1. It opens with a mystery to solve.

2. It sets up the believer / sceptic dichotomy.

3. Before the climax the two protagonists finally agree on a theory.

4. Shows differences in character e.g. in the scene on the plane we learn that Scully is scared of turbulence whereas Mulder is fearless.

5. Scenes either

i. present new information

ii. restate already known facts.

iii. provide an outside force that moves the story forward (e.g. a phone call that says Pegg O’Dell is dead).

iv. reveal character

v. ask active questions.

6. We learn of Mulder’s reasons for joining the FBI – that his sister vanished when she was eight and he was twelve.

7. Facts are presented to us but the connections linking the evidence is not spelled out. The audience is left to do the work (and, in my opinion, in this pilot, it doesn’t all make sense).

8. Structurally, there are 42 scenes.

9. The longest scene is the climax.

10. The story begins and ends with the characters going into the woods.

Genre: Espionage Thriller

Developed by Howard Gordon & Alex Gansa

Based on Prisoners of War by Gideon Raff

In the pilot we are introduced to all of the major players that will bring season one to its nerve-shredding climax. 

We open in Baghdad, Iraq, as Carrie Mathison’s ‘asset’ (informer), a bomb-maker for the US military’s arch enemy Abu Nasir (Navid Negahban) is about to be executed. He says he has intelligence about an imminent attack on US soil. He says he will give Carrie the intel if Carrie promises to protect his family. 

Carrie appeals to CIA deputy director David Estes (David Harewood) to commute the execution sentence. Estes refuses saying the US doesn’t dictate law to Iraq anymore. Baghdad is their jurisdiction. Besides, it’s clear Estes doesn’t believe the intelligence.

Immediately we see Carrie’s opposition stems not only from those wishing to carry out an attack on the US, but Carrie is also faced with opposition from the powers above her inside the CIA. This opposing force from within the CIA proves a powerful enemy to Carrie’s goals throughout the entire eight seasons. 

Carrie agrees to protect the family of her asset. In return, the bomb maker tells her that a US marine has been ‘turned’ into an Islamic terrorist just as Nicholas Brody (Damien Lewis) is ‘rescued’ from his 8 year hell as a POW in Iraq.

Is it a coincidence? The ‘turned’ soldier has to be Brody. But no one in the CIA will listen to Carrie. And especially not David Estes. In his eyes, Brody is a hero. End of.

There is clear tension between David Estes and Carrie, which Estes disguises as professional differences. He has a thing for her, it’s clear.

Carrie asks her mentor, Saul Berenson (Mandy Patinkin), to set up surveillance in his home. Saul refuses. Carrie does it anyway, illegally planting cameras in every room of Brody’s house, except, crucially, the garage, where he prays to Allah.

We learn from this that Carrie is anti-rules. She is also on medication for bi-polar, which she keeps a secret from the CIA, even from Saul.

Only her sister, who prescribes her the meds, knows.

But Carrie’s mental health condition is also her ‘superpower.’ In times of mania, Carrie is able to see patterns no one else can see. When she goes off medz, she knows Brody is a terrorist, but no one else believes her. 

It is Carrie against the world. Even her mentor, Saul, is an obstacle to her plans. Carrie is alone except for one friend, Virgil (David Marciano) who helps Carrie set up the illegal surveillance, with his kid brother, Max (Maury Sterling).

Although no one believes her, we the audience know that Carrie is right in her theories, putting us in a superior position – dramatic irony.

One other thing we learn about Carrie is, there is no mention of a romantic partner, so is she single?

On his return to the US as hero, Brody requests to speak to his wife (Morena Baccarin) before he faces the media. He doesn’t know, but we know, that wife, Jessica, is in bed with his best friend, Mike (Diego Klattenhoff).

This sets up the A plot and B plot and asks active questions.

1. Will Estes, or Saul, or anyone in the CIA, believe Carrie? 

2. Will Carrie find the evidence she needs through her illegal surveillance?

3. Will Carrie learn 100% that she is right?

4. Will Carrie be able to stop Brody from carrying out his attack?

5. Will Brody find out that Jessica, his wife and the mother of his children, has been sleeping with his best friend?

Finally, the other major player in season 1 we are introduced to in the pilot is Brody’s daughter, Dana (Morgan Saylor).

As I work through the step outline in the way Syd Field teaches in his book Screenplay – writing one sentence per scene – I noticed how Chris Carter follows the same structure in each scene in order to provide new information which moves the story forward.

Take a look at these three scenes:

Scene 29 – a cop approaches

Scene 30 – Theresa shows up

It’s very simple, but worth noting: at the end of each of these scenes an outsider appears (someone who is not Mulder or Scully) and provides new information which moves the story forward.

