Revelations (X-Files)

Priest Patrick Findley in the town of Waynesburg, Pennsylvania, during a sermon shocking the parishioners, demonstrating the stigmata that had opened. After the priest’s service, a sedate, gray-haired man, Simon Gates, visits, who after a short conversation strangles Findlay, leaving burns on his neck.

At the crime scene, Mulder finds out that the stigmata of the priest was fake, like the ten previous victims who were killed in this way. Meanwhile, in the city of Loveland, Ohio, blood suddenly begins to ooze from the palms of a ten-year-old student Kevin Crider. Agents learn from a social worker that it’s not the first time that Kevin’s blood is flowing, and his father, who called his son God's chosen one, has already been placed in a psychiatric hospital. Agents visit Krider Sr. in the hospital, where he tells them that evil forces have been hunting for Kevin since the birth of the boy, and this time they will come after him in the form of a rich and powerful man.

Kevin is being abducted from a shelter by a strange, bald man. From the photo-bot , Kevin’s mother recognizes in a man their former gardener, Owen Jarvis, who keeps Kevin in his house and claims to be the guardian angel of the boy. When agents break into Jarvis’s house, Kevin mysteriously disappears from there, and Jarvis, jumping out of the window, mysteriously escapes. Kevin returns home, where Gates finds him, but Jarvis saves by sacrificing himself. When trying to perform an autopsy, Jarvis Scully does not show signs of decomposition in his body, remembering the righteous, but at the same time finds the imprints of Gates on his neck - a powerful, high-ranking businessman.

Kevin drives his mother with her car when she stalls due to an overheated engine. Gates on the heels stops and offers help, but Kevin's mother feels a catch and enters into an unequal fight. Kevin distracts Gates, appearing in two places at the same time, and leaves with his mother. Due to the injury caused by Gates, a woman loses consciousness and flies into a ditch, dying on the spot. Scully and Mulder take Kevin to the motel, but Gates abducts the boy from the bathroom, melting the bars on the window with his hands.

Scully, inferring from the information surrounding her, suggests that Gates drove Kevin to a recycling plant, while Mulder believes the killer should be heading to the airport. The agents are separated, and it turns out that Scully was right. Gates tries to commit suicide with Kevin by throwing himself into a chopper in a factory, but Kevin manages to cling to a handrail. Two days later, Kevin leaves in an unknown direction, and Scully goes to church for the first time in many years, wondering that maybe God is talking to people, but nobody is listening to him ^[1] .

"Revelations" was the last episode of the series, directed by David Nutter ^[5] . After completing the shootings, Nutter chose to engage in other projects, being sure that his colleagues, Rob Bowman and Kim Manners would not drop the quality bar ^[6] .

Against the background of the remaining episodes of the series “Revelations”, it stands out as a deviation from the traditional line of the series, changing places of “believing in the unusual” Mulder and “skeptic” Scully ^[4] . In addition, the series focuses on Scully's faith, which contradicts her usual materialistic approach. Chris Carter later emphasized that the faith in the episode is seen as something personal rather than as some kind of organized religion ^[4] . On the contrary, the creators of the show were extremely cautious so that religion did not become a dominant note, as they were afraid of “pissing off certain people” ^[4] .

The script was repeatedly processed, even after launching into production. For example, the producers believed that the series insufficiently “sells the concept of religious magic”: as a result, scenes appeared where Kevin can simultaneously be in two places ^[7] . Additional changes to the script were made during installation. To do this, Kevin Zegers again had to fly to Vancouver to reshoot. Also, at the editing stage, a scene was played with the participation of R. Lee Ermey , since the producers were not satisfied with the initial recording of his voice ^[4] . A scene was also deleted in which Kevin’s father speaks different languages, including saying the phrase “ Klaatu barada nikto ” from the movie “The Day the Earth Stopped” ^[8] . The efforts were not in vain: according to the producers, changes in the script and additional work significantly improved the quality of the final version of the episode ^[7] . David Nutter was also pleased with the final version, who spoke especially positively about the emotional game of Gillian Anderson ^[4] , while Michael Berriman , who embodied the image of Owen Jarvis, later called this role his favorite during his career. Usually invited to the role of villains because of his unusual appearance, Berriman was happy to play a goodie ^{[9] [10]} .

Revelations premiered on Fox Channel on December 15, 1995. Nielsen’s rating was 10 points, with a share of 17.0, which means that approximately 10 percent of all households equipped with television in the United States and 17 percent of all households watching television that evening were set to premiere the episode. The number of viewers watching the premiere is estimated at 15.25 million people ^[11] .

The episode received moderately approving reviews from critics. Zach Handlen, a columnist for The AV Club , rated the episode “B +” (3.5 out of 4 points), saying the episode was essentially a “Scully episode” ^[12] . However, Handlen critically took some points related to religion, believing that the presence of a Christian God in the universe of the X-Files could undermine the whole essence of the activities of Mulder and Scully ^[12] . John Keegan (“Critical Myth”) rated the series seven points out of ten, noting Scully and her faith, which in the future became significant for the character and, as a result, for the series ^[13] . “ Entertainment Weekly ” rated the series “B +”, positively commenting on the “ingenuity” of the series and changing the role of the main characters ^[14] .

Some reviews were more critical. Paula Vitaris in an article for Cinefantastique magazine awarded the series two and a half stars out of four. According to Vitaris, the conflict of Scully's religious beliefs and academic knowledge paves the way for serious drama, and Gillian Anderson "accepts the challenge." For the weaknesses of the episode, the critic considered the plot flaws, such as Kevin’s lack of emotion after his mother’s death and the ending, calling it “a complete mess” ^[15] . Robert Shirman and Lars Pearson in the book Wanting to Believe: A Critical Guide to The X-Files, Millennium & The Lone Gunmen in the Wanting to Believe: A Critical Guide to The X-Files, Millennium & The Lone Gunmen five, calling it "especially bloodless." However, the authors were more dissatisfied with the fact that Kevin's supernatural abilities were useful only in a few isolated scenes. Shirman and Pearson concluded that the series, of course, should “tackle serious topics, but also take this seriously, too.” ^[16]

• Paul Cornell, Martin Day, Keith Topping. X-Treme Possibilities. - Virgin Publications, Ltd, 1998. - ISBN 0-7535-0228-3 .
• Ted Edwards. X-Files Confidential. - Little, Brown and Company, 1996. - ISBN 0-316-21808-1 .
• Louisa Gradnitzer, Todd Pittson. X Marks the Spot: On Location with The X-Files. - Arsenal Pulp Press, 1999. - ISBN 1-55152-066-4 .
• Frank Lovece. The X-Files Declassified. - Citadel Press, 1996. - ISBN 0-8065-1745-X .
• Brian Lowry. The Truth is Out There: The Official Guide to The X-Files. - Harper Prism, 1995 .-- ISBN 0-06-105330-9 .
• Robert Shearman, Lars Pearson. Wanting to Believe: A Critical Guide to The X-Files, Millennium & The Lone Gunmen. - Mad Norwegian Press, 2009 .-- ISBN 097594469X .