Patient X
Encyclopedia
"Patient X" is the thirteenth episode of the fifth season
of American science fiction television series The X-Files
, and the 110th episode of the series overall. It was written by series creator Chris Carter
and Frank Spotnitz
, directed by Kim Manners
and aired in the United States on March 1, 1998 on the Fox
network. The show centers on FBI Special Agents Fox Mulder
(David Duchovny
) and Dana Scully
(Gillian Anderson
) who work on cases linked to the paranormal, called X-File
s.
In this episode, as a rebel alien race
secretly attacks several groups of former alien abductees, the agents meet Cassandra, a woman who claims to be a multiple abductee and wants to deliver a positive message about aliens. Agent Mulder, now skeptical about extraterrestrial activity and suspecting that the United States government is behind the abduction phenomena, is disturbed when Agent Scully forms a special bond with the woman. "Patient X" was a story milestone for the series. It introduced several new recurring character for the series. It was the first episode to feature Chris Owens
as Jeffrey Spender
and Veronica Cartwright
as Cassandra Spender. It is the first of a two-part story that concludes with episode 14, "The Red and the Black
".
see something fall from the sky. Seconds later, they witness a man being burned alive and are captured by an alien bounty hunter who has his eyes and mouth sewn shut - throughout the episode, they are referred to as "faceless". The next day, Marita Covarrubias leads an investigation of U.N.
troops of the area. She runs into Alex Krycek
, who has caught Dmitri, one of the boys, the sole survivor of the previous night's events. The two argue, and Krycek tells Covarrubias to tell her superiors that "it is all going to hell".
Meanwhile, Agent Mulder
attends a lecture at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
, where the testimony of Cassandra Spender, an alien abductee, is being presented. Mulder argues against other members of the lecture over the existence of alien life, claiming that the existence of aliens is a lie created to cover up a program of medical experimentation on civilians run by the military industrial complex. When the lecture ends, Mulder is met by Dr. Heitz Werber, who is surprised to see that Mulder has lost all belief in alien life since the last time they met during the events of the pilot episode. Werber tells Mulder that he is Cassandra's doctor, and asks him to visit her.
Meanwhile, Krycek, who has beaten Dmitri into telling him what he saw, orders his Russian colleagues to infect Dmitri with the black oil. Back in the U.S., Werber introduces Mulder to the wheelchair-bound Cassandra, who is happy to meet Mulder, considering him a hero of hers. She claims that the aliens are in a state of upheaval and that she will be abducted by them again. Mulder tells Cassandra there is nothing he can do for her and leaves.
In Russia, Dmitri is infected with the black oil. Krycek, working against the orders of his superiors, kidnaps Dmitri and flees to the U.S., sewing shut Dmitri's eyes, nose, and mouth so the black oil won't leave his body. At FBI
headquarters, Dana Scully
meets Agent Jeffrey Spender
, Cassandra's son, who fears the damage to his reputation at the Bureau if others learn about his mother. He tells Scully to keep Mulder away from his mother.
Marita reports on the events in Kazakhstan to the Syndicate, which is surprised about the deaths of the abductees found there, believing that colonization is at least fifteen years away. Krycek calls them, offering them Dmitri in exchange for all their research on a vaccine. Meanwhile, Scully talks to Mulder about his meeting with Cassandra Spender. She realizes that she has much in common with her, including being abducted at Skyland Mountain and having an implant inserted in the base of her neck. Scully visits Cassandra, who immediately realizes that she's a fellow abductee. Scully tells Cassandra not to remove the implant from her neck. Cassandra assures Scully that she never will, as she looks forward to being abducted again.
A group of abductees meet at Skyland Mountain and are burned alive by more faceless alien bounty hunters. Scully and Mulder visit the scene, with Mulder continuing to be very skeptical of any alien involvement. The Syndicate is shocked at this latest turn of events. Mulder and Scully visit Cassandra again, who knew many of the people who died. They encounter Jeffrey again on their way out, who is upset about their visit with his mother.
Krycek is met by Marita, and the two kiss. When Krycek returns to the cell where Dmitri is held, he finds him gone, and the Well-Manicured Man there instead.
