This Is Not Happening
"This Is Not Happening" | |
---|---|
The X-Files episode | |
Episode no. | Season 8 Episode 14 |
Directed by | Kim Manners |
Written by | Chris Carter Frank Spotnitz |
Production code | 8ABX14 |
Original air date | February 25, 2001 |
Running time | 44 minutes |
Guest appearances | |
| |
"This Is Not Happening" is the fourteenth episode of the
The series centers on
"This Is Not Happening" was a story milestone for the season, returning Mulder from his
Plot
In
Later in a motel, the agents interrogate Richie, whose friend Gary had been abducted just before Mulder; he was investigating UFO reports in Montana in an attempt to find him. Doggett reports that fresh footprints from
Reyes' car stalls just before she sees a UFO. Stopping, she sees Smith and Absalom taking a body; she also finds Gary's body. Reyes is able to retrieve the license plate number on the truck used to kidnap the abductee. It is later revealed that it belongs to Absalom, real name Travis Clayton Moberly, the leader of a doomsday cult. The FBI storms the cult's compound and arrests Absalom, but Smith is not found. Absalom tells Scully and Doggett that he has been saving abductees who had been left for dead by the aliens. Examining video of the compound raid, Scully, Reyes and Doggett watch Smith step through a doorway and transform into Doggett. Doggett is stunned, and the agents realize that Smith is still in the compound.
Scully runs into the compound and, identifying Smith by his Nike shoes, tells him she knows who he is and what he's doing. She is distracted when Skinner tells her they've found Mulder's body in the woods. Scully sees Mulder's lifeless body and races back to the compound hoping that Smith can heal him, but a UFO directs a beam of light into the room where he is being held; when she enters the room, he is gone.[2] Distraught, Scully yells, "This is not happening!", and weeps.
Production
Background and effects
"This Is Not Happening" marked the return of David Duchovny as Fox Mulder.[3] After settling his contract dispute with Fox, Duchovny had quit full-time participation in the show after the seventh season.[4] In order to explain Mulder's absence, Duchovny's character was abducted by aliens in the seventh season finale, "Requiem." After several rounds of contractual discussions, Duchovny agreed to return for a total of 11 season eight episodes.[5] "This Is Not Happening" marked the fifth appearance of Duchovny in the eighth season: his character had appeared in cameos in "Within" and "Without", as well as in flashbacks in "The Gift" and "Per Manum."[6][7][8][9]
The opening scene required the crew of The X-Files to create a UFO chase. In order to do this, the scene was filmed entirely in a mountainous area that was lit up to give the shot a more alien-like feel. The UFO seen flying at the opening of the scene was actually a helicopter, disguised using various techniques. A so-called "cloaking-effect", created on a computer and consisting mostly of digital fog and "wiggled lights", was used to make the "spaceship" appear and then suddenly disappear.[10]
Casting
This episode marked the first appearance of
The casting process for Monica Reyes was unconventional. Gish received a call from her agent, who informed her that The X-Files was looking for a new female character. Gish applied for the part, but instead of having to a do a reading, she only had to meet with Chris Carter and Frank Spotnitz.[11] After receiving the part, Gish's first scene, which was scheduled for four in the morning, involved her running down a hill to discover a former abductee.[12]
Reception
"This Is Not Happening" premiered on February 25, 2001, on American television on
Critical reception to "This Is Not Happening" was mostly positive. Emily VanDerWerff of The A.V. Club awarded the episode an "A−" and called it "one of the strongest episodes of the season, give or take a Monica Reyes."[21] She applauded the reintroduction of Jeremiah Smith—a character she felt "the show had mostly forgotten about"—and wrote highly of Scott as Absalom, calling him a "one of the episode's highlights."[21] VanDerWerff also wrote that the episode, along with the previous episode "Per Manum" was a showcase for Anderson's acting ability.[21] Robert Shearman and Lars Pearson, in their book Wanting to Believe: A Critical Guide to The X-Files, Millennium & The Lone Gunmen, rated the episode five stars out of five.[22] The two noted, and praised, that the true tragedy of the episode is the fact that, despite her increased role as the reluctant believer, the way Scully deals with Absalom and Jeremiah Smith "in a strictly scientific way", instead of taking the "leap of faith", prevents her from finding and saving Mulder in time.[22]
Not all reviews were positive. Paula Vitaris from Cinefantastique gave the episode a negative review and awarded it one-and-a-half stars out of four.[23] She called the episode "unexciting" and concluded that the final scene was "anticlimactic".[23] In addition, Vitaris noted that the introduction of Monica Reyes was not satisfactorily explained.[23]
Notes
Footnotes
- ^ "The X-Files – "This Is Not Happening"". TheXFiles.com. Fox Broadcasting Company. February 2002. Archived from the original on 7 February 2002. Retrieved 27 April 2012.
