Brand X (The X-Files)
Tonight the terror is inside. Deep inside.
"Brand X" is the eighteenth episode of the seventh season of the science fiction television series The X-Files, first broadcast on the Fox network in the United States on April 16, 2000. Written by Steven Maeda and Greg Walker and directed by Kim Manners, it is a "Monster-of-the-Week" story unconnected to the series' wider mythology. The episode earned a Nielsen household rating of 6.8 and was watched by 10.81 million people in its initial broadcast.
Quick Facts
- Series
- The X-Files
- Season
- 7
- Episode
- 18
- Air date
- 16 April 2000
- Production
- 7ABX19
- Writer
- Steven Maeda; Greg Walker
- Director
- Kim Manners
- Length
- 44 minutes
Facts from the source article.
Plot
In Winston-Salem, North Carolina, Walter Skinner is charged with guarding Dr. James Scobie, a former researcher testifying against the Morley tobacco corporation. Before his trial, Scobie develops a cough and is later found dead on his bathroom floor with his face ripped away. Morley has created a "super-tobacco" inhabited by a genetically engineered tobacco beetle whose eggs survive cigarette manufacturing and are released in the smoke. The cigarettes were tested on subjects by Scobie and his colleague Dr. Peter Voss; chain smoker Darryl Weaver is the only surviving participant. Scobie had agreed to give Weaver unlimited cigarettes in exchange for his silence, and Voss is pressured to honor that arrangement. Victims succumb to the eggs in the smoke, their bodies covered in beetles. While interviewing Weaver, Fox Mulder is exposed to the smoke and later coughs up blood as beetles begin hatching in his lungs. Voss, after hearing of Mulder's condition, tells Skinner about the testing. Skinner goes to Weaver's apartment and finds Morley's director of security bound and gagged; when the gag is removed, the man chokes and beetles crawl from his mouth. At the hospital, Mulder is too weak for thoracic surgery as eggs hatch in his lungs.
Production
The episode deals with the theme of the "corporate evil that populates the cigarette industry. "Brand X" began as a script exploring the horrifying aspects of over-eating, but because an earlier season seven episode, "Hungry," had covered similar themes, the writing staff redirected the story toward the cigarette industry. Marc Shapiro noted that the episode's theme was "literally, torn from the headlines," a rare occurrence for an X-Files episode. Production designer Corey Kaplan created an overall yellow and brown color scheme to match the smoking theme, giving each scene a "perpetually smoky look. Kaplan worked with director Kim Manners to enhance Morley Cigarette's corporate offices with long hallways and sets heavy on texture and grit. Scenes of beetles crawling out of corpses were filmed using real insects and real actors; one scene used over 3,000 live insects and took up to a full day to film.
Reception
"Brand X" first aired in the United States on April 16, 2000, earning a Nielsen rating of 6.8 with a 10 share, viewed by 10.81 million viewers. It aired in the United Kingdom and Ireland on Sky1 on July 16, 2000, receiving 0.75 million viewers and becoming the most watched episode that week. Fox promoted the episode with the tagline "Tonight the terror is inside. Deep inside." Tom Kessenich gave a moderately positive review, writing that while it was not the most riveting X-File, being entertained was enough. Paula Vitaris of Cinefantastique awarded two-and-a-half stars out of four, calling it a solid story with interesting characters used well in the service of the plot. Kenneth Silber of Space.com wrote positively, noting the episode benefits from unpredictability in its plot and characters, with the tobacco company displaying complexity rather than one-dimensional villainy. Gareth Wigmore of TV Zone gave an 8 out of 10 rating, observing that a "freshness surrounds the whole episode, presumably a result of the writing."
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