The X-Files (season 6)

The X-Files season 6

Region 1 DVD cover
Country of origin United States
No. of episodes 22
Broadcast
Original channel Fox
Original run November 8, 1998 (1998-11-08) – May 16, 1999 (1999-05-16)
Home video release
DVD release
Region 1 November 5, 2002 (2002-11-05)
Region 2 March 17, 2003 (2003-03-17)
Region 4 May 13, 2003 (2003-05-13)
Season chronology
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List of The X-Files episodes

The sixth season of the science fiction television series The X-Files commenced airing on the Fox Broadcasting Network in the United States on November 8, 1998, concluding on the same channel on May 16, 1999, and contained 22 episodes. The series was developed by Chris Carter, who also serves as executive producer. Season six regular cast members include Gillian Anderson as Dana Scully and David Duchovny as Fox Mulder. The sixth season focuses on the Syndicate and their fight against Mulder and the FBI.

Contents

Production

The episode "Drive" references a real life navy communication project; Project Sanguine under a pseudonym. The opening footage is done in the style of a news report. "Dreamland" was the only two part episode of The X-Files not directly related to the myth-arc of the show. The Marx Brothers mirror dance routine from the movie Duck Soup, is acted out by Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Morris Fletcher (Michael McKean). Morris Fletcher makes a cameo appearance later in the season in the episode "Three of a Kind". In "Dreamland II", the U-Haul that Mulder is using to pack Morris's belongings has a picture on the side of it displaying Wapakoneta, Ohio, the birthplace of Neil Armstrong. The Air Force pilot in the cell adjacent to Mulder refers in fighter pilot jargon to his "RIO" or Radar Intercept Officer. In reality, RIO is a Navy acronym. The Air Force terminology is "WSO" or Weapons System Officer.

"How the Ghosts Stole Christmas" has the smallest cast of any episode of the series, with only David Duchovny, Gillian Anderson, Ed Asner, and Lily Tomlin. The film version of A Christmas Carol that Mulder is watching is the 1951 version starring Alastair Sim. The "glowing milk" scene in the episode "Terms of Endearment" is an homage to Alfred Hitchcock's Suspicion. What the mother is supposed to have said while "in a trance" - "Zazas, zazas, nastanada zazas" - are what the occultist Aleister Crowley used to open the 10th Aethyr, that of the Thelemic devil Choronzon. The song that plays several times in the episode is "Only Happy When It Rains" by Garbage.

Some New York scenes from the episode "Tithonus" were filmed on sets from NYPD Blue, whose sets were located just across from The X-Files studios. The hospital billed as NYU Medical Center is actually Massachusetts General Hospital. The name Alfred Fellig is a reference to famous photographer Arthur Fellig, better known as Weegee. The character Tithonus is named after a reluctant immortal from Greek mythology.

"One Son" is the culmination of the work of the Syndicate regarding the alien conspiracy that began in the first season episode, "The Erlenmeyer Flask". This episode also marked the return of Marita Covarrubias, who had vanished since the fifth season episode "The Red and the Black". The title of the episode, "The Unnatural" is an offhand reference to the title of Bernard Malamud's baseball novel The Natural, which was later adapted in 1984 as a film starring Robert Redford. Darren McGavin, who played the first Arthur Dales in two previous episodes, filmed two scenes before illness forced him to step down from the project. M. Emmet Walsh was called in, and the script rewritten, to accept the changes. McGavin’s scenes are included on the DVD. Instead of "The Truth Is Out There", the text that appears at the end of the opening credits is "In The Big Inning".

"Three of a Kind" is a sequel of sorts to "Unusual Suspects", with the episode concluding the story of The Lone Gunmen and Susanne Modeski, the woman who led to the creation of the trio. Also, in "Unusual Suspects", Mulder played a supporting role in the episode, but in "Three of a Kind", the concept reverses, with Scully helping out The Lone Gunmen instead. David Duchovny lent only his voice to this episode, with The Lone Gunmen electronically synthesizing Mulder's voice to convince Scully to travel to Las Vegas.

In "Arcadia," the aliases of Mulder and Scully, Rob and Laura Petrie (pronounced "Peetrie" and sounds like the dish), are a direct play on the couple Rob and Laura Petrie from The Dick Van Dyke Show. This reference is also seen in the Season Five episode "Bad Blood," which tells the story of a case from the differing viewpoints of the two agents; reminiscent of an episode of The Dick Van Dyke Show called "The Night the Roof Fell In," where Rob and Laura give two differing accounts of a fight they had.

