El Mundo Gira
Encyclopedia
"El Mundo Gira" is the eleventh episode of the fourth season
of the science fiction
television series The X-Files
. The episode first aired in the United States on January 12, 1997 on the FOX Network
, and features the agents' investigation of a bizarre fungal growth affecting some illegal immigrants.
(David Duchovny
) and Dana Scully
(Gillian Anderson
) investigate the death of Maria Dorantes, an illegal immigrant who was found dead with her face partially eaten away after yellow rain fell from the sky. Maria was the object of the love of two brothers, Eladio Buente (Raymond Cruz
) and Soledad Buente, and Soledad blames his brother for her death. The illegal aliens believe that the "Chupacabra
", the Latin American Goatsucker, was responsible for her death. Mulder is assisted on the case by local INS agent Conrad Lozano and the two are able to interrogate Eladio, who frightens the other immigrants. Scully meanwhile discovers that Maria was killed by a fungal growth known as Aspergillus.
Eladio, who is a carrier of the Aspergillus, escapes when a truck attempts to transport him to the Mexican border. The truck driver is found dead. Eladio seeks to return to Mexico, but needs money to do so. As such he meets with his cousin Gabrielle, who tells him to meet her at her job at the local grocery store later that night. Eladio works with a construction foreman for the day to make the money. Soledad comes after him, seeking to kill him, but finds the foreman dead. Eladio escapes in the foreman's truck and heads to the grocery store, spreading the fungal growth. The agents later confront Soledad at the supermarket, discovering another dead victim of the fungus.
Eladio returns to see Gabrielle, but by now has grown deformed from the fungus. Gabrielle, afraid of him, gives him her money and lies to the agents about his location when they come to see her. In actuality, Eladio has returned to the camp where Maria died, where Lozano tries to spur Soledad on in killing his brother. Soledad finds he can't do it and Lozano struggles with him, being accidentally killed when the gun goes off. Soledad becomes a carrier of the fungal growth himself and flees with Eladio towards Mexico.
The migrant camp used in the episode was built from scratch in a waste ground near Boundary Bay Airport in Vancouver. This site was later used again in the episode "Tempus Fugit
". It snowed the night before filming occurred, requiring the production crew to use hot water and blow dryers to melt it. Composer Mark Snow was required to replace his entire score for the episode based on Chris Carter's view that the original score was too serious.
Author Keith Topping criticized the episode in his book X-Treme Possibilities, calling it an "awful episode with a heavy-handed, clod-hopping attempt at social comment that hardly sits well with the themes on display in the rest of the episode." He called it the worst episode of the fourth season.
The X-Files (season 4)
-Episodes:Episodes marked with an asterisk are broadly part of the series' mytharc. Episodes with a double asterisk are primary episodes in the series' Alien Mythology arc....
of the science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
television series The X-Files
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...
. The episode first aired in the United States on January 12, 1997 on the FOX Network
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
, and features the agents' investigation of a bizarre fungal growth affecting some illegal immigrants.
Plot overview
Agents Fox MulderFox Mulder
FBI Special Agent Fox William Mulder is a fictional character and protagonist in the American Fox television shows The X-Files and The Lone Gunmen, two science fiction shows about a government conspiracy to hide or deny the truth of Alien existence. Mulder's peers consider his theories on...
(David Duchovny
David Duchovny
David William Duchovny is an American actor, writer and director. He has won Golden Globe awards for his work as FBI Special Agent Fox Mulder on The X-Files and as Hank Moody on Californication.-Early life:...
) and Dana Scully
Dana Scully
FBI Special Agent Dana Katherine Scully, M.D. is a fictional character and protagonist on the Fox television series The X-Files , played by Gillian Anderson. She also appeared in two theatrical films based on the series...
(Gillian Anderson
Gillian Anderson
Gillian Leigh Anderson is an American actress.After beginning her career in theatre, Anderson achieved international recognition for her role as Special Agent Dana Scully on the American television series The X-Files. During the show's nine seasons, Anderson won Emmy, Golden Globe, and Screen...
