Anasazi (The X-Files)
Encyclopedia
"Anasazi" is the twenty-fifth episode and the second season finale of The X-Files
television series
. "Anasazi" revolves around Mulder coming into possession of a digital tape that contains confidential government information about aliens.
Soon afterward, Kenneth Soona, a Delaware
hacker
known as "The Thinker", breaks into the Defense Department
database and downloads secret files related to extraterrestrials, putting them onto a digital cassette. Immediately word of the breach echoes throughout the world. The Smoking Man tells those concerned that he has already resolved the matter. The Lone Gunmen meet with Mulder, and tell him that Soona requests to meet with him. Down the hall one of Mulder's neighbors shoots her husband.
Mulder meets with Soona in the park, who gives him the digital cassette. An excited Mulder returns to FBI headquarters with it only to find that it is encrypted. Scully believes the encryption is based on the Navajo language
and takes the tape in order to investigate. When Skinner calls Mulder to his office to question him on the tape, Mulder attacks him. Scully is later brought before Skinner and other senior FBI officials and is questioned about Mulder's actions. Scully is told that Mulder faces dismissal from the FBI and she faces a similar sentence if she has lied to them.
On Martha's Vineyard, the Cigarette Smoking Man comes to see Mulder's father and tells him of the theft of the tape, and that Mulder is likely in possession of it. Scully meets with a Navajo translator, who is aware of only some words on the tape, referring Scully to a code talker
instead. Mulder is called away to see his father; when Scully arrives at his apartment she is grazed by a bullet shot through his window. Mulder meets with his father, who is about to reveal the truth about everything, but is shot by Krycek when he goes to the bathroom. Mulder's father tells him to forgive him as he passes away in his arms. When Mulder contacts Scully, she tells him to flee, and when he arrives at her apartment she takes his gun from him while he sleeps.
Scully brings Mulder's gun to the FBI for comparison against the bullet that killed his father. When Mulder awakens he gets upset and suspicious of Scully. Later returning to his building, Scully finds his water being contaminated. When Mulder arrives home he finds Krycek there and is about to kill him when Scully shoots him to prevent him from doing so. Krycek escapes.
Scully brings an unconscious Mulder to New Mexico and when he awakens she reveals to him that his behavior was caused by a drug placed into his water supply. She introduces him to Albert Hosteen, a Navajo code-talker who has been translating the files on the digital tape. Scully reveals that the tape refers to both her and Duane Barry, as well as some sort of test. Albert introduces Mulder to his grandson, who drives him to where he found the boxcar containing the alien-like corpse. Just before he heads in, he is called by the Cigarette Smoking Man, who is able to trace Mulder's location through the call. Mulder heads inside the boxcar, finding a pile of the dead creatures, each with small pox vaccination scars on their arms. The Cigarette Smoking Man arrives by helicopter with eight armed commandos and, not finding Mulder inside, orders the boxcar to be burned.
To create the New Mexico rock quarry in this episode, the producers painted a quarry in Vancouver with 1,600 gallons of red paint, and also composited
images shot in New Mexico and a blue sky to make it look more authenthic. Series creator Chris Carter makes a cameo appearance in this episode as one of the senior FBI agents questioning Scully. The tagline for this episode is "Éí 'Aaníígóó 'Áhoot'é", which means "The Truth is Out There" in Navajo.
This episode earned a Nielsen rating of 10.1, with an 18 share and was viewed by 9.6 million households. Entertainment Weekly
gave "Anasazi" an A, describing it as "mind-blowing if frustrating" and that it "made fans want to fast-forward through summer."
The X-Files
The X-Files is an American science fiction television series and a part of The X-Files franchise, created by screenwriter Chris Carter. The program originally aired from to . The show was a hit for the Fox network, and its characters and slogans became popular culture touchstones in the 1990s...
television series
Television program
A television program , also called television show, is a segment of content which is intended to be broadcast on television. It may be a one-time production or part of a periodically recurring series...
. "Anasazi" revolves around Mulder coming into possession of a digital tape that contains confidential government information about aliens.
Plot
At a Navajo reservation in New Mexico, a teenage boy comes across a boxcar buried in the ground. He carries out a corpse of an alien-like figure from within it.Soon afterward, Kenneth Soona, a Delaware
Delaware
Delaware is a U.S. state located on the Atlantic Coast in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It is bordered to the south and west by Maryland, and to the north by Pennsylvania...
hacker
Hacker (computer security)
In computer security and everyday language, a hacker is someone who breaks into computers and computer networks. Hackers may be motivated by a multitude of reasons, including profit, protest, or because of the challenge...
known as "The Thinker", breaks into the Defense Department
United States Department of Defense
The United States Department of Defense is the U.S...
database and downloads secret files related to extraterrestrials, putting them onto a digital cassette. Immediately word of the breach echoes throughout the world. The Smoking Man tells those concerned that he has already resolved the matter. The Lone Gunmen meet with Mulder, and tell him that Soona requests to meet with him. Down the hall one of Mulder's neighbors shoots her husband.