Cast

Main cast

Recurring cast

Also Starring

Guest Starring

Reception

Episodes

Episodes marked with an asterisk (*) are part of the series' mytharc. Episodes with a double asterisk (**) are part of the series' Alien Mythology.

See also: List of The X-Files episodes
№ # Title Directed by Written by Original air date Production
code		 U.S. viewers
(millions)
118 1 "The Beginning"** Kim Manners Chris Carter November 8, 1998 (1998-11-08) 6ABX01 20.34[1]
With the X-Files reopened, Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) eagerly hunt for a deadly creature in the Arizona desert. What they find seems to support Mulder’s revived belief in aliens, but is discredited when the agents are not reassigned to the X-Files, with Jeffrey Spender (Chris Owens) and Diana Fowley (Mimi Rogers) taking over instead. 
119 2 "Drive" Rob Bowman Vince Gilligan November 15, 1998 (1998-11-15) 6ABX02 18.50[1]
With Mulder trapped in a car by a seemingly deranged man, Scully races to determine if the man is suffering from a deadly illness—and if Mulder is in danger of becoming the next victim of a government virus. 
120 3 "Triangle" Chris Carter Chris Carter November 22, 1998 (1998-11-22) 6ABX03 18.20[1]
Mulder goes in search of a ship that disappeared in the Bermuda Triangle in 1939. But when he gets on board, Mulder finds that he—and all the passengers and crew (as well as some strangely familiar ones)—are still stuck in the past. 
121 4 "Dreamland"* Kim Manners Vince Gilligan & John Shiban & Frank Spotnitz November 29, 1998 (1998-11-29) 6ABX04 17.5[1]
An anonymous tip finally brings Mulder and Scully to the mecca of all UFO lore—Area 51. But when the agents witness the flight of a mysterious craft, their lives are profoundly—and perhaps irrevocably—altered. 
122 5 "Dreamland II"* Michael Watkins Vince Gilligan & John Shiban & Frank Spotnitz December 6, 1998 (1998-12-06) 6ABX05 17.0[1]
Scully begins to suspect that her partner’s strange behavior is more than it appears to be, while Mulder fights to return his life to normal before it’s too late. 
123 6 "How the Ghosts Stole Christmas" Chris Carter Chris Carter December 13, 1998 (1998-12-13) 6ABX08 17.3[1]
On Christmas Eve, Mulder convinces Scully to put aside her gift wrapping and stake out a reputed haunted house. But they discover a pair of lovelorn spectres living inside the house who are determined to prove how lonely the holidays can be. 
124 7 "Terms of Endearment" Rob Bowman David Amann January 3, 1999 (1999-01-03) 6ABX06 18.7[1]
When a mother is accused of killing her unborn child, Mulder and Scully discover that the father has his own secrets, and he’s not the only one. 
125 8 "The Rain King" Kim Manners Jeffrey Bell January 10, 1999 (1999-01-10) 6ABX07 21.20[1]
In a small town plagued by drought, Mulder and Scully come upon a man who claims to be able to control the weather—at a hefty profit. Yet the agents discover a force of nature at work even more powerful than the weather, and just as unpredictable. 
126 9 "S.R. 819"** Daniel Sackheim John Shiban January 17, 1999 (1999-01-17) 6ABX10 15.7[1]
Assistant Director Walter Skinner (Mitch Pileggi) is poisoned. Mulder and Scully have 24 hours to save him, but in order to do so, they must determine who wants him dead, and why. 
127 10 "Tithonus" Michael Watkins Vince Gilligan January 24, 1999 (1999-01-24) 6ABX09 15.9[1]
Scully learns that she, but not Mulder, is being given a chance to prove her worth at the FBI, and - paired with a new partner - she investigates a crime scene photographer with an uncanny knack for arriving just in time to see his victims' final moments. What she does not expect is for Death to play a role himself. 
128 11 "Two Fathers"** Kim Manners Chris Carter & Frank Spotnitz February 7, 1999 (1999-02-07) 6ABX11 18.81[1]
When Cassandra Spender (Veronica Cartwright) is returned, Mulder, Scully and Agent Spender find themselves facing the exposure of the conspiracy involving extraterrestrials; while the worried Syndicate take evasive measures. 
129 12 "One Son"** Rob Bowman Chris Carter & Frank Spotnitz February 14, 1999 (1999-02-14) 6ABX12 16.57[1]
While Cassandra reveals the truth about the alien conspiracy to Mulder, her ex-husband - the Cigarette Smoking Man - does the same to Agent Spender in an effort to convince him to work with the conspiracy. 
