feature, I will place a focus on the various writers that contributed to The X-Files throughout its nine seasons. In this part, we will take a look at both the individual contributions and collective collaborations between the three writers who made up the John Gilnitz trio.


Vince Gilligan

By all accounts, Vince Gilligan was the star and the sweetheart of The X-Files' writing team. I'd be hard-pressed to pick a "best" writer, but Gilligan is a strong contender for the title (although he'd have to beat out Carter/Spotnitz and Morgan & Wong). Logging a respectable 30 total writing credits, he was the most successful writer at balancing serious episodes against the off-format comedies that became increasingly popular later in the series. Making an unceremonious entrance near the tail end of the second season, Gilligan wowed us all with the episode Pusher in season 3, before coming into his own as a force to be reckoned with in the fourth season. He was the consummate fan-turned-professional, writing in sly references to classic episodes such as Squeeze in Soft Light, and Anasazi in Pusher. He even found a way to put Mulder and Scully on a date (to much fan approval) before they ever got together!

Following the tense Unruhe and the grim (but fantastic) Paper Hearts, Gilligan detoured into comedy with Small Potatoes, no doubt following in the footsteps of Darin Morgan, who guest starred in the episode as a shape-shifting mutant. In season 5, Gilligan wrote the first full episode centered around The Lone Gunmen (Unusual Suspects), as well as another fan-favorite comedy episode, Bad Blood. He also wrote a sequel to Pusher with Tim Minear (Kitsunegari), and a hard-to-categorize psychological thriller about grasshopper pod people (Folie a Deux) that further cemented Gilligan's reputation as a shipper who understood Mulder and Scully's dependence on each other.

Likely diverting his appetite for humor into his collaborations with Shiban and Spotnitz, Gilligan's solo credits in the sixth season include a life-or-death Drive across the California desert with guest star Bryan Cranston, and Tithonus, a melancholy portrait of a man who has lost his ability to die. Season 7 saw Gilligan trying out a few experiments, with an episode cleverly depicted from the monster's perspective (Hungry), and a brilliant (if not spectacular) crossover with COPS (X-COPS). He also directed his first episode, Je Souhaite, in which Mulder encounters a genie who grants him three wishes.

With new blood injected into the series in the wake of David Duchovny's absence and Robert Patrick's arrival in the eighth season, Gilligan brought us another of his finest tales of the macabre - Roadrunners, which strands Scully in a remote village at the mercy of a messianic cult of slug-worshippers - before heading off to focus his attentions on The Lone Gunmen spin-off series. He returned in the ninth season with another whopper of a serious episode, John Doe, before closing out the series on an emotional note, with his second directorial credit, the all-too-saccharine Sunshine Days.

Credits (excluding collaborations with Shiban and/or Spotnitz):
 Season 2: Soft Light
 Season 3: Pusher
 Season 4: Unruhe, Paper Hearts, Small Potatoes
 Season 5: Unusual Suspects, Kitsunegari*, Bad Blood, Folie a Deux
 Season 6: Drive, Tithonus
 Season 7: Hungry, X-COPS, Je Souhaite
 Season 8: Roadrunners
 Season 9: John Doe, Sunshine Days

* with Tim Minear

My Ranking (from best to worst):
Paper Hearts, Pusher, Roadrunners, Unruhe, Tithonus,
John Doe, Bad Blood, Unusual Suspects, Soft Light,
Drive, Kitsunegari, Folie a Deux, Hungry,
Small Potatoes, X-COPS, Je Souhaite, Sunshine Days


John Shiban

I feel like John Shiban is the underdog of the John Gilnitz trio. He earned fewer credits than either Vince Gilligan or Frank Spotnitz, but still more than either Howard Gordon or Morgan & Wong. On the other hand, he didn't write as many truly standout episodes. But, while his credits include a few stinkers, the same could be said of most if not all of the other regular writers on the series (including no less than Chris Carter himself), and they also include a few underrated gems as well.