What can we learn from the dialogue in this scene?

• reading through to the subtext here.

So, what’s the subtext? It isn’t directly apparent that there is subtext, but Carter says there is. He tells us, with Scully’s next line:

• Am I to understand you want me to debunk the X-files project, sir?

Carter writes ‘A tensile silence’. Tensile is an interesting word, which I had to look up.

1. relating to tension.
2. capable of being drawn out or stretched.

Blevins responds: Agent Scully, we trust you’ll make the proper scientific analysis.

In his answer Blevins response sets out Scully’s role for the rest of the episode. What we’ll find is that when Mulder poses his metaphysical theories, Scully often responds with ‘scientific analysis.’ So, we could say that the dialogue of this minor character, Chief Belvins, points us to, or foreshadows, the kind of dialogue we can expect from the main character, Scully.

In fact, when Scully finally agrees with Mulder about his theories, in a fit of hysterical laughter in the cemetery at the 35 / 36 minute mark, it is arguably at the end of Act 2.

Act 2 is traditionally the ‘all is lost’ moment in screenwriting structure, what Blake Snyder calls ‘visit to death.’

So, is this line from Chief Blevins, about Scully making proper scientific analysis, foreshadowing Scully’s ‘all is lost / visit to death’ moment at the end of Act 2 regarding her belief that all unexplained phenomena can be explained by scientific analysis?

The pilot episode is dialogue driven. However, I can think of six visual pieces of the puzzle they have to solve.

1. The corpse they exhume is non-human.
2. The unidentified metal device, found in the corpse’s nose, which Scully saves from being destroyed in the fire, and which in the final scene is filed away in the Pentagon.
3. The watches – one traditional, one digital – showing 9.03.
4. Mulder’s compass.
5. Scully’s computer.
6. The two skin growths on each of the victims.

Can you think of any more? Have I missed something?

What is interesting to note is that the first watch, Mulder’s is digital.

The second watch, Peggy’s is traditional.

Furthermore, in scene 34, both Mulder and Scully refer to this particular time.

Scene (15) 19.04 – 20.18

The scene is structured in 5 parts.

1. Question.
2. Theory.
3. Opposition.
4. Case update
5. Active questions.

Let’s look in more detail:

(The writing is my transcript.)

EXT. HOSPITAL – DAY

1. Question: Scully asks Mulder how he knew Peggy would have the same marks as the victim.
2. Theory: Mulder says he believes the kids have been abducted.
3. Opposition: Scully has a rational scientific explanation and ridicules Mulder’s theory that they have been ‘riding around in flying saucers.’
4. Case update: Scully says: “You’ve got four victims. All of them died in or near the woods. They found Karen Swenson’s body in the forest, in her pyjamas, ten miles from her house.”  
5. Active questions: Scully asks two active questions: “How did she get there? What were the kids doing out there in the forest?”

I thought it interesting that these active questions are asked directly, by the character, to the audience.

What do you think? Do you agree? Can you think of any other examples where these kinds of questions are asked in other TV shows?

In his book Screenplay, Syd Field says:

The purpose of the scene is twofold: either it moves the story forward or it reveals information about the character. If the scene does not satisfy one or both of these two elements, then it doesn’t belong in the screenplay.

(p162).

This scene is an example of how X-Files writer Chris Carter does both.

INT. PLANE

Mulder is lying horizontal, eyes closed, with headphones across three seats, while Scully sits in her seat upright, researching news articles.

First, Scully looks at a picture of a man in a student graduation uniform. The headline read: Former honor student’s body found in state park. Next, Scully flips the page to a picture of Karen Swenson, the girl whose death they are investigating. The headline: 4th tragic fatality befalls class of ’89.

The camera slow-mo zooms in on the inserted text: ‘autopsy, Dr. Nemman, untimely death.’

The plane shakes as it hits extreme turbulence. Scully breathes deeply, focusing on controlling her fear, while Mulder makes a joke, unperturbed.

(my transcription)

1.Moves the story forward

This information moves the story forward as it provides information which Scully and Mulder can use to join together the pieces of the puzzle and ultimately solve the mystery.

2. Reveals information about the character

The turbulence section exists only to show how different the two protagonists are. It reveals information about the characters. As the plane hits turbulence, Scully is scared and Mulder isn’t.

Note I have included scenes 16 & 17, either side of the commercial break, as 1 scene of 3.03 minutes.

I think it’s interesting to note that the flashing stills (scene 19) are

a) the shortest scene

and

b) very close to the midpoint.

Is there anything else to notice in the pattern of scene length?