Season Six

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The Beginning

In an interview with the LA Times (August 28, 1998), Chris Carter explained that the first thing in the opening teaser of the premiere is a shot of the sun. The camera then pans down to a desert landscape -- a scene they would never have been able to do in Vancouver. Carter says that these opening images are a "wink to the audience that we are now in the land of sunshine".

Mulder & Scully's new boss, Kersh, is reportedly named after characters (Dr. Kersh & Anton Kersh) from one of Chris Carter's favorite movies, 1971's "Vampire Circus". The scoop was unearthed by GF2020.

"Homer", sleeping at the helm of the nuclear power plant, was a nod to "The Simpsons" dad, Homer Simpson.

Isn't it fitting that Sandy, the ill-fated Roush employee, was played by long-time X-Files casting director Rick Millikan. Good casting job there, Rick.

A.D. Maslin was named for New York Times film critic Jane Maslin, and A.D. Bart was named for Variety critic Peter Bart (who both reviewed the X-Files movie -- in much the same manner as the two A.D.'s reviewed Mulder and Scully's exploits while on the panel -- and even using some of the same phrases!).

Drive

Country music start Junior Brown will be playing a bit part in this episode (as a man who buys a lot of fertilizer). He was approached for the part by producer/writer Vince Gilligan because he is a fan of Junior's music.

Triangle

Much like "Post-Modern Prometheus" was an homage to Frankenstein, this episode was a homage to "The Wizard of Oz", filmed in the style of Alfred Hitchcock's 1948 film "Rope" (with the story taking place in real-time and being shot in continuous takes with no cutaway shots). "The Wizard of Oz" homages include:

The story will loosely followed that of "The Wizard of Oz" (with Mulder in a sort-of alternate reality, running into people who look amazingly like the important people in his life).

Mulder's wrecked boat was named the "Lady Garland". Judy Garland was the actress who played Dorothy in "The Wizard of Oz".

The first ballroom scene includes a band named "Elmira Gulch and the Lollipop Guild". Elmira Gulch was the non-Oz name of the Wicked Witch of the West character (the mean old woman who wanted to take Toto), and the Lollipop Guild was the ruling body of the Munchkins.

The events Mulder witnesses on the Queen Anne are taking place in 1939. The movie version of "The Wizard of Oz" was released in 1939.

Captain Yip Harburg was so-named for "Wizard of Oz" lyricist, Yip Harburg.

I need some further confirmation on this one, but the song that played during the final "chase scenes" sounded like it might have been a big-band version of a song that was cut from "The Wizard of Oz" titled "Jitterbug" (special thanks to Deborah Thomas for spotting that one).

Arlene Pileggi (Mitch Pileggi's wife) reprised her role as Skinner's assistant ("Bad Blood" and "SR 819" for Arlene's other appearances).

Tag Line - the familiar "The Truth is Out There" tagline was changed to "DIE WAHRHEIT IST IRGENDWO DA DRAU�EN", or "The Truth is Somewhere Out There" in German. Some people have suggested that the additional "somewhere" in the phrase is yet another "Wizard of Oz" homage (as in "Somewhere Over the Rainbow").

Either the powers-that-be at 1013 are still reading the newsgroups, or Carter just thinks like we do, because it is obvious that no matter what time he is in, Spender is a weasel!!!

Dreamland

Title - the name "Dreamland" is a nickname for the infamous Area 51 in Nevada. "Dreamland" actually stands for "Data Repository Establishment and Management Land".

1013? - Scully arrives at the convenience store at 10:12pm. That would mean that she found the "11 cent piece" at 10:13. Does that count?

Michael McKean's character, Morris Fletcher, was named for McKean's son, Fletcher.

Dreamland II

This is the fourth episode to have a character named "John Gilnitz". A conglomeration of the 3 writers' names (John Shiban, Vince Gilligan, Frank Spotnitz), this episode's John Gilnitz is the real named of the man hired to play the role of Saddam Hussein. See the entries for "WetWired", "Leonard Betts", and "Christmas Carol" for other occurrences of the name.

Terms of Endearment

Rain King

As Mulder & Scully wander down the street, they pass "Vince's Diner". This may be a reference to writer Vince Gilligan.

How the Ghosts Stole Christmas

1013 - as the episode opens, Mulder is listening to Christmas music on radio station 101.3.

Ed Asner's character's mention of the ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union) may be a sly reference to Ed Asner's own well-known crusades for liberal causes.

The haunted house's address, 1501 Larkspur Lane, may be a reference to a Nancy Drew mystery story, "Password to Larkspur Lane".

Tithonus

Title - Tithonus is a character from Greek mythology. A mortal man, Tithonus fell in love with the goddess of Dawn, Eos, who begged Zeus to grant Tithonus immortality. Zeus consented, but neglected to give him eternal youth. Tithonus continued to shrivel and grow feeble as he aged. Eventually Eos turned him into a grasshopper.

