William (The X-Files)

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For the character from The X-Files named "William", see
Baby William
.

"William"
The X-Files episode
Fox Mulder appears as a reflection in Dana Scully's eye. This scene marked the first appearance of David Duchovny since his departure at the end of season eight.
Episode no.Season 9
Episode 16
Directed byDavid Duchovny
Story byDavid Duchovny
Chris Carter
Frank Spotnitz
Teleplay byChris Carter
Production code9ABX17
Original air dateApril 28, 2002 (2002-04-28)
Running time44 minutes
Guest appearances
  • Cyd Strittmatter as Dr. Whitney Edwards
  • James Riker as
    Baby William
  • Travis Riker as Baby William
  • Chris Owens as Jeffrey Spender/Daniel Miller
  • Adam Nelson as Mr. Van De Kamp
  • Shannon Hile as Mrs. Van De Kamp
  • David Fabrizo as ER Physician
  • Dallas Munroe as ER Nurse
  • Annie Abbott as Older Social Worker
  • Kiersten Van Horne as Young Social Worker
  • Dan Shor as Second ER Nurse
  • Jason Waters as The Breather Photo Double[1]
Episode chronology
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"Jump the Shark" 		Next →
"Release"
The X-Files season 9
List of episodes

"William" is the sixteenth episode of the

Nielsen household rating
of 5.8, being watched by 6.1 million households and 9.3 million viewers upon its initial broadcast. It received mixed reviews from television critics, many of whom were unhappy with the episode's conclusion.

The show centers on

William
, is put on the line.

"William" marked the return of David Duchovny to the series, after his departure following the eighth season finale "Existence". The genesis for the episode was a storyline Duchovny had developed during the series' eighth season; he originally pitched an idea featuring a mysteriously disfigured person introducing himself to Scully and admitting that he possessed a connection to Mulder. Chris Owens, whose character Jeffrey Spender had previously been killed off in the sixth season episode "One Son", was asked to return to the series for the episode.

Plot

In the teaser, a couple, the Van De Kamps (Adam Nelson and Shannon Hile), adopt

X-Files
office by the same man. After a struggle, Doggett subdues him. His face is revealed to be horribly scarred.

Later, Scully speaks with the man. He claims he received his burns due to alien testing and that he knew Fox Mulder (David Duchovny). He further elaborates that he was sent to the FBI to retrieve certain files. Scully suspects the man is lying, but asks to examine his burns to investigate his strange claims. He notes that they are the result of an injection that failed to transform him into one of the aliens. The man claims a new conspiracy has formed after the previous one was destroyed; the new one being hidden within the government and the conspirators involved being alien. Doggett theorizes that the man is actually Mulder. Scully takes the man to her house to give him the files he seeks. Suddenly, William begins to cry, only to be quieted when the scarred man picks him up. Meanwhile, Walter Skinner (Mitch Pileggi) meets with Doggett and the two discuss the idea that the man is actually Mulder. Skinner points out the inconsistencies in Doggett's reasoning, but a DNA test is undertaken anyway.

Scully is told by the scarred man that William is part alien and that she is being used to raise the child.

The Smoking Man (William B. Davis) three years earlier. Spender is also Mulder's half-brother. Spender admits his actions were a ruse and that the syringe contained magnetite meant to make William normal. He explains that the aliens need the child in order to successfully invade the world, but now they have lost him. However, he notes that the conspirators will always pursue the child, despite what he has done. Spender says that he acted out of his hatred for his father, since the new conspiracy was created by The Smoking Man after the alien rebels
burned the original group.

Scully muses over Spender's words and decides that the only way to truly protect William is to give him up for adoption so that he may have a better life. The episode then jumps to the Van De Kamps, who tuck in their new son. William looks at his mobile but he can no longer move it telekinetically, an event which happened in "Nothing Important Happened Today".[2]

Production

"William" featured the return of David Duchovny to the series.

