Quagmire (The X-Files)

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"Quagmire"
The X-Files episode
"Big Blue" moves silently through the water. The scene was created via digital effects and was criticized by several critics.
Episode no.Season 3
Episode 22
Directed byKim Manners
Written byKim Newton
Production code3X22
Original air dateMay 3, 1996 (1996-05-03)
Running time42 minutes
Guest appearances
Episode chronology
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"Wetwired"
The X-Files season 3
List of episodes

"Quagmire" is the twenty-second episode of the

Nielsen household rating
of 10.2, being watched by 16 million viewers in its initial broadcast. The episode received mostly positive reviews from television critics.

The show centers on

X-Files
. Mulder is a believer in the paranormal, while the skeptical Scully has been assigned to debunk his work. In this episode, Mulder and Scully investigate a series of deaths at a lake in Georgia that Mulder believes were caused by a "sea" monster that the locals have affectionately named Big Blue.

Although the episode was written by Newton, noted writer Darin Morgan provided assistance on the script. Because of this, the episode contains several references to previous Morgan-penned episodes, like "Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose" and "War of the Coprophages". It is the last episode to feature Scully's dog, Queequeg, and the only one to mention the dog's name. One specific dialogue scene featuring Mulder and Scully stranded on a small rock was praised by critics and included approximately 10 pages of dialogue. Series co-star Gillian Anderson later recalled that she "loved" the scene.

Plot

In Millikan, Georgia, biologists Paul Farraday and William Bailey discuss the decreasing frog population. Bailey goes looking for a missing beeper and ends up getting dragged into the lake by an unseen creature and killed.

Agents

cryptid
—is responsible. The agents talk to Dr. Farraday and visit a local bait and tackle shop that sells Big Blue merchandise. Soon afterwards, the half-eaten body of the Scout Leader is found.

Later that night, the bait and tackle shop owner walks through the swamp in boots, making fake dinosaur tracks. However, he is attacked and killed. Mulder wants the lake to be closed but the local sheriff declines and says that he does not have enough men to cover the 48 miles of shoreline. Two teenagers, previously seen in the episode "

lick toads
; while experimenting, a diver friend of theirs is suddenly attacked underwater and his severed head floats to the surface. Scully, still skeptical about Big Blue being the killer, thinks that a boat propeller was responsible. A photographer named Ansel is also attacked just as he was frantically taking pictures of the creature. After falling into the lake and feeling something in the water, the Sheriff orders the lake closed. While Mulder looks at Ansel's photographs later that night, Scully takes Queequeg for a walk; the dog, sensing something in the nearby woods, ends up running off and disappearing (yelping is heard), becoming the latest victim of the attacks and leaving Scully saddened. Mulder realizes that the Big Blue sightings have been occurring closer and closer to shore.

Mulder and Scully rent a boat and head out onto the lake; their boat is quickly struck by something and sinks. The two find a large rock to climb up on and talk for a while about Mulder's quest to catch Big Blue, and the book Moby-Dick. When Dr. Farraday walks by the two realize they were close to shore all along. Mulder thinks the drop in the frog supply has caused Big Blue to move closer to shore and seek alternative food sources. Farraday is soon attacked but manages to make it out alive. Mulder chases the attacker into the woods and fires at it, revealing it to be an alligator. Mulder is disappointed that the killer ended up being an alligator and not Big Blue. As the agents leave, Big Blue swims nearby in the lake, unnoticed.[1]

Production

Exterior shots for the episode were filmed at a variety of locales, including Buntzen Lake, in the Greater Vancouver area.

Writing

"Quagmire" was written by Kim Newton, with substantial revisions courtesy of fellow writer Darin Morgan.[2] As such, several references to previous Morgan-penned episodes make an appearance in "Quagmire". For instance, Scully's dog Queequeg, which first appeared in the episode "Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose" is killed in this episode. Then-story editor Frank Spotnitz claimed that the dog was brought back simply to kill it off.[3] "'Stoner' kid" (Tyler Labine) and "hesitant 'Chick'" (Nicole Parker) both first appeared in the episode "War of the Coprophages".[4] The episode also contained various series in-jokes and pop culture references. Millikan County, where the lake in the episode is located, derives it names from casting director Rick Millikan.[5] The boat that Mulder and Scully ride on in this episode, the Patricia Rae, is named after the mother of director Kim Manners.[3] Mulder's discussion about having a wooden leg references the book Games People Play.[5]

