The Sixth Extinction II: Amor Fati
Encyclopedia
"The Sixth Extinction II: Amor Fati" is the second episode of the seventh season
of the science fiction
television series The X-Files
. "The Sixth Extinction II: Amor Fati" concludes a trilogy of episodes featuring Mulder's severe reaction to the appearance of an alien artifact. In this episode Mulder is brought to a new life by the Cigarette Smoking Man while Scully desperately tries to find him.
(David Duchovny
)'s mother comes to visit him at the hospital. When she leaves, Mulder tries to call out for her but can only do so in his head. The Cigarette Smoking Man visits him shortly afterwards and, after giving him a drug that ends his paralysis, tells him that he's his father. Kritschgau approaches Dana Scully
(Gillian Anderson
) in her office and claims that Mulder's exposure to the black oil two years prior (in the episode "Tunguska
") has been re-activated due to the artifact and that he's now become the proof of alien life. Kritschgau wants access to Mulder because of this, while Scully is concerned more about his health. Skinner tells Scully that Mulder has been signed out of the hospital, apparently by his mother. Later, after returning to her home, Scully is met by Albert Hosteen. Mulder is driven away from the hospital by the Cigarette Smoking Man, who offers him a new life. Mulder is brought to an attractive neighborhood and heads into his new home, finding Deep Throat, alive, inside. Deep Throat claims that he fakes his death to escape the burden and pressures he was under, and that Mulder can now do the same. Mulder is met by Diana Fowley soon after and the two sleep together. Mulder has a dream about a boy on a beach building a spaceship in the sand, whom he helps rebuild when the waves destroy it.
Scully checks the video tapes at the hospital and while they're mostly obscured, she does spot Mulder's mother in one of them talking to the Cigarette Smoking Man. She tries to contact her with no success. She receives a package soon afterwards containing a book of Native American beliefs and practices with connections to what she saw on the spaceship. Scully believes Skinner gave it to her, but he denies it. Scully heads to his office and finds him in pain, with a mysterious intruder (Krycek) getting away. Mulder, meanwhile, is reunited with his sister Samantha in his new life. Scully goes to see Kritschgau and realizes he has stolen her information on the alien spaceship. After he admits to hacking her computer, she deletes the files from his laptop. Mulder is revealed to be dreaming everything; in reality he's in a government facility being tended to by doctors while the Cigarette Smoking Man and Fowley watch. Scully meets with Fowley later, who claims not to know where Mulder is. Mulder's dreams continue - he is married to Diana Fowley and they have children. The years go by quickly and he is old; Diana is now dead. In reality the Cigarette Smoking Man is prepped to have Mulder's genetic material implanted into him so he'll be immune to the alien invasion.
In Mulder's dreams he is now an old man in bed, accompanied by the Cigarette Smoking Man who hasn't aged. He dreams of the boy again, who is now destroying the spaceship, saying Mulder is destroying it. The Cigarette Smoking Man tells Mulder that Diana, Deep Throat, Samantha and even Scully are all now dead. He looks out the window, revealing a destroyed landscape as the aliens invade. Back in reality, Fowley leaves Mulder's operating room. Scully is met again by Hosteen in her apartment, who prays with her for Mulder. Krycek kills Kritschgau and steals his laptop. Scully awakens in her apartment, finding that someone has slipped a security card under her door. Using it, she is able to enter the facility where Mulder is being held. In Mulder's dreams he is met by Scully at his bedside, who convinces him to leave his imaginary life. In reality, Scully finds Mulder and the two are able to escape. Scully meets Mulder at his apartment a week later. Mulder tells Scully that Hosteen is dead and that he was in the hospital and couldn't have been at her apartment. Scully tearfully tells Mulder that Diana, who was the one who gave her the book and security card, was found murdered in her apartment. The two have a very deep moment as they realize that through this trial, they were a 'touchstone' to each other. They embrace in a hug...as the episode ends we see Mulder with the boy, rebuilding the spaceship on the beach.
, a fan of Nikos Kazantzakis
's novel The Last Temptation of Christ
worked many of those themes into this episode, finding parallels between that story and Fox Mulder
. While executive producer Frank Spotnitz
described it as a risk, Duchovny felt the episode was very personal to Mulder's character. Duchovny worked on the script while Chris Carter
wrote the previous episode, "The Sixth Extinction
". Carter eventually added the remaining portions of the script after his work on the previous episode had concluded.
Casting Director Rick Millikan described the episode as one big flashback, bringing back many actors who hadn't appeared on the show for at least two or three years, including Jerry Hardin
as Deep Throat, Rebecca Toolan
as Teena Mulder and Megan Leitch
as Samantha Mulder
. Casting the boy whom Mulder meets on the beach proved to be a challenge. The boy was originally supposed to be the son of a neighbor of producer Paul Rabwin. Due to the shooting schedule, all of the scenes with the boy had to be shot in a single day, which caused problems due to child labor laws that limit how many hours a minor can work. As a result, the producers instead used twin boys such that the scenes could all be shot in a single day.
