731 (The X-Files)
Encyclopedia
"731" is a 1995 episode of The X-Files
television series
. It was the tenth episode broadcast in the show's third season. "731" concludes the story begun in "Nisei
"; it features Mulder investigating a possible alien-human hybrid held aboard a train car while Scully investigates what happened to her during her abduction.
, a team of soldiers arrives at an abandoned leprosy
research compound, rounding up most of the patients. One patient, Escalante, hides beneath a trapdoor
during the arrival and follows the group to a secluded field nearby. He watches as the soldiers shoot the other patients—many of them look like alien-human hybrids—into a mass grave
.
Dana Scully
loses contact with Fox Mulder
when he loses his cell phone after jumping on top of the moving train. When questioned by Scully, X tells her to analyze her implant, saying that it will give her answers about the train and Melissa's murder. Meanwhile, Mulder enters the train and finds that the secret railcar
is quarantine
d and protected by a security system. He searches for Zama, enlisting the train conductor
for help. In Zama's compartment, they find hand-written journals in Japanese
. However, elsewhere on the train, the Red-Haired Man intercepts and strangles Zama.
Scully sees Pendrell, who tells her that the implant contains highly advanced technology that can replicate the brain's memory functions and enable someone to know a person's very thoughts. The manufacturer of the chip was Zama, who created the implant at the West Virginia compound. Scully travels there, meeting a group of deformed patients who have eluded the "death squads." Escalante tells her that the patients were experimented on by Zama, who departed long ago; since then, the death squads have set out to massacre them. Escalante shows her the mass grave, but is killed when soldiers arrive to capture Scully. She is brought before the First Elder.
Mulder returns to the railcar, seeing its door ajar; an alien-human test subject is locked in a room inside. The Red-Haired Man ambushes/strangle Mulder, causing the conductor to lock them both in the car. The Red-Haired Man claims to work for the NSA
, and that a bomb in the car was triggered after he gained entry with Zama's pass code. Mulder doesn't believe him, but is called by Scully on the Red-Haired Man's cell phone. Scully—who is with the First Elder in a similar railcar—tells Mulder that unwitting subjects, including herself, were operated on by Zama in the secret railway, with the alien abduction theory used as a smokescreen.
Scully confirms that a bomb is in the car, and believes that the quarantined patient is infected with an extremely dangerous and contagious disease (hemorrhagic fever). She fears that thousands will die from the disease if the car explodes. Mulder finds the bomb in the ceiling. He has the car disconnected from the rest of the train on a remote rail siding
. Mulder then questions the Red-Haired Man, who says that the quarantined patient is immune to biological warfare
. Zama had tried to sneak the patient out of the country, but the government would rather see it destroyed than let their research fall into Japanese hands; the Red-Haired Man was sent to kill them both. Mulder, however, believes that the patient is an alien-human hybrid.
With the bomb approaching detonation time, Scully is able to determine the railway car's exit code. Mulder successfully unlocks the door, but he is knocked unconscious by the Red-Haired Man. As the Red-Haired Man is about to leave, X appears and shoots him. Realizing that the bomb is about to explode and that there is not enough time to both save Mulder and secure the quarantined patient, X decides to save Mulder. He exits while carrying the still unconscious Mulder shortly before the bomb explodes.
After recovering from his injuries, Mulder attempts to find information on the railway car, but he is unable to do so. Scully returns the journal he found on the car, but Mulder realizes that it is a rewritten substitute. Meanwhile the real journal is translated in a shadowy room as the Cigarette-Smoking Man watches.
(portrayed by David Duchovny
) on top of the train car was done with a harness cabled across the top of the car that was removed digitally during post production. The producers built train car interiors for the quarantine car where the patient was being kept and the sleeper cars, and floated the train sets on inner tubes to create the feeling of movement. Seven different cameras were used by director Rob Bowman when filming the train car explosion. The train car used was a decommissioned BCRail Budd RDC. 120 black-powder bombs and 45 gallons of gasoline were used for the effect. Steven Williams
and Duchovny separately shot a scene against a blue screen which was superimposed over the explosion. 25 masked actors, mostly children, laid over prop bodies for the scene with the mass grave.
The episode's title is a reference to the Imperial Japanese Army
's Unit 731
, which experimented on prisoners of war during World War II
. The tagline for this episode was switched to "Apology is Policy".
felt that his actions in this episode helped endear him more to the show's viewers. Director of Photography John Bartley earned an episodic TV series award nomination by the American Society of Cinematographers
for his work on this episode.
