X-Cops
"X-Cops" | |
---|---|
Cops. | |
Episode no. | Season 7 Episode 12 |
Directed by | Michael Watkins |
Written by | Vince Gilligan |
Production code | 7ABX12[1] |
Original air date | February 20, 2000 |
Running time | 44 minutes[2] |
Guest appearances | |
| |
"X-Cops" is the twelfth episode of the
The X-Files centers on
"X-Cops" serves as a fictional crossover with Cops. Gilligan, who was inspired to write the script because he enjoyed Cops, pitched the idea several times to series creator
Plot
The episode begins with the opening of
When backup arrives on the scene, an injured Wetzel claims that he encountered gang members. The police soon discover and surround Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson), believing them to be criminals, before they realize that the pair are FBI agents. Mulder and Scully claim that they are investigating an alleged werewolf that killed a man in the area during the last full moon. According to Mulder, the entity that they are tracking only comes out at night. Scully is irritated by the constant presence of the Cops crew, but Mulder is enthused at the prospect of paranormal proof being presented to a national television audience. The agents and the police interview Mrs. Guerrero, who describes the monster to Ricky (Solomon Eversol), a sketch artist. To Mulder's surprise, Mrs. Guerrero describes not a werewolf, but the horror movie villain Freddy Krueger. Ricky expresses a fear of being alone in the dangerous neighborhood and is found a short time later with serious slashes in his chest. Mulder and Scully find a pink fingernail at the scene. The group also meets Steve and Edy (J. W. Smith and Curtis C.), a couple who witnessed the incident but did not see Ricky's attacker, saying that it appeared he was being attacked by nothing. Scully shows the couple the fingernail, which they identify as belonging to Chantara Gomez (Maria Celedonio), a prostitute.
When the agents track down Chantara, whose face is
Mulder believes that the entity travels from victim to victim like a contagion. At his request, Scully performs an autopsy on Chantara's body at the morgue. During the procedure, a conversation between Scully and the coroner's assistant (
Production
Conception and writing
"X-Cops" was inspired by the Fox television program Cops, which
Gilligan reasoned that, because Mulder and Scully would appear on a nationally syndicated television series, the episode's main monster could not be shown, only "hinted at".
Filming and post-production
What was surprising to all of us was how little time it took to shoot. We basically did one or two takes of something and that was it.
—Gillian Anderson, discussing the videotaping of "X-Cops"[10]
When members of The X-Files staff asked Cops producer
Due to the nature of the shooting schedule, the episode was relatively cheap to film and production moved at a quick pace. Initially, the actors struggled with the new cinéma vérité style of the episode, and several takes were needed for scenes during the first few days, but these problems receded as taping progressed. On one night, three-and-a-half pages of script were shot in only two hours; the normal rate for The X-Files was three to four pages a day.[10] Both Watkins and Mills likened the filming process to live theater, with the former noting, "In a sense, we were doing theater: we were doing an act or half of a whole act in one take."[5] Anderson called the performance "fun" to shoot, and highlighted "Scully getting pissed off at the camera crew" as her favorite part to play.[6] She further noted that "it was interesting to make the adjustment to playing something more real than you might play for television."[6]
Although recorded to create the illusion that scenes were recorded in single takes, the episode employed several camera tricks and effects. For the opening shot, a "surreptitious cut" helped to replace actor Judson Mills with a stunt person when the cop car is overturned by the monster.[5] Usually, an episode of The X-Files required editors to make between 800–1200 film cuts, but "X-Cops" only required 45.[10] During post-production, a minor argument broke out between Vince Gilligan and the network. Originally, Gilligan did not want the X-Files logo to appear at any time during the episode. He stressed that he wanted "X-Cops" to feel like an "episode of Cops that happened to involve Mulder and Scully."[10] The network, fearing that people would not understand that "X-Cops" was actually an episode of The X-Files, vetoed this idea. A compromise was eventually reached: the episode would open with the Cops theme song, but The X-Files credits would also appear after the opening scene. In addition, the commercial bumpers would feature red and blue lights flashing across The X-Files logo while dialogue is heard in the background, in a similar fashion to the Cops logo.[10] The episode also features a disclaimer at the beginning informing viewers that the episode is a special installment of The X-Files to prevent watchers from thinking that the show "has been preempted this week by Cops".[6]
Themes
Several critics, such as M. Keith Booker, have argued that "X-Cops" is an example of The X-Files delving into the postmodern school of thought.[11] Postmodernism has been described as a "style and concept in the arts [that] is characterized by the self-conscious use of earlier styles and conventions [and the] mixing of different artistic styles and media".[12] According to Booker, the episode helps to "identify the series as postmodern [due to its] cumulative summary of modern American culture", or, in this case, the show's merging with another popular television series.[11] The episode also serves as an example of the series' "self-consciousness in terms of its status as a (fictional) television" show.[13]
According to Jeremy Butler's book Television Style, the episode, along with many other found footage-type movies and shows, helps to suggest that what is being promoted as "live TV", is actually a series of events that have already unfolded in the past.[14] Even though the episode is "self-conscious", "reflexive", and humorous, the real-time aspects of "X-Cops" "heighten[s] the sense of realism within the episode", and makes the result come across as hyper-realistic.[15] This sense of realism is further heightened by the near lack of music in the episode; aside from the title theme, Mark Snow's soundtrack is not to be heard.[16]
Broadcast and reception
"X-Cops" was first broadcast in the United States on the
Initial critical reaction to the episode was generally positive, although a few reviewers felt that the episode was a gimmick. Eric Mink of the
Later reviews praised the episode as one of the show's best installments. 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 four stars out of five.[25] The two wrote that the episode was "funny, it's clever, and it's actually quite frightening".[25] Shearman and Pearson also wrote positively of the faux documentary style, likening it to The Blair Witch Project.[25] Zack Handlen of The A.V. Club awarded the episode an "A–" and called it "witty, inventive, and intermittently spooky".[26] He argued that the episode was a late-series "gimmick episode" and compared it to the last few seasons of House; although he reasoned that House relied on gimmicks to prop itself up, "X-Cops" is "the work of a creative team which may be running out of ideas, but still has enough gas in the tank to get us where we need to go."[26] Furthermore, Handlen felt that the show used the Cops format to the best of its ability and that many of the scenes were humorous, startling, or a combination of both.[26]
Since its airing, "X-Cops" has appeared on several best-of lists.
