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I 'm Frank Spotnitz.
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I was executive producer of The X-Files.
3
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And I co-wrote this episode
with Chris Carter.
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This is really a fun scene.
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May not look, on the face of it,
like a fun scene
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but what a fun scene to write and stage.
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The death of the hero of your series,
and you're burying him.
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And I think it was shocking enough
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after last week’s episode,
"This Is Not Happening, "
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that Scully would finally find Mulder,
and he is dead,
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which I don 't think anybody expected.
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But here we are actually burying the man.
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We really take delight
in doing things like that.
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Just pushing something
as far as you possibly can
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’cause the audience
can’t quite believe you're doing it.
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Interestingly, we were under
huge financial pressure at this point.
17
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But we still managed to stage this funeral
in the snow in southern California
18
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by dumping a ton of snow and then
painting in snow in the background.
19
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So, that was a mix
of real snow and CG you saw there.
20
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And then, bringing in The Lone Gunmen
21
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and bringing in Scully’s mother,
Sheila Larken,
22
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who lives outside of Vancouver
in Washington state
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for a very minimal appearance.
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It's a lot of money to spend,
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but you just couldn't really do Mulder's
funeral without having them there,
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so we did all that.
27
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Anyway, a great tease,
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that's what we call
these little dramatic pieces
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before the opening titles.
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We call them "teasers."
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And this is really designed to draw you in
and make you keep watching,
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because you can’t really believe that
we 've killed Agent Mulder once and for all,
33
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and are burying him in the frozen ground.
34
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Incidentally, in this season,
we had limited use of David Duchovny.
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And it was some kind of
very complicated formula
36
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about a certain number of days
that we were able to use him,
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and over a certain number of episodes.
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I don 't recall the specifics.
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But, one of the ironies of it
was that we ended up using him as a guy
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who lies in a hospital bed semi-dead
for the entire hour.
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It's like, you're paying all this money
to get his services for a limited time
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and it wasn't the most satisfying use
of the actor or the character.
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But we were boxed in
with what we could do
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’cause he was so limited.
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And that's how he ended up being used.
46
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There 's some wonderful dynamics at work
in this season.
47
00:02:58,800 --> 00:03:04,238
And I know Seasons 8 and 9
are controversial for a lot of people.
48
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And I was not really excited,
49
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honestly, about moving fon/vard.
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Now let me stop my train of thought here.
Say, "Three months later",
51
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that's yet another way
to sort of yank the audiences' chain.
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It's like, "Yup, we buried Mulder
and now three months have passed
53
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"so he really is dead. "
54
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That was what we had in mind there.
55
00:03:26,280 --> 00:03:28,919
Anyway, I was saying
that I personally was not thrilled
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about carrying on with Seasons
8 and 9 without David Duchovny.
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But, Ireally, really
enjoyed these last two years.
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For me, as a writer on the show,
it was a fresh franchise,
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it was a new set of
problems and new characters.
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00:03:45,520 --> 00:03:48,273
And in this season, Season 8,
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it was just enormous fun
writing and working with Robert Patrick,
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who is just a terrific actor.
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You see it in scenes like this.
And he really...
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His character had wonderful things to play,
especially in this episode, I think,
65
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because, kind of like Scully,
he was drafted onto the X-Files.
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It was not his passion.
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And now,
because he is a character of conscience,
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he's in a very tough situation
69
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because he's come to see
the value of the X-Files.
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And he's come to see that politically,
they are a liability to the X-Files...
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Sorry, they are a liability to the FBI.
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And now,
they’re appealing to a self-interest saying,
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"Good job, you found a dead Mulder.
You can go.
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"And we 7/ give you a promotion,
exactly what you wanted. "
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But he's not so sure he wants to do it
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00:04:39,480 --> 00:04:43,234
because even though it serves him
and his ambitions,
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he knows that shutting down the X-Files
is the wrong thing to do.
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00:04:49,640 --> 00:04:53,235
And now we see Scully is pregnant.
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I wanna talk about her pregnancy
a little bit later too,
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but Scully’s pregnant,
and he comes in to see her.
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And she's not going to
pat him on the back either.
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She’s not going to help him out and say,
"Yeah, hold on to the X-Files. "
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She’s going to tell him to go too.
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It's really Doggett's personal heroism
that keeps him there.
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His personal code of honor
and sense of right and wrong,
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which I just think makes him
a wonderfully appealing character.
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And, you know,
Robert played it beautifully.
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We got some knocks right around this time
about Scully’s pregnancy
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and how her timeline was off.
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I actually complained
because it was not true.
