"Tunguska" is the eighth episode of the fourth season of the American
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 ''
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 ...
''. It premiered on the
Fox network
Fox Broadcasting Company, LLC (commonly known as Fox; stylized in all caps) is an American commercial broadcast television network serving as the flagship property of Fox Corporation and operated through Fox Entertainment. Fox is based at Fo ...
on . It was directed by
Kim Manners
Kim Manners (January 13, 1951 – January 25, 2009) was an American television producer and director best known for his work on ''The X-Files'' and ''Supernatural''.
Early life
Kim Manners was raised in a show business family. His father, Sam ...
, and written by
Frank Spotnitz
Frank Charles Spotnitz (born 1960) is an American television writer and film producer, producer. He is best known for his work on the series ''The X-Files'' (1995-2002) and its spin-off The Lone Gunmen (TV series), ''The Lone Gunmen'' (2001), an ...
Nicholas Lea
Nicholas Lea (born Nicholas Christopher Herbert; June 22, 1962) is a Canadian actor known for his portrayal of Alex Krycek on ''The X-Files'' and of Tom Foss on ''Kyle XY''. Partner of actress Crystal Balint.
Life and career
Lea was born in New ...
and
Fritz Weaver
Fritz William Weaver (January 19, 1926 − November 26, 2016) was an American actor. He appeared in over 170 theatre, television, and film productions in a career spanning nearly 60 years.
Weaver won the 1970 Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play ...
. The episode helped explore the series' overarching
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 ...
. "Tunguska" earned a Nielsen household rating of 12.2, being watched by 18.85 million people in its initial broadcast.
In the episode,
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
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 ...
) travels to Russia to investigate the source of a black oil contamination. His partner
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 assistant director
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 ...
) are summoned to attend a
United States Senate
The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...
hearing on Mulder's whereabouts. "Tunguska" is a two-part episode, with the plot continuing in the next episode, " Terma".
"Tunguska" was inspired by reports of evidence of extraterrestrial life possibly being found in the
Allan Hills 84001
Allan Hills 84001 (ALH84001) is a fragment of a Martian meteorite that was found in the Allan Hills in Antarctica on December 27, 1984, by a team of American meteorite hunters from the ANSMET project. Like other members of the shergottite– n ...
meteorite, while the gulag setting was inspired by the works of
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
Aleksandr Isayevich Solzhenitsyn. (11 December 1918 – 3 August 2008) was a Soviet and Russian author and Soviet dissidents, dissident who helped to raise global awareness of political repression in the Soviet Union, especially the Gulag pris ...
. The story offered the writers a chance to expand the scale of the series' mythology globally, although production of the episode was described as troublesome and expensive.
Plot
The episode opens ''
in medias res
A narrative work beginning ''in medias res'' (, "into the middle of things") opens in the chronological middle of the plot, rather than at the beginning (cf. '' ab ovo'', '' ab initio''). Often, exposition is initially bypassed, instead filled i ...
'' to
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 ...
) as she is brought before a
Senate
A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
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 ...
). Scully refuses to answer the committee's questions and attempts to read a statement denouncing the conspiracy within the government. Senator Sorenson threatens to hold Scully in contempt of Congress.
Ten days earlier, at
Honolulu Airport
Daniel K. Inouye International Airport , also known as Honolulu International Airport, is the main and largest airport in Hawaii.
, a courier returning from the
Republic of Georgia
A republic, based on the Latin phrase ''res publica'' ('public affair' or 'people's affair'), is a state in which political power rests with the public (people), typically through their representatives—in contrast to a monarchy. Although a ...
(David Bloom) is searched by customs officers. One of the officers ( Andy Thompson) removes a glass canister from the courier's briefcase and accidentally shatters it, exposing both men to the black oil. Meanwhile, in
New York City
New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
, Mulder and Scully take part in an
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 ...
raid against a
domestic terrorist
Domestic terrorism or homegrown terrorism is a form of terrorism in which victims "within a country are targeted by a perpetrator with the same citizenship" as the victims.Gary M. Jackson, ''Predicting Malicious Behavior: Tools and Techniques ...
group. Mulder's tipster within the group is revealed to be
Alex Krycek
Alex Krycek is a fictional character in the Fox science fiction-supernatural television series ''The X-Files''. Alex Krycek is played by Nicholas Lea. He is initially introduced in the second season as a partner for FBI Special Agent Fox Mulder i ...