Scully finds that the victims of the attack had implants in their necks and all claimed to be abductees. Mulder believes they were led there by the military, not aliens. Mulder is called by Marita, who kidnapped Dmitri. Dmitri pulls the stitches off his eyes, resulting in Marita getting infected with the black oil. Mulder calls Cassandra, looking for Scully, but Jeffrey answers and reveals that Cassandra is gone. At that moment Cassandra is with a group of abductees, including Scully, at the Ruskin Dam
, brought there by Syndicate assassin Quiet Willy. The abductees see a U.F.O. appear in the sky. Suddenly screams are uttered as two faceless aliens arrive.
as Jeffrey Spender
. Owens previously appeared in earlier episodes, the first being when he played the younger version of the Cigarette Smoking Man
in "Musings of a Cigarette Smoking Man
" and "Demons
", the second was the part of The Great Mutato in "The Post-Modern Prometheus
". "Patient X" was the first episode in which Nicholas Lea
was credited under the Also Starring tag alongside Mitch Pileggi
and William B. Davis
.
The Russian characters from the start of the episode came from a "great" Russian acting community up in Vancouver, British Columbia who had defected from the Soviet Union
. Both Lea and Laurie Holden
needed to learn Russian for the first scene following the opening credits. Alex Shostak Jr., who portrayed Dmitri, worked 12–14 hours a day; make-up was applied to give the appearance that his eyes and mouth had been sewed up, and a small straw was pushed between his lips to give him water. During the filming of the episode, he was "literally" blind and guided by the crew members throughout the filming of his scenes. Shostak provided the translation for his own lines from English to Russian.
. When they were filming the scene, they had huge "safety precautions" ready for the cast and crew. The fires seen in the episode, were in reality propane fires
. Manners wanted the shots to be as close to the fire as possible, so they used fireproof cameras. According to Manners, "they used a half a million dollar camera on a crane wrapped in asbestos" and ran it through the flames. For the following scene, the production crew set a man on fire, while using a fire suit. This gag
is known as a "full burn." Scenes like this are "very dangerous" as one can't breathe. In total, he was on fire between 25-30 second which is seen as a lot by filming standards. Special effects supervisor Tony Lindala supervised the creation of the faceless alien rebels, Dmitri's mutilation, and the incinerated victims of the rebels. Lindala also designed the rig used to infect Dmitri with the black oil.
The set for the Russian gulag
was built at North Shore Studios. Graeme Murray was the production designer
at the time. The following scene with Dmitri in the gulag was "difficult." The ship
scenes were filmed at a warehouse in Vancouver. When filming the Syndicate
meeting, Manners wanted Marita Covarrubias (Laurie Holden
) to look as strong as possible since this marked the first appearance of a woman in the Syndicate meeting room. Since there was very little movement among the actors when filming the scene, they were forced to film in different angles and wide shots.
of 12.6, with a 19 share. It was viewed by 12.330 million households and gathered a total of 20.200 million viewers in the United States
. The episode debuted in the United States and Canada
on Sunday, March 1, 1998 at the Fox Network
. The episodes debuted the same time and day in Canada on the Global Television Network
. In New Zealand
, the episode debuted on April 28, 1998 on TV2 and in Australia
on May 20, 1998 on Channel Ten
. Veronica Cartwright
was nominated in the category "Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series" in the 1998 Emmy Awards for this episode and the follow-up, "The Red and the Black
".
The X-Files (season 5)
-Episodes:Episodes marked with an asterisk are part of the series' mytharc. Episodes with a double asterisk are part of the series' Alien Mythology....
of American science fiction 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...
, and the 110th episode of the series overall. It was written by series creator 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 :...
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:...
, directed by Kim Manners
Kim Manners
Kim Manners was an American television producer, director and child actor best known for his work on The X-Files and Supernatural.-Early life:...
and aired in the United States on March 1, 1998 on the 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...
network. The show centers on FBI Special Agents 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:...
) and 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...
(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...
) who work on cases linked to the paranormal, called 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...
s.
