 = S.R. 819 = 
 
 " S.R. 819 " is the ninth episode of the sixth season of the science fiction television series The X @-@ Files . It premiered on the Fox network on January 17 , 1999 in the United States . The episode was written by John Shiban , and directed by Daniel Sackheim . The episode helps to explore the series ' overarching mythology . " S.R. 819 " earned a Nielsen household rating of 9 @.@ 1 , being watched by 15 @.@ 7 million people in its initial broadcast . The episode received mixed to positive reviews from critics . 
 The show centers on Federal Bureau of Investigation ( 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 have 24 hours to save Assistant Director Skinner ( Mitch Pileggi ) from a biologically engineered disease . In order to combat the disease , Scully looks for a medical answer , while Mulder searches for the culprits behind the attack on Skinner 's life . To aid him in this task , Mulder reaches out to Senator Matheson , whom he hopes can help him find who is responsible before time runs out . 
 Before the writing of " S.R. 819 " , the writers for The X @-@ Files felt that the character of Walter Skinner was becoming too " expendable " . John Shiban , the writer of the episode , decided to re @-@ work Skinner back into the series ' mythology by crafting the episode around him . Mitch Pileggi had to endure long bouts of make @-@ up application , a process that he admitted he " hated " . The nanobots in the blood sample were designed on a computer and then rendered for the final footage . 
 
 = = Plot = = 
 
 The episode opens with Assistant Director Walter Skinner ( Mitch Pileggi ) unwell and horribly discolored in hospital . His veins are a sickly purple hue and are pulsating ominously . Suddenly , he goes into cardiac arrest and the doctors begin to pronounce him dead . 
 Twenty @-@ four hours earlier , Skinner loses a boxing match after experiencing a dizzy spell . He is discharged from the hospital but Fox Mulder ( David Duchovny ) and Dana Scully ( Gillian Anderson ) witness a bruise on his ribs growing . After trawling through security footage from the entrance to the J. Edgar Hoover Building , Scully recognizes a physicist by the name of Dr. Kenneth Orgel , who advises the Senate subcommittee on ethics and new technology , who stopped Skinner in the hall that same morning . Mulder and Skinner travel to the physicist 's house but find he is being held hostage . Mulder apprehends one of the kidnappers , who does not speak English . They release him since he has papers showing diplomatic immunity . Mulder does a background check on him anyway . 
 The background check leads Mulder to Senator Richard Matheson ( Raymond J. Barry ) , which results in a dead end . Scully discovers Skinner 's blood sample and , after checking , she finds that Skinner 's blood contains multiplying carbon . Meanwhile , Skinner ends up in hospital following a gunfight in the FBI parking garage . Mulder and Scully reunite at the hospital , where Mulder tells Scully that Skinner was investigating a health funding bill called S.R. 819 . Later , the physicist dies of the same carbon blood condition from which Skinner is sick . 
 Skinner remembers having seen , on numerous occasions , a bearded man who showed up suspiciously and who is actually running the scheme . He saves Skinner and sacrifices one of his own men . The case is closed and Skinner is , once again , aggravated with the agents , ordering them to report exclusively to Assistant Director Alvin Kersh ( James Pickens , Jr . ) . The bearded man was actually Alex Krycek ( Nicholas Lea ) , a rogue FBI agent who formerly worked for the Syndicate , who continues to control the potentially debilitating nanotechnology in Skinner 's system . 
 
 = = Production = = 
 
 
 = = = Writing = = = 
 
 The character of Walter Skinner had evolved over the course of The X @-@ Files ' sixth season . At the start of season six , however , the producers and writers felt that Skinner 's character was becoming " expendable " . With their transfer away from the X @-@ Files division , Mulder and Scully saw less and less of their former boss . Originally , John Shiban , the writer of the episode , wanted to infect Mulder with nanobots . However , he decided that since the audience knew Mulder would not be killed , this plot would not be very effective . In order to compensate for this loss , Shiban decided to re @-@ work Skinner back into the series mythology by putting him in Mulder 's place . Shiban , inspired by the 1950 noir film D.O.A. and its 1988 remake which he jokingly called " [ two ] pretty bad movies " , decided to craft an episode of The X @-@ Files around the conceit of " a guy who 's been poisoned [ and ] has only a short time to live and has to use that time to find out why and by whom he 's being murdered " . 
 Shiban began crafting his story by borrowing a nanobot plot that had been considered by various writers for several seasons . Shiban and the rest of the writers made it a point to give Alex Krycek control over Skinner . In this manner , Skinner once again became a mysterious character , one whose true loyalties were being tested . Shiban noted that , " [ Krycek 's control ] gives Skinner an agenda that Mulder doesn 't know about [ ... ] Which was something we ultimately used again in the seasonender [ sic ] , and will carry us into next year " . 
 