Filming

The episode was filmed around three British Columbian lakes: Buntzen Lake, north of Coquitlam; Pitt Lake, north of Pitt Meadows; and Rice Lake, part of the Seymour Demonstration Forest. Buntzen Lake was used for shots of the quagmire reeds. Pitt Lake was used for shots of the boat dock and Ted's Bait and Tackle Shop. Finally, Rice Lake and the Seymour Demonstration Forest were used for the final scene, featuring a discreet shot of Big Blue. The conversation scene was filmed on a "Rocky Island Set" at B.C. Research Wave Tank. During the day of filming, the artificial rock set was placed in the tank and filled with water. However, the rock set began to float and "an emergency crew of carpenters [...] worked furiously through the night" to reattach the platform.[6] For the final scene of Big Blue, the producers had originally intended for a boat to pull a rubber sea serpent through the water, but they were unhappy with how it turned out. After attempts to enhance it digitally failed, Big Blue was created entirely with CGI technology.[7]

Director Kim Manners said of the episode: "Not a great show, but a good one. It's a lighter show. There is a lot of humor in it, but I think it's a hit with fans because there is some wonderful Mulder and Scully's relationship stuff. The entire third act is just the two of them talking, which is actually kind of interesting.[8] The scene where Mulder and Scully talk while stranded on a rock comprised 10 pages of dialogue. Gillian Anderson said of the scene: "I loved that. That was so much fun, and I think it was written really well... It was just neat to have us separated from everything and stuck on this island where we could wax philosophical and kind of tell the truth to each other in strange ways."[7]

Reception

Ratings

Mulder and Scully's conversation about Moby Dick was positively critiqued by critics.

"Quagmire" premiered on the

Nielsen rating of 10.2, with an 18 share, meaning that roughly 10.2 percent of all television-equipped households, and 18 percent of households watching television, were tuned in to the episode.[10] The episode was watched by a total of 16 million viewers.[10]

Reviews

Critical reception to the episode was mostly positive. Many reviews praised the Moby Dick conversation between Mulder and Scully. Zack Handlen of

The Lost World, and part Buster Keaton" and noted that the third act was when the episode "becomes truly special, when Mulder and Scully are forced to abandon ship and take refuge on a big rock in the middle of a pitch-black night."[14] Vitaris, however, was critical of the episode's closing shot, noting that the "shot destroys the story's ambiguity. A large ripple in the water would have been much more clever."[14]

Not all reviews were so positive. Entertainment Weekly gave the episode a C and was critical of the entry's monster, writing "hey, the show kinda had to tackle Loch Ness".[4] Furthermore, the review wrote that the episode was "notable only for Mulder and Scully's Moby Dick digression".[4]

See also

Footnotes

  1. ^ a b Lowry, pp. 207–210
  2. ^ Hurwitz and Knowles p. 89
  3. ^ a b Lowry, p. 211
  4. ^ a b c "X Cyclopedia: The Ultimate Episode Guide, Season 3". Entertainment Weekly. 29 November 1996. Retrieved 26 February 2012.
  5. ^ a b Lowry, p. 208
  6. ^ Gradnitzer and Pittson, pp. 109–110
  7. ^ a b Lowry, p. 210
  8. ^ Edwards, p. 179
  9. Goodwin, R.W.; et al. (2001). The X-Files: The Complete Third Season (booklet). Beverly Hills, California: 20th Century Home Entertainment
    .
  10. ^ a b Lowry, p. 251
  11. ^ Handlen, Zack (22 August 2010). ""Quagmire"/"Wetwired"/"Talitha Cumi"". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 26 February 2012.
  12. ^ a b Keegan, John. "Quagmire". Critical Myth. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 21 May 2012.
  13. ^ a b Shearman and Pearson, pp. 78–79
  14. ^ a b c Vitaris, Paula (October 1996). "Episode Guide". Cinefantastique. 28 (3): 18–40.

Bibliography

External links

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