Two Fathers
Encyclopedia
"Two Fathers" is the 128th episode of the series, and the eleventh episode of the sixth season
of the science fiction
television series The X-Files
. The episode first aired in the United States and Canada on February 7, 1999, on the Fox Network
and subsequently aired in the United Kingdom on Sky1. It was written by executive producers Chris Carter
and Frank Spotnitz
and directed by Kim Manners
. The episode is the first of a two-part episode and continues with the episode "One Son
".
"Two Fathers" follows a story which would lead to the destruction of the Syndicate
. With the unexpected return of Cassandra Spender and the alien rebels, members of the Syndicate prepare themselves for the final invasion
. The episode earned a high Nielsen household and syndication rating when compared to other episodes of the sixth season. It was generally well-received by fans and critics alike.
begin to appear and start burning all the doctors, the only survivor being Dr. Openshaw. The patient, Cassandra Spender, had been missing for over a year. Walter Skinner
takes her son, Jeffrey Spender
, to the scene, where he meets with his mother. Cassandra refuses to talk with Jeffrey about what happened to her because she knows that he wouldn't believe her. She asks for Fox Mulder
(David Duchovny
). Spender asks Mulder to join him to meet his mother, but Mulder sees it as an attempt to entrap him. Later on, Dr. Openshaw informs the Cigarette Smoking Man
about the completion of the project, saying he needs to kill his former wife since she is the first successful alien-human hybrid. The Cigarette Smoking Man's reaction leads to Dr. Openshaw's death. Meanwhile one of the Syndicate elders is killed by an alien rebel, who takes on his form.
Mulder and partner Dana Scully
(Gillian Anderson
) go over the crime scene photos from the train car incident and immediately recognize similarities to murders from a year earlier. Afterwards, Mulder and Scully visit Cassandra who informs them that the aliens
are here to destroy all life on Earth
, further stating that this alien threat moves through the Universe to colonize other planets. She claims that a rebel force of aliens are mutilating their faces to prevent infection by the black oil.
Alex Krycek
reports to the Syndicate on the rebel's recent attacks. The rebel, masquerading as the elder he killed, proposes that the Syndicate align with the rebels, to which the others refuse.
Mulder and Scully use The X-Files office
to find the Cigarette Smoking Man's real identity; that he is Jeffrey's father, known as C.G.B. Spender. Their unauthorized entry at the X-Files office is discovered resulting in both agents' immediate suspension from the FBI. Jeffrey reports to the Cigarette Smoking Man demanding the truth. Scully meets with Mulder, telling him that C.G.B. Spender is likely another alias and that the man is linked with Mulder's father, William, who he had worked with on a secret state project
. The Cigarette Smoking Man decides to give Jeffrey more responsibility by having him kill the alien rebel masquerading as a Syndicate elder. Spender fails in his task, but Krycek comes to his aid and finishes. Krycek reveals to Spender that his father was responsible for Cassandra's abductions and that his role is to protect his father's stake in the project, facts that upset Agent Spender.
The Cigarette Smoking Man reveals everything to Diana Fowley, who agrees to help him. Mulder tells Skinner that Cassandra is in danger because she is the first successful alien-human hybrid; Skinner goes to the hospital to check on Cassandra but finds her gone. Cassandra, having escaped from the hospital, arrives at Mulder's apartment and demands that he shoot her because she is the embodiment of fifty years of work by the Syndicate — an alien-human hybrid that will trigger colonization if the aliens learn of her existence.
stated "I've said for years that the show really resolved itself, if you will, by accident. The whole story line of the Syndicate and the bees and the aliens and the chips in the neck, they all seemed to just accidentally fall into place and create an intriguing, mysterious storyline that eventually got so mysterious and so intriguing that Chris had to blow it up, because he couldn't deal with it anymore." The original script featured various flashback sequences to the actors Peter Donat
, William B. Davis
and Veronica Cartwright
, all from scenes around twenty-thirty years earlier in the show. They did various makeup jobs on the actors to make them look younger. However, the writers eventually came to the conclusion that it "just didn't [...] work", so they cut out most of that storyline, which ultimately led to the creation of a whole new direction in which the Cigarette Smoking Man provided a monologue explaining the history of the project instead. The first scene was shot in Long Beach, California
.
The scene in which Jeffrey Spender
(Chris Owens
) visited his mother, Cassandra Spender (Veronica Cartwright), was shot in Los Angeles
. Those members of The X-Files crew who had moved with the show from Vancouver
to Los Angeles still had problems adjusting to the changes when filming an episode. They were forced to adjust to changes in the sunlight, since Vancouver had this "dark and gray feel" compared to California
's sunny atmosphere. Kim Manners said that it was difficult to get used to the new area of filming. This episode marks the first time new stock footage was used for the J. Edgar Hoover Building
in over five years.
