X-FILES INSIDE JOKES/TRIVIA
TJ Currey
original X-Files page. I thought I would broadcast it for those without
www access. Most of what is below is stuff I found relevant to The X-Files
itself and hopefully no randomized speculation as to what certain things
mean. These were gleaned off this newsgroup, as well as contributed by
Bill Van Heerden (bv...@freenet.toronto.on.ca) and also taken from the
Official X-Files Companion by Brian Lowry. If you notice that some are
missing, please check out the FAQ on my page, as it contains other notes
regarding Mulder and Scully trivia
(http://www.halcyon.com/mulder/faq.html)
Interesting Side Notes
UFO chaser Max Fenig's cap (reading "NICAP, seen on Fenig in "Fallen
Angel") can be seen hanging on various coat racks in various following
episodes.
Jason Beghe (Ranger Larry Moore in the episode "Darkness Falls") got
David Duchovny interested in acting in the first place. The two tended bar
and took acting classes together.
In the episode "Fire", the line "a three-pipe problem" is a reference to
Sherlock Holmes. X-Philes have proposed that Mulder and Scully were
partly inspired by the characters of Holmes and Dr. Watson. In the Holmes
mysteries, Sherlock smoked a pipe while he puzzled out a case. A
particularly baffling case would require three pipes to figure out.
Doug Hutchison, who played liver-eating Eugene Victor Tooms in the
episodes "Squeeze" and "Tooms" is in reality a vegetarian.
Steveston, Massachusetts, the town where the Kindred live in the episode
"Genderbender", was named after Steveston, a small community south of
Vancouver beloved by the location manager for the X-Files for its diversity
of settings.
"I made this" is NOT said by Carter's son. It's said by Nathan Couturier, son
of supervising sound editor Thierry Couturier.
The address in Samantha Mulder's file in "Conduit", 2790 Vine Street, is
the former address of the X-Files production offices in Vancouver.
Deep Throat's chat with Mr. McGrath regarding Mulder in "Fallen Angel" is
a quotation from Don Corleone in "The Godfather": "Keep your friends
close, but keep your enemies closer" modified to "Always keep your friends
close, Mr. McGrath...but keep your enemies closer."
The dog in the episode "Ice" is the mother of David Duchovny's dog, Blue.
The music used for the disco in the opening scene of "Genderbender" is
from Mark Snow's theme music for the TV movie "In the Line of Duty:
Street War".
The town of Crystal City in the episode "Ghost in the Machine" is an
allusion to Silicon Valley. Crystal City is, however, an office park just
outside of Washington DC, in Virginia.
The Thinker (mentioned in the episode "One Breath" and seen later in
Anasazi) is modeled after fan and America Online member Yung Jun Kim
(also known as 'DuhThinker').
Senator Richard Matheson ("Little Green Men") is named after the
sci-fi/horror author.
The man who played the Flukeman in the episode "The Host" is Darin
Morgan, brother of writer Glen Morgan. Darin Morgan is famous for the
most part among X-Philes for humerous script writing of some of the
episodes.
In "The Host", the autopsy Scully performs is case number DP112148
(Chris Carter's wife, Dori Pierson, initials and birthdate) of John Doe
number 101356 (Chris Carter's birthdate).
Club Tepes, seen in "3", is named for Vlad Tepes, or Vlad the Impaler, the
inspiration for Vlad Dracula. Also, in the final scene, the Unholy Spirit
says, "I will live forever" in Transylvanian.
The title of the episode where the tiger escapes, "Fearful Symmetry", is
from the William Blake poem "The Tyger". The building where the tiger is
eventually captured is owned by Blake Towers.
Glen Morgan has said that he named Nurse Owens in "One Breath" after his
grandmother.
In the third season's second episode (Paperclip), there is the dedication,
"In Memoriam. Mario Mark Kennedy. 1966-1995." Kennedy was a major
fan of the series who had organized on-line discussion sessions. He
perished in a car crash.
The episode "Piper Maru" was named after Gillian Anderson's daughter.