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We picked up,
at the beginning of this season,
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where the previous season had ended.
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We just didn’t allow
for the ellipses of the summer.
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So in fact, we were honoring
the timeline correctly,
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and the people who accused us
of missing the timeline
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just weren't following it closely enough.
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I think part of the discomfort people had
with this season and the next was
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you fall in love with these characters,
Mulder and Scully,
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and the quest is so...
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Obviously, Mulder's quest,
and it had become Scully’s too,
101
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it feels almost like a betrayal to embrace
another character or another actor,
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however fine he or she may be.
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I think a lot of people just
didn’t want to make that change,
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which is understandable.
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I was very pleased by this.
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I think this looks fantastic.
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I was happy we were able to
mount this in Los Angeles.
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This was a new director to the series,
Tony Wharmby,
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who'd come on beginning of Season 8
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with an episode I wrote
called "Via Negativa, "
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who just did a wonderful job.
112
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Visually, this is a terrific show.
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He also, I think,
was especially fine with the actors.
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Really sensitive to the actors
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and drew things out of them
that other directors might not have.
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When you do a show like this
for a long time,
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and, you know, X-Files was on nine years,
eight years at this point,
118
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you do a lot, a lot, a lot of autopsy scenes.
119
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And we did a lot of autopsy scenes,
120
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and so it was particularly pleasing,
at this late stage of the game,
121
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to find something new to do
in an autopsy scene.
122
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And I think this is a nice, fun, creepy scene.
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One of the challenges
is that you look at the research
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about what a body would look like
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if it had been floating in the water
for some time, and it doesn’t look real.
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What a body really looks like
under the circumstances
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is so grotesque and disfigured
128
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that it actually doesn’t look believable.
129
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So this is, in fact, a toned down version
of what the reality would be.
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It's also so disgusting
that it's hard to look at it.
131
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So we kind of had to make it bearable
132
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for a television audience
to actually broadcast it.
133
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Now, Billy Miles was established
in the pilot of The X-Files.
134
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Very first episode, Bellefleur, Oregon.
135
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And we had brought him back
136
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and brought that town back
very self-consciously
137
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at the end of the previous season,
Season 7,
138
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because we believed that
that might have been the end of the series,
139
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and we wanted to come full circle.
140
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Of course, it ended up
not being the end of the series
141
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and we kept going on.
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So, this was the return of Billy Miles
who had been abducted
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at the same time as Agent Mulder
at the end of Season 7.
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So, already, the audience’s
dramatic sensor is on alert here
145
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because something’s up with Billy Miles
146
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and maybe something’s up
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with Agent Mulder, too,
who's lying in that grave.
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And that's clearly
what's on Walter Skinner's mind
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as they drive out to the cemetery.
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It's worth talking about how
so much of the mythology of the series,
151
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the original mythology, had been
wrapped up in Seasons 6 and 7.
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You know, we 'd seen the destruction
of the Syndicate in "One Son. "
153
00:10:05,800 --> 00:10:09,429
We 'd seen the revelation of the truth
154
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of what happened to Samantha
in "Closure."
155
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And now, we were stripped of all
that narrative drag, or narrative baggage.
156
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I don 't mean to make that pejorative,
but just that we were stripped of
157
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the obligation
to service all those storylines.
158
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And so now we were free
to move fon/vard in new ground.
159
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I think "Requiem" was really
the beginning of a new chapter
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that carried through
until the end of the series
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in Season 9, in "The Truth. "
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You might look at this
as the super-soldier chapter, if you will.
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Again, it kind of helps
when you're watching these episodes
164
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to imagine you're seeing it on television
for the first time,
165
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and you've been waiting week after week
to see what’s happening with Mulder.
166
00:11:13,400 --> 00:11:18,520
The power of this is, "Is David Duchovny
finally going to be brought back alive?
167
00:11:18,600 --> 00:11:20,192
"And how are they going to do it?"
168
00:11:21,040 --> 00:11:24,715
And this is a pretty incredible scenario,
even for The X-Files,
169
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that a man might be buried in the ground
for three months yet still be alive.
170
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This was one of our writing strategies,
which comes to mind
171
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because of that pathologist line about,
"This isn’t Curse of the Mummy, "
172
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is that when you're dealing with
some big matter like this,
173
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which is so incredible,
174
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if you can have one of your characters
make fun of it himself, mock it himself,
175
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not to steal the language of the character,
but you kind of take the curse off of it.
176
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It's like you, yourself,
are recognizing how fantastic it is.
177
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And it makes it more palatable
for the viewer.
178
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This is kind of a cliff-hanger act-out.
179
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Looks like Mulder's...
