The Colonists are an extraterrestrial species and are also the primary group of antagonists in the science fiction television show The X-Files as well as the first X-Files feature film . The mystery revolving around their identity and purpose is slowly revealed across the course of the series. In the series' plot, the Colonists are collaborating with a group of United States government officials known as the Syndicate in a plan to colonize the Earth , hence their name.
163-489: According to the series mythology , an extraterrestrial lifeform , known in the series' mythology simply as the Colonists, were originally present on Earth in the early stages of human evolution. They highly resemble the well-known " grey aliens " in their mature form. In their immature stage, they are more yellowish-colored, tall, and very aggressive, possessing fangs, claws and scale-like texture of their skin. This immature form
326-399: A hair cut , because he was originally envisioned as a US Air Force pilot who had been shot down. When Thompson came to Vancouver , British Columbia, Canada there had been some "misunderstanding" between them, and he had not been told of the hair cut. So the hairstyle seen in this and every episode since was a " compromise between Thompson and the producers." "What's great about that idea
489-467: A middleman selling government secrets. Mulder is after the same man. After Mulder catches Alex Krycek ( Nicholas Lea ) in Hong Kong, the black oil passes itself to Krycek. Scully determines that the submarine had been involved in discovering the black oil on the sea floor during World War II, under the guise of finding a sunken fighter plane. The infected Krycek makes his way to a missile silo used to hide
652-536: A recurring character named the Alien Bounty Hunter. According to Carter, Duchovny came to him and said "wouldn't it be great if we had like an alien bounty hunter?" Carter was positive towards the idea and acted upon it. The actor Brian Thompson auditioned for the role in a casting session, where he was competing with another actor. Spotnitz and Carter did not have much time to cast this character, but they knew this casting would be important since they intended
815-399: A "mythology" for the episodes focusing on extraterrestrial life, because "they were just stories we wanted to tell," which involved Fox Mulder ( David Duchovny ) on his personal quest joined by his partner, Dana Scully ( Gillian Anderson ). Eventually, the writers saw that the most "personal" episodes were the ones centering on the government conspiracy. Another reason for the development of
978-433: A Nazi scientist who defected during Operation Paperclip has been conducting human experimentation to create alien-human hybrids. Dana's sister Melissa ( Melinda McGraw ) is shot by assassins who mistake her for Dana, and dies in the hospital. Investigating evidence of an alien autopsy, Mulder infiltrates a secretive government train carriage carrying an alien-human hybrid being experimented on by Japanese scientists. Mulder
1141-460: A UFO, and the black oil escapes his body to board the craft. Meanwhile, Scully has tracked down Luis Cardinal , the man responsible for killing her sister . When the Syndicate suspect that a member is passing information to Mulder and Scully, they organise a canary trap to find the leak, using information about the safety of Mulder's mother as bait. X's role as an informant is discovered, and he
1304-671: A big and fun canvas to tell stories. So they decided to create a story which had connections to the Russian gulags , which led to a "natural" idea that the Russians were experimenting separately from the Syndicate to create a vaccine for the Black oil. Shiban felt it was natural creating an arms race-like story between the United States and Russia, being that the Cold War had ended a few years earlier. With
1467-504: A book containing Native American beliefs and practices; the books described how one man would be able to hold off the forces of the apocalypse and become humanity's savior. Meanwhile, The Smoking Man took Mulder and prepped to have his genetic material—the same material that allowed Mulder to become telepathic—implanted into him. He believed that Mulder had, in effect, become a perfect alien-human hybrid and that by taking his genetic material, he would be able to continue "The Project" and survive
1630-436: A call from his father, who informs him that his sister Samantha ( Megan Leitch ), who had been abducted as a child, has returned. Samantha is being pursued by a shapeshifting bounty hunter , who is assassinating human clones. Samantha is killed, although it is revealed that she was simply one of a number of clones, produced using alien tissue to create an alien-human hybrid . The Lone Gunmen contact Mulder and Scully about
1793-479: A conspiracy to place Chloramine in the nation's water, causing mutations and creating "Super Soldiers." This leads them to a clandestine laboratory where a secret experiment connected to Scully's child, William, is underway. The X-Files' investigation is hampered by Deputy Director Alvin Kersh ( James Pickens, Jr. ) and Assistant Director Brad Follmer ( Cary Elwes ). Scully is hopeful about reuniting with Mulder after
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#17328764262861956-405: A cure. He is dissuaded by Walter Skinner ( Mitch Pileggi ), who secretly makes such a deal himself. While being pursued by an assassin responsible for a hoax alien corpse discovered on a mountaintop, Mulder fakes his own suicide, mutilating the assassin's face to provide a decoy body. He uses the distraction to infiltrate The Pentagon in search of a cure for Scully's cancer. Meanwhile, Scully
2119-544: A degree of flexibility very similar to natural tissue, due to their significant water content. As responsive " smart materials ," hydrogels can encapsulate chemical systems which upon stimulation by external factors such as a change of pH may cause specific compounds such as glucose to be liberated to the environment, in most cases by a gel-sol transition to the liquid state. Chemomechanical polymers are mostly also hydrogels, which upon stimulation change their volume and can serve as actuators or sensors . The first appearance of
2282-550: A drug release matrix. A hydrogel is a network of polymer chains that are hydrophilic, sometimes found as a colloidal gel in which water is the dispersion medium. A three-dimensional solid results from the hydrophilic polymer chains being held together by cross-links. Because of the inherent cross-links, the structural integrity of the hydrogel network does not dissolve from the high concentration of water. Hydrogels are highly absorbent (they can contain over 90% water) natural or synthetic polymeric networks. Hydrogels also possess
2445-525: A forest at night. Following Mulder's funeral, Assistant Director Skinner is threatened by Krycek, who tells him that he must kill Scully's baby before it is born. Billy Miles , a multiple abductee who disappeared on the same night as Mulder, is returned as a corpse, but his dead body is resurrected and restored to full health. Mulder also returns from death, with Scully supervising his recovery. Fully rejuvenated and healed of his earlier brain tumor, Mulder investigates several X-Files , against orders, and he
2608-408: A free energy difference density. The form of f gel ( λ 1 , λ 2 , λ 3 ) {\displaystyle f_{\text{gel}}(\lambda _{1},\lambda _{2},\lambda _{3})} naturally assumes two contributions of radically different physical origins, one associated with the elastic deformation of the polymer network, and
2771-470: A fully working vaccine has not been created, and it is therefore decided that the best thing for the Syndicate to do is to comply with the original deal and turn over the hybrid to the Colonists in the hope that they are spared the resulting takeover. Before this can be done, however, the Rebels kill all but a few members of the Syndicate in addition to Cassandra, the only living successful alien-human hybrid, before
2934-460: A gel is called gelation . Gels consist of a solid three-dimensional network that spans the volume of a liquid medium and ensnares it through surface tension effects. This internal network structure may result from physical bonds such as polymer chain entanglements (see polymers ) (physical gels) or chemical bonds such as disulfide bonds (see thiomers ) (chemical gels), as well as crystallites or other junctions that remain intact within
3097-462: A mass contagion, the Spartan Virus, begins to break out, causing people's immune systems to break down; all but those with alien DNA in their system. This is part of a scheme by The Smoking Man, something which has been put into motion since 2012 (the year the supposed alien invasion was meant to take place). Scully works to try and find a cure by using her alien DNA and Mulder disappears and confronts
