Piper Maru
Encyclopedia
"Piper Maru" is a 1996 episode of The X-Files
television series
. It was the fifteenth episode broadcast in the show's third season. Piper Maru introduces the alien black oil and features the return of Alex Krycek.
salvage vessel, is exploring the Pacific Ocean
. Gauthier, a member of the ship's crew, dives down into the sea and finds a sunken fighter plane from World War II
. He is shocked to find a man alive in the plane's cockpit, with an oil-like substance in his eyes. When Gauthier returns to the surface, he has become possessed by this black oil
.
In Washington
, Assistant Director Skinner
meets with Agent Scully
, telling her that the investigation into Melissa's murder has been made inactive, despite the evidence that had been recovered. Mulder
tells her about the Piper Maru, which had laid anchor at the same coordinates as another ship
believed to have salvaged a UFO; when the Piper Maru came to port in San Diego, her crew was found suffering from somatic
radiation burns. The agents visit the ship, finding traces of the black oil on Gauthier's diving suit. Upon viewing a video of the dive, Scully identifies the sunken plane as a P-51 Mustang. Meanwhile, Gauthier returns home and searches for something. When his wife Joan arrives, the black oil passes itself along to her.
Scully visits a naval base
to visit an old friend of her father's, Commander
Christopher Johanson, seeking information about the plane; he initially claims to not know anything about it. Meanwhile, Mulder visits Gauthier's home, finding him passed out and covered in the black oil; he has no memory of his experience. Mulder finds a letter from a salvage broker, and visits the broker's 'secretary' Jeraldine. Mulder follows her when she leaves after her office is invaded by several men.
Scully is stopped by Johanson as she is about to leave the base and he admits that after World War II he was sent to find a sunken bomber aboard the submarine Zeus Faber. He says the bomber was carrying an atomic bomb
like that which was dropped on Hiroshima
, and was accompanied by several P-51s, including the plane the Piper Maru discovered. He recalls how many aboard the submarine suffered from radiation burns and he was involved in a mutiny against his captain, who also had the black oil in his eyes.
Scully provides Mulder with this information while he follows Jeraldine to Hong Kong. Joan also heads there. In Hong Kong Mulder finds Jeraldine, who is revealed to be the salvage broker, someone who has been acting as a middleman to sell government secrets. Mulder handcuffs himself to her and gets her to bring him to her office, where Alex Krycek waits inside, having been selling the contents of the digital tape (last referenced in the episode "Paper Clip
"). Krycek escapes out the window while Jeraldine is shot by a group of men coming down the hallway. Mulder unlocks the handcuffs and escapes. Joan walks down the hall and encounters the men, creating a flash that causes them all to suffer from radiation burns.
While eating at a restaurant that he regularly visits Skinner is confronted by several men, including the Gray-Haired Man, and told not to pursue Melissa Scully's case any further. In a later visit to the restaurant, he is shot by Luis Cardinal when he tries to stop Luis from harassing the cashier. Scully is contacted regarding his shooting. Krycek is caught by Mulder in an airport and Mulder demands he give him the digital tape. Krycek tells him the tape is in a locker in Washington, D.C., and that he'll give it to him in exchange for letting him go. Mulder lets Krycek go to the bathroom to clean the blood from his face. Inside he is confronted by Joan. He departs the bathroom to leave with Mulder, now with the black oil in his eyes.
had for an episode, the first featuring a diver finding a living pilot trapped in an underwater crashed plane, and the second featuring a black and white flashback taking place in a submarine. Frank Spotnitz
developed the remainder of the episode while on a plane, writing ideas on a magazine including the investigation of the death of Dana Scully
's sister and Alex Krycek
.
The title of the episode is a reference to the first and middle name of Anderson's daughter. The name Gauthier, used for the French diver and his wife, was a reference to special effects producer David Gauthier. The man in the plane in the teaser, Robert Maier, worked as a construction coordinator on the show. Nicholas Lea
's name was purposely left until the ending credits in order to preserve the sense of surprise.
considered the episode an emotionally difficult one, saying "Piper Maru was challenging. There was something about it - having to pull from the past... how it brought the present and the past together. It was just good to play." Director Kim Manners
complimented Anderson's performance, stating "You look at season one and look at season three and that girl exploded as an actress in terms of talent and capability."
Anderson submitted this episode for consideration after she was nominated for the Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series.
This episode earned a neilsen rating of 10.6, with an 18 share. It was viewed by 16.44 million people.
The Piper Maru takes on a new role as an Icebreaker
in the 2004 film Alien versus Predator
, the naming of the ship being a nod to this episode.
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 fifteenth episode broadcast in the show's third season. Piper Maru introduces the alien black oil and features the return of Alex Krycek.
Plot
Piper Maru, a FrenchFrance
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
salvage vessel, is exploring the Pacific Ocean
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...
. Gauthier, a member of the ship's crew, dives down into the sea and finds a sunken fighter plane from 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...
. He is shocked to find a man alive in the plane's cockpit, with an oil-like substance in his eyes. When Gauthier returns to the surface, he has become possessed by this black oil
Black Oil
Black Oil may refer to:* Black Oil , an alien virus in the X-Files episode The Colonist* a sunflower variety...
.
In Washington
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....
, Assistant Director 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...
meets with Agent 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...