Like Skinner's wrong, pardon me.
180
00:12:16,960 --> 00:12:19,110
There's a dead David Duchovny.
181
00:12:21,520 --> 00:12:23,954
All that and Mulder's not alive.
182
00:12:27,480 --> 00:12:29,436
Well, we 7/ find out just the opposite.
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Dead as he looked,
here we are in a hospital.
184
00:12:40,200 --> 00:12:41,792
Now, this scene,
185
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if you didn’t get the vibe
from the earlier scene in the X—Files office.
186
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We had to start calling it the X-Files office,
by the way, in our script pages,
187
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not Mulder's office as it had been called
188
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since Mulder was no longer around.
189
00:12:56,720 --> 00:12:59,712
But this scene is gonna
pretty clearly indicate
190
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a current that goes through
these last two seasons, as well, which is,
191
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I got the pretty clear sense
192
00:13:07,320 --> 00:13:10,869
that John Doggett
was in love with Dana Scully.
193
00:13:14,720 --> 00:13:18,235
And, of course,
Dana Scully was in love with Fox Mulder.
194
00:13:20,160 --> 00:13:26,235
So you sense this heartbreak.
195
00:13:29,720 --> 00:13:33,429
You know, she's in love with this guy,
and he wants to be there for her,
196
00:13:36,480 --> 00:13:38,072
and he can’t be.
197
00:13:38,560 --> 00:13:39,549
Because she’s...
198
00:13:41,360 --> 00:13:43,112
Her heart's taken by someone else.
199
00:13:47,480 --> 00:13:48,879
He so wants to protect her,
200
00:13:48,960 --> 00:13:51,315
he so wants to be the one
that she's turning to.
201
00:13:52,840 --> 00:13:55,195
And that just ain’t gonna happen.
202
00:14:01,080 --> 00:14:05,995
And there was a very subtle shift
in point of view.
203
00:14:08,960 --> 00:14:11,713
Over this season, most especially.
204
00:14:11,800 --> 00:14:13,836
It wasn't so subtle by Season 9.
205
00:14:13,920 --> 00:14:16,559
Which was, that this series
was gradually being told
206
00:14:16,640 --> 00:14:19,029
from John Doggett's point of view.
207
00:14:20,000 --> 00:14:22,195
I say gradually, ’cause clearly
this is a scene that's not...
208
00:14:22,280 --> 00:14:24,271
We 're still with Scully here.
209
00:14:24,360 --> 00:14:25,509
But I think your...
210
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Your sympathies
and your take on the story
211
00:14:32,600 --> 00:14:35,319
really, sort of line up with Doggett's,
more than anybody else's.
212
00:14:35,960 --> 00:14:39,839
Which was really a bold thing to do
in a series like this, as well.
213
00:14:46,480 --> 00:14:49,278
One thing we were determined not to do.
214
00:14:49,880 --> 00:14:51,871
You know, we 'd lost David’s services
215
00:14:51,960 --> 00:14:53,188
except for these limited runs,
216
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here and there.
217
00:14:56,240 --> 00:14:58,515
And we were determined,
218
00:14:58,600 --> 00:15:01,239
as much as we wanted people
to embrace the new characters,
219
00:15:01,320 --> 00:15:03,629
John Doggett and later Monica Reyes,
220
00:15:03,720 --> 00:15:06,314
we were determined to honor David
and David’s character.
221
00:15:07,800 --> 00:15:11,110
We love that character
just as much as anybody else,
222
00:15:11,200 --> 00:15:14,795
and we saw it as no disloyalty to the actor
223
00:15:14,880 --> 00:15:18,429
or the character to carry on
with these other characters.
224
00:15:18,560 --> 00:15:22,792
And so, we never shied away
from playing the power of that character
225
00:15:22,880 --> 00:15:25,440
or the heroism of that character
even in his absence.
226
00:15:26,800 --> 00:15:28,711
As a scene like that suggests.
227
00:15:31,400 --> 00:15:32,879
This was another great find.
228
00:15:33,240 --> 00:15:36,869
James Pickens Jr.
played Kersh, Alvin Kersh.
229
00:15:38,160 --> 00:15:40,037
So many times
over the course of this series
230
00:15:40,120 --> 00:15:43,032
we just got so lucky with the actors
that we cast in these guest parts
231
00:15:43,120 --> 00:15:46,510
and just kept bringing them back
because they were so wonderful.