3260-468: A massive wrecked spacecraft partially buried in the ocean. Skinner and Michael Kritschgau ( John Finn ) try desperately to learn the truth about the alien object. Unsuccessful, Scully returns from Africa to see Mulder, but she is told that he has disappeared. She contacts Kritschgau and Skinner, trying to find her partner. In fact, The Smoking Man has taken Mulder away to transplant the telepathic part of Mulder's brain into his own cranium. The surgery
3423-560: A mission to deal with a terrorist bomb threat. However, after a government building is destroyed, Mulder is approached by a mysterious doctor, Alvin Kurtzweil ( Martin Landau ), who reveals that a new strain of the black oil has been discovered in North Texas . The new strain allows an extraterrestrial to gestate inside the host within 96 hours. Kurtzweil argues that the conspiracy deliberately placed
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#17328764262863586-406: A new mythology for the series, questioning the origin of human life. Series creator Chris Carter claimed to be interested in the subject for a while, citing the possibility of extraterrestrial involvement in great extinctions that had happened millions of years ago. Carter claimed that early in the show he had met with a man who was one of the people responsible for leading the project of mapping
3749-442: A polymer solution of concentration ϕ 0 {\displaystyle \phi _{0}} and volume V 0 {\displaystyle V_{0}} is mixed with a pure solvent of volume ( λ 1 λ 2 λ 3 − 1 ) V 0 {\displaystyle (\lambda _{1}\lambda _{2}\lambda _{3}-1)V_{0}} to become
3912-471: A relatively high concentration of H + {\displaystyle {\text{H}}^{+}} and salt cations inside the gel. But because the concentration of H + {\displaystyle {\text{H}}^{+}} is locally higher, it suppresses the further ionization of the acid sites. This phenomenon is the prediction of the classical Donnan theory. However, with electrostatic interactions, there are further complications to
4075-490: A solution with polymer concentration ϕ {\displaystyle \phi } and volume λ 1 λ 2 λ 3 V 0 {\displaystyle \lambda _{1}\lambda _{2}\lambda _{3}V_{0}} . The free energy density change in this mixing step is given as where on the right-hand side, the first term is the Flory–Huggins energy density of
4238-462: A stranger, " Shadow Man " ( Terry O'Quinn ), offers to drive Mulder out of hiding. She accepts his offer, but she and Mulder are nearly killed: The man is a Super Soldier. Later on, Scully, Doggett and Reyes find evidence of a dangerous UFO cult that has found a spacecraft similar to the one Scully studied in Africa two years ago. The cult kidnaps William, but is destroyed when the baby's crying activates
4401-533: A successful attempt by a friend of theirs to hack the United States Department of Defense computer system. The hacker, Kenneth Soona ( Bernie Coulson ), is able to give Mulder the downloaded information on a digital cassette. Soona is subsequently assassinated, and the downloaded files are found to be written in Navajo . Contacting Albert Hosteen ( Floyd Red Crow Westerman )—a Navajo man capable of translating
4564-510: A supposedly indestructible "Super Soldier" Knowle Rohrer ( Adam Baldwin ), he is placed on trial to defend the X-Files and himself. With the help of Kersh, Scully, Reyes, Doggett, Spender, and Gibson Praise (Jeff Gulka), Mulder escapes. Mulder and Scully then travel to New Mexico to find an old "wise man", later revealed to be The Smoking Man, who tells them that the aliens will arrive in 2012. Doggett and Reyes are confronted by Knowle Rohrer, who
4727-407: A three-dimensional cross-linked network within the liquid. It is the cross-linking within the fluid that gives a gel its structure (hardness) and contributes to the adhesive stick ( tack ). In this way, gels are a dispersion of molecules of a liquid within a solid medium. The word gel was coined by 19th-century Scottish chemist Thomas Graham by clipping from gelatine . The process of forming
4890-464: Is a failure. Mulder develops an inoperable, terminal brain tumor after the surgery; he keeps the news from Scully. While investigating the bizarre disappearance of a young girl from her home, Mulder soon discovers the truth about his sister's abduction. He and Scully find evidence proving that Samantha was abducted by The Smoking Man, who forced her to live in a now-abandoned US Army base and experimented on her. Mulder also learns that his sister
5053-419: Is a hybrid created through a process other than cloning, and worked on by both the Syndicate and the aliens themselves, although the exact methods used to transform her are never fully revealed. The experiment presumably began when she, along with other family members of the Syndicate, were turned over to the colonists in 1973. For years, Cassandra was under the mistaken impression that she was to be an emissary of
Colonist (The X-Files) - Misplaced Pages Continue
5216-449: Is a protective stage, able to viciously defend itself from birth. This outer skin is eventually shed when the alien develops into its mature form. The immature form resembles that of a reptilian extraterrestrial and is referred to as the "long-clawed" form. The aliens were forced to abandon the planet during the last ice age as their viral form is deactivated by extreme cold. Upon their departure, they left behind underground deposits of
5379-470: Is a solid formed from a gel by drying with unhindered shrinkage. Xerogels usually retain high porosity (15–50%) and enormous surface area (150–900 m /g), along with very small pore size (1–10 nm). When solvent removal occurs under supercritical conditions, the network does not shrink and a highly porous, low-density material known as an aerogel is produced. Heat treatment of a xerogel at elevated temperature produces viscous sintering (shrinkage of
5542-488: Is able to uncover and reveal a Syndicate connection within the FBI. While a rebel alien race secretly attacks several groups of former alien abductees , the agents meet Cassandra Spender ( Veronica Cartwright ), a woman who claims to be a multiple abductee and wants to deliver a positive message about aliens. After Cassandra goes missing and her son, Jeffrey Spender ( Chris Owens ), angrily attempts to push his way into
5705-470: Is almost killed by a Syndicate operative guarding the hybrid, but is saved by his informant X ( Steven Williams ). X had been tipped off about Mulder's activities by Scully. Scully, meanwhile, meets a group of women with abduction experiences similar to her own , and meets another member of the Syndicate known as the First Elder ( Don S. Williams ). The First Elder claims that during Scully's abduction she
5868-458: Is also visited by the believed-to-be dead Cigarette Smoking Man . Scully, after many encounters with mysterious aliens, reports to an FBI review board that people with connections to the X-Files division are systematically being targeted by an unknown group. As a result, Mulder and Scully are reinstated as federal agents as a countermeasure . At the beginning, Chris Carter did not think of creating
6031-543: Is appointed a partner in these investigations— Dana Scully ( Gillian Anderson )—with his superiors hoping that she will be able to debunk and discredit his work. Their first case together is the investigation of possible abductions in Oregon , which falters when their evidence is destroyed in a fire. A later case, involving the disappearance of a United States Air Force test pilot, sees the introduction of secretive informant Deep Throat ( Jerry Hardin ), who continues to provide
6194-481: Is capable of communicating. It was revealed to be the " life force " of the alien colonists, which they seemingly used to reproduce their kind, as well as infect other alien races in order to conquer the universe. The Syndicate in cooperation with the alien Colonists developed a delivery mechanism that would be used to introduce the virus into an unsuspecting public upon colonization. Africanized bees , extremely aggressive, that would sting indiscriminately, would carry
6357-408: Is held in a gulag and used—successfully—as a test subject for a black-oil vaccine. He escapes and is able to return to America, having found out that Krycek is working with the Russians. Scully, who has been diagnosed with cancer, is unsure of her future with the FBI. Mulder is convinced that her condition is a result of her earlier abduction, and is prepared to make a deal with the Syndicate to find
6520-400: Is high both elastically and electrostatically and hence suppress ionization. Even though this ionization suppression is qualitatively similar to that of Donnan prediction, it is absent without electrostatic consideration and present irrespective of ion partitioning. The combination of both effects as well as gel elasticity determines the volume of the gel at equilibrium. Due to the complexity of
