Gender Bender

Mulder and Scully investigate an enclosed community called the Kindred who appear to have the ability to switch gender.

[edit] Summary

SUMMARY

This was the first of The X-Files episodes to be written by a familial writing duo. Having previously co-produced "Eve" and "Beyond the Sea", brothers Larry and Paul Barber also co-produced this episode, ultimately the last of the series that they would work on.

During the writing process, this episode went through various conceptual changes. Another alteration, one that was more specific, was made due to concerns regarding the content; the teaser sequence originally included a moment where a character's crotch started to rot away, but the sequence was quickly toned down, with co-executive producer R.W. Goodwin commenting, "If I was watching that episode with my kid, I'd turn it off".

In several aspects, the fictional Kindred are similar to the actually existing Amish; both groups dress alike, shun modern conveniences and separate themselves from mainstream society. According to Chris Carter, however, he was not worried about the similarities, due to the fact that the Amish do not watch television.

Director Rob Bowman made his debut on the series with this episode, though he would ultimately return to direct many others.

The Kindred tunnels seen in this episode had to be specially constructed for the production. Rob Bowman found filming in the tunnels particularly cramped. Due to the tight logistics and close quarters involved, an extra day of filming was required.

In the first scene of Act 1, Mulder and Scully inspect the crime scene with a Detective whose first line of dialogue is "New York businessman calls his wife to say good night, then goes out and picks up some chippy". While filming the scene, Mitch Kosterman - who had been cast as the Detective - knowingly made the ridiculous mistake of saying "chum chippy" instead of "some chippy". Mulder actor David Duchovny joshed him about the line for the rest of their time filming the scene together.

Music heard in the nightclub in this episode's first scene is an excerpt from Mark Snow's theme music for the 1992 television movie In the Line of Duty: Street War.

This episode features Nicholas Lea in his first role on The X-Files, but he would later return as recurring character Alex Krycek, starting with the Season 2 episode "Sleepless".

Kate Twa, who plays the female half of the killer in this episode, would also reappear later in the series; she played Detective Kelly Ryan in the Season 2 episode "Soft Light".