Via Negativa (The X-Files)
Encyclopedia
"Via Negativa" is the 168th episode of the science fiction
television series The X-Files
and the seventh episode of the eighth season
. The episode first aired in the United States and Canada on December 17, 2000 on Fox
and subsequently aired in the United Kingdom. It was written by executive producer Frank Spotnitz
and directed by Tony Wharmby
. It is a Monster-of-the-Week episode (meaning a stand alone episode).
"Via Negativa" follows Dana Scully
(Gillian Anderson
) taking time off to deal with the early stages of her pregnancy, John Doggett
(Robert Patrick
) and Walter Skinner
attempt to avert the mysterious murder spree of a religious cult leader who kills his victims in their sleep. The episode earned low Nielsen household and syndication ratings when compared to other episodes during the season. It was generally well-received by fans and critics alike.
The following day, Dana Scully
(Gillian Anderson
) calls John Doggett
(Robert Patrick
) to inform him about the case, and at the same time saying she won't be joining him, due to personal matters. Doggett visits the crime scene
where he meets up with Walter Skinner
who tells him about the cult and how the victims died. Agent Leeds' body is found in his car, but partner Stedman is missing, along with cult leader Anthony Tipet. Stedman is not gone for long, and the FBI finds him at his locked-up condo with a fatal blow to the head.
Meanwhile, Tipet is searching for a pharmacist
and stumbles to a phone booth to call an unnamed person. When a tramp asks him for change, Tipet attacks the tramp, trapping him when the pavement turns to ooze and axing his forehead.
At the FBI, Skinner briefs Alvin Kersh
, G. Arnold and other agents about the case. He tells them that Tipet was using hallucinogens to bring himself closer to God using the way of "via negativa", meaning the "negative way." But at the same time none of his victims had been using drugs. Tracing Tipet's earlier call leads Doggett and Skinner to Andre Bormanis, a drug dealer. Bormanis is arrested, and tries to take some amphetamines. He is put in a cell at the local police department.
At the jail, Doggett wakes up and sees a set of bloody footprints which he follows to Bormanis' cell. But instead of finding Bormanis, he sees Tipet, who is floating three feet above the floor, with his third eye visible. Looking down, Doggett sees he has Scully's severed head in his hands. Doggett wakes up, realizing it is a bad dream, and immediately wonders if Bormanis was taking amphetamines as a method to stay awake. In his cell, Bormanis has fallen asleep, and is dreaming of being attacked by rats. Doggett and the other officers find Bormanis' gnawed up-body.
Doggett returns to the X-File
s office, where, to his surprise, he meets The Lone Gunmen
. They tell him about the history of the third eye. While coming to the same conclusion, they are convinced that Tipet is projecting himself into peoples dreams and killing them there. Returning to the warehouse where they found Bormanis, they meet Tipet, who is trying to take his own life by pushing his head through a table saw. They rush him to the hospital
, where Doggett by surprise finds Scully's name on the register. With Tipet in a coma, Kersh decides to pull the plug on the case, saying they've found the main suspect. But Doggett and Skinner are not satisfied, saying there are no explanations for the various murders and events surrounding the case.
The following day, Doggett wakes up and sees he has a third eye on his forehead as he gets himself ready for work, but it suddenly vanishes. He seeks Skinner for reassurance at the Bureau. He is afraid that he is asleep and, despite the coma, Tipet could still enter his dreams. Skinner tells him he's fine and sends him home, but Doggett has a powerful hallucination in which Tipet tells him Scully will die. From no apparent reason, Doggett finds himself in front of Scully's apartment with a bloody axe in his hand. Rather than kill Scully, he turns the axe on himself. Waking up, he finds Scully in his bedroom standing over his bed. He thanks her for saving his life, and Scully tells Doggett that Tipet died in his sleep.
The inspiration for the episode hit Frank Spotnitz
on a rafting trip. On this trip, Spotnitz met a "friend of a friend," who was constantly talking about an "image that freaked him out." The image was opening a tube of toothpaste
"and having blood come out." This image got Spotnitz thinking, "How could you create a story where blood comes out of a tube of toothpaste?" There were no real-world scenarios having any likeness to it, so he started to think of "dreams and nightmares." He eventually came up with the idea of a cult
trying to reach a higher plane of existence, but instead stumbling onto a "lower place, a darker plane." Or as Spotnitz said, "what if the higher plane is a darker plane, what if we think we're reaching up but we're reaching down."
The director, Tony Wharmby
spent a whole day shooting inserts of rats. In total, they used 500 rats. They had a problem getting the rats in the middle of the room, so they got the trainers to release more rats until the middle part of the room was covered. They used a "great" amount of hours "painting out rat droppings in that shot."
