The X-Files
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"Alpha"


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Episode 6ABX16

Title: Alpha

First screened in Australia: 2 June, 1999
First screened in the USA: 28 March, 1999

a gruesome ending

Credits: Director: Peter Markle
Writer: Jeffrey Bell Starring: Guest Stars: Plot:
Mulder and Scully are brought in to investigate when it appears that a mysterious dog -- thought to be the last of an ancient Asian species -- is responsible for several murders.
Fox Press Release

My Rating: 9/10

Looks like I'm on my own again on this one. Everyone else seems to hate it but I think it's a top episode. I originally thought it was going to be reminiscent of "Shapes" but it was very different and much better than that early episode. The dog was appropriately scary-looking and it was good to see Andrew Robinson in a decent role. The interplay between Scully-Mulder-Berquist was interesting but I do think the Mulder and Scully "will they or won't they scenario" is being stretched way beyond it's limit.

What I particularly liked about the episode is that I think it's a return to the classic dark and brooding X-Files style of the first two seasons. The "monster" goes largely unexplained, the violence (while fairly graphic at times) is more often hinted at than shown and there's a nice tinge of humour throughout. Mulder's many dog jokes are so lame they're funny. The Mulder/Scully "thing" is a sixth season add-on and while it's driving the 'shippers crazy, is may be stretching things a bit much.

Hey, and the best thing? Mulder gets another "I Want To Believe" poster! Cool.

Notable Quotable:
Scully: Aren't you going home?
Mulder: (not turning around) I am home. I'm just feathering the nest.



Mulder: On the crime report it says multiple bite wounds.
Scully: From what?
Mulder: The Hong Kong manifest has the cargo listed as a dog.
Scully: A dog? (She starts to walk toward him) A "dog" dog?
Mulder: Yo quiero Taco Bell. That alone is not what drew me to this case. (Turns and holds the file out to her) The two men were found inside the container which was locked from the outside.
Scully: (Looking through the file) What happened to the dog?
Mulder: (Sitting close to her) Dog gone…. Dog gone… (proudly) Doggone.
Scully: Yeah, I got it.



Scully: You're not going to tell me that a dog did this.
Mulder: A bad dog.



Scully: (About Mulder) Don't mind him. He'll go on forever.



Mulder: Talk about biting the hand that feeds you.



Mulder: (Smiles) You get a biscuit, Scully.



Mulder: Karin? Karin Berquist?
Stacy Muir: No. Stacy Muir. Just putting up this fence for her. She's been having some coyote problems. You two looking for Karin about boarding?
Mulder: No, it's actually more of a behavior problem.
Scully: (Glancing up at Mulder) Yeah, he doesn't listen and he chews on the furniture.



Scully: (About Karin Berquiest) Mulder... She's a friend of yours?
Mulder: We met online.
Scully: Online...
Mulder: Two professionals exchanging information.



Scully: She's enamored of you, Mulder. Don't underestimate a woman. They can be tricksters, too.



Karin Berquist: (To Scully) I lack your feminine wiles.



Scully: (Warning) I'm watching you.
Karin Berquist: You watch... But you don't see.



Scully: So, what is he going to do? Walk in here, skitter across the linoleum and pee in the corners?

Where Have I Seen That Face Before?
Melinda Cullea (Karin Berquist) appeared in "The Fisher King" but has had a career mainly in TV roles, starring in such shows as "The A-Team", "Glitter", "Knot's Landing" and "Target Earth".

Andrew Jordt Robinson (Dr Ian Detweiler), the son of Edward G Robinson, played the killer Scorpio in the Clint Eastwood classic "Dirty Harry". In a long career since then he's appeared in such movies as "Cobra", "Hellraiser" and "The Puppet Masters" and on TV had guest roles on "Star Trek: Voyager" and "Star Trek: Deep Space 9" and a starring role on "Days Of Our Lives". For more information check his Official Site

Yau-Gene Chan (Woo) appeared in "Absolute Power" and Dana Lee (Yee) appeared in "Lethal Weapon 4" and "Rambo: First Blood II".

The Pain Factor:
Mulder and Scully escape the jaws of Alpha unmarked.

Promotional:
Article from The Cincinnati Enquirer:
Over The Rhine lead singer Karin Bergquist didn’t get to die in David Duchovny’s arms, but Sunday’s The X-Files was close enough. University of Cincinnati graduate Jeffrey Bell used names similar to Ms. Bergquist and her husband Linford Detweiler, in the episode about a mysterious killer dog.

He called the author and dog expert “Karin Berquist,” and named the evil scientist “Dr. Ian Detweiler.”

“It was just a tribute to my friends in Cincinnati,” says Mr. Bell, a 1982 UC graduate.

“Detweiler is a pretty good name. It wouldn’t have worked if their names were “Smith.” They just sounded like people who would be characters on The X-Files.”

The dog theme was another bond the local rockers share with Mr. Bell, who is completing his first season as an X-Files staff writer. Two photos of Mr. Bell’s Weimaraner dog, which he labeled “good dog” and “bad dog,” inspired the title for the band’s 1996 album. (Mr. Bell set his X-Files script for Rain King in Kroner, Kan., a salute to Cincinnati pals Mark and Paul Kroner).

“When I told her I got a job writing for The X-Files, Karin freaked,” says Mr. Bell, who wrote and directed Over the Rhine’s “Happy With Myself” video in 1994. “She said her dream is to die in David Duchovny’s arms with an alien exploding out of her chest.”

“I never thought he’d go this far!” Ms. Bergquist says. “I didn’t think The X-Files could become any more surreal, but it has.”

Trivia:
In "Dirty Harry" Andrew Robinson played the role of the serial killer "Scorpio" who framed Detective Harry Callahan by having himself beaten up and blaming Harry. This scene was used in The X-Files by Eugene Tooms who blamed Mulder for his self-inflicted injuries.

The episode is set in Bellflower, California, Chris Carter's hometown.

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