Jump the Shark
Encyclopedia
"Jump the Shark" is the 197th episode and the ninth season
's fifteenth episode of the science fiction
television series The X-Files
. The episode first aired in the United States and Canada on April 21, 2002 on Fox
, and subsequently aired in the United Kingdom. It was written by executive producers Vince Gilligan
, John Shiban and Frank Spotnitz
, and directed by Cliff Bole
. The episode was created to give closure for The Lone Gunmen
television series, which was a spin off
of The X-Files.
In this episode, characters of the show who first appeared in the first season
episode "E.B.E.
" were killed. When former Area 51 Man-in-Black Morris Fletcher appears, claiming that a female friend of the Lone Gunmen
is actually a super-soldier
, FBI agents John Doggett
and Monica Reyes
attempt to locate her but find the situation graver than they first expected. The episode earned a high Nielsen household and syndication rating when compared to other episodes of the ninth season, although it received a mixed reaction by fans and critics alike.
Harlow murders a biology professor, cuts out an organ and disposes of it in a furnace. After the Gunmen capture her, she reveals that he had been experimenting with the immune system of sharks and had been grafting pieces of shark onto his body in order to become a living host to a biological weapon. His research had been funded by Yves' arms dealing father, who had commissioned Fletcher to find her and prevent her from stopping his biological terrorism plot. She further informs them that there is another host, who she is trying to identify and locate before he can unleash his deadly payload.
Once Fletcher realizes that he's been used by Harlow's father, he teams with the Gunmen to help Harlow find the second bioterrorist. After a few false starts and chases, the Lone Gunmen corner the bioterrorist with only a few minutes before his virus is due to be released. They realize that they lack the time to destroy his virus-filled organ and therefore pull a fire alarm, causing large emergency doors to seal shut, simultaneously containing the virus and entrapping them with it. Their sacrifice earns them a final resting place in Arlington National Cemetery
, where Fletcher and the FBI agents pay their respects to them.
", which is used to describe shows that have reached their peak and started to decline in quality. Executive producer
Chris Carter
said that the title was tongue-in-cheek, and further stated that it was their "way of lowering the boom on anybody who thought that it did". He further stated that the series was "good" until the end, even after the departure of David Duchovny
as Fox Mulder
. According to IGN
writer KJN, the episode was a homage to the website Jump the Shark, while no official word from the producers or writers have said or commented on this.
Various plotlines leaked before the episode's release, the most notable being the death of the Lone Gunmen. The episode itself was created to give closure for The Lone Gunmen
television series, which aired in 2001; various long-term characters from both The X-Files and The Lone Gunmen make cameo appearance
s.
in the first place: "cheesy melodrama, deathly slow pacing, and a lack of coherence". Critical Myth was also negative about the episode, saying it was "one of the worst episodes of the season", bad even for The Lone Gunmen
series, and hoped that it was no indication of what the series finale
was going to be like. David Duchovny
was not available at the time of the shooting of the episode, leaving many fans disappointed that Mulder didn't make even a cameo appearance on the episode, given his history with the Lone Gunmen.
The episode earned a Nielsen rating of 5.1 with an 8 share. It was viewed by 5,381,000 households.
The X-Files (season 9)
The ninth season of The X-Files commenced airing in the United States on November 11, 2001, concluded on May 19, 2002, and consists of twenty episodes. The X-Files is an American serial science fiction-horror-thriller television series. Season nine took place after Fox Mulder's leave after the...
's fifteenth episode of the science fiction
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 the United States and Canada on April 21, 2002 on Fox
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. It was written by executive producers Vince Gilligan
Vince Gilligan
Vince Gilligan is an American writer, director and producer. He is the creator of the highly acclaimed television series Breaking Bad. Gilligan has also worked on the hit series The X-Files and The Lone Gunmen. He is a graduate of the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University...
, John Shiban and Frank Spotnitz
Frank Spotnitz
Frank Spotnitz is an award-winning American television writer and producer, best known for his work on The X-Files television series.-Biography:...
, and directed by Cliff Bole
Cliff Bole
Cliff Bole is a director of a number of American and Canadian television programs. He has directed episodes of The Six Million Dollar Man, Charlie's Angels, V: The Series, Baywatch, The X-Files, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Star Trek: Voyager among others...
. The episode was created to give closure for The Lone Gunmen
The Lone Gunmen (TV series)
The Lone Gunmen is a television show created by Chris Carter and broadcast on FOX. It was a spin-off of Carter's popular long-running television series The X-Files and a part of The X-Files franchise, starring several of the show's characters. The Lone Gunmen was first broadcast in March 2001 and,...
television series, which was a spin off
Spin-off (media)
In media, a spin-off is a radio program, television program, video game, or any narrative work, derived from one or more already existing works, that focuses, in particular, in more detail on one aspect of that original work...
of The X-Files.
In this episode, characters of the show who first appeared 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 "E.B.E.
E.B.E.
"E.B.E." is the seventeenth episode of the first season of the American science fiction television series The X-Files. It premiered on the Fox network on February 18, 1994. It was written by Glen Morgan and James Wong, and directed by William Graham...
