Paper Clip
Encyclopedia
"Paper Clip" is a 1995 episode of The X-Files
television series
. It was the second episode broadcast in the show's third season. Paper Clip concludes the story regarding the agents' possession of a digital tape containing government secrets on extraterrestrials.
and Walter Skinner
hold each other at gunpoint. Fox Mulder
, the person lingering outside of his apartment, bursts in and forces Skinner to put his gun down. He also demands that Skinner surrender the digital tape. Skinner insists on keeping the tape, saying it is their only leverage in exposing the conspiracy.
The agents visit Langly and Byers
, showing them a photo featuring Bill Mulder, the Smoking Man, Deep Throat, and other members of the Syndicate
. The Lone Gunmen also recognize Victor Klemper, a notorious Nazi scientist who was bought to the U.S. under Operation Paperclip
. Frohike
arrives and informs Scully of Melissa's condition. Mulder persuades Scully not to visit Melissa at the hospital, since she could be targeted there.
In New York City
, the Syndicate meets in the wake of Melissa's shooting, fearful that the incident will compromise its activities. The Syndicate blames the Smoking Man for the shooting, and demands that he produce the digital tape. The Smoking Man promises to do the following day. Meanwhile, Mulder and Scully visit Klemper, who says that the photo was taken at a mining facility in West Virginia
. After the agents leave, Klemper calls the Well Manicured Man and informs him that Mulder is alive. The news causes the Syndicate to further mistrust the Smoking Man. At the hospital, Albert Hosteen visits Melissa while a suited man loiters nearby.
Mulder and Scully arrive at the mining site and using the code for Napier's constant
, told to them by Klemper, are able to unlock the reinforced doors they find inside.
Skinner meets with the Cigarette Smoking Man, telling him that he may have found the digital tape. The Cigarette Smoking Man is extremely agitated at this, insisting that he will not make a deal with Skinner, and tacitly threatening his life.
Mulder and Scully find a large complex of filing cabinets containing smallpox vaccination records and tissue samples. Mulder finds his sister's file and finds that it was originally meant for him. Hearing noise, Mulder heads outside where he witnesses a U.F.O. flying overhead. Small beings run past Scully. Cars full of armed soldiers arrive, and the agents flee.
Mulder and Scully meet with Skinner at a diner in rural Maryland. Skinner wants to turn over the digital tape in exchange for their reinstatement and safety. After initially objecting, Mulder agrees to let Skinner turn the digital tape over. Skinner heads to see Melissa in the hospital and is told by Albert of the mysterious blue-suited man outside. Skinner chases the man to a stairwell where he is attacked by Alex Krycek
and Luis Cardinal, who steal the digital tape and flee.
Krycek narrowly escapes an attempt on his life when the car he is in explodes after the other two men leave the car. Mulder and Scully return to Klemper's greenhouse, finding the Well Manicured Man there. He admits to knowing Mulder's father and states that during the Cold War
Mulder's father helped gather genetic data for post-apocalyptic identification – data which was used by Klemper to work on alien-human hybrids. When Mulder's father learned of this, he threatened to expose them, so Samantha was taken to ensure his silence.
Krycek phones the Cigarette Smoking Man, telling him that he has the tape. The Cigarette Smoking Man lies to the rest of the Syndicate, telling them that Scully's would-be assassin was killed in a car explosion which destroyed the tape too. Mulder confronts his mother, who tells him that his father chose for Samantha to be taken. At FBI headquarters Skinner once again meets with the Cigarette Smoking Man about the tape. The Smoking Man calls Skinner's bluff, knowing he no longer has the tape, but Skinner reveals that Albert and 20 other Navajos have memorized the content of the tape and are ready to reveal it if Mulder or Scully are harmed. Mulder meets with Scully at the hospital, who reveals that her sister died a few hours before. Mulder tells Scully that he believes that the truth is still in the X-Files. Scully tells him that she's heard the truth, and now what she wants are the answers.
, a real-life German scientist who was employed by the U.S. after World War II
. The fictional Victor Klemper is based on Strughold, who was accused of conducting similar experiments on humans. Interestingly, the name is almost identical to a Victor Klemperer
who was a German Jew that escaped persecution during World War II by fleeing to American-controlled territory. The Strughold Mining Facility was filmed at the B.C. Museum of Mining, in Britannia Beach, British Columbia, Canada. This episode was dedicated in memorium to Mario Mark Kennedy, an internet fan of the show who had died in a car accident in 1995.