- ^ "This Is Not Happening". BBC Cult. BBC. Retrieved 2 March 2012.
- ^ McAlister, Nancy (28 February 2001). "'X – Files' viewers wait for resolution". The Florida Times-Union. Morris Communications. pp. C2.
- ^ "Duchovny quits X-Files". BBC News. BBC. 18 May 2001. Retrieved 5 July 2009.
- ^ Elber, Lynn (18 May 2000). "Fox Mulder 'Ready to Get Back to Work'". Space.com. TechMediaNetwork. Archived from the original on 24 September 2004. Retrieved 5 July 2009.
- ^ Kim Manners (director); Frank Spotnitz (writer) (February 4, 2001). "The Gift". The X-Files. Season 8. Episode 11. Fox.
- ^ Kim Manners (director); Chris Carter and Frank Spotnitz (writers) (February 18, 2001). "Per Manum". The X-Files. Season 8. Episode 13. Fox.
- ^ Kim Manners (director); Chris Carter (writer) (November 5, 2001). "Within". The X-Files. Season 8. Episode 1. Fox.
- ^ Kim Manners (director); Chris Carter (writer) (November 12, 2001). "Without". The X-Files. Season 8. Episode 2. Fox.
- ^ Rabwin, Paul (2002). "Special Effects with Narration by Paul Rabwin". The X-Files: The Complete Eight Season (DVD). Fox Home Entertainment.
- ^ a b c Hurwitz and Knowles, p. 190
- ^ Carter, Chris, Patrick, Robert, Spotnitz, Frank and Gish, Annabeth (2002). "The Truth Behind Season 8". The X-Files: The Complete Eight Season (DVD). Fox Home Entertainment.
- ^ Hurwitz and Knowles, p. 239
- Fox.)
{{cite AV media notes}}
: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link - ^ a b c "Prime-time Nielsen ratings". Associated Press Archive. February 2001.
- ^ Sepinwall, Alan; Seitz, Zoller (1 March 2001). "Blame it on Cable". The Star-Ledger. Advance Publications. Retrieved 19 September 2012.
- ^ Shapiro, p. 281
- Los Angeles, California: Fox Broadcasting Company. 2001.
- ^ "Primetime Emmy Award Database – The X-Files". Emmys.com. Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Retrieved 2 March 2012.
- ^ Kim Manners et al. The X-Files Mythology, Volume 4 – Super Soldiers (DVD). Fox.
- ^ a b c VanDerWerff, Emily (November 16, 2013). "'Per Manum'/'This is Not Happening' | The X-Files/Millennium | TV Club". The A.V. Club. The Onion. Retrieved July 21, 2019.
- ^ a b Shearman and Pearson, p. 241
- ^ a b c Vitaris, Paula (April 2002). "The X-Files Season Eight Episode Guide". Cinefantastique. 34 (2): 42–49.
Bibliography
- Hurwitz, Matt; Knowles, Chris (2008). The Complete X-Files. Insight Editions. ISBN 978-1-933784-80-9.
- Shapiro, Marc (2000). All Things: The Official Guide to the X-Files Volume 6. Harper Prism. ISBN 0-06-107611-2.
- Shearman, Robert; Pearson, Lars (2009). Wanting to Believe: A Critical Guide to The X-Files, Millennium & The Lone Gunmen. Mad Norwegian Press. ISBN 978-0-9759446-9-1.
External links
- "This Is Not Happening" at IMDb