Roland (The X-Files)

"Roland" is the twenty-third episode of the first season of the American science fiction television series The X-Files, premiering on the Fox network on May 6, 1994. It was written by Chris Ruppenthal and directed by David Nutter. The episode featured guest appearances by Željko Ivanek, James Sloyan and Kerry Sandomirsky. The episode is a "Monster-of-the-Week" story, a stand-alone plot which is unconnected to the series' wider mythology. "Roland" earned a Nielsen household rating of 7.9, being watched by 7.4 million households in its initial broadcast; and received mixed reviews from critics, although Ivanek's guest role was met with acclaim.

The show centers on FBI agents Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) who work on cases linked to the paranormal, called X-Files. When Mulder and Scully investigate a series of murders at an aerospace testing facility, they find that a mentally disabled janitor may be responsible—and that he is being telepathically controlled by one of the facility's former researchers.

"Roland" was the first of two episodes of The X-Files written by Chris Ruppenthal, who would go on to write the second season episode "3", which was heavily rewritten by series regulars Glen Morgan and James Wong. "Roland" contains the series' first mention of Mulder's father Bill, although the character would not actually make an appearance until the second season episode "Colony".