Story editor Frank Spotnitz
said of the episode "I love 'Paper Clip'. I was thrilled with the plot. I know it moved very fast for some people, but I actually think that for some of these shows you don't need to understand everything. I think it is more exciting to go at rocket speed. Everybody was on the mark in that one; David and Gillian's performances, Rob Bowman's direction, Chris Carter
's writing - everything was just terrific in that show." Bowman said "When I finished 'Paper Clip', I thought, 'I don't know what else I am going to do this year to top this'" In 1996 Mitch Pileggi
called the episode one of the show's finest, particularly enjoying the line where he tells the Cigarette Smoking Man
to "pucker up and kiss my ass". Pileggi claims that to be one of his favorite lines. The scene would be used frequently to introduce him at X-Files conventions.
The creators likened themes of the episode to the Star Wars trilogy
, referring to the revelations about Fox Mulder
's father, and Sophie's Choice
, referring to how the Mulders were forced to choose Fox or Samantha
to be taken.
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 second episode broadcast in the show's third season. Paper Clip concludes the story regarding the agents' possession of a digital tape containing government secrets on extraterrestrials.
Plot
Continuing from the previous episode, Dana ScullyDana 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 Walter Skinner
Walter Skinner
FBI Assistant Director Walter Sergei Skinner is a fictional character 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...
hold each other at gunpoint. 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...
, the person lingering outside of his apartment, bursts in and forces Skinner to put his gun down. He also demands that Skinner surrender the digital tape. Skinner insists on keeping the tape, saying it is their only leverage in exposing the conspiracy.
The agents visit Langly and Byers
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...
, showing them a photo featuring Bill Mulder, the Smoking Man, Deep Throat, and other members of 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...
. The Lone Gunmen also recognize Victor Klemper, a notorious Nazi scientist who was bought to the U.S. under Operation Paperclip
Operation Paperclip
Operation Paperclip was the Office of Strategic Services program used to recruit the scientists of Nazi Germany for employment by the United States in the aftermath of World War II...
. Frohike
Melvin Frohike
Melvin Frohike is a fictional character in the television shows The X-Files and The Lone Gunmen, played by Tom Braidwood.Frohike was born circa 1953 in Pontiac, Michigan. Prior to joining The Lone Gunmen, he was an acclaimed tango dancer in Miami...
arrives and informs Scully of Melissa's condition. Mulder persuades Scully not to visit Melissa at the hospital, since she could be targeted there.
In New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, the Syndicate meets in the wake of Melissa's shooting, fearful that the incident will compromise its activities. The Syndicate blames the Smoking Man for the shooting, and demands that he produce the digital tape. The Smoking Man promises to do the following day. Meanwhile, Mulder and Scully visit Klemper, who says that the photo was taken at a mining facility in West Virginia
West 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...
. After the agents leave, Klemper calls the Well Manicured Man and informs him that Mulder is alive. The news causes the Syndicate to further mistrust the Smoking Man. At the hospital, Albert Hosteen visits Melissa while a suited man loiters nearby.
Mulder and Scully arrive at the mining site and using the code for Napier's constant
E (mathematical constant)
The mathematical constant ' is the unique real number such that the value of the derivative of the function at the point is equal to 1. The function so defined is called the exponential function, and its inverse is the natural logarithm, or logarithm to base...
, told to them by Klemper, are able to unlock the reinforced doors they find inside.
Skinner meets with the Cigarette Smoking Man, telling him that he may have found the digital tape. The Cigarette Smoking Man is extremely agitated at this, insisting that he will not make a deal with Skinner, and tacitly threatening his life.
Mulder and Scully find a large complex of filing cabinets containing smallpox vaccination records and tissue samples. Mulder finds his sister's file and finds that it was originally meant for him. Hearing noise, Mulder heads outside where he witnesses a U.F.O. flying overhead. Small beings run past Scully. Cars full of armed soldiers arrive, and the agents flee.