The scene where the Cigarette Smoking Man
opens a window, revealing an alien armageddon outside was accomplished by using a matte painting and adding in explosions through special effects. A scene where Mulder watched himself age ended up being cut in the final version of the episode. William B. Davis
was pleased with the episode, stating, "For me the episode was terrific to play because they ended up making the Cigarette Smoking Man a little tougher. We have seen so much softness in him; it was great to play that tough side." Davis described the scene where he was strapped on an operating table with Mulder as being "totally uncomfortable". Spotnitz said of the end result, "We knew going into 'Amor Fati' that we would piss off some faction and we probably have but we haven't heard anything from anybody. Often in the past we've done stuff where I was sure we would get angry letters. But we rarely do. And the reason is because of the way we handle things. In 'Amor Fati' we treated the religious side with respect."
The tagline for this episode is "Amor Fati", which is a latin phrase that means "love of fate" or "love of one's fate".It is also a important concept in the work of the German
philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche
, related to his notion of the eternal return
.
of 10.6, with a 14 share. It was watched by 16.15 million viewers.
The X-Files (season 7)
The seventh season of The X-Files commenced airing in the United States on November 7, 1999, concluded on May 21, 2000, and consists of twenty-two episodes. The X-Files is an American serial science fiction-horror-thriller television series. Season seven took place after the destruction of the...
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 Sixth Extinction II: Amor Fati" concludes a trilogy of episodes featuring Mulder's severe reaction to the appearance of an alien artifact. In this episode Mulder is brought to a new life by the Cigarette Smoking Man while Scully desperately tries to find him.
Plot summary
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...
(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:...
)'s mother comes to visit him at the hospital. When she leaves, Mulder tries to call out for her but can only do so in his head. The Cigarette Smoking Man visits him shortly afterwards and, after giving him a drug that ends his paralysis, tells him that he's his father. Kritschgau approaches 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...
) in her office and claims that Mulder's exposure to the black oil two years prior (in the episode "Tunguska
Tunguska (The X-Files)
"Tunguska" is a 1996 episode of The X-Files television series. It was the eighth episode broadcast in the show's fourth season. "Tunguska" was the first of a two part episode featuring the return of Alex Krycek and the agents coming into possession of a Martian rock containing alien life...
") has been re-activated due to the artifact and that he's now become the proof of alien life. Kritschgau wants access to Mulder because of this, while Scully is concerned more about his health. Skinner tells Scully that Mulder has been signed out of the hospital, apparently by his mother. Later, after returning to her home, Scully is met by Albert Hosteen. Mulder is driven away from the hospital by the Cigarette Smoking Man, who offers him a new life. Mulder is brought to an attractive neighborhood and heads into his new home, finding Deep Throat, alive, inside. Deep Throat claims that he fakes his death to escape the burden and pressures he was under, and that Mulder can now do the same. Mulder is met by Diana Fowley soon after and the two sleep together. Mulder has a dream about a boy on a beach building a spaceship in the sand, whom he helps rebuild when the waves destroy it.
Scully checks the video tapes at the hospital and while they're mostly obscured, she does spot Mulder's mother in one of them talking to the Cigarette Smoking Man. She tries to contact her with no success. She receives a package soon afterwards containing a book of Native American beliefs and practices with connections to what she saw on the spaceship. Scully believes Skinner gave it to her, but he denies it. Scully heads to his office and finds him in pain, with a mysterious intruder (Krycek) getting away. Mulder, meanwhile, is reunited with his sister Samantha in his new life. Scully goes to see Kritschgau and realizes he has stolen her information on the alien spaceship. After he admits to hacking her computer, she deletes the files from his laptop. Mulder is revealed to be dreaming everything; in reality he's in a government facility being tended to by doctors while the Cigarette Smoking Man and Fowley watch. Scully meets with Fowley later, who claims not to know where Mulder is. Mulder's dreams continue - he is married to Diana Fowley and they have children. The years go by quickly and he is old; Diana is now dead. In reality the Cigarette Smoking Man is prepped to have Mulder's genetic material implanted into him so he'll be immune to the alien invasion.
