page_title: Alpha (The X-Files)
section_title: Production
hierarchical_section_title: Alpha (The X-Files) / Production
caption_attribution_description: Frank Spontiz
context_page_description: "Alpha" is the sixteenth episode of the sixth season of the science fiction television series The X-Files. It premiered on the Fox network on March 28, 1999, in the United States. The episode was written by Jeffrey Bell, and directed by Peter Markle. The episode is a "Monster-of-the-Week" story, unconnected to the series' wider mythology. "Alpha" earned a Nielsen household rating of 10.1, being watched by 17.7 million people in its initial broadcast. The episode received mostly negative reviews from critics.
  The show centers on FBI special agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully 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 this episode, Mulder and Scully investigate several killings blamed on an Asian dog called the Wanshang Dhole, thought to be extinct. Mulder and Scully join an obstinate Sheriff, a seemingly eccentric hunter, and a reclusive canine expert to find it. However, there is more mystery to the expert than meets the eye.
  "Alpha" was based on a single motif—"Scary dogs in the City"—written by Jeffrey Bell onto a notecard.
caption: Producer Frank Spotnitz proposed the idea that Mulder and Berquist would be drawn to each other.
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