Tara Karsian (born August 5, 1965) is an American actress and writer. She is the daughter of actress Pat Carroll .
84-424: " X-Cops " is the twelfth episode of the seventh season of the American science fiction television series The X-Files . Directed by Michael Watkins and written by Vince Gilligan , the installment serves as a " Monster-of-the-Week " story—a stand-alone plot unconnected to the overarching mythology of The X-Files . Originally aired in the United States by the Fox network on February 20, 2000, "X-Cops" received
168-478: A Nielsen rating of 9.7 and was seen by 16.56 million viewers. The episode earned positive reviews from critics, largely due to its unique presentation, as well as its use of humor. Since its airing, the episode has been named among the best episodes of The X-Files by several reviewers. The X-Files centers on Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) special agents Fox Mulder ( David Duchovny ) and Dana Scully ( Gillian Anderson ), who work on cases linked to
252-473: A motion picture only slightly more ludicrous than a 1998 motion picture called The X-Files ." Doherty argued that the "self-parody" style of the series caused viewers to not take it seriously anymore, explaining that, "No longer going for the big chill, Carter and company are winking at their audience, as if to say: even we can't pretend to believe in this muddled mishmash anymore." Tom Kessenich, in his book Examination: An Unauthorized Look at Seasons 6–9 of
336-593: A "great slice of Americana ." Gilligan first pitched the idea during the show's fourth season to the X-Files writing staff and series creator Chris Carter , the latter of whom was concerned that the concept was too "goofy". Fellow writer and producer Frank Spotnitz concurred, although he was more uncomfortable with Gilligan's idea of using videotape instead of film ; the show's production crew liked to use film to create "effective scares", and Spotnitz worried that shooting exclusively on videotape would be too challenging as
420-562: A Nielsen rating of 8.9, with a 14 share, and was viewed by 15.26 million viewers, marking a 14 percent drop in viewers when compared to the season premiere, and a 4 percent drop in viewers when compared to the previous season finale. The series was ranked at number 29 during the 1999–2000 television season, finishing with an average of 14.2 million viewers. During 2000, companies were paying Fox $ 225,000 for every 30-second spot that would air between acts of The X-Files . Many Information technology (IT) companies were buying commercials during
504-668: A Series (Dramatic Underscore) for "Theef", the episode "First Person Shooter" for Outstanding Sound Editing for a Series, and "Rush" for Outstanding Special Visual Effects for a Series. The series, as well as Gillian Anderson, won a Teen.com Entertainment Award for Best Drama Series and Best Actress in a Series, respectively. Other nominations included two Screen Actors Guild Award nominations for David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson, an Environmental Media Awards nomination for "Brand X", and an International Monitor Award nomination for "Rush". Tara Karsian Born in Los Angeles , Karsian
588-419: A defendant, their friendship was notably impacted. One anonymous source noted that "the whole lawsuit thing revealed that Carter knew (Duchovny) was getting screwed and didn't warn him. Carter proved where his loyalties lay with his actions." Neither Carter nor Duchovny were contracted to work on the series beyond the seventh season; however, Fox entered into negotiations near the end of season in order to bring
672-509: A dog. But when he saw what it was, he ran back to the crew screaming for them to flee. They ran back to Wetzel's police car, but the windows were smashed, blocking their view. After the X-Files theme song, Wetzel, an injured man, claims to have encountered gang members. The police soon surround Mulder and Scully, believing them to be criminals. But the police soon realize that Mulder and Scully are FBI agents investigating an alleged werewolf that killed
756-449: A double dagger (‡) are episodes in the series' Alien Mythology arc. The seventh season of The X-Files debuted with " The Sixth Extinction " on November 7, 1999. This episode earned a Nielsen rating of 10.6, with a 16 share, meaning that roughly 10.6 percent of all television-equipped households, and 16 percent of households watching television, were tuned into the episode. The episode was viewed by 17.82 million people, an increase from