232
00:15:47,080 --> 00:15:48,877
That was what happened
with William B. Davis
233
00:15:48,960 --> 00:15:51,349
as the Cigarette Smoking Man,
234
00:15:51,440 --> 00:15:55,274
and with Nick Lea as Krycek,
and with Mitch Pileggi as Walter Skinner,
235
00:15:55,360 --> 00:15:57,920
and that's what happened here
with James Pickens.
236
00:15:59,400 --> 00:16:03,359
Just a fantastic actor,
not at all like this personally.
237
00:16:05,400 --> 00:16:08,551
Really transformed himself
to play this part.
238
00:16:10,000 --> 00:16:13,993
Robert Patrick and James Pickens
really had a chemistry.
239
00:16:14,080 --> 00:16:15,672
Loved playing scenes together.
240
00:16:17,160 --> 00:16:18,957
And I think, their scenes together
241
00:16:19,080 --> 00:16:22,550
were some of the finest ones
in the last two years of the show.
242
00:16:27,600 --> 00:16:30,831
Again, here 's Doggett being tempted
to do the wrong thing.
243
00:16:31,360 --> 00:16:35,751
The right thing for him personally,
but the wrong thing on a larger scale.
244
00:16:43,120 --> 00:16:45,236
Now, this is pretty creepy.
245
00:16:46,280 --> 00:16:53,072
We had to do a number
of these big fat suits for Billy Miles.
246
00:16:54,120 --> 00:16:56,475
He no longer looks the same
as he did on the autopsy table.
247
00:16:56,560 --> 00:16:59,632
He's kind of dried out here.
248
00:17:02,080 --> 00:17:03,308
Pretty disgusting.
249
00:17:05,720 --> 00:17:07,358
Something's happening.
250
00:17:13,320 --> 00:17:16,949
In the storytelling here
we were always conscious of
251
00:17:17,040 --> 00:17:20,350
trying not to just have
the show be people talking.
252
00:17:20,440 --> 00:17:24,479
Wherever possible
we wanted events, strange events,
253
00:17:24,560 --> 00:17:26,915
and the more visual the better.
254
00:17:27,000 --> 00:17:28,319
And so...
255
00:17:29,520 --> 00:17:32,398
This is something
that just happens with pictures.
256
00:17:32,480 --> 00:17:35,040
Those were our favorite scenes,
no dialog needed.
257
00:17:36,760 --> 00:17:38,193
Moving pictures.
258
00:17:48,040 --> 00:17:50,270
The X-Files was always noted
259
00:17:50,360 --> 00:17:53,636
for its cinematic look
and high production value.
260
00:17:55,400 --> 00:17:59,313
But, it's an interesting exercise
if you were to look at this DVD collection
261
00:17:59,400 --> 00:18:06,112
and compare the set design,
cinematography, shot composition,
262
00:18:06,200 --> 00:18:08,350
and all those things,
as excellent as they were,
263
00:18:08,480 --> 00:18:12,075
from the very beginning of the series to
where they were by the end of the series,
264
00:18:12,160 --> 00:18:16,438
I think you'd see the show
grew increasingly sophisticated.
265
00:18:16,520 --> 00:18:19,910
It really never stopped becoming
more and more sophisticated until the end.
266
00:18:23,160 --> 00:18:27,517
One thing we did have to do,
and seeing this episode again reminds me,
267
00:18:28,680 --> 00:18:32,116
after the move to Los Angeles
for financial reasons,
268
00:18:33,280 --> 00:18:39,594
the FBI became a much more important
location in our storytelling.
269
00:18:40,400 --> 00:18:43,836
You saw a lot more of the hallways,
beginning in Season 6,
270
00:18:43,920 --> 00:18:47,515
than you ever did
in the first five seasons of the show.
271
00:18:50,240 --> 00:18:54,392
Now, this is referencing an episode
from earlier
272
00:19:02,440 --> 00:19:03,759
this nano-technology.
273
00:19:04,760 --> 00:19:09,515
Just seeing his veins bulge on his neck
like that was a vivid reminder.
274
00:19:11,760 --> 00:19:14,115
Skinner was always the man in the middle.
275
00:19:15,480 --> 00:19:18,950
And the fun of that character
was finding ways to compromise him.
276
00:19:19,960 --> 00:19:22,520
Finding ways to force him
to go to the dark side,
277
00:19:22,640 --> 00:19:27,191
which he had done in "Zero Sum, " earlier,
278
00:19:27,280 --> 00:19:30,317
when he was being blackmailed
by the Cigarette Smoking Man,
279
00:19:30,400 --> 00:19:35,076
and now he's being manipulated by Krycek.
280
00:19:37,440 --> 00:19:42,116
Of course, he'll have the last laugh
on Krycek at the end of this season
281
00:19:44,440 --> 00:19:46,874
when he gets to
put a bullet through his head.