In this episode, as a rebel alien race
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...
secretly attacks several groups of former alien abductees, the agents meet Cassandra, a woman who claims to be a multiple abductee and wants to deliver a positive message about aliens. Agent Mulder, now skeptical about extraterrestrial activity and suspecting that the United States government is behind the abduction phenomena, is disturbed when Agent Scully forms a special bond with the woman. "Patient X" was a story milestone for the series. It introduced several new recurring character for the series. It was the first episode to feature Chris Owens
Chris Owens (actor)
Christopher Bradley "Chris" Owens is a Canadian actor.Owens was born in Toronto, the son of Jeannette, a jazz singer, and Garry Owens, a jazz drummer....
as Jeffrey Spender
Jeffrey Spender
FBI Special agent Jeffrey Frank Spender 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. Spender was in control of the X-Files office after Fox Mulder's and Dana Scully's...
and Veronica Cartwright
Veronica Cartwright
Veronica A. Cartwright is an English-born American actress who has worked mainly in American film and television. She is best known for her role of Lambert in Alien, for which she won a Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress....
as Cassandra Spender. It is the first of a two-part story that concludes with episode 14, "The Red and the Black
The Red and the Black (The X-Files)
"The Red and the Black" is a 1998 episode of The X-Files television series. It was the fourteenth episode broadcast in the show's fifth season...
".
Plot
Two boys in KazakhstanKazakhstan
Kazakhstan , officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country in Central Asia and Eastern Europe. Ranked as the ninth largest country in the world, it is also the world's largest landlocked country; its territory of is greater than Western Europe...
see something fall from the sky. Seconds later, they witness a man being burned alive and are captured by an alien bounty hunter who has his eyes and mouth sewn shut - throughout the episode, they are referred to as "faceless". The next day, Marita Covarrubias leads an investigation of U.N.
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
troops of the area. She runs into Alex Krycek
Alex Krycek
Alex Krycek is a fictional character in the long-running American science fiction show, The X-Files portrayed by Nicholas Lea. Initially introduced in the second season as a partner for main character Fox Mulder in the absence of his previous partner, Dana Scully, Krycek grew to become one of the...
, who has caught Dmitri, one of the boys, the sole survivor of the previous night's events. The two argue, and Krycek tells Covarrubias to tell her superiors that "it is all going to hell".
Meanwhile, Agent 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...
attends a lecture at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...
, where the testimony of Cassandra Spender, an alien abductee, is being presented. Mulder argues against other members of the lecture over the existence of alien life, claiming that the existence of aliens is a lie created to cover up a program of medical experimentation on civilians run by the military industrial complex. When the lecture ends, Mulder is met by Dr. Heitz Werber, who is surprised to see that Mulder has lost all belief in alien life since the last time they met during the events of the pilot episode. Werber tells Mulder that he is Cassandra's doctor, and asks him to visit her.
Meanwhile, Krycek, who has beaten Dmitri into telling him what he saw, orders his Russian colleagues to infect Dmitri with the black oil. Back in the U.S., Werber introduces Mulder to the wheelchair-bound Cassandra, who is happy to meet Mulder, considering him a hero of hers. She claims that the aliens are in a state of upheaval and that she will be abducted by them again. Mulder tells Cassandra there is nothing he can do for her and leaves.
In Russia, Dmitri is infected with the black oil. Krycek, working against the orders of his superiors, kidnaps Dmitri and flees to the U.S., sewing shut Dmitri's eyes, nose, and mouth so the black oil won't leave his body. At 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...
headquarters, 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...
meets Agent Jeffrey Spender
Jeffrey Spender
FBI Special agent Jeffrey Frank Spender 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. Spender was in control of the X-Files office after Fox Mulder's and Dana Scully's...
, Cassandra's son, who fears the damage to his reputation at the Bureau if others learn about his mother. He tells Scully to keep Mulder away from his mother.
Marita reports on the events in Kazakhstan to the Syndicate, which is surprised about the deaths of the abductees found there, believing that colonization is at least fifteen years away. Krycek calls them, offering them Dmitri in exchange for all their research on a vaccine. Meanwhile, Scully talks to Mulder about his meeting with Cassandra Spender. She realizes that she has much in common with her, including being abducted at Skyland Mountain and having an implant inserted in the base of her neck. Scully visits Cassandra, who immediately realizes that she's a fellow abductee. Scully tells Cassandra not to remove the implant from her neck. Cassandra assures Scully that she never will, as she looks forward to being abducted again.
A group of abductees meet at Skyland Mountain and are burned alive by more faceless alien bounty hunters. Scully and Mulder visit the scene, with Mulder continuing to be very skeptical of any alien involvement. The Syndicate is shocked at this latest turn of events. Mulder and Scully visit Cassandra again, who knew many of the people who died. They encounter Jeffrey again on their way out, who is upset about their visit with his mother.
Krycek is met by Marita, and the two kiss. When Krycek returns to the cell where Dmitri is held, he finds him gone, and the Well-Manicured Man there instead.