Mulder meets with Soona in the park, who gives him the digital cassette. An excited Mulder returns to FBI headquarters with it only to find that it is encrypted. Scully believes the encryption is based on the Navajo language
Navajo language
Navajo or Navaho is an Athabaskan language spoken in the southwestern United States. It is geographically and linguistically one of the Southern Athabaskan languages .Navajo has more speakers than any other Native American language north of the...
and takes the tape in order to investigate. When Skinner calls Mulder to his office to question him on the tape, Mulder attacks him. Scully is later brought before Skinner and other senior FBI officials and is questioned about Mulder's actions. Scully is told that Mulder faces dismissal from the FBI and she faces a similar sentence if she has lied to them.
On Martha's Vineyard, the Cigarette Smoking Man comes to see Mulder's father and tells him of the theft of the tape, and that Mulder is likely in possession of it. Scully meets with a Navajo translator, who is aware of only some words on the tape, referring Scully to a code talker
Code talker
Code talkers was a term used to describe people who talk using a coded language. It is frequently used to describe 400 Native American Marines who served in the United States Marine Corps whose primary job was the transmission of secret tactical messages...
instead. Mulder is called away to see his father; when Scully arrives at his apartment she is grazed by a bullet shot through his window. Mulder meets with his father, who is about to reveal the truth about everything, but is shot by Krycek when he goes to the bathroom. Mulder's father tells him to forgive him as he passes away in his arms. When Mulder contacts Scully, she tells him to flee, and when he arrives at her apartment she takes his gun from him while he sleeps.
Scully brings Mulder's gun to the FBI for comparison against the bullet that killed his father. When Mulder awakens he gets upset and suspicious of Scully. Later returning to his building, Scully finds his water being contaminated. When Mulder arrives home he finds Krycek there and is about to kill him when Scully shoots him to prevent him from doing so. Krycek escapes.
Scully brings an unconscious Mulder to New Mexico and when he awakens she reveals to him that his behavior was caused by a drug placed into his water supply. She introduces him to Albert Hosteen, a Navajo code-talker who has been translating the files on the digital tape. Scully reveals that the tape refers to both her and Duane Barry, as well as some sort of test. Albert introduces Mulder to his grandson, who drives him to where he found the boxcar containing the alien-like corpse. Just before he heads in, he is called by the Cigarette Smoking Man, who is able to trace Mulder's location through the call. Mulder heads inside the boxcar, finding a pile of the dead creatures, each with small pox vaccination scars on their arms. The Cigarette Smoking Man arrives by helicopter with eight armed commandos and, not finding Mulder inside, orders the boxcar to be burned.
Production
Series creator Chris Carter said of the episode's creation "This episode was the culmination of a lot of ideas. Generally, when we pitch stories to the staff everyone comments on them, and Darin Morgan called this the kitchen sink episode, because it had so much in it, he didn't know how we would pull it off. But I'm very proud of the script. David Duchovny and I worked quite closely on the story and he had a lot of input, and then I sat down and wrote the script. The episode tried to make similar cliffhangers as the previous season finale, with revelations such as Mulder's father being part of the conspiracy and later killed to "prove anything could happen in The X-Files".To create the New Mexico rock quarry in this episode, the producers painted a quarry in Vancouver with 1,600 gallons of red paint, and also composited
Digital compositing
Digital compositing is the process of digitally assembling multiple images to make a final image, typically for print, motion pictures or screen display...
images shot in New Mexico and a blue sky to make it look more authenthic. Series creator Chris Carter makes a cameo appearance in this episode as one of the senior FBI agents questioning Scully. The tagline for this episode is "Éí 'Aaníígóó 'Áhoot'é", which means "The Truth is Out There" in Navajo.
Reception
Chris Carter said of the episode, "I'm proud of the way it came together, what it did for the series, and the overwhelmingly positive response it has gotten. I'm very pleased beginning season three with where this episode put us - which is that it posed more questions than it answered". He later said in 2005 that the episode brought a lot of interest to the show due to the apparent death of agent Mulder.This episode earned a Nielsen rating of 10.1, with an 18 share and was viewed by 9.6 million households. Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
gave "Anasazi" an A, describing it as "mind-blowing if frustrating" and that it "made fans want to fast-forward through summer."