Bad Blood (The X-Files)

"Bad Blood" was written by Vince Gilligan, making it his fifth writing credit for the season. Aware that an episode script was due after the Christmas break of 1997, he had been working on a script that would have taken the form of an Unsolved Mysteries episode, with unknown actors playing Mulder and Scully and Robert Stack appearing in his role as narrator. Under pressure to complete the script, Gilligan scrapped the idea because he "just couldn't figure out how to do it".[1] (The series would later explore the idea of an X-Files crossover in the guise of non-fiction with the seventh season episode "X-Cops", also penned by Gilligan.)[2]

With the help of executive producer Frank Spotnitz, Gilligan came up with a new idea inspired by an episode of The Dick Van Dyke Show, called "The Night the Roof Fell In", in which the main characters, Rob and Laura Petrie, tell different versions of a fight they have had. Gilligan said of the idea, "I just thought it was a cool way to tell a story."[1] With two versions of the same story taking up much of the episode, Gilligan knew that he would have to keep the plot simple, and so he settled on a vampire story that everyone could easily follow.[1] Both Mulder and Scully's unique versions of the episode were filmed back to back, utilizing the "exact same sets and camera angles".[1] The RV park that was featured in the episode stood on the site of an old sawmill that had burned down; in fact, this mill had been used by the show in the fourth season episode "Gethsemane".[1]

Luke Wilson was cast to play Sheriff Hartwell; he had previously starred in the comedy film Home Fries (1998), which had been scripted by Vince Gilligan. Local Vancouver comedian and actor Brent Butt played the coroner. Patrick Renna played Ronnie Strickland. He said of the part, "Before we started I asked if Ronnie was pretending to be a moron. [The writers and producers] told me, 'No. He's really just a moron.'"[1]

The out of control RV was created by the show's special effects coordinator, David Gauthier; a secondary steering wheel was rigged up so that a stunt driver could steer the car from the back of the vehicle, out of the camera's sight. Wilson and Renna were fitted with faux vampire teeth—which were sardonically labelled "funny fangs"—courtesy of special effects makeup coordinator Toby Lindala. Wilson later recounted that they fit comfortably in the actor's mouth, musing, "The retainers I had to wear as a kid never fit as well."[3] In order to create the glowing green eyes of the vampires, fluorescent material was glued to the actors' eyelids. However, because they were unable to see, this gave the vampires a "somewhat vacant" stare.[3] The corpses with fangs marks were created by makeup artist Laverne Basham. In order to create a suitable model for the bite marks, Gilligan bit the back of his hand "to show [Basham] exactly what he wanted."[3]

"Bad Blood" was first broadcast in the United States on February 22, 1998, on the Fox network.[8][9] In its original broadcast, it was watched by 19.25 million viewers, according to the Nielsen ratings system.[10] It received a 12.0 rating/17 share among viewers meaning that 12.0 percent of all households in the United States, and 17 percent of all people watching television at the time, viewed the episode.[10] The episode was one of eight featured on Revelations, a DVD released prior to the release of the 2008 movie, The X-Files: I Want to Believe.[11]

"Bad Blood" received largely positive reviews from critics. In a 2000 review of season five for the New Straits Times, Francis Dass called the episode "an absolute gem. The most hilarious X-Files episode I have ever seen."[12] Rebecca Traister of Salon.com called it "possibly the best X-Files episode of all time".[13] In a 2008 review of the Revelations DVD, which contained "Bad Blood", Erik Henriksen of The Portland Mercury praised the way the writers "managed to tweak their genre formulas" and said of the episode, "It's witty and quick and features a great performance from Luke Wilson".[11] In a review of Revelations for the Reading Eagle, Gina McIntyre called the episode "a hilarious riff on how [Mulder and Scully] view each other".[14] Zack Handlen of The A.V. Club wrote a positive review of what he described as one of his "top five favorite X-Files". He called the script "very smart" and compared the story to the plot of Rashomon. He said "Yes, 'Bad Blood' can be goofy, but it's a good kind of goofy, the kind that pokes holes in characters in ways that just make them more lovable."[15] 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 five stars out of five and wrote "Now that's how you tell a vampire story!"[16] The two praised Gilligan's use of humor as well as the episode's examination of both Mulder and Scully's differing points of views. Shearman and Pearson noted that "the gimmick here isn't supernatural, but structural", and called the episode's framing device "subtly done", which resulted in its "brilliance".[16] Review website IGN named it the seventh best standalone X-Files episode of the entire series.[17] Rob Bricken from Topless Robot named "Bad Blood" the funniest X-Files episode.[18] An article in The Montreal Gazette listed "Bad Blood" as the ninth best stand-alone episode of the series.[19] Tom Kessenich, in his book Examination: An Unauthorized Look at Seasons 6–9 of the X-Files, named the episode one of the "Top 25 Episode of All Time" of The X-Files, ranking it at number 19.[20] He called the episode "a satiric X-File at is finest."[20] Den of Geek writer Juliette Harrisson named it the "finest" stand-alone episode of season 5 and wrote, "for sheer fun and narrative playfulness, the winner has to be Bad Blood".[21]

Not all reviews were so glowing. Paula Vitaris from Cinefantastique gave the episode a more mixed review and awarded it two-and-a-half stars out of four.[22] Although she enjoyed the comedic elements of the episode, she was somewhat critical of the underlying issues, most notably the way Mulder and Scully viewed each other in the episode. She wrote that, "their relationship seems to be a strangely passive-aggressive one".[22] Vitaris also was critical of the fact that Mulder was not guilty over the fact that he may have killed an innocent boy.[22]

Gillian Anderson has described "Bad Blood" as one of her favorites of the series, commenting "Oh, yes! I loved that episode. As far as I'm concerned it's one of our best ever. I think it really showed how well David and I can work together".[1]