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Kill Switch (The X-Files)
Encyclopedia
"Kill Switch" is an episode of the popular Canadian/American science fiction
television series The X-Files
.
in Washington, D.C.
. A man tries to access some files on a laptop computer, but is repeatedly denied. Meanwhile, several drug dealers receive anonymous phone calls about the whereabouts of their rival competitors; they are supposed to be in the same diner. Two U.S. Marshals receive a similar phone call about an escaped prisoner. The drug dealers arrive in pairs as the man attempts to gain access to the files. Just as he finally gains access, the two Marshals appear and order everyone onto the floor, causing a shootout.
Agents Mulder and Scully arrive at the scene and identify the bodies of the drug dealers. Mulder also identifies the man with the laptop as Donald Gelman, "a Silicon Valley
folk hero" who has aspired to create an artificial intelligence
. Mulder hides Gelman's laptop under his coat and takes it to Scully's car. He also finds a CD inside and puts it into the car stereo, where it plays "Twilight Time
" by The Platters
. The agents take it to the Lone Gunmen
, who discover that the disc contains a large quantity of encrypted data but are unable to decipher it. Upon Scully's suggestion, they access Gelman's e-mail
account and find a message sent by someone named Invisigoth, saying that someone named David is missing.
The message contains a standard ID number (BIC code
) for an intermodal container
. Mulder and Scully find the container. When they approach it, a girl attempts to flee but is captured by Scully. The container turns out to be full of state-of-the-art computer equipment. The girl warns the agents that a Defense Department
satellite armed with a laser
has pinpointed their location. They leave the container, despite some reluctance from Scully. The laser beam soon descends from the sky and destroys the container.
The girl, Esther Nairn, reveals that she uses the online alias
Invisigoth, and tells agents that Gelman succeeded in creating an artificial intelligence. She says the AI monitors all of her communication and recognizes her voice, so she cannot make any phone calls. Moreover, once the AI locates an enemy, it destroys them using the satellite. According to Esther, Gelman was creating "Kill Switch", a virus that could destroy the AI. However, the AI learned of Gelman's plans and killed him by luring the drug dealers and the police to the diner. The only way to destroy the AI is to find its hardware, the computer on which it is stored. It turns out that David is Esther's friend, and also worked with Gelman. Later, Mulder, Scully and Esther visit the Lone Gunmen.
Mulder uses a government source to find a secret T3 line
, one that the AI uses to access the Internet
. He also finds the trailer that is connected to the T3 line. Meanwhile, Esther forces Scully to drive to David's house. However, they find that the house has been destroyed. Esther admits that she and David had been planning to transfer their consciousness
into cyberspace
to enter the AI. However, Gelman thought the idea was too dangerous. Esther also admits that she and David were in love, and were having an affair behind Gelman's back.
Meanwhile, Mulder finds much computer hardware
inside the trailer. He also finds David’s dead body, with a virtual reality
helmet on his head. Suddenly, Mulder is constrained by moving cables and wires, and experiences a strange vision in which he is in a hospital where nurses threaten to amputate
his limbs unless he reveals Kill Switch's location. Meanwhile, the AI locates Scully and Esther driving near a swing bridge
. They become trapped on the bridge after the AI manipulates its drawing mechanism, causing Scully to persuade Esther to throw the laptop into the water. Just as it hits the water it is destroyed by the defense satellite's laser beam.
Scully and Esther find the trailer in which Mulder is trapped. They discover that Esther still has the CD where Kill Switch is stored. Scully puts it into the drive into the AI, which then releases Mulder. She gets him out of the trailer, but Esther stays inside. She uses the satellite to locate the trailer's position, causing the laser to destroy the trailer, killing her. Mulder tells Scully that Esther's consciousness probably joined the AI. Later, the Lone Gunmen get a strange message on their computer reading, "Bite me".
Just before the credits, we see a trailer similar to the one where the AI lived, with automatic security cameras monitoring a boy who approaches the trailer to retrieve a football.