" were killed. When former Area 51 Man-in-Black Morris Fletcher appears, claiming that a female friend of the Lone Gunmen
The Lone Gunmen
The Lone Gunmen are a trio of fictional characters, Richard "Ringo" Langly, Melvin Frohike and John Fitzgerald Byers, who have recurring roles on the American television series The X-Files. They also starred in a short-lived spin-off, also called The Lone Gunmen. The name was derived from the lone...
is actually a super-soldier
Colonist (The X-Files)
The Colonists are an extraterrestrial species in the science fiction television show, The X-Files, as well as the first X-Files feature film. The mystery revolving around their identity and purpose is revealed across the course of the series...
, FBI agents John Doggett
John Doggett
FBI Special agent John Jay Doggett is a fictional character in the American Fox television series The X-Files, a science fiction show about a government conspiracy to hide or deny the truth of alien existence...
and Monica Reyes
Monica Reyes
Special Agent Monica Reyes is a fictional character in the American FOX television series The X-Files, a science fiction show about a government conspiracy to hide or deny the truth of Alien existence...
attempt to locate her but find the situation graver than they first expected. The episode earned a high Nielsen household and syndication rating when compared to other episodes of the ninth season, although it received a mixed reaction by fans and critics alike.
Plot
When Fletcher approaches agents Reyes and Doggett with information related to the super-soldiers they turn to the Lone Gunmen. He provides an alleged photo of the supersoldier, which the Lone Gunmen recognize as being Yves Adele Harlow, a fellow hacker who went missing a year ago. The Gunmen refuse to believe the evidence, especially when they find that Fletcher provided it, although the agents continue to pursue the trail.Harlow murders a biology professor, cuts out an organ and disposes of it in a furnace. After the Gunmen capture her, she reveals that he had been experimenting with the immune system of sharks and had been grafting pieces of shark onto his body in order to become a living host to a biological weapon. His research had been funded by Yves' arms dealing father, who had commissioned Fletcher to find her and prevent her from stopping his biological terrorism plot. She further informs them that there is another host, who she is trying to identify and locate before he can unleash his deadly payload.
Once Fletcher realizes that he's been used by Harlow's father, he teams with the Gunmen to help Harlow find the second bioterrorist. After a few false starts and chases, the Lone Gunmen corner the bioterrorist with only a few minutes before his virus is due to be released. They realize that they lack the time to destroy his virus-filled organ and therefore pull a fire alarm, causing large emergency doors to seal shut, simultaneously containing the virus and entrapping them with it. Their sacrifice earns them a final resting place in Arlington National Cemetery
Arlington National Cemetery
Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington County, Virginia, is a military cemetery in the United States of America, established during the American Civil War on the grounds of Arlington House, formerly the estate of the family of Confederate general Robert E. Lee's wife Mary Anna Lee, a great...
, where Fletcher and the FBI agents pay their respects to them.
Production
The episode title is a humorous reference to the phrase "jumping the sharkJumping the shark
Jumping the shark is an idiom used to describe the moment in the evolution of a television show when it begins a decline in quality that is beyond recovery....
", which is used to describe shows that have reached their peak and started to decline in quality. Executive producer
Executive producer
An executive producer is a producer who is not involved in any technical aspects of the film making or music process, but who is still responsible for the overall production...
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 that the title was tongue-in-cheek, and further stated that it was their "way of lowering the boom on anybody who thought that it did". He further stated that the series was "good" until the end, even after the departure of 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:...
as 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...
. According to IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
writer KJN, the episode was a homage to the website Jump the Shark, while no official word from the producers or writers have said or commented on this.
Various plotlines leaked before the episode's release, the most notable being the death of the Lone Gunmen. The episode itself was created to give closure for The Lone Gunmen
The Lone Gunmen (TV series)
The Lone Gunmen is a television show created by Chris Carter and broadcast on FOX. It was a spin-off of Carter's popular long-running television series The X-Files and a part of The X-Files franchise, starring several of the show's characters. The Lone Gunmen was first broadcast in March 2001 and,...
television series, which aired in 2001; various long-term characters from both The X-Files and The Lone Gunmen make cameo appearance
Cameo appearance
A cameo role or cameo appearance is a brief appearance of a known person in a work of the performing arts, such as plays, films, video games and television...
s.
Reception
Aaron Kinney from Salon magazine said that the episode title showed that the creators at least still had a sense of humor, but that the episode demonstrated some of the flaws that caused the series to jump the sharkJump the Shark
"Jump the Shark" is the 197th episode and the ninth season's fifteenth episode of the science fiction television series The X-Files. The episode first aired in the United States and Canada on April 21, 2002 on Fox, and subsequently aired in the United Kingdom. It was written by executive producers...
in the first place: "cheesy melodrama, deathly slow pacing, and a lack of coherence". Critical Myth was also negative about the episode, saying it was "one of the worst episodes of the season", bad even for The Lone Gunmen
The Lone Gunmen (TV series)
The Lone Gunmen is a television show created by Chris Carter and broadcast on FOX. It was a spin-off of Carter's popular long-running television series The X-Files and a part of The X-Files franchise, starring several of the show's characters. The Lone Gunmen was first broadcast in March 2001 and,...
series, and hoped that it was no indication of what the series finale
Series finale
A series finale refers to the last installment of a series with a narrative presented through mediums such as television, film and literature. In many Commonwealth countries, the term final episode is commonly used in regards to a television series...
was going to be like. 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:...
was not available at the time of the shooting of the episode, leaving many fans disappointed that Mulder didn't make even a cameo appearance on the episode, given his history with the Lone Gunmen.
The episode earned a Nielsen rating of 5.1 with an 8 share. It was viewed by 5,381,000 households.