6683-421: Is initially formed by the assembly of particles into a space-spanning network, leading to a phase arrest. In the aging phase, the particles slowly rearrange to form thicker strands, increasing the elasticity of the material. Gels can also be collapsed and separated by external fields such as gravity. Colloidal gels show linear response rheology at low amplitudes. These materials have been explored as candidates for
Colonist (The X-Files) - Misplaced Pages Continue
6846-437: Is just a polymer network, without solvent). This is so because the free energy penalty to stretch an ideal polymer segment N {\displaystyle N} monomers of size b {\displaystyle b} between crosslinks to an end-to-end distance R {\displaystyle R} is approximately given by This is the origin of both gel and rubber elasticity . But one key difference
7009-417: Is killed by magnetite (the only known vulnerability of the "Super Soldiers"). The four agents then escape from a pair of black helicopters that kill The Smoking Man with missile fire. Scully and Mulder are last seen together in a motel room, facing an uncertain future. Fourteen years since leaving the X-Files, Mulder and Scully are contacted by media host Tad O'Malley who has uncovered possible evidence of
7172-406: Is lethal. The alien blood can burn through most surfaces like an acid , and can kill a normal human if exposed for too long to its noxious fumes. In addition, the alien's blood causes human blood to coagulate into a jelly -like substance, but its effects can be neutralized by extreme cold. The Bounty Hunters, and any member of the Colonists' race, could also only be killed by piercing a small area at
7335-776: Is monomer volume, N {\displaystyle N} is polymer strand length and χ {\displaystyle \chi } is the Flory-Huggins energy parameter. Because in a network, the polymer length is effectively infinite, we can take the limit N → ∞ {\displaystyle N\to \infty } and f ( ϕ ) {\displaystyle f(\phi )} reduces to Substitution of this expression into f mix ( λ 1 , λ 2 , λ 3 ) {\displaystyle f_{\text{mix}}(\lambda _{1},\lambda _{2},\lambda _{3})} and addition of
7498-450: Is only partially by the classical Donnan theory. As a starting point we can neglect the electrostatic interactions among ions. Then at equilibrium, some of the weak acid sites in the gel would dissociate to form A − {\displaystyle {\text{A}}^{-}} that electrostatically attracts positive charged H + {\displaystyle {\text{H}}^{+}} and salt cations leading to
7661-526: Is part of their own motives which allegedly involves space colonization with a select few, something which they feel can't be done if the Smoking Man's plans succeed. The two groups are also after Scully's son William, with the revelation that the Smoking Man is his father. It is mentioned by former Syndicate member Mr. Y (who is on the side opposing the Smoking Man) that the colonization hasn't taken place as
7824-441: Is polymer volume fraction. Suppose the initial gel has a polymer volume fraction of ϕ 0 {\displaystyle \phi _{0}} , the polymer volume fraction after swelling would be ϕ = ϕ 0 / λ 1 λ 2 λ 3 {\displaystyle \phi =\phi _{0}/\lambda _{1}\lambda _{2}\lambda _{3}} since
7987-690: Is shot dead, although he is able to pass along the name of another informant who can be of use to Mulder— Marita Covarrubias ( Laurie Holden ), the Special Representative to the Secretary-General of the United Nations . Mulder seeks Covarrubias' aid when he attempts to reach the site of the Tunguska event , in Russia, to investigate the source of a further black oil contamination. While there, Mulder
8150-494: Is soon fired, leaving Doggett in charge of the cases. Mulder continues to provide input in an unofficial capacity. Reluctantly accepting Krycek's assistance, Mulder, Doggett and Skinner learn that an alien virus recently created in secret by members of the United States government has replaced several humans, including Billy Miles and several high-ranking FBI personnel, with so-called alien " Super Soldiers ". Krycek claims that
8313-421: Is stretch by a factor of λ {\displaystyle \lambda } in all three directions. Under the affine network approximation, the mean-square end-to-end distance in the gel increases from initial R 0 2 {\displaystyle R_{0}^{2}} to ( λ R 0 ) 2 {\displaystyle (\lambda R_{0})^{2}} and
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#17328764262868476-474: Is stretched by factors λ 1 {\displaystyle \lambda _{1}} , λ 2 {\displaystyle \lambda _{2}} and λ 3 {\displaystyle \lambda _{3}} in the three orthogonal directions during swelling after being immersed in a solvent phase of initial volume V s 0 {\displaystyle V_{s0}} . The final deformed volume of gel
8639-411: Is that gel contains an additional solvent phase and hence is capable of having significant volume changes under deformation by taking in and out solvent. For example, a gel could swell to several times its initial volume after being immersed in a solvent after equilibrium is reached. This is the phenomenon of gel swelling. On the contrary, if we take the swollen gel out and allow the solvent to evaporate,
8802-416: Is that it touches on something that everybody's done, everybody's been forced to do since we were children, get inoculated for something or other, for smallpox in this case, and to turn that into something scary is brilliant, I think, because that really means you can't trust anyone." — John Shiban talking about the new storyline introduced with "Paper Clip". Chris Carter admits that David Duchovny
8965-424: Is then λ 1 λ 2 λ 3 V 0 {\displaystyle \lambda _{1}\lambda _{2}\lambda _{3}V_{0}} and the total volume of the system is V 0 + V s 0 {\displaystyle V_{0}+V_{s0}} , that is assumed constant during the swelling process for simplicity of treatment. The swollen state of
9128-407: Is thrown into chaos, a UFO looms over Mulder, Scully and Miller on the bridge. The episode "My Struggle II" is revealed to be a premonition of Scully, foreseeing the end of humanity which leads to trying to find a way to prevent it by finding her and Mulder's son. Whilst the Smoking Man looks to depopulate most of humanity, there is another group looking to kill him and prevent it from happening, also
9291-413: Is used to fill the plastic tubes containing the fibers. The main purpose of the gel is to prevent water intrusion if the buffer tube is breached, but the gel also buffers the fibers against mechanical damage when the tube is bent around corners during installation, or flexed. Additionally, the gel acts as a processing aid when the cable is being constructed, keeping the fibers central whilst the tube material
9454-577: The Fox Network and Carter for more money, while wanting to leave, the court said he must appear in 12 episodes in the eighth season and then leave. Gel A gel is a semi-solid that can have properties ranging from soft and weak to hard and tough. Gels are defined as a substantially dilute cross-linked system, which exhibits no flow when in the steady state, although the liquid phase may still diffuse through this system. Gels are mostly liquid by mass , yet they behave like solids because of
9617-531: The SETI program at the Arecibo Observatory is being forcibly closed. Although the pair are allowed to resume their work, Scully is later kidnapped by an unhinged multiple alien abductee, Duane Barry. Barry takes Scully to a hilltop where she is then abducted, presumably by aliens. She is found comatose at a later date, having mysteriously arrived at a hospital, and recovers several days later. Mulder receives
9780-447: The elastic properties and firmness of the organogel. Often, these systems are based on self-assembly of the structurant molecules. (An example of formation of an undesired thermoreversible network is the occurrence of wax crystallization in petroleum . ) Organogels have potential for use in a number of applications, such as in pharmaceuticals , cosmetics, art conservation, and food. A xerogel / ˈ z ɪər oʊ ˌ dʒ ɛ l /
9943-495: The show's mythology developed largely based on the pregnancy of actress Gillian Anderson , who became pregnant midway through the first season. Executive producer Frank Spotnitz described it as "the best thing that ever happened to the series.", also saying "This mythology really ended up running through the life of the series, all because Gillian Anderson became pregnant". Although there were initially second thoughts about Scully (Anderson) giving birth to an alien baby, ultimately
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#173287642628610106-440: The visual effects of the black oil. The scene with the black oil coming out of the eyes, ears and mouth was mostly done on a visual effects stage. Due to the uncontrollable nature of the substance, it took nine takes to get the syrup to spill on the right places. Critical reception to the black oil has been largely positive. Den of Geek named the black oil and the killer bees among "The Top 10 X-Files Baddies". The review applauded
