Written by executive producers Chris Carter and Frank Spotnitz, and directed by Tony Wharmby, it explores the series' overarching mythology.

The episode signalled Mulder's forthcoming exit from the FBI, which was devised to allow the show to more easily focus on the characters of John Doggett and Monica Reyes in the following season.

At FBI Headquarters, Deputy Director Alvin Kersh informs John Doggett (Robert Patrick) and Walter Skinner (Mitch Pileggi) that Mulder has applied for reinstatement to the X-Files.

After a bitter argument – and upon both Scully and the Gunmen revealing to Mulder the arrival of black ops mercenaries on the scene – they are forced to leave.

[2] "Three Words" was written by executive producers Chris Carter and Frank Spotnitz, directed by Tony Wharmby[3] and saw Nelson Mashita reprise his role of Doctor Lim, having appeared in the previous episode "Deadalive".

Robert Shearman and Lars Pearson, in their book Wanting to Believe: A Critical Guide to The X-Files, Millennium & The Lone Gunmen, rated the episode five stars out of five, calling it "extremely well-performed by all concerned."

Shearman and Pearson felt that the episode was similar to the earlier "Per Manum" and was somewhat formulaic; however, they noted that this was a necessary and positive step towards redefining the series after the changes made in its last two seasons explaining "the point of all this is only to emphasise how different The X-Files universe now feels, the familiarity of the ingredients only making us more aware that the mix is never going to be the same again".

[12] Writing for Television Without Pity, Jessica Morgan rated the episode a "B", although she felt that by this stage the series' mythology was moving "in concentric circles of pain and confusion".

"[14] He enjoyed the way the show presented the story as one wherein, "we spend as much time watching Mulder from the outside as we do seeing events from his perspective," because it "makes things interesting.

"[14] Handlen also wrote that while the episode did not hit the emotional notes that its predecessor, "Deadalive", did, it was nonetheless "stronger plotwise" and built to an "inevitable conclusion in classic X-Files style".

[16] Vitaris wrote that, despite opening "with tremendously affecting acting from [David] Duchovny", the episode lapses into "a lost opportunity to explore the psyche of a person who has suffered torture".