The Beginning (The X-Files)

"The Beginning"
The X-Files episode
An alien hiding in a power plant. The molting scene with the alien had to be shot multiple times due to problems with the nuclear power plant set.
Episode no.	Season 6 Episode 1
Directed by	Kim Manners
Written by	Chris Carter
Production code	6ABX01
Original air date	November 8, 1998
Guest stars
Mitch Pileggi as Walter Skinner James Pickens, Jr. as Alvin Kersh Mimi Rogers as Diana Fowley William B. Davis as The Smoking Man Chris Owens as Jeffrey Spender Jeff Gulka as Gibson Praise Don S. Williams as First Elder George Murdock as Second Elder Wayne Alexander as G. Arnold Wendie Malick as Assistant Director Maslin Arthur Taxier as Assistant Director Bart Rick Millikan as Sandy Alan Henry Brown as Scientist Christopher Neiman as Van Pool Scientist Scott Eberlein as Black-Haired Man Ralph Meyering as Surgeon Benito Martinez as Orderly Kim Robillard as Homer Wayne Thomas Yorke as Power Plant Worker
Episode chronology
← Previous "The End" Next → "Drive"
List of Season 6 episodes List of The X-Files characters

"The Beginning" is the first episode of the sixth season of the science fiction television series The X-Files. It premiered on the Fox network on November 8, 1998 in the United States. The episode was written by Chris Carter, and directed by Kim Manners. The episode helps explore the series' overarching mythology. "The Beginning" earned a Nielsen household rating of 11.9, being watched by 20.34 million people in its initial broadcast. The episode received mostly mixed reviews from critics.

In the episode, FBI special agents Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) eagerly hunt for a deadly creature in the Arizona desert. What they find seems to support Mulder’s revived belief in aliens, but is discredited when the agents are not reassigned to the now re-opened X-Files, with Jeffrey Spender (Chris Owens) and Diana Fowley (Mimi Rogers) taking over instead.

"The Beginning" was the first episode of the series to be filmed in Los Angeles, and follows directly from "The X-Files" feature film (1998). The writers sought to bring back characters, such as Spender, Fowley, and Gibson Praise (Jeff Gulka) who had not been featured in the movie, but had played a pivotal role in Season 5.

Plot

A scientist working for Roush Industries in Phoenix, Arizona is exposed to the black oil alien-virus and an alien gestates and bursts from his body the next day.

In Washington, D.C., Agent Fox Mulder appears before an FBI panel regarding his experiences in Antarctica. Meanwhile, The Smoking Man (William B. Davis) reports to the Syndicate on the alien in Phoenix, confident that he'll be able to kill it. Assistant Director Walter Skinner tells Mulder, who is working on restoring the burned X-Files, that Mulder and Scully have been denied reassignment on the X-Files, but that Mulder should seek out a folder left on the desk in his old office. Mulder goes there, only to discover that Jeffrey Spender and Diana Fowley have been assigned to the X-Files. Feeling betrayed by Fowley, Mulder leaves, but not before stealthily taking the folder with him.

The Smoking Man goes to get Gibson Praise, who is undergoing brain surgery at that very moment. Mulder and Scully head to the home where the alien gestated, finding an alien's nail in the wall. The Smoking Man arrives soon after with Gibson, who tells him that the alien is no longer there. At the nuclear power plant, the alien kills another person, but Mulder and Scully are denied access by Spender and Fowley. Upon returning to their car they find Gibson inside, who has escaped from The Smoking Man. Later that night, Fowley tells Mulder she was offered the X-Files and is protecting his interest. Mulder leaves Gibson with Scully and heads off with her. Mulder and Fowley believe the alien is seeking heat, which is why it's in the nuclear power plant. Inside they find organic material on the ground and cooling pipes.

