Dana Scully
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| Dana Scully | |
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| First appearance | "Pilot" |
| Last appearance | The X-Files: I Want to Believe (movie) |
| Portrayed by | Gillian Anderson |
| Information | |
| Affiliated with | FBI |
| Family | William Scully (father) Margaret Scully (mother) Bill Scully Jr. (brother) Melissa Scully (sister) (deceased) Charles Scully (brother) William Scully Jr. (son) |
| Religion | Roman Catholic |
Special Agent Dana Katherine Scully, M.D. is a fictional character on the Fox Broadcasting Co. television series The X-Files (1993-2002). She also appeared in two theatrical films based on the series, played by Gillian Anderson. Younger versions of the character were played by Tegan Moss, Joey Shea, and Zoe Anderson (Gillian's sister).
She is a Special Agent of the United States' Federal Bureau of Investigation, partnered most often with fellow Special Agent Fox Mulder. In the TV series, they work out of a cramped basement office at FBI headquarters in Washington, D.C. to investigate unsolved cases labeled "X-Files"; as of the second film, Dana had left government employ and taken a job as a surgeon in a private Catholic hospital. In contrast to Fox Mulder's credulous "believer" character, Scully is the skeptic, choosing to base her beliefs on what science can prove. She escapes death several times over the course of the show, with at least two episodes hinting that she may be immortal.[1]
She has appeared in every episode of The X-Files as well as the 20th Century-Fox films The X-Files, released in 1998 (sometimes subtitled Fight the Future), and The X-Files: I Want to Believe, released 10 years later, with the exception of "3", "Zero Sum", "Unusual Suspects", "Travelers", and "The Gift".
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[edit] Character arc
Dana Scully was born on February 23, 1964, to Margaret and William Scully, into a close-knit Catholic family. She has an older brother, William Jr., an older sister, Melissa, and a younger brother, Charles, who is never seen on the show except in flashbacks. Scully's father was a Captain, who died of a heart attack in 1994. Dana Scully grew up in Annapolis, Maryland and later in San Diego, California. As a young girl, Scully's favorite book was Moby-Dick and she came to nickname her father "Ahab" from the book, and in return, he called her "Starbuck." Due to this she named her dog Queequeg.
Dana Scully attended University of Maryland, and earned a B.S. in Physics. Her undergraduate thesis was titled "Einstein's Twin Paradox: A New Interpretation." It is now also understood that she earned her degree in Medicine from Stanford University, a fact that was previously unknown and came to light in a recent interview with show co-writer, Frank Spotnitz. While in medical school she was recruited by the FBI; she accepted the agency's offer of employment because she felt she could distinguish herself there. Upon being partnered with Fox Mulder, she maintained her medical skills by acting as a forensic pathologist, often performing or consulting on autopsies of victims on X-Files cases.
In the season 2 episode Ascension, Scully is kidnapped by an ex-FBI mental patient named Duane Barry, and gets kidnapped by a military covert operation that were working with the alien conspirators, and is later returned. She later finds out that a super hi-tech microchip was implanted in the back of her neck. After having it removed, she developed cancer in the fourth season. She is hospitalized after her cancer becomes terminal. She is saved when Mulder breaks into the Department of Defense to retrieve another chip to be implanted back into her neck. (It should be mentioned that, at the time, Scully was also undergoing experimental medical treatments and was having a dramatic renewal of her faith.)
After being pronounced infertile, Scully became pregnant in the show's seventh season finale, "Requiem". The child, named William after his grandfathers (Mulder is presumably the child's father; see the Fox Mulder entry for more information), was born at the end of season 8. It was around this time that Mulder was fired from the FBI by Deputy Director Kersh, and Scully left the field to teach Forensics at Quantico. William was given up for adoption during the ninth season after Scully felt she could no longer provide the safety that William needed. William was a "miracle child", of some importance to the Alien Conspiracy. He demonstrated extraordinary powers, including telekinesis.
In The X-Files: I Want to Believe she is shown working as a doctor at the Our Lady of Sorrows Hospital in Virginia. Early on in the film Scully is contacted by the FBI who are looking for Fox Mulder in the hope that he will assist them with the investigation of a missing FBI agent. In exchange for his help the charges against him will be dropped. Unlike Mulder, Scully was apparently not considered a fugitive by the FBI, however, she did continue to maintain her romantic relationship with Mulder throughout the six years that he was on the run from the American government. In the movie they are shown to be living together in a secluded house. Throughout the course of the film, Scully is shown to become emtionally involved in the case of a young boy whom she is treating for an incurable illness. It is likely that this attachment is formed due to the sense of loss she feels about her own son, William, who she gave up for adoption during season nine of the television series. During the course of the film she experiences a crisis of faith after she discovers a possible form of treatment for the boy, and she is unsure of whether or not to proceed.
