"Rush" | |
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The X-Files episode | |
Max Harden meets his end at the hands of Chastity Raines. In order to create the scene, a matte of Max was combined with smoke and a CGI bullet.
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Episode no. | Season 7 Episode 5 |
Directed by | Robert Lieberman |
Written by | David Amann |
Production code | 7ABX06 |
Original air date | December 5, 1999 |
Running time | 44 minutes |
Guest appearance(s) | |
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"Rush" is the fifth episode of the seventh season of the science fiction television series The X-Files, and the 144th episode overall. It first aired on the Fox network in the United States on December 5, 1999. It was written by David Amann and directed by Robert Lieberman. The episode is a "Monster-of-the-Week" story, unconnected to the series' wider mythology. "Rush" earned a Nielsen household rating of 7.9, being watched by 12.71 million viewers in its initial broadcast. The episode received mostly mixed-to-negative reviews from television 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, Mulder and Scully investigate a high school student who is the prime suspect in the bizarre murder of a police officer. They discover that the boy and a couple of friends have been playing with the ability to accelerate their movements to a frequency the human eye can’t perceive.
The idea for "Rush" had been proposed as far back as the sixth season of The X-Files. However, the original plot of the episode—the effects of having super speed—eventually delved into "deeper" themes, such as drug abuse, boredom, and the teenage experience. Although the episode relied on special effects, many of the scenes were created by manipulating the speed of the camera during filming.
In Pittsfield, Virginia, Tony Reed and two other teenagers meet in the woods late at night, but they are interrupted by a sheriff's deputy. Moments later the deputy is murdered, killed with his own flashlight. Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) later examine the deputy's body: the blow that killed the man was so ferocious that his glasses were pushed through the back of his skull. They question the suspect, teenager Tony Reed, whose fingerprints were found on the flash light, but he denies any part in the murder. Mulder and Scully agree that Tony is innocent, although Mulder's theory of spirit involvement is not shared by Scully. Scully, on the other hand, suggests they question Tony's friends. Mulder and Scully visit Tony's school and speak with the two teenagers who were with Tony in the woods: the sheriff's son, Max Harden, and his girlfriend Chastity. Chastity seems concerned about Tony when Mulder and Scully tell her he may go to jail. However, Tony is later released when the murder weapon mysteriously goes missing from the evidence room. Mulder and Scully review video footage from the evidence room that shows the flashlight simply disappear. However, a blur on the video footage attracts Mulder's attention and later analysis by an expert reveals the blurred object is solid and matches the local high school's colors.