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3 (The X-Files)
Encyclopedia
"3" is the seventh episode of the second season
of the American science fiction
television series The X-Files
. It premiered on the Fox network
on . It was written by Glen Morgan
, James Wong
and Chris Ruppenthal, directed by David Nutter
, and featured guest appearances by Perrey Reeves
and Malcolm Stewart
. The episode is a "Monster-of-the-Week" story, unconnected to the series' wider mythology
.
FBI Special Agent Fox Mulder
(David Duchovny
) is brought in to investigate a series of ritualistic murders in Los Angeles. At first believing the killings to be the work of a cult, he learns that a group of vampires is in fact responsible. Following on from the abduction of Dana Scully
in the previous episode, "Ascension
", "3" was the first episode of The X-Files not to feature series star Gillian Anderson
. The episode earned 9 million viewers during its first broadcast, and received mostly negative reviews from both critics and the show's crew.
, Garrett Lorre, a middle-aged businessman, embarks on a one night stand
with an anonymous woman he has met at a corporate party. However, as they are making love in his hot tub
, the woman bites Lorre to drink his blood. Two other men join the woman, helping her kill Lorre by repeatedly stabbing him with hypodermic needle
s.
The following day, Fox Mulder
returns to his basement office following the reopening of the X-Files
; Dana Scully
is still missing, and her FBI
badge is stored in an X-File
under her name. Mulder travels alone to Los Angeles to investigate Lorre's murder, the latest in a series of seemingly vampiric
serial killings
that have spanned two other states. Due to the occupations of the victims, Mulder believes that the killers view themselves as an "Unholy Trinity
". True to the killers' modus operandi
, the words "JOHN 52:54" are written on a wall in Lorre's blood, referencing the drinking of blood and the gaining of eternal life.
Mulder visits a local blood bank
where a night watchman, Frank, has been recently hired. Mulder discovers Frank drinking blood in the facility's storeroom and arrests him when he tries to flee. During his interrogation
, Frank tells Mulder that he belongs to a trio of vampires who desire immortality
; he is known as "The Son" while the other two, a man and a woman, are called "The Father" and "The Unholy Spirit". Mulder does not believe The Son's claims, and decides to keep him in the interrogation room until the morning sunlight scares him into talking. However, at sunrise, The Son is burned to death when the sunlight touches his flesh. Mulder is taken aback, having previously assumed vampires to be purely mythological.
During an examination of The Son's body, Mulder discovers a tattoo for Club Tepes, a local vampire club
. He goes there, coming across a seductive young woman named Kristen Kilar. Kristen partakes in the consumption of blood, and makes cryptic comments which arouse Mulder's suspicion; she also senses Mulder's sense of loss over Scully. Mulder follows Kristen when she and another club patron, David Yung, leave for an erotic liaison in a restaurant kitchen; he initially fears that Kristen is targeting Yung, but is beaten by Yung when he catches the agent spying on them. However, Yung is murdered by the three killers shortly afterward.
Mulder runs a background check into Kristen, discovering that she formerly lived in Memphis and Portland
— both the previous locations of earlier murders. Mulder assists LAPD
detectives in searching Kristen's home, he finds various blood-related paraphernalia
. When Kristen arrives later Mulder is waiting for her. Kristen tells Mulder that she met John, AKA The Son in Chicago and that they had drunk each other's blood. Later two others appeared. Kristen fled but they followed her across the country. The two kiss while John, alive after all, watches on.
The next morning John confronts Kristen and tells her that by killing Mulder and drinking the blood of a believer, she will become one of them. Kristen approaches Mulder with a knife but instead stabs The Father, who is hiding in the bedroom. The Son attacks Mulder but Mulder overcomes him and ties him up. Mulder and Kristen try to escape with the car but are attacked in the garage by The Unholy Spirit. Kristen drives into her, impaling her on a wooden peg on the wall. Kristen tricks Mulder into running outside of the house while she goes back inside and pours gasoline all over the house. Kristen lights a match, blowing up the house and taking her own life in order to kill the other vampires. Firefighters find four bodies in the wreckage while Mulder stares at Scully's cross necklace.
Perrey Reeves, who played Kristen, was David Duchovny's real-life girlfriend at the time. Speaking of Mulder's possible sexual encounter with Kristen, series creator Chris Carter said, "I thought, 'This guy's a monk. Let's let him be a human. Especially in [Scully's] absence, it seemed like a perfect opportunity to do it." Duchovny had previously acted alongside another real-life girlfriend, Maggie Wheeler
, in the first season
episode "Born Again
".