[edit] Faith
Throughout the series, her Catholic faith served as a cornerstone, although at times a contradiction to her otherwise rigid skepticism of the paranormal. Upon her career in science and medicine, she drifted from her Catholic upbringing but remained somewhat entrenched in her religious beliefs. Scully almost always wears a golden cross necklace, given to her by her mother as a Christmas or birthday present when she was a teen - both gift possiblities mentioned, but never clarified. When she was abducted by Duane Barry, a self-proclaimed alien abductee, ("Ascension", 2x06) it was the only item left behind in Barry's getaway car. Mulder wore it ("3", 2x07) as a talisman of her until Scully miraculously reappeared in a DC hospital. ("One Breath", 2x08) After she recovered from the trauma of her abduction, he returned the cross to her.
The abduction visibly tested the limits of her faith - she claimed to have been on board an alien spaceship, brought there by Barry - and she began to exhibit symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder on a case involving a murdering fetishist named Donnie Pfaster ("Irresistible", 2x13). This psychological re-victimisation continued after Pfaster escaped from prison five years later and again attempted to kill her in her home, ending only after she fatally shot him. She struggled with what motivated her actions to kill Pfaster, and questioned whether it was God compelling her to kill him, or "something else." ("Orison", 7x07)
Upon the sudden discovery of her biological daughter Emily Sim, created by her alien abductees from Scully's harvested ova, Scully gave the girl her cross to wear while she petitioned to adopt her. Unfortunately, she was unable to adopt her and Emily's alien charateristics (noxious green fluid found to be expanding and killing the girl) brought about her death. Before Emily's funeral, Scully retrieved the cross from the casket.
Sometime after her recovery, Scully began to regularly attend Mass again. At the request of Father McCue, Scully got involved in a case concerning a paraplegic girl who was found dead in a kneeling position with her palms outstretched and eye sockets charred. ("All Souls", 5x17) After Scully discovered the girl was part of a set of quadruplets and two more were murdered, Father McCue shared with her the story of the seraphim and the nephilim, which Scully interpreted as a possible explanation for the deformations and deaths of the girls. Scully continued to have visions of Emily, and when the last girl died, Scully believed she was returning the girl to God. Upon her return to D.C., she went to confession to gain peace of mind and acceptance for Emily's death.
[edit] Relationships
- Captain William "Bill" Scully - Scully's relationship with her father was fairly close, but could be tense at times, in part due to his no-nonsense attitude and sense of military professionalism. Examples of this include her desire to prove to her father that she was every bit the equal of her brothers, including one instance in which she shot a snake with a BB gun at the prodding of her brothers, only to feel wracked with guilt afterwards. On one occasion as a child, she stole one of her mother's cigarettes and smoked it, half hoping her father would find out and be angry. Their relationship suffered when she decided not to pursue a career in medicine, and joined the FBI. By 1994, the two seemed to have reconciled before her father suddenly died of a heart attack. Only after he was gone did Scully realize that, despite their differences, her father was indeed proud of her ("Beyond the Sea"). Following her abduction while lying comatose, Scully sees an apparition of her father. Clad in his official Navy whites, he delivers to her a message full of love as he encourages her to live ("One Breath"). William Scully was played by Don S. Davis.
- Margaret "Maggie" Scully - Scully's mother provides support for her daughter's frequent health crises, but sometimes expresses quiet disapproval in Scully's choices. Margaret Scully is frequently seen meddling into Scully's life. She vigorously encourages Scully to rekindle her Catholic faith, often expresses her disapproval in Scully's dangerous job, and insists on hiring a baby nurse for Scully towards the end of her pregnancy. After William's birth, Margaret is extremely protective of Scully and William. In her final appearance, ("Provenance"), she is also seen as reluctant to find the truth because of the danger involved. She was played by actress Sheila Larken.
- Melissa "Missy" Scully - Scully was extremely close to her older sister, who was first introduced when Scully lay dying in Georgetown Memorial Hospital following her abduction. Unlike her skeptical younger sister, Melissa was a free spirit who encouraged Scully to look beyond the realms of science and fact, and trust intuition and nature. Scully was deeply affected by her death, and championed hard to keep her murder investigation active ("Piper Maru"). Melissa was played by Melinda McGraw. Younger versions were played by Christine Viner (in "Piper Maru") and Rebecca Codling ("Christmas Carol").
