| "Triangle" | |||
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| The X-Files episode | |||
Mulder, with some familiar faces, back in 1939. |
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| Episode no. | Season 6 Episode 3 |
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| Directed by | Chris Carter | ||
| Written by | Chris Carter | ||
| Production code | 6ABX03 | ||
| Original air date | November 22, 1998 (US) January 19, 2000 (UK) |
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| List of season 6 episodes List of The X-Files episodes |
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"Triangle" is the third episode of the sixth season of the television series The X-Files, premiered by the Fox network on November 22, 1998. The episode was written and directed by series creator Chris Carter. The episode is a "Monster-of-the-Week" story, unconnected to the series' wider mythology. "Triangle" featured the main and recurring cast members such as Gillian Anderson, William B. Davis, Chris Owens, James Pickens Jr. and Mitch Pileggi playing their contemporary characters and other characters from 1939 on board the liner. "Triangle" earned a Nielsen household rating of 10.8, being watched by 18.20 million people in its initial broadcast. The episode was met with positive reviews, with many critics commenting on the episode's unique editing style.
In this episode, FBI special agent Fox Mulder races to a luxury passenger liner on the edge of the Bermuda Triangle which has mysteriously appeared. Once there, he realizes he has traveled back in time to September 3, 1939-the outbreak of World War II. Nazi soldiers have boarded the ship in search of "Thor's Hammer", something that could ensure victory in the coming conflict.
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Fox Mulder is found nearly-drowned at sea, having been shipwrecked. He is discovered and bought aboard by crewmembers on a British passenger ship, the Queen Anne. When he is sent to meet the captain, he tries to explain that the Queen Anne vanished in the Bermuda Triangle in 1939, and claims that it has reappeared in 1998. The crew doesn't believe Mulder's claims and suspect he is a Nazi spy. At that moment, the Queen Anne is commandeered by SS troops commanded by a figure reminiscent of the Smoking Man, who sets the ship's course for Nazi Germany. Upon listening to a radio broadcast, Mulder realizes that the Queen Anne didn't travel to 1998, but rather he travelled back to 1939.
Meanwhile, in the present, the Lone Gunmen inform Scully that they have lost contact with Mulder, who had set out in search of the Queen Anne. Skinner provides with information from the Pentagon and Scully leaves with the Gunmen to find Mulder. Back on the Queen Anne, a British sailor tells Mulder that the Germans are looking for what they believe is a weapon called "Thor's Hammer". Mulder tells him that "Thor's Hammer" is not a weapon, but a scientist that will build a weapon. The sailor turns out to be a German spy, and a man strongly resembling Kersh takes control of the ship, steering back towards Jamaica. Mulder tells them to turn around and go back to where they came from, but is taken down to the ballroom by Nazis.
Once there, Mulder is ordered to identify the scientist or they will begin shooting passengers. After they have killed two men, a woman on the ship who looks like Scully speaks up and says that they are killing innocent people for nothing, and that Mulder knows nothing. Mulder tells the Nazis that one of the men they shot was the scientist, but the real scientist steps forward. The Nazis prepare to execute Mulder and "Scully", but the engine is shut down before they can and British sailors descend upon the ballroom and begin fighting the Germans. In the midst of the chaos, Mulder and "Scully" escape. Meanwhile, Scully and the Lone Gunmen find the Queen Anne and board it, only to find that it is an empty ghost ship.
Back in 1939, as British soldiers fight Nazis in the ballroom, Mulder tells "Scully" that she has to turn the ship around and go back into the Triangle to get the ship out of the rift in space. Mulder grabs "Scully" and kisses her, "in case they never meet again." She then punches him, and he jumps overboard. Mulder then wakes up in a hospital, having been found in the present day floating among wreckage, surrounded by Scully, the Lone Gunmen and Skinner. He attempts to describe that he was in 1939 with Nazis, telling Scully that she was there with him, but they all think he is delirious. After Skinner and the Gunmen leave, Mulder calls Scully back and tells her that he loves her. She, thinking his confession is an effect of the drugs he has been given, rolls her eyes and leaves. As he is lying down, he winces as his cheek touches the pillow, the spot where 1939 Scully punched him still sore.