In Mulder's dreams he is now an old man in bed, accompanied by the Cigarette Smoking Man who hasn't aged. He dreams of the boy again, who is now destroying the spaceship, saying Mulder is destroying it. The Cigarette Smoking Man tells Mulder that Diana, Deep Throat, Samantha and even Scully are all now dead. He looks out the window, revealing a destroyed landscape as the aliens invade. Back in reality, Fowley leaves Mulder's operating room. Scully is met again by Hosteen in her apartment, who prays with her for Mulder. Krycek kills Kritschgau and steals his laptop. Scully awakens in her apartment, finding that someone has slipped a security card under her door. Using it, she is able to enter the facility where Mulder is being held. In Mulder's dreams he is met by Scully at his bedside, who convinces him to leave his imaginary life. In reality, Scully finds Mulder and the two are able to escape. Scully meets Mulder at his apartment a week later. Mulder tells Scully that Hosteen is dead and that he was in the hospital and couldn't have been at her apartment. Scully tearfully tells Mulder that Diana, who was the one who gave her the book and security card, was found murdered in her apartment. The two have a very deep moment as they realize that through this trial, they were a 'touchstone' to each other. They embrace in a hug...as the episode ends we see Mulder with the boy, rebuilding the spaceship on the beach.
Production
David DuchovnyDavid 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:...
, a fan of Nikos Kazantzakis
Nikos Kazantzakis
Nikos Kazantzakis was a Greek writer and philosopher, celebrated for his novel Zorba the Greek, considered his magnum opus...
's novel The Last Temptation of Christ
The Last Temptation of Christ
The Last Temptation of Christ is a novel written by Nikos Kazantzakis, first published in 1953. It was first published in English in 1960. It follows the life of Jesus Christ from his perspective...
worked many of those themes into this episode, finding parallels between that story and 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...
. While executive producer 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:...
described it as a risk, Duchovny felt the episode was very personal to Mulder's character. Duchovny worked on the script while 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 :...
wrote the previous episode, "The Sixth Extinction
The Sixth Extinction
"The Sixth Extinction" is the first episode of the seventh season of the science fiction television series The X-Files. In "The Sixth Extinction" Assistant Director Skinner tries to discover what is wrong with Mulder while Scully investigates the mysterious alien artifact on the African coastline.-...
". Carter eventually added the remaining portions of the script after his work on the previous episode had concluded.
Casting Director Rick Millikan described the episode as one big flashback, bringing back many actors who hadn't appeared on the show for at least two or three years, including Jerry Hardin
Jerry Hardin
Jerry Hardin is an American actor who has made many television and film appearances. He played illegitimate heir, Wild Bill Westchester, in the failed 1982 television series Filthy Rich. One of his most recognizable roles was that of the character Deep Throat in the series The X-Files...
as Deep Throat, Rebecca Toolan
Rebecca Toolan
Rebecca Toolan is an American television actress best known for playing Teena Mulder, Fox Mulder's mother, on The X-Files.Although she has lived and worked in Canada for years, Toolan was actually born in USA and raised in Iowa...
as Teena Mulder and Megan Leitch
Megan Leitch
Megan Leitch is a Canadian actress probably best known for playing Samantha Mulder on The X-Files.- Roles :*Samantha Mulder in The X-Files*Brenda Cosgrove in The Highwayman episode of Dead Man's Gun*Librarian in It...
as Samantha Mulder
Samantha Mulder
Samantha Ann Mulder is a fictional character in the television series The X-Files. She is the sister of FBI Special Agent Fox Mulder and the daughter of Teena and Bill Mulder. As a child, Samantha was abducted, ostensibly by aliens, and was never recovered...
. Casting the boy whom Mulder meets on the beach proved to be a challenge. The boy was originally supposed to be the son of a neighbor of producer Paul Rabwin. Due to the shooting schedule, all of the scenes with the boy had to be shot in a single day, which caused problems due to child labor laws that limit how many hours a minor can work. As a result, the producers instead used twin boys such that the scenes could all be shot in a single day.
The scene where 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...
opens a window, revealing an alien armageddon outside was accomplished by using a matte painting and adding in explosions through special effects. A scene where Mulder watched himself age ended up being cut in the final version of the episode. 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...
was pleased with the episode, stating, "For me the episode was terrific to play because they ended up making the Cigarette Smoking Man a little tougher. We have seen so much softness in him; it was great to play that tough side." Davis described the scene where he was strapped on an operating table with Mulder as being "totally uncomfortable". Spotnitz said of the end result, "We knew going into 'Amor Fati' that we would piss off some faction and we probably have but we haven't heard anything from anybody. Often in the past we've done stuff where I was sure we would get angry letters. But we rarely do. And the reason is because of the way we handle things. In 'Amor Fati' we treated the religious side with respect."
The tagline for this episode is "Amor Fati", which is a latin phrase that means "love of fate" or "love of one's fate".It is also a important concept in the work of the German
Germans
The Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages....
philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche
Friedrich Nietzsche
Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche was a 19th-century German philosopher, poet, composer and classical philologist...
, related to his notion of the eternal return
Eternal return
Eternal return is a concept which posits that the universe has been recurring, and will continue to recur, in a self-similar form an infinite number of times across infinite time or space. The concept initially inherent in Indian philosophy was later found in ancient Egypt, and was subsequently...
.
Reception
The episode had a Neilsen 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 10.6, with a 14 share. It was watched by 16.15 million viewers.