- William "Bill" Scully Jr. - Scully's relationship with her older brother, also a Naval officer, seemingly mirrors the disapproval she felt from her father ("Gethesmane"). His childhood relationship with Scully could veer from typical sibling rivalry to outright bullying, in one case causing Scully to accidentally kill her pet rabbit in her attempts to hide it from Bill ("Christmas Carol"). Further complicating their relationship is his own steadfast refusal to validate her work, and belligerence towards Mulder (he feels that Mulder is directly the reason for Dana's illness and Melissa's death, and called him "a real piece of work" and "one sorry son of a bitch" to his face.) Bill's wife is named Tara, and they have one son, Matthew. The adult Bill Jr. was played by Pat Skipper; Ryan DeBoer played a teenage Bill Jr. in the episode "Christmas Carol", while Joshua Murray appears uncredited as a younger version in "One Breath".
- Charles Scully - Scully's younger brother who was referred to, but only seen as a boy in flashback in the episode "One Breath".
- Emily and William - Scully's two children. Emily, who died shortly after being found by Scully, was conceived during Scully's brief abduction several years earlier. William, who Scully later refers to as "our (her and Mulder's) son" ("The Truth"), was carried to term and lived with his mother from birth. However, Scully decided to give William up for adoption in order to protect him ("William") when the child was about one year old. William was named for Mulder's father, however this also means he shares the name of his grandfather and uncle on his mother's side of the family, both of whom are also named William.
[edit] Romance
Scully was given a reporter boyfriend named Ethan in the original edit of the Pilot episode, but he was subsequently edited out and removed from the storyline.
While in medical school, she carried on an affair with her married instructor, Dr. Daniel Waterston ("all things", 7x17), who may have been the "college boyfriend" mentioned in "Trust No 1." It is never indicated in the show whether or not the relationship became sexual. According to Anderson in the episode's audio commentary, Scully came very close to having an affair with the married Waterston but left before she could break up his marriage. The end of her relationship with Waterston came about following her decision to go into the FBI. After her entrance to the FBI's Academy at Quantico, Scully began a year-long relationship with her Academy instructor, Jack Willis, with whom she shared a birthday ("Lazarus", 1x14).
In the episode "En Ami," (7x15) the Cigarette Smoking Man says that she is attracted to "powerful men," to which Scully retorts that he is practicing "pop psychology," a reaction which seems to be more one of discomfort than actual disagreement. Considering her past associations with older men, including instructors, mentors, and father figures, this analysis seems plausible.
Scully was set up by a friend, and went out on a date with a handsome but dull divorcé in "The Jersey Devil" (1x04). Several years later, she encountered Ed Jerse whilst on a case, who showed her a strange tattoo he'd gotten to commemorate his recent divorce. Frustrated by the path her life had taken and her relationship with Mulder, she impulsively had drinks with Jerse, and, inspired by his, got a tattoo of an Ouroboros, a serpent eating its own tail. She spent the night with Jerse (it is unclear whether she slept with him that night, although in the original script it was made explicit that she had), but ergot dyes in the tattoo ink drove Jerse to a psychotic break and compelled him to attempt to murder Scully ("Never Again", 4x13).
In "Milagro" (6x18), Scully unwittingly became the object of desire for Phillip Padgett, a reclusive writer. He revealed his obsession with Scully to her in the course of an investigation, providing unnervingly detailed insight into her life, to the extent that he moved into Mulder's building to be near her. As an X-File case, all of his written work comes to life. In his newest book he wrote that the two made love on his bed, but in reality they were interrupted by Mulder. His love for Scully remained unrequited and he later states this is because Scully is already in love with someone else.
Towards the end of the series, her relationship with Mulder crossed over into the romantic sphere. When Mulder was injured in a boat crash, he awakened in a hospital and told Scully that he loved her ("Triangle", 6x03). In the episode ("How the Ghosts Stole Christmas") a ghost that seems to know the inner workings of Scully's mind suggest that her source of intimacy from Mulder comes from her desire to always prove him wrong. By the end of Season 6, Mulder and Scully were increasingly shown enjoying more light-hearted activities together, such as practicing baseball ("The Unnatural", 6x20), using FBI funds for a "night out" during a movie premiere ("Hollywood, A.D.", 7x18), and watching a movie at Mulder's apartment("Je Souhaite", 7x21). In the first X-Files film, Mulder initiates a consensual kiss with Scully, but is interrupted when Scully is stung by a bee carrying the alien virus. In the season seven episode ("all things", 7x17) Scully is shown getting dressed in Mulder's bathroom, whilst Mulder sleeps, apparently naked, in the bedroom. In another episode ("Trust No 1", 9x08), a man reveals to Scully that he works for the New Syndicate, and his job requires him and a few other colleagues to spy on her around the clock. Due to this he knows intimate details of Scully's personal life, right down to her "natural hair color". It is suggested by this man that Scully ultimately initiated a sexual relationship with Mulder, as he remarked that he was very surprised when she invited Mulder "into her bed".
