Closure (The X-Files)

"Closure"
The X-Files episode
Fox Mulder is reunited with Samantha Mulder's spirit. The scene utilized several elaborate filming techniques.
Episode no.	Season 7 Episode 11
Directed by	Kim Manners
Written by	Chris Carter Frank Spotnitz
Production code	7ABX11
Original air date	February 13, 2000
Running time	44 minutes
Guest appearance(s)
William B. Davis as The Smoking Man Mitch Pileggi as Walter Skinner Anthony Heald as Harold Piller Stanley Anderson as Lewis Schoniger Rebecca Toolan as Teena Mulder Megan Corletto as Amber Lynn LaPierre Nicholas Stratton as Ghostly Boy Mimi Paley as Young Samantha Mulder
Episode chronology
← Previous "Sein und Zeit" Next → "X-Cops"
List of The X-Files episodes

"Closure" is the eleventh episode of the seventh season of the science fiction television series The X-Files, and the 150th episode overall. It was directed by Kim Manners and written by series creator Chris Carter and Frank Spotnitz. The installment explores the series' overarching mythology and is the conclusion of a two-part episode revolving around the final revelation of what really happened to Fox Mulder's (David Duchovny) sister, Samantha. Originally aired by the Fox network on February 13, 2000, "Closure" received a Nielsen rating of 9.1 and was seen by 15.35 million viewers. The episode received mostly positive reviews from critics; many felt that the final reveal was emotional and powerful, although some were unhappy with the resolution.

The show centers on FBI special agents Fox Mulder (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, but the two have developed a deep friendship. In this episode, after Mulder is forced to accept that his mother’s death was by her own hand, he is led by a man whose son disappeared years earlier to another truth: that his sister, Samantha, was among the souls taken by ‘walk-ins’, saving the souls of children doomed to live unhappy lives.

"Closure" was a story milestone for the series, finally revealing Samantha's fate; this story-arc had driven a large part of the series' earlier episodes. The episode was written as a continuation to the previous episode, "Sein und Zeit," but branched off into different territory. Although a majority of the episode was filmed on a soundstage, several scenes were shot on location, such as the scenes at the former Norton Air Force Base in San Bernardino, California. Several of the sequences, specifically those featuring the souls of dead children, required elaborate filming techniques. The episode has been analyzed due to its themes of belief and hope.