Brand X (The X-Files)

"Brand X"
The X-Files episode
Episode no.	Season 7 Episode 18
Directed by	Kim Manners
Written by	Steven Maeda Greg Walker
Production code	7ABX19
Original air date	April 16, 2000
Running time	44 minutes
Guest appearance(s)
Mitch Pileggi as Walter Skinner Dennis Boutsikaris as Dr. Peter Voss Richard Cox as Daniel Brimley Tobin Bell as Darryl Weaver Mike Hungerford as Complaining Man Shannon O'Hurley as Ann Voss Arthur Rosenberg as Lead Counsel Ron Marasco as Doctor Pat Destro as Joan Scobie Caryn West as Dr. Libby Nance Rick Deats as Dr. Jim Scobie David Sawyer as Security Man Greg Poland as Second Windbreaker Man Matthew T. Wilson as Manager
Episode chronology
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List of The X-Files episodes

"Brand X" is the eighteenth episode of the seventh season of the science fiction television series The X-Files. It premiered on the Fox network in the United States on April 16, 2000. It was written by Steven Maeda and Greg Walker and directed by Kim Manners. The episode is a "Monster-of-the-Week" story, unconnected to the series' wider mythology. "Brand X" earned a Nielsen household rating of 6.8, being watched by 10.81 million people in its initial broadcast. The episode received mixed reviews from critics.

The show centers on FBI special agents Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) who work on cases linked to the paranormal, called X-Files. Mulder is a believer in the paranormal, while the skeptical Scully has been assigned to debunk his work. In this episode, Walter Skinner (Mitch Pileggi) is horrified when the witness who was due to testify against the Morley cigarette company dies mysteriously. After being called into assist, Mulder and Scully soon discover that a new brand of cigarette has a dangerous secret.

Inspired by the 1999 film The Insider, "Brand X" was written by Maeda and Walker to be an exploration of the corporate evil inside the cigarette industry. The scenes featuring shots of beetles crawling out of corpses were shot and filmed using real insects as well as real actors. In one particular scene, over 3,000 live insects were used. Those scenes took up to a full day to film.

In Winston-Salem, North Carolina, Walter Skinner (Mitch Pileggi) is charged with guarding the life of Dr. James Scobie, a former researcher who is testifying against his former employer, the Morley tobacco corporation. Prior to his trial, Scobie develops a cough, but shrugs it off. In the morning, Skinner and Scobie's wife find his body on the bathroom floor, with his face ripped away.

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