Gillian Anderson is absent from the episode due to giving birth to her daughter Piper at the time. This episode was the first in which Scully did not appear. Club Tepes is named after Prince Vlad Tepes—Vlad the Impaler—who was the inspiration for Dracula.
on , and was first broadcast in the United Kingdom
on BBC Two
on . This episode earned a Nielsen rating of 9.4, with a 16 share, meaning that roughly 9.4 percent of all television-equipped households, and 16 percent of households watching television, were tuned in to the episode. It was viewed by 9 million households.
Co-writer Glen Morgan felt doing an episode on vampires was a mistake, and said that they also took heat for having Mulder fall for Kristen. Co-writer James Wong was also disappointed, saying that the script was a lot better than the show and that the episode was weakened when Fox censors had problems with the episode. Actor David Duchovny thought the episode had style, but suffered some lapses in logic, including the scene where Kristen shaves him.
Director David Nutter called the episode "a very different show because it's the first one without Scully. She's been away for quite some time. It's a situation where Mulder is in a dark place, doesn't know which way to turn, and is really very much on his own. The whole vampire thing happened because he went to a dark place that he normally wouldn't have gone to."
Entertainment Weekly
gave the episode a C, criticizing the fact that it did not explore enough the "promising premise" of Scully's absence. Critical Myth's John Keegan also considered that without said premise "the series loses a valuable storytelling opportunity", and reviewer Zack Handlen of The A.V. Club
said Scully's absence "deserve[d] better than to be background noise for a by-the-numbers erotic thriller". Keegan bashed the portrayal of the vampires, saying the Unholy Trinity "come across as wannabes", and the depiction of the creatures' sexuality was "even more baffling than it normally would be". The reviewer added that "this episode comes across as a vehicle for David Duchovny’s girlfriend at the time", finishing his analysis by saying "3" "is something best forgotten". Handlen considered Mulder and Kristen's "tedious romance" as "all kinds of misguided", and felt the episode indulged in "lazy writing" regarding the over-explored theme of vampires which resulted in "terrible dialogue and heavy-handed attempts at mood". He still praised David Duchovny's performance and felt the first twenty minutes were "endurable trash" with a "serious USA Up All Night
vibe".
The X-Files (season 2)
The second season of the science fiction television series The X-Files commenced airing on Fox in the United States on September 16, 1994, concluded on the same channel on May 19, 1995, and contained 25 episodes.- Production :...
of the American science fiction
Science fiction on television
Science fiction first appeared on a television program during the Golden Age of Science Fiction. Special effects and other production techniques allow creators to present a living visual image of an imaginary world not limited by the constraints of reality; this makes television an excellent medium...
television series The X-Files
The X-Files
The X-Files is an American science fiction television series and a part of The X-Files franchise, created by screenwriter Chris Carter. The program originally aired from to . The show was a hit for the Fox network, and its characters and slogans became popular culture touchstones in the 1990s...
. It premiered on the Fox network
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
on . It was written by Glen Morgan
Glen Morgan
Glen Morgan is an American television producer, writer, and director.-Biography:Morgan is best known for his screen work with long-time writing partner James Wong, including The X-Files, Millennium, Space: Above and Beyond, the Final Destination series, The One, Willard, and the 2006 remake of...
, James Wong
James Wong (producer)
James 'Jim' Wong is a Cantonese-American television producer, writer, and film director notable for his screen works of The X-Files, Space: Above and Beyond, Millennium, Final Destination 1 & 3, The One, and the remakes of Willard and Black Christmas along with writing partner Glen...
and Chris Ruppenthal, directed by David Nutter
David Nutter
David Nutter is an American television and film director and television producer. He is best known for directing pilot episodes for television series, being known as "the pilot whisperer."-Career:...
, and featured guest appearances by Perrey Reeves
Perrey Reeves
Perrey Reeves is an American film and television actress best known for her role on HBO's Entourage.- Life and career :...
and Malcolm Stewart
Malcolm Stewart (actor)
Malcolm Stewart is an Canadian film actor. Stewart graduated from the University of Vermont.-Selected filmography:-External links:...
