4-D (The X-Files)
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"4-D" is the fourth episode of the ninth season and the 186th episode overall of the
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television series A television show, TV program (), or simply a TV show, is the general reference to any content produced for viewing on a television set that is broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, and cable, or distributed digitally on streaming plat ...
''
The X-Files ''The X-Files'' is an American science fiction on television, science fiction drama (film and television), drama television series created by Chris Carter (screenwriter), Chris Carter. The original series aired from September 10, 1993, to Ma ...
''. The episode first aired in the United States on December 9, 2001, on the
Fox Foxes are small-to-medium-sized omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull; upright, triangular ears; a pointed, slightly upturned snout; and a long, bushy tail ("brush"). Twelve species ...
network. It was written by Steven Maeda and directed by Tony Wharmby. The episode is a "monster-of-the-week" episode, a stand-alone plot which is unconnected to the
mythology Myth is a genre of folklore consisting primarily of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society. For scholars, this is very different from the vernacular usage of the term "myth" that refers to a belief that is not true. Instead, the ...
, or overarching fictional history, of ''The X-Files''. The episode earned a
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of 5.1 and was viewed by 5.38 million households. It received mixed to positive reviews from television critics. The show centers on
FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...
special agents who work on cases linked to the paranormal, called
X-File In the fictional universe of the television series ''The X-Files'', an "X-File" is a case that has been deemed unsolvable or given minimal-priority status by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. These files are transferred to the X-Files unit. Th ...
s; this season focuses on the investigations of
John Doggett FBI Special Agent John Jay Doggett is a fictional character in the Fox science fiction-supernatural television series ''The X-Files''. With his FBI partners Dana Scully (season 8) and Monica Reyes (season 9), he works on the X-Files which ar ...
(
Robert Patrick Robert Hammond Patrick (born November 5, 1958) is an American actor. Known for portraying villains and authority figures, Patrick is a Saturn Award winner with four other nominations. Patrick dropped out of college when drama class sparked his ...
),
Monica Reyes Monica Julieta Reyes is a fictional character in the Fox science fiction-supernatural television series ''The X-Files''. She is portrayed by Annabeth Gish. At first a Field Agent before becoming a Special Agent with the FBI, she works with her ...
(
Annabeth Gish Anne Elizabeth "Annabeth" Gish (born March 13, 1971) is an American actress. She played roles in the films '' Shag'', '' Hiding Out'', '' Mystic Pizza'', '' SLC Punk!'', '' The Last Supper'' and ''Double Jeopardy''. On television, she played Spe ...
), and
Dana Scully Dana Katherine Scully, M.D., is a fictional character and one of the two protagonists in the Fox science-fiction, supernatural television series ''The X-Files'', played by Gillian Anderson. Scully is a Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Spe ...
(
Gillian Anderson Gillian Leigh Anderson ( ; born August 9, 1968) is an American actress, writer, and activist. She is best known for her roles as FBI Special Agent Dana Scully in the sci-fi series ''The X-Files'' (1993–2002; 2016–2018), Lily Bart in the dr ...
). In this episode, a vicious murderer named Erwin Lukesh, capable of jumping between parallel universes, shoots Doggett using Reyes' gun. Brad Follmer opens an investigation to figure out the truth. They eventually deduce that Lukesh is the real murderer. Maeda wrote the episode after being inspired by the situation of a real-life French journalist,
Jean-Dominique Bauby Jean-Dominique Bauby (; 23 April 1952 – 9 March 1997) was a French journalist, author and editor of the French fashion magazine ''Elle''. Early life and career Bauby was born in the 14th arrondissement of Paris, and grew up in the 1st arrondi ...
, who had been paralyzed and could only communicate by blinking his left eyelid. The character of Lukesh was in part inspired by
Alfred Hitchcock Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was an English film director. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 featu ...
's '' Psycho'' and was created by Maeda in the hopes that he would go on to be a memorable villain. Effects expert Mat Beck created the unique visual sequence that showed Doggett and Lukesh traveling between the different universes. To create the effect of a parallel universe, every scene in the episode's teaser was flipped so that the mirror image was shown.


