| "My Struggle III" | |
|---|---|
| Series The X-Files Season 11, Episode 1 | |
| |
| Air date | January 3rd, 2018 |
| Writers | Chris Carter |
| Director | Chris Carter |
| Producers | Garfield Cunningham Whitman; Gabe Rotter; Darin Morgan; James Wong; Grace Gilroy; Chris Carter; Glen Morgan |
| Starring | David Duchovny; Gillian Anderson; Mitch Pileggi |
| Episode guide | |
| Previous "My Struggle II" |
Next "This" |
"My Struggle III" is the first episode of season eleven of the paranormal mystery series The X-Files and the 207th episode of the series overall. It was written and directed by series creator Chris Carter. The episode first aired on the FOX Network on Wednesday, January 3rd, 2018 at 9:00 pm. In this episode, Dana Scully has a seizure and is taken to the hospital. In the midst of her stay, she experiences intense visions and knows that the Cigarette Smoking Man is going to wipe out humanity. Fox Mulder drives to South Carolina to confront him, but instead encounters Mister Y - a former colleague of his father from the old Syndicate days.
Cast[]
Starring[]
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| David Duchovny | Fox Mulder |
| Gillian Anderson | Dana Scully |
| Mitch Pileggi | Walter Skinner |
Guest Starring[]
Co-Starring[]
Notes & Trivia[]
"Hey, nerf-herders! Headhunter's Holosuite Wiki has a collection of images related to The X-Files: My Struggle III.
- The X-Files was created by Chris Carter.
- "My Struggle III", "XF: My Struggle III", and "TXF: My Struggle III" all redirect to this page.
- This episode is rated TV-14 (LVD).
- This episode is production code number: 2AYW01.
- This episode had a viewership of 5.149 million people upon its initial broadcast in the United States, which is down by 2.453 from the previous episode. It had a rating of 1.3% in the 18-49 viewing demographic.
- Story mythology: This episode follows the series trope of the government conspiracy plot lines that has been a mainstay of the series. This episode is a continuation of the season ten finale, "My Struggle II", and focuses on the character of the show's primary antagonist, the Cigarette Smoking Man.
- Co-producer Garfield Whitman is credited as Garfield Cunningham Whitman in this episode.
- The opening credit sequence ends with the words "I want to believe", which then dissolves certain letters to form the sentence "I want to lie".
- This is the first credited acting work for Erica Govier.
- This is the first appearance of Erika Price, who is likewise a former member of The Syndicate.
- Actor Miles Robbins makes an uncredited appearance at the end of this episode. He is revealed to be William Mulder living under the alias of Jackson Van De Kamp. He appears next in "Ghouli".
Allusions[]
- The Cigarette Smoking Man's real name is revealed to be Carl Gerhard Busch in this episode. Previously, he was identified as C.G.B. Spender.
- This episode reveals that the events of "My Struggle II" were actually all just part of Dana Scully's seizure vision.
- In The X-Files continuity, the 1969 moon landing was faked. C.G.B. Spender had a hand in the cover-up.
- This episode shows that the Cigarette Smoking Man was behind the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. This was previously established back in the season four episode, "Musings of a Cigarette Smoking Man", which shows that the Smoking Man was the actual shooter in the Texas school book depository, and not Lee Harvey Oswald.
- This episode reveals that C.G.B. Spender is the actual father of William Mulder, not Fox Mulder. Spender artificially impregnated Dana Scully after drugging her in the season seven episode, "En Ami".
- It is implied that C.G.B. Spender had a hand in the 2016 presidential election in which Donald Trump became the forty-fifth President of the United States.
Quotes[]
- Mister Y: Kill him before he kills us all. You're his son, Mister Mulder.
- Erika Price: He won't be expecting you.
- Fox Mulder: You know what I think? That's only half the story. He wants to exterminate humanity. What's your budding enterprise?
- Erika Price: The colonization of space.
- Mister Y: We're closer than you think.
- Erika Price: Building Dyson spheres and magnificent habitable structures.
- Fox Mulder: Oh. That's the plan. A secret space program? I don't think so. I think this is a power play. You want me to kill him so you can implement your own plan. You want to see blood in the streets. The colonization of space? How do you plan to do that? Transport all humanity off-planet? Seven billion people? That's not possible. Only a chosen few. And you call him evil?
- Mister Y: We can take you with us, Mr. Mulder, you and your boy.
- Fox Mulder: You're a liar. You're all liars.
- Mister Y: Then no one can save us.
- Fox Mulder: I know someone who can save us. And I think you know her, too. Now get out of my way.
....
- Dana Scully: Mulder, you have to go.
- Fox Mulder: I'm not going anywhere.
- Dana Scully: To find the Smoking Man.
- Fox Mulder: Scully, I'm gonna get your doctor.
- Dana Scully: No, listen to me. I've seen it.
- Fox Mulder: You've seen what, Scully?
- Dana Scully: I know how it begins. There's a virus. The Spartan Virus. It shuts down our immune systems, and it starts a pandemic.
- Fox Mulder: Scully, you had a seizure. You, you have extremely abnormal brain activity.
- Dana Scully: No, the plague is released. But there's a cure. Mulder, I'm absolutely certain about this.
- Fox Mulder: Okay. Tell me what you saw.
- Dana Scully: You're dying, Mulder. And I can't save you. Not without stem cells from our son.
- Fox Mulder: Scully, I'm fine. I'm here. There's no plague. You don't need to save me.
- Dana Scully: The Smoking Man is behind it.
- Fox Mulder: The Smoking Man is dead.
- Dana Scully: No. No, he's not. He's alive. And he's in Spartanburg, South Carolina, Mulder, from where he releases unleashes hell on Earth.
....
- Carl Gerhard Busch: You'll be pleased to know, Mister Skinner, I'm here to offer you a deal.
- Walter Skinner: I don't make deals.
- Monica Reyes: This is a waste of time.
- Carl Gerhard Busch: You're still a fairly young man. Years to live, by my estimation.
- Walter Skinner: Try me, you son of a bitch. I'm the one with the gun.
....
- Carl Gerhard Busch: My plans are airtight. And even if they were to get out, they would be dismissed as so much fake news. That's the world we live in, Monica. Everyday a new disaster, when the one thing no one is prepared for will wipe the slate clean. We refuse to imagine our impending extinction, the acceleration of the cataclysms. We've thrown science out the window in favor of scandal and opinion and cant and all manner of ridiculous untruths. Civilization a joke, and my plan merely the punchline.
Crew[]
See also[]
Media
The World of the X-Files
The X-Files miscellaneous
External Links[]
Series links
Episode links
Keywords[]
Ambulance | Assassin | Doctor | Extraterrestrial | Faked moon landing | Federal Bureau of Investigation | Hospital | JFK assassination | Moon | Morse code | Nurse | Orderly | Paramedic | President of the United States | Slit throat | Smoking | Strangulation | Syndicate | Throat injuries | Viruses