The X-Files (season 5)

The X-Files season 5
Region 1 DVD cover art
Country of origin	United States
No. of episodes	20
Broadcast
Original channel	Fox
Original run	November 2, 1997 (1997-11-02) – May 17, 1998 (1998-05-17)
Home video release
DVD release
Region 1	May 14, 2002 (2002-05-14)
Season chronology
← Previous Season 4 Next → Season 6
List of The X-Files episodes

The fifth season of the science fiction television series The X-Files commenced airing on Fox in the United States on November 2, 1997, concluded on May 17, 1998, and contained 20 episodes.

Production

Although The X-Files feature film was primarily shot in the hiatus between seasons four and five, the need for several reshoots led to both Gillian Anderson and David Duchovny being absent in places throughout the season—for instance, the episodes "Unusual Suspects" and "Travelers" do not feature Anderson's character Dana Scully at all; while the episodes "Chinga" and "Christmas Carol" feature minimal appearances by Duchovny's character Fox Mulder. This was the first season where the course of the season was planned in advance due to film being shot before season five, but taking place after it, as it had to set up the events for the film.

This was also the last season of The X-Files to be filmed in Vancouver, British Columbia—after this, production was shifted to Los Angeles for the sixth season and beyond, although The X-Files: I Want to Believe was once more filmed in Vancouver.

Cast

Main cast

• David Duchovny as Special Agent Fox Mulder
• Gillian Anderson as Special Agent Dana Scully (Does not appear in "Unusual Suspects" and "Travelers")

Recurring cast

Also starring

• Mitch Pileggi as Deputy Director Walter Skinner (8 episodes)
• Nicholas Lea as Alex Krycek (3 episodes)
• William B. Davis as Cigarette Smoking Man (4 episodes)

Guest starring

• Tom Braidwood as Melvin Frohike (6 episodes)
• Bruce Harwood as John Fitzgerald Byers (5 episodes)
• Dean Haglund as Richard Langly (5 episodes)
• Chris Owens as Jeffrey Spender (3 episodes)
• John Neville as Well-Manicured Man (3 episodes)
• Don S. Williams as First Elder (3 episodes)
• John Moore as Third Elder (3 episodes)
• Laurie Holden as Marita Covarrubias (2 episodes)
• Veronica Cartwright as Cassandra Spender (2 episodes)
• Sheila Larken as Margaret Scully (2 episodes)
• Pat Skipper as Bill Scully (2 episodes)
• John Finn as Michael Kritschgau (2 episodes)
• George Murdock as Second Elder (2 episodes)
• Charles Cioffi as Scott Blevins (2 episodes)
• Mimi Rogers as Diana Fowley (1 episode)
• Brian Thompson as The Bounty Hunter (1 episode)
• Dean Aylesworth as Bill Mulder (1 episode)
• Jeff Gulka as Gibson Praise (1 episode)

Crew

Writers and producers

Series creator Chris Carter also served as executive producer and showrunner and wrote seven episodes. Frank Spotnitz was promoted to co-executive producer and wrote seven episodes. Vince Gilligan was promoted to supervising producer and wrote six episodes. John Shiban was promoted to co-producer and wrote five episodes. Tim Minear joined the series for his only season on the series as an executive story editor and wrote two episodes. Writing team Billy Brown and Dan Angel joined the series as story editors for this season only and provided the story for one episode. Writing team Jessica Scott and Mike Wollaeger wrote one freelance episode. Special guest writers for this season included author Stephen King who co-wrote one episode with creator Chris Carter; and cyberpunk novelists William Gibson and Tom Maddox who wrote their first of two episodes for the series. Other producers included producer Joseph Patrick Finn, producer Paul Rabwin, and co-producer Lori Jo Nemhauser who previously served as post-production supervisor.

Directors

Producing-director Kim Manners directed the most episodes of the season, directing seven. Producer Rob Bowman, executive producer R. W. Goodwin, and series creator Chris Carter, each directed two episodes. The rest of the episodes were directed by Brett Dowler, Peter Markle, Daniel Sackheim, Ralph Hemecker, Cliff Bole, William A. Graham and Allen Coulter, who each directed one episode.

Reception

During this season, The X-Files was Fox's highest rated program. It finished the season at #11 with an average of 17.1 million viewers per episode.

