Trust No 1
"Trust No 1" | |
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The X-Files episode | |
Episode no. | Season 9 Episode 6 |
Directed by | Tony Wharmby |
Written by | Chris Carter Frank Spotnitz |
Production code | 9ABX08 |
Original air date | January 6, 2002 |
Running time | 44 minutes |
Guest appearances | |
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"Trust No 1" is the sixth episode of the
The show centers on
"Trust No 1" features former leading star Duchovny via the use of previously filmed footage. It was written in response to fans who felt that, during
Plot
Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) is at a coffee shop when she notices a crying baby and its mother, Patti, who is having a heated argument with her husband outside. She offers her help to Patti, who seems distressed and helpless. Later, Scully gets a visit from John Doggett (Robert Patrick) and Monica Reyes (Annabeth Gish), who inform her that they have a tipster who claims to have vital information about the Super Soldiers, but he will only talk to Fox Mulder. Scully lies that she doesn’t know where Mulder is, fearing for his safety.
The next day, Scully finds Patti trying to take William away from her apartment. She stops her at gunpoint, but then Patti’s husband shows up, followed by Doggett and Reyes. He reveals that he works for the NSA and has discovered the Super Soldier project and wants to expose it to Mulder. He says that their daughter is also a special child like William and that they are trying to protect them. Scully is later contacted by the NSA agent's boss, the Shadow Man (Terry O'Quinn), who provides her with instructions to meet him at a remote location. There, the Shadow Man confronts her, saying that he knows everything about her, including "that one lonely night you invited Mulder to your bed." He then tells Scully that he has information on the Super Soldier project, but he will only surrender it to Mulder.
Scully decides to call Mulder and tell him to come back by train, hoping to get the information from the Shadow Man. Doggett warns her that it might be a trap, but Scully is determined to see Mulder again. They go to the train station with Reyes and the NSA agent, but the Shadow Man shows up and kills the agent. He then tries to shoot Scully, but Doggett saves her by shooting the Shadow Man, who falls onto the tracks. The train passes by without stopping, leaving Scully worried that the Shadow Man is after Mulder. Scully, Doggett, and Reyes follow the train to a rock quarry, where they learn that someone (presumably Mulder) jumped off the train. They split up and search for Mulder, but Scully encounters the Shadow Man instead. He attacks her, but he is suddenly destroyed by the magnetite in the quarry. Scully is relieved that the threat is gone, but she still does not know where Mulder is.[2]
Production
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d2/Terry_O%27Quinn_%282%29.jpg/200px-Terry_O%27Quinn_%282%29.jpg)
"Trust No 1" was written by series creator
The email addresses that Mulder and Scully use to communicate with each other were real addresses, created and maintained by Ten Thirteen Productions.[5] The tagline for the episode is "They're Watching", changed from the usual "The Truth is Out There".[6]
Actor
Broadcast and reception
"Trust No 1" first premiered on the
The episode received mixed to negative reviews from television critics. Jessica Morgan from Television Without Pity gave the episode a B− grade.[14] 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 one star out of five. The two called the entry "an exercise in futility […] at best" and argued that, because Duchovny had left the series, the sense of excitement that he might have made an appearance in the episode was completely gone. Furthermore, Shearman and Pearson heavily criticized Mulder and Scully's characterization, calling Mulder a character the audience "can't recognize any more" and Scully a "gullible patsy".[15] M.A. Crang, in his book Denying the Truth: Revisiting The X-Files after 9/11, was also critical of the script's treatment of the characters, arguing that Mulder and Scully in this episode "sound nothing like the characters we have come to know". He also lamented that the episode did not examine the central theme of electronic surveillance in greater detail.[16] Tom Kessenich, in his book Examinations, wrote a largely negative review of the episode. He derided the series for making it appear that Mulder abandoned the woman he loved and his own child. He noted, "Just because it walks, talks, and sometimes acts like The X-Files, doesn't make it The X-Files."[17]
Notes
Footnotes
- ^ "Trust No 1". TheXFiles.com. Fox Broadcasting Company. 6 January 2002. Archived from the original on 1 April 2002. Retrieved 21 June 2012.
- ^ "Trust No 1". BBC Cult. BBC. Retrieved 14 July 2012.
- ^ Fox.)
{{cite AV media notes}}
: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link - ^ a b Hurwitz and Knowles, p. 201
- ^ "Trust No 1 - Research Information". TheXFiles.com. Fox Broadcasting Company. 6 January 2002. Archived from the original on 13 August 2002. Retrieved 14 July 2012.
- ^ Tony Wharmby (Director); Chris Carter and Frank Spotnitz (Writers) (6 January 2002). "Trust No 1". The X-Files. Season 9. Episode 6. Fox.
- ^ Brew, Simon (17 July 2008). "Lost's John Locke in The X-Files". Den of Geek. Dennis Publishing. Retrieved 18 June 2012.
- Rob Bowman (Director); Sara B. Charno (Writer) (6 January 1995). "Aubrey". The X-Files. Season 2. Episode 12. Fox.
- ^ Gibron, Bill (20 July 2004). "Millennium: Season 1: DVD Talk Review of the DVD Video". DVD Talk. Internet Brands. Retrieved 10 April 2012.
- ^ a b Hurwitz and Knowles, p. 60
- ^ a b c The Associated Press (8 January 2002). "Prime-Time Nielsen Ratings". Associated Press Archives. Retrieved 27 June 2012.
- ^ Canton, Maj. "The X-Files – Series – Episode List – Season 9". TV Tango. Retrieved February 24, 2013.
- Fox.
- NBC Universal. Archived from the originalon 3 February 2013. Retrieved 14 July 2012.
- ^ Shearman and Pearson, pp. 264–265
- ISBN 9781517009038.
- ^ Kessenich, pp. 195–200
Bibliography
- Hurwitz, Matt; Knowles, Chris (2008). The Complete X-Files. Insight Editions. ISBN 978-1933784809.
- Kessenich, Tom (2002). Examination: An Unauthorized Look at Seasons 6–9 of the X-Files. ISBN 1553698126.
- Shearman, Robert; Pearson, Lars (2009). Wanting to Believe: A Critical Guide to The X-Files, Millennium & The Lone Gunmen. Mad Norwegian Press. ISBN 978-0975944691.
This article incorporates material derived from the "Trust No 1" article on the X-Files wiki at Fandom (formerly Wikia) and is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike License (July 14, 2012).
External links
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fa/Wikiquote-logo.svg/34px-Wikiquote-logo.svg.png)
- "Trust No 1" on The X-Files official website
- "Trust No 1" at IMDb