Unusual Suspects

"Unusual Suspects"
The X-Files episode
Promotional image for the episode
Episode no.	Season 5 Episode 3
Directed by	Kim Manners
Written by	Vince Gilligan
Production code	5X01
Original air date	November 16, 1997
Running time	44 minutes
Guest appearance(s)
Richard Belzer as Det. John Munch Signy Coleman as Susanne Modeski Bruce Harwood as John Fitzgerald Byers Tom Braidwood as Melvin Frohike Dean Haglund as Richard Langly Steven Williams as X
Episode chronology
← Previous "Redux II" Next → "Detour"
List of season 5 episodes List of The X-Files episodes

"Unusual Suspects" is the third episode of the fifth season of the American science fiction television series The X-Files. It was written by Vince Gilligan and directed by Kim Manners and aired in the United States on November 16, 1997 on the Fox network. The episode earned a Nielsen household rating of 13.0, being watched by 21.72 million people in its initial broadcast. The episode received mixed to moderately 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. "Unusual Suspects", however, functions as a flashback episode: in 1989, two salesmen and a federal employee join forces when they meet Susanne Modeski, a woman who claims that she is being pursued by her supposedly violent ex-boyfriend, an FBI agent named Fox Mulder. A sequel to the episode was later filmed during the series' sixth season, entitled "Three of a Kind".

The concept for having an episode dedicated to The Lone Gunmen arose when the show's producers were forced to start production of the fifth season in the last week of August in Vancouver, but still needed series stars David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson for the filming of The X-Files movie in Los Angeles. Writing duties fell to Vince Gilligan, who initially drafted a story about nanotechnology, before changing to the origins of The Lone Gunmen on behest of series creator Chris Carter. In addition, "Unusual Suspects" served as a cross-over with the NBC series Homicide: Life on the Street, featuring Richard Belzer's Detective John Munch character. Gillian Anderson as main character FBI Special Agent Dana Scully is absent in the episode.