Shiban arrived on the scene in the third season, but didn't make a very good first impression. Prone to some pretty out-there premises, the quadriplegic who kills by astral projection in The Walk was perhaps a little too weird, and unfortunately overacted. Teso dos Bichos wasn't any better, earning a rather notorious reputation for resolving its central theme of a vengeful jaguar spirit with something even more ridiculous.

Opinions vary, but I believe Shiban's episodes in the fourth season are an improvement. I actually enjoy El Mundo Gira, which is fun in spite of having the tone of a tongue-in-cheek Mexican soap opera. Elegy is not a perfect episode, but it does a good job of toeing the line of what a typical X-Files episode should feel like, while admirably mixing in some mythology elements critical to Scully's condition at that point in the series.

With his efforts divided among the John Gilnitz collaborative episodes, Shiban's solo credits in the fifth and sixth seasons represent his best work in terms of constructing gritty conspiracy thrillers. The Pine Bluff Variant, which contains only minor supernatural elements, has almost the feel of a mob movie, and S.R. 819 carries on the tradition of doing the occasional Skinner-centric episode, with one that runs to the core of the character's central dilemma.

I imagine that in most fan's opinions, Shiban's eighth season credit, Badlaa, represents a misstep - a return to the ridiculous premises that marred his earlier episodes. But there's a courage and a dedication present that earns my respect, even in spite of the beyond-the-pale subject matter. And as far as season 9 is concerned, I consider it more of his best work. Underneath - Shiban's first directing credit - is a straightforward X-File, but stronger than Elegy, and makes competent use of the three lead characters. And, written with David Amann, Release provides a powerful sense of closure to Doggett's (and, by extension, Reyes') journey before turning the series finale back over to Mulder and Scully.

Credits (excluding collaborations with Gilligan and/or Spotnitz):
 Season 3: The Walk, Teso dos Bichos
 Season 4: El Mundo Gira, Elegy
 Season 5: The Pine Bluff Variant
 Season 6: S.R. 819
 Season 8: Badlaa
 Season 9: Underneath, Release*

* Story credit with David Amann; Teleplay by David Amann

My Ranking (from best to worst):
Release, S.R. 819, Underneath, El Mundo Gira,
The Pine Bluff Variant, Badlaa, Elegy,
The Walk, Teso dos Bichos


Frank Spotnitz

As I mentioned yesterday, Frank Spotnitz came on to the series writing the second part of Colony/End Game, before becoming Chris Carter's right hand man in developing the mythology. His other solo mythology credit is for the second part of Nisei/731, and he wrote Zero Sum in season 4 with Howard Gordon. Spotnitz' first freak-of-the-week credit, on the other hand, was for the penultimate episode of season 2, Our Town, which is a very solid episode about suburban cannibals. His next freak-of-the-week credit is for season 5's Detour, which mixes in a little humor (and suffers as a result, in my opinion), as was the style in that season.

It's not until the eighth season that Spotnitz really came into his own as a standalone writer, responsible for the fantastic episode Via Negativa, as well as the not-so-hot The Gift, which suffers from trying to force-fit an absentee Mulder into the story. But he also wrote the claustrophobic Medusa, and another penultimate episode - the sweetly nostalgic Alone, at a period when the series was finalizing the transition from Mulder and Scully over to Doggett - as well as the middle-of-the-road Daemonicus in the ninth season. Altogether, it's not a bad showing for someone whose primary role was in helping to steer the mythology.

Credits (excluding collaborations with Carter, Gilligan, and/or Shiban):
 Season 2: End Game, Our Town
 Season 3: 731
 Season 4: Zero Sum*
 Season 5: Detour
 Season 8: Via Negativa, The Gift, Medusa, Alone
 Season 9: Daemonicus

* with Howard Gordon

My Ranking (from best to worst):
731, End Game, Via Negativa, Zero Sum, Our Town
Alone, Detour, Medusa, Daemonicus, The Gift


John Gilnitz (Vince Gilligan, John Shiban, Frank Spotnitz)

At last, we come to John Gilnitz! I don't know how these three came together, or what made them decide to stick together (aside from the relative success of their collaborative efforts, and perhaps the ease of dividing the usual workload three ways), but their first episode together was a sparkling success. While I wouldn't call it one of my top favorite episodes, Leonard Betts is really an all-around good episode. It has a great concept (a man made of cancer), a sense of fun which penetrates the series' most enjoyable episodes - but without going too far over the line into comedy or self-parody - and just enough good old-fashioned gross-out. Plus, it ends with one of the most heartbreaking "oh shit!" moments in all of television history.