The Second Elder's house was in a relatively expensive neighborhood in Los Angeles. Manners stated that he was "very nervous" when filming this scene because the crew needed to create a fire inside the house, which was done by Kelly Kerby and Bobby Calvert. When the faceless alien
attacks the Second Elder, a special effects crew member can be seen behind a window "running with his rig", according to Manners.
of 11.5, with a 16 share. It was viewed by 11.458 million households and gathered a total of 18.81 million viewers in the United States
. The episode was the third highest rated episode of the sixth season. The episode debuted in the United States and Canada
on February 7, 1999, at the Fox Network
. "Two Fathers" made its first appearance on Canadian television the same time and day on the Global Television Network
. In the United Kingdom
, the episode gathered 0.74 million viewers and was the third most watched episode that week, behind Star Trek Voyager and Friends
. On May 16, 1999, the episode debuted in the United Kingdom and Ireland
on Sunday. Veronica Cartwright
was nominated for an Emmy
for "Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series" for her role in this episode and "One Son
", and the make-up department was nominated for an Emmy award in the category "Outstanding Makeup for a Series" and won.
A review from Critical Myth gave the episode 7 out of 10, saying it was "another attempt" to explain the mythology of the show
, further saying that it worked on a "certain level", but from a retrospective point of view it fails. The main reason behind creating a resolution to the Syndicate
arc was that Chris Carter
thought the series was going to be cancelled by early 2000. While promoting the episode, Carter said it would give many long-waited answers but at the same time create new ones. Joyce Millman from Salon magazine said the episode (along with "One Son") was one "of the most coherent, [...] almost unbearably tense, hours in the series' run". Michigan Daily
reviewer Melissa Runstrom said "Two Fathers" along with "One Son" and season finale
"Biogenesis
" were the highlights of the sixth season
.
The X-Files (season 6)
The sixth season of the science fiction television series The X-Files commenced airing on the Fox Broadcasting Network in the United States on November 8, 1998, concluding on the same channel on May 16, 1999, and contained 22 episodes. The series was developed by Chris Carter, who also serves as...
of the science fiction
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...
. The episode first aired in the United States and Canada on February 7, 1999, 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 on Sky1. It was written by executive producers 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 :...
and 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 directed by 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:...
. The episode is the first of a two-part episode and continues with the episode "One Son
One Son
"One Son" is the 129th episode of the science fiction television series The X-Files. The episode first aired in the United States and Canada on February 14, 1999 on the Fox Network, and subsequently aired in the United Kingdom on Sky1...
".
"Two Fathers" follows a story which would lead to the destruction 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...
. With the unexpected return of Cassandra Spender and the alien rebels, members of the Syndicate prepare themselves for the final invasion
Colonist (The X-Files)
The Colonists are an extraterrestrial species in the science fiction television show, The X-Files, as well as the first X-Files feature film. The mystery revolving around their identity and purpose is revealed across the course of the series...
. The episode earned a high Nielsen household and syndication rating when compared to other episodes of the sixth season. It was generally well-received by fans and critics alike.
Plot summary
In a train car, doctors in chemical suits are making incisions on an unseen patient's stomach; green fluid seeps out of the wounds, which heal themselves. When Dr. Eugene Openshaw arrives, he is informed that their twenty-five-year-old project is finally completed. Moments later, rebel aliensColonist (The X-Files)
The Colonists are an extraterrestrial species in the science fiction television show, The X-Files, as well as the first X-Files feature film. The mystery revolving around their identity and purpose is revealed across the course of the series...
begin to appear and start burning all the doctors, the only survivor being Dr. Openshaw. The patient, Cassandra Spender, had been missing for over a year. 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...
takes her son, Jeffrey Spender
Jeffrey Spender
FBI Special agent Jeffrey Frank Spender is a fictional character in the American Fox television series The X-Files, a science fiction show about a government conspiracy to hide or deny the truth of alien existence. Spender was in control of the X-Files office after Fox Mulder's and Dana Scully's...
, to the scene, where he meets with his mother. Cassandra refuses to talk with Jeffrey about what happened to her because she knows that he wouldn't believe her. She asks for 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:...
). Spender asks Mulder to join him to meet his mother, but Mulder sees it as an attempt to entrap him. Later on, Dr. Openshaw informs 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...
about the completion of the project, saying he needs to kill his former wife since she is the first successful alien-human hybrid. The Cigarette Smoking Man's reaction leads to Dr. Openshaw's death. Meanwhile one of the Syndicate elders is killed by an alien rebel, who takes on his form.
