"Roadrunners" is the fourth episode of the
eighth season and the 165th episode overall of the
science fiction
Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...
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 ...
''. "Roadrunners" is a "Monster-of-the-Week" story, unconnected to the series' wider
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 ...
. The episode first aired in the United States on November 26, 2000, on
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 ...
and on March 1, 2001, on
Sky1
Sky One was a British pay television channel operated and owned by Sky Group (a division of Comcast). Originally launched on 26 April 1982 as Satellite Television, it was Europe's first satellite and non- terrestrial channel. From 31 July 1989 ...
in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It was written by
Vince Gilligan
George Vincent Gilligan Jr. (born February 10, 1967) is an American screenwriter and filmmaker. He is best known as the creator, primary writer, executive producer, and occasional director of the AMC (TV channel), AMC crime drama series ''Brea ...
and directed by
Rod Hardy
Rod Hardy (born 1949) is an Australian film and television director.
Career
His interest in film began before the age of 12, when he shot several short films on his brother's 8 mm film camera. Hardy has over 350 hours of credits directing tel ...
. The episode earned a
Nielsen household rating of 8.3 and was watched by 13.6 million households. The episode received mixed reviews from television critics.
The series 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
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 ...
) and her new partner
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 ...
)—following the alien abduction of her former partner,
Fox Mulder
Fox William Mulder () is a fictional FBI Special Agent and one of the two protagonists of the Fox science fiction-supernatural television series ''The X-Files'', played by David Duchovny. Mulder's peers dismiss his many theories on extraterr ...
(
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 ...
)—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. In this episode, Scully, working alone, pursues a cult that worships a slug-like organism that it believes it to be the
Second Coming
The Second Coming (sometimes called the Second Advent or the Parousia) is the Christianity, Christian and Islam, Islamic belief that Jesus, Jesus Christ will return to Earth after his Ascension of Jesus, ascension to Heaven (Christianity), Heav ...
of
Jesus Christ
Jesus (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...
. But in her efforts to save an injured stranger, she discovers she is in over her head.
The episode was written by Gilligan to be intentionally "creepy". Furthermore, Gilligan wanted to show the audience that John Doggett was a good person and an ally of Scully's. The parasitic creature that was used in the episode was designed to look like a
banana slug
Banana slugs (''Ariolimax'') are a genus of Pulmonata, air-breathing, terrestrial mollusc, terrestrial Gastropoda, gastropod slugs in the family Ariolimacidae.MolluscaBase eds. (2021). MolluscaBase. Ariolimax Mörch, 1859. Accessed through: World ...
and was created via
animatronics
An animatronic is a puppet controlled electronically to move in a fluent way. Animatronics are the modern adaptation of the automaton and are often used for the portrayal of characters in films, video games and in theme park attractions.
Anim ...
. Several of the scenes were so gruesome that producer
Paul Rabwin
Paul Rabwin is an American television producer. He has worked on the supernatural drama series ''The X-Files''. He has been nominated for the Emmy Award for outstanding drama series four times for his work on the show.
Biography
Rabwin joined the ...
later noted that some of the cameramen "start
dto lose it" during filming.
Plot
In the desert near Sugarville, Utah, a hitchhiker catches a ride from a passing bus, which soon stops without explanation. The hitchhiker watches a man with crutches leave the bus, joined by the other passengers. Following them, he sees them stone the man to death. They later surround the hitchhiker as he futilely tries to escape.
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 agent
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 ...
) goes to investigate the murder. The victim, a twenty-two-year-old backpacker, now shows signs of body decay usually associated with old age. Later, at a pay phone, she asks her partner,
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 ...
), to check the
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 for cases mentioning
glycoprotein
Glycoproteins are proteins which contain oligosaccharide (sugar) chains covalently attached to amino acid side-chains. The carbohydrate is attached to the protein in a cotranslational or posttranslational modification. This process is known a ...
s. While discussing the case with Doggett, the bus passes her, and she follows it to a gas station in the middle of the desert. A man with an injured hand learns that she is a medical doctor and fills her car with gasoline laced with water. After her car stalls, Scully returns to the gas station and is told that rain got into the gas canister.