The trio joined together once again, with assistance from Chris Carter, to expand on Leonard Betts' eleventh hour revelation, in the devastatingly funereal mythology episode Memento Mori. They carried this thread of grief over into their next joint effort, season 5's mythology two-parter Christmas Carol/Emily. Looking back, it is at this point that I remark with wonder that the John Gilnitz name ever became associated with comedy! In the second half of the fifth season, Shiban & Spotnitz (without Gilligan) collaborated on Travelers, a flashback episode that examines the genesis of The X-Files division decades before the era of "Spooky" Mulder. The pair also adapted a story by Billy Brown & Dan Angel into the second episode that explicitly confronts Scully's Catholic faith, All Souls.

John Gilnitz - in various incarnations - was very busy in the sixth season. Dreamland is when they must have dedicated themselves fully to comedy, turning what should have been a mythology two-parter about infiltrating Area 51 into an arguably humorous romp guest starring Michael McKean as a Man in Black. Without Spotnitz, Gilligan and Shiban joined forces for Monday, one of the season's highlights, as well as Three of a Kind, the second Lone Gunmen-centered episode, which was little more than a rehash of the first. They also adapted a story by Spotnitz which became the mind-bending Field Trip, surpassed in this season only by Milagro, written by Chris Carter based on a story by Shiban and Spotnitz.

Season 7 saw Gilligan and Spotnitz working together to provide closure to Carter's then-recently canceled companion series, Millennium, while the full trio got back together for one goofy episode (The Amazing Maleeni, a murder mystery involving stage magicians), and one straightforward X-File (Theef, about a mountain man using a much older magic to try and avenge a sorrowful fate). Gilnitz' last credit for the series comes at the end of season 9, following the cancellation of their spinoff series centered around The Lone Gunmen. I can't judge Jump The Shark as a coda to that series, as I haven't seen it, but I don't think it works very well as an episode of The X-Files, and the fate it has in store for its main characters is far from charitable.

Credits:
 Season 4: Leonard Betts, Memento Mori*
 Season 5: Christmas Carol/Emily, Travelers†, All Souls†**
 Season 6: Dreamland/II, Monday††, Milagro†***, Three of a Kind††, Field Trip‡
 Season 7: Millennium†††, The Amazing Maleeni, Theef
 Season 9: Jump The Shark

* with Chris Carter
** Story by Billy Brown & Dan Angel
*** Story credit; Teleplay by Chris Carter
† Written by Shiban & Spotnitz (no Gilligan)
†† Written by Gilligan & Shiban (no Spotnitz)
††† Written by Gilligan & Spotnitz (no Shiban)
‡ Teleplay by Gilligan & Shiban; Story by Spotnitz

My Ranking (from best to worst):
Milagro, Field Trip, Memento Mori, Monday, Millennium, Leonard Betts,
Theef, Travelers, Christmas Carol/Emily, Three of a Kind,
Dreamland/II, The Amazing Maleeni, Jump The Shark, All Souls


Stay tuned for Part 4, in which we examine the cast/crew and freelancers whose scripts helped to fill out the series!

The X-Files - Writers Roundup (Part 2)

Myth-herders

In this feature, I will place a focus on the various writers that contributed to The X-Files throughout its nine seasons. In this part, we will take a look at the writers primarily responsible for steering the show's mythology.

Being the creator and mastermind behind The X-Files, Chris Carter was the rock around which everyone else orbited, from the pilot to the series finale (both of which Carter wrote). Firmly dedicated to his creation, having one hand in the mythology and the other in the freak-of-the-week episodes, he earned the most writing credits on the show by far - the closest contender being Frank Spotnitz, who was brought on to assist Carter in steering the mythology season in and season out. To make his contributions to the show more easy to analyze, I will therefore split this section into three groups - Chris Carter's mythology episodes, his freak-of-the-week credits, and episodes credited to the Carter/Spotnitz duo.