840-505: A main character in the eighth season, that another character would take Mulder's place. Many fans on the internet believed that Mitch Pileggi, who portrayed Walter Skinner, would take the role; Pileggi later called this guess "ridiculous." Series creator Chris Carter also served as executive producer and showrunner and wrote six episodes. Spotnitz continued as executive producer and wrote five episodes. Vince Gilligan continued as co-executive producer and wrote six episodes. John Shiban
924-497: A man during the last full moon. Mulder and Scully interview Mrs. Guerrero, who describes the monster to a sketch artist. To Mulder's surprise, Mrs. Guerrero describes not a werewolf, but the horror movie villain Freddy Krueger . Ricky, the sketch artist, is shortly later found murdered nearby. A broken pink fingernail at the scene leads Mulder and Scully to a local prostitute, Chantara. When the agents track down Chantara, whose face
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#17328690087911008-418: A minor argument broke out between Vince Gilligan and the network. Originally, Gilligan did not want the X-Files logo to appear at any time during the episode. He stressed that he wanted "X-Cops" to feel like an "episode of Cops that happened to involve Mulder and Scully." The network, fearing that people would not understand that "X-Cops" was actually an episode of The X-Files , vetoed this idea. A compromise
1092-433: A national audience. All of the witnesses to the monster function as unreliable narrators : a Hispanic woman with "a history of medications"; a black, homosexual "Drama Queen"; a prostitute with a drug problem; a "terrified morgue attendant", and Deputy Wetzel. Stegall argues that all of these characters are from "the wrong side of the tracks" and would not be accepted, let alone believed, by "a placid, middle-class society". In
1176-410: A new course wrought with pitfalls and turmoil." The A.V. Club noted that while the first eight seasons of The X-Files were "good-to-great", the seventh season of the show was "flagging" and possessed "significant problems. The episodes themselves received a variety of reviews. Some were positively received: several reviews praised the episode " X-Cops ", the show's highly promoted cross-over with
1260-415: A place where all his problems seem to have disappeared. Fowley helps Scully locate Mulder, which leads to her death at the hands of Cigarette Smoking Man. While investigating a bizarre disappearance of a young girl from her home, Mulder becomes obsessed with the number of children who have vanished in similar circumstances. Scully fears that he is emotionally involved due to his sister's disappearance. At
1344-427: A quick pace. Initially, the actors struggled with the new cinéma vérité style of the episode, and several takes were needed for scenes during the first few days, but these problems receded as taping progressed. On one night, three-and-a-half pages of script were shot in only two hours; the normal rate for The X-Files was three to four pages a day. Both Watkins and Mills likened the filming process to live theater, with
1428-427: A result, the season would be the last to feature Duchovny in a full-time capacity until the show's tenth season (which aired in 2016), although he would return in seasons 8 and 9 as an intermittent main character. Due to this eventual character change, this season would be the last to feature the original opening sequence for the series, as the intro was updated for the eighth season in an attempt to renew and revive
1512-459: Is pixelated , she claims that her pimp attacked Ricky and fears that he will kill her. She pleads with the agents for protection. Mulder and Scully have Wetzel guard Chantara while they assist the police in the raid of a crack house . The two are drawn back outside when Wetzel encounters the entity, wildly shooting at it. Inside a police car, the agents find Chantara with her neck broken. When Mulder questions Wetzel, he admits that he thought he saw
1596-464: Is abducted by an Alien Bounty Hunter ( Brian Thompson ) together with Miles and several others. Skinner returns to Washington, D.C., where Scully informs him that she is pregnant, though she does not tell him that Mulder is the father. After five seasons in Vancouver, British Columbia , Canada, production of The X-Files moved to Los Angeles . The X-Files ' sixth season was the first season of
1680-399: Is actually feeding on fear. While Mulder embraces the publicity of "Cops," Scully is frustrated by the presence of the film crew. "X-Cops" is a fictitious crossover with "Cops." The episode was inspired by "Cops," which Gilligan enjoyed watching. He pitched the idea several times to series creator Chris Carter and the series writing staff. The idea was met with a mixed reception, but Gilligan