Scully finds that the victims of the attack had implants in their necks and all claimed to be abductees. Mulder believes they were led there by the military, not aliens. Mulder is called by Marita, who kidnapped Dmitri. Dmitri pulls the stitches off his eyes, resulting in Marita getting infected with the black oil. Mulder calls Cassandra, looking for Scully, but Jeffrey answers and reveals that Cassandra is gone. At that moment Cassandra is with a group of abductees, including Scully, at the Ruskin Dam
Ruskin Dam
Ruskin Dam is a concrete gravity dam on the Stave River in Ruskin, British Columbia, Canada. The dam was completed in 1930 for the primary purpose of hydroelectric power generation...
, brought there by Syndicate assassin Quiet Willy. The abductees see a U.F.O. appear in the sky. Suddenly screams are uttered as two faceless aliens arrive.
Casting
This episode marks the first appearance of Chris OwensChris Owens (actor)
Christopher Bradley "Chris" Owens is a Canadian actor.Owens was born in Toronto, the son of Jeannette, a jazz singer, and Garry Owens, a jazz drummer....
as Jeffrey Spender
Jeffrey Spender
FBI Special agent Jeffrey Frank Spender 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. Spender was in control of the X-Files office after Fox Mulder's and Dana Scully's...
. Owens previously appeared in earlier episodes, the first being when he played the younger version of the Cigarette Smoking Man
Cigarette Smoking Man
The Smoking Man is a fictional character and the antagonist on the American science fiction television series The X-Files. He serves as the arch-nemesis of FBI Special Agent Fox Mulder. Although his name is revealed to purportedly be C.G.B...
in "Musings of a Cigarette Smoking Man
Musings of a Cigarette Smoking Man
"Musings of a Cigarette Smoking Man" is a 1996 episode of The X-Files television series. It was the seventh episode broadcast in the show's fourth season...
" and "Demons
Demons (The X-Files)
"Demons" is a 1997 episode of The X-Files television series. It was the twenty-third episode broadcast in the show's fourth season. "Demons" features Mulder waking up in a hotel with blood all over him and no memory how it happened...
", the second was the part of The Great Mutato in "The Post-Modern Prometheus
The Post-Modern Prometheus
"The Post-Modern Prometheus" is the fifth episode of the fifth season of the American science fiction television series The X-Files. It was written and directed by series creator Chris Carter and aired in the United States on November 30, 1997 on the Fox network...
". "Patient X" was the first episode in which Nicholas Lea
Nicholas Lea
Nicholas Lea is a Canadian actor best known for his portrayal of Alex Krycek on The X-Files and on Kyle XY playing Tom Foss.-Biography:...
was credited under the Also Starring tag alongside Mitch Pileggi
Mitch Pileggi
Mitchell Craig "Mitch" Pileggi is an American actor. Pileggi is known for playing FBI assistant director Walter Skinner on the long-running popular series The X-Files. He also had a recurring role on Stargate Atlantis as Col. Steven Caldwell...
and William B. Davis
William B. Davis
William Bruce Davis is a Canadian actor, known for his role as The Smoking Man on The X-Files. He has also appeared in Stargate SG-1 as Damaris, a Prior of the Ori and as Mayor Tate on Smallville...
.
The Russian characters from the start of the episode came from a "great" Russian acting community up in Vancouver, British Columbia who had defected from the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
. Both Lea and Laurie Holden
Laurie Holden
Heather Laurie Holden is an American-Canadian actress and human rights activist. She is perhaps best known for her roles as Marita Covarrubias in The X-Files, Adele Stanton on The Majestic, Cybil Bennett in Silent Hill, Amanda Dumfries in The Mist, Olivia Murray in The Shield, and Andrea in The...
needed to learn Russian for the first scene following the opening credits. Alex Shostak Jr., who portrayed Dmitri, worked 12–14 hours a day; make-up was applied to give the appearance that his eyes and mouth had been sewed up, and a small straw was pushed between his lips to give him water. During the filming of the episode, he was "literally" blind and guided by the crew members throughout the filming of his scenes. Shostak provided the translation for his own lines from English to Russian.
Filming and visual effects
Filming the scene with the burning camp was "tricky" according to Kim MannersKim Manners
Kim Manners was an American television producer, director and child actor best known for his work on The X-Files and Supernatural.-Early life:...