Mulder's abduction at the end of season seven coincided with Scully's announcement of her pregnancy ("Requiem", 7x22). It was later implied that Scully's child was conceived with Mulder. During her pregnancy, Mulder worked to protect her and uncover the plot against her baby ("Essence", 8x20). When Jeffrey Spender resurfaced as a disfigured man suggesting himself to be Mulder, Scully was quick to dismiss his disfigurement, stating, "If that were Mulder, I wouldn't care." ("William", 9x16) When Mulder eventually did returned, they shared a passionate kiss and grieved together over the loss what Scully called "our son", William. She and Mulder became fugitives together.
The last scene of the series finale featured Mulder and Scully in bed, facing an uncertain future together.
In the film, The X-Files: I Want to Believe, which takes place six years later, Mulder and Scully are still in a relationship and are now living together in Virginia.[2] Scully was concerned that Mulder's continuing pursuit of the unknown was taking its toll on their relationship and they could not be together if he couldn't "escape the darkness." However, the film ends with the couple sharing a passionate kiss, and in the "secret ending" after the majority of the credits, Scully is seen in a small rowboat with Mulder, both clad in swimwear, in a tropical sea, having taken him up on his offer to run away together.
[edit] Conceptual history
Chris Carter has stated that he named Scully after his favorite sportscaster, Vin Scully. John Doggett was named after Scully's longtime broadcasting partner, Jerry Doggett. Coincidentally (or perhaps not) Scully was previously a known name in UFO lore. In 1950 the less than credible Behind the Flying Saucers was published, written by Variety magazine columnist Frank Scully. The name Scully was also used in 1976 film All the President's Men, an obvious inspiration for the show, in a list of names who work for the campaign to reelect the president.
Scully appears in every episode of the nine-season series exception of "3", "Zero Sum", "Unusual Suspects" and "Travelers". She has appeared outside The X-Files on numours occasions, the most notable being in the Millennium (also created by Chris Carter) episode "Lamentation," The main character, Frank Black, visits the FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia, and Mulder and Scully are briefly seen descending a stairway. In fact, they are Duchovny and Anderson's stand-ins.[3] An animated version of Scully, which featured the voice acting of Gillian Anderson, would appear on season 8 of The Simpsons, in the episode "The Springfield Files", as well as Eek! the Cat, on the episode "Eek Space 9". The animated television series ReBoot featured characters "Fax Modem" and "Data Nully", obvious spoofs of Mulder and Scully, in the episode "Trust No One". Anderson provided her voice work for the episode, but co-star Duchovny declined.
[edit] Reception
Scully was portrayed by Tea Leoni, who played as herself, in the movie within the episode "Hollywood A.D.". Scully, along with Mulder, is strongly referenced in the song "Mulder And Scully" by the band Catatonia. In the online roleplaying game World of Warcraft, Blizzard Entertainment played an April Fools joke on the online community by fictionally creating the "Tinfoil Hat". The Blizzard Tinfoil Hat page stated that if players ate enough of a specific food or drink, agents Sculder and Mully would appear, a reference to Mulder and Scully. In the Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode "The Pack", Buffy says to Giles: "I can't believe you of all people are trying to Scully me" and is later mentioned in "Life Serial". In an episode of the television series Angel she is mentioned as a "Skeptic".
In season one of American Dad! both Scully and Mulder appear to be played by two extreme X-files fans at a science fiction convention. Mulder was also mentioned by Klaus when Roger tried to imitate the agent's background story in, "The Office Spaceman" of season three. In the pilot to Supernatural, Dean Winchester (Jensen Ackles) manages to sneak himself and his brother into the investigation on a bridge. As two FBI agents approach them, he nods to them and says, "Agent Mulder. Agent Scully."
In an episode of Roswell, while Michael Guerin and Maria Deluca sneak into Courtney's house, carrying flashlights to investigate her and Maria says the following to Michael: Maria: Michael! I feel like we're Scully and Mulder or something. On the pilot episode of Bones, while trying to convince Temperance "Bones" Brennan that they'll work together, FBI Agent Seeley Booth says "We're Scully and Mulder". These two main characters are often compared to Scully and Mulder in fanbases, since they share the platonic-but-somewhat-flirty relationship made famous on The X-Files. On the Doctor Who's spin off series Torchwood, the characters of Jack Harkness and Gwen Cooper are often called Mulder and Scully.
[edit] References
- ^ Daniel, Josh (January 31, 2002). "The Immortal Agent Scully: One thing that won't happen in the X-Files finale". Slate. http://www.slate.com/id/2061415/. "Scully can't die"
- ^ The X-Files: I want to believe.
- ^ "Millennium Episode 117". http://www.fourthhorseman.com/Abyss/Episodes/epi117.htm.
[edit] External links
- Dana Scully - X-Files Wiki
- Deep Background - entry on Dana Scully
- Wiki on the X-Files
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