1764-413: Is being promoted as "live TV", is actually a series of events that have already unfolded in the past. Even though the episode is "self-conscious", "reflexive", and humorous, the real-time aspects of "X-Cops" "heighten[s] the sense of realism within the episode", and makes the result come across as hyper-realistic. This sense of realism is further heightened by the near lack of music in the episode; aside from
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#17328690087911848-453: Is in danger of being revisited by the entity. The agents and police return to the crack house, where the entity has trapped an injured Wetzel in an upstairs room. The agents are unable to enter the room until the morning comes when the entity disappears and spares Wetzel's life. "X-Cops" was inspired by the Fox television program Cops , which Vince Gilligan (the writer of this episode) describes as
1932-553: Is the daughter of actress Pat Carroll and Lee Karsian. Karsian began her career appearing in episodes of Married... with Children , Who's the Boss? , Designing Women , Walker, Texas Ranger , and The X Files , along with recurring roles on the short-lived sitcoms Baby Talk , and Life's Work . In 2000s, Karsian also played many small parts on television series such as NYPD Blue , Desperate Housewives , CSI: Crime Scene Investigation , and Prison Break . Karsian
2016-741: Is working for Cigarette Smoking Man ( William B. Davis ). Scully then travels to Africa to unravel the secrets of the alien artifacts, finding something that looks like a spaceship buried under the shoreline off the Côte d'Ivoire coast. The object may prove that life originated elsewhere, and all religion is based on the Navajo contact with alien life. Unsuccessful, Scully returns from Africa to revisit Mulder in Washington, D.C., but instead she finds out that he has disappeared. She contacts Kritschgau and Skinner to find her partner. Cigarette Smoking Man has taken Mulder to
2100-460: The New York Daily News praised the season, noting that it was "proof that The X-Files still has more than enough creative life in it to justify an eighth season". He called many of the stand-alone episodes "wonderfully creepy" and noted that the season possessed a "terrific bunch of episodes". Thomas Doherty from Cinefantastique gave the season a mixed review and noted that the series
2184-540: The Orange County Register called "X-Cops" a stand-out episode from the seventh season. Stegall wrote of Vince Gilligan: "top honors must go to Vince Gilligan, whose work on The X-Files is consistently the sharpest and most consistent." Tom Kessenich, in his book Examinations , gave the episode a largely positive review. He called the entry "one of the most entertaining episodes of the season" and "60 minutes of pure fun". Rich Rosell from Digitally Obsessed awarded
2268-501: The Fox network in the United States on November 7, 1999, concluded on May 21, 2000, and consists of twenty-two episodes. This season marks the end of various story lines; during this season, Fox Mulder ( David Duchovny ) learned the true fate of his sister, Samantha . Before the broadcasting for the season began, Duchovny sued Fox and eventually announced his decision to leave the show. As
2352-524: The "Cops" theme song before cutting to Keith Wetzel ( Judson Mills ), a deputy with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. He and the Cops film crew are at Willow Park, California, a fictitious high-crime district of Los Angeles. Mrs. Guererro (Perla Walter) reports a monster in her neighborhood. Wetzel visits her home to investigate. Wetzel followed the creature around a corner, expecting to find
2436-436: The "wasp man", a monster his older brother told him about when he was a kid. Though other deputies express skepticism, an officer finds flattened bullets; indicating they physically impacted something, though no trace is found of what they struck. Mulder formulates a theory that the entity changes its form to correspond with its victims' worst fears. Wetzel, Ricky, and Chantara all expressed fear shortly before their run-ins with
2520-521: The Fox Network's biggest TV shows, there's lots of nods to the real Cops show in this episode". Bahar praised the scene featuring the terrified lady telling Mulder that Freddy Krueger attacked her—calling the scene the "best in-joke"—and applauded the two series' cohesion. The X-Files season 7 The seventh season of the American science fiction television series The X-Files commenced airing on
2604-462: The X-Files , was positive towards the first half of the season, but soon saw the episodes in more of a negative light. He wrote, "A season that began with such hope ended with a sense of sorrow given the end result of the season-long backstage wheeling and dealing [a reference to David Duchovny's lawsuit]. Not even the magnificent season finale […] could erase the nagging doubts I had that a series that had been so amazing for so long would soon embark upon
