Set Visit: X-Files 2!

David Duchovny interview / Gillian Anderson interview / Producer Frank Spotnitz interview

I’m standing inside Mulder’s office staring up at the pencils stuck up in the ceiling tile. Clutter is all around. Newspaper clippings, post-it notes, mysterious photographs are stuck on the wall, piled on the desk and stuffed in files. As you might expect, it’s very Mulder-esque. This is Mulder’s office. I’m here doing my own investigation. It’s as mysterious and cryptic as the best episodes of “The X-Files” set. My assignment: find out what the hell is going on on the set of the X-FILES sequel.

"I Want To Believe

Behind an abandoned amusement park in Vancouver sits a nondescript building that looks like it could be assembling car parts or baking cookies. It’s only given away by a small orange sign with the words “Done One” in black letters. To the random passerby, it’s nothing more than gibberish. But for me, it’s my first clue: we’re here.

I grab my bag and try to blend in. There is a thick fog floating around the room. Rocks covered with snow. Large evergreen trees. And in the back lies a small cabin sitting quietly. The windows glow with a soft light that travels in the dense air. A large porch wraps around the front of the house and a rustic screen door hangs in the middle. This is a place that is trying not to be found, trying to blend in with wilderness. This is my destination. This is Fox Mulder’s home.

As I make my way to the door, the porch steps creak loudly like some old-fashioned alarm system. Intruder alert. Intruder alert. I pull back the screen and take a step inside. Mulder’s living room. Or is it a photo from an Eddie Bauer catalog? The only giveaway is the familiar fish tank against a back wall with a frogman floating inside I know I’ve seen before. Where have I seen that frogman? Where?... That’s when I see it. Out of the corner of my eye, I look up, past the steps and through a crack of a nearly closed door. On the wall in bold white letters I can read: “I Want To Believe.” Welcome home Mulder.

"Trust No One

The holy grail. I’ve only been here a short time and already I’m pushing back the door to Mulder’s office. Surely in this room I’ll find the key to the mystery of X-FILES 2. All around me are newspaper clippings - with select portions circled, highlighted or underlined – tacked up on the walls. My head darts from side-to-side as if I were watching a Chinese ping-pong game. Where do I even begin? As if I weren’t already approaching sensory overload, tucked away in the back corner of the room is a file cabinet. Stacked on top are a pile of manilla file folders. Files. X-Files.

The temptation is strong. Grab one. Stuff it in my bag, up my shirt, down my pants. Anywhere. For now, I play it cool. I tuck my hands in my pockets to keep them busy. Like Verbal Kint, I just sit and silently soak in my office surroundings. Scanning, memorizing, compiling, taking more mental notes than my brain can record. This is what I am doing now. And not coincidentally this is what Mulder has been doing for the past six years.

It becomes clear that if this office has been what Mulder HAS been doing it won’t give me many hints as to what he IS doing. Has he been in contact with Scully during this time? They are clearly united for the movie but have they been reunited? Where does Scully live? Does she live here? This will require some further investigation. I mentally take what I can out of Mulder’s office and return to the hallway. Up ahead there is a closed door. How can I possibly resist?

My hand turns the vintage oblong doorknob and I push it open. I feel like I have walked into a Pier 1 showroom. This is Mulder’s bedroom? The guy has more of an aesthetic sense than I could have imagined. I only remember seeing his bedroom once before (in the “Dreamland” episode) and I don’t remember it looking like this. A large king-sized bed sits in the middle (awfully large for just one guy) with a footstool at the end short-stacked with books. A floral arrangement lies on the nightstand. A large, ornate armoire to my right. This room certainly has a….feminine touch. Perhaps Mulder hired an interior decorator. Or perhaps…

“The Truth Is Out There”

I found precious little inside Mulder’s home to give me any strong conviction about what this latest X-File involves. Whatever it is, it would appear he didn’t have much knowledge of it while living here. Something new. Something Mulder hadn’t been studying (and given the condition of his office, that’s hard to believe). But what is it? Why are there spooky looking men in priest costumes? What the hell is going on here in Spoilerville , USA ?

One thing I do know is that there have been no signs of werewolves yet. But… Now that I think of it I DID see ________ ______ in the house at __ _____ which was curious. It looked extremely ____ __ ___ ______ and I think ___ ____ __ ____ ___ that could definitely be what I was __________ ____.

No, I can’t say that. Not yet.

More to come….