Chris Carter (Mythology)

I will refrain from getting into a lengthy discussion about the merits of the mythology versus the freak-of-the-week episodes here, because I've covered all of that before. Suffice to say, the mythology is the backbone of The X-Files - it is the story that the series was created to tell. And it is, by and large, Chris Carter's story. Most of his solo mythology credits can be found in the season premieres and finales, which were (for the most part) the highest stakes episodes, that revealed the most, and pushed the mythology forward.

Beginning in the first season, we can conceive of the pilot episode and its followup Deep Throat as a precursor to later two-part premieres. The first episode builds the skeleton of the series, and the second introduces us to the show's first significant side character. The next pivotal advancement occurs in the exciting series finale, The Erlenmeyer Flask, about which I've made much of elsewhere.

Handing the second season premiere off to Morgan & Wong, Chris Carter's first directorial credit comes with the straightforward but tense mythology episode Duane Barry, which kicks off the first major arc in the series' mythology, which was precipitated by actress Gillian Anderson's unexpected pregnancy. The mid-season episode Red Museum is less thrilling in comparison, but actually accomplishes a unique blend of the freak-of-the-week and mythology formats, rarely duplicated in just this sort of way. With input from David Duchovny, Colony introduces the Alien Bounty Hunter and starts a two-parter that offers the first false lead on Mulder's sister.

Duchovny also offers input on the second season finale, Anasazi, which is continued in the two-part third season premiere, The Blessing Way/Paper Clip. I lovingly refer to this three-parter as "the merchandise trilogy", and consider it the peak of the entire series' mythology. However, the next season finale/premiere pair, Talitha Cumi/Herrenvolk, is a bit underwhelming in comparison, and I consider Memento Mori to be as much John Gilnitz' as Carter's.

Gethsemane/Redux/Redux II is another seminal season-spanning three-parter, while the season 5 finale, The End, and its post-film followup, The Beginning, pale in comparison (are you seeing a pattern here?). Carter had more help than usual in the next three-parter, writing only The Sixth Extinction alone, and Amor Fati with David Duchovony, and (probably for unrelated reasons), it's not as good as those that came before it. Carter's next solo mythology credit is for Requiem, which was written as a potential series finale. When the series returned for an eighth season, Carter wrote the two part premiere, Within/Without, and the two-part finale, Essence/Existence, as well as the next and final season's double-length finale, The Truth.

Myth Credits (excluding Carter/Spotnitz):
 Season 1: Pilot, Deep Throat, The Erlenmeyer Flask
 Season 2: Duane Barry, Red Museum, Colony*, Anasazi*
 Season 3: The Blessing Way/Paper Clip, Talitha Cumi*
 Season 4: Herrenvolk, Memento Mori**, Gethsemane
 Season 5: Redux/Redux II, The End
 Season 6: The Beginning
 Season 7: The Sixth Extinction/Amor Fati***, Requiem
 Season 8: Within/Without, Essence/Existence
 Season 9: The Truth

* with story ideas from David Duchovny
** with John Gilnitz
*** with David Duchovny

My Ranking (from best to worst):
Anasazi/The Blessing Way/Paper Clip, Gethsemane/Redux/Redux II,
The Erlenmeyer Flask, Pilot, Duane Barry, Colony, Memento Mori,
Deep Throat, Talitha Cumi/Herrenvolk, The Truth, Red Museum,
The Sixth Extinction/Amor Fati, The Beginning, Requiem,
The End, Essence/Existence, Within/Without


Chris Carter (Freak-of-the-Week)

Chris Carter's freak-of-the-week credits are much less straightforward to analyze. Early on, he proved to be better at telling the mythology stories (expectedly), but I'll maintain that I liked his serious episodes (even the frequently panned ones) better than the goofy and self-conscious scripts he later preferred. Of his first season credits, Fire and Darkness Falls are probably the best, while Young At Heart (which he wrote with Scott Kaufer) is also pretty good. Miracle Man (a joint effort with Howard Gordon) is iffy at best, and much has been made of the low quality of The Jersey Devil and (especially) Space, although I'll still defend them as being at least watchable.