Michael Sauter of Entertainment Weekly gave the season an A-, writing that it "proves the show was — even then — still at its creative peak (if only for another year or so) and full of surprises". He praised the new additions to the series' mythology, but also commented that "many stand-alone episodes now look like classics".

The fifth season earned the series a record of sixteen Primetime Emmy Award nominations, the most a single season of The X-Files received. It won two of the awards it was nominated for–Outstanding Art Direction for a Series for "The Post-Modern Prometheus" and Outstanding Single Camera Picture Editing for a Series for "Kill Switch". The series received its fourth consecutive nomination for Outstanding Drama Series. David Duchovny received his second consecutive nomination for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series, while Gillian Anderson received her third nomination for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series, which she won the previous year. Lili Taylor and Veronica Cartwright both received nominations for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series. The episode "The Post-Modern Prometheus" received multiple nominations, with the exception of its single win, it was also nominated for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series (Chris Carter), Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series (Chris Carter), Outstanding Cinematography for a Series (Joel Ransom), Outstanding Music Composition for a Series (Mark Snow), Outstanding Single Camera Picture Editing for a Series (Lynne Willingham), and Outstanding Makeup for a Series. Other nominations were for Outstanding Single Camera Picture Editing for a Series for "Mind's Eye", and Outstanding Sound Editing for a Series and Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Drama Series for "The Red and the Black".

The series also won its third and final Golden Globe Award for Best Television Series – Drama, while Gillian Anderson and David Duchovny received nominations in the television series drama acting categories.

Episodes

Episodes marked with an asterisk (*) are part of the series' mytharc. Episodes with a double asterisk (**) are part of the series' Alien Mythology.