Gillian Anderson
's character Dana Scully
would not be available, since the writing staff had decided before the episode was written that she would spend most of her time in the hospital. As the writing staff had a hard time coming up with a story, Spotnitz saw this as an opportunity to further evolve Doggett, the new character introduced at the beginning of the eighth season
. Spotnitz was also eager to use The Lone Gunmen
in the episode, since this the episode would mark their first scene together with Doggett.
of 7.3, with a 10 share. It was viewed by 7.461 million households and gathered a total of 12.370 million viewers in the United States
alone, which means it became one of the lowest rated episodes that season. On December 17, 2000 the episode premiered on American and Canadian television on Fox
(both nations) and Global Television Network
(Canada only) the same time and day as Fox did. In the United Kingdom
, it made its first appearance on British television in 2001 on Sky1. It made its premiere on BBC2 on April 21, 2002. The episode did not make it to the list of the ten most watched television shows that week on Sky1 or BBC2.
Co-star Robert Patrick
has called it his "favorite episode," because the writers saw a chance to really create a "vulnerable" moment for the his character, John Doggett
. A review from Critical Myth gave the episode 9 out of 10, saying it was "not perfect, but pretty close". Some fans criticised the character episode, because Doggett mistakenly refers to Walter Skinner
's rank as "Agent" and not "Assistant Director". George Avaros and Michael Liedtke from the Contra Costa Times
were overall positive towards the episode, saying it had all the features which created a "superb X-Files episode". They further stated that it had an "eerie, almost surreal quality sprinkled with pithy dialogue, comic relief and cryptic insights into key characters that left us wondering what sort of trouble might be around the bend". The critics also reacted positively to the numerous references to the long forgotten hero, Fox Mulder
. This episode was compared to the work of David Lynch
in his series, Twin Peaks
.
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...
and the seventh episode of the eighth season
The X-Files (season 8)
The eighth season of The X-Files commenced airing in the United States on November 5, 2000, concluded on May 20, 2001, and consisted of twenty-one episodes. The X-Files is an American serial science fiction-horror-thriller television series. Season eight took place after Fox Mulder's alien...
. The episode first aired in the United States and Canada on December 17, 2000 on Fox
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 subsequently aired in the United Kingdom. It was written by executive producer Frank Spotnitz
Frank Spotnitz
Frank Spotnitz is an award-winning American television writer and producer, best known for his work on The X-Files television series.-Biography:...
and directed by Tony Wharmby
Tony Wharmby
Tony Wharmby is an English television director and producer.Wharmby is best known for his directorial work on television series such as JAG, NCIS, The O.C., Bones, Providence, Coronation Street, High Sierra Search and Rescue, The X-Files, Coins in the Fountain, New Scotland Yard, Gossip Girl,...
. It is a Monster-of-the-Week episode (meaning a stand alone episode).
"Via Negativa" follows 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...
) taking time off to deal with the early stages of her pregnancy, John Doggett
John Doggett
FBI Special agent John Jay Doggett is a fictional character in the American Fox television series The X-Files, a science fiction show about a government conspiracy to hide or deny the truth of alien existence...
(Robert Patrick
Robert Patrick
Robert Hammond Patrick, Jr. is an American actor, known for his leading and supporting roles in a number of films and television shows....
) and Walter Skinner
Walter Skinner
FBI Assistant Director Walter Sergei Skinner is a fictional character 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...
attempt to avert the mysterious murder spree of a religious cult leader who kills his victims in their sleep. The episode earned low Nielsen household and syndication ratings when compared to other episodes during the season. It was generally well-received by fans and critics alike.
Plot summary
FBI Agents Angus Stedman and Jim Leeds are watching over a house. Leeds falls asleep, and wakes to find the front door to the house open. The two agents investigate, finding a room full of bloody dead bodies, and an axe-wielding man with a third eye who kills them both with a blow to the head.The following day, 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...
) calls John Doggett
John Doggett
FBI Special agent John Jay Doggett is a fictional character in the American Fox television series The X-Files, a science fiction show about a government conspiracy to hide or deny the truth of alien existence...
(Robert Patrick
Robert Patrick
Robert Hammond Patrick, Jr. is an American actor, known for his leading and supporting roles in a number of films and television shows....
) to inform him about the case, and at the same time saying she won't be joining him, due to personal matters. Doggett visits the crime scene
Crime scene
A crime scene is a location where an illegal act took place, and comprises the area from which most of the physical evidence is retrieved by trained law enforcement personnel, crime scene investigators or in rare circumstances, forensic scientists....
where he meets up with Walter Skinner
Walter Skinner
FBI Assistant Director Walter Sergei Skinner is a fictional character 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...
who tells him about the cult and how the victims died. Agent Leeds' body is found in his car, but partner Stedman is missing, along with cult leader Anthony Tipet. Stedman is not gone for long, and the FBI finds him at his locked-up condo with a fatal blow to the head.
