Roadrunners (The X-Files)

"Roadrunners"
The X-Files episode
The parasitic creature, believed by a cult to be the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. The creature was created via animatronics.
Episode no.	Season 8 Episode 4
Directed by	Rod Hardy
Written by	Vince Gilligan
Production code	8ABX05
Original air date	November 26, 2000
Running time	44 minutes
Guest appearance(s)
Bryan Dilbeck as Disabled Man David Barry Gray as Hank Gulatarski Todd Jeffries as Agent Brian Mayfield Conor O'Farrell as Sheriff Ciolino William O'Leary as Gas Station Man Lawrence Pressman as Mr. Milsap Rusty Schwimmer as Female Bus Driver
Episode chronology
← Previous "Patience" Next → "Invocation"
List of The X-Files episodes

"Roadrunners" is the fourth episode of the eighth season and the 165th episode overall of the science fiction television series The X-Files. "Roadrunners" is a "Monster-of-the-Week" story, unconnected to the series' wider mythology. The episode first aired in the United States on November 26, 2000 on Fox and on March 1, 2001 on Sky1 in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It was written by Vince Gilligan and directed by Rod Hardy. The episode earned a Nielsen household rating of 8.3 and was watched by 13.6 million households. The episode received mixed to positive reviews from television 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, Scully, working alone, pursues a cult that worship a slug-like organism and believe it to be the Second Coming of Jesus Christ; but in her efforts to save an injured stranger, she discovers she is in over her head.

The episode was written by Gilligan to be intentionally "creepy". Furthermore, Gilligan wanted to show the audience that John Doggett was a good person and an ally of Scully's. The parasitic creature that was used in the episode was designed to look like a banana slug and was created via animatronics. Several of the scenes were so gruesome that producer Paul Rabwin later noted that some of the cameramen "start[ed] to lose it" during filming.