282
00:20:05,000 --> 00:20:06,479
A lot of power in that prop.
283
00:20:23,880 --> 00:20:26,110
This is something
that you don 't often think about.
284
00:20:26,200 --> 00:20:29,237
But when a series is on the air,
as long as we were on the air,
285
00:20:29,320 --> 00:20:31,356
that we were lucky enough
to be on the air,
286
00:20:31,440 --> 00:20:35,035
you get to know the people you work with
really, really well.
287
00:20:37,200 --> 00:20:40,749
And, the writers know the actors,
the actors know each other.
288
00:20:43,840 --> 00:20:49,949
And it leads to scenes that emerge
out of those off-screen relationships.
289
00:20:50,040 --> 00:20:54,556
And you play to the strengths
290
00:20:54,640 --> 00:20:58,599
that you know exist
between the actors as people.
291
00:21:00,160 --> 00:21:04,551
And these two guys
knew each other very well, by this point.
292
00:21:04,800 --> 00:21:08,315
And so, we had a lot of fun
playing them as combatants.
293
00:21:11,560 --> 00:21:13,516
And they had a lot of fun doing it.
294
00:21:24,280 --> 00:21:26,919
Mitch is such a big, strong guy.
295
00:21:28,080 --> 00:21:33,837
The idea that that little remote control,
TV remote control-type thing,
296
00:21:33,920 --> 00:21:38,038
would have domination over him
was interesting.
297
00:21:39,760 --> 00:21:41,432
Creepy image.
298
00:21:44,360 --> 00:21:45,873
Something's going on.
299
00:21:50,280 --> 00:21:54,319
This next scene,
we had to get a lot of pieces,
300
00:21:54,400 --> 00:21:57,836
it was not easy to do,
301
00:21:57,960 --> 00:22:01,509
but I was very happy
with the way it came out.
302
00:22:01,600 --> 00:22:04,797
It's kind of disturbing.
303
00:22:08,320 --> 00:22:11,312
Good storytelling with pictures again.
304
00:22:26,240 --> 00:22:28,356
If you think about it, this is awfully graphic.
305
00:22:29,800 --> 00:22:31,233
I think you might even have a hard time
306
00:22:31,320 --> 00:22:35,598
showing something like this
in a PG movie in a movie theater.
307
00:22:47,000 --> 00:22:50,151
Here 's that love triangle at work again.
308
00:22:50,560 --> 00:22:51,675
The way Doggett reacts
309
00:22:51,760 --> 00:22:55,036
when he sees Scully
sitting by Mulder's bedside.
310
00:22:58,840 --> 00:23:01,070
His heart's breaking for her.
311
00:23:06,520 --> 00:23:08,112
Robert's eyes look tortured.
312
00:23:11,360 --> 00:23:14,591
No, they don 't look tortured in real life,
by the way, only as this character.
313
00:23:27,240 --> 00:23:29,276
This is really interesting, too.
314
00:23:45,800 --> 00:23:48,473
Here, Doggett, the poor guy,
315
00:23:48,560 --> 00:23:52,473
is giving up his own best interests,
staying on the X-Files
316
00:23:52,880 --> 00:23:56,077
when he has no reason to do it
other than his own conscience.
317
00:23:58,040 --> 00:23:59,314
And she's telling him
that he's doing it wrong,
318
00:23:59,400 --> 00:24:00,879
he's doing it the wrong way.
319
00:24:02,920 --> 00:24:07,630
Being on the X-Files means looking after
the unknown, not turning away from it.
320
00:24:07,720 --> 00:24:10,792
And his not wanting
to exhume Mulder's body
321
00:24:14,800 --> 00:24:15,915
was a big mistake.
322
00:24:22,920 --> 00:24:25,150
Now, observe the way this is shot.
323
00:24:28,200 --> 00:24:29,838
Naked man.
324
00:24:29,920 --> 00:24:31,399
Very, very black body.
325
00:24:32,920 --> 00:24:37,357
It's one of the peculiarities of standards
and practices on network television,
326
00:24:37,440 --> 00:24:39,749
is that you cannot show butt cracks.
327
00:24:40,760 --> 00:24:43,433
Pardon my language,
but you cannot show butt cracks.
328
00:24:47,120 --> 00:24:48,599
Why? I don 't know.
329
00:24:49,200 --> 00:24:52,590
But it became an issue two times,
previous to this episode.
330
00:24:52,720 --> 00:24:57,271
There was an episode called
"Red Museum" in Season 2.