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2688-414: The air, the more chances we've taken. We try to keep the show fresh ... I think [Carter] appreciates that". "X-Cops" was not Gilligan's first attempt at writing a cross-over. Almost three years before, he had developed a script that would have taken the form of an Unsolved Mysteries episode, with unknown actors playing Mulder and Scully and Robert Stack appearing in his role as narrator. This script
2772-463: The beginning." However, these ideas never came to pass, and the season finale, "Requiem", segued directly into the eighth season premiere " Within ". Duchovny later revealed that, had the show ended, the final three episodes would have been devoted to the myth-arc. 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
2856-555: The bulk of the episodes for the season. Bowman directed two episodes for his final season on the series, Manners directed seven, and Watkins directed three. Cast members David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson each directed one episode. Series creator Chris Carter directed a single episode, while series writer Vince Gilligan made his television directorial debut. Other directors for the season included Thomas J. Wright who directed three episodes, with Robert Lieberman , Cliff Bole , and Paul Shapiro each directing one. Episodes marked with
2940-464: The creature is a "perfect [Monster-of-the-Week] if only because the monster in question is a living, breathing metaphor, a never-seen specter that shifts to fit the fears of the person witnessing it." Narin Bahar from SFX named the episode one of the "Best Sci-Fi TV Mockumentaries" and wrote, "Whether you see this as a brilliantly post-modern merging of fact and fiction or shameless cross-promotion of two of
3024-467: The darkened streets of Los Angeles after an unseen—and uninteresting—foe evokes merely a sense of futility. The use of the format of the Fox TV show Cops provides some transient novelty but little drama or humor." Later reviews praised the episode as one of the show's best installments. Robert Shearman , in his book Wanting to Believe: A Critical Guide to The X-Files, Millennium & The Lone Gunmen , rated
3108-436: The doors. Actor Judson Mills later explained that, because there were few cameramen and owing to the manner in which the episode was filmed, "people just behaved as if we were [real] cops. I had other cops waving and giving their signals or heads-up the way they do amongst themselves. It was quite funny". What was surprising to all of us was how little time it took to shoot. We basically did one or two takes of something and that
3192-485: The early years of the show. But as the years have gone by, the speculation kind of melted away." As the season progressed, however, the idea of producing another season emerged. Paul Rabwin explained that, "we found ourselves starting to get energized again. [...] As we got toward the end of the season, everyone was kind of hopeful." The season also saw several of the show's cast write their own episodes. Series co-star Gillian Anderson directed and wrote her first episode of
3276-440: The eighth best X-Files episode, writing that it "pushed the show to new post-modern heights." Rob Bricken from Topless Robot named it the fifth funniest X-Files episode, and Starpulse described it as the funniest X-Files episode, writing that when the series "did comedy, it was probably the funniest drama ever on television". UGO named the episode's main antagonist as one of the greatest "Top 11 X-Files Monsters," noting that
3360-443: The end, the only reliable witness is the camera, but Stegall points out that "the camera, suspiciously, never quite manages to find [the monster]." Furthermore, she reasons that Mulder's biggest fear is not finding the monster responsible for the murders. To back this idea up, she points out that not only does Mulder fail to capture any evidence of the paranormal, but he also fails before a live audience on national television. "X-Cops"
3444-431: The entire outline for 'all things' right then and there. It all just kind of came together on the page". The next day, Anderson pitched the script to Carter, who approved of the "personal and quiet" characteristics of the story. In addition, series regular Davis wrote his only episode, " En Ami ". Davis approached Carter with his idea about Cigarette Smoking Man trying to seduce Scully with medical knowledge, and Carter, who