(
Nicholas Lea
Nicholas Lea (born Nicholas Christopher Herbert; June 22, 1962) is a Canadian actor known for his portrayal of Alex Krycek on ''The X-Files'' and of Tom Foss on ''Kyle XY''. Partner of actress Crystal Balint.
Life and career
Lea was born in New ...
), whom the terrorists released from the missile silo where he had been trapped. Krycek has turned against
The Smoking Man
The Cigarette Smoking Man (abbreviated CSM or C-Man; sometimes referred to as Cancer Man or the Smoking Man) is a fictional character and one of the primary antagonists of the American science fiction drama television series ''The X-Files''. He s ...
( William B. Davis), and tells the distrustful agents that he can help expose him.
Krycek leads the agents to
Dulles International Airport
Washington Dulles International Airport ( ) – commonly known by its former name of Dulles International Airport, by its airport code of IAD, or simply as Dulles Airport – is an international airport in the Eastern United States, located w ...
, where they try to apprehend a second courier carrying a
diplomatic pouch
A diplomatic bag, also known as a diplomatic pouch, is a container with certain legal protections used for carrying official correspondence or other items between a diplomatic mission and its home government or other diplomatic, consular, or other ...
from
Russia
Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...
. The courier leads the agents on a pursuit through the airport, but drops the pouch before escaping. The pouch is revealed to carry a seemingly unremarkable rock. Mulder has Krycek confined at the high rise apartment of Assistant Director
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 ...
before having the rock analyzed at
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...
's
Goddard Space Flight Center
The Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) is a major NASA space research laboratory located approximately northeast of Washington, D.C., in Greenbelt, Maryland, United States. Established on May 1, 1959, as NASA's first space flight center, GSFC ...
. Dr. Sacks, a NASA scientist, tells Mulder and Scully that the rock is a prehistoric
meteorite
A meteorite is a rock (geology), rock that originated in outer space and has fallen to the surface of a planet or Natural satellite, moon. When the original object enters the atmosphere, various factors such as friction, pressure, and chemical ...
fragment that might contain fossilized alien bacteria.
Skinner is approached by the Smoking Man, who demands that the pouch be returned. The courier breaks into Skinner's apartment and searches for the pouch, only to be thrown off Skinner's patio by Krycek. Meanwhile, Dr. Sacks cuts into the fragment, but inadvertently releases the black oil inside; the organism penetrates the scientist's
hazmat suit
A hazmat suit is a piece of personal protective equipment that consists of an permeation, impermeable whole-body or one piece garment worn as protection against hazardous materials.
Such suits are often combined with self-contained breathing ap ...
and puts him in a
coma
A coma is a deep state of prolonged unconsciousness in which a person cannot be awakened, fails to Nociception, respond normally to Pain, painful stimuli, light, or sound, lacks a normal Circadian rhythm, sleep-wake cycle and does not initiate ...
-like state. Mulder travels to New York to visit
Marita Covarrubias
Marita Covarrubias is a fictional character on the American science fiction television series ''The X-Files''. She was initially introduced as an informant, leaking diplomatic information to Federal Bureau of Investigation, FBI Special Agent Fox ...
(
Laurie Holden
Heather Laurie Holden (born December 17, 1969) is an American-Canadian actress, producer, model, and human rights activist. She is best known for her portrayals as Marita Covarrubias in ''The X-Files'' (1996–2002), Andrea Harrison in AMC's ...
), who reveals that the fragment originated from the Russian province of
Krasnoyarsk
Krasnoyarsk is the largest types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and administrative center of Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia. It is situated along the Yenisey, Yenisey River, and is the second-largest city in Siberia after Novosibirsk, with a p ...
and provides the documents needed to travel there. Mulder reluctantly brings along Krycek, who is fluent in
Russian
Russian(s) may refer to:
*Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries
*A citizen of Russia
*Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages
*''The Russians'', a b ...
