Kill Switch (The X-Files)

"Kill Switch"
The X-Files episode
A virtual Dana Scully attacks a nurse in Fox Mulder's AI-controlled reverie. The scene was made by a freelance animator and received praise from several critics.
Episode no.	Season 5 Episode 11
Directed by	Rob Bowman
Written by	William Gibson Tom Maddox
Production code	5X11
Original air date	February 15, 1998
Running time	44 minutes
Guest actors
Bruce Harwood as John Fitzgerald Byers Dean Haglund as Richard Langly Tom Braidwood as Melvin Frohike Patrick Keating as Donald Gelman Peter Williams as Jackson Rob Daprocida as Bunny Jerry Schram as Gerald Boyce Dan Weber as Charles Figgis Kristin Lehman as Esther Nairn Kate Luyben as Nurse Nancy Stephen Collins as Cyril Pollard Steve Griffith as Paramedic Ted Cole as 2nd Paramedic
Episode chronology
← Previous "Chinga" Next → "Bad Blood"
List of Season 5 episodes List of The X-Files episodes

"Kill Switch" is the eleventh episode of the fifth season of the science fiction television series The X-Files. It premiered in the United States on the Fox network on February 15, 1998. It was written by William Gibson and Tom Maddox and directed by Rob Bowman. The episode is a "Monster-of-the-Week" story, unconnected to the series' wider mythology. "Kill Switch" earned a Nielsen household rating of 11.1, being watched by 18.04 million people in its initial broadcast. The episode received mostly positive reviews from television critics, with several complimenting Mulder's virtual experience.

The show centers on FBI special agents Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) who work on cases linked to the paranormal, called X-Files. Mulder is a believer in the paranormal, while the skeptical Scully has been assigned to debunk his work. In this episode, Mulder and Scully become targets of a rogue AI capable of the worst kind of torture while investigating the strange circumstances of the death of a reclusive computer genius rumored to have been researching artificial intelligence.

"Kill Switch" was co-written by cyberpunk pioneers William Gibson and Tom Maddox. The two eventually wrote another episode the show: season seven's "First Person Shooter". "Kill Switch" was written after Gibson and Maddox approached the series, offering to write an episode. Reminiscent of the "dark visions" of filmmaker David Cronenberg, the episode contained "many obvious pokes and prods at high-end academic cyberculture." In addition, "Kill Switch" contained several scenes featuring elaborate explosives and digital effects, including one wherein a computer-animated Scully fights nurses in a virtual hospital. "Kill Switch" deals with various "Gibsonian" themes, including: alienation, paranoia, artificial intelligence, and transferring one's consciousness into cyberspace, among others.

Plot

At a diner in Washington, D.C., a man tries to access files on a laptop computer, but is repeatedly denied. Meanwhile, several drug dealers receive anonymous phone calls about the whereabouts of their rival competitors; they are told that they are at the same diner. Two U.S. Marshals receive a similar phone call about an escaped prisoner. The drug dealers arrive in pairs as the man attempts to gain access to the files. Just as he does, the two Marshals appear and order everyone onto the floor, causing a shootout.

Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) arrive and identify the bodies of the drug dealers. Mulder also identifies the man with the laptop as Donald Gelman, "a Silicon Valley folk hero" who aspired to create an artificial intelligence. Mulder takes Gelman's laptop and finds a CD inside. When puts it into the car stereo, it plays "Twilight Time" by The Platters. However, the agents take it to the Lone Gunmen, who discover that the disc contains a large quantity of encrypted data. The trio, however, are unable to decipher it. Upon Scully's suggestion, they access Gelman's e-mail account and find a message sent by someone named Invisigoth, saying that someone named David is missing.

The message contains a standard ID number (BIC code) for an intermodal shipping container, which Mulder and Scully locate. When they approach it, a girl attempts to flee but is captured by Scully. The container turns out to be full of state-of-the-art computer equipment. The girl warns the agents that a Defense Department satellite armed with a laser has pinpointed their location. They quickly leave the container and a laser beam soon descends from the sky and destroys the container. The girl, Esther Nairn, reveals that she uses the online alias Invisigoth, and tells the agents that Gelman succeeded in creating an artificial intelligence. She reveals that once the AI locates an enemy, it destroys them using the satellite. According to Esther, Gelman was creating "Kill Switch", a virus that could destroy the AI. However, the AI learned of Gelman's plans and killed him by luring the drug dealers and the police to the diner. The only way to destroy the AI is to find the computer on which it is stored. David worked with Gelman and Esther designing hardware for their software, and Esther is worried about his disappearance.

Mulder uses a government source to find a secret T3 line in Fairfax County, Virginia, one that the AI can use to access the Internet. He also finds the trailer that is connected to the T3 line.

Esther forces Scully to drive to David's house. Mulder calls Scully to tell her what he found but Esther takes the phone and tells him they are going to find David. When they arrive they find that David's house has been destroyed.