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3528-407: The entity travels from victim to victim like a contagion. At his request, Scully performs an autopsy on Chantara's body at the morgue. During the procedure, a conversation between Scully and the coroner's assistant ( Tara Karsian ) causes the latter to panic about a Hantavirus outbreak. The entity suddenly kills her with the disease. When Mulder discusses the death with Scully, he realizes that Wetzel
3612-477: The entity; it was visible to them, but not to others. The agents think that Steve and Edy may be the entity's next target because they were in the vicinity of Ricky's attack. They head to their house, only to find the couple in the middle of an argument. After Edy expresses fear of a separation from Steve, the couple reconciles. Based on this situation, Mulder proposes that the entity ignored Steve and Edy because they did not exhibit mortal fear. Mulder believes that
3696-411: The episode 5 out of 5 stars and wrote that "some might view it as a stunt, but having Mulder and Scully be part of a spot-on Cops! parody (complete with full "Bad Boys, bad boys" intro) is just brilliant stuff". Not all reviews were positive. Kenneth Silber from Space.com gave the episode a negative review and wrote, "'X-Cops' is a wearisome episode. Watching the agents and police repeatedly run through
3780-418: The episode four stars out of five. Describing the episode as "funny", "clever", and "actually quite frightening", Shearman wrote positively of the faux documentary style, likening it to The Blair Witch Project . Zack Handlen of The A.V. Club awarded the episode an "A–" and called it "witty, inventive, and intermittently spooky". He argued that the episode was a late-series "gimmick episode" and compared it to
3864-483: The episode helps to "identify the series as postmodern [due to its] cumulative summary of modern American culture", or, in this case, the show's merging with another popular television series. The episode also serves as an example of the series' "self-consciousness in terms of its status as a (fictional) television" show. According to Jeremy Butler 's book Television Style , the episode, along with many other found footage -type movies and shows, helps to suggest that what
3948-525: The episode is a special installment of The X-Files to prevent watchers from thinking that the show "has been preempted this week by Cops ". Several critics, such as M. Keith Booker, have argued that "X-Cops" is an example of The X-Files delving into the postmodern school of thought. Postmodernism has been described as a "style and concept in the arts [that] is characterized by the self-conscious use of earlier styles and conventions [and the] mixing of different artistic styles and media". According to Booker,
4032-463: The episode. On May 13, 2003, "X-Cops" was released on DVD as part of the complete seventh-season box set. Initial critical reaction to the episode was generally positive, although a few reviewers felt that the episode was a gimmick. Eric Mink of the Daily News described it as "nifty" and "exceptionally clever." While noting that " The X-Files hasn't exactly smoked this season", Kinney Littlefield from
4116-417: The former noting, "In a sense, we were doing theater: we were doing an act or half of a whole act in one take." Anderson called the performance "fun" to shoot, and highlighted "Scully getting pissed off at the camera crew" as her favorite part to play. She further noted that "it was interesting to make the adjustment to playing something more real than you might play for television." Although recorded to create
4200-404: The illusion that scenes were recorded in single takes, the episode employed several camera tricks and effects. For the opening shot, a "surreptitious cut" helped to replace actor Judson Mills with a stunt person when the cop car is overturned by the monster. Usually, an episode of The X-Files required editors to make between 800–1200 film cuts, but "X-Cops" only required 45. During post-production,
4284-464: The investigation and returns to Washington, D.C. Cigarette Smoking Man contacts Marita Covarrubias ( Laurie Holden ) and Alex Krycek ( Nicholas Lea ), in an attempt to revive the government conspiracy . With Covarrubias unwilling to assist, and Krycek seeking revenge, they contact Mulder after he visits an alien crash site. Skinner and Mulder return to Oregon, while Scully is hospitalized in Washington, D.C. Mulder becomes trapped by an alien device, and
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#17328690087914368-527: The last few seasons of House ; although he reasoned that House relied on gimmicks to prop itself up, "X-Cops" is "the work of a creative team which may be running out of ideas, but still has enough gas in the tank to get us where we need to go." Furthermore, Handlen felt that the show used the Cops format to the best of its ability and that many of the scenes were humorous, startling, or a combination of both. Since its airing, "X-Cops" has appeared on several best-of lists. Montreal 's The Gazette named it
