text: trust no 1 " trust no 1 " is the sixth episode of the ninth season of the american science fiction television series the x - files . it premiered on the fox network on january 6 , 2002 . the episode was written by series creator chris carter and executive producer frank spotnitz , and directed by tony wharmby . " trust no 1 " helps to explore the series ' overarching mythology . the episode received a nielsen household rating of 5 . 1 and was viewed by 8 . 4 million viewers ; it garnered mixed to negative reviews from television critics , with many feeling that it portrayed the series ' characters in a way that was unfaithful to the show 's history . the show centers on fbi special agents who work on cases linked to the paranormal , called x - files ; this season focuses on the investigations of john doggett ( robert patrick ) , monica reyes ( annabeth gish ) , and dana scully ( gillian anderson ) . in this episode , scully is hopeful about reuniting with her former partner , fox mulder ( david duchovny ) when a complete stranger offers new information about what drove him into hiding . yet her trust in the stranger may place mulder in even more danger , for the man turns out to be a super soldier . " trust no 1 " features former leading star duchovny via the use of previously filmed footage . it was written in response to fans who felt that , during season eight , mulder 's abduction was not dealt with until his miraculous return in " this is not happening " / " deadalive " . actor terry o 'quinn , who appears in this episode as the shadow man , had appeared as different characters in the second season episode " aubrey " and the 1998 feature film and appeared as peter watts in the x - files sister show millennium . the tagline for the episode is " they 're watching . " plot while at a coffee shop , dana scully ( gillian anderson ) sees an infant crying and sees the infant 's mother , patti , outside of the coffee shop arguing with her husband , who then drives off . scully asks the mother if she is ok , and the mother leaves with her child . meanwhile , doggett and reyes stake out the location where doggett traced a tipster 's call to his cell phone . they see patti 's husband , who they believe to be the tipster , walk inside the apparently abandoned building . inside , the husband sits at a computer . the shadow man ( terry o 'quinn ) , who appears to be the husband 's boss , monitors scully through surveillance . scully sees patti a short time later , arguing with her husband , who drives off with their baby in the car . scully approaches patti , offering her assistance , and invites patti inside . scully convinces patti to stay the night after learning she has nowhere else to go . the next morning , patti turns off the baby monitor and removes william from his crib . scully awakens when she gets a phone call from doggett warning her that they the tipster they were following had just gone into her building . scully then hears william cry and confronts patti with her gun , telling her to put down her baby . just then , patti 's husband attempts to pick scully 's lock , but is stopped by doggett and reyes . the husband reveals to scully that he works for the nsa and has no name . he says he was not there to take william , but was there to retrieve his wife , as he knew she was upset . patti says their daughter is just like william , and they only want to keep both children safe . the husband informs scully , doggett , and reyes that they are being watched , and signals to scully to close the window . the husband reveals that he has discovered that their infant was part of the government 's “ super soldier ” project and begs her to call fox mulder ( david duchovny ) out of hiding in order to give him this information . john doggett ( robert patrick ) and monica reyes ( annabeth gish ) confirm that the couple 's story matches with what is known about the super soldiers . initially , doggett encourages scully to contact mulder . he believes the tipster has the names of super soldiers and that information would be vital to tracking the super soldiers down . the tipster indicates that he is willing to share this information with other than mulder . scully , fearful for mulder 's safety , falsely claims not to know his whereabouts . all the while , she absent - mindedly touches a printout of an email that mulder sent her earlier . moments after scully closes the drapes to her window , the shadow man calls her and tells her that she must get mulder . the shadow man then tells her that she has one day to contact mulder or else he will disappear with a list of the super soldiers ' identities . scully refuses to contact mulder unless she can meet with the shadow man face - to - face . the shadow man gives scully detailed instructions about how and where to meet him , warning her that even a slight deviation from his instructions would mean that he would never contact her again . the shadow man tells her to drive a series of vehicles and to drive west until she is told to stop . he also tells her to change into a different outfit that he has in the trunk of the car she is driving . scully reluctantly changes her clothing . the shadow man then comes face - to - face with scully , and she questions him about how he knows her clothing size . during the meeting , the shadow man explains that he has been watching her for quite some time and , that , in addition to her clothing size , he knows everything about her including , " that one lonely night you invited mulder to your bed . " the shadow man presses a button , causing the vehicle scully had been driving to explode . scully finally gives in and contacts mulder ; she tells doggett that before mulder left , they had worked out a plan that , if mulder was