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The X-Files Season 6 Episode 9

S.R. 819

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8.4

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AIRED: 1/17/99

Mulder and Scully have 24 hours to save Assistant Director Skinner from being killed by a biologically engineered disease. The disease appears to be created by a shadowy government organisation but in order to save Skinner's life; they must determine who wants him dead, and why. With Skinner's condition worsening Mulder seeks assistance from Senator Matheson who he hopes can provide some answers and help him to find a cure.moreless

Fan Episode Reviews (12)

S.R. 819

9.0

By TrueTvWatcher, Aug 22, 2012

S.R. 819 was a superb episode of The X-Files. I really enjoyed watching because the story was thrilling, the character development was awesome and the ending was spectacular. It was fun watching Mulder and Scully investigate what happened to Skinner as he seemed to be poisoned. There wasn't as much substance about why things were happening the way they did but enough to make sense. I liked what Scully discovered about what was harming Skinner. The ending was really great as the mysterious man behind every thing is revealed. I look forward to watching more!!!!!!!moreless
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Skinner contracts a deadly virus.

8.0

By JaCkKbAuEr2424, Aug 21, 2011

Compared to the last episode the show had to offer, this one was much more exciting. We had the show's best supporting character, Skinner, contracting a deadly virus that kills within twenty four hours and a race for Mulder and Scully to try and get the cure to it or at least figure out who is behind it. As it turns out, the episode is pretty good when everybody is looking for who is responsible and pretty lame when we find out who it is (I agree with the reviewer below me who claimed it was a 10 for the first half)

I always like an episode that puts Skinner at the forefront and gives him proof that Mulder is telling the truth with the stuff he believes in. It's too bad that A.D Kersh is in charge of Mulder and Scully right now, because Skinner is slowly starting to realize that there's some validity to what Mulder and Scully do.

That being said, it was pretty lame when we learn that Krycek was responsible for both infecting and healing Skinner. Krycek was intriguing when we learned that he was a bad guy in Season 2, but the path that the writers have lead him down has turned him into that random villain that shows up in drama TV shows when the writers need somebody to fall back on for a big reveal.. Krycek is interesting, but ever since he lost his arm in Russia, I've lost any hope I've had for the writers putting his character back on a correct path.moreless
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Skinner is about to die... again

5.9

By Aly358, Aug 13, 2008

Well another filler episode. X-Files still not back on track and Skinner is infected with some kind of poison. Or as it turns out some nanotechnology. I sort of liked this episode as it takes you back to previous seasons. But there is one big big error made along the way.

Previously the paranormal or unexplained phenomena were (at least according to Mulders theories) possible. There was always some kind of justification for a person to squeeze between a 2x4 or someone willing others into suicide. Here however it is said that skinner was infected with a nanotechnological device builing walls in his bloodstream.

Well aside from the fact that they couldn't multiply as fast or that some vessels must have ruptured under the rising pressure or that organs must have been affected as well or shut down... even if you ignore all this you can't overlook that these deviced simply cannot spontaneously multiply as shown. Were are they getting their pieces from? In one picture there are 20 and in the next there are 40...

Btw: Why did Skinners heart start up again?moreless
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This is the X-files as it should be. Investigating unusual phenomenon.

8.7

By tvaddict1974, Nov 17, 2007

This episode shows a more humane side to both agents Dana Scully and Fox Mulder. In it, they discover that their boss on the X-files has contracted a life threatening virus which they must not only seek out a cure, but also who infected him with the virus. A.D. Skinner starts of at training in a gym doing some rounds of boxing, but later gets transferred to the hospital with his life signs failing. The medics manage to revive him (at the last minute) starting a great storyline which sees a familiar old face return in this episode. I enjoyed this episode greatly and would recommend it to any new X-file viewer.moreless
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The series returns to form this time with Skinner poisoned and Mulder and Scully racing against time to save him.

8.5

By bkuave, Sep 24, 2007

The series returns to form this time with Skinner poisoned and Mulder and Scully racing against time to save him.

After four straight comedic/x-light episodes we get back to the myth arch that keeps me interested and watching.A.D.Skinner is mysteriously poisononed which turns out to be of nano-technology origin.