.
In
Charlottesville, Virginia
Charlottesville, colloquially known as C'ville, is an independent city (United States), independent city in Virginia, United States. It is the county seat, seat of government of Albemarle County, Virginia, Albemarle County, which surrounds the ...
, the Smoking Man is admonished by the
Well-Manicured Man
The Well-Manicured Man is a fictional character in the American science fiction television series ''The X-Files''. He serves as an antagonist to FBI special agents Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson), being a member of ...
( John Neville) when the latter learns about Mulder's travels. Skinner and the agents are
subpoena
A subpoena (; also subpœna, supenna or subpena) or witness summons is a writ issued by a government agency, most often a court, to compel testimony by a witness or production of evidence under a penalty for failure. There are two common types of ...
ed to appear before Senator Sorenson's panel over the missing pouch; when Skinner questions Scully about Mulder's whereabouts, she is not forthcoming. Meanwhile, as Mulder and Krycek hike through the forests of Krasnoyarsk, the former theorizes that the fragment may be tied to the
Tunguska event
The Tunguska event was a large explosion of between 3 and 50 TNT equivalent, megatons that occurred near the Podkamennaya Tunguska River in Yeniseysk Governorate (now Krasnoyarsk Krai), Russia, on the morning of 30 June 1908. The explosion over ...
, a mysterious cosmic impact that occurred in the area in 1908. The two men come across a
slave labor
Slavery is the ownership of a person as property, especially in regards to their labour. Slavery typically involves compulsory work, with the slave's location of work and residence dictated by the party that holds them in bondage. Enslavemen ...
camp, but are captured by the taskmasters and thrown into a
gulag
The Gulag was a system of Labor camp, forced labor camps in the Soviet Union. The word ''Gulag'' originally referred only to the division of the Chronology of Soviet secret police agencies, Soviet secret police that was in charge of runnin ...
.
Skinner and Scully meet with Senator Sorenson, who questions them on the death of the courier and the location of Agent Mulder. Mulder talks with a fellow prisoner who tells him that innocent people have been captured and brought here to be subjected to experiments. Immediately afterwards guards burst into the room and inject Mulder with a syringe. When Mulder awakens he is in a large room bound with chicken wire along with many other prisoners. Black material is dumped onto his face, infecting him with the black oil.Meisler (1998), pp. 95–101.
Production
"Tunguska" and its follow-up " Terma" were conceived by the writers when they were trying to conceive a "big and fun canvas" to tell stories. They decided to create a story connected to the Russian
gulag
The Gulag was a system of Labor camp, forced labor camps in the Soviet Union. The word ''Gulag'' originally referred only to the division of the Chronology of Soviet secret police agencies, Soviet secret police that was in charge of runnin ...
s, which led to the "natural" idea that the Russians were experimenting separately from the Syndicate to create a vaccine for the black oil. Series writer
John Shiban
John Shiban is an American television writer and producer. Career
Shiban worked in both capacities on ''The X-Files'', its spin-off '' The Lone Gunmen'', '' Star Trek: Enterprise'', ''Smallville'', ''Supernatural'', '' Legend of the Seeker'', ''B ...
felt it was natural to create an arms race-like story between the United States and Russia, being that the
Cold War
The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...
had ended a few years earlier. The writers desired to expand the series' mythology globally, a concept that continued into the fifth season and the series' 1998 feature film adaptation. The idea of a conspiracy with a global reach was first broached in the series' second season, and it was felt that this two-part story was a good place to expand upon this, allowing the production crew to "stretch the limits" of their resources and imagination. The inspiration for the oil-containing rocks was
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...
's announcement of possible evidence of extraterrestrial life in the
Allan Hills 84001
Allan Hills 84001 (ALH84001) is a fragment of a Martian meteorite that was found in the Allan Hills in Antarctica on December 27, 1984, by a team of American meteorite hunters from the ANSMET project. Like other members of the shergottite– n ...
meteorite; while the gulag scenes were based on
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
Aleksandr Isayevich Solzhenitsyn. (11 December 1918 – 3 August 2008) was a Soviet and Russian author and Soviet dissidents, dissident who helped to raise global awareness of political repression in the Soviet Union, especially the Gulag pris ...