4452-477: The last time. The eleventh episode, " Closure ", features Mulder discovering what happened to his sister. 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. 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
4536-426: The monster as possible while still making the episode scary. Michael Watkins , who directed the episode, hired several real Sheriff's deputies as extras for the episode. Casting director Rick Milikan later explained that the group needed "actors who could pull off the believability in just normal off-the-cuff conversation of cops on the job." During the crack house scene, real SWAT team members were hired to break down
4620-487: The move, although less vocally than Duchovny. Many fans accused the show of "Hollywood-izing" by adding notable guests stars as well as making the plots simpler and more enjoyable for mass audiences. Furthermore, the move to Los Angeles also meant a drastic increase in production costs. Originally, the mythology for season seven was supposed to continue from and show the ramifications of the " Two Fathers "/" One Son " story arc. Frank Spotnitz, in an interview, explained that
4704-432: The mythology episodes for season seven would feature "characters you saw in 'One Son' coming back" and explore "what happens now that the conspiracy has been destroyed, what are the politics of the new landscape that exists. […] There are aliens from outer space, two different races that are warring with each other." In addition, he said that the then-planned series finale would feature "the big idea that Chris [Carter] had in
4788-430: The other hand, was called "a waste of an episode." The seventh season earned the series six Primetime Emmy Award nominations, with three wins. The episode "First Person Shooter" won for Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Drama Series and Outstanding Special Visual Effects for a Series . The episode "Theef" won for Outstanding Makeup for a Series. Other nominations included Mark Snow for Outstanding Music Composition for
4872-403: The paranormal, called X-Files . Mulder is a believer in the paranormal; the skeptical Scully was initially assigned to debunk his work, but the two have developed a deep friendship. In this episode, Mulder and Scully are investigating an X-File that takes place during an episode of the Fox reality television program, " Cops ." Mulder believes he is hunting a werewolf, but discovers that the monster
4956-437: The police reality show COPS . One review from the New York Daily News called the outing "exceptionally clever" whereas Starpulse named the episode the funniest of the series. The Duchovny-penned "Hollywood A.D." was praised for its self-reflexive comedy by several reviews. Other episodes were more harshly received. Anderson's writing debut, "all things" was critiqued for being "dull" and "heavy-handed". "Brand X", on
5040-433: The rights to its own affiliates, thereby costing him huge sums of money. Originally, in the contract, Duchovny was eligible for an estimated five percent, but, according to him, he "had seen only a fraction" of the money. Eventually, the lawsuit was settled, and Duchovny was awarded a settlement of about $ 20 million. The lawsuit put strain on Duchovny's professional relationships. Although his lawsuit never called Chris Carter
5124-499: The same time it is revealed to him that his mother, Teena Mulder ( Rebecca Toolan ), committed suicide. He then tries to prove that his mother did not take her own life, but is ultimately forced to accept that his mother's death was by her own hand. He is led by a man whose son disappeared years earlier to another truth—that his sister may be among the souls taken by "walk-ins", saving the souls of children doomed to live unhappy lives. Together they locate evidence that proves that Samantha
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#17328690087915208-448: The scenes himself. He also brought in Bertram van Munster , a cameraman for Cops , to shoot scenes to give the finished product an authentic feel. In an attempt at realism, other staff members from Cops participated in the production: Daniel Emmet and John Michael Vaughn, two Cops crew members, were featured during the episode's climax. During rehearsals, Watkins kept the cameras away from
5292-473: The series would be unable to cut and edit the final product. During the show's seventh season , Carter relented. Many critics and fans believed, erroneously, that the seventh season of The X-Files would be the show's last. Similarly, Carter felt that the show had nearly run its course, and seeing the potential in Gilligan's idea, he decided to green-light the episode. Gilligan noted that "the longer we've been on