Mulder finds much computer hardware inside the trailer. He also finds David’s dead body, with a virtual reality helmet on his head. Suddenly, Mulder is pulled into a virtual reality rig like the one that holds David's corpse while sparks fly and he screams that his arms are burning. Then he finds himself on a gurney in a hospital being rushed to the operating room for treatment for his burned arms. He blacks out just as an elderly doctor approaches him with an oscillating saw and he screams for Scully.

Esther, distraught that the AI might have killed David, admits to Scully that she and David were having an affair behind Gelman's back and had been planning to transfer their consciousness into cyberspace to enter the AI. Gelman thought the idea was too dangerous and wanted to stop them.

Mulder wakes up in a hospital being tended by a beautiful nurse. She warns him that he needs to tell them what they want to know or they will cut off his other arm. He begins to panic and scream and she presses a pillow over his face.

Esther tries to cut off the AI's internet access from her computer while Scully drives them toward Mulder's location. The AI locates them near a swing bridge and begins targeting them with the satellite while they are stopped between the moving bridge and a flammable tanker truck. Esther runs out onto the moving bridge to get away from the flammable tanker while still using her computer. Scully follows her yelling at her to throw away the computer. Esther throws the laptop into the water just before it is destroyed by the defense satellite's laser beam.

Mulder continues to be alternately comforted and threatened by beautiful nurses who have amputated both his arms when Skully breaks into his room and fights off the nurses with Kung Fu. She rushes to Mulder's side and asks him if they have the Kill Switch. Mulder realizes that she is not really Scully and kicks her against the wall with both his feet causing the virtual reality illusion to disappear. No longer deceived by the computer simulation he calls out for help.

Scully and Esther find the trailer in which Mulder is trapped. Esther sees David's corpse and tells Scully she still has the CD with the Kill Switch. The AI begins targeting the trailer with the satellite and giving Mulder electric shocks. Scully puts the CD into the AI's drive, and the straps holding Mulder suddenly release. While Scully is getting Mulder away from the trailer Esther begins typing on the computer. Then she straps herself into the virtual reality rig that Mulder had been held in and gives the command to "upload". Sparks begin to fly and images flash on the computer screens. Esther dies just before the satellite laser destroys the trailer.

Afterward, looking through the rubble, Mulder tells Scully that Esther's consciousness might have escaped into cyberspace as Esther had planned. Later, the Lone Gunmen get a strange message on their computer reading, "Bite me". Just before the credits, we see a trailer similar to the one where the AI lived, with automatic security cameras monitoring a boy who approaches the trailer to retrieve a football.

Production

The episode was co-written by noted author William Gibson.

Writing

The episode was written by acclaimed cyberpunk novelist William Gibson, together with fellow science fiction author Tom Maddox. The authors and long-time friends had discussed various collaborations before and approached the production company with an offer to write an episode. The result was "Kill Switch", which first aired on February 15, 1998. The episode made frequent appearances in reruns and its success encouraged Gibson to continue working in television, resulting in his writing of a second episode "First Person Shooter"—again in collaboration with Maddox—which aired on FOX two years later on February 27, 2000. "Kill Switch" deals with recurrent Gibsonian themes: alienation, paranoia, the will to survive, emergent technology, the evolution of artificial intelligence, virtual reality, and transferring one's consciousness into cyberspace. The Vancouver Sun author Alex Strachan later compared many of the episode's themes to that of Gibson's books, most notably in his novels Neuromancer, Mona Lisa Overdrive, and Virtual Light.

"Kill Switch" was written outside the mytharc of the series as a standalone story, which Gibson intended to be reminiscent of the "dark visions" of filmmaker David Cronenberg and to contain "many obvious pokes and prods at high-end academic cyberculture." Gibson initial idea for the episode eventually evolved into the episode's final act. This was later combined with Maddox's idea of a deserted house with shuttered windows, surrounded by a chain-link fence. The episode involved the merging of human and artificial intelligence on the World Wide Web, a concept that had been floating around cyber-futuristic circles at the time. The episode's rewriting and revision process took a significant amount of time and it was over a year before the episode was completed due to other priorities that series creator Chris Carter and Frank Spotnitz had. When they were finally available, they made some revisions to the script, including upping Esther's attitude and Mulder and Scully's reactions to her. A scene involving Scully trying on a fake nose ring was deleted from the script. Gibson originally started watching the series on the suggestion of his, at the time, 15 year old daughter. During filming, Gibson spent a majority of his time on the set only "because [his] daughter insisted on being there."

Filming and effects

"When you're writing a novel, there's no budget […] you just make stuff up, lots of really intricate stuff happens in this scene. So the script comes and its the biggest thing in terms of complexity, […] that I've ever looked at for X-Files."

—Rob Bowman, on the cost of the episode.