 = = = Filming and effects = = = 
 
 Originally , a " time @-@ consuming " fight scene between Skinner and Krycek was supposed to take place . The scenes were cut because of time @-@ constraints and budgetary reasons . However , Skinner 's boxing match proved easy to stage . Mitch Pileggi , who had boxed competitively in college , went for " refresher course [ s ] " at the Goosen Gym in Los Angeles . He later remarked , " It makes me happy that some people will assume there was a stunt double in the ring . There wasn 't ! [ ... ] We both had a pretty good time " . Location manager Ilt Jones called " S.R. 819 " the " damn parking lot episode " . He was tasked with finding the variety of parking lots used in the episode . He later joked that , " I started to wake up screaming about barriers and parking tickets and entrances and exit ramps " . 
 Pileggi had to endure long bouts of make @-@ up application . To create the principal illusion of monstrous veins , long black faux @-@ veins were glued onto his face , arms , and torso . Pileggi , who had had to endure little to no make @-@ up during the early seasons , noted that , " They did a beautiful job and [ the veins ] looked awesome , but man , I hated it ! I really don 't know how those guys on Star Trek or Babylon 5 can stand having that done to them every day . I just wouldn 't work if that 's what it took " . To show the nanobot infection progressing , special effects makeup supervisor John Vulich used two different make @-@ up sets . The two sets were then mixed together electronically in post @-@ production to give the effect of disease progression . The nanobots in the blood sample were designed on a computer and then cloned with an animation program . Composer Mark Snow 's score for the episode was inspired by Daniel Sackheim 's " big @-@ time feature @-@ like action " . 
 
 = = Broadcast and reception = = 
 
 " S.R. 819 " first aired in the United States on January 17 , 1999 . This episode earned a Nielsen rating of 9 @.@ 1 , meaning that roughly 9 @.@ 1 percent of all television @-@ equipped households were tuned in to the episode . It was viewed by 15 @.@ 7 million viewers . The episode aired in the United Kingdom and Ireland on Sky1 on May 2 , 1999 and received 690 @,@ 000 viewers , making it the second most watched episode that week . Fox promoted the episode with the tagline " He has 24 hours to solve his own murder ... or die . " The episode was nominated for three 2000 Emmy Awards by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences for Outstanding Music Composition for a Series ( Dramatic Underscore ) . The episode was later included on The X @-@ Files Mythology , Volume 3 – Colonization , a DVD collection that contains episodes involved with the alien Colonist 's plans to take over the earth . 
 The episode was met with mixed to positive reviews from critics . Tom Kessenich , in his book Examination : An Unauthorized Look at Seasons 6 – 9 of the X @-@ Files wrote positively of the episode , saying , " ' S.R. 819 ' re @-@ established some wonderful conspiracy overtones and perhaps set the stage for more interesting developments in the future . It touched base with the very roots The X @-@ Files sprung out of and did so in strong fashion . " Todd VanDerWerff of The A.V Club gave the episode a moderately positive review and awarded it a " B " . He enjoyed the plot , calling it " fun " , praised the twist ending , and called the nanobot makeup effects " legitimately terrifying " . He did , however , write critically of Skinner 's role in the episode , noting that his lack of presence made the entry a " disappointing one " . In addition , VanDerWerff criticized the fact that the teaser shows Skinner dying ; he wrote that " [ t ] here ’ s very little gas in the idea of Skinner dying " and that most of the viewers knew he would not die . 
 Paula Vitaris from Cinefantastique gave the episode a mixed review and awarded it two stars out of four . Vitaris cited severe problems with " Skinner 's emotional journey " as the main detractors for the episode . Robert Shearman and Lars Pearson , on the other hand , awarded the episode two out of five stars in their book Wanting to Believe : A Critical Guide to The X @-@ Files , Millennium & The Lone Gunmen . The two , despite writing positively of the " traditional X @-@ File " feel , called the episode " a return to the sort of murky storylining which promises so much but delivers so little " . 
 
 