Footnotes
- ^ 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment.
- ^ "The X-Files, Season 7". iTunes Store. Retrieved September 22, 2012.
- ^ a b Shapiro (2000) pp. 141–52.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Shapiro (2000) p. 152.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Persons, Dan (October 2000). "The X-Files: The Making of 'X-Cops'". CFQ. 32 (3): 28–29.
- ^ a b c d e Hurwitz and Knowles (2008), p. 179.
- ^ Daily News. Mortimer Zuckerman. Archived from the original on February 18, 2000. Retrieved December 7, 2011. Alt URL
- ^ Pergament, Alan (January 18, 1999). "Chris Carter Feels 'X-Files' Will End By Spring of 2000". The Buffalo News. Berkshire Hathaway. Archived from the original on November 6, 2013. Retrieved August 6, 2009.
- ^ Meisler (1999) p. 170.
- ^ a b c d e f Shapiro (2000), p. 153.
- ^ a b Booker (2002), p. 125.
- ^ "Definition of postmodernism". Oxford English Dictionary. Oxford University Press. Archived from the original on November 6, 2015. Retrieved September 1, 2012.
- ^ Leslie-McCarthy (2007), p. 146.
- ^ Butler (2012), p. 150.
- ^ Friedman (2002), p. 22.
- ^ Sipos (2010), p. 237.
- ^ a b c d e f Stegall, Sarah (2000). "Don't Boggart That Cop". The Munchkyn Zone. Archived from the original on September 15, 2011. Retrieved May 2, 2012.
- ^ Shapiro (2000), p. 281.
- Broadcasters' Audience Research Board. Retrieved January 1, 2012. Note: Information is in the section titled "w/e May 29 – June 4, 1999", listed under Sky 1
- 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment.
- Orange County Register. Freedom Communications. Archived from the originalon July 30, 2012. Retrieved December 27, 2011.
- ^ Kessenich (2002), p. 113.
- ^ Rosell, Rich (July 27, 2003). "The X-Files: The Complete Seventh Season". DigitallyObsessed. Archived from the original on May 29, 2020. Retrieved January 14, 2012.
- ^ Silber, Kenneth (July 23, 2000). "TV Review: The X-Files – 'X-Cops'". Space.com. Archived from the original on February 7, 2005. Retrieved January 4, 2012.
- ^ a b c Shearman and Pearson (2009), pp. 216–17.
- ^ a b c Handlen, Zack (January 12, 2013). "'Closure'/'X-Cops' | The X-Files/Millennium | TV Club". The A.V. Club. The Onion. Retrieved January 13, 2013.
- ^ "Top Drawer Files: The Best Stand-Alone X-Files Episodes". The Gazette. Postmedia Network. July 25, 2008. Archived from the original on March 21, 2014. Retrieved November 16, 2011.
- ^ Bricken, Rob (October 13, 2009). "The 10 Funniest X-Files Episodes". Topless Robot. Village Voice Media. Archived from the original on June 12, 2012. Retrieved December 27, 2011.
- ^ Payne, Andrew. "'X-Files' 10 Best Episodes". Starpulse. Archived from the original on December 19, 2011. Retrieved November 16, 2011.
- IGN Entertainment. July 21, 2008. Archived from the originalon July 14, 2011. Retrieved March 1, 2012.
- ^ a b Bahar, Narin (September 24, 2011). "Best Sci-Fi TV Mockumentaries – The X-Files – X-Cops". SFX. Archived from the original on September 26, 2011. Retrieved July 27, 2012.
References
- Booker, M. Keith (2002). Strange TV: Innovative Television Series from The Twilight Zone to The X-Files. ISBN 9780313323737.
- Butler, Jeremy (2012). Television Style. ISBN 9780415965118.
- Friedman, James (2002). Reality Squared: Televisual Discourse on the Real. ISBN 9780813529899.
- Hurwitz, Matt; Knowles, Chris (2008). The Complete X-Files. ISBN 9781933784724.
- Kessenich, Tom (2002). Examinations: An Unauthorized Look at Seasons 6–9 of the X-Files. ISBN 9781553698128.
- Leslie-McCarthy, Sage (2007). "The X-Files: Continuing the Psychic Detective Legacy". In Yang, Sharon (ed.). The X-Files and Literature: Unweaving the Story, Unraveling the Lie to Find the Truth. ISBN 9781847182395.
- Meisler, Andy (1999). Resist or Serve: The Official Guide to The X-Files, Vol. 4. ISBN 9780061073090.
- Shapiro, Marc (2000). All Things: The Official Guide to the X-Files Volume 6. ISBN 9780061076114.
- Shearman, Robert; Pearson, Lars (2009). Wanting to Believe: A Critical Guide to The X-Files, Millennium & The Lone Gunmen. ISBN 9780975944691.
- Sipos, Thomas (2010). Horror Film Aesthetics: Creating The Visual Language of Fear. ISBN 9780786449729.
External links
- "X-Cops" at IMDb