This episode earned a Nielsen rating of 12.0, with a 21 share. It was viewed by 17.68 million people.
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...
television series
Television program
A television program , also called television show, is a segment of content which is intended to be broadcast on television. It may be a one-time production or part of a periodically recurring series...
. It was the tenth episode broadcast in the show's third season. "731" concludes the story begun in "Nisei
Nisei (The X-Files)
"Nisei" is the ninth episode of the third season of television series The X-Files.- Plot :In Knoxville, Tennessee, a mysterious train car is left in a railyard. That night, a group of Japanese scientists enter the car and conduct an autopsy on an alien body. The scene is being recorded and...
"; it features Mulder investigating a possible alien-human hybrid held aboard a train car while Scully investigates what happened to her during her abduction.
Plot
In West VirginiaWest Virginia
West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian and Southeastern regions of the United States, bordered by Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Ohio to the northwest, Pennsylvania to the northeast and Maryland to the east...
, a team of soldiers arrives at an abandoned leprosy
Leprosy
Leprosy or Hansen's disease is a chronic disease caused by the bacteria Mycobacterium leprae and Mycobacterium lepromatosis. Named after physician Gerhard Armauer Hansen, leprosy is primarily a granulomatous disease of the peripheral nerves and mucosa of the upper respiratory tract; skin lesions...
research compound, rounding up most of the patients. One patient, Escalante, hides beneath a trapdoor
Trapdoor
A trapdoor is a door set into a floor or ceiling .Originally, trapdoors were sack traps in mills, and allowed the sacks to pass up through the mill while naturally falling back to a closed position....
during the arrival and follows the group to a secluded field nearby. He watches as the soldiers shoot the other patients—many of them look like alien-human hybrids—into a mass grave
Mass grave
A mass grave is a grave containing multiple number of human corpses, which may or may not be identified prior to burial. There is no strict definition of the minimum number of bodies required to constitute a mass grave, although the United Nations defines a mass grave as a burial site which...
.
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...
loses contact with 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...
when he loses his cell phone after jumping on top of the moving train. When questioned by Scully, X tells her to analyze her implant, saying that it will give her answers about the train and Melissa's murder. Meanwhile, Mulder enters the train and finds that the secret railcar
Railcar
A railcar, in British English and Australian English, is a self-propelled railway vehicle designed to transport passengers. The term "railcar" is usually used in reference to a train consisting of a single coach , with a driver's cab at one or both ends. Some railways, e.g., the Great Western...
is quarantine
Quarantine
Quarantine is compulsory isolation, typically to contain the spread of something considered dangerous, often but not always disease. The word comes from the Italian quarantena, meaning forty-day period....
d and protected by a security system. He searches for Zama, enlisting the train conductor
Conductor (transportation)
A conductor is a member of a railway train's crew that is responsible for operational and safety duties that do not involve the actual operation of the train. The title of conductor is most associated with railway operations in North America, but the role of conductor is common to railways...
for help. In Zama's compartment, they find hand-written journals in Japanese
Japanese language
is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family, which has a number of proposed relationships with other languages, none of which has gained wide acceptance among historical linguists .Japanese is an...
. However, elsewhere on the train, the Red-Haired Man intercepts and strangles Zama.
Scully sees Pendrell, who tells her that the implant contains highly advanced technology that can replicate the brain's memory functions and enable someone to know a person's very thoughts. The manufacturer of the chip was Zama, who created the implant at the West Virginia compound. Scully travels there, meeting a group of deformed patients who have eluded the "death squads." Escalante tells her that the patients were experimented on by Zama, who departed long ago; since then, the death squads have set out to massacre them. Escalante shows her the mass grave, but is killed when soldiers arrive to capture Scully. She is brought before the First Elder.
Mulder returns to the railcar, seeing its door ajar; an alien-human test subject is locked in a room inside. The Red-Haired Man ambushes/strangle Mulder, causing the conductor to lock them both in the car. The Red-Haired Man claims to work for the NSA
National Security Agency
The National Security Agency/Central Security Service is a cryptologic intelligence agency of the United States Department of Defense responsible for the collection and analysis of foreign communications and foreign signals intelligence, as well as protecting U.S...
