| "Deadalive" | |||
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| The X-Files episode | |||
The three-month dead body of Fox Mulder, after being exhumed |
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| Episode no. | Season 8 Episode 15 |
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| Directed by | Tony Wharmby | ||
| Written by | Chris Carter Frank Spotnitz |
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| Original air date | April 1, 2001 | ||
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| Episode chronology | |||
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| List of season 8 episodes List of The X-Files episodes |
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"Deadalive" or "DeadAlive" (Part 3) is the 176th episode of the science fiction television series The X-Files, and the fifteenth episode of the eighth season. The episode first aired in the United States and Canada on April 1, 2001, on Fox, and subsequently aired in the United Kingdom. It was written by executive producers Chris Carter and Frank Spotnitz, and directed by Tony Wharmby. The episode continues the story arc that began in the seventh season finale "Requiem" and continued through the eighth season episodes "Within", "Without" and "This Is Not Happening", concerning Fox Mulder's abduction by aliens who are planning to colonise Earth.
"Deadalive" was a story milestone for the series, re-introducing David Duchovny as Fox Mulder who had, in the previous episodes, appeared only in flashbacks and small cameo appearances. Shortly after Mulder is buried, a former abductee's deceased body returns and is miraculously resurrected, offering hope for Mulder's recovery. Meanwhile, Krycek threatens Skinner that he must kill Scully's unborn child. The episode earned a high Nielsen household and syndication rating and garnered a generally positive reception by fans and critics alike.
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Three months after Dana Scully, John Doggett, Walter Skinner and Alvin Kersh gathered for Fox Mulder's funeral, Doggett is offered a transfer off the X-Files. Doggett realizes that if he leaves, the office will be closed since Scully will so be going on maternity leave. In the meantime a fishing trawler catches a decomposing body in the water, which is later revealed to be that of Billy Miles, who had been abducted at the same time that Mulder was. When Miles awakes on the autopsy table, Skinner orders Mulder's body exhumed at a hospital, fearing they buried him alive. When the casket is opened, a decomposing Mulder, against all known medical knowledge, shows weak vitals.
In the meantime, Miles is hooked up to a life-support system. After visiting him, Scully notices that he has two heartbeats. At the FBI, Kersh tries to persuade Skinner to stop investigating Mulder's apparent death, but he refuses. As he leaves Kersh's office and walks down a hallway, his veins in his neck bulge making him stumble. After opening an elevator, Skinner is greeted by Alex Krycek. Krycek reveals that he has the vaccine that could save Mulder's life, but he will only give it to Skinner if Scully does not give birth to her baby.
Later, while alone, Miles regains conciousness, he takes a shower and his decaying flesh sloughs of away, revealing a healthy body beneath. Miles later tries to persuade Scully and Doggett that the aliens are trying to save mankind. Scully gets a new lab report which states that Miles has literally became a new person. Skinner later reveals to Scully that there is a cure for Mulder's disease, but doesn't tell her about Krycek's demands.
Scully later reveals to Doggett that an alien virus is keeping the abductees alive long enough to make a radical transformation such as happened to Miles earlier. Doggett visits Absalom, who tells him that he believes that the abductees are being resurrected into aliens that will eventuallly conquer Earth. Doggett later catches Skinner removing Mulder's life support, explaining Krycek's demands, which he argues were too hard to meet. Doggett tries to catch up with Krycek in the car park, but nearly gets driven over by Krycek. Krycek then smashes the vaccine to the ground as Doggett races to save it. Doggett returns to the hospital, dejected over the loss of the vaccine. He finds Scully prepping Mulder for the vaccine, and both fear that without it Mulder will die or become a hybrid. Suddenly Scully sees Mulder's condition begin to improve, and realizes that it was the life support equipment that was actually incubating the virus. By using a combination of common anti-virals, the alien virus is defeated.
Later, Scully is sitting by Mulder's bedside as he regains consciousness. He stares blankly at Scully and asks, "Who are you?" At first, Scully believes that Mulder truly doesn't remember her, then she realizes he is playing a practical joke. They both laugh, then Mulder asks, "Did anyone miss me?" to which Scully responds with tears.
Chris Carter felt that they needed to return to the beginning since he believed that season eight of The X-Files was the end of the "Mulder Scully era".[1] In order to do so, the show returned various characters from the "Pilot", most notably Billy Miles, played by Zachary Ansley.[1] Miles' character had been brought in during the end of season seven, as the writers wanted closure in case the series was cancelled.[2]
Many of the scenes used various special effects. Mulder's funeral scene, despite being filmed in California, used real snow. The background was then painted white in post-production.[2] Make-Up Effects Artist Matthew Mungle created the decomposing look for Miles and Fox Mulder. In order to create Miles' shower scene, a mix of various "red goo," that included, among other things, strawberry jam, was placed on Ansley's skin.[1] Fake skin was then placed on top of this mixture and warm water was pumped through to give the illusion of shredding flesh.[1]
The episode earned a Nielsen household rating of 7.3, with an 11 share.[3] It was viewed by 7.461 million households and gathered a total of 12.570 million viewers in the United States alone.[3] On April 29, 2001 the episode made its debut in Canada on Fox and Global Television Network and made a re-run on American television. The episode subsequently made its debut in Ireland and the United Kingdom, but did not make it to the list of the ten most watched television shows that week.[4][5] The episode was nominated and won a 2001 Emmy Award by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences for Outstanding Makeup for a Series.[6]
The episode was met with relatively positive reviews, with many critics positively commenting on the return of Fox Mulder. John Keegan from Critical Myth, in a glowing review, gave the episode a rare 10/10, and said, "counting both the character and mythology segments together, I found that this episode was one of the best mythology episodes in years. It brought back so much of the feeling of earlier seasons, when we truly knew nothing, and advanced the mythology plot light-years beyond where we were. Sure, nothing was resolved, but we're much closer than we ever have been over the last three years."[7] Television Without Pity gave the episode a A- and wrote, "Never go away again, David! I take back everything bad I ever said about you! I love you as much as ever! The picture is back on my fridge!."[8] George Avalos and Michael Liedtke from the Contra Costa Times gave the episode a positive review and and praised the on-screen return of many characters, such as Mulder and Krychek.[9] They also exposed the belief that many of the eighth season episodes were working so well because, "Chris Carter seems to be taking an even more active role in the series that is most closely identified with him."[9]