Meanwhile, Tipet is searching for a pharmacist
Pharmacist
Pharmacists are allied health professionals who practice in pharmacy, the field of health sciences focusing on safe and effective medication use...
and stumbles to a phone booth to call an unnamed person. When a tramp asks him for change, Tipet attacks the tramp, trapping him when the pavement turns to ooze and axing his forehead.
At the FBI, Skinner briefs Alvin Kersh
Alvin Kersh
Alvin D. Kersh is a fictional character in the American Fox television series The X-Files, a science fiction series about a government conspiracy to hide or deny the truth of extraterrestrial existence...
, G. Arnold and other agents about the case. He tells them that Tipet was using hallucinogens to bring himself closer to God using the way of "via negativa", meaning the "negative way." But at the same time none of his victims had been using drugs. Tracing Tipet's earlier call leads Doggett and Skinner to Andre Bormanis, a drug dealer. Bormanis is arrested, and tries to take some amphetamines. He is put in a cell at the local police department.
At the jail, Doggett wakes up and sees a set of bloody footprints which he follows to Bormanis' cell. But instead of finding Bormanis, he sees Tipet, who is floating three feet above the floor, with his third eye visible. Looking down, Doggett sees he has Scully's severed head in his hands. Doggett wakes up, realizing it is a bad dream, and immediately wonders if Bormanis was taking amphetamines as a method to stay awake. In his cell, Bormanis has fallen asleep, and is dreaming of being attacked by rats. Doggett and the other officers find Bormanis' gnawed up-body.
Doggett returns to the X-File
X-file
On the television series The X-Files, an X-File is a fictional case that has been deemed unsolvable by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The files constitute an unassigned project outside the Bureau mainstream that is more or less concerned with unexplained phenomena. -First X-Files:The very...
s office, where, to his surprise, he meets The Lone Gunmen
The Lone Gunmen
The Lone Gunmen are a trio of fictional characters, Richard "Ringo" Langly, Melvin Frohike and John Fitzgerald Byers, who have recurring roles on the American television series The X-Files. They also starred in a short-lived spin-off, also called The Lone Gunmen. The name was derived from the lone...
. They tell him about the history of the third eye. While coming to the same conclusion, they are convinced that Tipet is projecting himself into peoples dreams and killing them there. Returning to the warehouse where they found Bormanis, they meet Tipet, who is trying to take his own life by pushing his head through a table saw. They rush him to the hospital
Hospital
A hospital is a health care institution providing patient treatment by specialized staff and equipment. Hospitals often, but not always, provide for inpatient care or longer-term patient stays....
, where Doggett by surprise finds Scully's name on the register. With Tipet in a coma, Kersh decides to pull the plug on the case, saying they've found the main suspect. But Doggett and Skinner are not satisfied, saying there are no explanations for the various murders and events surrounding the case.
The following day, Doggett wakes up and sees he has a third eye on his forehead as he gets himself ready for work, but it suddenly vanishes. He seeks Skinner for reassurance at the Bureau. He is afraid that he is asleep and, despite the coma, Tipet could still enter his dreams. Skinner tells him he's fine and sends him home, but Doggett has a powerful hallucination in which Tipet tells him Scully will die. From no apparent reason, Doggett finds himself in front of Scully's apartment with a bloody axe in his hand. Rather than kill Scully, he turns the axe on himself. Waking up, he finds Scully in his bedroom standing over his bed. He thanks her for saving his life, and Scully tells Doggett that Tipet died in his sleep.
Production
| "That was the one where Doggett's mind was possessed by the leader of a religious group that was invading people's psyches [...]. He started to get into my head. That was a great experience as an actor. It was challenging and a lot of fun. So far as specific character moments, I think he gained Scully's trust and respect. He came through in the sense that he found Mulder." |
| — Robert Patrick Robert Patrick Robert Hammond Patrick, Jr. is an American actor, known for his leading and supporting roles in a number of films and television shows.... talking about his character, on this episode. |
The inspiration for the episode hit Frank Spotnitz
Frank Spotnitz
Frank Spotnitz is an award-winning American television writer and producer, best known for his work on The X-Files television series.-Biography:...
on a rafting trip. On this trip, Spotnitz met a "friend of a friend," who was constantly talking about an "image that freaked him out." The image was opening a tube of toothpaste
Toothpaste
Toothpaste is a paste or gel dentifrice used with a toothbrush as an accessory to clean and maintain the aesthetics and health of teeth. Toothpaste is used to promote oral hygiene: it serves as an abrasive that aids in removing the dental plaque and food from the teeth, assists in suppressing...