The attendant tells Scully that Mr. Milsap is the only person with a working phone, but she discovers that the line is dead. Mr. Milsap offers Scully a room at the local boarding house, but Scully tries the rest of the town only to be ignored by everyone; they are all too engrossed in
Bible
The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) originally writt ...
-study groups. Disturbed by the turn of events, she keeps her gun close at hand. The next morning, Mr. Milsap tells Scully that there is a man who needs help downstairs. She goes with him and finds the hitchhiker from the episode's opening scene having a seizure. She advises them to take him to the hospital, but they pretend that they do not have any cars. While examining the man, Scully discovers a strange, circular wound on his back. Meanwhile, Doggett calls the sheriff at Scully's original destination and learns that Scully has not yet arrived and he sets out to find her.
The sick man begins to recover, and Scully talks to him while the townspeople are gone. He does not seem to know who he is or how he arrived. She inspects his wound again and finds a lump moving along the man's spine; digging into the open wound, she pulls out a piece of a large worm. Scully talks with the hitchhiker, Hank, about the creature and believes she cannot get it out without killing him. Scully goes to find a car but, moments after leaving, Hank immediately tells the townspeople what she is up to and that "another swap" is needed. Concurrently, Doggett arrives in Utah and informs the Sheriff about a series of X-Files involving similar back wounds and death by stoning.
Scully is eventually captured by the townspeople and the worm is inserted into her body. She is tied to a bed and told by the people what an honor this is. When Doggett arrives she tries to alert him but is gagged before she can do so. Eventually, Doggett finds Scully, cuts the worm out of her, and shoots the creature dead. Later, Scully is packing her things in the hospital when Doggett comes in to inform her about the trial of the cult members; they are offering little defense except that they claim that they are being persecuted for their religious beliefs. Scully muses that they thought the worm was the
Second Coming
The Second Coming (sometimes called the Second Advent or the Parousia) is the Christianity, Christian and Islam, Islamic belief that Jesus, Jesus Christ will return to Earth after his Ascension of Jesus, ascension to Heaven (Christianity), Heav ...
of
Jesus Christ
Jesus (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...
. She apologizes to Doggett for going out on the mission alone and promises never to do so again.
Production
Writing

"Roadrunners" was written by
Vince Gilligan
George Vincent Gilligan Jr. (born February 10, 1967) is an American screenwriter and filmmaker. He is best known as the creator, primary writer, executive producer, and occasional director of the AMC (TV channel), AMC crime drama series ''Brea ...
and was inspired by the
thriller film
Thriller film, also known as suspense film or suspense thriller, is a broad film genre that evokes excitement and suspense in the audience. The suspense element found in most films' plots is particularly exploited by the filmmaker in this genre. ...
''
Bad Day at Black Rock
''Bad Day at Black Rock'' is a 1955 American film noir neo-Western film directed by John Sturges with screenplay by Millard Kaufman. It stars Spencer Tracy and Robert Ryan with support from Anne Francis, Dean Jagger, Walter Brennan, Joh ...
'' (1955).
[ The script, called "uncharacteristically brutal" for Gilliganwho had been noted for his comedic episodes like ]season five
A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and polar ...
's " Bad Blood"[Hurwitz and Knowles, p. 238] and "X-Cops
"X-Cops" is the twelfth episode of the The X-Files season 7, seventh season of the American science fiction television series ''The X-Files''. Directed by Michael W. Watkins, Michael Watkins and written by Vince Gilligan, the installment serves ...
"[Hurwitz and Knowles, p. 239]was written with the expressed intent to make, according to Gilligan, "a really all-out scary, creepy, get under-your-skin—literally and figuratively—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 ...
." Gilligan also wanted the episode to show the audience that John Doggett was on the side of the heroes.[Hurwitz and Knowles, p. 187] The writer explained, "I wanted this gangbusters episode, one that showed Doggett was a good guy; someone to be counted on."