331
00:25:01,800 --> 00:25:03,392
Of course the episode 's title is
gonna go out of my head,
332
00:25:03,520 --> 00:25:07,513
but the episode that Darren McGavin
acted in, Vince Gilligan wrote.
333
00:25:08,200 --> 00:25:10,395
Forgive me, it's not in my head
at the moment.
334
00:25:10,480 --> 00:25:14,632
Where Darren is supposed to have
a butt crack showing as he leans down,
335
00:25:15,600 --> 00:25:17,033
Eddie Van Blundht.
336
00:25:18,160 --> 00:25:19,878
Can 't show butt cracks.
337
00:25:20,880 --> 00:25:26,159
So, we had to digitally darken
that part of Billy's body.
338
00:25:36,560 --> 00:25:40,394
Of course, the fate of Billy
is of urgent interest to us
339
00:25:40,480 --> 00:25:44,393
because as goes Billy, so goes Mulder.
340
00:25:47,520 --> 00:25:49,158
Now, he's telling us this story.
341
00:25:50,600 --> 00:25:51,999
The aliens are good.
342
00:26:01,680 --> 00:26:04,114
This was also part of what made Season 8
343
00:26:04,200 --> 00:26:05,997
and Season 9 refreshing for us
344
00:26:06,080 --> 00:26:10,073
was that Scully the skeptic
was always Scully the scientist.
345
00:26:11,040 --> 00:26:17,036
Scully arguing rationally why Mulder
was wrong or didn’t make sense.
346
00:26:18,160 --> 00:26:19,878
But not Agent Doggett.
347
00:26:20,000 --> 00:26:21,956
Agent Doggett is former N YPD Blue.
348
00:26:22,040 --> 00:26:23,678
Agent Doggett has common sense.
349
00:26:23,760 --> 00:26:26,354
Agent Doggett is just like,
"That's nonsense. "
350
00:26:28,040 --> 00:26:30,076
And it was just refreshing and fun
351
00:26:30,160 --> 00:26:34,358
and in a different way to play
a skeptic character than we 'd done before.
352
00:26:55,120 --> 00:26:58,556
Of course, Doggett is right
to be skeptical of Billy Miles.
353
00:27:05,600 --> 00:27:07,875
And Scully’s in an uncomfortable place.
354
00:27:11,080 --> 00:27:13,150
It's not her inclination to sign into
that kind of thing either.
355
00:27:13,240 --> 00:27:14,593
Sign off on that kind of thing either.
356
00:27:18,720 --> 00:27:22,918
But she would certainly like to believe
what Billy Miles is saying, if she only could.
357
00:28:06,280 --> 00:28:09,317
This does not bode well for Agent Mulder.
358
00:28:24,480 --> 00:28:26,232
Here 's Skinner's predicament.
359
00:28:30,000 --> 00:28:32,230
He 's had this secret connection
with Krycek,
360
00:28:32,320 --> 00:28:35,312
which of course, he can’t tell Scully about.
361
00:28:51,400 --> 00:28:53,197
Meaning, "My own. "
362
00:29:00,640 --> 00:29:06,078
There 's soap opera elements
in these mythology episodes.
363
00:29:06,640 --> 00:29:08,870
And as I'm, sort of,
relaying all the relationships,
364
00:29:08,960 --> 00:29:11,076
I’ve become, kind of, aware of that.
365
00:29:15,160 --> 00:29:18,914
But you also get to play
the ethical dilemmas,
366
00:29:19,000 --> 00:29:20,956
moral dilemmas,
that these characters face.
367
00:29:26,720 --> 00:29:28,392
This is a wonderful actor, Judson Scott,
368
00:29:28,480 --> 00:29:32,314
who we read many, many times
over the years,
369
00:29:32,400 --> 00:29:33,628
without finding the right part for him.
370
00:29:33,720 --> 00:29:36,154
And I think we finally found it here.
371
00:30:17,400 --> 00:30:22,190
With the risk of belaboring the point,
a character like Doggett
372
00:30:22,280 --> 00:30:27,513
was a freshening effect
on the narrative for us.
373
00:30:28,560 --> 00:30:31,836
Because we had lived
with people talking about aliens
374
00:30:31,920 --> 00:30:36,710
and alien conspiracy theories
for all those years.
375
00:30:37,600 --> 00:30:41,479
And now he comes in
and he's hearing it all for the first time.
376
00:30:42,000 --> 00:30:46,949
And he's even more
no-nonsense and level-headed
377
00:30:50,280 --> 00:30:51,793
than Scully is by this point.
378
00:30:53,640 --> 00:30:57,997
And it does reinvent the idea of the show.