, telling her that the investigation into Melissa's murder has been made inactive, despite the evidence that had been recovered. 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...
tells her about the Piper Maru, which had laid anchor at the same coordinates as another ship
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...
believed to have salvaged a UFO; when the Piper Maru came to port in San Diego, her crew was found suffering from somatic
Somatic
The term somatic means 'of the body',, relating to the body. In medicine, somatic illness is bodily, not mental, illness. The term is often used in biology to refer to the cells of the body in contrast to the germ line cells which usually give rise to the gametes...
radiation burns. The agents visit the ship, finding traces of the black oil on Gauthier's diving suit. Upon viewing a video of the dive, Scully identifies the sunken plane as a P-51 Mustang. Meanwhile, Gauthier returns home and searches for something. When his wife Joan arrives, the black oil passes itself along to her.
Scully visits a naval base
Naval base
A naval base is a military base, where warships and naval ships are deployed when they have no mission at sea or want to restock. Usually ships may also perform some minor repairs. Some naval bases are temporary homes to aircraft that usually stay on the ships but are undergoing maintenance while...
to visit an old friend of her father's, Commander
Commander
Commander is a naval rank which is also sometimes used as a military title depending on the individual customs of a given military service. Commander is also used as a rank or title in some organizations outside of the armed forces, particularly in police and law enforcement.-Commander as a naval...
Christopher Johanson, seeking information about the plane; he initially claims to not know anything about it. Meanwhile, Mulder visits Gauthier's home, finding him passed out and covered in the black oil; he has no memory of his experience. Mulder finds a letter from a salvage broker, and visits the broker's 'secretary' Jeraldine. Mulder follows her when she leaves after her office is invaded by several men.
Scully is stopped by Johanson as she is about to leave the base and he admits that after World War II he was sent to find a sunken bomber aboard the submarine Zeus Faber. He says the bomber was carrying an atomic bomb
Nuclear weapon
A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission or a combination of fission and fusion. Both reactions release vast quantities of energy from relatively small amounts of matter. The first fission bomb test released the same amount...
like that which was dropped on Hiroshima
Hiroshima
is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture, and the largest city in the Chūgoku region of western Honshu, the largest island of Japan. It became best known as the first city in history to be destroyed by a nuclear weapon when the United States Army Air Forces dropped an atomic bomb on it at 8:15 A.M...
, and was accompanied by several P-51s, including the plane the Piper Maru discovered. He recalls how many aboard the submarine suffered from radiation burns and he was involved in a mutiny against his captain, who also had the black oil in his eyes.
Scully provides Mulder with this information while he follows Jeraldine to Hong Kong. Joan also heads there. In Hong Kong Mulder finds Jeraldine, who is revealed to be the salvage broker, someone who has been acting as a middleman to sell government secrets. Mulder handcuffs himself to her and gets her to bring him to her office, where Alex Krycek waits inside, having been selling the contents of the digital tape (last referenced in the episode "Paper Clip
Paper Clip
"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.- Plot :Continuing from the previous...
"). Krycek escapes out the window while Jeraldine is shot by a group of men coming down the hallway. Mulder unlocks the handcuffs and escapes. Joan walks down the hall and encounters the men, creating a flash that causes them all to suffer from radiation burns.
While eating at a restaurant that he regularly visits Skinner is confronted by several men, including the Gray-Haired Man, and told not to pursue Melissa Scully's case any further. In a later visit to the restaurant, he is shot by Luis Cardinal when he tries to stop Luis from harassing the cashier. Scully is contacted regarding his shooting. Krycek is caught by Mulder in an airport and Mulder demands he give him the digital tape. Krycek tells him the tape is in a locker in Washington, D.C., and that he'll give it to him in exchange for letting him go. Mulder lets Krycek go to the bathroom to clean the blood from his face. Inside he is confronted by Joan. He departs the bathroom to leave with Mulder, now with the black oil in his eyes.
Production
The episode originated based on two ideas Chris CarterChris 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 :...
had for an episode, the first featuring a diver finding a living pilot trapped in an underwater crashed plane, and the second featuring a black and white flashback taking place in a submarine. 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:...
developed the remainder of the episode while on a plane, writing ideas on a magazine including the investigation of the death of 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...
's sister and 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...
.
The title of the episode is a reference to the first and middle name of Anderson's daughter. The name Gauthier, used for the French diver and his wife, was a reference to special effects producer David Gauthier. The man in the plane in the teaser, Robert Maier, worked as a construction coordinator on the show. Nicholas Lea
Nicholas Lea
Nicholas Lea is a Canadian actor best known for his portrayal of Alex Krycek on The X-Files and on Kyle XY playing Tom Foss.-Biography:...
's name was purposely left until the ending credits in order to preserve the sense of surprise.
Reception
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...
considered the episode an emotionally difficult one, saying "Piper Maru was challenging. There was something about it - having to pull from the past... how it brought the present and the past together. It was just good to play." Director Kim Manners
Kim Manners
Kim Manners was an American television producer, director and child actor best known for his work on The X-Files and Supernatural.-Early life:...
complimented Anderson's performance, stating "You look at season one and look at season three and that girl exploded as an actress in terms of talent and capability."
Anderson submitted this episode for consideration after she was nominated for the Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series.
This episode earned a neilsen rating of 10.6, with an 18 share. It was viewed by 16.44 million people.
The Piper Maru takes on a new role as an Icebreaker
Icebreaker
An icebreaker is a special-purpose ship or boat designed to move and navigate through ice-covered waters. Although the term usually refers to ice-breaking ships, it may also refer to smaller vessels .For a ship to be considered an icebreaker, it requires three traits most...
in the 2004 film Alien versus Predator
Alien vs. Predator (film)
Alien vs. Predator is a 2004 American science fiction film directed by Paul W. S. Anderson for 20th Century Fox and starring Sanaa Lathan and Lance Henriksen. The film adapts the Alien vs. Predator crossover imprint bringing together the eponymous creatures of the Alien and Predator series, a...
, the naming of the ship being a nod to this episode.