All Souls (The X-Files)

"All Souls"
The X-Files episode
The lion-headed part of a Seraph, as seen by Dana Scully. The effect, created via CGI, was completed hours before airtime.
Episode no.	Season 5 Episode 17
Directed by	Allen Coulter
Story by	Dan Angel Billy Brown
Teleplay by	Frank Spotnitz John Shiban
Production code	5X17
Original air date	April 26, 1998 (1998-04-26)
Running time	45 minutes
Guest appearances
Arnie Walters as Father McCue Patti Allan as Mrs. Kernoff Eric Keenleyside as Lance Kernof Emily Perkins as the Nephilim Jody Racicot as Father Gregory Lorraine Landry as Vicki Belon Glenn Morshower as Aaron Starkey Lauren Diewold as Emily Bob Wilde as George Vincent Dyer Tim O'Halloran as the Sergeant Tracy Elofson as Seraphim[1]
Episode chronology
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The X-Files season 5
List of episodes

"All Souls" is the seventeenth episode of the fifth season of the American science fiction television series The X-Files. The episode originally aired on the Fox network on April 26, 1998. The episode's teleplay was written by Frank Spotnitz and John Shiban, from a story by Dan Angel and Billy Brown; it was directed by Allen Coulter. The episode is a "Monster-of-the-Week" story, a stand-alone plot which is unconnected to the mythology, or overarching fictional history, of The X-Files. "All Souls" received a Nielsen household rating of 8.5 and was watched by 13.44 million viewers in its initial broadcast. It received mixed reviews from television critics.

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. In this episode, the unexplained death of mentally and physically disabled girl prompts Father McCue (Arnie Walters) to ask Scully for her help, but her investigation leads her to a mystery involving Nephilim—children of mortal women and angels. Scully soon learns that Aaron Starkey (Glenn Morshower), a department of social services worker and demon in disguise, is after the girls, in order that the Devil may control their power.

The original version of "All Souls" was a simple story about Mulder, Scully, and angels. Shiban and Spotnitz, however, overhauled the idea and added elements extrapolated from the season's earlier "Christmas Carol" and "Emily" two-parter, making "All Souls" the "unofficial third part" of its story arc. The entry also contained several elaborate effects, which were achieved via makeup and CGI. After they viewed the final cut of the installment, Shiban and Spotnitz decided to frame the action around Scully confessing her story to a priest in a confessional.