, and that a bomb in the car was triggered after he gained entry with Zama's pass code. Mulder doesn't believe him, but is called by Scully on the Red-Haired Man's cell phone. Scully—who is with the First Elder in a similar railcar—tells Mulder that unwitting subjects, including herself, were operated on by Zama in the secret railway, with the alien abduction theory used as a smokescreen.
Scully confirms that a bomb is in the car, and believes that the quarantined patient is infected with an extremely dangerous and contagious disease (hemorrhagic fever). She fears that thousands will die from the disease if the car explodes. Mulder finds the bomb in the ceiling. He has the car disconnected from the rest of the train on a remote rail siding
Rail siding
A siding, in rail terminology, is a low-speed track section distinct from a running line or through route such as a main line or branch line or spur. It may connect to through track or to other sidings at either end...
. Mulder then questions the Red-Haired Man, who says that the quarantined patient is immune to biological warfare
Biological warfare
Biological warfare is the use of biological toxins or infectious agents such as bacteria, viruses, and fungi with intent to kill or incapacitate humans, animals or plants as an act of war...
. Zama had tried to sneak the patient out of the country, but the government would rather see it destroyed than let their research fall into Japanese hands; the Red-Haired Man was sent to kill them both. Mulder, however, believes that the patient is an alien-human hybrid.
With the bomb approaching detonation time, Scully is able to determine the railway car's exit code. Mulder successfully unlocks the door, but he is knocked unconscious by the Red-Haired Man. As the Red-Haired Man is about to leave, X appears and shoots him. Realizing that the bomb is about to explode and that there is not enough time to both save Mulder and secure the quarantined patient, X decides to save Mulder. He exits while carrying the still unconscious Mulder shortly before the bomb explodes.
After recovering from his injuries, Mulder attempts to find information on the railway car, but he is unable to do so. Scully returns the journal he found on the car, but Mulder realizes that it is a rewritten substitute. Meanwhile the real journal is translated in a shadowy room as the Cigarette-Smoking Man watches.
Production
The scene at the start of the episode with 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...
(portrayed by 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:...
) on top of the train car was done with a harness cabled across the top of the car that was removed digitally during post production. The producers built train car interiors for the quarantine car where the patient was being kept and the sleeper cars, and floated the train sets on inner tubes to create the feeling of movement. Seven different cameras were used by director Rob Bowman when filming the train car explosion. The train car used was a decommissioned BCRail Budd RDC. 120 black-powder bombs and 45 gallons of gasoline were used for the effect. Steven Williams
Steven Williams
Steven Williams is an American actor of films and television.Williams was born in Memphis, Tennessee and raised in Chicago. He is known for his role as Captain Adam Fuller on the Fox Network's hit TV series 21 Jump Street from 1987-91.He played Lt. Burnett on the CBS drama series The Equalizer in...
and Duchovny separately shot a scene against a blue screen which was superimposed over the explosion. 25 masked actors, mostly children, laid over prop bodies for the scene with the mass grave.
The episode's title is a reference to the Imperial Japanese Army
Imperial Japanese Army
-Foundation:During the Meiji Restoration, the military forces loyal to the Emperor were samurai drawn primarily from the loyalist feudal domains of Satsuma and Chōshū...
's Unit 731
Unit 731
was a covert biological and chemical warfare research and development unit of the Imperial Japanese Army that undertook lethal human experimentation during the Second Sino-Japanese War and World War II. It was responsible for some of the most notorious war crimes carried out by Japanese...
, which experimented on prisoners of war during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. The tagline for this episode was switched to "Apology is Policy".
Reception
Director Rob Bowman called the episode one of his all time favorites. Actor Steven WilliamsSteven Williams
Steven Williams is an American actor of films and television.Williams was born in Memphis, Tennessee and raised in Chicago. He is known for his role as Captain Adam Fuller on the Fox Network's hit TV series 21 Jump Street from 1987-91.He played Lt. Burnett on the CBS drama series The Equalizer in...
felt that his actions in this episode helped endear him more to the show's viewers. Director of Photography John Bartley earned an episodic TV series award nomination by the American Society of Cinematographers
American Society of Cinematographers
The American Society of Cinematographers is an educational, cultural, and professional organization. It is not a labor union, and it is not a guild. Membership is by invitation and is extended only to directors of photography and special effects experts with distinguished credits in the film...
for his work on this episode.
This episode earned a Nielsen rating of 12.0, with a 21 share. It was viewed by 17.68 million people.