Release (The X-Files)

"Release"
The X-Files episode
John Doggett and Monica Reyes with a SWAT team going after Luke Doggett's suspected murderer
Episode no.	Season 9 Episode 17
Directed by	Kim Manners
Teleplay by	David Amann
Story by	John Shiban David Amman
Production code	9ABX16
Original air date	May 5, 2002
Guest stars
Cary Elwes as Brad Follmer Barbara Patrick as Barbara Doggett Jared Poe as Rudolph Hayes/Stuart Mimms Sal Landi as Nicholas Regali Victoria Gallegos as Follmer's Assistant Avery Glymph as Diener Kate Lomabrdi as Woman Kipp Shiotani as Cadet #1 Mandy Levin as Ellen Persich
Episode chronology
← Previous "William" Next → "Sunshine Days"
List of season 9 episodes List of The X-Files episodes

"Release" is seventeenth episode of the ninth season and the 199th episode overall of the science fiction television series The X-Files. The episode first aired in the United States and Canada on May 5, 2002 on Fox, and subsequently aired in the United Kingdom and Ireland. The teleplay for the episode was written by David Amann, from a story by John Shiban and Amann, and directed by Kim Manners. The episode continues with the Luke Doggett story arc which involves John finding the truth behind his son's murder.

"Release" follows John Doggett on a case that may hold a connection to the murder of his son. With the help of an FBI cadet named Rudolph Hayes, Doggett acquires information to help his current case as well as establish the link between the present, his Jane Does, and the past - his son, Luke. The link is a man named Nicholas Regali, an organized crime participant who has an association with Bob Harvey, the only suspect in Luke's case. Though the cadet, Hayes, is not who he says he is, his information proves invaluable in Doggett's search for release from his son's death. The episode earned a high Nielsen household and syndication ratings, it was generally well received by fans and critics alike.

Plot

Agent John Doggett (Robert Patrick) goes to an abandoned apartment building after getting a tip, and sees a figure bolt out of one of the rooms during the night. He hears a scratching sound and claws away at the fresh plaster wall until ribbons of red blood begin streaming downward. Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) performs an autopsy on the body Doggett found and one of her FBI cadets, Rudolph Hayes, accurately guesses that the victim hooked up with a psychotic killer at a bar. Hayes' suggestions lead Scully to connect this murder to another killing two weeks earlier. In the meantime, Doggett wonders why anyone tipped him of the murder, since it is not an X-File.

Doggett and Monica Reyes (Annabeth Gish) try to get some more help from Hayes. He tells them that the killer they're looking for is a criminal linked to organized crime. The two agents later meet up with Nicholas Regali, a former mobster who claims he is looking for a job in the area. They later find out that Hayes' intuition about Regali was correct. Meanwhile, Hayes returns to his apartment complex where walls are covered with crime scene photos related to the death of Luke Doggett. Eventually, Doggett asks Hayes for help solving the case about his son's death. Hayes tells Doggett that he believes that Robert Harvey was behind the kidnapping of Luke, but that Regali killed him.

Looking for help, Doggett approaches FBI Assistant Director Brad Follmer for help on the case. Doggett's ex-wife, Barbara Doggett, meets up for a identity parade at a police station. Barbara does not recognize Regali or anyone else on the parade. Scully finds some similarities between Luke and the two dead bodies, but no forensic proof. Doggett comes to realise that Regali has had help from someone within the FBI all along. Follmer informs Reyes and Doggett that Cadet Hayes is really Stuart Mimms, a former mental patient. He also informs them that Mimms lived in New York City during the year of Luke's murder, hinting that Mimms is the murderer and not Regali. Doggett and Reyes assemble a SWAT team to raid Mimms apartment. Mimms is taken into police custody and at a new identity parade, Barbara recognizes Mimms.

At a meeting between Follmer and Regali, Follmer says he's "done", but Regali reminds him he's being blackmailed. In the meantime, Mimms tells Scully that he first noticed the case of Luke Doggett when he read it in a newspaper. He further stated that he lied about his name so that he could help solve the case. At the end, he still pushes that Regali is the real murderer of Doggett's son, and not him. Later on, Doggett approaches Regali. Regali tells him a "hypothetical" story about how a pedophile took a young boy to his home. A "businessman" walks in on the incident, realizes that the boy has seen his face, and fears that the boy might associate him with the crime. So the businessman found a "solution" to the boy seeing his face. Regali then walks away and Doggett, filled with rage, unholsters gun and follows. But a gunshot rings out and when Doggett gets outside, he sees Regali has been killed by Follmer. Later, Doggett and Barbara scatter Luke's ashes into the ocean.

Production

Originally going to be written by John Shiban alone, he later turned the script over to David Amann because he was needed elsewhere at the time. Shiban wanted to do a story like this for a while before writing it. He wished for creating a "strange genius", who was either a "brilliant guy who's solving crimes with his amazing intuition" like Sherlock Holmes, or "a guy who's actually doing those crimes and playing a game" like Professor Moriarty. So Shiban and Amman came up with a story where Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) encounters a "genius" from her classes at the FBI Academy at Quantico. Later on they linked the "genius" crime solver to help John Doggett (Robert Patrick) find out what happened to his son, Luke Doggett.

Reception

The episode earned a Nielsen household rating of 5.1, with a 8 share. It was viewed by 5.381 million households and gathered a total of 7.800 million viewers in the United States alone. On May 5, 2002 the episode premiered in the United States and Canada on Fox and Global Television Network in Canada at the same time and day. In the United Kingdom and Ireland, it made its first appearance on British television on September 19, 2002 at 9:00 pm on Sky1. The episode was not included in the list of the ten most watched television shows for Sky1 that week.

External links

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