This Is Not Happening (The X-Files)

Plot

In Helena, Montana, Richie Szalay chases a UFO that drops a naked woman, later identified as Theresa Hoese, who was abducted at the same time as Fox Mulder. Walter Skinner, John Doggett, and Dana Scully visit Theresa in the hospital seeking information about Mulder. The agents interrogate Richie, whose friend Gary was abducted just before Mulder; Doggett notes fresh Nike footprints near where Theresa was found, casting doubt on Richie's story. Jeremiah Smith, disguised as a doctor, arranges Theresa's transfer.

Doggett calls Agent Monica Reyes, who suggests Mulder may have joined a UFO cult. At a derelict compound, Smith cures Theresa while a man named Absalom watches. Reyes' car stalls before she sees a UFO; she finds Gary's body and retrieves a license plate belonging to Absalom, real name Travis Clayton Moberly, leader of a doomsday cult. The FBI raids the compound and arrests Absalom, but Smith escapes.

Reviewing video, the agents see Smith transform into Doggett. Scully confronts Smith, but Skinner tells her Mulder's body has been found. Scully sees Mulder's lifeless body and rushes back to the compound hoping Smith can heal him, but a UFO beam removes Smith. Distraught, Scully weeps and yells, "This is not happening!"

Production

The episode marked the narrative return of David Duchovny as Fox Mulder after his character was abducted in the seventh season finale "Requiem." Duchovny had quit full-time participation after season seven due to a contract dispute but agreed to return for 11 season eight episodes; this was his fifth appearance in the season. The opening UFO chase was filmed in a mountainous area lit to create an alien feel; the UFO was a disguised helicopter, and a computer-generated cloaking effect of digital fog and wiggled lights made it appear and disappear.

This episode introduced Monica Reyes, played by Annabeth Gish, who became a main character in season nine. The character was developed due to Gillian Anderson's possible departure after season eight; creator Chris Carter wanted Reyes to share traits with both Mulder and Scully while being as different from Scully as Doggett was from Mulder. Gish noted that Carter wanted Monica to be a "sunny force."

Reception

The episode premiered on February 25, 2001, on Fox, earning a Nielsen household rating of 9.7 and watched by 16.9 million viewers, making it the highest-rated episode of the season and the highest-rated since "The Sixth Extinction." Fox promoted it with the tagline "Tonight, the search for Mulder ends." It was nominated for a Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Cinematography for a Single-Camera Series. Critical reception was mostly positive; Emily St. James Club gave it an "A−," calling it one of the strongest episodes of the season and praising the reintroduction of Jeremiah Smith and Scott's performance as Absalom.

Robert Shearman and Lars Pearson rated it five stars out of five, noting the tragedy that Scully's scientific approach prevents her from saving Mulder. Paula Vitaris of Cinefantastique gave a negative review, awarding one-and-a-half stars out of four, calling the episode unexciting and the final scene anticlimactic, and noting that Reyes' introduction was not satisfactorily explained.