The X-Files (season 7)

The X-Files season 7
Region 1 DVD cover
Country of origin	United States
No. of episodes	22
Broadcast
Original channel	Fox
Original run	November 7, 1999 (1999-11-07) – May 21, 2000 (2000-05-21)
Home video release
DVD release
Region 1	May 13, 2003 (2003-05-13)
Region 2	September 22, 2003 (2003-09-22)
Region 4	October 20, 2003 (2003-10-20)
Season chronology
← Previous Season 6 Next → Season 8
List of The X-Files episodes

The seventh season of the American science fiction television series The X-Files commenced airing on the Fox network in the United States on November 7, 1999, concluded on May 21, 2000, and consists of twenty-two episodes. Season seven takes place after the destruction of the Syndicate, which marked the end of their long-running story arc. This season marks the end of various story arcs, most notably the Samantha Mulder arc, which involved finding the truth about what happened to her.

Season seven received mixed views from critics. After the broadcasting for the season ended, David Duchovny sued Fox and left the show as a main cast member. He would return in later seasons, but as a recurring character instead. After this point, many recurring cast members such as William B. Davis and Laurie Holden would not make an appearance on the show, until the series finale, which aired in 2002.

As sister show Millennium was cancelled in 1999 without concluding any of the long-running arcs, Chris Carter felt he needed to create "closure" for his cancelled show. This season would be the last to feature the old opening sequence for the series. The two later seasons changed the opening sequence in an attempt to renew the series.

Production

Development

The episode "Millennium" was created to give a sort of "closure" for the series Millennium, which was cancelled in 1999. The episode would also mark the first time any of the original crew had done any work on the show, since Millennium was filmed in Vancouver, Canada, as The X-Files had been before it. The episode was later included in the Millennium season three box set and The Complete Series, even though it was not officially a Millennium episode.

The decision to end the long-running story arc about Fox Mulder looking for the truth about what happened to his sister (in the episode "Closure") was decided when the production crew was unsure if the show would be renewed for another season. Kim Manners, director for the show, even called this one of his "favorite" episodes. "My Weakness", a song by Moby from his album Play, is used several times throughout the episode, most notably during the first scene and near the end. Carter never told the series' resident composer Mark Snow about the decision to use someone else's music, although Snow has since said that his reaction to the use of the song was more positive than negative and that the song was a "perfect" fit for the scenes in which it can be heard.

Duchovny contributed to two scripts for the show, the first being "The Sixth Extinction II: Amor Fati" with Carter, and the second being "Hollywood A.D." which he both wrote and directed. Co-star Gillian Anderson also wrote and directed her first and only episode for The X-Files, "all things", which mainly focuses on her character, Dana Scully. The original script for "all things" was intended to be 10–15 minutes longer, the most notable cut off was the scene featuring conversation between Scully and Daniel Waterson (Nicolas Survoy).

Casting

The theater audience in the episode "Hollywood A.D." largely consisted of crew members and their families as a "thank you" for their involvement with the show. Originally the entire audience was to have been made up of this group, but main co-star Gillian Anderson became ill after the filming of "all things", and production was pushed back a week. Extras were hired to fill the spots of people unable to adjust to the changed schedule.

Cast

Main cast

• David Duchovny as Special Agent Fox Mulder
• Gillian Anderson as Special Agent Dana Scully

Recurring cast

Also starring

• Mitch Pileggi as Walter Skinner (11 episodes)
• William B. Davis as The Smoking Man (4 episodes)
• Nicholas Lea as Alex Krycek (2 episodes)

Guest starring

• Tom Braidwood as Melvin Frohike (3 episodes)
• Bruce Harwood as John Fitzgerald Byers (3 episodes)
• Dean Haglund as Richard Langly (3 episodes)
• Rebecca Toolan as Teena Mulder (3 episodes)
• John Finn as Michael Kritschgau (2 episodes)
• Mimi Rogers as Diana Fowley (2 episodes)
• Nick Chinlund as Donnie Pfaster (1 episode)
• Jerry Hardin as Deep Throat (1 episode)
• Laurie Holden as Marita Covarrubias (1 episode)
• Roy Thinnes as Jeremiah Smith (1 episode)
• Brian Thompson as Alien Bounty Hunter (1 episode)
• Floyd Westerman as Albert Hosteen (1 episode)

Crew

Writers and producers

Series creator Chris Carter also served as executive producer and showrunner and wrote six episodes. Frank Spotnitz continued as executive producer and wrote five episodes. Vince Gilligan continued as co-executive producer and wrote six episodes. John Shiban was promoted to supervising producer and wrote one episode. David Amann was promoted to co-producer and wrote two episodes. Jeffrey Bell was promoted to story editor and wrote two episodes. Cyberpunk novelists William Gibson and Tom Maddox returned to write their second of two episodes for the series. Cast member David Duchovny wrote two episodes in season, while other cast members Gillian Anderson and William B. Davis also wrote an episode each. New writers in the seventh season included Steven Maeda and Greg Walker, who wrote one episode; and Chip Johannessen who wrote a single freelance episode. Other producers included Paul Rabwin and Bernadette Caulfield, and Michelle MacLaren who joined as co-executive producer.

