Paper Clip

"Paper Clip" is a 1995 episode of The X-Files television series. It was the second episode broadcast in the show's third season. Paper Clip concludes the story regarding the agents' possession of a digital tape containing government secrets on extraterrestrials.

Plot

Continuing from the previous episode, Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) and Assistant Director Walter Skinner hold each other at gunpoint. Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) is revealed to be the person outside his apartment and bursts in, convincing Skinner to put his gun down. Skinner tells them the digital tape is their only form of leverage and they decide to let him hold onto it for the time being.

Scully's mother arrives at the hospital and is surprised to find that Melissa is the one there instead of Dana, suffering from a gunshot wound to the head. Mulder brings a photo from the 1970s to the Lone Gunmen, showing Mulder's father, the Cigarette Smoking Man, Deep Throat and others. The Lone Gunmen recognize one of the men as Victor Klemper, a Nazi scientist who came to the U.S. after World War II and was given immunity from prosecution under Operation Paperclip. Frohike arrives and tells Scully that her sister is in the hospital, but Mulder convinces her not to go, since her life would be in danger there. Meanwhile the Syndicate meets, upset over the fact that an innocent woman has been shot by mistake. The Well Manicured Man demands that the Cigarette Smoking Man provide them with the digital tape, to which he replies he will bring it tomorrow.

Mulder and Scully visit Klemper in his greenhouse, who admits that the photo was taken at the Strughold Mining Company in West Virginia. After they leave he calls the Well Manicured Man, who learns that Mulder is alive. Albert comes to see Melissa in the hospital while a mysterious man in a blue suit waits outside. Mulder and Scully arrive at the mining site and using the code for Napier's constant, told to them by Klemper, are able to head inside. Skinner tells the Cigarette Smoking Man that he may have the tape, a fact that makes the Cigarette Smoking Man very upset, threatening Skinner's life. Mulder and Scully find a large complex of filing cabinets containing smallpox vaccination records and tissue samples. Mulder finds his sister's file and finds that it was originally meant for him. Hearing noise, Mulder heads outside where he witnesses a U.F.O. flying overhead. Small beings run past Scully. Cars full of armed soldiers arrive, and the agents flee.

Mulder and Scully meet with Skinner at a diner in Maryland. Skinner wants to turn over the digital tape in exchange for their reinstatement and safety. After initially objecting, Mulder agrees to let Skinner turn the digital tape over. Skinner heads to see Melissa in the hospital and is told by Albert of the mysterious blue-suited man who has been waiting outside. Skinner chases the man to a stairwell where he is beaten up by Alex Krycek and Luis Cardinal, who steal the digital tape. Krycek and the others flee, and Krycek narrowly escapes an attempt at his life when the car he is in blows up after the other two leave the car at a gas station. Mulder and Scully return to Klemper's greenhouse, finding the Well Manicured Man there. He admits to knowing Mulder's father and states that during the cold war Mulder's father helped gather genetic data for post-apocalyptic identification – data which was used by Klemper to work on alien-human hybrids. When Mulder's father learned of this, he threatened to expose them, so Samantha was taken to ensure his silence.

Krycek phones the Cigarette Smoking Man, telling him that he has the tape. The Cigarette Smoking Man lies to the rest of the Syndicate, telling them that Scully's would-be assassin was killed in a car explosion which destroyed the tape too. Mulder confronts his mother, who tells him that his father was forced to choose whether he or Samantha would be taken. At FBI headquarters Skinner once again meets with the Cigarette Smoking Man about the tape. The Smoking Man calls Skinner's bluff, knowing he no longer has the tape, but Skinner reveals that Albert and 20 other Navajos have memorized the content of the tape and are ready to reveal it if Mulder or Scully is harmed. Mulder meets with Scully at the hospital, who reveals that her sister died a few hours before. Mulder tells Scully that he believes that the truth is still in the X-Files. Scully tells him that she's heard the truth, and now what she wants is the answers.

Production

The aliens in this episode who run past Scully in the mining facility were portrayed by eight- and nine-year-old children. The U.F.O. spotted by Mulder was achieved by using a crane to lift lights over the building Mulder was at. The Mining Facility is named for Dr. Hubertus Strughold, a real-life German scientist who was employed by the U.S. after World War II. The fictional Victor Klemper is based on Strughold, who was accused of conducting similar experiments on humans. The Strughold Mining Facility was filmed at the B.C. Museum of Mining, in Britannia Beach, British Columbia, Canada. This episode was dedicated in memorium to Mario Mark Kennedy, an internet fan of the show who had died in a car accident in 1995.

Story editor Frank Spotnitz said of the episode "I love 'Paper Clip'. I was thrilled with the plot. I know it moved very fast for some people, but I actually think that for some of these shows you don't need to understand everything. I think it is more exciting to go at rocket speed. Everybody was on the mark in that one; David and Gillian's performances, Rob Bowman's direction, Chris Carter's writing - everything was just terrific in that show." Bowman said "When I finished 'Paper Clip', I thought, 'I don't know what else I am going to do this year to top this'" In 1996 Mitch Pileggi called the episode one of the show's finest, particularly enjoying the line where he tells the Cigarette Smoking Man to pucker up and kiss his ass. The actor claims that to be one of his favorite lines. The scene would be used frequently to introduce him at X-Files conventions.

The creators likened themes of the episode to the Star Wars trilogy, referring to the revelations about Fox Mulder's father, and Sophie's Choice, referring to how the Mulders were forced to choose Fox or Samantha to be taken.

Reception

The episode earned a Nielson rating of 11.1, with a 20 share. It was viewed by 17.20 million people.

Translation

The phrase "Paper Clip" occurs as such in the following languages: English, Norwegian (Bokmål).

Translation(s) in other languages: Spanish: Paper Clip (The X-Files), Italian: Episodi di X-Files (terza stagione)#Operazione Paper Clip.