Plot

Monica Reyes Monica Julieta Reyes is a fictional character in the Fox science fiction-supernatural television series ''The X-Files''. She is portrayed by Annabeth Gish. At first a Field Agent before becoming a Special Agent with the FBI, she works with her ...
(
Annabeth Gish Anne Elizabeth "Annabeth" Gish (born March 13, 1971) is an American actress. She played roles in the films '' Shag'', '' Hiding Out'', '' Mystic Pizza'', '' SLC Punk!'', '' The Last Supper'' and ''Double Jeopardy''. On television, she played Spe ...
) monitors Erwin Lukesh, a suspected
serial killer A serial killer (also called a serial murderer) is a person who murders three or more people,An offender can be anyone: * * * * * (This source only requires two people) with the killings taking place over a significant period of time in separat ...
who cuts out his victims' tongues. While pursuing him, Reyes goes into an apartment building and is attacked by Lukesh with a razor.
John Doggett FBI Special Agent John Jay Doggett is a fictional character in the Fox science fiction-supernatural television series ''The X-Files''. With his FBI partners Dana Scully (season 8) and Monica Reyes (season 9), he works on the X-Files which ar ...
(
Robert Patrick Robert Hammond Patrick (born November 5, 1958) is an American actor. Known for portraying villains and authority figures, Patrick is a Saturn Award winner with four other nominations. Patrick dropped out of college when drama class sparked his ...
), observes the pursuit electronically and hears a scream. He rushes to help Reyes and finds her dying, her throat cut. Doggett chases Lukesh into an alleyway, where the killer seemingly vanishes. Lukesh then appears behind Doggett and fires at him with Reyes' gun. The setting then changes; Doggett arrives at Reyes' new apartment with a housewarming gift. Neither seems to be aware of the previous events. Reyes then receives a phone call from
Walter Skinner FBI Assistant Director Walter Sergei Skinner is a fictional character portrayed by American actor Mitch Pileggi on ''The X-Files'' and its short-lived spin-off '' The Lone Gunmen'', both broadcast on Fox. In the science fiction-supernatural s ...
(
Mitch Pileggi Mitch Pileggi (; born April 5, 1952) is an American actor. He played Horace Pinker in '' Shocker'', Walter Skinner on ''The X-Files'', Colonel Steven Caldwell on ''Stargate Atlantis'', Ernest Darby in '' Sons of Anarchy'', and Harris Ryland i ...
), who informs her that Doggett has been shot and is being taken to the hospital. Reyes tells Skinner that Doggett is in her apartment, but then finds that he has vanished. The
FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...
matches the bullet surgically removed from Doggett with Reyes' gun and she is questioned by Brad Follmer (
Cary Elwes Ivan Simon Cary Elwes (; born 26 October 1962) is an English actor. He starred as Westley in ''The Princess Bride (film), The Princess Bride'' (1987), and also had lead roles in films such as ''Robin Hood: Men in Tights'' (1993) and the Saw (fr ...
), but she insists that Doggett was with her at the time of the shooting. Meanwhile, Lukesh watches the interrogation and identifies Reyes as the shooter. Doggett regains consciousness, but is breathing with the help of a respirator. Meanwhile, Lukesh goes to his apartment where he lives with his disabled mother. As he prepares to fix her lunch, he goes to his freezer and pulls out a bag containing a human tongue, intending to surreptitiously feeding it to her, as he has many times before. Reyes performs a background check on Lukesh, and becomes convinced that he is in fact responsible for the shooting. Reyes goes to Doggett, and through a computer setup that enables him to tap out words on a screen, Doggett tells her that Lukesh shot him but that Doggett also saw her with her throat cut. Lukesh then returns to the alleyway where Doggett was shot and vanishes. Based on the contradictory evidence, Reyes concludes that Lukesh can travel between parallel universes in order to kill. She also concludes that the unharmed Doggett disappeared because two versions of the same person cannot exist in the same universe. Follmer and Skinner question Lukesh, who becomes agitated when his mother is mentioned. Noting this, Skinner decides to hint that his mother will be questioned, which leads Lukesh to become more uncomfortable. Lukesh returns home to find his mother has found the gun with which he shot Doggett. After she threatens to talk to the FBI, Lukesh kills her. Doggett tells Reyes that, in order to resolve the situation, she must turn off his respirator and allow him to die, but she refuses. Suspecting that Lukesh plans to kill Reyes next, Skinner convinces Reyes to go back to her apartment while he, Scully, and Follmer monitor her. She returns and is attacked by Lukesh. The team rush to her aid and Follmer shoots Lukesh in the head, killing him. Reyes then returns to the hospital, closing her eyes as she shuts off Doggett's respirator. As she opens her eyes, the scene changes back to her apartment at the moment Doggett had disappeared earlier. Reyes, stunned and fighting back tears, embraces Doggett as he, evidently unaware of any of the previous events, asks her what is wrong.


