Deep Throat (episode)

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When Mulder and Scully investigate a possible conspiracy in the U.S. Air Force, a mysterious character helps Mulder to differentiate between fact and fiction.

1 Summary
- 1.1 Teaser
- 1.2 Act One
2 Background Information
3 Memorable Quotes
4 Footnotes
5 Guest Cast
6 References

[edit] Summary

[edit] Teaser

NEAR ELLENS AIR BASE,
SOUTHWEST IDAHO

As a unit of armed military police prepare to storm a house, one of the building's owners, a Mrs. Anita Budahas, arrives at the scene and is told by a commanding officer that her husband has violated security protocol and has stolen an armed military vehicle. After the unit break into the house, Mrs. Budahas demands that she be allowed to speak to her husband, who is found by the police, curled up in a corner of the house, shivering, almost naked and covered with a skin irritation.

[edit] Act One

WASHINGTON, D.C.

Four months later, in a crowded bar at lunch time, Mulder meets Scully, as he had arranged, and offers to buy her a drink. When she declines due to the early time of day, Mulder reveals that he has something to show her and both FBI agents walk through the building in search of a seat, unaware they are being watched by one of several men sitting at the bar.

At a table, Scully studies a file that includes a photograph of the same man who was found by the military police earlier. Mulder explains that the man is Colonel Robert Budahas, a former military test pilot who was stationed at Ellens Air Base before he apparently had a psychotic episode and, after being removed from his home by the military, was reported missing by his wife, making him the sixth pilot to be listed as missing in action from the same base since 1963. According to Mulder, the case was shelved without an investigation one week earlier. When Scully wonders why her FBI partner has an interest in the case, he claims it has a certain "paranormal bouquet".

Mulder then visits the washroom, where he meets the man from the bar who was watching him and Scully earlier. The man advises Mulder to stay away from the case, stating that the military will not tolerate an investigation. The man is reluctant to reveal his identity, though he does claim to have had an interest in Mulder's work and reveals that he can be of assistance to Mulder, due to the position he is in to know a lot about the US government. After the man repeats his warning to Mulder that he and Scully should not investigate the case, Mulder tries to follow the man out of the washroom but loses track of him.

Mulder and Scully pull the assignment of a missing test pilot, not returned from the military to his wife after a psychotic episode. Mulder is warned to stay away from the case in the washroom of a D.C. bar by a strange man, a 'Deep-Throat' style informant. Undeterred, Mulder continues in his investigation, coming closer to the truth than ever before, only to have it snatched away from him.

[edit] Background Information

This is the first episode to have the usual opening and closing credits sequences, accompanied by the expected theme tune.

A house that appears in both this episode and in episodes of Millennium

A building used to represent the exterior of the Budahas residence, most clearly seen at the start of this episode, would later regularly feature as the home of Frank, Catherine and Jordan Black in episodes of Millennium, with the notable exception of that series' pilot episode in which another building was used.

This episode features Jerry Hardin in his first appearance as "Deep Throat". The character was based on the infamous Watergate informer of the same name. Writer and creator Chris Carter also claimed to have been inspired by Donald Sutherland's portrayal of "Mr. X" in the Oliver Stone movie, JFK. According to Carter, he intended the character to be someone who comes from a mysterious, shadowy government, of which the public has no knowledge of, and selectively helps Mulder and Scully when they reach a dead end or mistakenly follow the wrong lead in an investigation, without giving them too many answers. Somewhat surprisingly, the character's historic pseudonym is never mentioned within the episode itself. The name "Deep Throat" would first be used by Scully in "The Erlenmeyer Flask", the last episode of Season 1.

As a compromise to 20th Century Fox, which wanted more closure to the story, Chris Carter added a narration by Scully near the end of this episode after it was filmed. Although Carter continued to argue against pat resolutions, voice-over narrations became a recurring narrative device.

This episode was the first of the series that Assistant Art Director Clyde Klotz worked on. He would later marry Scully actress Gillian Anderson on January 1, 1994.

[edit] Memorable Quotes

"Mr. Mulder, they've been here for a very long time." - Deep Throat

[edit] Footnotes

¹ No information to date "Deep Throat" can be found in the episode itself. However, the CD-ROM The X-Files: Unrestricted Access dates the events of this episode to within August 1993, after the late July date of "Squeeze", as seen on a computer screen in that episode, even though "Squeeze" was produced and broadcast subsequent to this episode, and is arranged after "Deep Throat" on The X-Files Season 1 DVD.