5376-484: The series, " all things ". Anderson originally approached Carter about writing and directing an episode of the series during the sixth season. Anderson crafted a script that would see Scully pursuing a "deeply personal X-File , one which in [she] is taken down a spiritual path when logic fails her". Anderson had only a rough outline of the script until one day she wrote a majority of the story in one sitting. She explained, "A certain concept began to form, [and] I just wrote
5460-443: The series. The seventh-season premiere " The Sixth Extinction ", debuted with a Nielsen rating of 10.6 and was viewed by 17.82 million viewers, marking a noticeable drop in viewership since the sixth season . The series fell from number 12 to number 29 for the 1999–2000 television year. Critically, the show's seventh season received mixed to positive reviews; many reviewers felt that the show still produced good episodes, but that it
5544-477: The set, so that when videotaping commenced, the cameramen's unfamiliarity would create the "unscripted" feel of a documentary . In addition, a Cops editor was brought in "to insert the trademark blur over the faces of innocent bystanders." "X-Cops" was filmed in Venice, Los Angeles and Long Beach, California . Due to the nature of the shooting schedule, the episode was relatively cheap to film and production moved at
5628-443: The seventh season included Steven Maeda and Greg Walker, who wrote one episode; and Chip Johannessen who wrote a single freelance episode. Other producers included Paul Rabwin , Harry V. Bring and Bernadette Caulfield , and Michelle MacLaren who joined as co-executive producer. Producing-directors for the show included producer Rob Bowman , supervising producer Manners, and co-executive producer Michael Watkins , who directed
5712-500: The show to be filmed in the new location. The move was instigated by Duchovny in order to facilitate his work in films as well as to give him a chance to be nearer to his wife, Téa Leoni . Series creator Chris Carter opposed the move, but Fox network officials eventually made the decision to film in California. Although the move was unpopular with some members of the cast and crew, both series director Kim Manners and Anderson supported
5796-421: The show, largely due to the fact that "many ['coders IT geeks'] get their weekly fix of science fiction from this prime-time show." The seventh season received moderately positive reviews from critics, although increasingly critical reviews were more common this season. While critics enjoyed many of the episodes, many also felt that, as a whole, the season was the weakest of the show's original seven. Eric Mink of
5880-415: The sixth season's finale, " Biogenesis ", which was viewed by 15.86 million viewers. However, the debut marked a decrease from the sixth season debut, " The Beginning ", which garnered 20.34 million viewers. As the season continued, however, ratings began to drop. The season hit a low with the eighteenth episode, " Brand X ", which was viewed by 10.81 million viewers. The season finale, " Requiem ", earned
5964-437: The title theme, Mark Snow 's soundtrack is not to be heard. Sarah Stegall proposed that the episode works on two separate layers. On the top-most superficial layer, it functions as an outright parody, mimicking both the stylings of The X-Files as well as Cops . On the other layer, she notes that "it's a serious look at validation." Throughout the episode, Mulder is attempting to capture the monster on camera and expose it to
6048-479: The two on board for an eighth season . After the airing of "Requiem", Duchovny expressed his intentions to leave the series. He explained, "I was kind of a free agent after season seven, and to me, there was not much else to do in terms of the character. So it was really about me wanting to pursue other parts of my career as a writer, director, and actor." Rumors began spreading—and were eventually confirmed—that, since Duchovny had not expressed an interest to appear as
6132-421: Was a pretty strong sentiment inside and outside the show that it was time to call it a day." Because the show's producers felt that the show was nearing its end, many story arcs were ended in the season. The fourth episode, " Millennium " was written as a way to bring closure to the recently cancelled Carter-created series of the same name . The episode features Lance Henriksen reprising his role as Frank for
