All things
Encyclopedia
"all things" is the 17th episode of the seventh season
of American science fiction television series The X-Files
and the 156th episode of the series overall. It was written and directed by lead actress Gillian Anderson
. The episode first aired in the United States and Canada on April 9, 2000 on the Fox Network
, and subsequently aired in the United Kingdom and Ireland on Sky1.
"all things" is a "Monster-of-the-Week" episode, meaning that it stands outside of the series' alien conspiracy storyarc
. With her FBI partner Fox Mulder
(David Duchovny
) away in England, Dana Scully
(Gillian Anderson
) is led by coincidences to a married man with whom she had an affair during medical school, and a look at the life she didn't choose, forcing her to make choices about her future.
After the opening sequence, a series of coincidences or fates bring Dana Scully
into contact with a former professor with whom she had an affair during medical school. Dana has an existential crisis when she questions whether she made the right decision to leave him and medicine to pursue her career in the FBI. While Mulder is off in England investigating crop circles he contacts Scully and asks her to go to meet a contact of his to pick up some information. On her way to pick up the information, Dana nearly gets into a car accident as she is distracted when Mulder calls her on her cell phone. But as she is pulling the car out into traffic, a woman appears in the crosswalk forcing Dana to apply the brakes to keep from hitting the woman. As she does this, a diesel truck then whizzes by at a high rate of speed. Had it not been for the woman in the crosswalk, Scully might have been killed.
When Scully arrives to the house of the woman that Mulder had asked her to meet Scully recognizes her as a woman that she had seen earlier that day in the hospital when she was visiting with her ex lover. At first Scully is dismissive of the woman who seemingly knows that Dana is going through some sort of personal crisis and is trying to offer some guidance to her. A few strange coincidences or fates later, Dana decides to return to visit the same woman to offer an apology for being so dismissive and to see what she has to say. The woman tells her about Eastern philosophies of Buddhism, the collective unconscious, and her own personal aura that might explain why she is experiencing these strange occurrences. As Dana leaves the woman's house she is walking through Chinatown and sees the same woman who had appeared in the crosswalk before, so she follows her. The woman goes into a small Buddhist temple and seemingly vanishes. Dana, who has followed the mysterious woman into the temple, has a vision while looking at the statue of the Buddha.
The next scene then shows Dana back at the hospital visiting her ex lover and accompanied by the woman who she spoke with earlier about the Buddhist philosophies. The woman and another healer provide alternative treatment to Dana's ex and the man later fully recovers. He proclaims that he still wants a relationship with Dana, but she has now realized that she is no longer the same person she was 10 years ago, and she leaves the room. As she is sitting outside on a bench on the hospital grounds she sees the mysterious woman from the crosswalk and Buddhist temple again and chases her down. When she catches the woman and the woman turns around, she sees it is actually Mulder.
The next scene shows Mulder who is really back from England and Scully sitting on the sofa together in his apartment talking about the events of the last few days. As Mulder begins to speak more existentially about what transpired with Scully and seemingly implying that fate has brought them together, he turns to her and sees that she has fallen asleep.
marking the first time a woman had directed an episode for the show. When Anderson first wrote the episode, she did not try to hint at the fact that Dana Scully
and Fox Mulder
(David Duchovny
) may have spent the night together. But Executive Producer Frank Spotnitz
and the production crew felt it was natural hinting that Scully and Mulder's relationship had evolved into a romantic one.
The crop circle
idea was included because Anderson wanted "whatever Mulder was involved in that took him away from me, away from Washington, to somehow tie into what it was that I was going through — the journey that I was going through." She and the production crew started researching crop circles which had to deal with the "heart-chakra." Spotnitz was heavily involved during the researching process during this episode's development.