, together with fellow science fiction author Tom Maddox
. The authors and long-time friends had discussed various collaborations before and approached the production company with an offer to write an episode. The result was "Kill Switch", which first aired on February 15, 1998. The episode made frequent appearances in reruns and its success encouraged Gibson to continue working in television, resulting in his writing a second episode "First Person Shooter
"—again in collaboration with Maddox—which aired on FOX two years later on February 27, 2000. The episode deals with recurrent Gibsonian themes: alienation, paranoia, the will to survive, emergent technology, the evolution of artificial intelligence
, virtual reality
, and transferring one's consciousness into cyberspace
.
"Kill Switch" was written outside the giant backstory or mytharc
of the series as something of a once-off, which Gibson intended to be reminiscent of the "dark visions" of filmmaker David Cronenberg
and to contain "many obvious pokes and prods at high-end academic cyberculture."
Gibson recalls the episode's conception starting from the end of the episode, with Maddox's idea for a deserted house with shuttered windows, surrounded by a chain-link fence. The episode involved the merging of human and artificial intelligence on the World Wide Web, a concept that had been floating around cyber-futuristic circles at the time. The episode's rewriting and revision process took a significant amount of time and it was over a year before the episode was completed due to other priorities that Chris Carter and Frank Spotnitz had. When they were finally available, they made some revisions to the script, including upping Esther's attitude and Mulder and Scully's reactions to her. A scene involving Scully trying on a fake nose ring was deleted from the script.
The robot that attacked Mulder was insipired by the NASA Mars Rover. It was battery powered and cost $23,000 to create and operate. The producers contracted with SPOT, a French-owned commercial satellite surveillance company to obtain the satellite photos of the Washington D.C. area used in the episode. A freelance computer artist created a 3-D image of Scully for the scene where she is fighting the nurses in the virtual hospital.
of 11.1, with a 16 share. A total of 18.04 million households watched this episode during its original airing. Editor Heather MacDougall won an Emmy award for her work on this episode.
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...
.
Plot
The episode begins one night at a dinerDiner
A diner, also spelled dinor in western Pennsylvania is a prefabricated restaurant building characteristic of North America, especially in the Midwest, in New York City, in Pennsylvania and in New Jersey, and in other areas of the Northeastern United States, although examples can be found throughout...
in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
. A man tries to access some files on a laptop computer, but is repeatedly denied. Meanwhile, several drug dealers receive anonymous phone calls about the whereabouts of their rival competitors; they are supposed to be in the same diner. Two U.S. Marshals receive a similar phone call about an escaped prisoner. The drug dealers arrive in pairs as the man attempts to gain access to the files. Just as he finally gains access, the two Marshals appear and order everyone onto the floor, causing a shootout.
Agents Mulder and Scully arrive at the scene and identify the bodies of the drug dealers. Mulder also identifies the man with the laptop as Donald Gelman, "a Silicon Valley
Silicon Valley
Silicon Valley is a term which refers to the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area in Northern California in the United States. The region is home to many of the world's largest technology corporations...
folk hero" who has aspired to create an artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence is the intelligence of machines and the branch of computer science that aims to create it. AI textbooks define the field as "the study and design of intelligent agents" where an intelligent agent is a system that perceives its environment and takes actions that maximize its...
. Mulder hides Gelman's laptop under his coat and takes it to Scully's car. He also finds a CD inside and puts it into the car stereo, where it plays "Twilight Time
Twilight Time (song)
"Twilight Time" is a popular song with lyrics by Buck Ram, and the music by The Three Suns .Original hits of "Twilight Time" included the Three Suns and Les Brown & His Band of Renown ....
" by The Platters
The Platters
The Platters were a vocal group of the early rock and roll era. Their distinctive sound was a bridge between the pre-rock Tin Pan Alley tradition and the burgeoning new genre...
. The agents take it to 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...
, who discover that the disc contains a large quantity of encrypted data but are unable to decipher it. Upon Scully's suggestion, they access Gelman's e-mail
E-mail
Electronic mail, commonly known as email or e-mail, is a method of exchanging digital messages from an author to one or more recipients. Modern email operates across the Internet or other computer networks. Some early email systems required that the author and the recipient both be online at the...
account and find a message sent by someone named Invisigoth, saying that someone named David is missing.
The message contains a standard ID number (BIC code
ISO 6346
ISO 6346 is an international standard covering the coding, identification and marking of intermodal containers used within containerized intermodal freight transport...