This episode seems to help solidify the Skinner/Mulder/Scully triumvirate but with a twist in the end.Senator Matheson reappears for this installment but is more secretive and less helpful than before.

Overall a good character study of Skinner and his duality of support or denouncement as regards to the X-Files and the agents Mulder and Scully.moreless
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Cast & Crew: STARS

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David Duchovny	Special Agent Fox Mulder
Gillian Anderson	Special Agent Dana Scully

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Cast & Crew: RECURRING AND GUESTS

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Donna Marie Moore	I.C.U. Nurse	Guest Star
Greta Fadness	O.R. Nurse	Guest Star
Dan Klass	Forensic Tech	Guest Star
Mitch Pileggi	Assistant Director Walter Skinner	Recurring Role
Arlene Pileggi	Skinner's Assistant	Recurring Role
Nicholas Lea	Alex Krycek	Recurring Role

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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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TRIVIA (3)
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- When Mulder is talking to the forensics guy about who poisoned Skinner and right after he says: don't hate me cos I'm beautiful. Then you can see that the gray car he is collecting evidence from is only half a car. Or in other terms you can't see the back side of the car and instead you see the front side of a police car.
  
  Response: This is incorrect. He's standing next to the open front passenger side door, and the police car is in the background facing sideways (picture the police car as the top part of a T, where the car they're gathering the evidence from is the other part of the T). The Gray car has his doors open, so it looks like the car is facing a different direction, but the scene prior is a wide shot and you can tell that the car is whole.
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- When Mulder is talking to the forensics guy about who poisoned Skinner and right after he says: don't hate me cos I'm beautiful. Then you can see that the gray car he is collecting evidence from is only half a car. Or in other terms you can't see the back side of the car and instead you see the front side of a police car.
  EDIT SHARE
- When Skinner is almost shot in the parking garage, he fires two shots and gets out of the car. You can see the slide on his gun is back-as if he is out of ammo. When the camera pans back to him, the slide is forward.
  