The conversation scene between Scully and Daniel Waterson (Nicolas Surovy) was reduced in length by 10 minutes. Anderson had to cut out the scenes during the editing process due to the maximum length of 42 minutes. Originally, Anderson didn't want it to be implied that the two characters had an affair. In the original script, they came close to having an affair, but Scully ended the relationship when she discovered he was married to another woman.
was listening to Moby
, she heard the song "The Sky is Broken" and immediately wanted to include it in her script. She also felt that the "words" and dialogues fitted with her idea of the script. The first shot after the opening credits, which involved the dripping water, was something Anderson wanted to include to create a "continuation of sound, rhythmic sound." She added that it was important for the musical part of the show.
Anderson was heavily involved working with composer Mark Snow
in the post-production process of the show. After filming the episode, she sent Snow a couple of CDs and asked him to "come up with something that had certain flavors to it." The music they worked on together for this episode eventually became "Scully's Theme", which was not broadcast until the episode "Within
".
gave the episode a negative review. He was critical of the script and characterization. He said, "[n]othing much seems to happen, and what does occur is substantially driven by coincidence and arbitrariness." He did not like the character of Colleen and disapproved of Scully's philosophical "reverie", calling it "facile, and hard to reconcile with the determined rationalism she's displayed over the years in the face of events no less strange than those that occur here."
The episode earned a Nielsen rating of 7.5 with an 11 share. It was viewed by 7,560,000 households.
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 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 156th episode of the series overall. It was written and directed by lead actress 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...
. The episode first aired in the United States and Canada on April 9, 2000 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 and Ireland on Sky1.
"all things" is a "Monster-of-the-Week" episode, meaning that it stands outside of the series' alien conspiracy storyarc
Mythology of The X-Files
The mythology of The X-Files, sometimes referred to as its mytharc by the show's staff and fans, follows the quest of FBI Special Agents Fox Mulder , a believer in supernatural phenomena, and Dana Scully , his skeptical partner. Their boss, FBI Assistant Director Walter Skinner was also often...
. With her FBI partner 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:...
) away in England, 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...
) is led by coincidences to a married man with whom she had an affair during medical school, and a look at the life she didn't choose, forcing her to make choices about her future.
Plot
The opening scene before the show's familiar intro shows Dana Scully getting dressed in front of the mirror. As she is leaving the bedroom, we see Mulder laying in his bed, half his body covered by his bedsheets, seemingly implying that their relationship may have become romantic. But as this episode had a lot of visions and mystical qualities to it, the viewer must decide for themselves what really happened.After the opening sequence, a series of coincidences or fates bring 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...
into contact with a former professor with whom she had an affair during medical school. Dana has an existential crisis when she questions whether she made the right decision to leave him and medicine to pursue her career in the FBI. While Mulder is off in England investigating crop circles he contacts Scully and asks her to go to meet a contact of his to pick up some information. On her way to pick up the information, Dana nearly gets into a car accident as she is distracted when Mulder calls her on her cell phone. But as she is pulling the car out into traffic, a woman appears in the crosswalk forcing Dana to apply the brakes to keep from hitting the woman. As she does this, a diesel truck then whizzes by at a high rate of speed. Had it not been for the woman in the crosswalk, Scully might have been killed.
When Scully arrives to the house of the woman that Mulder had asked her to meet Scully recognizes her as a woman that she had seen earlier that day in the hospital when she was visiting with her ex lover. At first Scully is dismissive of the woman who seemingly knows that Dana is going through some sort of personal crisis and is trying to offer some guidance to her. A few strange coincidences or fates later, Dana decides to return to visit the same woman to offer an apology for being so dismissive and to see what she has to say. The woman tells her about Eastern philosophies of Buddhism, the collective unconscious, and her own personal aura that might explain why she is experiencing these strange occurrences. As Dana leaves the woman's house she is walking through Chinatown and sees the same woman who had appeared in the crosswalk before, so she follows her. The woman goes into a small Buddhist temple and seemingly vanishes. Dana, who has followed the mysterious woman into the temple, has a vision while looking at the statue of the Buddha.