Many fans were unhappy with Doggett's condescension towards Scully during her apology.[Hurwitz and Knowles, p. 189] 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 ...
, the actor who portrayed Doggett, however, had a different interpretation: "The whole essence of the scene was, 'Look, I'm here for you. I've got your back. We're partners now.' And you give that the weight of a Marine saying to someone, 'I'll jump on a grenade for you, so you can trust me.' The idea was to really assure the fans that the show was continuing on."
Several of the characters in the episode were named after real-life individuals, including: the character of Hank, who was named after the brother of Vince Gilligan's girlfriend; Mr. Milsap, whose name is a reference to the American country music
Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...
singer and pianist Ronnie Milsap
Ronnie Lee Milsap (born Ronald Lee Millsaps; January 16, 1943) is an American country music singer and pianist. He was one of country music's most popular and influential performers of the 1970s and 1980s. Nearly completely blind from birth, h ...
; and Sheriff Ciolino who was named after Gilligan's mortgage broker
A mortgage broker acts as an intermediary who brokers mortgage loans on behalf of individuals or businesses. Traditionally, banks and other lending institutions have sold their own products. As markets for mortgages have become more competitive, ...
.[
]
Directing
The episode was directed by Rod Hardy
Rod Hardy (born 1949) is an Australian film and television director.
Career
His interest in film began before the age of 12, when he shot several short films on his brother's 8 mm film camera. Hardy has over 350 hours of credits directing tel ...
, making it his first credit for the series. Hardy was offered the role after an unknown individual working at ''The X-Files'' saw his TBS remake of the film ''High Noon
''High Noon'' is a 1952 American Western (genre), Western film produced by Stanley Kramer from a screenplay by Carl Foreman, directed by Fred Zinnemann, and starring Gary Cooper. The plot, which occurs in Real time (media), real time, centers ...
''. The parasitic creature that was used in the episode was created using animatronics
An animatronic is a puppet controlled electronically to move in a fluent way. Animatronics are the modern adaptation of the automaton and are often used for the portrayal of characters in films, video games and in theme park attractions.
Anim ...
and was designed to look like a banana slug
Banana slugs (''Ariolimax'') are a genus of Pulmonata, air-breathing, terrestrial mollusc, terrestrial Gastropoda, gastropod slugs in the family Ariolimacidae.MolluscaBase eds. (2021). MolluscaBase. Ariolimax Mörch, 1859. Accessed through: World ...
. During the scene where the creature is inserted into Scully's back, the production crew created a false fiberglass back for 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 ...
. To create the illusion that the creature was crawling up the body, the fiberglass was placed on top of Anderson, and then the animatronic slug was pressed against the fake back. Anderson later described the scene as "fun to shoot", although she also called it "exhausting" because she had to struggle on the bed, all the while tied down, with her arms being attached to the headboard and her legs to the footboard. Paul Rabwin
Paul Rabwin is an American television producer. He has worked on the supernatural drama series ''The X-Files''. He has been nominated for the Emmy Award for outstanding drama series four times for his work on the show.
Biography
Rabwin joined the ...
later noted that he had several cameramen "start to lose it" during the scene.
Reception
Ratings
"Roadrunners" first aired in the United States on Fox on November 26, 2000. The episode earned a Nielsen household rating of 8.3, meaning that it was seen by 8.3% of the nation's estimated households.[ The episode was viewed by 8.37 million households,] and 13.6 million viewers. The episode ranked as the 38th most-watched episode for the week ending November 26.[ In the United Kingdom and Ireland, the episode made its first appearance on television on March 1, 2001, on ]Sky1
Sky One was a British pay television channel operated and owned by Sky Group (a division of Comcast). Originally launched on 26 April 1982 as Satellite Television, it was Europe's first satellite and non- terrestrial channel. From 31 July 1989 ...
. "Roadrunners" was the seventh most watched program that week and received 0.67 million viewers.[ Note: Information is in the section titled "w/e Feb. 26-Mar 4, 2001", listed under Sky 1] Fox promoted the episode with the tagline "A desolate town. A bizarre cult. A horrifying ritual. And Scully may be the next victim."