Scully brings Gibson to the hospital, where it is determined that he has the alien virus in his blood. The Black-Haired Man kidnaps him soon after, and brings him to the power plant. They find the alien, who attacks the Black-Haired Man but not Gibson, as witnessed by Mulder from outside the locked door. Mulder and Scully are ordered to not associate with the X-Files and are re-assigned under Assistant Director Kersh. Spender is visited by The Smoking Man in his office. Mulder continues to work on restoring the X-Files, and is told by Scully that Fowley's report doesn't reflect what really happened. Scully tells Mulder that the alien virus DNA is also part of all human DNA, but in Gibson the DNA is active. In the power plant, Gibson is trapped inside with the alien, who sheds its skin, revealing the traditional grey alien form.

Production

"The Beginning" was the first episode of The X-Files to be filmed in Los Angeles, California.

Executive producer Frank Spotnitz found that the main problem with developing the episode was segueing from a movie that some—but not necessarily all—viewers had seen. The writers sought to bring back characters like Gibson Praise, Diana Fowley and Jeffrey Spender who weren't in the movie. The writers also sought to bring back the alien that was seen in the movie. Series creator Chris Carter claims to have been thinking about what the episode would entail almost two years prior, when he was working on developing The X-Files movie.

The show was the first episode to be filmed in Los Angeles, California. Indeed, the very first shot of the episode—a long look into the sun was—intended by Carter to "boldly announce the show's arrival in Southern California." As a result of the move, the episode featured a largely new group of crew members, hired by Carter, Spotnitz and new co-Executive Producer Michael Watkins. The show's crew had to spend five weeks unpacking and cataloging material from the Vancouver film crew.

The character Sandy, who is killed in the teaser sequence, was played by the show's casting director Rick Millikan on the request of Carter. Millikan later joked that he spent most of the shoot on his cell phone casting other individuals for other X-Files episodes.

The nuclear power plant in the episode was filmed at a facility run by Southern California Edison in Long Beach, California. Due to a heat wave, many of the scenes ended up being filmed in temperatures over 100 degrees and many lines had to be later re-recorded by the actors. The scenes in an Arizona suburb were filmed in Valencia, California, because the producers wanted "something really Edward Scissorhands." The underwater scenes with the alien were filmed in a Marina Del Rey Water tank used frequently by the show Baywatch. Filming the scenes in and around the power plant proved to be troublesome. Most of the sequences with the alien had to be shot multiple times due to the skin-molting effects on the creature and problems with the nuclear power plant set. Certain scenes were not finished until late October—nearly two months after principal filming ended.

Broadcast and reception

"The Beginning" first aired in the United States on November 8, 1998. This episode earned a Nielsen rating of 11.9, with a 17 share, meaning that roughly 11.9 percent of all television-equipped households, and 17 percent of households watching television, were tuned in to the episode. It was viewed by 20.34 million viewers. The episode was the second highest rated episode of the sixth season. The episode aired in the United Kingdom and Ireland on Sky1 on March 7, 1999. The episode received 1.08 million viewers and was the second most watched episode that week.

The episode received largely mixed reviews from critics, ranging from largely positive to negative. In the book The End and the Beginning: The Official Guide to The X-Files, Vol. 5, author Andy Meisler noted that some fans and critics responded positively to "The Beginning," most notably because the episode functioned as "a particularly artful and effective way to launch the series's new season—and era." Not all reviews were positive, however. Critical Myth reviewer John Keegan gave the episode a 5 out 10 ratings and wrote that, "Overall, this episode is the unfortunate victim of several writing and production challenges, many of which were nearly impossible to overcome. While the idea of new agents assigned to the X-Files was quite good, it was never realized to the extent that it should have been. Add to that the need to recap far too many plot points from the film, and this becomes one of the weakest season premieres of the series." 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 one star out of five, writing that "'The Beginning' opens witty enough […] and then offers the viewer no substance. It's a better season opener than 'Redux' […] but it's still very poor."

Footnotes

References

• Meisler, Andy (2000). The End and the Beginning: The Official Guide to the X-Files Season 6. HarperCollins. ISBN 0061075957. 
• 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

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