The next scene then shows Dana back at the hospital visiting her ex lover and accompanied by the woman who she spoke with earlier about the Buddhist philosophies. The woman and another healer provide alternative treatment to Dana's ex and the man later fully recovers. He proclaims that he still wants a relationship with Dana, but she has now realized that she is no longer the same person she was 10 years ago, and she leaves the room. As she is sitting outside on a bench on the hospital grounds she sees the mysterious woman from the crosswalk and Buddhist temple again and chases her down. When she catches the woman and the woman turns around, she sees it is actually Mulder.
The next scene shows Mulder who is really back from England and Scully sitting on the sofa together in his apartment talking about the events of the last few days. As Mulder begins to speak more existentially about what transpired with Scully and seemingly implying that fate has brought them together, he turns to her and sees that she has fallen asleep.
Conception and writing
The episode was written and directed by series actress Gillian AndersonGillian 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...
marking the first time a woman had directed an episode for the show. When Anderson first wrote the episode, she did not try to hint at the fact that 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...
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...
(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:...
) may have spent the night together. But 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:...
and the production crew felt it was natural hinting that Scully and Mulder's relationship had evolved into a romantic one.
The crop circle
Crop circle
A crop circle is a sizable pattern created by the flattening of a crop such as wheat, barley, rye, maize, or rapeseed. Crop circles are also referred to as crop formations, because they are not always circular in shape. While the exact date crop circles began to appear is unknown, the documented...
idea was included because Anderson wanted "whatever Mulder was involved in that took him away from me, away from Washington, to somehow tie into what it was that I was going through — the journey that I was going through." She and the production crew started researching crop circles which had to deal with the "heart-chakra." Spotnitz was heavily involved during the researching process during this episode's development.
The conversation scene between Scully and Daniel Waterson (Nicolas Surovy) was reduced in length by 10 minutes. Anderson had to cut out the scenes during the editing process due to the maximum length of 42 minutes. Originally, Anderson didn't want it to be implied that the two characters had an affair. In the original script, they came close to having an affair, but Scully ended the relationship when she discovered he was married to another woman.
Music
Once, when driving home after work, Gillian AndersonGillian 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...
was listening to Moby
Moby
Richard Melville Hall , better known by his stage name Moby, is an American musician, DJ, and photographer. He is known mainly for his sample-based electronic music and his outspoken liberal political views, including his support of veganism and animal rights.Moby gained attention in the early...
, she heard the song "The Sky is Broken" and immediately wanted to include it in her script. She also felt that the "words" and dialogues fitted with her idea of the script. The first shot after the opening credits, which involved the dripping water, was something Anderson wanted to include to create a "continuation of sound, rhythmic sound." She added that it was important for the musical part of the show.
Anderson was heavily involved working with composer Mark Snow
Mark Snow
Mark Snow is an American composer for film and television.Born in New York, he grew up in Brooklyn, graduating from the High School of Music and Art and, afterwards, the Juilliard School of Music...
in the post-production process of the show. After filming the episode, she sent Snow a couple of CDs and asked him to "come up with something that had certain flavors to it." The music they worked on together for this episode eventually became "Scully's Theme", which was not broadcast until the episode "Within
Within (The X-Files)
"Within" is the 162nd episode and the season 8 premiere of the science fiction television series The X-Files. The episode first aired in the United States on November 5, 2000 on the Fox Network, and subsequently aired in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It was written by executive producer Chris...
".
Reception
Kevin Silber of Space.comSpace.com
Space.com is a space and astronomy news website. Its stories are often syndicated to other media outlets, including CNN, MSNBC, Yahoo!, and USA Today.Space.com was founded by former CNN anchor Lou Dobbs and Rich Zahradnik, in July 1999...
gave the episode a negative review. He was critical of the script and characterization. He said, "[n]othing much seems to happen, and what does occur is substantially driven by coincidence and arbitrariness." He did not like the character of Colleen and disapproved of Scully's philosophical "reverie", calling it "facile, and hard to reconcile with the determined rationalism she's displayed over the years in the face of events no less strange than those that occur here."
The episode earned a Nielsen rating of 7.5 with an 11 share. It was viewed by 7,560,000 households.
External links
- all things 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...