One of Fellig's pseudonyms was "L.H.Rice". The "H.Rice" in his name was probably for Holly Rice, Vince Gilligan's girlfriend. See the in-jokes for "Pusher", "Paper Hearts", "Unusual Suspects", "Bad Blood", and "Folie A Deux" for other references to Holly.

Other than the "L.H.Rice" reference to Holly, all of Fellig's other pseudonyms were references to real-life photographers. (special thanks to Deborah Thomas - The Librarian - for compiling this information)

Alfred Fellig was probably named for Arthur Fellig (also known as "WeeGee"). WeeGee was a New York City photographer in the 30's, 40's, and 50's who covered the police murder beat. He took graphic photos of the victims, which the newspapers usually printed along with their stories. He also photographed the high society beat.

Henry Strand might have been named for Paul Strand. Paul Strand was a New York City photographer in the early 1900's. He went through a period of photographing his subjects without their knowledge in attempt to extract a "quality of being" from them. At the time this act was quite controversial.

Lewis Brady might have been named for Mathew Brady, a photographer who covered the Civil War era when photography was still a new thing. He was an accomplished portrait photographer in his time. His subjects included Abraham Lincoln, Edgar Allen Poe, Frederick Douglas, and Susan B. Anthony. He was most famous as a war correspondent who collected images on the Civil War battlefields.

SR 819

Title - this title may have been named for a "real" Senate Resolution (S 819) from 1993 regarding a hazardous, toxic, and potentially deadly chemical, Trifluoromethylaniline. The bill extended the temporary suspension of duty on the chemical.

Arlene Pileggi (Mitch Pileggi's wife and Gillian Anderson's former photo double) reprised her role as Skinner's assistant (see "Bad Blood" and "Triangle" for Arlene's earlier appearances).

St. Katherine's hospital was named for writer John Shiban's sister, Katie.

 

Two Fathers

One Son

Arcadia

Title -  "Arcadia" is "A region in ancient Greece held to be an ideal of rural simplicity and peacefulness", or "A region offering rural simplicity and tranquillity". This episode is rumored to be about an idealic residential community where the price of breaking the rules is death. Rumor also has it that Mulder & Scully pose as married couple...

The pseudonyms used by Mulder and Scully in this episode are "Rob and Laura" after Rob & Laura Petrie from the Dick Van Dyke Show.

Agua Mala

Title - Spanish for "Bad Water".

Monday (previously titled Mobius)

Previous Title - Mobius (or a Mobius strip) is a one-sided surface that can be formed from a rectangular strip by twisting one end 180 degrees and fastening it to the other end. It is sort-of like a 3D infinity symbol. Fitting for an episode where the day keeps "looping" until they get it right.

Alpha

Parts of this episode take place in Bellflower, California -- which is creator Chris Carter's home town (see the in-jokes for the pilot episode for another reference to Bellflower, CA).

Characters Dr. Detweiler and Karin Bergquist were named for friends of writer Jeffery Bell. In "real life", Detweiler and Bergquist are married to each other and play in a Cincinnati band called "Over the Rhine".

Trevor

"Trevor" was written by props master Ken Hawryliw and by Grammy-nominated composer Jim Guttridge. For other "appearances" on the show by Ken Hawryliw, check out the in-jokes for Season 5's "The Unusual Suspects" and Season 3's "D.P.O." and "Pusher".

I'm not sure whether or not this is an intentional reference, but it is amusing that the "electric" man at the center of this episode is named "Pinker" Rawls, while the character that Mitch Pileggi (Skinner) played in the movie "Shocker" (who was made of electricity) was named Horace Pinker.

Milagro

Title - "Milagro" is Spanish for "miracle".

This episode marks the 3rd appearance of Angelo Vacco, Vancouver production assistant turned actor. In this episode he played the ill-fated 16 year old (yeah right) Romeo. He was previously seen in Season 2's "F. Emasculata" and Season 3's "Talitha Cumi".

Possible homage? In the cemetery, the camera seems to linger on a tombstone engraved with the named "Diana and Nicholas Salinger", which are the names of the late parents of the kids on "Party of Five".

The Unnatural

Title - The title of this episode, written and directed by David Duchovny, is a play on the common phrase used to describe someone born to do what they do, a "natural", or an homage Robert Redford's classic baseball film, "The Natural".

David Duchovny's brother, Daniel, plays the role of "Piney" in this episode.

Three of a Kind

Title - This is the follow-up to Season 5's "The Unusual Suspects", so the "Three of a Kind" here are the Lone Gunmen. Considering that much of this episode takes place in Las Vegas, the title is also a reference to the "three of a kind" poker hand.

Field Trip 

Title - The field "trip" referenced in the title may have something to do with Mulder and Scully being exposed to an interesting drug.

Biogenesis

"Biogenesis" is "the doctrine that living organisms develop only from other living organisms and not from nonliving matter.

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