Production


Writing

Writer Steven Maeda had previously written the eighth season episodes " Redrum" and " Vienen"; due to their success, Maeda was asked to pen a ninth season standalone episode. His efforts were hampered by the fact that, due to the departure of
David Duchovny David William Duchovny ( ; born ) is an American actor, writer, and musician. He received his breakthrough with the role of Fox Mulder in The X-Files franchise, earning Golden Globe Award as well as nominations for two Primetime Emmy Awards a ...
, the show had changed considerably. Maeda was inspired to write the episode after learning the story of a French journalist named
Jean-Dominique Bauby Jean-Dominique Bauby (; 23 April 1952 – 9 March 1997) was a French journalist, author and editor of the French fashion magazine ''Elle''. Early life and career Bauby was born in the 14th arrondissement of Paris, and grew up in the 1st arrondi ...
, who had been paralyzed and could only communicate by blinking his left eyelid. Maeda thought the ailment was interesting and initially wanted to give it to a guest character for this purpose. However, he eventually felt it would be more successful if it affected a regular character, such as Doggett. Maeda employed the theory of parallel universes in order to explain the logistics of the episode. The character of Lukesh was in part inspired by
Alfred Hitchcock Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was an English film director. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 featu ...
's 1960 film '' Psycho''. Maeda later noted that he wished to create a villain that would be as memorable as other antagonists in ''The X-Files'', such as Eugene Victor Tooms and The Flukeman. "4-D" expounded upon the budding relationship between Doggett and Reyes. Most of the two's romantic interactions were limited to "flirtatious undercurrents" because, according to
Annabeth Gish Anne Elizabeth "Annabeth" Gish (born March 13, 1971) is an American actress. She played roles in the films '' Shag'', '' Hiding Out'', '' Mystic Pizza'', '' SLC Punk!'', '' The Last Supper'' and ''Double Jeopardy''. On television, she played Spe ...
, series creator Chris Carter "was never big on the flamboyant big performances." Robert Patrick later claimed that he came up with the scene in which Reyes shaves a wounded Doggett. He noted, "I'd read ''
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly ''The Diving Bell and the Butterfly'' (original French title: ''Le Scaphandre et le Papillon'') is a memoir by journalist Jean-Dominique Bauby. It describes his life before and after a massive stroke left him with locked-in syndrome. The French ...
'', and I believe there's a part of that in the book where the character gets shaved, and I thought, 'Wow, that's really an intimate kind of moment.'"Hurwitz and Knowles, p. 201.


Effects and cultural references

Effects expert Mat Beck was instructed to create a visual sequence that showed Doggett and Lukesh traveling between the different universes. Various effects were tested, including characters disappearing into black holes as well as phasing through the air in a more "exaggerated" and "watery" way. Beck ultimately decided to use a combination of both effects. Separate shots of a morphing scene were taken: one of the actors, and one of the background. Beck then used software to morph the two together to make it appear as if they had vanished. Later, artistic touches were added in post-production editing to give a more futuristic effect. To create the effect of a parallel universe, every scene in the episode's teaser was flipped so that the mirror image was shown. In order to render words correctly, letters had to be re-written backwards so that they yielded the correct spelling. Monica Reyes' Georgetown apartment address is 67 Bennett Avenue. This is a reference to
Rod Serling Rodman Edward Serling (December 25, 1924 – June 28, 1975) was an American screenwriter and television producer best known for his live television dramas of the 1950s and his Anthology series, anthology television series ''The Twilight Zone (1 ...
's address in
Binghamton, New York Binghamton ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of New York, and serves as the county seat of Broome County. Surrounded by rolling hills, it lies in the state's Southern Tier region near the Pennsylvania border, in a bowl-shaped valley at the c ...
. Furthermore, her apartment number 6, is a reference to
Patrick McGoohan Patrick Joseph McGoohan (; March 19, 1928 – January 13, 2009) was an Irish-American actor of film, television, and theatre. Born in New York City to Irish parents, he was raised in Ireland and England. He began his career in England during t ...
's number in the 1967 television series, ''
The Prisoner ''The Prisoner'' is a British television series created by Patrick McGoohan. McGoohan portrays Number Six (The Prisoner), Number Six, an unnamed British intelligence agent who is abducted and imprisoned in a The Village (The Prisoner), mysteri ...
.''


