4-D (The X-Files)

Plot

Monica Reyes is tracking Erwin Lukesh, a suspected serial killer who removes the tongues of his victims. During the chase, Reyes enters an apartment building where Lukesh attacks her with a razor. John Doggett, monitoring the pursuit electronically, hears a scream and rushes to help, finding Reyes dying with her throat cut. He chases Lukesh into an alley, where the killer disappears, then reappears behind Doggett and shoots him with Reyes' gun. The scene shifts: Doggett arrives at Reyes' new apartment with a housewarming gift, and neither remembers the earlier events. Reyes gets a call from Walter Skinner, who says Doggett has been shot and is en route to the hospital. Reyes insists Doggett is with her, but he vanishes. The bullet removed from Doggett matches Reyes' gun, and Brad Follmer questions her; she maintains Doggett was with her at the time of the shooting. Lukesh watches the interrogation and identifies Reyes as the shooter. Doggett regains consciousness but relies on a respirator. At his apartment, Lukesh lives with his disabled mother and retrieves a human tongue from his freezer, planning to feed it to her secretly. Reyes investigates Lukesh's background and becomes certain he shot Doggett. Through a computer that lets him tap out words, Doggett tells Reyes that Lukesh shot him but also that he saw her with her throat cut. Lukesh returns to the alley and vanishes again. Reyes deduces that Lukesh can move between parallel universes to commit his murders, and that the unharmed Doggett disappeared because two versions of the same person cannot coexist in one universe. Follmer and Skinner question Lukesh, who grows agitated when they mention his mother. Skinner hints that his mother will be questioned. Lukesh goes home to find his mother has discovered the gun used to shoot Doggett. When she threatens to contact the FBI, Lukesh kills her.

Production

Writer Steven Maeda had previously written the eighth season episodes "Redrum" and "Vienen"; due to their success, he was asked to pen a ninth season standalone episode. His efforts were hampered by the departure of David Duchovny, which had changed the show considerably. Maeda was inspired after learning the story of French journalist Jean-Dominique Bauby, who was paralyzed and could only communicate by blinking his left eyelid. Maeda initially wanted to give this ailment to a guest character but eventually felt it would be more successful if it affected a regular character such as Doggett. He employed the theory of parallel universes to explain the episode's logistics. The character of Lukesh was partly inspired by Alfred Hitchcock's 1960 film Psycho; Maeda hoped to create a villain as memorable as other X-Files antagonists like Eugene Victor Tooms and the Flukeman. The episode expounded upon the budding relationship between Doggett and Reyes, with most romantic interactions limited to "flirtatious undercurrents" because series creator Chris Carter "was never big on the flamboyant big performances." Robert Patrick claimed he came up with the scene in which Reyes shaves a wounded Doggett, inspired by a similar moment in the book The Diving Bell and the Butterfly. Effects expert Mat Beck was instructed to create a visual sequence showing Doggett and Lukesh traveling between universes. Various effects were tested, including characters disappearing into black holes and phasing through the air in a "watery" way. Beck ultimately used a combination of both effects, morphing separate shots of the actors and the background using software, with artistic touches added in post-production.

Reception

"4-D" made its U.S. debut on December 9, 2001. According to Nielsen, it scored a 5.1 household rating, meaning 5.1% of the nation's estimated households tuned in, translating to 5.38 million homes. That made it the 62nd most-watched TV program for the week ending December 9. The episode later aired in the UK on BBC One on November 25, 2002.

Critical reaction was split but leaned positive. In their book Wanting to Believe, Robert Shearman and Lars Pearson gave it four out of five stars. They felt the premise wasn't as tightly conceived as writer Steven Maeda's earlier work, but still found it worthwhile, saying it "earns its stripes by at last restoring to the series a pulse." They also praised Annabeth Gish, noting she finally got a showcase that made Reyes more than a "New Age fanatic." Christina Urban of Barnes & Noble called it "by far the best of the season." Jessica Morgan of Television Without Pity gave it a "B," though she criticized the resolution for leaving the alternate universe mechanics unexplained. Michelle Kung of Entertainment Weekly listed it as one of the few ninth-season episodes "worthy" of praise, but said it was overshadowed by the show's "ludicrous conspiracy plots."

Other critics were less impressed. Zack Handlen of The A.V. Club gave it a "C," calling it a "mediocre to bad hour of television" that squandered a cool concept due to poor editing, structure, and urgency. M.A. Crang, in Denying the Truth, highlighted the interactions between Robert Patrick and Gish as the episode's best feature, but felt the ending wrapped things up "far too conveniently."