Mulder and Scully meet with Skinner at a diner in rural Maryland. Skinner wants to turn over the digital tape in exchange for their reinstatement and safety. After initially objecting, Mulder agrees to let Skinner turn the digital tape over. Skinner heads to see Melissa in the hospital and is told by Albert of the mysterious blue-suited man outside. Skinner chases the man to a stairwell where he is attacked by 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...
and Luis Cardinal, who steal the digital tape and flee.
Krycek narrowly escapes an attempt on his life when the car he is in explodes after the other two men leave the car. Mulder and Scully return to Klemper's greenhouse, finding the Well Manicured Man there. He admits to knowing Mulder's father and states that during the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
Mulder's father helped gather genetic data for post-apocalyptic identification – data which was used by Klemper to work on alien-human hybrids. When Mulder's father learned of this, he threatened to expose them, so Samantha was taken to ensure his silence.
Krycek phones the Cigarette Smoking Man, telling him that he has the tape. The Cigarette Smoking Man lies to the rest of the Syndicate, telling them that Scully's would-be assassin was killed in a car explosion which destroyed the tape too. Mulder confronts his mother, who tells him that his father chose for Samantha to be taken. At FBI headquarters Skinner once again meets with the Cigarette Smoking Man about the tape. The Smoking Man calls Skinner's bluff, knowing he no longer has the tape, but Skinner reveals that Albert and 20 other Navajos have memorized the content of the tape and are ready to reveal it if Mulder or Scully are harmed. Mulder meets with Scully at the hospital, who reveals that her sister died a few hours before. Mulder tells Scully that he believes that the truth is still in the X-Files. Scully tells him that she's heard the truth, and now what she wants are the answers.
Production
The aliens in this episode who run past Scully in the mining facility were portrayed by eight- and nine-year-old children. The U.F.O. spotted by Mulder was achieved by using a crane to lift lights over the building Mulder was at. The Mining Facility is named for Dr. Hubertus StrugholdHubertus Strughold
Dr. Hubertus Strughold was a German doctor and prominent medical researcher during the early twentieth century. An emigre to the United States after World War II, he is also known as "The Father of Space Medicine". He was the author of over 180 papers in the field of space medicine...
, a real-life German scientist who was employed by the U.S. after 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 fictional Victor Klemper is based on Strughold, who was accused of conducting similar experiments on humans. Interestingly, the name is almost identical to a Victor Klemperer
Victor Klemperer
Victor Klemperer was a businessman, journalist and eventually a Professor of Literature, specialising in the French Enlightenment at the Technische Universität Dresden. His diaries detailing his life under successive German states—the German Empire, the Weimar Republic, Nazi Germany and the German...
who was a German Jew that escaped persecution during World War II by fleeing to American-controlled territory. The Strughold Mining Facility was filmed at the B.C. Museum of Mining, in Britannia Beach, British Columbia, Canada. This episode was dedicated in memorium to Mario Mark Kennedy, an internet fan of the show who had died in a car accident in 1995.
Story editor 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:...
said of the episode "I love 'Paper Clip'. I was thrilled with the plot. I know it moved very fast for some people, but I actually think that for some of these shows you don't need to understand everything. I think it is more exciting to go at rocket speed. Everybody was on the mark in that one; David and Gillian's performances, Rob Bowman's direction, 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 :...
's writing - everything was just terrific in that show." Bowman said "When I finished 'Paper Clip', I thought, 'I don't know what else I am going to do this year to top this'" In 1996 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...
called the episode one of the show's finest, particularly enjoying the line where he tells 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...
to "pucker up and kiss my ass". Pileggi claims that to be one of his favorite lines. The scene would be used frequently to introduce him at X-Files conventions.
The creators likened themes of the episode to the Star Wars trilogy
Star Wars
Star Wars is an American epic space opera film series created by George Lucas. The first film in the series was originally released on May 25, 1977, under the title Star Wars, by 20th Century Fox, and became a worldwide pop culture phenomenon, followed by two sequels, released at three-year...
, referring to the revelations about 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...
's father, and Sophie's Choice
Sophie's Choice (novel)
Sophie's Choice is a novel by William Styron published in 1979. It concerns a young American Southerner, an aspiring writer, who befriends the Jewish Nathan Landau and his beautiful lover Sophie, a Polish survivor of the Nazi concentration camps...
, referring to how the Mulders were forced to choose Fox or Samantha
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...
to be taken.