CTP Episode of the Day - 05.12.06

Today's Cherished Episode: End Game (2x17)
Original Air Date: February 17, 1995
Written By: Frank Spotnitz
Directed By: Rob Bowman

Mulder tracks an alien bounty hunter who has taken Scully prisoner while discovering that his sister may not be who she seems.

(Thanks to chrisnu for today's episode pics.)

Thanks for ditching me.
I … I'm sorry. I … I couldn't let you risk your life on this.
Did you find what you were looking for?
No. No. But I … I found something I thought I'd lost. Faith to keep looking.

Some "End Game" Tidbits & Musings:

-- Chris Carter kept a photo of a submarine cracking through the polar ice cap on his wall -- and he broke the piggy bank a bit to realize that image, with a 15-foot-high submarine conning tower jutting out of the ice in "End Game." For a time after "End Game," the show faced heightened pressure from the studio to keep costs down on subsequent episodes. Still, he pointed out, they "made it happen" on a TV budget.

-- To create the polar ice cap in which the submarine is lodged, 140 tons of snow and ice were trucked into a soundstage that was refrigerated for five days in order to capture the Arctic conditions and make sure viewers could see the actors' breath. The conning tower -- the image that first inspired the episode -- stood fifteen feet high, operating on a hydraulic system that allowed it to move up and down six feet.

-- During the confrontation between Skinner and X, Mitch Pileggi recalls taking a few accidental shots to the groin in slamming Steve Williams against (and nearly through) the fake elevator wall. Williams suggested the dueling head-butts, saying there was a psychological as well as physical aspect to the encounter. The scene grew out of a need to have Scully discover where Mulder was, since only X knew. Finally, Carter simply told Frank Spotnitz, "Why can't we just have Skinner beat the information out of X?"

-- In the original script, Samantha would have survived the fall off the bridge. Once she had been rescued from the river, she would have driven with Mulder to the clinic. However, once they got there, she would have transformed into the alien bounty hunter.

-- The weapon used by the bounty hunter was built of aluminum and clear acrylic. No spring could be found powerful enough to eject the stiletto-like point fast enough, so the crew ran a rubber hose up Brian Thompson's sleeve and activated it pneumatically from off camera.

-- The top of Mulder's email to Scully says, To: Dana Scully, 001013, From: Fox Mulder, 000517. 10/13 is Chris Carter's birthday, and 5/17 is Frank Spotnitz's wife's birthday.

-- This is the second time we see Scully open Mulder's door with her key. The first time was in "Little Green Men."

-- Oopsie? When Scully comes to Skinner's office to ask for his help in finding Mulder, it appears that the American flag in Skinner's office is hung upside down.

Please share your first impressions, favorite (or cringe-worthy!) moments, classic lines, favorite fanfic, nagging questions, repeated viewing observations, etc., as today we celebrate "End Game"!

Polly