. The episode is a "Monster-of-the-Week" story, unconnected to the series' wider mythology
Mythology of The X-Files
The mythology of The X-Files, sometimes referred to as its mytharc by the show's staff and fans, follows the quest of FBI Special Agents Fox Mulder , a believer in supernatural phenomena, and Dana Scully , his skeptical partner. Their boss, FBI Assistant Director Walter Skinner was also often...
.
FBI Special Agent Fox Mulder
Fox Mulder
FBI Special Agent Fox William Mulder is a fictional character and protagonist in the American Fox television shows The X-Files and The Lone Gunmen, two science fiction shows about a government conspiracy to hide or deny the truth of Alien existence. Mulder's peers consider his theories on...
(David Duchovny
David Duchovny
David William Duchovny is an American actor, writer and director. He has won Golden Globe awards for his work as FBI Special Agent Fox Mulder on The X-Files and as Hank Moody on Californication.-Early life:...
) is brought in to investigate a series of ritualistic murders in Los Angeles. At first believing the killings to be the work of a cult, he learns that a group of vampires is in fact responsible. Following on from the abduction of Dana Scully
Dana Scully
FBI Special Agent Dana Katherine Scully, M.D. is a fictional character and protagonist on the Fox television series The X-Files , played by Gillian Anderson. She also appeared in two theatrical films based on the series...
in the previous episode, "Ascension
Ascension (The X-Files)
"Ascension" is the sixth episode of the second season of the science fiction television series The X-Files. "Ascension" concerns Mulder's pursuit of Scully, who has been kidnapped by alien abductee Duane Barry.- Plot :...
", "3" was the first episode of The X-Files not to feature series star Gillian Anderson
Gillian Anderson
Gillian Leigh Anderson is an American actress.After beginning her career in theatre, Anderson achieved international recognition for her role as Special Agent Dana Scully on the American television series The X-Files. During the show's nine seasons, Anderson won Emmy, Golden Globe, and Screen...
. The episode earned 9 million viewers during its first broadcast, and received mostly negative reviews from both critics and the show's crew.
Plot
In Los AngelesLos Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, Garrett Lorre, a middle-aged businessman, embarks on a one night stand
One Night Stand
One Night Stand is an HBO stand-up series that first aired on February 15, 1989. The half-hour series aired weekly and featured stand-up comedy specials from some of the top performing comedians. The series originally comprised 55 specials over the course of its four years on HBO...
with an anonymous woman he has met at a corporate party. However, as they are making love in his hot tub
Hot tub
A hot tub is a large tub or small pool full of heated water and used for soaking, relaxation, massage, or hydrotherapy. In most cases, they have jets for massage purposes. Hot tubs are usually located outdoors, and are often sheltered for protection from the elements, as well as for privacy....
, the woman bites Lorre to drink his blood. Two other men join the woman, helping her kill Lorre by repeatedly stabbing him with hypodermic needle
Hypodermic needle
A hypodermic needle is a hollow needle commonly used with a syringe to inject substances into the body or extract fluids from it...
s.
The following day, Fox Mulder
Fox Mulder
FBI Special Agent Fox William Mulder is a fictional character and protagonist in the American Fox television shows The X-Files and The Lone Gunmen, two science fiction shows about a government conspiracy to hide or deny the truth of Alien existence. Mulder's peers consider his theories on...
returns to his basement office following the reopening of the X-Files
Ascension (The X-Files)
"Ascension" is the sixth episode of the second season of the science fiction television series The X-Files. "Ascension" concerns Mulder's pursuit of Scully, who has been kidnapped by alien abductee Duane Barry.- Plot :...
; Dana Scully
Dana Scully
FBI Special Agent Dana Katherine Scully, M.D. is a fictional character and protagonist on the Fox television series The X-Files , played by Gillian Anderson. She also appeared in two theatrical films based on the series...
is still missing, and her FBI
Federal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that serves as both a federal criminal investigative body and an internal intelligence agency . The FBI has investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crime...
badge is stored in an X-File
X-file
On the television series The X-Files, an X-File is a fictional case that has been deemed unsolvable by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The files constitute an unassigned project outside the Bureau mainstream that is more or less concerned with unexplained phenomena. -First X-Files:The very...
under her name. Mulder travels alone to Los Angeles to investigate Lorre's murder, the latest in a series of seemingly vampiric
Vampire
Vampires are mythological or folkloric beings who subsist by feeding on the life essence of living creatures, regardless of whether they are undead or a living person...
serial killings
Serial killer
A serial killer, as typically defined, is an individual who has murdered three or more people over a period of more than a month, with down time between the murders, and whose motivation for killing is usually based on psychological gratification...
that have spanned two other states. Due to the occupations of the victims, Mulder believes that the killers view themselves as an "Unholy Trinity
Unholy Trinity
Unholy Trinity may refer to:*In Christianity, an “Unholy Trinity” composed of Satan, Antichrist, and the False Prophet*Impossible trinity or Unholy Trinity, a concept in international economicsIn popular culture:...
