"Deadalive" (or "DeadAlive") is the fifteenth episode of the eighth season of the science fiction television series The X-Files. It was written by executive producers Chris Carter and Frank Spotnitz, and was directed by Tony Wharmby. It explores the series' alien mythology story arc. Following its North American premiere on April 1, 2001, it received a Nielsen household rating of 7.3 and was watched by 12.4 million viewers. It garnered mixed reviews; while most critics were happy with the return of actor David Duchovny, some criticized the episode's plot holes. It later won the show's last Emmy Award, for Outstanding Makeup.
The season centers on Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) special agents Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) and her new partner John Doggett (Robert Patrick)—following the alien abduction and death of her former partner, Fox Mulder (Duchovny)—who work on cases linked to the paranormal, known as X-Files. In this episode, agent Mulder is buried. After the body of alien abductee Billy Miles (Zachary Ansley) revives before an autopsy, assistant director Walter Skinner (Mitch Pileggi) orders Mulder's body to be exhumed. When Mulder's body is uncovered, weak vital signs are discovered. Meanwhile, rogue FBI agent Alex Krycek (Nicholas Lea) uses a nanobot infection in Skinner's blood and a vaccine to save Mulder as leverage to make him kill Scully's unborn child. Eventually, Mulder is revived and reunites with Scully.
"Deadalive" was a story milestone for the series, re-introducing Duchovny after his abduction by aliens planning to colonize Earth in the seventh-season finale "Requiem". Spotnitz and Carter deliberately wrote and structured the episode in such a way so as to imply that Duchovny had been written out of the series. "Deadalive" featured several elaborate-make-up scenes, which head make-up effects artist Matthew Mungle was given only six days to complete. The episode has been analyzed for its themes of disease, suffering, healing, salvation and resurrection; Mulder seemingly rising from the dead has been seen as an allusion to the resurrection of Jesus.
Plot Background
In the seventh-season finale "Requiem", FBI special agent Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) was abducted by aliens.Shapiro (2000), pp. 266–277. In the eighth-season premiere "Within", John Doggett (Robert Patrick) took his place on the X-Files, and worked with Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) to find Mulder. In "This Is Not Happening", Scully, Doggett and FBI assistant director Walter Skinner (Mitch Pileggi) discovered several returned abductees. Although nearly all were in critical condition, a UFO cult, led by the mysterious Absalom (Judson Scott), was using Jeremiah Smith's (Roy Thinnes) healing powers to treat the abductees. Scully headed to their compound, only to discover Mulder's deceased body in the woods.
Events Three months after Mulder's funeral, Doggett is offered a transfer from the X-Files. He realizes that if he leaves, the office will be closed, as Scully will soon be on maternity leave. Meanwhile, a fishing trawler finds the decomposing body of Billy Miles (Zachary Ansley)—an alien abductee who was taken at the same time as Mulder. When Miles revives on the autopsy table, Skinner, despite Doggett's objections, orders that Mulder's body be exhumed and brought to a hospital, fearing that he may have been buried alive. When the casket is opened, a decomposing Mulder, contrary to all scientific expectations, shows weak vital signs. Meanwhile, Scully notices that Miles (now on life support) has two heartbeats.
Deputy Director Alvin Kersh unsuccessfully tries to convince Doggett to stop investigating Mulder's apparent death. A short while later, as Skinner walks down a hallway, Alex Krycek (Nicholas Lea) activates nanobots that he had previously placed in Skinner's bloodstream as blackmail. In an elevator, Krycek reveals himself to a pained Skinner and explains that he has a vaccine which could save Mulder's life. However, he will only give it if Skinner can ensure that Scully does not give birth to her baby for reasons that he does not disclose. Later, alone in his hospital bed, Miles regains consciousness and takes a shower. While doing so, his decaying flesh falls away, revealing a healthy body beneath. Miles tells Scully and Doggett that the aliens who abducted him are trying to save humanity. Scully, however, receives a lab report which reveals that Miles's DNA has substantially changed; he is now a new being. Skinner later tells Scully that there is a cure for Mulder's disease, but does not explain Krycek's demands.
From her medical findings, Scully discovers that an alien virus is keeping the abductees alive long enough to cause a radical genetic transformation to take place, similar to the one that Miles experienced. After Scully tells Doggett about the transformation, he visits Absalom, who believes that the abductees are being resurrected into aliens who will eventually conquer Earth. Skinner — torn by his decision — pulls Mulder off life support so that Krycek does not get his way. Doggett, however, catches Skinner in his attempt. Skinner explains Krycek's demands, but Doggett argues that both options are unreasonable because either Scully's child will die, or Mulder will succumb to the virus. Doggett tries to locate Krycek in the parking lot of FBI Headquarters, but Krycek nearly runs him down with a car and destroys the vaccine before escaping. Dejected, Doggett returns to the hospital and tells Skinner he was right not to trust Krycek.