) for an intermodal container
Intermodal container
An intermodal container is a standardized reusable steel box used for the safe, efficient and secure storage and movement of materials and products within a global containerized intermodal freight transport system...
. Mulder and Scully find the container. When they approach it, a girl attempts to flee but is captured by Scully. The container turns out to be full of state-of-the-art computer equipment. The girl warns the agents that a Defense Department
United States Department of Defense
The United States Department of Defense is the U.S...
satellite armed with a laser
Laser
A laser is a device that emits light through a process of optical amplification based on the stimulated emission of photons. The term "laser" originated as an acronym for Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation...
has pinpointed their location. They leave the container, despite some reluctance from Scully. The laser beam soon descends from the sky and destroys the container.
The girl, Esther Nairn, reveals that she uses the online alias
Pseudonym
A pseudonym is a name that a person assumes for a particular purpose and that differs from his or her original orthonym...
Invisigoth, and tells agents that Gelman succeeded in creating an artificial intelligence. She says the AI monitors all of her communication and recognizes her voice, so she cannot make any phone calls. Moreover, once the AI locates an enemy, it destroys them using the satellite. According to Esther, Gelman was creating "Kill Switch", a virus that could destroy the AI. However, the AI learned of Gelman's plans and killed him by luring the drug dealers and the police to the diner. The only way to destroy the AI is to find its hardware, the computer on which it is stored. It turns out that David is Esther's friend, and also worked with Gelman. Later, Mulder, Scully and Esther visit the Lone Gunmen.
Mulder uses a government source to find a secret T3 line
T-carrier
In telecommunications, T-carrier, sometimes abbreviated as T-CXR, is the generic designator for any of several digitally multiplexed telecommunications carrier systems originally developed by Bell Labs and used in North America, Japan, and South Korea....
, one that the AI uses to access the Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
. He also finds the trailer that is connected to the T3 line. Meanwhile, Esther forces Scully to drive to David's house. However, they find that the house has been destroyed. Esther admits that she and David had been planning to transfer their consciousness
Consciousness
Consciousness is a term that refers to the relationship between the mind and the world with which it interacts. It has been defined as: subjectivity, awareness, the ability to experience or to feel, wakefulness, having a sense of selfhood, and the executive control system of the mind...
into cyberspace
Cyberspace
Cyberspace is the electronic medium of computer networks, in which online communication takes place.The term "cyberspace" was first used by the cyberpunk science fiction author William Gibson, though the concept was described somewhat earlier, for example in the Vernor Vinge short story "True...
to enter the AI. However, Gelman thought the idea was too dangerous. Esther also admits that she and David were in love, and were having an affair behind Gelman's back.
Meanwhile, Mulder finds much computer hardware
Hardware
Hardware is a general term for equipment such as keys, locks, hinges, latches, handles, wire, chains, plumbing supplies, tools, utensils, cutlery and machine parts. Household hardware is typically sold in hardware stores....
inside the trailer. He also finds David’s dead body, with a virtual reality
Virtual reality
Virtual reality , also known as virtuality, is a term that applies to computer-simulated environments that can simulate physical presence in places in the real world, as well as in imaginary worlds...
helmet on his head. Suddenly, Mulder is constrained by moving cables and wires, and experiences a strange vision in which he is in a hospital where nurses threaten to amputate
Amputation
Amputation is the removal of a body extremity by trauma, prolonged constriction, or surgery. As a surgical measure, it is used to control pain or a disease process in the affected limb, such as malignancy or gangrene. In some cases, it is carried out on individuals as a preventative surgery for...
his limbs unless he reveals Kill Switch's location. Meanwhile, the AI locates Scully and Esther driving near a swing bridge
Swing bridge
A swing bridge is a movable bridge that has as its primary structural support a vertical locating pin and support ring, usually at or near to its centre of gravity, about which the turning span can then pivot horizontally as shown in the animated illustration to the right...
. They become trapped on the bridge after the AI manipulates its drawing mechanism, causing Scully to persuade Esther to throw the laptop into the water. Just as it hits the water it is destroyed by the defense satellite's laser beam.