". True to the killers' modus operandi
Modus operandi
Modus operandi is a Latin phrase, approximately translated as "mode of operation". The term is used to describe someone's habits or manner of working, their method of operating or functioning...
, the words "JOHN 52:54" are written on a wall in Lorre's blood, referencing the drinking of blood and the gaining of eternal life.
Mulder visits a local blood bank
Blood bank
A blood bank is a cache or bank of blood or blood components, gathered as a result of blood donation, stored and preserved for later use in blood transfusion. The term "blood bank" typically refers to a division of a hospital laboratory where the storage of blood product occurs and where proper...
where a night watchman, Frank, has been recently hired. Mulder discovers Frank drinking blood in the facility's storeroom and arrests him when he tries to flee. During his interrogation
Interrogation
Interrogation is interviewing as commonly employed by officers of the police, military, and Intelligence agencies with the goal of extracting a confession or obtaining information. Subjects of interrogation are often the suspects, victims, or witnesses of a crime...
, Frank tells Mulder that he belongs to a trio of vampires who desire immortality
Immortality
Immortality is the ability to live forever. It is unknown whether human physical immortality is an achievable condition. Biological forms have inherent limitations which may or may not be able to be overcome through medical interventions or engineering...
; he is known as "The Son" while the other two, a man and a woman, are called "The Father" and "The Unholy Spirit". Mulder does not believe The Son's claims, and decides to keep him in the interrogation room until the morning sunlight scares him into talking. However, at sunrise, The Son is burned to death when the sunlight touches his flesh. Mulder is taken aback, having previously assumed vampires to be purely mythological.
During an examination of The Son's body, Mulder discovers a tattoo for Club Tepes, a local vampire club
Vampire lifestyle
The vampire lifestyle or vampire subculture is an alternative lifestyle, based on the modern perception of vampires in popular fiction. The vampire subculture has stemmed largely from the goth subculture, but also incorporates some elements of the sadomasochism subculture...
. He goes there, coming across a seductive young woman named Kristen Kilar. Kristen partakes in the consumption of blood, and makes cryptic comments which arouse Mulder's suspicion; she also senses Mulder's sense of loss over Scully. Mulder follows Kristen when she and another club patron, David Yung, leave for an erotic liaison in a restaurant kitchen; he initially fears that Kristen is targeting Yung, but is beaten by Yung when he catches the agent spying on them. However, Yung is murdered by the three killers shortly afterward.
Mulder runs a background check into Kristen, discovering that she formerly lived in Memphis and Portland
Portland, Oregon
Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
— both the previous locations of earlier murders. Mulder assists LAPD
Los Angeles Police Department
The Los Angeles Police Department is the police department of the city of Los Angeles, California. With just under 10,000 officers and more than 3,000 civilian staff, covering an area of with a population of more than 4.1 million people, it is the third largest local law enforcement agency in...
detectives in searching Kristen's home, he finds various blood-related paraphernalia
Paraphernalia
In modern usage, the word paraphernalia most commonly refers to apparatus, equipment, or furnishing used in or necessary for a particular activity as in, "Beth is such an avid sports fan that her walls are covered with baseball paraphernalia"....
. When Kristen arrives later Mulder is waiting for her. Kristen tells Mulder that she met John, AKA The Son in Chicago and that they had drunk each other's blood. Later two others appeared. Kristen fled but they followed her across the country. The two kiss while John, alive after all, watches on.
The next morning John confronts Kristen and tells her that by killing Mulder and drinking the blood of a believer, she will become one of them. Kristen approaches Mulder with a knife but instead stabs The Father, who is hiding in the bedroom. The Son attacks Mulder but Mulder overcomes him and ties him up. Mulder and Kristen try to escape with the car but are attacked in the garage by The Unholy Spirit. Kristen drives into her, impaling her on a wooden peg on the wall. Kristen tricks Mulder into running outside of the house while she goes back inside and pours gasoline all over the house. Kristen lights a match, blowing up the house and taking her own life in order to kill the other vampires. Firefighters find four bodies in the wreckage while Mulder stares at Scully's cross necklace.
