Patience (The X-Files)

"Patience"
The X-Files episode
The man bat. The creature and episode were roundly criticized, with one reviewer calling the antagonist "a dull monster in fake-looking make-up".
Episode no.	Season 8 Episode 3
Directed by	Chris Carter
Written by	Chris Carter
Production code	8ABX04
Original air date	November 19, 2000
Running time	44 minutes
Guest appearance(s)
Eve Brenner as Mrs. McKesson Gary Bullock as Tall George Jay Caputo as Bat Creature Gene Dynarski as Ernie Stefaniuk Bradford English as Yale Abbott Dan Leegant as Myron Stefaniuk Annie O'Donnell as Tahoma Bryan Rasmussen as Sheriff's Deputy Brent Sexton as Gravedigger
Episode chronology
← Previous "Without" Next → "Roadrunners"
List of The X-Files episodes

"Patience" is the third episode of the eighth season of the American science fiction television series The X-Files. It premiered on the Fox network on November 19, 2000. The episode was written and directed by series creator Chris Carter. "Patience" is a "Monster-of-the-Week" story, unconnected to the series' wider mythology. The episode received a Nielsen rating of 8.2 and was viewed by 13.3 million viewers. The episode received mixed to negative reviews from critics.

The series centers on FBI special agents Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) and her new partner John Doggett (Robert Patrick)—following the alien abduction of her former partner, Fox Mulder (David Duchovny)—who work on cases linked to the paranormal, called X-Files. In this episode, John Doggett, after having been assigned to the X-Files, joins Scully to investigate a series of gruesome murders that appear to be the work of a bat-like creature. This being their first case together, Scully and Doggett find that their investigative techniques are less than similar.

Carter was inspired to write "Patience" to emulate the "back-to-basics stand alones […] of the earlier seasons". The episode was the first The X-Files entry to neither feature actor David Duchovny nor feature his name in the opening credits. Furthermore, the episode was crafted to be the first to test Doggett's skepticism of paranormal activity.

In Burley, Idaho, an undertaker and his wife are brutally murdered by some sort of flying creature. Later, Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) and John Doggett (Robert Patrick), who has been assigned to the X-Files, begin talking about the case. Scully explains about the death of the undertaker and his wife and notes that the cause of death is blood loss from human bite marks on their bodies.