Gethsemane (The X-Files)
Encyclopedia
"Gethsemane" is the fourth season finale of the science fiction
television series The X-Files
. The episode first aired in Canada
and the United States
on the Fox network
and subsequently aired in the United Kingdom
on Sky1. Fox Mulder
(David Duchovny
) discovers the ultimate proof of extraterrestrial life while Dana Scully
’s (Gillian Anderson
) cancer gets worse, but she may not be the agent whose life is over.
to police investigating a dead body in Fox Mulder
's apartment. Dana Scully
confirms the unseen body's identity and leaves. She subsequently appears before an FBI
panel led by Section Chief Scott Blevins, reviewing her work with Mulder on the X-Files
.
In Canada
's St. Elias Mountains, a frozen extraterrestrial body is discovered by an expedition team. Professor Arlinsky, the team's leader, sends ice core samples
containing presumably alien DNA
to Mulder. Scully has the samples tested and confirms the DNA's non-terrestrial origin, but is attacked by a man who steals the samples. Scully learns that her attacker is Michael Kritschgau, a Defense Department
employee. When she tracks down Kritschgau and hold him at gunpoint, he reveals that he might be killed.
Meanwhile Mulder and Arlinsky venture to the Canadian mountains where the alien corpse was found, but when they arrive at the site they find that all of the people on the expedition have been shot to death, except for Babcock, who reveals that he has saved the alien corpse from theft by burying it. Together, the three of them bring the corpse back to Washington. There, Mulder and Arlinsky perform an autopsy on the alien, believing that is in fact extraterrestrial. Mulder leaves to meet with Scully and a mysterious assassin, Ostelhoff, arrives soon after and kills Arlinksy.
Mulder meets with Scully and Kritschgau. Kritschgau tells Mulder that the existence of alien life is a hoax perpetuated by the U.S. government in order to cover up the military industrial complex. Kritschgau, who is revealing this to Mulder due to his son getting sick during the Gulf War, tells Mulder that everything he knows about aliens is a lie. He tells him that his sister's abduction was fabricated, that all UFO sightings are in fact military aircraft, and that all evidence of alien biology is naturally occurring scientific anomalies. Kritschgau tells him that the alien body is a fabrication as well, and that he was meant to see it and go public with the news, but to not realize that the body was actually fake. Mulder doesn't believe Kritschgau, but returns to Arlinsky's warehouse, where he finds Arlinsky and Babcock dead and the alien body missing. Mulder still refuses to believe this was a hoax until Scully tells him Kritschgau told her that she was given cancer to make him believe.
A distraught Mulder sits in his apartment watching a conference about extraterrestrial life on TV. The narrative returns to the present where Scully reveals that Mulder died the previous night of an apparent self inflicted gunshot wound to the head.
The title is an allusion to the biblical garden of Gethsemane
where Jesus Christ was betrayed by Judas
. The character Michael Kritschgau was named after a former drama teacher of Gillian Anderson. The tagline for this episode is changed to "Believe the Lie". This episode marks the first appearance of one of Scully's brothers since a flashback in the season two episode "One Breath
". Section Chief Scott Blevins makes his first appearance since the fourth episode of season one
, "Conduit
."
was really dead. An article in the Wall Street Journal discusses fan theories behind Mulder's madness while a cartoon ran in The New Yorker
a few weeks later surrounding Mulder's 'death'. Chris Carter
said of the episode "The whole plot line of "Gethsemane" revolved around a hoax, but there are actually huge revelations in this show. And it's an amazing thing that we could get people to believe that Mulder could actually kill himself because his belief system was stolen from him."
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
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...
. The episode first aired in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
and the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
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...
and subsequently aired 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 Sky1. 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:...
) discovers the ultimate proof of extraterrestrial life while 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...
’s (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...
) cancer gets worse, but she may not be the agent whose life is over.
Plot
The episode opens in medias resIn medias res
In medias res or medias in res is a Latin phrase denoting the literary and artistic narrative technique wherein the relation of a story begins either at the mid-point or at the conclusion, rather than at the beginning In medias res or medias in res (into the middle of things) is a Latin phrase...
to police investigating a dead body in 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...
's apartment. 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...
confirms the unseen body's identity and leaves. She subsequently appears before an 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...
panel led by Section Chief Scott Blevins, reviewing her work with Mulder on the X-Files
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...
.
In Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
's St. Elias Mountains, a frozen extraterrestrial body is discovered by an expedition team. Professor Arlinsky, the team's leader, sends ice core samples
Core sample
A core sample is a cylindrical section of a naturally occurring substance. Most core samples are obtained by drilling with special drills into the substance, for example sediment or rock, with a hollow steel tube called a core drill. The hole made for the core sample is called the "core hole". A...
containing presumably alien DNA
DNA
Deoxyribonucleic acid is a nucleic acid that contains the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all known living organisms . The DNA segments that carry this genetic information are called genes, but other DNA sequences have structural purposes, or are involved in...
to Mulder. Scully has the samples tested and confirms the DNA's non-terrestrial origin, but is attacked by a man who steals the samples. Scully learns that her attacker is Michael Kritschgau, a Defense Department
United States Department of Defense
The United States Department of Defense is the U.S...
employee. When she tracks down Kritschgau and hold him at gunpoint, he reveals that he might be killed.
Meanwhile Mulder and Arlinsky venture to the Canadian mountains where the alien corpse was found, but when they arrive at the site they find that all of the people on the expedition have been shot to death, except for Babcock, who reveals that he has saved the alien corpse from theft by burying it. Together, the three of them bring the corpse back to Washington. There, Mulder and Arlinsky perform an autopsy on the alien, believing that is in fact extraterrestrial. Mulder leaves to meet with Scully and a mysterious assassin, Ostelhoff, arrives soon after and kills Arlinksy.
Mulder meets with Scully and Kritschgau. Kritschgau tells Mulder that the existence of alien life is a hoax perpetuated by the U.S. government in order to cover up the military industrial complex. Kritschgau, who is revealing this to Mulder due to his son getting sick during the Gulf War, tells Mulder that everything he knows about aliens is a lie. He tells him that his sister's abduction was fabricated, that all UFO sightings are in fact military aircraft, and that all evidence of alien biology is naturally occurring scientific anomalies. Kritschgau tells him that the alien body is a fabrication as well, and that he was meant to see it and go public with the news, but to not realize that the body was actually fake. Mulder doesn't believe Kritschgau, but returns to Arlinsky's warehouse, where he finds Arlinsky and Babcock dead and the alien body missing. Mulder still refuses to believe this was a hoax until Scully tells him Kritschgau told her that she was given cancer to make him believe.
A distraught Mulder sits in his apartment watching a conference about extraterrestrial life on TV. The narrative returns to the present where Scully reveals that Mulder died the previous night of an apparent self inflicted gunshot wound to the head.
Production
The cave where the alien body was found was one of the most expensive and elaborate sets created in the show's history. It was built within a refrigerated building and involved truckloads of lumber and 10000 square feet (929 m²) of styrofoam. The outdoor scenes were filmed around the nearby Mount Seymour. The first cut of the episode was 12 minutes too long, resulting in some of the scenes in the mountains being removed. Chris Carter reedited the entire episode two days before it aired.The title is an allusion to the biblical garden of Gethsemane
Gethsemane
Gethsemane is a garden at the foot of the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem most famous as the place where, according to Biblical texts, Jesus and his disciples are said to have prayed the night before Jesus' crucifixion.- Etymology :...
where Jesus Christ was betrayed by Judas
Judas Iscariot
Judas Iscariot was, according to the New Testament, one of the twelve disciples of Jesus. He is best known for his betrayal of Jesus to the hands of the chief priests for 30 pieces of silver.-Etymology:...
. The character Michael Kritschgau was named after a former drama teacher of Gillian Anderson. The tagline for this episode is changed to "Believe the Lie". This episode marks the first appearance of one of Scully's brothers since a flashback in the season two episode "One Breath
One Breath
"One Breath" is the eighth episode of the second season of the science fiction television series The X-Files created by Chris Carter. This episode features the return of Scully from her abduction in a coma-like state.- Plot :...
". Section Chief Scott Blevins makes his first appearance since the fourth episode of season one
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....
, "Conduit
Conduit (The X-Files)
"Conduit" is the fourth episode of the first season of the American science fiction television series The X-Files. It premiered on the Fox network on October 1, 1993. It was written by Alex Gansa and Howard Gordon, directed by Daniel Sackheim, and featured a guest appearance by Carrie Snodgress as...
."
Reception
This episode earned a Nielsen rating of 12.7, with a 19 share. It was viewed by 19.85 million people. The episode created lots of speculation about whether or not Fox MulderFox 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...
was really dead. An article in the Wall Street Journal discusses fan theories behind Mulder's madness while a cartoon ran in The New Yorker
The New Yorker
The New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons and poetry published by Condé Nast...
a few weeks later surrounding Mulder's 'death'. Chris Carter
Chris Carter (screenwriter)
Christopher Carl Carter is an American screenwriter, film director and producer. He is the creator of The X-Files and Millennium.- Ten Thirteen Productions :...
said of the episode "The whole plot line of "Gethsemane" revolved around a hoax, but there are actually huge revelations in this show. And it's an amazing thing that we could get people to believe that Mulder could actually kill himself because his belief system was stolen from him."
External links
- Gethsemane at TV.comTV.comTV.com is a website owned by CBS Interactive. The site covers television and focuses on English-language shows made or broadcast in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland and Japan...