10269-417: The "launching moment for the entire mythology". The main theme for the show starts with these episodes, being Mulder's quest to find "the truth" about his sister, Samantha Mulder . Mulder's quest for the truth helped build the mythology, since his investigation took him into cases about the paranormal . After a series of stand-alone episodes featuring UFOs and extraterrestrials early in the first season ,
10432-478: The 1940s, is built around a government conspiracy to hide the truth about alien existence and their doomsday plan. Not all episodes advanced the mythology plot, but those that did were often set up by Mulder or Scully via an opening monologue. Most mythological elements in The X-Files relate to extraterrestrial beings, referred to by the writers as " Colonists ", whose primary goal is to colonize Earth . Late in
10595-528: The Alien Bounty Hunter, in the 1950s, Soviet geneticists found a unique genetic anomaly within identical twins. The Colonists and Syndicate scientists used this to eventually develop human clones with alien elements and partial hybrids, but they were still ultimately inferior. Hybrids of this type include Samantha Mulder , Kurt Crawford, the Gregors, Ernest Calderon, and Dr. William Secare. Child and adult versions of Samantha and Kurt are also seen. These clones have
10758-455: The Antarctic alien ship was able to cure her infection and cause the entire ship to depart its underground residence. After the events of the 1998 film , the Syndicate, as well as Mulder and Scully, learned that the black oil can either take over a host's body or incubate within other life forms, including humans. Once infected with the gestational form of the black oil virus, a human host gestates
10921-632: The Colonist plot to retake the planet. These men eventually formed the Syndicate ; they included the Well-Manicured Man ( John Neville ), The Smoking Man, and Bill Mulder ( Peter Donat ), among others. The Syndicate threatened to use nuclear weapons to render the Earth uninhabitable to the Colonists due to extreme cold . As such, humanity was spared immediate invasion, and The Syndicate began negotiations with
11084-399: The Colonists as an act of good faith, would survive the takeover. Meanwhile, both sides had a secret. The human conspirators would attempt to develop a vaccine for the alien virus in an effort to save all of humanity. The Colonists pretended that mass infection of humanity by the black oil would make them a controlled slave race, but in reality the oil would give birth to new alien beings within
11247-498: The Colonists – the Syndicate and other chosen humans would receive the hybrid genes and be spared. In exchange for the Syndicate's cooperation, the Colonists handed over alien embryos as a source of genetic material for the hybrid experiments, as well as allowing limited military use of their technology and resources (such as the Alien Bounty Hunters ), and promising that the heirs of the Syndicate members, who were turned over to
11410-410: The Colonists. In 1973, an alliance was created and an agreement was reached that a small group of humans would be allowed by the Colonists to survive by becoming alien-human hybrids. The date for recolonization was firmly established in 2012 so that both sides could work on creating an alien-human hybrid before the arrival of the Colonist fleet. These hybrids, if successful, would serve as a slave race for
11573-483: The FBI's files and discovered information regarding the X-Files. Scully has later gone missing and Mulder tracks down the Lone Gunmen , who had faked their deaths several years earlier, in order to help him find Scully. FBI Agent John Doggett investigates a pipeline that mysteriously explodes and is later revealed to possess magnetite. FBI Agent Monica Reyes finds out that William 's adoptive parents are dead. Mulder
11736-567: The FBI, Mulder has Scully put under hypnosis to learn the truth about her abduction. The Syndicate, meanwhile, speed up their tests of the black oil vaccine, sacrificing their own to do so. Later, the assassination of a chess grandmaster leads Mulder and Scully into an investigation that strikes at the heart of the X-Files: They learn that the assassin's real target was a telepathic boy named Gibson Praise (Jeff Gulka). The X-Files have been shut down again, and Mulder and Scully are sent on
11899-429: The Rebels can also be hostile to humanity; they carry prod-like weapons that can quickly incinerate a human and do not hesitate to use them. They burn abductees with chips in their necks at abduction sites in attempts to prevent colonization from proceeding. The Rebels have a vested interest in keeping the Colonists from finding out that a successful hybrid has been created. While the Rebels had an opportunity to destroy
12062-520: The Smoking Man in an attempt to stop his plans. Scully finds out that The Smoking Man enlisted former FBI agent Monica Reyes as an assistant to his schemes. Mulder begins to succumb to the virus, but refuses the Smoking Man's chance of a "seat at the table." Mulder is eventually rescued by fellow agent Miller and reunited with Scully on a bridge in Washington, where she reveals Mulder needs a stem cell transplant that only their son can give them. As America
12225-538: The Super soldiers and applauded the show's continuity, citing their decision to make Billy Miles the first super-soldier. However, the review did call them not "as interesting as what came before them". The site awarded the super soldiers a "Coolness" rating of three out of five, an "Impact" rating of three out of five, and a "Creepiness" rating of two out of five. Mythology of The X-Files The mythology of The X-Files , sometimes referred to as its " mytharc " by
12388-415: The Syndicate is able to send a signal to the Colonists. Without a successful hybrid, the timetable for the Colonist invasion will not be advanced and the date set for colonization remains December 22, 2012. Frank Spotnitz explained that, despite their tendency of killing human abductees, the rebels can really be viewed as allies of mankind. He said in the commentary of "One Son" that the faceless rebels and
12551-527: The agents sensitive information. This help is supplemented by conspiracy theorist group The Lone Gunmen , who are contacted for help in a further abduction case. Deep Throat is killed, however, when he helps the agents uncover details of a government human cloning program, and the X-Files unit is closed shortly thereafter. Unable to continue his work with Scully, Mulder obtains information about possible extraterrestrial contact in Puerto Rico, finding that
12714-517: The alien "Super Soldiers" surround her. Without explanation, the aliens leave the area when Mulder arrives. While Doggett and Reyes report to the FBI Headquarters, Mulder takes Scully and their newborn son, William , back to her apartment. Mulder goes into hiding, Scully is reassigned to the FBI Academy , and Reyes becomes Doggett's new partner at the X-Files. Doggett, Scully, and Reyes discover
12877-418: The alien abductions being fabricated by the government to cover up their experiments on humans, and Mulder has a theory that everything that he and Scully were led to believe on the X-Files was made up by a conspiracy of men. Mulder and Scully find themselves being enlisted back to the FBI and working on the now reopened X-Files unit, which brings the attention of the alive Cigarette Smoking Man. Six weeks later
13040-427: The alien rebels, who incinerate them all, including Cassandra. The Smoking Man and Fowley manage to escape. Jeffrey Spender is then purportedly killed by The Smoking Man. Several months later, an inscribed metallic artifact is found on a beach on Africa's Côte d'Ivoire . Mulder examines rubbings of the object and falls into a dangerous coma. Hoping to find a cure for her partner, Scully rushes to Africa and discovers
13203-429: The aliens abandoned their plans due to global warming on earth. Although published in 2013, prior to the broadcast of Season 10, the comic book series is considered non-canon with the television series taking precedence in the mythology arc. In this comic book series, which is "Executive Produced" by Chris Carter , Mulder and Scully are visited by Deputy Director Skinner who informs them that someone has hacked into
13366-433: The aliens are here to destroy all life on Earth and that she is a successful alien-human hybrid. The Smoking Man reveals everything to Diana Fowley, who agrees to help him and betray Mulder. Fowley forces Mulder, Cassandra, and Scully to go to a CDC facility at Fort Marlene. Meanwhile, the Syndicate meets at a check point, expecting to be taken away by the Colonists, who are preparing for invasion. They are met, instead, by