) investigate the death of Maria Dorantes, an illegal immigrant who was found dead with her face partially eaten away after yellow rain fell from the sky. Maria was the object of the love of two brothers, Eladio Buente (Raymond Cruz
Raymond Cruz
Raymond Cruz is a Mexican American actor. He is mostly known for playing military roles. Since 2005 he has been a regular cast member on the TV series The Closer, playing the character Detective Julio Sanchez...
) and Soledad Buente, and Soledad blames his brother for her death. The illegal aliens believe that the "Chupacabra
Chupacabra
The chupacabras is a legendary cryptid rumored to inhabit parts of the Americas. It is associated more recently with sightings of an allegedly unknown animal in Puerto Rico , Mexico, and the United States, especially in the latter's Latin American communities...
", the Latin American Goatsucker, was responsible for her death. Mulder is assisted on the case by local INS agent Conrad Lozano and the two are able to interrogate Eladio, who frightens the other immigrants. Scully meanwhile discovers that Maria was killed by a fungal growth known as Aspergillus.
Eladio, who is a carrier of the Aspergillus, escapes when a truck attempts to transport him to the Mexican border. The truck driver is found dead. Eladio seeks to return to Mexico, but needs money to do so. As such he meets with his cousin Gabrielle, who tells him to meet her at her job at the local grocery store later that night. Eladio works with a construction foreman for the day to make the money. Soledad comes after him, seeking to kill him, but finds the foreman dead. Eladio escapes in the foreman's truck and heads to the grocery store, spreading the fungal growth. The agents later confront Soledad at the supermarket, discovering another dead victim of the fungus.
Eladio returns to see Gabrielle, but by now has grown deformed from the fungus. Gabrielle, afraid of him, gives him her money and lies to the agents about his location when they come to see her. In actuality, Eladio has returned to the camp where Maria died, where Lozano tries to spur Soledad on in killing his brother. Soledad finds he can't do it and Lozano struggles with him, being accidentally killed when the gun goes off. Soledad becomes a carrier of the fungal growth himself and flees with Eladio towards Mexico.
Production
Writer John Shiban was inspired to write the episode based on the long lines of migrant workers he would see when working as a computer programmer in the Los Angeles area. He combined it with an idea he had about a contagioius fungus. Shiban originally intended to have it be spread by a schoolkid, then changed it to a trucker before changing it to Eladio once the storylines were combined. Executive Producer Chris Carter was attracted to the soap opera-like aspects of the episode, and the title of the episode means "The World Turns" in Spanish. The Chupacabra is a Latin American folk myth that Shiban originally heard about in an article in the LA Times about a year prior. To research for the episode, Shiban spent time observing illegal aliens being processed at an INS facility in San Pedro, California. The usage of fake names by the detained immigrants in the episode was inspired by this. Actor Ruben Blades, who portrayed Lozano, was a Spanish-language musician and ran for President of Panama back in 1989. Chris Carter had been looking to use him in an episode for a while. The actors who portrayed Eladio and Gabrielle were a couple at the time.The migrant camp used in the episode was built from scratch in a waste ground near Boundary Bay Airport in Vancouver. This site was later used again in the episode "Tempus Fugit
Tempus Fugit (The X-Files)
"Tempus Fugit" is a 1997 episode of The X-Files television series. It was the seventeenth episode broadcast in the show's fourth season. "Tempus Fugit" surrounds the agents' investigation of a plane crash that Mulder suspects was intercepted by a UFO....
". It snowed the night before filming occurred, requiring the production crew to use hot water and blow dryers to melt it. Composer Mark Snow was required to replace his entire score for the episode based on Chris Carter's view that the original score was too serious.
Reception
The episode earned a Nielsen rating of 13.3, with a 19 share. It was viewed by 22.37 million people.Author Keith Topping criticized the episode in his book X-Treme Possibilities, calling it an "awful episode with a heavy-handed, clod-hopping attempt at social comment that hardly sits well with the themes on display in the rest of the episode." He called it the worst episode of the fourth season.