Release (The X-Files)
"Release" is the seventeenth episode of the ninth season of the American science fiction television series The X-Files.
The episode helps to explore one of the show's story arcs involving John Doggett finding the truth behind his son's murder.
The show centers on FBI special agents who work on cases linked to the paranormal, called X-Files; this season focuses on the investigations of John Doggett (Robert Patrick), Monica Reyes (Annabeth Gish), and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson).
The link is a man named Nicholas Regali, an organized crime participant who has an association with Bob Harvey, the only suspect in Luke's case.
The final scene, featuring Doggett scattering his son's ashes, was difficult for Patrick to film, but thanks to Manners' help, he was able to achieve the desired effect.
In Mendota, Minnesota, John Doggett (Robert Patrick) arrives at an abandoned apartment building after getting a tip, and sees a figure bolt out of one of the rooms during the night.
He hears a scratching sound and claws away at the fresh plaster wall until blood begins streaming downward.
Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) performs an autopsy on the body Doggett found and one of her FBI cadets, Rudolph Hayes, accurately guesses that the victim hooked up with a psychotic killer at a bar.
Meanwhile, Hayes returns to his apartment complex where walls are covered with crime scene photos related to the death of Luke Doggett.
Doggett approaches FBI Assistant Director Brad Follmer (Cary Elwes) for help on the case.
[4] Robert Patrick called the final scene, in which Doggett and his ex-wife scatter Luke's remains, "difficult".
[9] In a season review, Michelle Kung from Entertainment Weekly called the episode "worthy", but noted that it was overshadowed by the show's "ludicrous conspiracy plots".
"[11] Robert Shearman and Lars Pearson, in their book Wanting to Believe: A Critical Guide to The X-Files, Millennium & The Lone Gunmen, gave the episode a glowing review and rated it five stars out of five.
They noted that while "Mulder was always identified by his quest for his sister [Samantha]", Doggett "carried the loss of his son as a private grief.
Crang, in his book Denying the Truth: Revisiting The X-Files after 9/11, complimented the "lyrical style" of the episode, calling it "gorgeously shot" and "well acted".
