| "The Rain King" | |
|---|---|
| The X-Files episode | |
 Daryl Mootz, the self-proclaimed "Rain King", attaches a prosthetic leg. The harness, which pulled Clayton Rohner's actual leg out of the camera's sight, was later described as "painful". | |
| Episode no. | Season 6 Episode 8 |
| Directed by | Kim Manners |
| Written by | Jeffrey Bell |
| Production code | 6ABX07 |
| Original air date | January 10, 1999 |
| Running time | 45 minutes |
| Guest appearances | |
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"The Rain King" is the eighth episode of the sixth season of the American science fiction television series The X-Files. It premiered on the Fox network on January 10, 1999. "The Rain King" was written by Jeffrey Bell and directed by Kim Manners. The episode is a "Monster-of-the-Week" story, unconnected to the series' wider mythology. "The Rain King" earned a Nielsen household rating of 12.5, being watched by 21.2 million people in its initial broadcast. Critical reception to the episode was mostly mixed, with reactions ranging from negative to positive.
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. Mulder is a believer in the paranormal, while the skeptical Scully has been assigned to debunk his work. In the episode, Mulder and Scully are asked to investigate the strange weather phenomena occurring in a small town. They find a man, Daryl Mootz, who claims to produce the rain.
"The Rain King" was written by Jeffrey Bell, his first script for the show. The episode was originally purchased as a freelance script, but Bell was later hired on as a full-time writer. Grapevine, Piru, and Culver City, California stood in for the fictional town of Kroner, Kansas during filming. The episode required several elaborate special effect sequences to create heart-shaped hail as well as to simulate a flying cow.
- ^ Meisler, pp. 80–89