The Sixth Extinction (The X-Files)

"The Sixth Extinction"
The X-Files episode
Dana Scully examines the rubbings from the alien spaceship. The episode continued to introduce new aspects to the series' mythology, elements executive producer Frank Spotnitz described as "completely different."
Episode no.	Season 7 Episode 1
Directed by	Kim Manners
Written by	Chris Carter
Production code	7ABX03
Original air date	November 7, 1999
Running time	44 minutes
Guest appearance(s)
Mitch Pileggi as Walter Skinner Mimi Rogers as Diana Fowley John Finn as Michael Kritschgau Michael Ensign as Dr. Barnes JoNell Kennedy as Dr. Amina Ngebe Anthony Okunbowa as Dr. Barnes' Driver Warren Sweeney as Dr. Geoff Harriman Abdoulaye N'Gom as Driver Conrad Roberts as Primitive African Man Mari Weiss as ICU Nurse
Episode chronology
← Previous "Biogenesis" Next → "The Sixth Extinction II: Amor Fati"
List of The X-Files episodes

"The Sixth Extinction" is the first episode of the seventh season of the science fiction television series The X-Files. It was first shown on the Fox network on November 7, 1999, in the United States. The episode was written by Chris Carter and directed by Kim Manners. "The Sixth Extinction" earned a Nielsen household rating of 10.6, being watched by 17.82 million people in its initial broadcast. The episode received mixed to positive 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 the episode, Assistant Director Walter Skinner (Mitch Pileggi) and Michael Kritschgau (John Finn) work desperately in an attempt to discover what is wrong with Mulder, who is imprisoned by his own frenetic brain activity, but they are unaware of Agent Diana Fowley’s (Mimi Rogers) duplicity. In the meanwhile, Scully is hunting for an ancient artifact in Africa.

"The Sixth Extinction" helped to explore new aspects of the series' overarching mythology and was the second episode in a trilogy of episodes featuring Mulder's severe reaction to the appearance of an alien artifact. The episode was written due to series creator Chris Carter's fascination with the possibility that extraterrestrials were involved in the great extinctions that had happened millions of years ago.