Production
Howard Gordon was originally supposed to write the seventh episode of the season, but when that couldn't happen, Glen Morgan and James Wong, who were working on writing the eighth episode of the season agreed to rewrite a freelance script provided by Chris Ruppenthal. The writers had to do significant edits, but retained the main plot surrounding three vampires.Perrey Reeves, who played Kristen, was David Duchovny's real-life girlfriend at the time. Speaking of Mulder's possible sexual encounter with Kristen, series creator Chris Carter said, "I thought, 'This guy's a monk. Let's let him be a human. Especially in [Scully's] absence, it seemed like a perfect opportunity to do it." Duchovny had previously acted alongside another real-life girlfriend, Maggie Wheeler
Maggie Wheeler
Maggie Wheeler is an American actress, best known for her role as Janice on the TV show Friends.-Personal life:Wheeler was born Margaret Emily Jakobson in Manhattan...
, in the first season
The X-Files (season 1)
The first season of the science fiction television series The X-Files commenced airing on the Fox network in the United States on September 10, 1993 and concluded on the same channel on May 13, 1994 after airing all 24 episodes....
episode "Born Again
Born Again (The X-Files)
"Born Again" is the twenty-second episode of the first season of the American science fiction television series The X-Files. It premiered on the Fox network on April 22, 1994. "Born Again" was written by Howard Gordon and Alex Gansa, and directed by Jerrold Freedman. The episode featured guest...
".
Gillian Anderson is absent from the episode due to giving birth to her daughter Piper at the time. This episode was the first in which Scully did not appear. Club Tepes is named after Prince Vlad Tepes—Vlad the Impaler—who was the inspiration for Dracula.
Broadcast and reception
"3" premiered on the Fox networkFox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
on , and was first broadcast in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
on BBC Two
BBC Two
BBC Two is the second television channel operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It covers a wide range of subject matter, but tending towards more 'highbrow' programmes than the more mainstream and popular BBC One. Like the BBC's other domestic TV and radio...
on . This episode earned a Nielsen rating of 9.4, with a 16 share, meaning that roughly 9.4 percent of all television-equipped households, and 16 percent of households watching television, were tuned in to the episode. It was viewed by 9 million households.
Co-writer Glen Morgan felt doing an episode on vampires was a mistake, and said that they also took heat for having Mulder fall for Kristen. Co-writer James Wong was also disappointed, saying that the script was a lot better than the show and that the episode was weakened when Fox censors had problems with the episode. Actor David Duchovny thought the episode had style, but suffered some lapses in logic, including the scene where Kristen shaves him.
Director David Nutter called the episode "a very different show because it's the first one without Scully. She's been away for quite some time. It's a situation where Mulder is in a dark place, doesn't know which way to turn, and is really very much on his own. The whole vampire thing happened because he went to a dark place that he normally wouldn't have gone to."
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
gave the episode a C, criticizing the fact that it did not explore enough the "promising premise" of Scully's absence. Critical Myth's John Keegan also considered that without said premise "the series loses a valuable storytelling opportunity", and reviewer Zack Handlen of The A.V. Club
The A.V. Club
The A.V. Club is an entertainment newspaper and website published by The Onion. Its features include reviews of new films, music, television, books, games and DVDs, as well as interviews and other regular offerings examining both new and classic media and other elements of pop culture. Unlike its...
said Scully's absence "deserve[d] better than to be background noise for a by-the-numbers erotic thriller". Keegan bashed the portrayal of the vampires, saying the Unholy Trinity "come across as wannabes", and the depiction of the creatures' sexuality was "even more baffling than it normally would be". The reviewer added that "this episode comes across as a vehicle for David Duchovny’s girlfriend at the time", finishing his analysis by saying "3" "is something best forgotten". Handlen considered Mulder and Kristen's "tedious romance" as "all kinds of misguided", and felt the episode indulged in "lazy writing" regarding the over-explored theme of vampires which resulted in "terrible dialogue and heavy-handed attempts at mood". He still praised David Duchovny's performance and felt the first twenty minutes were "endurable trash" with a "serious USA Up All Night
USA Up All Night
USA Up All Night is an American cable television series that aired weekly on Friday and Saturday nights on the USA Network. The show aired from 1989 to 1998.-Synopsis:...
vibe".