Reviews
"Roadrunners" received mixed reviews from critics. Den of Geek
''Den of Geek'' is a UK and US-based website covering entertainment with a focus on pop culture. The website also issues a biannual magazine.
History
''Den of Geek'' was founded in 2007 by Simon Brew in London. In 2012, DoG Tech LLC licensed ' ...
writer Juliette Harrisson named the episode the "finest stand-alone episode" of the show's eighth season. Harrisson praised the character development in "Roadrunners" and noted that the episode "effectively brings cully and Doggetttogether as partners." 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.[Shearman and Pearson, p. 232] The two note that, "for the first half-hour, this works as a slow burn horror story ... It's the transition of Gillian Anderson's performance from wry exasperation to outright paranoia ... which makes this so effective." Shearman and Pearson criticize the cutting of John Doggett's role to a minimum. Emily VanDerWerff 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 ...
'' awarded the episode an "A−" and wrote that it "is an episode that’s dedicated to helping us move past the Mulder Mulder is a surname of two possible origins: Dutch and German.
It may be Dutch language occupational surname. It is an archaic Dutch word for "miller" (modern Dutch: '' molenaar''). With 38,207 people in the Netherlands named Mulder, it was the 12 ...
era."[ She praised the creepiness of Gilligan's script, as well as the characterization of Scully, writing that even though she is in a situation that is over her head, she is still smart in her attempts to escape; she also praised Anderson's acting. However, VanDerWerff was more critical of the final scene, noting that it made Doggett come across as "kind of an asshole".] Paul Spragg of ''Xposé
''Xposé'' is an entertainment, fashion and beauty programme that aired on Irish television from 2007 to 2019.
It was broadcast every Friday at 18:00 on Virgin Media One. It ran for a 3-day week at 20:00 on Virgin Media Two (previously known ...
'' wrote positively of the episode, saying it features a "return to the body horror stories that had worked so well in the early seasons". Spragg added that "Roadrunners" is "certainly close" to the highly acclaimed first-season episode "Ice".
Not all reviews were positive. George Avalos and Michael Liedtke of the Knight Ridder Tribune wrote that the episode's slug "continued the series' fine tradition of monsters that made us queasy as we squirmed in our seats".[ Despite enjoying the gore and the reality of Scully's isolation, the two were critical of the cult's motivations, writing that "we were given absolutely no clue as to why the Utah cult members believed the slug represented the Second Coming of Jesus Christ."][ The two ultimately concluded that "Roadrunners" fell "well short of a classic."] Sarah Stegall
SFScope is an online trade journal devoted to entertainment news concerning speculative fiction, science fiction, fantasy, and horror. It was founded by Ian Randal Strock in early 2007.
Ian Randal Strock began his career as the editorial assista ...
highly criticized the episode, calling it "a bad mix of '' The Fly'' and '' The Kindred'', with plenty of ''X-Files'' classic paranoia but none of the finesse we've seen before." Paula Vitaris from ''Cinefantastique
''Cinefantastique'' is an American horror, fantasy, and science fiction film magazine.
History
The magazine originally started as a mimeographed fanzine in 1967, then relaunched as a glossy, offset printed quarterly in 1970 by publisher/ ed ...
'' gave the episode a scathing review and awarded it no stars out of four. She heavily derided the plot, sarcastically referring to Doggett as a "man's man" and the parasite a "phallic-shaped giant slug".[ Furthermore, she criticized Scully's actions to go off on an assignment without telling her partner.][ Dave Golder from '' SFX'' criticized the episode and called it a retread of the first season episode "]Ice
Ice is water that is frozen into a solid state, typically forming at or below temperatures of 0 ° C, 32 ° F, or 273.15 K. It occurs naturally on Earth, on other planets, in Oort cloud objects, and as interstellar ice. As a naturally oc ...
".
Notes
Footnotes
Work cited
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External links
*
{{Good article
2000 American television episodes
Television episodes written by Vince Gilligan
The X-Files season 8 episodes
Television episodes set in Utah