Agua Mala

"Agua Mala"
The X-Files episode
A man is being strangled by a tentacled creature
The sea creature attempts to strangle George Vincent (Jeremy Roberts). The tentacles were created out of a combination of silicone and urethane to make them flexible.
Episode no.Season 6
Episode 13
Directed byRob Bowman
Written byDavid Amann
Production code6ABX14
Original air dateFebruary 21, 1999 (1999-02-21)
Running time44 minutes
Guest appearances
Episode chronology
← Previous
"One Son"
Next →
"Monday"
The X-Files season 6
List of episodes

"Agua Mala" is the thirteenth episode of the sixth season of the science fiction television series The X-Files. It premiered on the Fox network on February 21, 1999, in the United States. The episode was written by David Amann, and directed by Rob Bowman. The episode is a "Monster-of-the-Week" story, unconnected to the series' wider mythology. "Agua Mala" earned a Nielsen household rating of 10.1, being watched by 16.9 million people in its initial broadcast. The episode received mostly mixed to negative reviews.

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 this episode, Arthur Dales, now living in a Florida trailer park, calls Mulder and Scully for help when a neighboring family disappears; and, with a hurricane approaching, Mulder and Scully find themselves trapped with a group of residents in a building where there is something in the water.

"Agua Mala" was Amann's second story for The X-Files. The original idea for the episode featured a monster loose in an abandoned gold mine. Darren McGavin makes a second appearance as Arthur Dales after being introduced in "Travelers." After suffering a stroke, he would later be replaced by M. Emmet Walsh in "The Unnatural." The episode was notable for its sheer amount of water and its lack of bright lighting, a stylistic approach that Gillian Anderson likened to filming in Vancouver.

  1. ^ Meisler (2000), pp. 170–80.