| "Terma" | |
|---|---|
| The X-Files episode | |
| Episode no. | Season 4 Episode 9 |
| Directed by | Rob Bowman |
| Written by | Chris Carter Frank Spotnitz |
| Production code | 4X10 |
| Original air date | December 1, 1996 |
| Running time | 44 minutes |
| Guest appearances | |
| |
"Terma" is the ninth episode of the fourth season of the American science fiction television series The X-Files. It premiered on the Fox network on December 1, 1996. It was directed by Rob Bowman, and written by Frank Spotnitz and series creator Chris Carter. "Terma" featured guest appearances by John Neville, Nicholas Lea and Fritz Weaver. The episode helped explore the series' overarching mythology. "Terma" earned a Nielsen household rating of 10.3, being watched by 17.34 million viewers during its original airing.
FBI special agent Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) and assistant director Walter Skinner (Mitch Pileggi) attend a United States Senate hearing, while Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) attempts to escape from a Russian gulag. "Terma" is the second part of a two-part episode, continuing the plot from the previous episode, "Tunguska".
Several scenes in "Terma" were inspired by the novels of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, while its tagline—changed to "E pur si muove" from the usual "The truth is out there"—is a reference to Galileo Galilei's investigation by the Roman Inquisition. "Terma" features a climactic explosion at an oil refinery wellhead which required the physical effects staff to ignite a 300 feet (91 m) plume of flammable liquids.