Doggett finds Scully preparing Mulder for the now-destroyed vaccine; she tells Doggett that keeping Mulder on life support was hastening the virus, and that Skinner effectively saved Mulder's life by pulling him off. She states that she will be able to use a combination of antiviral drugs to kill the virus if they can get him and his temperature to stabilize. Later, Scully sits by Mulder's bedside when he regains consciousness. He stares blankly at Scully, and asks, "Who are you?" At first, Scully thinks that Mulder does not remember her. However, she quickly realizes that he is actually playing a practical joke. They laugh, and Mulder asks, "Did anybody miss me?" Scully responds with tears. Later at the FBI, Kersh expresses his disappointment that Doggett did not take his advice to abandon Mulder's case and rescinds his offer to promote him. Doggett indicates that he will continue to work on the X-Files with Scully and Mulder.
Production Writing
At the beginning of season seven, several cast and crew members felt it would be the show's last. Desiring closure if the show was cancelled, X-Files creator Chris Carter brought back several characters from the series' pilot for the season finale "Requiem"; this included most notably Billy Miles, played by Zachary Ansley. After an eighth season of the show was confirmed, the mythology of the ongoing alien story arc for the series changed for both practical and artistic reasons. Former series lead David Duchovny left full-time participation in the series after a lengthy lawsuit during the previous season.Kessenich (2002), p. 80. To replace him, the show's producers hired Robert Patrick, although Duchovny eventually agreed to return for half of season eight's episodes. As such, "Deadalive" was one of the first episodes that Duchovny participated in full-time.Kessenich (2002), p. 145. Further, Frank Spotnitz, executive producer and co-writer of "Deadalive", noted that the original mythology of the show had been "wrapped up" much earlier in "One Son" and "Closure".Spotnitz (2005), 33:36–34:02. To create a "new chapter" in the mythology, and to work around Duchovny's absence, the storyline for the eighth season focused largely on the search for Mulder in the first half and the introduction of Super Soldiers in the second.Spotnitz (2005), 8:42–10:47. Due to the change in style and actors, Carter felt that the eighth season of The X-Files was the end of the "Mulder-Scully era".
Spotnitz wanted "Deadalive" to open in a way that would shock viewers and make them watch the entire episode. He concluded that the best way to do this was to show Mulder's funeral. He felt that "the death of the hero [of the series] was shocking enough", but that no one expected "Deadalive" to blatantly open with a funeral.Spotnitz (2005), 0:27–0:47. He elaborated, "But here we are actually burying the man... just pushing something as far as you possibly can because the audience can't quite believe you're doing it."Spotnitz (2005), 0:47–0:55. The funeral was expensive to film; several actors, such as Sheila Larken, who played Scully's mother, needed to be flown in specifically for the scene. Spotnitz later said, "It's a lot of money to spend but, you know, you just couldn't really do Mulder's funeral without having them there, so we did all that."Spotnitz (2005), 1:21–1:40. Despite the fact that the show was filmed in California and under "huge financial pressure", real snow was used for foreground shotsSpotnitz (2005), 0:59–1:09. and the background was painted white in post-production.Spotnitz (2005), 1:09–1:16. Spotnitz later called the sequence "a fun scene to write and stage" and "a great tease".Spotnitz (2005), 0:20–026.Spotnitz (2005), 1:50–1:54.
On Duchovny's request, Spotnitz and Carter wrote a larger role for Skinner than usual,Spotnitz (2005), 36:03–36:11. giving him the "moral dilemma" of whether or not to kill Scully's unborn child or Mulder.Spotnitz (2005), 30:57–31:08. In the end, Spotnitz called the effects of his actions, particularly the aftermath of taking Mulder off life support, a "nice sort of unexpected turn".Spotnitz (2005), 39:33–39:43. Scully's role in "Deadalive" was partly based on the 1954 film Magnificent Obsession, in which a young man's behavior causes him to accidentally blind a woman. To atone for this turn of events, he becomes a doctor to cure her. Spotnitz noted, "that movie was on my mind and not in a good way when we were imagining Scully in this operating room where Mulder was being worked on."Spotnitz (2005), 38:45–39:19.
Filming and effects "Deadalive" was the second episode directed by Tony Wharmby, after the Spotnitz-penned "Via Negativa". Spotnitz later praised the directing of "Deadalive" as "fantastic".Spotnitz (2005), 7:06–7:08. The majority of the episode—like others from seasons six to nine—was filmed in and around the Los Angeles area.Fraga (2010). Spotnitz managed to secure sufficient funds to enable the fishing trawler scene to be filmed off the Los Angeles coast, a situation with which he was "very pleased".Spotnitz (2005), 6:43–6:45. He also said that after the series' move from Vancouver following the fifth season, the J. Edgar Hoover Building set became more important to the show than before. For this reason, the scene in which Skinner collapses was filmed almost entirely on an FBI hallway set. This sequence recalls the sixth-season episode "S.R. 819", which featured Skinner being poisoned with nanobots by Krycek.Spotnitz (2005), 18:27–19:02.