6216-415: Was abducted by Cigarette Smoking Man and was forced to live in a now-abandoned US Army base. It is later revealed that Samantha had become a "walk-in" spirit. Mulder and Scully investigate a case which leads them back to Oregon, the site of their first case together . With a series of Alien abductions taking place, Mulder and Scully are contacted by Billy Miles ( Zachary Ansley ). Scully falls ill during
6300-433: Was eventually given the green light to produce the episode because the series was nearing its end with the conclusion of the seventh season. In keeping with the format of the real-life "Cops" program, the entire episode was shot on videotape and featured several members of the "Cops" crew. The episode has been thematically analyzed for its use of postmodernism and its presentation as reality television. The episode begins with
6384-413: Was eventually reached: the episode would open with the Cops theme song, but The X-Files credits would also appear after the opening scene. In addition, the commercial bumpers would feature red and blue lights flashing across The X-Files logo while dialogue is heard in the background, in a similar fashion to the Cops logo. The episode also features a disclaimer at the beginning informing viewers that
6468-514: Was first broadcast in the United States on the Fox network on February 20, 2000. Watched by 16.56 million viewers, according to the Nielsen ratings system, it was the second-highest rated episode of the season, after " The Sixth Extinction ". It received a Nielsen rating of 9.7, with a 14 share among viewers, meaning that 9.7 percent of all households in the United States, and 14 percent of people watching television at that time, tuned into
6552-508: Was hurt by the partnership between Mulder and Scully "settl[ing] into the comfortable groove of a modern two career marriage—supportive, professionally rewarding, and utterly sexless." Further, he noted that "the most entertaining episode lately have been the self parodies, where killer cockroaches scurry and living dead roam , or where (in the Duchovny written and directed episode) Scully and Mulder are played by Téa Leoni and Garry Shandling in
6636-447: Was intrigued, responded positively to the idea. He assigned executive producer Spotnitz to work with Davis and craft a full-fledged script. The script went through many revisions. Because Cigarette Smoking Man was able to manipulate Scully, Carter later referred to the "En Ami" as "the creepiest episode of the year." Before the season aired, David Duchovny filed a lawsuit against 20th Century Fox . Duchovny claimed that Fox had undersold
6720-411: Was it. —Gillian Anderson, discussing the videotaping of "X-Cops" When members of The X-Files staff asked Cops producer John Langley about a potential cross-over, the crew of Cops liked the idea and "offered their total cooperation." Gilligan even attended the shooting of an episode. Inspired by Cops , Watkins' directing style was unique for this episode, and he even directly filmed some of
6804-408: Was later aborted, and re-written as the fifth-season episode " Bad Blood ". Gilligan reasoned that, because Mulder and Scully would appear on a nationally syndicated television series, the episode's main monster could not be shown, only "hinted at". Gilligan and the writing staff applied methods previously used in the psychological horror film The Blair Witch Project (1999) to show as little of
6888-453: Was promoted to supervising producer and wrote two episodes. David Amann was promoted to co-producer and wrote two episodes. Jeffrey Bell was promoted to story editor and wrote two episodes. Cyberpunk novelists William Gibson and Tom Maddox returned to write their second of two episodes for the series. Cast member Duchovny wrote two episodes in the season, while other cast members Anderson and Davis also wrote an episode each. New writers in
6972-466: Was regular cast member in the unaired HBO series, 12 Miles of Bad Road starring Lily Tomlin and Mary Kay Place . She had the recurring role as Liz Dade in the NBC medical drama, ER from 2005 to 2009. Her film credits include The Number 23 , Single White Female , Envy , and Boys Life 3 . In 2008, Karsian appeared as Sister Vivian in the independent film Ready? OK! . In 2009, she acted in
7056-494: Was the weakest of the Duchovny and Anderson seasons of the show. After the events of the season six finale , Walter Skinner ( Mitch Pileggi ) and Michael Kritschgau ( John Finn ) are desperately attempting to find the truth behind the so-called alien object. Meanwhile, Fox Mulder ( David Duchovny ) is still imprisoned by his own frenetic brain activity. Dana Scully ( Gillian Anderson ) and Skinner are unaware of FBI Special Agent Diana Fowley 's ( Mimi Rogers ) duplicity—she
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