13529-425: The aliens to spread a higher spiritual understanding to humanity, but after her final abduction in the late 1990s she comes to realize the truth. She is killed, along with most of the Syndicate, by the alien rebels. After being exposed to an alien artifact, Mulder slipped into a coma, although he was imbued with telepathic abilities. In order to find a cure for her partner, Dana Scully ( Gillian Anderson ) discovered
13692-559: The ancient Mayans were so terrified that they stopped their calendar on the exact date of colonization: December 22, 2012 . The Colonists eventually returned to Earth in 1947 when one of their ships crashed in New Mexico due to exposure to magnetite in the surrounding rocks. Shortly after this event, a select few power brokers, mainly in the United States and the Soviet Union (though some also came from other nations), first learned of
13855-431: The backs of their necks or by detailed analysis of a blood sample which shows their DNA exists as a complex with iron . Although they cannot shapeshift, Super Soldiers are practically unstoppable. They can survive being crushed by a garbage compactor, decapitation , and can rip through steel with their bare hands. The only known way to kill them takes advantage of their metallic biochemistry: their bodies are torn apart by
14018-454: The base of the neck; the bounty hunters carried a kind of alien stiletto -like weapon to assassinate rogue aliens and to destroy imperfect alien-human hybrids. Once dead, their bodies would rapidly dissolve into a pool of their severely acidic blood, which would eventually evaporate. Inconsistent with this arc, in season 8 episode 2 "Without" Scully kills the bounty hunter by shooting him with her gun. He oozes green blood, yet neither she, nor
14181-479: The black oil virus through a transgenic corn crop specifically engineered to carry the virus and to attract the bees. The bees would be released on colonization and the infected human beings would become a slave race. The Syndicate, however, secretly tried to create a vaccine to protect themselves, which they code-named "Purity Control." While the Purity Control project ultimately fails, a rival Russian shadow group
14344-506: The black oil virus, in preparation for their return. The virus apparently contains the aliens' genetic blueprints, awaiting reconstitution when the master species returns to Earth. While away from Earth, the Colonists evidently sought out life throughout the universe in an effort to subdue other species and take over the universe. Purportedly, the Colonists planned on returning to Earth in the year 2012, as The Smoking Man ( William B. Davis ) later remarks to Fox Mulder ( David Duchovny ) that
14507-492: The black oil's creepy nature and noted that the black oil was "central part of the larger Colonisation Plan that underpins the big story arc of the series". They awarded it a "Coolness" rating of four out of five, an "Impact" rating of three out of five, and a "Creepiness" rating of four out of five. Furthermore, Den of Geek wrote positively of the Killer Bees and wrote that "you gotta love" them. The review stated that they were "in
14670-424: The body of the host. This process seems to involve a lengthy surgical procedure on abductees as opposed to simple infection (as with the black oil ). As they have normal red blood and can replace individuals within powerful positions, they provide an ideal way for the Colonists to infiltrate humanity to ensure that the plans for colonization are uninterrupted. They are identifiable however by small spiny protrusions on
14833-417: The bomb within the government to hide the evidence. After Scully is stung by a black-oil-infected bee and abducted, the Well-Manicured Man gives Mulder her location and a weak vaccine, developed by the Syndicate. The Well-Manicured Man is killed by a car bomb, but his information leads Mulder to Antarctica , where he discovers a massive alien spaceship buried. Inside the ship, he finds Scully and administers
14996-478: The character to become a recurring character . Thompson was chosen according to Spotnitz because he had a very "distinctive look" about him, most notably his face and mouth. After casting him, they told Thompson's agent that he needed a hair cut , because he was originally envisioned as a U.S. Air Force pilot who'd been shot down. When Thompson came to Vancouver , British Columbia, Canada there had been some "misunderstanding" between them, and he had not been told of
15159-454: The charged nature of H + {\displaystyle {\text{H}}^{+}} and A − {\displaystyle {\text{A}}^{-}} , electrostatic interactions with other ions in the systems. This is effectively a reacting system governed by acid-base equilibrium modulated by electrostatic effects, and is relevant in drug delivery , sea water desalination and dialysis technologies. Due to
15322-455: The coming alien onslaught. With nearly every Syndicate member dead, the Colonists began to clear up any evidence of alien life and began to create human replacements called " Super Soldiers ", on which the Colonists had been working covertly as an alternative slave race should the hybridization experiments be unsuccessful. To create Super Soldiers, the Colonists infect humans with a new strain of their virus, which slowly destroys and then rebuilds
15485-494: The conspiracy in the episodes " Two Fathers " and " One Son ". "Closure" was written to create an end to Mulder's quest for his sister, Samantha, who had been abducted when he was a child. The idea to close the story arc received mixed reactions from various production and crew members. However, many of the show's producers realized that the time had come to answer one of the show's biggest questions. Spotnitz explained that, "I think [series star, David Duchovny] grew tired of playing
15648-405: The coupled acid-base equilibrium, electrostatics and network elasticity, only recently has such system been correctly recreated in computer simulations . Some species secrete gels that are effective in parasite control. For example, the long-finned pilot whale secretes an enzymatic gel that rests on the outer surface of this animal and helps prevent other organisms from establishing colonies on
15811-530: The creature down in Phoenix, Arizona before the Syndicate can capture it. Skinner is mysteriously poisoned by a nanorobot infection. The culprit is Krycek, who continues to control the potentially debilitating nanotechnology in Skinner's system in order to achieve his goals. Mulder and Scully learn of reports of rebel aliens burning doctors who were working on Cassandra. After they locate her, she informs them that
15974-408: The effects of black oil infection. The Rebels are distinguished by their grotesque appearance: the orifices on their face are morphed shut to avoid absorption of the parasitic black oil. Colonization has apparently begun in the Rebels' home environment, but members of this species are spared gestation to become Bounty Hunters for the Colonists' ongoing conquest efforts. Although enemies of the Colonists,
16137-515: The elastic energy of one stand can be written as where R ref {\displaystyle R_{\text{ref}}} is the mean-square fluctuation in end-to-end distance of one strand. The modulus of the gel is then this single-strand elastic energy multiplied by strand number density ν = ϕ / N b 3 {\displaystyle \nu =\phi /Nb^{3}} to give This modulus can then be equated to osmotic pressure (through differentiation of
16300-439: The elastic nature of the gel, the dispersion of A − {\displaystyle {\text{A}}^{-}} in the system is constrained and hence, there will be a partitioning of salts ions and H + {\displaystyle {\text{H}}^{+}} inside and outside the gel, which is intimately coupled to the polyelectrolyte degree of ionization. This ion partitioning inside and outside
16463-476: The episode; in particular, he wished to have done the scene wherein one of the Syndicate members changes into an alien rebel differently. Early attempts to create alien-human hybrids were pioneered by German and Japanese scientists shortly after World War II , and for some time during the Cold War. However, these often met with failure, and the Syndicate started to rely more on their own scientists. According to
16626-445: The extending fluid. Virtually any fluid can be used as an extender including water ( hydrogels ), oil, and air ( aerogel ). Both by weight and volume, gels are mostly fluid in composition and thus exhibit densities similar to those of their constituent liquids. Edible jelly is a common example of a hydrogel and has approximately the density of water. Polyionic polymers are polymers with an ionic functional group. The ionic charges prevent
