Entertainment
 

Anasazi (episode)

From X-Files Wiki

Series: The X-Files
Original Airdate: 5-19-1995
Production Number: 2X25
Date(s): April 9, 1995
Written by: David Duchovny (story), Chris Carter
Directed by: R.W. Goodwin

A computer hacker discovers evidence against the Syndicate that is so damning that its revelation to the public would be nothing short of catastrophic, leading Mulder into a race against sinister agents to learn the truth.

Contents

[edit] Summary

At a Navajo reservation in New Mexico, a teenage boy comes across a box car buried in the ground. He carries out a corpse of an alien-like figure from within it.

In Dover, Delaware, Kenneth Soona, one of the Lone Gunmen, hacks into Department of Defense files and downloads government secrets about aliens onto a digital cassette. Immediately word of the breach echoes throughout the world. The Cigarette Smoking Man tells those concerned that he has already resolved the matter. The Lone Gunmen meet with Mulder, and tell him that Soona, also known as the Thinker, requests to meet with him. Down the hall one of Mulder's neighbors shoots her husband.

Mulder meets with Soona in the park, who gives him the digital cassette. An excited Mulder returns to FBI headquarters with it only to find that it is encrypted. Scully believes the encryption is based on the Navajo language and takes the tape in order to investigate. When Skinner calls Mulder to his office to question him on the tape, Mulder attacks him. Scully is later brought before Skinner and other senior FBI officials and is questioned on Mulder's actions. Scully is told that Mulder faces dismissal from the FBI and she faces a similar sentence if she has lied to them.

On Martha's Vineyard, the Cigarette Smoking Man comes to see Mulder's father and tells him of the theft of the tape, and that Mulder is likely in possession of it. Scully meets with a Navajo translator, who is aware of only some words on the tape, referring Scully to a code-talker instead. Mulder is called away to see his father; when Scully arrives at his apartment she is nearly killed by a bullet that flies through his window. Mulder meets with his father, who is about to tell him about everything, but is shot by Krycek when he goes to the bathroom. Mulder's father tells him to forgive him as he passes away in his arms. When Mulder contacts Scully, she tells him to flee, and when he arrives at her apartment she takes his gun from him while he sleeps.

Scully brings Mulder's gun to the FBI for comparison against the bullet that killed his father. When Mulder awakens he gets upset and suspicious of Scully. Later returning to his building, Scully finds his water being contaminated. When Mulder arrives home he finds Krycek there and is about to kill him when Scully shoots him to prevent him from doing so. Krycek escapes.

Scully brings an unconscious Mulder to New Mexico and when he awakens she reveals to him that his behavior was caused by a drug placed into his water supply. She introduces him to Albert Hosteen, a Navajo code-talker who has been translating the files on the digital tape. Scully reveals that the tape refers to both her and Duane Barry, as well as some sort of test. Albert introduces Mulder to his grandson, who drives him to where he found the boxcar containing the alien-like corpse. Just before he heads in, he is called by the Cigarette Smoking Man, who is able to trace Mulder's location through the call. Mulder heads inside the box car, finding a pile of the dead creatures, each with small pox vaccination scars on their arms. The Cigarette Smoking Man arrives with many armed soldiers and not finding Mulder inside, orders the box car to be burned.

To Be Continued...

[edit] Background Information

  • Series creator Chris Carter said of the episode's creation, "This episode was the culmination of a lot of ideas. Generally, when we pitch stories to the staff, everyone comments on them and Darin Morgan called this 'the kitchen sink episode' because, it had so much in it, he didn't know how we would pull it off. But I'm very proud of the script. David Duchovny and I worked quite closely on the story and he had a lot of input, and then I sat down and wrote the script."
  • The episode's story was inspired by Carter's fascination with the Anasazi tribe of Native Americans and a vacation he took to Sedona, Arizona. Thus, the Anasazi are not only mentioned in the story but also provide this episode with its name.
  • According to Chris Carter, David Duchovny was instrumental in coming up with the idea of seemingly killing off one of the series' two lead characters at the end of this episode. Carter ultimately thought that the presentation of that idea at the end of this episode, the second season finale, brought a lot of interest to The X-Files and heightened the interest in the series.
  • Chris Carter makes a cameo appearance in this episode, as one of the senior FBI agents questioning Scully.
  • The production team were hard-pressed to find a desert locale in their Vancouver environs, although such a site was required for the New Mexico rock quarry in this episode. As a result, the crew instead painted an old abandoned quarry that was east of Vancouver with one thousand, six hundred gallons of red paint. The series' art department painted the scenery to match pictures of Sedona, with rocks of red and orange hues, and painted the entirety of a half-mile of cliff.
  • The fistfight between Mulder and Krycek in this episode was choreographed by the two regular performers of those characters – David Duchovny and Nicholas Lea, respectively – as the stunt coordinator had been stuck in traffic. Since Nicholas Lea was required to repeatedly snap his neck to seem like he was taking a punch, director R.W. Goodwin ordered a message therapist to Lea's room, the next morning.
  • Even years after this episode aired, David Duchovny routinely left phone messages for Nicholas Lea that jokingly accused Lea of having murdered Duchovny's father, due to the fact that Krycek seemingly kills Mulder's father in this episode.
  • The tagline for this episode is "Éí 'Aaníígóó 'Áhoot'é", which means "The Truth is Out There" in Navajo.

[edit] Links and References

[edit] Guest Stars

[edit] References

SEMICOLON-SEPARATED LIST OF ITEMS/LOCATIONS REFERENCED IN EPISODE (BUT NOT LINKED TO IF ALREADY LINKED IN SUMMARY OR GUEST STARS SECTIONS)

Previous episode:
Our Town 		The X-Files
Season 2 		Next episode:
The Blessing Way
Retrieved from "http://x-files.wikia.com/wiki/Anasazi_(episode)"