Mulder and partner 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...
) go over the crime scene photos from the train car incident and immediately recognize similarities to murders from a year earlier. Afterwards, Mulder and Scully visit Cassandra who informs them that the aliens
Colonist (The X-Files)
The Colonists are an extraterrestrial species in the science fiction television show, The X-Files, as well as the first X-Files feature film. The mystery revolving around their identity and purpose is revealed across the course of the series...
are here to destroy all life on Earth
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
, further stating that this alien threat moves through the Universe to colonize other planets. She claims that a rebel force of aliens are mutilating their faces to prevent infection by the black oil.
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...
reports to the Syndicate on the rebel's recent attacks. The rebel, masquerading as the elder he killed, proposes that the Syndicate align with the rebels, to which the others refuse.
Mulder and Scully use The X-Files office
X-file
On the television series The X-Files, an X-File is a fictional case that has been deemed unsolvable by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The files constitute an unassigned project outside the Bureau mainstream that is more or less concerned with unexplained phenomena. -First X-Files:The very...
to find the Cigarette Smoking Man's real identity; that he is Jeffrey's father, known as C.G.B. Spender. Their unauthorized entry at the X-Files office is discovered resulting in both agents' immediate suspension from the FBI. Jeffrey reports to the Cigarette Smoking Man demanding the truth. Scully meets with Mulder, telling him that C.G.B. Spender is likely another alias and that the man is linked with Mulder's father, William, who he had worked with on a secret state project
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 Cigarette Smoking Man decides to give Jeffrey more responsibility by having him kill the alien rebel masquerading as a Syndicate elder. Spender fails in his task, but Krycek comes to his aid and finishes. Krycek reveals to Spender that his father was responsible for Cassandra's abductions and that his role is to protect his father's stake in the project, facts that upset Agent Spender.
The Cigarette Smoking Man reveals everything to Diana Fowley, who agrees to help him. Mulder tells Skinner that Cassandra is in danger because she is the first successful alien-human hybrid; Skinner goes to the hospital to check on Cassandra but finds her gone. Cassandra, having escaped from the hospital, arrives at Mulder's apartment and demands that he shoot her because she is the embodiment of fifty years of work by the Syndicate — an alien-human hybrid that will trigger colonization if the aliens learn of her existence.
Production
The plan to eliminate the Syndicate and relaunch the series' mythology in a new direction was originally conceived in September 1998. Director Kim MannersKim 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:...
stated "I've said for years that the show really resolved itself, if you will, by accident. The whole story line of the Syndicate and the bees and the aliens and the chips in the neck, they all seemed to just accidentally fall into place and create an intriguing, mysterious storyline that eventually got so mysterious and so intriguing that Chris had to blow it up, because he couldn't deal with it anymore." The original script featured various flashback sequences to the actors Peter Donat
Peter Donat
Peter Donat is a Canadian-American actor known for his roles in American television.-Early life:Donat was born Pierre Collingwood Donat in Kentville, Nova Scotia, Canada, the son of Marie and Philip Ernst Donat, a landscape gardener. His uncle was British actor Robert Donat...
, William B. Davis
William B. Davis
William Bruce Davis is a Canadian actor, known for his role as The Smoking Man on The X-Files. He has also appeared in Stargate SG-1 as Damaris, a Prior of the Ori and as Mayor Tate on Smallville...
and Veronica Cartwright
Veronica Cartwright
Veronica A. Cartwright is an English-born American actress who has worked mainly in American film and television. She is best known for her role of Lambert in Alien, for which she won a Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress....
, all from scenes around twenty-thirty years earlier in the show. They did various makeup jobs on the actors to make them look younger. However, the writers eventually came to the conclusion that it "just didn't [...] work", so they cut out most of that storyline, which ultimately led to the creation of a whole new direction in which the Cigarette Smoking Man provided a monologue explaining the history of the project instead. The first scene was shot in Long Beach, California
Long Beach, California
Long Beach is a city situated in Los Angeles County in Southern California, on the Pacific coast of the United States. The city is the 36th-largest city in the nation and the seventh-largest in California. As of 2010, its population was 462,257...
.
The scene in which Jeffrey Spender
Jeffrey Spender
FBI Special agent Jeffrey Frank Spender is a fictional character in the American Fox television series The X-Files, a science fiction show about a government conspiracy to hide or deny the truth of alien existence. Spender was in control of the X-Files office after Fox Mulder's and Dana Scully's...