16789-419: The files—Mulder is shown a box-car full of what appear to be alien corpses. He is trapped in the box-car by the series' antagonist, The Smoking Man ( William B. Davis ), and left for dead after it is destroyed. Mulder is later found and nursed back to health by Hosteen. Meanwhile, Scully investigates the possible involvement of the smallpox eradication program in human genetic experimentation, discovering that
16952-523: The final invasion in 2012. Critical reception to the super-soldiers was mixed. The A.V. Club was highly critical of the final season and its mythology story, noting that the "new serialized storylines about so-called 'super soldiers'" resulted in a "clumsy mish-mash of" ideas that worked and did not. Not all reviews were negative, however. Den of Geek also named the Super Soldiers among "The Top 10 X-Files Baddies". The site wrote moderately positively of
17115-416: The final swollen gel, the second is associated with the initial gel and the third is of the pure solvent prior to mixing. Substitution of ϕ = ϕ 0 / λ 1 λ 2 λ 3 {\displaystyle \phi =\phi _{0}/\lambda _{1}\lambda _{2}\lambda _{3}} leads to Note that the second term is independent of
17278-633: The formation of tightly coiled polymer chains. This allows them to contribute more to viscosity in their stretched state, because the stretched-out polymer takes up more space. This is also the reason gel hardens. See polyelectrolyte for more information. A colloidal gel consists of a percolated network of particles in a fluid medium, providing mechanical properties , in particular the emergence of elastic behaviour. The particles can show attractive interactions through osmotic depletion or through polymeric links. Colloidal gels have three phases in their lifespan: gelation, aging and collapse. The gel
17441-404: The free energy) to give the same equation as we found above. Consider a hydrogel made of polyelectrolytes decorated with weak acid groups that can ionize according to the reaction is immersed in a salt solution of physiological concentration. The degree of ionization of the polyelectrolytes is then controlled by the pH {\displaystyle {\text{pH}}} and due to
17604-415: The gel is analogous to the partitioning of ions across a semipemerable membrane in classical Donnan theory, but a membrane is not needed here because the gel volume constraint imposed by network elasticity effectively acts its role, in preventing the macroions to pass through the fictitious membrane while allowing ions to pass. The coupling between the ion partitioning and polyelectrolyte ionization degree
17767-627: The gel is now completely characterized by stretch factors λ 1 {\displaystyle \lambda _{1}} , λ 2 {\displaystyle \lambda _{2}} and λ 3 {\displaystyle \lambda _{3}} and hence it is of interest to derive the deformation free energy as a function of them, denoted as f gel ( λ 1 , λ 2 , λ 3 ) {\displaystyle f_{\text{gel}}(\lambda _{1},\lambda _{2},\lambda _{3})} . For analogy to
17930-478: The gel would shrink to roughly its original size. This gel volume change can alternatively be introduced by applying external forces. If a uniaxial compressive stress is applied to a gel, some solvent contained in the gel would be squeezed out and the gel shrinks in the applied-stress direction. To study the gel mechanical state in equilibrium, a good starting point is to consider a cubic gel of volume V 0 {\displaystyle V_{0}} that
18093-510: The hair cut. So the hairstyle seen in this and every episode since was a "compromise" between Thompson and the producers. Critical reception to the Alien Bounty Hunters has been largely positive. Den of Geek also named the Alien Bounty Hunters among "The Top 10 X-Files Baddies". The review wrote positively of the Alien Bounty Hunters and described them as "the nasty minions of the colonists". The review wrote that their being written out of
18256-475: The historical treatment of rubber elasticity and mixing free energy, f gel ( λ 1 , λ 2 , λ 3 ) {\displaystyle f_{\text{gel}}(\lambda _{1},\lambda _{2},\lambda _{3})} is most often defined as the free energy difference after and before the swelling normalized by the initial gel volume V 0 {\displaystyle V_{0}} , that is,
18419-466: The human genome and that he was interested enough in the subject to tie it into the show's alien mythology. The scientific basis for extraterrestrials pursued the writers to help Mulder and Scully's beliefs come together, which was furthered in the later seasons of the show. Frank Spotnitz claimed that the ideas used in this episode had been discussed between him and Carter for a few years, and had become easier to bring up after clearing away elements of
18582-429: The human hosts resulting in re-population rather than colonization. The Bounty Hunters are a distinct group from the Colonist aliens. Although all Colonist aliens are shape-shifters , the Alien Bounty Hunters readily take the shape of humans and are tasked with policing their plans and tracking down and eliminating any threats. The bounty hunters have green blood that contains a retrovirus which, when exposed to humans,
18745-413: The human race are the only two species of advanced civilization in the galaxy that have not been consumed by the black oil. Thus, he notes that at the end of the episode "humanity has lost, Mulder has lost, and the rebels in fact save the day, ultimately by stopping the delivery of Cassandra Spender to the aliens". The initial look of the rebels was created by special effects supervisor Tony Lindala, during
18908-413: The hybrid, Cassandra Spender , they choose to let her survive in the hope that the Syndicate will join them in fighting the Colonists. If they refuse, Cassandra can be used to expose the truth and the conspiracy. The Rebels go so far as to infiltrate the Syndicate and bring up the possibility of fighting the Colonists. However, the Syndicate decides that fighting the Colonists would be futile. At this point,
19071-418: The hydrogel structure to obtain nanocomposites with tailored functionality. Nanocomposite hydrogels can be engineered to possess superior physical, chemical, electrical, thermal, and biological properties. Many gels display thixotropy – they become fluid when agitated, but resolidify when resting. In general, gels are apparently solid, jelly-like materials. It is a type of non-Newtonian fluid . By replacing
19234-455: The immature alien form after 96 hours, or sooner if the surrounding temperature is raised significantly, killing the host in the process. The third season episode " Piper Maru " marked the first occurrence of the black oil. The on-screen appearance of the substance was achieved through visual effects, with the shimmering oil effect being digitally placed over the actors' corneas in post-production. The crew went through various iterations to find
19397-488: The initial state. On the other hand, the mixing term f mix ( λ 1 , λ 2 , λ 3 ) {\displaystyle f_{\text{mix}}(\lambda _{1},\lambda _{2},\lambda _{3})} is usually treated by the Flory-Huggins free energy of concentrated polymer solutions f ( ϕ ) {\displaystyle f(\phi )} , where ϕ {\displaystyle \phi }
19560-522: The leader of an FBI taskforce organized to search for Mulder. Although the search proves unsuccessful, Doggett is assigned to the X-Files, and he works with Scully to search for explanations for several cases. When Scully learns that several women have reportedly been abducted and impregnated with alien babies, she begins to question her own pregnancy . Doggett introduces Scully to Monica Reyes ( Annabeth Gish ), an FBI specialist in ritualistic crime, shortly before Mulder's dead body suddenly appears in
19723-485: The liquid with gas it is possible to prepare aerogels , materials with exceptional properties including very low density, high specific surface areas , and excellent thermal insulation properties. A gel is in essence the mixture of a polymer network and a solvent phase. Upon stretching, the network crosslinks are moved further apart from each other. Due to the polymer strands between crosslinks acting as entropic springs , gels demonstrate elasticity like rubber (which
19886-459: The magnetic fields present near large deposits of magnetite ore. The Super Soldiers quietly fill the positions of power previously occupied by Syndicate members and rarely use human conspirators. By the end of season 9 they virtually replaced the Syndicate and were successful in chasing Mulder and Scully out of the FBI so that they can no longer investigate the X-Files and interfere with their plans. As of their last appearance, they were preparing for
20049-399: The man who is missing his sister. [...] I told him, 'This is going to be the last time you're going to have to play [that part].'" Paul Rabwin noted that, "It's been seven years. I don't think any of us are going to miss Samantha Mulder. That device and motivation were very strong in the early years of the show. But as the years have gone by, the speculation kind of melted away." "Requiem"