See also: List of The X-Files episodes

№	#	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date	Production code	U.S. viewers (millions)
98	1	"Redux"**	R. W. Goodwin	Chris Carter	November 2, 1997 (1997-11-02)	5X02	27.34
Scully helps Mulder fake his death, but comes under intense scrutiny; Skinner is suspected as the traitor inside the FBI; and Mulder breaks into the Department of Defense in a desperate bid to save Scully, but while doing so he finds himself facing the truth about the aliens he has been chasing.
99	2	"Redux II"**	Kim Manners	Chris Carter	November 9, 1997 (1997-11-09)	5X03	24.84
While Scully lies on her deathbed; the Smoking Man makes an important decision in helping Mulder. But even as events come to a climax, Mulder finds his belief in his crusade has all but collapsed.
100	3	"Unusual Suspects"*	Kim Manners	Vince Gilligan	November 16, 1997 (1997-11-16)	5X01	21.72
The origins of the Lone Gunmen are explored. In 1989, two salesmen and a federal employee join forces when they meet Susanne Modeski, a woman who claims that she is being pursued by her violent ex-boyfriend, an FBI agent named Fox Mulder. We learn how agent Mulder came to meet three friendly and familiar faces.
101	4	"Detour"	Brett Dowler	Frank Spotnitz	November 23, 1997 (1997-11-23)	5X04	22.88
On the way to an FBI convention in Florida, Mulder and Scully stop to help in the investigation of the mysterious disappearance of three people in the woods, where a pair of invisible humanoids lurk.
102	5	"The Post-Modern Prometheus"	Chris Carter	Chris Carter	November 30, 1997 (1997-11-30)	5X06	18.68
Filmed in black-and-white, The Post-Modern Prometheus chronicles Mulder and Scully’s investigation when a letter from a single mother leads them to a small mid-Western town where a modern-day version of Frankenstein's monster lurks, Jerry Springer is an obsession, and Cher plays a significant part.
103	6	"Christmas Carol"*	Peter Markle	Vince Gilligan & John Shiban & Frank Spotnitz	December 7, 1997 (1997-12-07)	5X05	20.91
Home for the holidays, Scully is haunted by dreams which hint at a strange connection to a murdered woman’s daughter.
104	7	"Emily"*	Kim Manners	Vince Gilligan & John Shiban & Frank Spotnitz	December 14, 1997 (1997-12-14)	5X07	20.94
Scully fights to protect her daughter’s life, while Mulder discovers her true origins.
105	8	"Kitsunegari"	Daniel Sackheim	Vince Gilligan & Tim Minear	January 4, 1998 (1998-01-04)	5X08	19.75
When ‘Pusher’ Modell escapes from prison, Mulder and Scully race to catch him before he can take revenge against his favorite target — Agent Mulder.
106	9	"Schizogeny"	Ralph Hemecker	Jessica Scott & Mike Wollaeger	January 11, 1998 (1998-01-11)	5X09	21.37
When a teenager is suspected of murdering his father, Mulder and Scully become convinced that a greater evil may be lurking in the community.
107	10	"Chinga"	Kim Manners	Stephen King & Chris Carter	February 8, 1998 (1998-02-08)	5X10	21.33
Scully takes a vacation to Maine, where she encounters a bizarre case where the victims appear to have inflicted wounds upon themselves — apparently at the behest of a strange young girl. This episode was co-written by famous horror writer Stephen King. It carries the alternate title of "Bunghoney" in some sources.
108	11	"Kill Switch"	Rob Bowman	William Gibson & Tom Maddox	February 15, 1998 (1998-02-15)	5X11	18.04
While investigating the strange circumstances of the death of a reclusive computer genius rumored to have been researching artificial intelligence, Mulder and Scully become targets of an unlikely killer capable of the worst kind of torture. The episode was co-written by cyberpunk pioneers William Gibson and Tom Maddox.
109	12	"Bad Blood"	Cliff Bole	Vince Gilligan	February 22, 1998 (1998-02-22)	5X12	19.25
While investigating bizarre exsanguinations in Texas, Mulder kills a teenage boy whom he "mistakes" for a vampire. Awaiting a meeting with Skinner, Mulder and Scully attempt to get their stories “straight” by relating to each other their differing versions of what happened during their investigation. Gillian Anderson voted this her favorite episode.
110	13	"Patient X"**	Kim Manners	Chris Carter & Frank Spotnitz	March 1, 1998 (1998-03-01)	5X13	20.21
Scully forms a bond with Cassandra Spender, a woman who claims to have been abducted by aliens. While Mulder’s disbelief in the alien conspiracy is now questioned, he finds himself with more personal threats at the FBI.
111	14	"The Red and the Black"**	Chris Carter	Chris Carter & Frank Spotnitz	March 8, 1998 (1998-03-08)	5X14	19.98
With Cassandra Spender missing, and her son Jeffrey angrily attempting to push his way up in the FBI, Mulder has Scully put under hypnosis to learn the truth. The Syndicate, meanwhile, quicken their tests for the alien vaccine, sacrificing their own to do so.
112	15	"Travelers"	William A. Graham	John Shiban & Frank Spotnitz	March 29, 1998 (1998-03-29)	5X15	15.06
In 1990, a bizarre murder leads young agent Fox Mulder to question a former FBI Agent who investigated one of the first X-Files dating back to the 1950s — a case which may have involved Mulder’s father.
113	16	"Mind's Eye"	Kim Manners	Tim Minear	April 19, 1998 (1998-04-19)	5X16	16.53
Agents Mulder and Scully investigate a murder that seems to have been committed by a blind woman, but Mulder suspects that her involvement is not what it seems. Guest starring Lili Taylor and Blu Mankuma.
114	17	"All Souls"	Allen Coulter	Teleplay by: Frank Spotnitz & John Shiban Story by: Billy Brown & Dan Angel	April 26, 1998 (1998-04-26)	5X17	13.44
The unexplained death of a young handicapped girl prompts Father McCue to ask Scully for her help, but her investigation leads her to a mystery she’s afraid to understand.
115	18	"The Pine Bluff Variant"	Rob Bowman	John Shiban	May 3, 1998 (1998-05-03)	5X18	18.24
Scully begins to grow suspicious of Mulder, whose increasingly strange behaviour suggests he may be serving another agenda. Guest starring Daniel von Bargen and Sam Anderson.
116	19	"Folie a Deux"	Kim Manners	Vince Gilligan	May 10, 1998 (1998-05-10)	5X19	17.63
Mulder and Scully encounter a delusional man who believes his boss may be a monster — and is willing to pay any price to prove it.
117	20	"The End"**	R. W. Goodwin	Chris Carter	May 17, 1998 (1998-05-17)	5X20	18.76
Investigating the murder of a chess player, Mulder and Scully meet a boy who may be the embodiment of everything in the X-Files. This episode marks the first appearance of Diana Fowley (Mimi Rogers)

External links

• Season 5 on The X-Files Wiki, an external wiki
• List of The X-Files episodes at the Internet Movie Database
• List of The X-Files episodes at TV.com