In the second season, Carter put out less, but much better freak-of-the-week episodes. F. Emasculata (also written with Howard Gordon) is one of my all-time favorites, but Irresistible - in which you can see a kernel of the idea that would later become Carter's moderately successful companion series, Millennium - is also very good. Even The Host is enjoyable (if, like F. Emasculata, thoroughly gross), and features one of the series' all-time most memorable freaks - the Flukeman, up there with Morgan & Wong's Eugene Victor Tooms.

Carter's freak-of-the-week credits shrank in the third and fourth seasons. These episodes are not as popular, either. However, two of them - Carter's second directorial credit, The List, and Unrequited, another episode written with Howard Gordon - I personally count as two of the most underrated episodes in the series. The third, on the other hand - Syzygy - is Carter's first comedic episode, and really is pretty dreadful.

In the fifth season, Carter wowed audiences with his flashiest directorial experiment to date - the black and white Post-Modern Prometheus. Personally, I felt that it was too goofy, though. He also co-wrote Chinga with Stephen King in that season, and I must say, the comedy in that episode is the most effective Carter ever produced. He followed up Prometheus with another directorial experiment in the sixth season, the long-shot Triangle, which I again felt was too goofy, although I probably like it better than Prometheus. His other directorial experiment, How The Ghosts Stole Christmas, is better than both of those by far, however. And whatever extent to which Carter contributed to Milagro, along with two thirds of John Gilnitz, is to his credit, as that is one of my favorite episodes of the whole series.

In the seventh season, Carter dropped to new lows, with the universally abhorred Fight Club. He tried his hand at another classic freak-of-the-week episode with season 8's Patience, but, despite rising to the challenge of being the first one to write the new Doggett/Scully partnership (or perhaps because of it), it's only a mediocre episode. His last freak-of-the-week credit for the series, which he also directed - season 9's Improbable - was another wacky mess, solidifying my opinion that what he did best was write the mythology.

Freak Credits:
 Season 1: The Jersey Devil, Space, Fire, Young At Heart*,
                 Miracle Man**, Darkness Falls
 Season 2: The Host, Irresistible, F. Emasculata**
 Season 3: The List, Syzygy
 Season 4: Unrequited**
 Season 5: The Post-Modern Prometheus, Chinga***
 Season 6: Triangle, How The Ghosts Stole Christmas, Milagro†
 Season 7: Fight Club
 Season 8: Patience
 Season 9: Improbable

* with Scott Kaufer
** with Howard Gordon
*** with Stephen King
† Story by John Shiban & Frank Spotnitz

My Ranking (from best to worst):
F. Emasculata, Milagro, Irresistible, How The Ghosts Stole Christmas, The List, Unrequited, The Host, Fire, Darkness Falls, Chinga, Young At Heart, The Jersey Devil, Patience, Miracle Man, Space, Triangle, Syzygy, The Post-Modern Prometheus, Improbable, Fight Club

Chris Carter & Frank Spotnitz

Frank Spotnitz came on to the show in the second season to write End Game, but his first joint credit with Chris Carter was for the third season episode Nisei (along with Howard Gordon; Spotnitz also completed that two-parter solo, writing 731 alone). From there, he became Carter's regular writing partner for the majority of the series' mid-season "sweeps week" mythology two-parters. The pair were responsible for season 3's Piper Maru/Apocrypha, which introduced the Black Oil, and which reappeared in the following season's Tunguska/Terma. Tempus Fugit/Max, which brought back a character from Howard Gordon (and writing partner Alex Gansa)'s season 1 episode Fallen Angel was theirs, as was the fifth season's Patient X/The Red and the Black, which pushed Mulder back into believer mode following the events of the hoax trilogy.

