page_title: Release (The X-Files)
section_title: Production
hierarchical_section_title: Release (The X-Files) / Production
caption_attribution_description: Arthur Conan Doyle (1859 – 1930) English: Arthur Conan Doyle Español: Arthur Conan Doyle Deutsch: Arthur Conan Doyle
context_page_description: "Release" is the seventeenth episode of the ninth season of the American science fiction television series The X-Files. The episode originally aired on the Fox network on May 5, 2002. The teleplay for the episode was written by David Amann, from a story by John Shiban and Amann, and was directed by Kim Manners. The episode helps to explore one of the show's story arc involving John Doggett finding the truth behind his son's murder. The episode earned a Nielsen rating of 5.1, being watched by 5.38 million households, and 7.8 million viewers in its initial broadcast. The episode received largely positive reviews from critics.
  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, Monica Reyes, and Dana Scully. In this episode, Doggett stumbles upon a case that may hold a connection to the murder of his son. With the help of an FBI cadet named Rudolph Hayes, Doggett acquires information to help his current case as well as establish the link between the present, his Jane Does, and the past—his son, Luke.
context_section_description: The story for "Release" was developed by John Shiban and David Amann; the teleplay was written by Amann. Kim Manners helmed the directing of the episode. "Release" was originally going to be written by Shiban alone, but he later turned the script over to Amann because he was needed elsewhere at the time. Shiban had been desiring to write a story like "Release" for a while. Shiban and Amman came up with a story in which Scully encounters a "genius" from her classes at the FBI Academy at Quantico. Later on, they extrapolated on the story, allowing the "genius" crime solver to help John Doggett find out what happened to his son, Luke Doggett. Hayes was written to be an ambitious character, inspired by the works of Arthur Conan Doyle: he was written to be either a "brilliant guy who's solving crimes with his amazing intuition", comparable to Sherlock Holmes, or "a guy who's actually doing those crimes and playing a game", like Professor Moriarty.
  Robert Patrick called the final scene, in which Doggett and his ex-wife scatter Luke's remains, "difficult". He later noted that Manners "was there to guide us along; I can think of no worst  [sic] nightmare for a parent than to lose their child." The episode was written to give closure to Doggett's story. Patrick later said that, if the series had continued for a tenth season, he would have liked to see his character develop a relationship with Reyes, because "I think Doggett was very attracted to Reyes […] I would have liked to see the relationship with Reyes explored more." Gish agreed, noting that the show's ending never allowed the idea to be fleshed out, but that Reyes "would have definitely gone further with their relationship."
caption: Rudolph Hayes was modeled after both Sherlock Holmes and Professor Moriarty, literary characters created by Arthur Conan Doyle (pictured).
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