Unrequited (The X-Files)
The show centers on FBI special agents Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) who work on cases linked to the paranormal, called X-Files.
Gordon was inspired to write the episode after viewing an installment of the news series 60 Minutes that dealt with American secret agents the CIA left behind during the Vietnam War.
The episode begins at the National Mall, where Major General Benjamin Bloch (Scott Hylands) gives a speech to a crowd of Vietnam War veterans.
Fox Mulder (David Duchovny), Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson), and Walter Skinner (Mitch Pileggi) patrol the crowd, searching for a potential gunman.
Twelve hours earlier, at Fort Evanston, Maryland, Lieutenant General Peter MacDougal (Bill Agnew) is shot in his limousine by the gunman.
Skinner briefs the agents on the killing, noting a king of hearts playing card—used by the soldiers in Vietnam to mark their kills—was left at the scene.
The FBI suspects a far-right paramilitary group, the Right Hand, of killing MacDougal in an effort to stop an upcoming re-dedication of a Vietnam war memorial in Washington.
Upon seeing Teager on the Pentagon's surveillance tapes, Mulder notes the frequent unexplained appearances and disappearances of Viet Cong troops reported by POWs in Vietnam.
Mulder tells Skinner and Scully that the government has arranged for their investigation to fail in an effort to cover up the truth about American POWs still being kept in Vietnam.
The day before the show's 1996 Christmas break, Howard approached series creator Chris Carter and co-executive producer Frank Spotnitz and told them about his new episode idea.
The project was green-lit, but Howard struggled with breaking the story, necessitating Carter heavily assisting him (thus their shared writing credits).
[3] Gordon had long been interested in writing an antagonist who could turn invisible, but he struggled with finding a scientific mechanism to explain this plot point.
[8] She was negative towards the "lack of emotional investment", which she felt was what damaged the episode; she called Teager a cipher who was portrayed as a "Twitchy Vet" rather than a "Tragic Hero".
[8] Robert Shearman, in his book Wanting to Believe: A Critical Guide to The X-Files, Millennium & The Lone Gunmen, rated the episode two stars out of five.
[9] The author heavily criticized the episode for taking place before the events of "Memento Mori", circumventing the need to deal with Scully's cancer.