379
00:31:02,600 --> 00:31:05,194
So now, Skinner has the moral dilemma,
380
00:31:06,640 --> 00:31:11,760
wanting to save Mulder, wanting
the vaccine that Krycek is dangling,
381
00:31:11,840 --> 00:31:14,400
knowing there is a high price to pay.
382
00:32:04,600 --> 00:32:06,079
There you go.
383
00:32:06,600 --> 00:32:08,511
That's the high price.
384
00:32:25,880 --> 00:32:28,075
That's a pretty tough choice.
385
00:32:29,000 --> 00:32:30,797
Mulder or the child.
386
00:32:37,040 --> 00:32:42,068
Again, that's the sort of moral-ethical
dilemma I was alluding to
387
00:32:42,160 --> 00:32:47,393
that you can develop through
the soap opera of this kind of storyline
388
00:32:47,480 --> 00:32:49,994
that we always search for.
389
00:32:57,640 --> 00:33:01,110
Doggett, the cop's instincts,
390
00:33:02,160 --> 00:33:05,232
putting it together.
"Something's going on here. "
391
00:33:08,760 --> 00:33:10,910
Storytelling with pictures.
392
00:33:44,120 --> 00:33:48,079
So as I said,
this episode was part of the new chapter
393
00:33:48,160 --> 00:33:52,119
that had been opened in The X-Files
after Season 7.
394
00:33:53,520 --> 00:33:56,557
So, it was really the super-soldier storyline
395
00:33:56,680 --> 00:34:02,710
or the alien-hybrid
that Billy Miles has become.
396
00:34:04,320 --> 00:34:05,912
The pod person.
397
00:34:06,680 --> 00:34:09,831
And Scully’s baby,
and what Scully’s baby meant.
398
00:34:21,360 --> 00:34:23,669
Here was the first time
where we really played
399
00:34:23,760 --> 00:34:26,115
with, you know the meaning
of Scully’s baby.
400
00:34:26,360 --> 00:34:28,590
Krycek's insistence
that she can’t bring it to term,
401
00:34:28,680 --> 00:34:31,513
that it has to be terminated somehow.
402
00:34:33,320 --> 00:34:35,834
It has some kind of
cosmic significance, this baby.
403
00:34:37,520 --> 00:34:39,988
And at this point, we’re also not sure
404
00:34:40,080 --> 00:34:44,232
whether Mulder
is the father of Scully’s child,
405
00:34:44,320 --> 00:34:49,348
or whether it's some kind of
other miraculous or alien conception.
406
00:35:33,680 --> 00:35:37,150
One of the other things
that the season did for us was that
407
00:35:38,040 --> 00:35:41,874
it gave Skinner, in particular,
a lot more to do.
408
00:35:43,360 --> 00:35:46,909
When you have a two-lead series,
which The X-Files was,
409
00:35:49,480 --> 00:35:54,679
by necessity, you're giving a lion's share
of the interesting dramatic conflicts
410
00:35:54,760 --> 00:35:56,512
to those two leads.
411
00:35:59,240 --> 00:36:02,357
When Mulder left at the end of Season 7,
412
00:36:02,800 --> 00:36:04,791
we suddenly were able to
play the ensemble
413
00:36:04,880 --> 00:36:07,553
in a way that we never really could before.
414
00:36:10,320 --> 00:36:15,758
Interestingly, David was always
urging us to use the ensemble more
415
00:36:15,840 --> 00:36:18,195
when he was on the show full-time.
416
00:36:19,200 --> 00:36:21,236
But it wasn't easy to do.
417
00:36:21,920 --> 00:36:22,909
We felt, as writers,
418
00:36:23,000 --> 00:36:25,958
we wanted Mulder and Scully
to be doing most of those actions.
419
00:36:26,600 --> 00:36:28,716
So, I think in Seasons 8 and 9,
420
00:36:28,800 --> 00:36:31,473
Skinner really got to step out
behind the desk a lot more
421
00:36:31,560 --> 00:36:36,111
and have a lot more active things to do
422
00:36:36,440 --> 00:36:38,317
in The X-Files mythology.
423
00:36:39,320 --> 00:36:41,436
This is a pretty exciting scene.
424
00:36:51,080 --> 00:36:55,153
I can’t swear to it,
but I think that was shot in a parking lot
425
00:36:55,280 --> 00:36:58,477
at one of the Fox office buildings.
426
00:37:07,120 --> 00:37:11,398
Again, to John Doggett,
Alex Krycek is a new character.
427
00:37:21,360 --> 00:37:23,078
Nasty, nasty man.
428
00:37:24,200 --> 00:37:25,952
Toying With it like that.