In the episode "Pusher", the front page of the tabloid newspaper picked up
by the 'Pusher' in the grocery store line contained a picture of Flukeman
from 'The Host'
The Blessing Way
Certain Navajo scholars alerted the producers to some cultural
inaccuracies depicted in Anasazi," so Chris Carter was invtied to attend a
Navajo night chant and the Native American Chruch Peyote Ritual in
preparing "Blessing Way", which is named for an actual chant. Carter
considers attending the ritual a great honor but does admit it was
"excrutiatingly painful to sit on the ground, Native American-style, for
eight hours" during the ceremony.
Continuing The X-Files mythology and taking it in bold new directions,
"Blessing Way" makes Skinner a much more active character without
necessarily changing his fundamental role. Skinner is acting to defend his
agents, Carter says, adding, "He's not a member of the X-Files team in any
way," but rather merely trying to right what he perceives as an injustice.
The episode contains several interesting nuances relating to both on and
offscreen - such as having Krycek, played by Nicholas Lea, shoot Melissa
Scully, played by his real life girlfriend Melinda McGraw. Mulder also
talks in his sleep about wanting sunflower seeds, having discussed his
father's taste for them in the second season episode, "Aubrey."
Another startling moment has Mulder, in his near-death ruminations,
seeing the alien/human hybrids killed in the boxcar by cyanide gas -
echoing the Nazi atrocities committed during World War II. "These are Nazi
scientists," Carter notes. "Why wouldn't they behave as they behaved
really?"
The producers considered it fantastic casting John Neville, whose credits
include the title role in The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, as the latest
in the show's string of uniquely named characters, the Well-Manicured
Man.
A tag at the end read, "In Memoriam. Larry Wells. 1946-1995." Wells
was a costume designer for the series.
F. Emasculata
Mulder and Scully use their cellular phones more often in this episode than
any other. During Season One and Two, they used a Nokia 101 or 121. The
programmable alphanumberic face came in handy in "Blood," when the
crew programmed Mulder's cellular display to read "All Done, Bye Bye."
Colony
Andrew Johnston makes a return appearance as the alien pilot, who had
played Colonel Budahas in "Deep Throat". Also, Tom Butler, who played
Benjamin Drake in "Ghost in the Machine," here returns as Agent Chapel.
And Jim Leard, who appeared as Captain Lacerio in "The Erlenmeyer
Flask", returns to interrogate the Reverend Sistrunk as Sergeant Dixon.
Die Hand Die Verletzt
Die Hand Die Verletzt means "The hand that wounds."
One of the show's creepiest episodes, "Die Hand" was the last hour written
by Glen Morgan and James Wong, who left the series to devote their time
developing and producing a new show, Fox's Space: Above and Beyond. The
pair used Paddock's cryptic line on the chalkboard, "It's been nice working
with you," for another more sentimental purpose - to serve as their
parting aside to the cast and crew.
Again, part of the script grew out of Morgan and Wong flair for
constructing individual episodes around individual scenes, with Morgan
proclaiming enthusiastically at one point, "We need an episode where a
snake eats a guy." Amphibians figured prominently in the sequence where
toads rain from the sky, with real toads - dropped from only a few feet so
as not to harm them - eventually being substituted for fake ones that
proved to be too heavy as they caromed off the umbrellas.
Airing on the eve of Super Bowel XXIX, the producers - long-suffering San
Diego Chargers fans - also indulged themselves in a little personal gag in
the opening credits, where they were listed as James "Chargers" Wong and
Glen "Bolts, Baby" Morgan. Though the Chargers were routed two days
later by the San Francisco 49ers, Morgan insists he isn't superstitious
enough to believe that those credits had anything to do with jinxing their
team.
"Crowley" High School evokes the memory of British ceremonialist
Aleister Crowley, whose theories on "magick" shocked his contemporaries
and heavily influenced the development of modern Wicca.
The characters "Paul Vitaris" and "Deborah Brown" are named after
prominent online X-Philes Paula Vitaris and Deborah Brown.
The actress playing the biology teacher in "Die Hand Die Verletzt" also
played a biology teacher in a popular Butterfinger commercial.
Blood
"Blood" represents one of those episodes where divergent concepts were
eventually brought together and assembled into what turned out to be a
rather chilling hour. Writers Glen Morgan and James Wong began with a
single note, "Postal Workers," that they subsequently combined with the
hubbug in Southern Californa over malithion spraying. (Authorities had
released the pesticide from helicopters to eradicate fruit flies, alarming
some local residents, who weren't entirely convinced by assurances that
the substance was harmless to humans while being told it might damage
the paint on their cars.)