(Chris Owens
Chris Owens (actor)
Christopher Bradley "Chris" Owens is a Canadian actor.Owens was born in Toronto, the son of Jeannette, a jazz singer, and Garry Owens, a jazz drummer....
) visited his mother, Cassandra Spender (Veronica Cartwright), was shot in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
. Those members of The X-Files crew who had moved with the show from Vancouver
Vancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
to Los Angeles still had problems adjusting to the changes when filming an episode. They were forced to adjust to changes in the sunlight, since Vancouver had this "dark and gray feel" compared to California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
's sunny atmosphere. Kim Manners said that it was difficult to get used to the new area of filming. This episode marks the first time new stock footage was used for the J. Edgar Hoover Building
J. Edgar Hoover Building
The J. Edgar Hoover Building is located in Washington, D.C. It is the headquarters of the Federal Bureau of Investigation . The building, named for former FBI director J. Edgar Hoover, is located at 935 Pennsylvania Avenue NW. The building received its official name, the J. Edgar Hoover F.B.I...
in over five years.
The Second Elder's house was in a relatively expensive neighborhood in Los Angeles. Manners stated that he was "very nervous" when filming this scene because the crew needed to create a fire inside the house, which was done by Kelly Kerby and Bobby Calvert. When the faceless alien
Colonist (The X-Files)
The Colonists are an extraterrestrial species in the science fiction television show, The X-Files, as well as the first X-Files feature film. The mystery revolving around their identity and purpose is revealed across the course of the series...
attacks the Second Elder, a special effects crew member can be seen behind a window "running with his rig", according to Manners.
Release and reception
The episode earned a Nielsen household 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 11.5, with a 16 share. It was viewed by 11.458 million households and gathered a total of 18.81 million viewers in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The episode was the third highest rated episode of the sixth season. The episode debuted in the United States and Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
on February 7, 1999, at 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...
. "Two Fathers" made its first appearance on Canadian television the same time and day on the Global Television Network
Global Television Network
Global Television Network is an English language privately owned television network in Canada, owned by Calgary-based Shaw Communications, as part of its Shaw Media division...
. In the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, the episode gathered 0.74 million viewers and was the third most watched episode that week, behind Star Trek Voyager and Friends
Friends
Friends is an American sitcom created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman, which aired on NBC from September 22, 1994 to May 6, 2004. The series revolves around a group of friends in Manhattan. The series was produced by Bright/Kauffman/Crane Productions, in association with Warner Bros. Television...
. On May 16, 1999, the episode debuted in the United Kingdom and Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
on Sunday. Veronica Cartwright
Veronica Cartwright
Veronica A. Cartwright is an English-born American actress who has worked mainly in American film and television. She is best known for her role of Lambert in Alien, for which she won a Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress....
was nominated for an Emmy
Emmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
for "Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series" for her role in this episode and "One Son
One Son
"One Son" is the 129th episode of the science fiction television series The X-Files. The episode first aired in the United States and Canada on February 14, 1999 on the Fox Network, and subsequently aired in the United Kingdom on Sky1...
", and the make-up department was nominated for an Emmy award in the category "Outstanding Makeup for a Series" and won.
A review from Critical Myth gave the episode 7 out of 10, saying it was "another attempt" to explain the mythology of the show
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...
, further saying that it worked on a "certain level", but from a retrospective point of view it fails. The main reason behind creating a resolution to 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...
arc was that 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 :...
thought the series was going to be cancelled by early 2000. While promoting the episode, Carter said it would give many long-waited answers but at the same time create new ones. Joyce Millman from Salon magazine said the episode (along with "One Son") was one "of the most coherent, [...] almost unbearably tense, hours in the series' run". Michigan Daily
Michigan Daily
The Michigan Daily is the daily student newspaper of the University of Michigan. Its first edition was published on September 29, 1890. The newspaper is financially and editorially independent of the University's administration and other student groups, but shares a university building with other...
reviewer Melissa Runstrom said "Two Fathers" along with "One Son" and season finale
Season finale
A season finale is the final episode of a season of a television program...
"Biogenesis
Biogenesis (The X-Files)
"Biogenesis" is the 139th episode and the twenty-second episode of the sixth season of the science fiction television series The X-Files. The episode first aired in the United States and Canada on May 16, 1999 on the FOX Network, and subsequently aired in the United Kingdom and Ireland on Sky1...
" were the highlights of the sixth season
The X-Files (season 6)
The sixth season of the science fiction television series The X-Files commenced airing on the Fox Broadcasting Network in the United States on November 8, 1998, concluding on the same channel on May 16, 1999, and contained 22 episodes. The series was developed by Chris Carter, who also serves as...
.
External links
- "Two Fathers" 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...