For once, Spotnitz assisted Carter on the season 6 finale, Biogenesis, and the pair were responsible for Two Fathers/One Son, which wrapped up the Syndicate mythology thread, and season 7's Sein und Zeit/Closure, which did the same for Samantha. Spotnitz earned a number of solo credits in the eighth season, but his partnership with Carter was responsible for all four episodes spanning Per Manum, This is Not Happening/Deadalive, and Three Words. The two were also responsible for the entirety of the mythology episodes in the ninth season (with input from David Duchovny, who directed, on William), except for the series finale, which was credited to Carter alone.

Credits:
 Season 3: Nisei*, Piper Maru/Apocrypha
 Season 4: Tunguska/Terma, Tempus Fugit/Max
 Season 5: Patient X/The Red and the Black
 Season 6: Two Fathers/One Son, Biogenesis
 Season 7: Sein und Zeit/Closure
 Season 8: Per Manum, This is Not Happening/Deadalive, Three Words
 Season 9: Nothing Important Happened Today/II, Trust No 1,
                 Provenance/Providence, William**

* with Howard Gordon
** Story credit with David Duchovny; Teleplay by Chris Carter

My Ranking (from best to worst):
Nisei, Patient X/The Red and the Black, Piper Maru/Apocrypha, Tempus Fugit/Max, Tunguska/Terma, Two Fathers/One Son, Biogenesis, Three Words, Per Manum, Sein und Zeit/Closure, This is Not Happening/Deadalive, William, Provenance/Providence, Nothing Important Happened Today/II, Trust No 1

Stay tuned for Part 3, in which we explore the three prongs that make up John Gilnitz!

The X-Files - Writers Roundup (Part 1)

Pioneers

In this feature, I will place a focus on the various writers that contributed to The X-Files throughout its nine seasons. In this part, we will take a look at the early trailblazers who left their mark and then left the show before it had reached its halfway point.


Glen Morgan & James Wong

Glen Morgan & James Wong only wrote 15 episodes for three of the first four seasons, but they were right there from the beginning, earning the first writing credit after Chris Carter. Their writing was, for the most part, consistently good (notwithstanding The Field Where I Died, and their connections to 3). They wrote the very first freak-of-the-week episode (Squeeze), and its sequel, as well as the episodes in which The Lone Gunmen and Assistant Director Walter Skinner first appeared (E.B.E., and Tooms, respectively). They also wrote one of my favorite standalone episodes in the entire series (Beyond The Sea), as well as my top favorite single mythology episode (One Breath). Also very popular is their first season episode Ice, a tribute to sci-fi/horror classic The Thing.

After giving us our first flashback to Samantha's abduction in Little Green Men, the writing duo left the show in the second season - their farewell episode, the Satanic-themed Die Hand die Verletzt, a loving celebration of the kind of scary fun stories The X-Files was created to tell - in order to launch their own show, Space: Above and Beyond. But after it was cancelled following its first season, Morgan & Wong returned to The X-Files in the fourth season, to write four more episodes before leaving for good. Two of those episodes are all-time greats - the stark and horrifying Home, which was the first episode in the series to earn a content advisory warning, and Musings of a Cigarette Smoking Man, which constructed a larger-than-life biography for the series' main villain.

Credits:
 Season 1: Squeeze, Shadows, Ice, Beyond The Sea, E.B.E., Tooms
 Season 2: Little Green Men, Blood*, One Breath, 3**, Die Hand die Verletzt
 Season 4: Home, The Field Where I Died, Musings of a CSM***, Never Again

* Story by Darin Morgan
** with Chris Ruppenthal
*** Written by Glen Morgan; Directed by James Wong

My Ranking (from best to worst):
One Breath, Beyond The Sea, Musings of a CSM, Die Hand die Verletzt,
Little Green Men, Home, E.B.E., Ice, Tooms, Blood, Squeeze,
Shadows, 3, Never Again, The Field Where I Died


