One Son

"**One Son**"
"One Son"
The X-Files episode
	A Syndicate surgeon is revealed to be a faceless rebel. In the commentary for this episode, Frank Spotnitz cited this visual effect as one with which he was not pleased.
Episode no.	Season 6; Episode 12
Directed by	Rob Bowman
Written by	Chris Carter; Frank Spotnitz
Production code	6ABX12
Original air date	February 14, 1999
Running time	45 minutes
Guest appearances
	Mitch Pileggi as Walter Skinner; James Pickens, Jr. as Alvin Kersh; Chris Owens as Jeffrey Spender; Mimi Rogers as Diana Fowley; William B. Davis as The Smoking Man; Veronica Cartwright as Cassandra Spender; Peter Donat as William Mulder; Dean Haglund as Richard Langly; Bruce Harwood as John Fitzgerald Byers; Tom Braidwood as Melvin Frohike; Laurie Holden as Marita Covarrubias; Nicholas Lea as Alex Krycek; Don S. Williams as First Elder; John Moore as Third Elder; Al Ruscio as Fourth Elder; Frank Ertl as Fifth Elder; Scott Williamson as CDC Leader; Jo Black-Jacob as Nurse; Mark Bramhall as Surgical Team Member;
Episode chronology
← Previous; "Two Fathers"	Next →; "Agua Mala"
	The X-Files season 6
	List of episodes

"One Son" is the twelfth episode from the sixth season of the American science fiction television series The X-Files. It first aired on February 14, 1999, on the Fox network. The episode was written by series creator Chris Carter and Frank Spotnitz, and directed by Rob Bowman. It explores the series' overarching mythology and concludes the Syndicate story arc.

The series centers on FBI special agents Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson), who work on "X-Files"—cases deemed "unsolvable" by the FBI, usually dealing with the paranormal. Although Mulder is a believer in the paranormal, and the skeptical Scully has been assigned to debunk his work, the two have developed a deep friendship. While Cassandra Spender (Veronica Cartwright) reveals the truth about the alien conspiracy to take over the Earth to Mulder, the Smoking Man (William B. Davis) does the same to her son, Jeffrey Spender (Chris Owens), in an effort to convince him to work with the Syndicate. Even as Mulder is deceived by Special Agent Diana Fowley (Mimi Rogers), Scully stays true to the investigation, and the two find Spender to be a surprise ally. Meanwhile, the Syndicate reaches the climax of its plans, only to have its members systematically exterminated by the faceless alien rebels, who oppose colonization.

"One Son," a direct continuation of the previous episode "Two Fathers," was written, along with its predecessor, to eliminate the Syndicate and relaunch the series' mythology in a different direction. Both the opening of the episode and the climactic scene featuring the demise of the Syndicate were filmed at the Marine Corps Air Station Tustin in Tustin, California. Spotnitz was particularly critical of some of the visual effects used in the episode, expressing a desire to one day revisit and redo them. The episode has also been analyzed for its thematic examination of family. "One Son" earned a Nielsen household rating of 10.1, and its first broadcast was watched by 16.57 million people. The episode was well received by critics, who applauded the way the Syndicate's story arc was wrapped up, although others felt the resolution was too simplistic.

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