Reception


Ratings

"4-D" first aired in the
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
on December 9, 2001. The episode earned a Nielsen household rating of 5.1, meaning that it was seen by 5.1% of the nation's estimated households and was viewed by 5.38 million households. "4-D" was the 62nd most watched episode of television that aired during the week ending December 9. The episode was later broadcast in the United Kingdom on
BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television b ...
on November 25, 2002.


Reviews

"4-D" received mixed to positive reviews from critics.
Robert Shearman Robert Charles Shearman, sometimes credited as Rob Shearman, is an English television, radio, stage play and short story writer. He is known for his World Fantasy Award-winning short stories, as well as his work for ''Doctor Who'', and his as ...
and
Lars Pearson Lars Pearson (born 1973, in Iowa) is an American writer, high school teacher, editor, and journalist. He is the owner/publisher of Mad Norwegian Press, a publishing company specializing in reference guides to television shows including ''Buffy t ...
, in their book ''Wanting to Believe: A Critical Guide to The X-Files, Millennium & The Lone Gunmen'', rated the episode four stars out of five. The two noted that, while the episode's premise "doesn't seem as well thought through" as Maeda's past efforts, "4-D" is "worth it". Shearman and Pearson concluded that the episode "earns its stripes by at last restoring to the series a pulse." Furthermore, they praised Gish's performance, noting that she "finally sgiven a showcase that makes Reyes so much more than a
New Age New Age is a range of Spirituality, spiritual or Religion, religious practices and beliefs that rapidly grew in Western world, Western society during the early 1970s. Its highly eclecticism, eclectic and unsystematic structure makes a precise d ...
fanatic".Shearman and Pearson, p. 263. Christina Urban, in an editorial review of the ninth season for
Barnes & Noble Barnes & Noble Booksellers is an American bookseller with the largest number of retail outlets in the United States. The company operates approximately 600 retail stores across the United States. Barnes & Noble operates mainly through its B ...
, praised the episode, calling it "by far the best of the season". Jessica Morgan of
Television Without Pity Television Without Pity (often abbreviated TWoP) was a website that provided detailed recaps of select television dramas, situation comedies and reality TV shows along with discussion forums. These recaps were written with sarcastic criticism a ...
awarded the episode a "B". Morgan slightly criticized the episode's resolution, writing that it "explained nothing. I mean, how do these other universes work?" In a season review, Michelle Kung from ''
Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American online magazine, digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, ...
'' wrote that "4-D" was one of the few ninth-season episodes "worthy" of praise, but that it was overshadowed by the show's "ludicrous conspiracy plots". Other reviews were more mixed. Zack Handlen of ''
The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was created in ...
'' gave the episode a "C" and called it a "mediocre to bad hour of television", but one that could have been better had more effort been applied to it. Handlen was particularly critical of the editing, structure, and sense of urgency. He wrote that "'4-D' shows what happens when this creative team has a legitimately cool concept: it wastes the opportunity." M.A. Crang, in his book ''Denying the Truth: Revisiting The X-Files after 9/11'', felt that the interactions between Robert Patrick and Annabeth Gish were the "highlights" of the episode, but he was critical of the ending for wrapping things up "far too conveniently."


Notes


Footnotes


Bibliography

* *


External links


"4-D"
at XFiles.com * {{The X-Files episodes, 9 2001 American television episodes Television episodes about parallel universes The X-Files season 9 episodes