The episode was designed by Chris Carter to be similar in style to Alfred Hitchcock’s Rope.[1][2][3] The episode has many references to The Wizard of Oz.[2] The ship's captain is named Yip Harburg. E.Y. (Yip) Harburg was the lyricist for The Wizard of Oz.[1] The name of the ballroom singer is Almira Gulch, after The Wizard of Oz character who is also the Wicked Witch of the West.[1] Mulder's wrecked ship is called the Lady Garland, after Judy Garland.[1] When Mulder mentions that Skinner was there with him in 1939, Skinner replies, "with my dog Toto."[1] The episode takes place in 1939, the year The Wizard of Oz was released.[1] Anderson’s 1939 character is said to work for the OSS – which was not established until 1942.[1]
Initially, the executives at Fox were hesitant about green-lighting production of "Triangle," because the episode was expected to exceed the $2.5 million episode budget.[3] In order to persuade them otherwise, Carter told them that the episode would feature elements of Alfred Hitchcock's directing style, a move Carter later called and "an easy hook."[3]
The scenes on board the Queen Anne were actually filmed on the famous passenger liner and current hotel, the RMS Queen Mary.[2][3][4] In an interview before the episode was finished, Gillian Anderson said she was most looking forward to the scene in which Scully works her way through FBI headquarters in her quest to locate Mulder, which was filmed in one continuos shot.[4]
This episode uses very specific and thought out choices with regards to editing.[1] The episode, shot in real time, is designed to look like it was filmed in four uninterrupted eleven-minute takes.[1] To film the episode, camera operator Dave Luckenbach literally wore a steadicam.[3] However, the steadicam used could only hold up to a max of four minutes of film, so discrete edits and cuts were necessary.[3] These cuts were usually made during whip pans or during places when the screen would go dark.[1][3] With the exception of Mulder jumping off the S.S. Queen Anne, the only noticeable editing occurs between scenes, when a side swipe shifts between the two different time periods.[1] Many of the takes needed to be nearly perfect: on the eighth day of filming, only two out of ten takes were deemed satisfactory.[3]
The final two acts of the episode also feature a sophisticated split-screen mise en scène.[1] However, rather than displaying two different events, each side of the screen shows the same event from almost identical angles. When Scully runs around the corner, she does so at the same time as Mulder and the female bodyguard. This was filmed in such a way that as they passed each other in the hallway, they also passed into the opposite frame of the split screen.[1] This effect was inspired by the music video for Semisonic's hit single "Closing Time."[3]
Both the cast and crew admitted that filming an episode of The X-Files in real time was both physically and mentally exhausting. David Duchovny later joked that he, "could win an Emmy for most bruises."[3] Gillian Anderson described the real time directing style as "challenging."[4] She said, "I'm realizing how comfortable and connected I am to the rhythm we're used to."[4] Editor Louise Innes, whose first episode for the series was "Triangle," bluntly described the post-production editing process as "not as easy as it sounds."[3] Innes was tasked with connecting roughly forty shots and creating the illusion of one, uniform scene.[3]
When the episode aired on television, it was originally shown letterboxed, making it the first episode of The X-Files to receive this treatment.[5]
"Triangle" first aired in the United States on November 22, 1998 and in the United Kingdom on January 19, 2000.[1] This episode earned a Nielsen rating of 10.8, with a 16 share, meaning that roughly 10.8 percent of all television-equipped households, and 16 percent of households watching television, were tuned in to the episode. It was viewed by 18.20 million households.[6] The episode aired in the United Kingdom and Ireland on Sky1 on March 21, 1999.[7] The episode received 0.74 million viewers and was the fourth most watched episode that week.[8] The episode was nominated for three 1999 Emmy Awards by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences for Writing, Directing, and Sound Editing. It later won the award for Sound Editing.[9]
The episode received relatively positive reviews, with many reviewers commenting on the unique directing style. Television Without Pity gave the episode an A-.[10] Starpulse named "Triangle" as the fourth best X-Files episode, praising the acting and directing, "Chris Carter rarely directed his creation, leaving that mostly to Kim Manners, but when he did he showed a brilliant eye not usually seen on broadcast TV. This is the best example - a breathlessly-paced episode in which each act appears as one continuous shot. [...] This episode is a lot of fun, particularly in the act that finds Scully blitzing through the FBI building in order to get some information on Mulder's whereabouts. The acting is superb and nothing can beat those no-cut acts."[11] Kathleen Diehl from Culture Cartel called the episode "one of the show's best ever."[5] Critical Myth's John Keegan was slightly more critical and gave the episode 7/10.[12] He argued that the filmography was an attempt at an Emmy-nomination and wrote, "Overall, this episode is an interesting if overdone attempt at another Emmy-chasing twist to the usual production values. Not everything works, and the plot requires a great deal of speculation and hand-waving to make sense in the end. Still, there are some interesting psychological aspects at work, which is the saving grace of this period in the series’ existence."[12]