"Darkness Falls" is the twentieth episode of the first season of the American science fiction television series The X-Files, premiering on the Fox network on April 15, 1994.
The show centers on FBI agents Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) who work on cases linked to the paranormal, called X-Files.
Carter was inspired to write this episode based on an interest in dendrochronology, a subject that involves analyzing annual growth rings found in non-tropical tree species.
Carter credits the episode's ominous ending with his experience growing up in the era following the Watergate scandal, having spent his life coming to profoundly mistrust the government.
Mulder, Scully and Moore hike down to the truck with a busted tire from camp, hoping to patch it, put on the spare and escape.
They are found soon after and brought to a quarantined facility in Winthrop, Washington, where one of the scientists tells Mulder that the forest is being bombarded with pesticides and controlled fire in the hopes of eradicating the insects.
"[1][2] Series creator Chris Carter was inspired to write this episode based on an interest in dendrochronology, a subject that involves analyzing annual growth rings found in non-tropical tree species,[3] as he believed that trees that were "thousands of years old" might end up acting as "time capsules" that would shed light on past events or species.
[4] Carter also credits the episode's ominous ending with his experience growing up in the era following the Watergate scandal, having spent his life coming to profoundly mistrust the government.
[3] Delays were also caused by the inaccessibility of the location, as only generators, camera equipment, and first aid crew were able to stay on-site, and time was wasted commuting staff in each day.
[8] Jason Beghe, who played Ranger Larry Moore, was a childhood friend of David Duchovny and helped convince him to pursue an acting career.
[10] In a retrospective of the first season in Entertainment Weekly, "Darkness Falls" was rated a B, with the episode being called an "eerie outing" set against a "torn-from-today's-headlines backdrop".