130 13 "Agua Mala" Rob Bowman David Amann February 21, 1999 (1999-02-21) 6ABX14 16.9[1]
Mulder and Scully are looking forward to cases again. Instead, Arthur Dales, now living in a Florida trailer park, calls the agents for help when a neighbouring family disappears; and, with a hurricane approaching, Mulder and Scully find themselves trapped with a group of residents in a building where there is something in the water. 
131 14 "Monday" Kim Manners Vince Gilligan & John Shiban February 28, 1999 (1999-02-28) 6ABX15 16.7[1]
The world is trapped in a time loop, and only one woman seems to know. Each day the events that happen differ slightly; "free will", as Mulder calls it. A bank robbery is committed over and over again until they can stop the eventual bombing of the place from occurring. 
132 15 "Arcadia" Michael Watkins Daniel Arkin March 7, 1999 (1999-03-07) 6ABX13 17.9[1]
Several disappearances at an idyllic planned community lead Mulder and Scully to go undercover as a married couple. However, they soon discover that the president of the homeowners' association takes the community covenants and regulations more seriously than they could have imagined. 
133 16 "Alpha" Peter Markle Jeffrey Bell March 28, 1999 (1999-03-28) 6ABX16 17.7[1]
An Asian dog, called the Wanshang Dhole, thought to be extinct is blamed for several killings. Mulder and Scully join an obstinate Sheriff, a seemingly eccentric hunter, and a reclusive canine expert to find it. However, there is more mystery to the expert than meets the eye. 
134 17 "Trevor" Rob Bowman Jim Guttridge & Ken Hawryliw April 11, 1999 (1999-04-11) 6ABX17 17.6[1]
After a prison camp is destroyed by a tornado, an escaped inmate is suspected of killing the warden. As the inmate hunts down his old girlfriend, he finds out where his child is and attempts to take him back. Mulder and Scully set out to find him and discover that he has the ability to pass through conductive materials. 
135 18 "Milagro" Kim Manners Teleplay by: Chris Carter
Story by: John Shiban & Frank Spotnitz		 April 18, 1999 (1999-04-18) 6ABX18 15.2[1]
A series of murders takes place where the heart has been removed from the victims. A writer that lives next door to Mulder is writing a novel about the murders before they actually happen. Scully finds herself confused and drawn to the writer, who has a romantic interest in her. 
136 19 "The Unnatural"* David Duchovny David Duchovny April 25, 1999 (1999-04-25) 6ABX20 16.9[1]
While working in Roswell, New Mexico in 1947, young cop Arthur Dales (the brother of the Arthur Dales who started the X-Files) stumbles across a “negro” baseball player who is actually an alien with a love of the game hiding among humans. 
137 20 "Three of a Kind"* Bryan Spicer Vince Gilligan & John Shiban May 2, 1999 (1999-05-02) 6ABX19 12.9[1]
While at a conference in Las Vegas, The Lone Gunmen run into the enigmatic Susanne Modeski. After deceiving Scully into joining them, the trio soon find out that Susan’s fiancé is planning to use her new brainwashing drug for political assassinations. 
138 21 "Field Trip" Kim Manners Teleplay by: John Shiban & Vince Gilligan
Story by: Frank Spotnitz		 May 9, 1999 (1999-05-09) 6ABX21 15.43[1]
The skeletonized remains of a young couple are found in the fields of North Carolina. When Mulder and Scully go to investigate, they find that a giant fungal life form releases an LSD-like drug into the air with spores, and then slowly digests its victims. Mulder and Scully fall into its trap and are not sure of what is reality and what is fantasy. 
139 22 "Biogenesis"** Rob Bowman Chris Carter & Frank Spotnitz May 16, 1999 (1999-05-16) 6ABX22 15.86[1]
Mulder believes that metallic objects discovered in Africa are proof that life originated elsewhere in the universe. Mulder falls ill, which leads to Scully travelling to Africa alone. Skinner is again poisoned with nano technology, which leads him to stop collaborating with Mulder and Scully on the case. 

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v "The X-Files Compilation: Nielsen Ratings". Compilation. http://x-files.host.sk/nielsens.php. Retrieved February 15, 2011. 

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