Within (The X-Files)

Plot

Dana Scully, distraught since Fox Mulder's abduction, finds his office being searched by FBI agents. Scully and Walter Skinner are questioned by the task force; Scully angrily throws water in Doggett's face when she learns his identity. At her apartment, Scully runs a background check on Doggett, learning he was a former NYPD detective. She notices her phone is tapped and confronts Doggett, who seems surprised.

She pursues a mysterious man but meets her landlord, who claims he saw Mulder. Skinner visits the Lone Gunmen, who are monitoring UFO activity. Someone uses Mulder's FBI pass to access the X-Files, making Skinner a suspect. Doggett discovers Mulder was dying and had his name engraved on a gravestone.

The Lone Gunmen find evidence of high UFO activity in Clifton, Arizona. Doggett receives information about Gibson Praise. Scully and Skinner leave for Arizona without sharing information. Doggett believes finding Praise will lead to Mulder.

They locate Praise at a school for the deaf in Flemingtown, but he escapes through a window and leaves for a desert hilltop with another person: Mulder.

Production

The seventh season was a time of closure for The X-Files, with characters written out and plot threads resolved. After settling his contract dispute, David Duchovny quit full-time participation after the seventh season. Chris Carter wrote "Requiem" as a possible series finale but also constructed it to segue into another season due to Fox's interest. Mulder's abduction in "Requiem" left his return open for 11 episodes the following year.

When an eighth season was green-lit, Carter introduced John Doggett as a replacement. More than 100 actors auditioned, including Lou Diamond Phillips, Hart Bochner, and Bruce Campbell.

Campbell was considered but could not take the role due to a contractual obligation with his series Jack of All Trades. Robert Patrick was eventually cast, reportedly due to his role in Terminator 2: Judgment Day, as Fox believed he would attract 18- to 35-year-old males. Fox executives reported a 10 percent overall increase in this demographic solely due to Patrick's casting.

Themes

The eighth season of The X-Files increasingly focused on human resurrection, salvation, disease, suffering, and healing. "Within" explored themes of birth, death, and resurrection. Scully's opening dream of an abducted Mulder invoked strong birth imagery of the amniotic sack and fluid. Later, the themes of death and resurrection are touched upon when Scully sees Mulder's tombstone.

This arc continued in later episodes such as "The Gift" and "Deadalive". The episode is one of many to feature Mulder as a Christ-like figure. Michelle Bush, in her book Myth-X, notes that Mulder's torture scenes in "Within" bear resemblance to the Crucifixion of Jesus. Metal bars piercing his wrists and ankles are similar to the nails that held Jesus, metal straps in his head resemble the Crown of Thorns, and his vivisection is reminiscent of the wound made by the Holy Lance.

Bush parallels Jesus' horrific death and resurrection to Mulder's abduction, death, and resurrection later in "Deadalive".

Reception

"Within" first aired on Fox on November 5, 2000, earning a Nielsen household rating of 9.5, viewed by 9.58 million households and 15.87 million viewers. This marked an 11% decrease from the seventh season opener but a slight increase over the seventh season finale. After completion, Carter screened "Within" and "Without" back-to-back at the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. The episode received positive reviews overall.

Jessica Morgan from Television Without Pity gave it a rare "A+". Ken Tucker of Entertainment Weekly awarded it an A−, praising Patrick's portrayal of Doggett as "hardboiled alertness" and noting Anderson's enactment of queasiness. Tom Janulewicz from Space.com reacted positively, enjoying the idea of making Skinner a true believer. Paula Vitaris from Cinefantastique gave a mixed review of two stars out of four, criticizing the unnatural elongation of Scully's pregnancy and the glimpses of Mulder as little more than lip-service.