Scully and Esther find the trailer in which Mulder is trapped. They discover that Esther still has the CD where Kill Switch is stored. Scully puts it into the drive into the AI, which then releases Mulder. She gets him out of the trailer, but Esther stays inside. She uses the satellite to locate the trailer's position, causing the laser to destroy the trailer, killing her. Mulder tells Scully that Esther's consciousness probably joined the AI. Later, the Lone Gunmen get a strange message on their computer reading, "Bite me".
Just before the credits, we see a trailer similar to the one where the AI lived, with automatic security cameras monitoring a boy who approaches the trailer to retrieve a football.
Production
The episode was written by acclaimed cyberpunk novelist William GibsonWilliam Gibson
William Gibson is an American-Canadian science fiction author.William Gibson may also refer to:-Association football:*Will Gibson , Scottish footballer...
, together with fellow science fiction author Tom Maddox
Tom Maddox
Tom Maddox is an American science fiction writer, known for his part in the early cyberpunk movement.His first novel was Halo , published in 1991 by Tor Books. His story Snake Eyes appeared in the 1986 collection Mirrorshades, edited by Bruce Sterling.He is perhaps best known as a friend and...
. The authors and long-time friends had discussed various collaborations before and approached the production company with an offer to write an episode. The result was "Kill Switch", which first aired on February 15, 1998. The episode made frequent appearances in reruns and its success encouraged Gibson to continue working in television, resulting in his writing a second episode "First Person Shooter
First Person Shooter (The X-Files)
"First Person Shooter" is the thirteenth episode of the seventh season of the science fiction television series The X-Files. It is the spiritual successor to Gibson's earlier episode "Kill Switch".-Plot summary:...
"—again in collaboration with Maddox—which aired on FOX two years later on February 27, 2000. The episode deals with recurrent Gibsonian themes: alienation, paranoia, the will to survive, emergent technology, the evolution of artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence is the intelligence of machines and the branch of computer science that aims to create it. AI textbooks define the field as "the study and design of intelligent agents" where an intelligent agent is a system that perceives its environment and takes actions that maximize its...
, virtual reality
Virtual reality
Virtual reality , also known as virtuality, is a term that applies to computer-simulated environments that can simulate physical presence in places in the real world, as well as in imaginary worlds...
, and transferring one's consciousness into cyberspace
Cyberspace
Cyberspace is the electronic medium of computer networks, in which online communication takes place.The term "cyberspace" was first used by the cyberpunk science fiction author William Gibson, though the concept was described somewhat earlier, for example in the Vernor Vinge short story "True...
.
"Kill Switch" was written outside the giant backstory or mytharc
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...
of the series as something of a once-off, which Gibson intended to be reminiscent of the "dark visions" of filmmaker David Cronenberg
David Cronenberg
David Paul Cronenberg, OC, FRSC is a Canadian filmmaker, screenwriter and actor. He is one of the principal originators of what is commonly known as the body horror or venereal horror genre. This style of filmmaking explores people's fears of bodily transformation and infection. In his films, the...
and to contain "many obvious pokes and prods at high-end academic cyberculture."
Gibson recalls the episode's conception starting from the end of the episode, with Maddox's idea for a deserted house with shuttered windows, surrounded by a chain-link fence. The episode involved the merging of human and artificial intelligence on the World Wide Web, a concept that had been floating around cyber-futuristic circles at the time. The episode's rewriting and revision process took a significant amount of time and it was over a year before the episode was completed due to other priorities that Chris Carter and Frank Spotnitz had. When they were finally available, they made some revisions to the script, including upping Esther's attitude and Mulder and Scully's reactions to her. A scene involving Scully trying on a fake nose ring was deleted from the script.
The robot that attacked Mulder was insipired by the NASA Mars Rover. It was battery powered and cost $23,000 to create and operate. The producers contracted with SPOT, a French-owned commercial satellite surveillance company to obtain the satellite photos of the Washington D.C. area used in the episode. A freelance computer artist created a 3-D image of Scully for the scene where she is fighting the nurses in the virtual hospital.
Reception
The episode earned a Nielsen 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 11.1, with a 16 share. A total of 18.04 million households watched this episode during its original airing. Editor Heather MacDougall won an Emmy award for her work on this episode.
External links
- Kill Switch 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...