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 – May 17, 1998
Season chronology
← Previous Season 4 Next → Season 6

Season five of the television show The X-Files began airing on the Fox Broadcasting Network from November 2, 1997, concluding on May 17, 1998, with a total of 20 episodes.

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. It was one of three FOX network shows to rank in the Nielsen Top 20 (the other two being King of the Hill and The Simpsons, all three of which aired on FOX's Sunday night line-up).

Production

Although the X-Files feature film was primarily shot in the hiatus between seasons 4 and 5, 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.^[1]

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)
• Glenn Morshower as Aaron Starkey (1 episode)

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[2]
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	24.80[2]
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[2]
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[2]
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[2]
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[2]
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[2]
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[2]
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[2]
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[2]
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[2]
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[2]
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[2]
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	20.00[2]
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[2]
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[2]
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[2]
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[2]
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[2]
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	18.80[2]
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)

References

1. ^ Carter, Chris, Gilligan, Vince, Shiban, John, Haglund, Dean, Manners, Kim, Bowman, Rob, Spotnitz, Frank, Cartwright, Veronica, Rabwin, Paul, Rogers, Mimi and Goodwin, R.W. "Bob" (1998). The Truth Behind Season 5 (DVD). Fox Home Entertainment. 
2. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t} "The X-Files Compilation: Nielsen Ratings". Compilation. http://x-files.host.sk/nielsens.php. Retrieved February 15, 2011. 

External links

• Season 5 on The X-Files Wiki, an external wiki
• Season 5 at Rotten Tomatoes
• Season 5 at AllRovi