"and having blood come out." This image got Spotnitz thinking, "How could you create a story where blood comes out of a tube of toothpaste?" There were no real-world scenarios having any likeness to it, so he started to think of "dreams and nightmares." He eventually came up with the idea of a cult
Cult
The word cult in current popular usage usually refers to a group whose beliefs or practices are considered abnormal or bizarre. The word originally denoted a system of ritual practices...
trying to reach a higher plane of existence, but instead stumbling onto a "lower place, a darker plane." Or as Spotnitz said, "what if the higher plane is a darker plane, what if we think we're reaching up but we're reaching down."
The director, Tony Wharmby
Tony Wharmby
Tony Wharmby is an English television director and producer.Wharmby is best known for his directorial work on television series such as JAG, NCIS, The O.C., Bones, Providence, Coronation Street, High Sierra Search and Rescue, The X-Files, Coins in the Fountain, New Scotland Yard, Gossip Girl,...
spent a whole day shooting inserts of rats. In total, they used 500 rats. They had a problem getting the rats in the middle of the room, so they got the trainers to release more rats until the middle part of the room was covered. They used a "great" amount of hours "painting out rat droppings in that shot."
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...
's character 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...
would not be available, since the writing staff had decided before the episode was written that she would spend most of her time in the hospital. As the writing staff had a hard time coming up with a story, Spotnitz saw this as an opportunity to further evolve Doggett, the new character introduced at the beginning of the eighth season
The X-Files (season 8)
The eighth season of The X-Files commenced airing in the United States on November 5, 2000, concluded on May 20, 2001, and consisted of twenty-one episodes. The X-Files is an American serial science fiction-horror-thriller television series. Season eight took place after Fox Mulder's alien...
. Spotnitz was also eager to use The Lone Gunmen
The Lone Gunmen
The Lone Gunmen are a trio of fictional characters, Richard "Ringo" Langly, Melvin Frohike and John Fitzgerald Byers, who have recurring roles on the American television series The X-Files. They also starred in a short-lived spin-off, also called The Lone Gunmen. The name was derived from the lone...
in the episode, since this the episode would mark their first scene together with Doggett.
Reception
The episode earned a Nielsen household ratingNielsen Ratings
Nielsen ratings are the audience measurement systems developed by Nielsen Media Research, in an effort to determine the audience size and composition of television programming in the United States...
of 7.3, with a 10 share. It was viewed by 7.461 million households and gathered a total of 12.370 million viewers in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
alone, which means it became one of the lowest rated episodes that season. On December 17, 2000 the episode premiered on American and Canadian television on Fox
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...
(both nations) and Global Television Network
Global Television Network
Global Television Network is an English language privately owned television network in Canada, owned by Calgary-based Shaw Communications, as part of its Shaw Media division...
(Canada only) the same time and day as Fox did. In the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, it made its first appearance on British television in 2001 on Sky1. It made its premiere on BBC2 on April 21, 2002. The episode did not make it to the list of the ten most watched television shows that week on Sky1 or BBC2.
Co-star Robert Patrick
Robert Patrick
Robert Hammond Patrick, Jr. is an American actor, known for his leading and supporting roles in a number of films and television shows....
has called it his "favorite episode," because the writers saw a chance to really create a "vulnerable" moment for the his character, John Doggett
John Doggett
FBI Special agent John Jay Doggett is a fictional character in the American Fox television series The X-Files, a science fiction show about a government conspiracy to hide or deny the truth of alien existence...
. A review from Critical Myth gave the episode 9 out of 10, saying it was "not perfect, but pretty close". Some fans criticised the character episode, because Doggett mistakenly refers to Walter Skinner
Walter Skinner
FBI Assistant Director Walter Sergei Skinner is a fictional character 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...
's rank as "Agent" and not "Assistant Director". George Avaros and Michael Liedtke from the Contra Costa Times
Contra Costa Times
The Contra Costa Times is a daily newspaper based in Walnut Creek, California, U.S.. The paper serves Contra Costa and eastern Alameda counties, in the eastern part of the San Francisco Bay Area...
were overall positive towards the episode, saying it had all the features which created a "superb X-Files episode". They further stated that it had an "eerie, almost surreal quality sprinkled with pithy dialogue, comic relief and cryptic insights into key characters that left us wondering what sort of trouble might be around the bend". The critics also reacted positively to the numerous references to the long forgotten hero, Fox Mulder
Fox 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...
. This episode was compared to the work of David Lynch
David Lynch
David Keith Lynch is an American filmmaker, television director, visual artist, musician and occasional actor. Known for his surrealist films, he has developed his own unique cinematic style, which has been dubbed "Lynchian", and which is characterized by its dream imagery and meticulous sound...
in his series, Twin Peaks
Twin Peaks
Twin Peaks is an American television serial drama created by David Lynch and Mark Frost. The series follows the investigation headed by FBI Special Agent Dale Cooper , of the murder of a popular teenager and homecoming queen, Laura Palmer...
.