's books ''
The Gulag Archipelago
''The Gulag Archipelago: An Experiment in Literary Investigation'' () is a three-volume nonfiction series written between 1958 and 1968 by Russian writer Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, a Soviet dissident. It was first published in 1973 by the Parisian ...
'' and ''
One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich
''One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich'' (, ) is a short novel by the Russian writer and Nobel laureate Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, first published in November 1962 in the Soviet literary magazine ''Novy Mir'' (''New World'').Meisler (1998), p. 102.
The scenes featuring the
SWAT
A SWAT (''Special Weapons and Tactics'') team is a generic term for a police tactical unit within the United States, though the term has also been used by other nations.
SWAT units are generally trained, equipped, and deployed to res ...
raid on a terrorist cell found to be harbouring Alex Krycek were filmed in a single night, requiring sixty individual film setups split between three camera crews working simultaneously. By dawn, only four of the sixty required shots had not been filmed, and these were later completed on a sound stage. Additional scenes shot for the episode featuring
The Smoking Man
The Cigarette Smoking Man (abbreviated CSM or C-Man; sometimes referred to as Cancer Man or the Smoking Man) is a fictional character and one of the primary antagonists of the American science fiction drama television series ''The X-Files''. He s ...
and the
Well-Manicured Man
The Well-Manicured Man is a fictional character in the American science fiction television series ''The X-Files''. He serves as an antagonist to FBI special agents Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson), being a member of ...
were cut due to time constraints.Meisler (1998), p. 103. A scene featuring Scully briefing Skinner on the events of the episode was also cut, as it was felt that it was "redundant" within the narrative, repeating information that had already been shown to the audience. David Duchovny's father was present during production of the episode, leaving the actor to enjoy the shoot, although the crew described production as expensive and "stubbornly trouble-plagued". "Tunguska" marked the fourth appearance in the series by Malcolm Stewart, who had previously appeared in "
Pilot
An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its Aircraft flight control system, directional flight controls. Some other aircrew, aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are al ...
Avatar
Avatar (, ; ) is a concept within Hinduism that in Sanskrit literally means . It signifies the material appearance or incarnation of a powerful deity, or spirit on Earth. The relative verb to "alight, to make one's appearance" is sometimes u ...
".
Reception
Ratings
"Tunguska" premiered on the
Fox network
Fox Broadcasting Company, LLC (commonly known as Fox; stylized in all caps) is an American commercial broadcast television network serving as the flagship property of Fox Corporation and operated through Fox Entertainment. Fox is based at Fo ...
on . The episode earned a Nielsen household rating of 12.2 with an 18 share, meaning that roughly of all television-equipped households, and of households watching television, were tuned in to the episode.Edwards (1996), p. 201. A total of viewers watched this episode during its original airing.
Reviews
"Tunguska" received mostly positive reviews from critics. Based on an advance viewing of the episode's script, ''
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, ...
'' rated "Tunguska" an A−, praising the "arms race" plotline.
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 ...
, in The Munchkyn Zone, wrote positively of the entry and gave it a 5 out of 5 rating. Stegall highlighted the "taut storyline" and the "excellent direction". Writing for
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 ...
, Emily VanDerWerff rated the episode a B, noting that the move to a global scale detracted from the series' overall relevance. VanDerWerff felt that "the action setpieces in this episode and the next one are really terrific", and praised William B. Davis' portrayal of The Smoking Man. However, she described "Tunguska" as being "one of the first really unfocused mythology episodes in the show's run", and found the plot of the episode to not be moving the series forward enough, noting that "for the first time, Mulder feels less like he's driving the action and more like he's a messenger boy".
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 ...
described this episode, along with "Terma", as being action-heavy and "lots of fun".
Awards
"Tunguska" received a nomination for a CAS Award by the Cinema Audio Society for Outstanding Achievement in Sound Mixing - Television Series.