Directors

Producing-directors for the show included producer Rob Bowman, supervising producer Kim Manners, and co-executive producer Michael Watkins, who directed the bulk of the episodes for the season. Bowman directed two episodes for his final season on the series, Manners directed seven, and Watkins directed three. Cast members David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson each directed one episode each. Series creator Chris Carter directed a single episode, while series writer Vince Gilligan made his television directorial debut. Other directors for the season included Thomas J. Wright who directed three episodes, with Robert Lieberman, Cliff Bole, and Paul Shapiro each directing one.

Reception

The series was ranked #29 during the 1999–2000 television season, finishing with an average of 12.62 million viewers.

The seventh season earned the series six Primetime Emmy Award nominations, with three wins. The episode "First Person Shooter" won for Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Drama Series and Outstanding Special Visual Effects for a Series, and the episode "Theef" won for Outstanding Makeup for a Series. Other nominations included Mark Snow for Outstanding Music Composition for a Series (Dramatic Underscore) for "Theef", the episode "First Person Shooter" for Outstanding Sound Editing for a Series, and "Rush" for Outstanding Special Visual Effects for a Series.

Episodes

See also: List of The X-Files episodes

The list is ordered by the episodes' original air dates. Episodes marked with an asterisk (*) are part of the series' mytharc. Episodes with a double asterisk (**) are part of the series' Alien Mythology.