20212-414: The mythology, was that the producers were afraid of not creating a thread between the episodes centering on the conspiracy, being that they felt it would be pretentious if they did not do it. According to Carter, the mythology "sprung from" the pilot episode and its follow up, " Deep Throat ", which set up the idea that aliens had been around for many years. Carter sees the final scene of "Deep Throat" as
20375-430: The network contribution leads to This provides the starting point to examining the swelling equilibrium of a gel network immersed in solvent. It can be shown that gel swelling is the competition between two forces, one is the osmotic pressure of the polymer solution that favors the take in of solvent and expansion, the other is the restoring force of the polymer network elasticity that favors shrinkage. At equilibrium,
20538-427: The number of monomers remains the same while the gel volume has increased by a factor of λ 1 λ 2 λ 3 {\displaystyle \lambda _{1}\lambda _{2}\lambda _{3}} . As the polymer volume fraction decreases from ϕ 0 {\displaystyle \phi _{0}} to ϕ {\displaystyle \phi } ,
20701-400: The other FBI agents who enter the room while the body is disintegrating, are affected by the green acid-like blood. The Alien Rebels, those aliens that opposed the plans of the alien Colonists, are of the same species . The distinguishing characteristic of the Rebels is that they have had all of their facial orifices sealed shut in an effort to avoid absorption of and subsequent infection by
20864-441: The other characters in the show including Assistant Director Walter Skinner ( Mitch Pileggi ), The Smoking Man ( William B. Davis ) and X ( Steven Williams ), and resulted in the introduction of the character Alex Krycek ( Nicholas Lea ). Krycek, who was initially created by writer Howard Gordon to temporarily replace Scully as Mulder's partner for three episodes eventually grew into a character that lasted seven seasons on
21027-448: The other with the mixing of the network with the solvent. Hence, we write We now consider the two contributions separately. The polymer elastic deformation term is independent of the solvent phase and has the same expression as a rubber, as derived in the Kuhn's theory of rubber elasticity : where G 0 {\displaystyle G_{0}} denotes the shear modulus of
21190-473: The pantheon of 'cool shit to do in movies'" and that their presence added to the overall effect of the first movie. The site awarded the bees a "Coolness" rating of five out of five, an "Impact" rating of two out of five, and a "Creepiness" rating of two out of five. There also exists a faction of aliens who actively oppose Colonization. They are the same species as the Alien Bounty Hunter(s), free from
21353-493: The parasitic black oil; this led to a somewhat grotesque appearance. In the latter seasons of The X-Files , the role of the Bounty Hunters on Earth has largely been taken over by the Super Soldiers, human replacements capable of withstanding incredible amounts of damage. In the two-part episodes " Colony " and " End Game ", Chris Carter and Frank Spotnitz along with some help from David Duchovny created what would become
21516-426: The picture. Consider the case of two adjacent, initially uncharged acid sites HA {\displaystyle {\text{HA}}} are both dissociated to form A − {\displaystyle {\text{A}}^{-}} . Since the two sites are both negatively charged, there will be a charge-charge repulsion along the backbone of the polymer than tends to stretch the chain. This energy cost
21679-473: The possibility that it could be real, but never ever stating that this is in fact the truth." "Anasazi" was the first episode of a three-parter where the writers introduced the government conspiracy arc following the Syndicate . " Paper Clip " introduced the idea of genetic material that was taken through inoculations. In season three the black oil was introduced, which was an alien creature which invaded bodies and made them into living hosts. The Black oil
21842-552: The producers that Davis was running an acting school, and teaching such actors as Lucy Lawless , who would make an appearance in the ninth season . In the two-part episodes " Colony " and " End Game ", Chris Carter and Frank Spotnitz along with some help from David Duchovny created what would become a recurring character named the Alien Bounty Hunter . According to Carter, Duchovny came to him and said "Wouldn't it be great if we had like an alien bounty hunter?" Carter
22005-484: The production of "Patient X". Spotnitz had a problem with the visual effects used for the rebels in "One Son", going so far as to say that the effects of them landing were among the worst ever created for the show. He noted that the effects were created on short notice, saying "It was one of those cases where you just run out of time, sorry to say." Spotnitz later said that the overall production values were fantastic, but that he wished he could have changed some things about
22168-506: The same caustic greenish blood of the aliens, have greater muscular strength and higher physical endurance levels than most normal humans, and can breathe underwater. In addition to their intended use by the alien colonists, the Syndicate is occasionally seen using these clones to perform various tasks, such as research and physical labor. The pinnacle of the project is Cassandra Spender ( Veronica Cartwright ), mother of Jeffrey Spender ( Chris Owens ) and ex-wife of The Smoking Man. Cassandra
22331-635: The season five episodes " Patient X " and " The Red and the Black ", the mythology became too hard for some viewers to follow. These two episodes marked the introduction of the Alien rebels who were fighting against the Colonists for their plan to colonize the known universe. These Alien rebels were of the same race as the Alien Bounty Hunters . Cassandra ( Veronica Cartwright ) and Jeffrey Spender ( Chris Owens ) would make their first appearances in these two episodes. Two other characters, Diana Fowley ( Mimi Rogers ) and Gibson Praise (Jeff Gulka) were introduced to
22494-484: The series mythology in the season five finale, " The End ". From the third season to the sixth season, the mysterious Syndicate was explored in detail. In the two part episode " Two Fathers "/" One Son ", the Syndicate was destroyed. The plan to eliminate the Syndicate and relaunch the series' mythology in a new direction was originally conceived in September 1998. Director Kim Manners stated "I've said for years that
22657-472: The series was a "shame". The site awarded the bounty hunters a "Coolness" rating of four out of five, an "Impact" rating of two out of five, and a "Creepiness" rating of two out of five. Purity , more commonly referred to as black oil , and called the " black cancer " by the Russians, is an alien virus that thrived underground on Earth , in petroleum deposits. The virus is capable of entering humanoids and assuming control of their bodies. It has sentience and
22820-647: The series, this was revealed to have been planned for the year 2012. This list of mythology episodes was originally taken from official sources, The X-Files Mythology range of DVDs and the book The Complete X-Files: Behind the Series, the Myths and the Movies . (feature-length film set between Seasons 5 and 6) FBI Special Agent Fox Mulder ( David Duchovny ) has made a name for himself, "Spooky Mulder," working on X-Files —unexplained cases which may be paranormal in origin. He
22983-440: The seventh season, leaving things open for the actor's return in 11 episodes the following year. They eventually replaced Duchovny's Mulder with Robert Patrick 's John Doggett . "I figured that the best way to introduce the character was exactly the way they did it, in a mythology episode. And I think it was important for Chris and Frank and my director, Kim Manners, to really establish who this guy was, John Doggett, and what he
23146-487: The ship and kills everyone while leaving William unharmed. Doggett finds a strange, disfigured man in the X-Files office. At first he believes the man is Mulder, but it is actually Jeffrey Spender, Mulder's half-brother. Spender sticks a needle into William. The other agents believe the injection to be a virus of some kind, but it is actually a cure for William's powers. Mulder comes out of hiding to look for classified information at an army base and, after allegedly killing
23309-462: The show really resolved itself, if you will, by accident. The whole story line of the Syndicate and the bees and the aliens and the chips in the neck, they all seemed to just accidentally fall into place and create an intriguing, mysterious storyline that eventually got so mysterious and so intriguing that Chris had to blow it up, because he couldn't deal with it anymore." The " Biogenesis "/" The Sixth Extinction "/" Amor Fati " trio of episodes started