429
00:37:28,640 --> 00:37:30,119
There it goes.
430
00:37:59,600 --> 00:38:02,910
Of course,
when you're structuring these stories,
431
00:38:04,400 --> 00:38:07,233
there 's something they call "rising action. "
432
00:38:09,360 --> 00:38:11,476
And you're always trying
433
00:38:11,600 --> 00:38:17,232
to ratchet up the dilemma,
ratchet up the problem for your heroes.
434
00:38:22,080 --> 00:38:26,437
So at this point, it seems hopeless.
435
00:38:30,280 --> 00:38:33,670
The action has arisen
because every problem is worse
436
00:38:34,920 --> 00:38:37,434
and there seems to be no solution.
437
00:38:50,160 --> 00:38:53,994
We wrestled with what role
to give Scully in this.
438
00:38:56,280 --> 00:39:01,149
There is a pretty wonderful
but corny movie with Rock Hudson
439
00:39:01,920 --> 00:39:05,356
directed by Douglas Sirk
called Magnificent Obsession
440
00:39:05,560 --> 00:39:07,630
where he blinds Jane Wyman
441
00:39:09,120 --> 00:39:12,112
and actually goes
and studies to be a doctor
442
00:39:12,400 --> 00:39:14,868
so that he can cure her personally.
443
00:39:14,960 --> 00:39:18,316
And that movie was on my mind,
and not in a good way,
444
00:39:21,120 --> 00:39:24,271
when we were imagining
Scully in this operating room
445
00:39:24,360 --> 00:39:26,794
where Mulder was being worked on.
446
00:39:39,280 --> 00:39:41,669
This was a nice, sort of unexpected turn.
447
00:39:43,320 --> 00:39:48,474
That by trying to do the right thing,
Skinner inadvertently saved Mulder's life.
448
00:39:48,560 --> 00:39:51,791
By trying to kill him,
he accidentally saved him.
449
00:39:56,960 --> 00:40:01,988
Those cell phones,
like the autopsy I mentioned earlier,
450
00:40:03,040 --> 00:40:06,510
we went through endless ways
of playing cell phones
451
00:40:06,600 --> 00:40:08,875
and dynamics with cell phones.
452
00:40:09,840 --> 00:40:13,719
One of my favorites was
way back in Season 3 in "731."
453
00:40:15,840 --> 00:40:18,798
Mulder's with the bad guy in that train car,
454
00:40:18,880 --> 00:40:21,917
and the phone rings and it's for him.
455
00:40:47,400 --> 00:40:49,470
Doggett's won but he has lost.
456
00:40:49,560 --> 00:40:52,358
He gets the moral victory of
knowing he's stuck on the X-Files.
457
00:41:13,240 --> 00:41:18,109
Those marks on Mulder's face
are reminders of the terrible torture
458
00:41:18,200 --> 00:41:23,115
that was done to him on the spaceship
that we saw at the beginning of the season.
459
00:41:53,800 --> 00:41:56,234
Been waiting a long time for this.
460
00:42:06,160 --> 00:42:08,993
I spoke earlier, if you listened
to the "End Game" commentary,
461
00:42:09,080 --> 00:42:14,029
about how it's a writer's trick
to play these hospital room scenes
462
00:42:14,120 --> 00:42:16,509
and have the first line be a laugh line.
463
00:42:17,240 --> 00:42:21,028
So I submit this as further evidence
of that assertion.
464
00:42:35,240 --> 00:42:37,595
This was also, sort of, the dilemma.
465
00:42:39,200 --> 00:42:43,193
After all this time, and after the probability
466
00:42:43,280 --> 00:42:46,670
that Mulder and Scully
had consummated their relationship,
467
00:42:46,760 --> 00:42:49,718
to continue teasing
the famous sexual tension
468
00:42:49,800 --> 00:42:55,591
instead of actually giving
the audience romance was very difficult.
469
00:42:59,360 --> 00:43:03,273
And so, just to be truthful storytellers,
we had to surrender
470
00:43:03,360 --> 00:43:07,399
some of that tension, favored over
romantic feelings.
471
00:43:12,840 --> 00:43:16,958
And here, as I was saying,
the point of view is Doggett's.
472
00:43:19,880 --> 00:43:23,316
We went back and forth
about how to end this episode.
473
00:43:23,560 --> 00:43:29,032
On Mulder and Scully in the hospital room
or on Doggett in the hallway.
474
00:43:30,400 --> 00:43:33,073
And you can see the decision we made.
475
00:43:34,440 --> 00:43:36,954
Thank you very much for listening.
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