Morgan recalls seeing a feature on the news magazine 20/20 about studies
on DDT in the 1950s, while Chris Carter had been wanting to do something
which incorporated digital readouts. "We had always tried to have regular
things be scary," Morgan says, particularly objects like fax machines or
cellular phones that are relatively new additions to the modern world.
Morgan also admits that he doesn't have the slightest clue who or what
might have been transmitting the subliminal messages and doesn't really
care, leaving such things for viewers to consider.
The final transmission - "ALL DONE, BYE BYE" - has taken on a dual
purpose, serving as the final shot in The X-Files blooper reel. The
climactic scene in the bell tower was shot at the University of British
Columbia.
The appliances which commanded the victims to "Kill 'em all" were worked
off-camera by Ken Hawryliw and his crew. Normal appliances do not have
a bright enough or large enough display to be seen by the camera. The
microwave Mrs McRoberts confronts in her scene with Mulder was
actually a mockup.
In this episode, the nurse rings on the mailman's door in Morse Code, the
code for "Kill". I spotted this myself and posted it to the AOL X-Files
Board, and then co-executive produer Glen Morgan congratulated me for
catching that. I had made the connection via the fact that they had
mentioned that the mailman had been a radio operator in the Navy and also
for the fact that the buzzing just seemed to have a rhythm to it.
Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose
During Mulder's investigation of Clyde Bruckman's psychic gifts,
Bruckman holds up a blue piece of cloth and asks if it is from Mulder's New
York Knicks t-shirt. This is a reference to the episode 'Beyond the Sea',
where convicted murderer and psychic Luther Lee Boggs gives a detailed
and intricate story after holding a piece of Mulder's New York Knicks
t-shirt (that Boggs had thought was the victim's shirt).
When Clyde plays poker with Scully, he has a 'dead man's hand' (aces and
eights).
Clyde Bruckman is also the name of a film producer who had his hand in,
among other things, Laurel and Hardy movies (but not the one Scully was
watching at the end of the episode.)
Little Green Men
The X-FILES MANIFEST is the now (in)famous list of those lucky X-Philes
whose names appeared on the airline passenger lists in the episode "Little
Green Men".
Here's the list ...
1.Paulette Alves
2.Donald Anglin
3.Sylvia Bartle
4.Kinh Berreman
5.Sarah Brice
6.Kelly Brown
7.Tere Carstensen
8.Gail Celio
9.Cliff Chen (Keeper of the X-Files Episode Guide)
10.Hayden Dawson
11.Lori Dawson
12.Harle Erickson
13.Garn Ferguson
14.Jodi Giannini
15.Jan Gompf
16.Pat Gonzales (Keeper of the X-Files FAQ)
17.Jeff Gostin
18.Charles Grant (X-Files author)
19.Betty Grant
20.George B. Hale (One of Mulder's pseudo-names)
21.Andrew Harrison
22.Melissa Harris
23.Linda Lee Hill
24.Scott Hill
25.Eliza Hofmann
Idle Random Notes
The Erlenmeyer Flask was the first to change the opening tag line of the
credits from "The Truth Is Out There" to "Trust No One." In Ascension, it
was changed to "Deny Everything." In Anasazi, the tag line displayed the
Navajo translation of "The Truth Is Out There." (EI 'AANIIGOO 'AHOOT'E).
In 731, the opening tag was changed to "Apology Is Policy."
Numbers: The number 11:21 that continues to appear on digital clocks in
the show is a salute by Chris Carter to his wife, whose birthday is
November 21. Ten Thirteen Productions was named after Carter's own
birthday, October 13. Ten Thirteen also appears inside a missle silo in the
episode "Apocrypha" where a UFO was kept hidden from the general public.
The two little "Eve" girls in the episode of the same name were named
Cindy and Tina, after the wives of writers/ producers Glen Morgan and
James Wong.
In "One Breath", the Lone Gunmen invite Mulder to come over and jump on
the internet to "nitpick the scientific inaccuracies of 'Earth 2'". This is a
nod to the internet X-Files community and quite possibly to the Netpicker's
Guide to the X-Files, maintained by Kymberlee Ricke.