Howard Gordon

I feel like Howard Gordon doesn't get enough credit. Everybody talks about Morgan & Wong, Vince Gilligan, Carter & Spotnitz, but I rarely hear about Howard Gordon, who later went on to work on the hit series 24. Yet he wrote or contributed to the writing of 20 episodes throughout the first four seasons of the show - as many or more than Morgan & Wong were responsible for, rivaled only by Chris Carter himself, at least until Frank Spotnitz burst on to the scene. Perhaps he didn't write as many standout episodes, but I feel like he was the reliable backbone of the series in its early years - like the bass player in a rock band.*

*(Chris Carter would have been the singer and main songwriter. Morgan & Wong would have been the original guitarist and drummer. Frank Spotnitz would have been the keyboard player that was added on their second album, to share the songwriting duties. After Morgan & Wong quit the band, Darin would have been the interrim guitarist who recorded for one album before leaving, after which Vince Gilligan would have joined the band full-time. I guess that makes John Shiban the new party animal drummer).

With his writing partner Alex Gansa, Gordon laid down six episodes in the first season that included the mythology-laced Conduit and Fallen Angel, and several middle-of-the-road freak-of-the-week episodes (my favorite being Lazarus). I feel like the quality of his episodes improved in the second season, with such gems as the underrated and highly atmospheric Død Kalm, and the truly standout F. Emasculata, which he wrote with Chris Carter. But even Sleepless and Fresh Bones are solid episodes.

In the third season, he was responsible for D.P.O., and another one of my favorites - Grotesque - while contributing to the mythology episode Nisei, and working with David Duchovny on the story to create the first Skinner-centric episode, Avatar. In the fourth season, Gordon wrote a couple more middle-of-the-road freak-of-the-week episodes, along with the underrated Unrequited, which he again wrote with Chris Carter, and the second Skinner-centric episode, Zero Sum, with help from mythology maven Frank Spotnitz.

Credits:
 Season 1: Conduit*, Ghost in the Machine*, Fallen Angel*,
                 Lazarus*, Miracle Man**, Born Again*
 Season 2: Sleepless, Firewalker, Fresh Bones, Død Kalm*, F. Emasculata**
 Season 3: D.P.O., Nisei***, Grotesque, Avatar†
 Season 4: Teliko, Kaddish, Unrequited**, Synchrony††, Zero Sum†††

* with Alex Gansa
** with Chris Carter
*** with Chris Carter & Frank Spotnitz
† with story ideas from David Duchovny
†† with David Greenwalt
††† with Frank Spotnitz

My Ranking (from best to worst):
Nisei, F. Emasculata, Grotesque, Zero Sum, Fallen Angel,
Død Kalm, Unrequited, Conduit, Synchrony, Sleepless,
Avatar, Fresh Bones, Lazarus, D.P.O., Teliko, Kaddish,
Firewalker, Ghost in the Machine, Miracle Man, Born Again


Darin Morgan

Much has been made of Darin Morgan elsewhere, and by fans who have a more thorough appreciation of his work than I do, so I'm not going to say a whole lot here. Darin was a smart and funny writer, who first appeared (under heavy makeup) as the Flukeman in the season 2 episode The Host. From there, he contributed the story to the episode Blood, before writing his own script. That script was Humbug, which was the first time anyone had envisioned The X-Files as a comedy. In the third season, Darin wrote his best episodes, which are some of the best episodes of the entire series. My favorite is Jose Chung's 'From Outer Space', which is a clever deconstruction of the show. But Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose (which won an Emmy for writing, as well as for guest star Peter Boyle) is also very good. War of the Coprophages is not as fantastic, but is still a funny and original episode. Though uncredited, lore has it that Darin Morgan also contributed to the episode Quagmire, which is another standout episode from the third season. His last connection with the show was in the role of Eddie Van Blundht in the fourth season episode Small Potatoes, written by Vince Gilligan.

Credits:
 Season 2: Blood*, Humbug
 Season 3: Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose, War of the Coprophages,
                 Jose Chung's 'From Outer Space'

* Story credit; Teleplay by Glen Morgan & James Wong

My Ranking (from best to worst):
Jose Chung, Quagmire (uncredited), Clyde Bruckman,
War of the Coprophages, Blood, Humbug


Stay tuned for Part 2, in which we tackle series creator Chris Carter!