The sixth season of the science fiction television series The X-Files commenced airing on the Fox network in the United States on November 8, 1998, concluding on the same channel on May 16, 1999, and consisted of twenty-two episodes. The season continued from the 1998 feature film and focused heavily on FBI federal agents Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully's (Gillian Anderson) separation from the X-Files Division and the demise of the Syndicate—a "shadow government" group attempting to cover up the existence of extraterrestrials—in the two-part episode "Two Fathers" and "One Son".
The season was the first to be filmed in Los Angeles, after production was moved from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. This move was done largely at the behest of Duchovny, who wished to be closer to his wife, Téa Leoni. Series creator Chris Carter opposed the move, although series director Kim Manners and Anderson approved of it, although to a less-vocal degree than Duchovny. The first half of the season also saw Mimi Rogers and Chris Owens' characters—Diana Fowley and Jeffrey Spender, respectively—become recurring characters.
Despite debuting with high viewing figures and ranking as the twelfth most watched television series during the 1998–99 television year, the season saw a slight decrease in ratings from the previous one, a trend that would continue until its final year. The season received mixed to positive reviews from television critics; some critics and fans were alienated by the show, due to the different tone taken by most standalone episodes after the move to Los Angeles. Rather than adhering to the previous style of "monsters of the week", they were often romantic, humorous, or a combination of both.
Plot overview
<!-- Don't include any summary from the non-mytharc episodes since they are stand alone episodes. -->
In Washington, D.C., Agent Fox Mulder appears before an FBI panel regarding his experiences in Antarctica. Assistant Director Walter Skinner (Mitch Pileggi) tells Mulder that he and Scully have been denied reassignment to the division. Mulder goes to his former basement office, only to discover that Jeffrey Spender (Chris Owens) and Diana Fowley (Mimi Rogers) have been assigned to the X-Files. Going against orders, Mulder and Scully track down an escaped alien in Phoenix, Arizona while Cigarette Smoking Man (William B. Davis) gives chase. Mulder and Scully eventually discover that Cigarette Smoking Man has been using Gibson Praise to locate the creature. Scully brings Gibson to the hospital, where it is determined that he has the alien virus in his blood. Later, Skinner is mysteriously poisoned by a nanorobot infection. The culprit is revealed to be Alex Krycek (Nicholas Lea), a rogue FBI agent who formerly worked for the Syndicate, who continues to control the potentially debilitating nanotechnology in Skinner's system in order to achieve his goals.
Mulder and Scully later learn of reports of rebel aliens burning doctors who were working on Cassandra Spender (Veronica Cartwright), an alien abductee and mother of Jeffrey Spender. Skinner takes Spender to the scene, where Cassandra asks for Mulder. She informs Mulder and Scully that the aliens are here to destroy all life on Earth. She claims that a rebel force of aliens are mutilating their faces to prevent infection by the black oil. Cigarette Smoking Man reveals everything to Diana Fowley, who agrees to help him and betray Mulder. Cassandra later escapes from a hospital and arrives at Mulder's apartment, demanding that he shoot her because she is the embodiment of fifty years of work by the Syndicate—an alien-human hybrid that will trigger colonization if the aliens learn of her existence.
Fowley arrives and forcibly takes Mulder, Cassandra, and Scully to a CDC facility at Fort Marlene. There, Mulder runs into Marita Covarrubias (Laurie Holden). Marita tells Mulder that she was subjected to Syndicate-run black oil vaccine tests. Meanwhile, the Syndicate rendezvous at a checkpoint, preparing to be taken away by the Colonists, who are prepping for invasion. However, they are met by the alien rebels, who incinerate them all, including Cassandra; Cigarette Smoking Man and Fowley escape. Jeffrey Spender is then purportedly killed by Cigarette Smoking Man.
Several months later, a metallic artifact with inscriptions is discovered on the beach of Côte d'Ivoire in Africa. After Mulder examines rubbings of the object, he begins suffering from a headache, seemingly caused by the rubbings. Mulder's condition worsens, but he gains telepathic abilities. Chuck Burks (Bill Dow) tells them that the symbols on the artifact are Navajo. Eventually, Mulder passes into an aggravated delusional state and is placed under observation at a hospital. Hoping to find an answer, Scully rushes to Côte d'Ivoire and finds the massive wreck of a large spacecraft partially buried in the beach.
Production
Background
After five successful seasons of The X-Files, series creator Chris Carter wanted to tell the story of the series on a wider scale, which ultimately meant creating a feature film: the 1998 X-Files movie. The film grossed US$83,898,313 in the US and $105,278,110 abroad, giving a total worldwide gross of $189,176,423. Initially, the fifth season of The X-Files was supposed to be the show's last. However, the series proved to be so lucrative for Fox that two additional seasons were ordered. Thus, the sixth season of the show began filming.
Development
The sixth season of The X-Files was filmed in Los Angeles.|300px|thumb|left
After five seasons in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, production of The X-Files moved to Los Angeles. "The Beginning" was the first episode of the series to be filmed in Los Angeles, California. The move was instigated by David Duchovny, who portrayed Mulder, in order to increase his opportunity to find movie work as well as to give him a chance to be nearer to his wife, Téa Leoni. Series creator Chris Carter opposed the move; others, like series director Kim Manners and Gillian Anderson supported the move but were less vocal than Duchovny. Fox network officials eventually made the decision to film in California. According to Andy Meisler, "The very first shot of the season, a long look directly into a bright sun shining on a barren desert, was designed to boldly announce the show's arrival in Southern California." As a result of the move, the episode featured a largely new group of crew members, hired by Carter, Frank Spotnitz and new co-executive producer Michael Watkins; this necessitated the show's new crewmembers spending five weeks, receiving, unpacking, and cataloging filming material from their Vancouver counterparts.
The move to Los Angeles also meant a drastic price increase for the series. Bruce Harwood, who played Lone Gunman John Fitzgerald Byers noted, "At the time, the exchange rate between Canadian and U.S. dollars was pretty dramatic. Somebody told me that the cost per episode doubled, even tripled, once they moved". Duchovny also wrote his first episode solo, as he previously collaborated with various writers, including Chris Carter, on three other episodes. Other producers included producer Paul Rabwin, co-producer Lori Jo Nemhauser, and Bernadette Caulfield who joined as producer. |episodes=