to return , he would be arriving by train . doggett urges scully to contact mulder and tell him not to come , fearing that the shadow man is a set up , and that mulder is in harm 's way . scully replies that she wants to see mulder , and that it is too late to call it off . reyes , doggett , and the husband / nsa agent cover scully at the train station . however , as the train pulls up , the shadow man appears and guns down the husband / agent before approaching scully . before the shadow man can kill scully , doggett appears and shoots him twice , sending him falling onto the train tracks , where the train seemingly runs over him without stopping . because there has been a shooting , much to scully 's dismay , a train employee radios to the conductor to keep the train moving and not to stop at that station . while scully consoles patti , whose husband just died in scully 's arms , doggett reports that he cannot find the shadow man 's body . scully , fearful that he is a super soldier pursuing mulder , chases after the train with doggett and reyes . an employee who works for the trail gets a call on his radio , saying that someone jumped off a train and into a rock quarry . doggett and reyes chase after someone they believe to be mulder , while scully goes deeper into the quarry . there , she is attacked by the shadow man . suddenly , the shadow man is destroyed by the magnetite being mined from the quarry . production " trust no 1 " was written by series creator chris carter along with executive producer frank spotnitz ; it was directed by tony wharmby . the episode features former leading star david duchovny via the use of previously shot footage . according to matt hurwitz and chris knowles in their book the complete x - files , the episode includes themes " about orwellian surveillance . " " trust no 1 " was written in response to fans who felt that , during season eight , mulder 's abduction was not dealt with until his miraculous return in " this is not happening " / " deadalive " . despite this , series director kim manners was critical of this take on mulder , noting , " the only thing i thought we didn 't do right during seasons eight and nine was that a lot of the shows were about mulder , and i thought it was a mistake to make a series about a man that wasn 't standing in front of the camera . " the email addresses that mulder and scully use to communicate with each other were real addresses , created and maintained by ten thirteen productions . the tagline for the episode is " they 're watching " , changed from the usual " the truth is out there " . actor terry o 'quinn , who appears in this episode as the shadow man , had appeared as different characters in the second season episode " aubrey " and the 1998 feature film . he had also played a recurring role as peter watts on millennium , the sister series to the x - files , and appeared in the short - lived series harsh realm . o 'quinn later earned the nickname " mr. ten thirteen " , due to his appearance in multiple shows and movies affiliated with ten thirteen productions , the company that produced the x - files . his name is spelled terrance quinn in the opening credits . broadcast and reception " trust no 1 " first premiered on the fox network in the united states on january 6 , 2002 . the episode earned a nielsen household rating of 5 . 1 , meaning that it was seen by 5 . 1 % of the nation 's estimated households and was viewed by 5 . 4 million households , and 8 . 4 million viewers . it was the 55th most watched episode of television that aired during the week ending march 3 . the episode eventually aired in the united kingdom on bbc two on december 8 , 2002 . the episode was later included on the x - files mythology , volume 4 – super soldiers , a dvd collection that contains episodes involved with the alien super soldiers arc . the episode received mixed to negative reviews from television critics . jessica morgan from television without pity gave the episode a b – grade . john keegan from critical myth gave the episode a mixed review and awarded it a 6 out of 10 . he wrote , " overall , this is not nearly as bad an episode as many people are making it out to be , but it ’ s not exactly a sterling piece of work , either . it feels like they were shooting for a ' momento mori ' [ sic ] , and wound up with a ' zero sum ' . this episode is interesting in the information it provides , and not much else . but in my opinion , it ’ s better than ' lord of the flies ' . " robert shearman and lars pearson , in their book wanting to believe : a critical guide to the x - files , millennium & the lone gunmen , rated the episode one star out of five . the two called the entry " an exercise in futility [ … ] at best " and argued that , because duchovny had left the series , the sense of excitement that he might have made an appearance in the episode was completely gone . furthermore , shearman and pearson heavily criticized mulder and scully 's characterization , calling mulder a character the audience " can 't recognize any more " and scully a " gullible patsy " . m.a. crang , in his book denying the truth : revisiting the x - files after 9 / 11 , was also critical of the script 's treatment of the characters , arguing that mulder and scully in this episode " sound nothing like the characters we have come to know " . he also lamented that the episode did not examine the central theme of electronic surveillance in greater detail . tom kessenich , in his book examinations , wrote a largely negative review of the episode . he derided the series for making it appear that mulder abandoned the woman he loved and his own child . he noted , " just because it walks , talks , and sometimes acts like the x - files , doesn 't make it the x - files . "