23472-469: The show's staff and fans, follows the quest of FBI Special Agents Fox Mulder ( David Duchovny ), a believer in supernatural phenomena, and Dana Scully ( Gillian Anderson ), his skeptical partner. Their boss, FBI Assistant Director Walter Skinner , was also often involved. Beginning with season 8, another skeptic named John Doggett , and Monica Reyes , a believer like Mulder, were also introduced. The overarching story, which spans events as early as
23635-403: The show. Prior to the season two episode, " One Breath " the " Cigarette Smoking Man " mostly "lurked around in the shadows" and smoked cigarettes. The Smoking Man uttered only four audible words in the entire first season of the show, all of them being in " Tooms ". R.W. Goodwin did not trust William B. Davis to take on the part as arch-nemesis to Fox Mulder . It was later revealed to
23798-500: The soldiers are virtually unstoppable aliens who want to make sure that humans will not survive the colonization of Earth . They have learned that Scully's baby is a miraculously special child and are afraid that it may be more powerful than they are. When Miles arrives at the FBI Headquarters, Mulder, Doggett, Skinner and Krycek help Scully to escape along with Reyes, who drives her to a remote farm. Shortly after, Skinner kills Krycek, and Scully delivers an apparently normal baby while
23961-467: The stretching factors λ 1 {\displaystyle \lambda _{1}} , λ 2 {\displaystyle \lambda _{2}} and λ 3 {\displaystyle \lambda _{3}} and hence can be dropped in subsequent analysis. Now we make use of the Flory-Huggins free energy for a polymer-solvent solution that reads where v c {\displaystyle v_{c}}
24124-424: The subject discusses the use of hydrogels for nucleus pulposus replacement, cartilage replacement, and synthetic tissue models. Many substances can form gels when a suitable thickener or gelling agent is added to their formula. This approach is common in the manufacture of a wide range of products, from foods to paints and adhesives. In fiber optic communications, a soft gel resembling hair gel in viscosity
24287-537: The surface of these whales' bodies. Hydrogels existing naturally in the body include mucus , the vitreous humor of the eye, cartilage , tendons and blood clots . Their viscoelastic nature results in the soft tissue component of the body, disparate from the mineral-based hard tissue of the skeletal system. Researchers are actively developing synthetically derived tissue replacement technologies derived from hydrogels, for both temporary implants (degradable) and permanent implants (non-degradable). A review article on
24450-436: The term 'hydrogel' in the literature was in 1894. An organogel is a non-crystalline , non-glassy thermoreversible ( thermoplastic ) solid material composed of a liquid organic phase entrapped in a three-dimensionally cross-linked network. The liquid can be, for example, an organic solvent , mineral oil , or vegetable oil . The solubility and particle dimensions of the structurant are important characteristics for
24613-447: The two "right" types of fluids. According to physical effects crewman David Gauthier, they used a mix of oil and acetone , which he believed gave the substance a more globular look. Special effects technician Mat Beck was able to digitally bend the oil effect around the shape of the actors' eyes. The season eight episode, " Vienen ", marked the last appearance of the black oil in the series. Molasses and chocolate syrup were used for
24776-493: The two effects exactly cancel each other in principle and the associated λ 1 {\displaystyle \lambda _{1}} , λ 2 {\displaystyle \lambda _{2}} and λ 3 {\displaystyle \lambda _{3}} define the equilibrium gel volume. In solving the force balance equation, graphical solutions are often preferred. In an alternative, scaling approach, suppose an isotropic gel
24939-477: The vaccine, which heals her. In Washington, D.C., Mulder appears before an FBI panel regarding his experiences in Antarctica, but is later denied reassignment to the X-Files division: Mulder and Scully have been replaced by Spender and Diana Fowley ( Mimi Rogers ). After a scientist working for the Syndicate accidentally comes into contact with the black oil and gestates an alien, Mulder and Scully attempt to track
25102-420: The writers decided to work around Anderson's pregnancy. The writers decided on closing the X-Files at the end of the season to separate Mulder and Scully from one another, and have Scully abducted, who would later reappear in a coma. In addition to the creation of the storyline concerning Scully's abduction, Anderson's reduced role in the first half of the second season permitted the writers to develop some of
25265-645: The xerogel due to a small amount of viscous flow) which results in a denser and more robust solid, the density and porosity achieved depend on the sintering conditions. Nanocomposite hydrogels or hybrid hydrogels, are highly hydrated polymeric networks, either physically or covalently crosslinked with each other and/or with nanoparticles or nanostructures. Nanocomposite hydrogels can mimic native tissue properties, structure and microenvironment due to their hydrated and interconnected porous structure. A wide range of nanoparticles, such as carbon-based, polymeric, ceramic, and metallic nanomaterials can be incorporated within
25428-495: Was able to enter through a victim's mouth, eyes or nose; it would leave a victim's body to get back to its original form or get a new host. Later on in the show's mythology, it is discovered that the Black oil is the Colonists ' lifeform; the oil was brought to Earth by meteorites to create hosts of the human population living there. The season four two-parters " Tunguska " and " Terma " hit the writers when they were trying to conceive
25591-507: Was placed on a similar train car and experimented upon by the Japanese scientists. The crew of a French salvage ship trying to raise a World War II-era submarine from the sea floor are stricken with massive radiation burns—except for one man, who has been infected with a parasitic black oil discovered on the submarine. The black oil, controlling the crewman's body, passes into the crewman's wife and uses her to travel to Hong Kong in pursuit of
25754-505: Was positive towards the idea. The actor, Brian Thompson , auditioned for the role in a casting session, where he was competing with another actor. Spotnitz and Carter did not have much time to cast this character, but they knew this casting would be important since he was going to be a recurring character . Thompson was chosen according to Spotnitz because he had a very "distinctive look" about him, most notably his face and mouth. After casting him, they told Thompson's agent that he needed
25917-410: Was successful in developing a weak vaccine that eventually fell into the hands of the Syndicate. The plot to cooperate with the alien colonization plan was implemented with the aim of being given access to the black oil for the transgenic corn, in order to perform experiments with it in an effort to develop a vaccine. This attempt was semi-successful, as the "weak vaccine" administered to Scully while in
26080-472: Was supposed to be doing." — Robert Patrick talking about his introduction. The season eight premiere, " Within ", started the storyline following the Super Soldiers and the search for Mulder. As Carter always believed the only way to get the audience to keep watching the show was to give them answers. So when they cast Robert Patrick as John Doggett a new lead character, since Duchovny had sued
26243-439: Was taken by a "walk-in," a benevolent spirit who saves the souls of children doomed to die in suffering. Mulder is eventually reunited with the spirit of his sister, allowing him to finally let her go. Mulder and Scully investigate a case of alien abduction which leads them back to Oregon, the site of their first case together where Mulder is taken by a UFO. Scully soon meets Special Agent John Doggett ( Robert Patrick ),
26406-399: Was very involved in shaping the show's mythology. His first notable efforts were " End Game " and " Anasazi ". After writing the episode, Carter met with a Fox Network executive who wanted the show to explain the paranormal phenomena in each episode. Carter responded that: "the interesting part about this for me was going to be telling stories where you left people wondering at the end, with
26569-409: Was written as a way to potentially end the series. While filming was underway for the seventh season, many members of the crew felt that the show had entered into its final season. Executive producer Frank Spotnitz later explained, "There was a pretty strong sentiment inside and outside the show that it was time to call it a day." Eventually, it was decided that Mulder would be abducted at the end of
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