№	#	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date	Production code	U.S. viewers (millions)
140	1	"The Sixth Extinction"**	Kim Manners	Chris Carter	November 7, 1999 (1999-11-07)	7ABX03	17.82
Walter Skinner (Mitch Pileggi) and Michael Kritschgau (John Finn) work desperately to attempt to discover what is wrong with Fox Mulder (David Duchovny), who is imprisoned by his own frenetic brain activity, but they are unaware of Agent Diana Fowley’s (Mimi Rogers) duplicity. In the meanwhile, Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) is hunting for an ancient artifact in Africa.
141	2	"The Sixth Extinction II: Amor Fati"**	Michael Watkins	David Duchovny & Chris Carter	November 14, 1999 (1999-11-14)	7ABX04	16.15
Returning to Washington to find Mulder gone, Scully joins Kritschgau and Skinner - who is still being forced into betrayal by Alex Krycek (Nicholas Lea) - to find her partner. However, the Cigarette Smoking Man (William B. Davis) has taken Mulder to a place where all his problems are gone and Fowley is forced to make a choice about her loyalties.
142	3	"Hungry"	Kim Manners	Vince Gilligan	November 21, 1999 (1999-11-21)	7ABX01	16.17
In a unique episode told from the point-of-view of the “monster”, a fast-food employee with unusual cravings becomes the focus of an FBI investigation. The victims appear with no brain and a suction hole in the forehead.
143	4	"Millennium"	Thomas J. Wright	Vince Gilligan & Frank Spotnitz	November 28, 1999 (1999-11-28)	7ABX05	15.09
An associate of the Millennium Group, which believes the apocalypse will happen on the new year of 2000, resurrects the dead for use in the bringing about of the apocalypse, and Mulder and Scully have to ask the help of criminal profiler Frank Black (Lance Henriksen), a man who has former experience with the shadowy group.
144	5	"Rush"	Robert Lieberman	David Amann	December 5, 1999 (1999-12-05)	7ABX06	12.71
When a school student becomes the prime suspect in the bizarre murder of a police officer, Mulder and Scully are sent to investigate. They discover that the boy and a couple of friends have been playing with the ability to accelerate their movements to a frequency the human eye can’t perceive.
145	6	"The Goldberg Variation"	Thomas J. Wright	Jeffrey Bell	December 12, 1999 (1999-12-12)	7ABX02	14.49
After being thrown off a building and surviving, Henry Weems, who appears to be the luckiest man in the world, attracts the attention of Mulder and Scully. But, if he’s so lucky, why is he on the run from the mob, and why is everyone around him so unlucky?
146	7	"Orison"	Rob Bowman	Chip Johannessen	January 9, 2000 (2000-01-09)	7ABX07	15.63
Reverend Orison releases Donnie Pfaster, Scully’s former kidnapper ("Irresistible" Season 2), from jail in the hopes of passing judgment on him. What he discovers instead is that he has released pure evil, and it’s headed for Scully.
147	8	"The Amazing Maleeni"	Thomas J. Wright	Vince Gilligan & John Shiban & Frank Spotnitz	January 16, 2000 (2000-01-16)	7ABX08	16.18
The Amazing Maleeni, a small-time magician, performs an amazing feat to impress a heckler - he turns his head 360 degrees. So when he is later found without a head at all, Mulder and Scully arrive on the case and discover an angry ex-con, an unimpressed rival, and Maleeni’s twin brother all seem to have something to do with the plan to rob a major bank.
148	9	"Signs and Wonders"	Kim Manners	Jeffrey Bell	January 23, 2000 (2000-01-23)	7ABX09	13.86
When a small town church is the site of a number of ritualistic-like murders, fingers are pointed to the Church of God with Signs and Wonders, a church where the Bible is read literally, and punishment is dealt deftly. But soon the agents realize that the difference between the peaceful religious and the fanatics may not be very much at all.
149	10	"Sein und Zeit"**	Michael Watkins	Chris Carter & Frank Spotnitz	February 6, 2000 (2000-02-06)	7ABX10	13.95
While investigating the bizarre disappearance of a young girl from her home, Mulder becomes obsessed with a number of children who have vanished in similar ways. Scully's fears that he is emotionally involved due to his sister's disappearance 27 years earlier are heightened when Mulder's mother dies, apparently of suicide.
150	11	"Closure"**	Kim Manners	Chris Carter & Frank Spotnitz	February 13, 2000 (2000-02-13)	7ABX11	15.35
As Mulder is forced to accept that his mother’s death was by her own hand, he is led by a man whose son disappeared years earlier to another truth - that his sister may be among the souls taken by ‘walk-ins’, saving the souls of children doomed to live unhappy lives. Together, they embark on a journey that will reveal to Mulder the truth about his sister’s disappearance.
151	12	"X-Cops"	Michael Watkins	Vince Gilligan	February 20, 2000 (2000-02-20)	7ABX12	16.56
A filming of an episode of COPS gets in the way of the collaborative effort between the FBI and the local police department. Mulder later finds out that the monster feeds on fear. While Mulder embraces the publicity, Scully is not so sure of it. The episode was filmed as if it was an authentic episode of the TV series COPS.
152	13	"First Person Shooter"	Chris Carter	William Gibson & Tom Maddox	February 27, 2000 (2000-02-27)	7ABX13	15.31
The Lone Gunmen summon Mulder and Scully to the headquarters of a video game design company when the new virtual-reality game, which the Gunmen helped design, is taken over by a bizarre female computer character whose power is much more than virtual.
153	14	"Theef"	Kim Manners	Vince Gilligan & John Shiban & Frank Spotnitz	March 12, 2000 (2000-03-12)	7ABX14	11.91
After a prominent doctor discovers his father-in-law dead and the word "Theef" written on the wall in blood, Mulder suspects hexcraft may be the source of threats against the doctor's family.
154	15	"En Ami"**	Rob Bowman	William B. Davis	March 19, 2000 (2000-03-19)	7ABX15	11.99
After a young boy with cancer, whose parents don’t believe in medical treatment because it is against God’s will, recovers miraculously, Scully is intrigued. What she soon discovers is that his cure is not miraculous, but scientific. Eager, if wary, to learn of the truth behind his secrets, Scully agrees to travel with the Cigarette Smoking Man to get the cure to all mankind’s diseases.
155	16	"Chimera"	Cliff Bole	David Amann	April 2, 2000 (2000-04-02)	7ABX16	12.89
Mulder investigates what appears to be a missing case of a woman from a small town, but soon turns out to be a murder by a spirit summoned from the underworld. Scully, meanwhile, must endure an uncomfortable stakeout.
156	17	"all things"	Gillian Anderson	Gillian Anderson	April 9, 2000 (2000-04-09)	7ABX17	12.18
While Mulder is away in England, Scully is led by coincidences, chance, fate and possibly a higher power to a married man whom she had an affair with during medical school, and a look at the life she didn’t choose, forcing her to make choices about her future.
157	18	"Brand X"	Kim Manners	Steven Maeda & Greg Walker	April 16, 2000 (2000-04-16)	7ABX19	10.81
While protecting a man due to testify against the Morley cigarette company, Skinner is horrified when the witness dies mysteriously. What the agents soon discover is that a new brand of cigarette has a dangerous secret.
158	19	"Hollywood A.D."	David Duchovny	David Duchovny	April 30, 2000 (2000-04-30)	7ABX18	12.88
An entrepreneurial Hollywood producer and college friend of Skinner picks up the idea for a film based on the X-Files, however the agents find that the level of realism in their fictional portrayal is somewhat questionable.
159	20	"Fight Club"	Paul Shapiro	Chris Carter	May 7, 2000 (2000-05-07)	7ABX20	11.70
Mulder and Scully cross paths with a pair of doppelgangers whose close proximity yields unlimited mayhem. Splitting up in two, the agent tries to find out "why" and "what" they are doing.
160	21	"Je Souhaite"	Vince Gilligan	Vince Gilligan	May 14, 2000 (2000-05-14)	7ABX21	12.79
Mulder and Scully's encounter with a man and his wheelchair-bound, mentally-impaired brother leads them to an indifferent genie whose willingness to grant wishes belies a deeper motive.
161	22	"Requiem"**	Kim Manners	Chris Carter	May 21, 2000 (2000-05-21)	7ABX22	15.26
Mulder and Scully return to the site of their first investigation together when a series of abductions take place. However, Scully's failing health, and Mulder's concern that she is in danger, cause him to take her off the case. Meanwhile, the Cigarette-Smoking Man - on his deathbed - reunites with Marita Covarrubias (Laurie Holden) and Krycek in an attempt to revive the project. Guest starring Zachary Ansley, Darin Cooper, Brian Thompson and Sarah Koskoff.

External links

• Season 7 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