  Additional comment: Right after Skinner collapses against the car in the parking lot, if you look closely, you can see the slide once again locked back on his pistol.
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QUOTES (11)
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- Skinner: I've been expecting you to show up.
  Krycek: You know I can push the button any time.
  Skinner: What do you want from me? What's this about, Krycek?
  Krycek: All in good time.
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- Mulder: Tell me what you know, Senator. This is about SR 819, isn't it? What the hell did they put in Skinner?
  Senator Matheson: I'm sure you already have some idea, Fox.
  Mulder: It's the same technology that SR 819 will export.
  Senator Matheson: Technology that the world believes is purely theoretical.
  Mulder: Nanotechnology. Microscopic, atom-sized machines. Machines can be stopped.
  Senator Matheson: Your friend is already dead.
  Mulder: I don't believe that.
  Senator Matheson: If you pursue this, Fox, they will kill you.
  Mulder: Not before I expose you and your role in this.
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- Senator Matheson: Who did this to you?
  Dr. Orgel: Hurry... please. It's... killing me.
  Senator Matheson: They believe you have exposed them to the FBI - to Walter Skinner.
  Dr. Orgel: No. I told the FBI nothing. I told them nothing. Please, I promise not to expose anyone.
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- Krycek: The bill is in danger, Senator. A new threat has emerged.
  Senator Matheson: You shouldn't have called me.
  Krycek: Blood will be on your hands.
  Senator Matheson: I don't buy your hollow threats.
  Krycek: Well, Dr. Orgel does. You can ask him.
  Senator Matheson: What have you done with him?
  Krycek: I can tell you where to find him.
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- Scully: Dr Plant?
  Dr. Plant: What? What is it?
  Scully: I think I've found it. I think I found what the carbon's doing. It's, uh... it's not just reproducing itself. It has behavior. It's creating something, a matrix stimulated by blood flow in response to movement. It's multiplying then solidifying in an orderly fashion. It's building valves or dams in the vascular system.
  Dr. Plant: It's building a heart attack.
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- Senator Matheson: I don't have to tell you how late it is, do I, Agent Mulder? But I suspect that wasn't even a consideration of yours.
  Mulder: Actually, time is my only consideration, Senator. This was taken only three days ago. It's of you and Dr Kenneth Orgel holding a Senate Resolution - SR 819, I think it's called. What is that?
  Senator Matheson: A funding bill. What is this all about?
  Mulder: A friend of mine is going to die because of SR 819. I don't know how, I don't even know why... but I'm betting you do.
  Senator Matheson: What are you talking about?
  Mulder: I don't even really know yet; all I have are a few pieces: a Tunisian diplomat, this Dr Kenneth Orgel, this health bill, SR 819 - all leading up to a plot to kill an Assistant Director of the FBI. Does that make sense?
  Senator Matheson: The bill you've referred to will provide money and supplies to the World Health Organization, medical technology to third world countries. I have aided you in the past with information, Fox, and advice, which right now is to leave here at once and never again suggest to anyone my involvement in any such dark intrigue. Am I understood?
  Mulder: This man may die; he may only have a few hours to live.
  Senator Matheson: My intention is to save lives, Fox, but I can't save his. Good night, Fox. Drive safely.
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- Skinner: (answering mobile phone) Yeah. Skinner... Hello.
  Electronic Voice: Walter... Skinner.
  Skinner: Who is this?
  Electronic Voice: Have... you heard... the news? It's... in... you.
  Skinner: What is this?
  Electronic Voice: You... have... 24 hours... to go.
  Skinner: What is this? What do you want?
  Electronic Voice: You... are... already dead.
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- Nurse: Mr Skinner. Mr Skinner. Hi. You going to stick with us now? Do you remember what happened?
  Skinner: I was boxing. I must've gotten tagged.
  Nurse: Yes, you did. At least you didn't get your ear bit off. That's something, right? Dr. Plant will be with you in a minute.
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- Trainer: Don't telegraph that left, Drey. Stevie Wonder would see that one coming. You're fighting the FBI now, Drey. Fight smart. Go!
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- Skinner: Every minute of every day we choose. Who we are. Who we forgive. Who we defend and protect. To choose a side or... to walk the line. To play the middle. To straddle the fence between what is and what should be. This was the course I chose. Trying to find the delicate balance of interests that can never exist. Choosing by not choosing. Defending a center which... cannot hold. So death chose for me.
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- Dr. Cabrera: Okay. Get on the phone to the FBI. There's an Agent Scully that should be notified.
  Intern: FBI?
  Dr. Cabrera: This man is an FBI agent.
  Intern: What's wrong with him?
  Dr. Cabrera: What's wrong with him is he's going to die.
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NOTES (3)
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- Nicholas Lea wasn't credited in the opening act so as not to ruin the surprise of his appearance.
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- A potentially time-consuming and expensive fight scene between Skinner and Krycek was cut due to budgetary reasons.
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- This is the third attempt to break Skinner away from Mulder and Scully. In 'Piper Maru' he was shot by Luis Cardinal, in 'Avatar' they tried to frame him for murder, and here they infect him with a disease which Krycek eventually uses to blackmail him.
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ALLUSIONS (5)
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- Skinner: I woke up.
  Mulder: Alone?
  Skinner: Yes. Alone.
  
  This is a reference to the season 3 episode "Avatar" where Skinner has a one night stand with a women in a bar who turns up dead the next morning and Skinner is accused of her murder.
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- Trainer: Don't telegraph that left, Drey. Stevie Wonder would see that one coming.
  
  Steveland Hardaway Judkins best known by his stage name Stevie Wonder is a famous singer who has been blind since birth.
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- Although done in an X Files way, the main thrust of the plot is based on DOA (Dead on Arrival), a film originally made in 1950 with Edmund O'Brien, then remade less successfully in 1988 with Dennis Quaid. In both films, a man discovers he has been incurably poisoned and only has a short length of time to discover who has effectively murdered him. Sadly, as they didn't have Scully to try to find a cure, or Skinner's tormentor pulling the plug, they actually are DOA.
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- Nurse: At least you didn't get your ear bitten off.
  A reference to the infamous Mike Tyson/Evander Holyfield fight, when Tyson bit off part of Holyfield's ear. Both the nurse and the doctor treating Skinner make reference to it.
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- Title: S.R. 819
  This episode 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.
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