. When they were filming the scene, they had huge "safety precautions" ready for the cast and crew. The fires seen in the episode, were in reality propane fires
Propane
Propane is a three-carbon alkane with the molecular formula , normally a gas, but compressible to a transportable liquid. A by-product of natural gas processing and petroleum refining, it is commonly used as a fuel for engines, oxy-gas torches, barbecues, portable stoves, and residential central...
. Manners wanted the shots to be as close to the fire as possible, so they used fireproof cameras. According to Manners, "they used a half a million dollar camera on a crane wrapped in asbestos" and ran it through the flames. For the following scene, the production crew set a man on fire, while using a fire suit. This gag
Gag
A gag is usually a device designed to prevent speech, often as a restraint device to stop the subject from calling for help. This is usually done by blocking the mouth, partially or completely, or attempting to prevent the tongue, lips, or jaw from moving in the normal patterns of speech. They are...
is known as a "full burn." Scenes like this are "very dangerous" as one can't breathe. In total, he was on fire between 25-30 second which is seen as a lot by filming standards. Special effects supervisor Tony Lindala supervised the creation of the faceless alien rebels, Dmitri's mutilation, and the incinerated victims of the rebels. Lindala also designed the rig used to infect Dmitri with the black oil.
The set for the Russian gulag
Gulag
The Gulag was the government agency that administered the main Soviet forced labor camp systems. While the camps housed a wide range of convicts, from petty criminals to political prisoners, large numbers were convicted by simplified procedures, such as NKVD troikas and other instruments of...
was built at North Shore Studios. Graeme Murray was the production designer
Production designer
In film and television, a production designer is the person responsible for the overall look of a filmed event such as films, TV programs, music videos or adverts. Production designers have one of the key creative roles in the creation of motion pictures and television. Working directly with the...
at the time. The following scene with Dmitri in the gulag was "difficult." The ship
Ship
Since the end of the age of sail a ship has been any large buoyant marine vessel. Ships are generally distinguished from boats based on size and cargo or passenger capacity. Ships are used on lakes, seas, and rivers for a variety of activities, such as the transport of people or goods, fishing,...
scenes were filmed at a warehouse in Vancouver. When filming the Syndicate
Syndicate (The X-Files)
The Syndicate is a fictional "shadow government" group featured in The X-Files television show and feature film created by Chris Carter. They were also known as The Elders, The Consortium, and The Group...
meeting, Manners wanted Marita Covarrubias (Laurie Holden
Laurie Holden
Heather Laurie Holden is an American-Canadian actress and human rights activist. She is perhaps best known for her roles as Marita Covarrubias in The X-Files, Adele Stanton on The Majestic, Cybil Bennett in Silent Hill, Amanda Dumfries in The Mist, Olivia Murray in The Shield, and Andrea in The...
) to look as strong as possible since this marked the first appearance of a woman in the Syndicate meeting room. Since there was very little movement among the actors when filming the scene, they were forced to film in different angles and wide shots.
Reception
The episode earned a Nielsen household ratingNielsen Ratings
Nielsen ratings are the audience measurement systems developed by Nielsen Media Research, in an effort to determine the audience size and composition of television programming in the United States...
of 12.6, with a 19 share. It was viewed by 12.330 million households and gathered a total of 20.200 million viewers in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The episode debuted in the United States and 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...
on Sunday, March 1, 1998 at 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...
. The episodes debuted the same time and day in Canada on the Global Television Network
Global Television Network
Global Television Network is an English language privately owned television network in Canada, owned by Calgary-based Shaw Communications, as part of its Shaw Media division...
. In New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
, the episode debuted on April 28, 1998 on TV2 and in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
on May 20, 1998 on Channel Ten
Network Ten
Network Ten , is one of Australia's three major commercial television networks. Owned-and-operated stations can be found in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth, while affiliates extend the network to cover most of the country...
. Veronica Cartwright
Veronica Cartwright
Veronica A. Cartwright is an English-born American actress who has worked mainly in American film and television. She is best known for her role of Lambert in Alien, for which she won a Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress....
was nominated in the category "Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series" in the 1998 Emmy Awards for this episode and the follow-up, "The Red and the Black
The Red and the Black (The X-Files)
"The Red and the Black" is a 1998 episode of The X-Files television series. It was the fourteenth episode broadcast in the show's fifth season...
".