In the episode "Aubrey", Mulder says "I have this fascination with women
named B.J." B.J. is the name of a character that Duchovny's former
girlfriend Perrey Reeves played on "Doogie Howser". Perrey Reeves also
played in the episode "3" as Kristen.
In the episode Fresh Bones, the design painted on the tree into which
McAlpin crashes his car is a "vever", a sign belonging to the 'loa' or
spirits honored in the voudoun. Bauvais explains the vever as a
loco-miroir, or mirror of the soul.
Mulder has a strap-on gun in the episode "Nisei" because so many people
on the internet newsgroup had mentioned the fact that Mulder is constantly
losing his gun.
While filming "Ascension", Gillian Anderson (Scully) was pregnant... so
when she goes to the store in the episode, they had her buying pickles and
ice cream.
In "War of the Coprophages", the name of the town, Miller's Grove,
mirrors that of Grover's Mill in the movie "War Of The Worlds." The mass
hysteria is the same in both instances. Scully is seen reading "Breakfast at
Tiffany's". The title of this book was the answer to the guestion (or,
rather, question for the answer) that David Duchovny (Mulder) had
missed when he was on Celebrity Jeopardy. Also in this episode, a sailor is
seen buying chocolates and nylons (!). And the newscaster in this episode is
named Skye Leikin, after a fan of the series (Leikin Sky) who frequents
the X-Files Internet newsgroup.
Ten Thirteen's production crew has had cameos (names and bodies) in
various episodes. First Assistant Director Tom Braidwood appeared as
_Lone Gunman_ photographer Frohike in "E.B.E.", "Blood," "One Breath,"
"Fearful Symmetry," and "Anasazi," and his name was used as the person
taking over Howard Graves's parking spot in "Shadows" and as Mulder's
alias to get into the secured government compound in Washington State in
"E.B.E." Ken Kirzinger, stunt coordinator, appeared as Richter in "Ice."
Hair Stylist Malcolm Marsden's name was used for the British PM in
"Fire." Vladimir Stefoff, First Assistant Director, had his name (as Val
Stefoff) used as Scully's alias to get into the compound in "E.B.E."
Executive Producer R.W. Goodwin appeared as a gardener in "Anasazi," and
Chris Carter appeared in the same episode as an FBI agent (the third one)
grilling Scully. Angelo Vacoo, who plays "Angelo Garza" in F. Emasculata, is
a production assistant in the offices of Ten Thirteen Productions in Los
Angeles.
The series' creator, Chris Carter, has two namesakes playing in the NFL.
There is a Chris Carter on the Redskins, and a Cris Carter with the
Vikings. The second, Cris, appeared in the episode "Irresistable" on the TV
in Bock's office as the quarterback completed a first down drive and then a
touchdown.
--
TJ Currey
X-Files Page: http://www.halcyon.com/mulder/xfiles.html
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
*"Captain, I sense... a PLOT DEVICE!"
*"I drank what?" Socrates
*God grant me the ingenuity to escape the things I cannot
change, money to change the things I can, and lawyers to know
the difference.
*Due to financial constraints, the light at the end of the tunnel will
be turned off until further notice.
M Heikkinen
> In "The Host", the autopsy Scully performs is case number DP112148
> (Chris Carter's wife, Dori Pierson, initials and birthdate) of John Doe
> number 101356 (Chris Carter's birthdate).
Wow! You mean she's eight years older than him? Patrick, did you hear
that? I'm only six years older than you!!
Kim Heikkinen mi...@csd.uwm.edu
M Heikkinen
> The Blessing Way
> Navajo night chant and the Native American Chruch Peyote Ritual in
> preparing "Blessing Way", which is named for an actual chant. Carter
> considers attending the ritual a great honor but does admit it was
> "excrutiatingly painful to sit on the ground, Native American-style, for
> eight hours" during the ceremony.
Ah, but did he partake of the peyote? Just curious...
Kim Heikkinen mi...@csd.uwm.edu
M Heikkinen
> Airing on the eve of Super Bowel XXIX, the producers - long-suffering San
^^^^^^^^^^^
H'mmm...is this an obscure reference about the supposed drop in water
pressure when all those toilets flush during halftime?
The truth is out there...
Kim Heikkinen mi...@csd.uwm.edu