The story for "William" was written by former series co-star David Duchovny, series creator Chris Carter, and executive producer Frank Spotnitz; the screenplay was written solely by Carter, and the entry was directed by Duchovny.[3][4] "William" marked the return of David Duchovny, in some capacity, to the series, after his departure following the eighth season finale "Existence". In fact, Duchovny makes a cameo appearance in the episode, appearing as a reflection in Scully's eye.[4]

The genesis for the episode was a storyline Duchovny had developed during the series' eighth season. He had originally pitched an idea featuring a mysteriously disfigured person introducing himself to Scully and admitting that he has a connection to Mulder. Reportedly, the idea for Scully to give William up for adoption was mandated by Carter and Spotnitz. Duchovny, Anderson, and executive producer John Shiban were not happy with this turn of events, due to them being parents and feeling that the action was not realistic. In the end, they "grudgingly consented".[5]

Three years after Spender had been written out of the series—in the

Toronto, Ontario, in Canada, Owens received an unexpected phone call from David Duchovny, who said that The X-Files' production crew was filming the series' finale as well as another episode late in the season, and that he wanted to bring Spender back for these two episodes. Duchovny reassured Owens that Spender's survival would be explained away via the plot device of an alien injection but mentioned that the experience would not be fun for Owens, as he would be "under all that shit"; Owens did not realize what Duchovny meant until he got to the studio and personally saw the makeup for Spender's disfigured appearance, a sight that shocked Owens.[6]

Broadcast and reception

"William" originally aired on the

Nielsen household rating of 5.8, meaning that roughly 5.8 percent of all television-equipped households, were tuned in to the episode. It was the fifty-fourth most watched episode of television that aired during the week ending April 28.[7] The episode was later included on The X-Files Mythology, Volume 4 – Super Soldiers, a DVD collection that contains episodes involved with the alien super soldiers arc.[9]

The episode received mixed reviews from television critics. Jessica Morgan from

Salon wrote that the episode "scuttled the entire" baby William subplot.[13] M.A. Crang, in his book Denying the Truth: Revisiting The X-Files after 9/11, praised the decision to conclude the William subplot but called the episode's conclusion "sappy".[14]

Notes

  1. ^ At the time of airing, the estimated number of households was 105.5 million.[7] Thus, 5.8 percent of 105.5 million is 6.1 million households.

Footnotes

  1. 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
    . 2002.
  2. ^ "William". BBC Cult. BBC. Retrieved July 16, 2012.
  3. ^ a b The X-Files: The Complete Ninth Season (booklet). Kim Manners, et al. Fox.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  4. ^ a b Kessenich (2002), p. 204
  5. ^ Kessenich (2002), pp. 194–195
  6. ^ Hurwitz and Knowles (2008), p. 206
  7. ^ a b The Associated Press (April 28, 2002). "Prime-Time Nielsen Ratings". Associated Press Archives.
  8. ^ Littleton, Cynthia (April 30, 2002). "'Dead' rises on Sunday for CBS: Part 1 of Mini Helps Eye to Viewers Win, Tie with Fox in Demo". The Hollywood Reporter. Prometheus Global Media. p. 6.
  9. ^ Kim Manners et al. The X-Files Mythology, Volume 4 – Super Soldiers (DVD). 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment.
  10. ^ Morgan, Jessica. "William". Television Without Pity. NBCUniversal. Archived from the original on February 3, 2013. Retrieved July 16, 2012.
  11. ^ a b Shearman and Pearson (2009), pp. 274–276
  12. ^ Kessenich (2002), pp. 203–208
  13. Salon. Salon Media Group. Archived from the original
    on May 2, 2009. Retrieved August 3, 2009.
  14. ^ Crang (2015), p. 151

Bibliography

This article incorporates material derived from the "William (episode)" article on the X-Files wiki at Fandom (formerly Wikia) and is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike License (July 15, 2012).

External links

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