According to executive producer Frank Spotnitz, "Kill Switch" was the single most expensive episode that was filmed in Vancouver. In addition, the episode took a total of 22 days to film. The episode's bridge scenes were filmed at the Westham Island Bridge, which spans Canoe Pass, British Columbia. The location had been discovered by Carter during a technical survey for the prior fifth season episode "Schizogeny". Because the bridge was the sole means to access part of the Fraser River farming community in the area, filming was heavily restricted. Logistical issues with the bridge itself, such as restrictions on how many people could stand on the bridge at a time, also posed troubles for filming. Permission to film the scene wherein Esther throws the laptop into the river and it is subsequently vaporized by a laser required thirty days to obtain. The abandoned house that Mulder discovers was filmed at a historical landmark known locally as "Read House".

The episode contained several scenes featuring elaborate explosives. The scene featured a laser destroying a shipping container was originally schedule to be filmed at one of Vancouver's waterfront facilities. After permission for detonating explosive had been cleared by the city, the port rescinded its permission, claiming that the shot was not in its "best interests". The special effects crew for The X-Files decided to ship in as many containers as they could to a recycling center in the adjacent city of Burnaby, where filming went off "without a hitch". The destruction of the trailer was filmed adjacent to the Boundary Bay Airport. After the explosion, the series received several complaints from people living as far as ten miles away from "ground zero", complaining about the explosion and shockwave. The robot that attacked Mulder was inspired by the NASA Mars Rover. It was battery powered and cost $23,000 to create and operate. The producers contracted with SPOT, a French-owned commercial satellite surveillance company to obtain the satellite photos of the Washington D.C. area used in the episode.

A freelance computer artist created a 3-D image of Scully for the scene where she is fighting the nurses in the virtual hospital. Gillian Anderson was very pleased with the scene. She later noted that "I happened to be in good shape at the time and was just raring [sic] to get in there and be taking those half-naked nurses out with some karate chops." David Duchovny was not as exuberant; when showed the script and directed to "be impressed with [Scully's] karate skills", he responded that "But I have no arms. I've lost my arms. Why would I care about Scully's karate?" Dean Haglund later called the sequence "one of the great fight scenes, ever".

Reception

"Kill Switch" premiered on the Fox network on February 15, 1998. This episode earned a Nielsen rating of 11.1, with a 16 share, meaning that roughly 11.1 percent of all television-equipped households, and 16 percent of households watching television, were tuned in to the episode. It was viewed by 18.04 million viewers. Editor Heather MacDougall won an Emmy award for her work on this episode.

The episode received positive reviews from television critics. Brett Love of TV Squad stated that it was his favorite episode of The X-Files, noting that it did seem "dated", but the concept of artificial intelligence was well-realized in the episode. John Keegan from Critical Myth gave the episode a 8 out of 10, and wrote "Overall, this episode puts Gibson’s genre credibility to good use by taking standard concepts of cyberpunk and applying them to the series." He did note that there are "a few minor characterization issues", and that "not all of the concepts are pulled together as tightly as they could be", but other than those points, he concluded that it was "solid and [...] enjoyable". Todd VanDerWerff from The A.V. Club gave the episode a B+ and wrote that, while "William Gibson’s cyberpunk milieu wouldn’t necessarily seem to be the best fit for The X-Files", the episode "weirdly benefits from the lack of staff oversight." He noted that it featured many elements to its plot, but was "a rare example of an X-Files episode that works, [despite the fact that] it tries to do too much." VanDerWerff was complimentary towards the story and called it "propulsive"; he was particularly praise-worthy of the fact that Scully was featured heavily in the episode. He cited the scene wherein a virtual Scully roundhouse kicks a group of nurses as one of the best shots in the episode, and called it a "hysterical moment".

Robert Shearman and Lars Pearson, 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 wrote that its themes were "fresh and new" and that the plot had "real heart to it". Paula Vitaris from Cinefantastique gave the episode a positive review and awarded it three stars out of four. She praised the episode's directing and noted that the entry was "a great improvement over The X-Files's earlier A.I. episode, first season's "Ghost in the Machine". Vitaris cited "Mulder's virtual experience" as the "highlight of the episode".

Footnotes

References

• Gradnitzer, Louisa; Pittson, Todd (1999). X Marks the Spot: On Location with The X-Files. Arsenal Pulp Press. ISBN 1-55152-066-4. 
• Hurwitz, Matt and Knowles, Chris (2008). The Complete X-Files: Behind the Series the Myths and the Movies. New York, US: Insight Editions. ISBN 1933784725. 
• Meisler, Andy (1999), Resist or Serve: The Official Guide to The X-Files, Vol. 4, London: HarperCollins, ISBN 0-00-257133-1 
• Shearman, Robert; Pearson, Lars (2009). Wanting to Believe: A Critical Guide to The X-Files, Millennium & The Lone Gunmen. Mad Norwegian Press. ISBN 097594469X. 

External links

• "Kill Switch" on TheXFiles.com
• "Kill Switch" on The X-Files Wiki, an external wiki
• "Kill Switch" at the Internet Movie Database
• "Kill Switch" at TV.com