Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, May 16, 1995 TAG: 9505160052
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: IAN SPELLING
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
``A set of files, which have only been rumored to exist, suddenly surface,'' Carter, 38, reveals during a phone conversation from the bustling ``X'' set in Vancouver, British Columbia.
``Agent Mulder (David Duchovny) is contacted, and these files lead to a series of events that pit Mulder against Agent Scully (Gillian Anderson). It brings a lot of people whom we've come to know and hate into the breach.
``Last year's cliff-hanger was a `What will happen to the "Files"?' show,'' he adds. ``But this one really plays with the fates of the characters.
``It should be great for the audience because they know the characters much better now. They have more invested in Mulder and Scully and their relationship with each other.''
As the drawer shuts on this season's ``Files,'' the show - in which Duchovny and Anderson portray FBI agents investigating cases involving UFOs and the paranormal - has become a breakaway hit, not to mention a media and critical darling.
In addition, the blockbuster has spawned a burgeoning cottage industry of ``X'' conventions, T-shirts, posters, comic books, on-line chatter sites, and so on.
Carter plans to eventually develop a companion series. He reports that he has been approached by 20th Century Fox, whose television division produces ``X,'' about morphing the show onto the big screen.
All the hoopla, praise and product tie-ins are great, notes Carter, but his concern is to continue to turn out quality episodes and to maintain a cult feeling despite the show's mainstream success.
``I think we really hit our stride this season, and I want the show to continue to be as good as it can be,'' says Carter, who was an associate editor at Surfing magazine before pursuing a career as a television writer-producer. ``I think we know what we're doing, how to do it and what works best.
``So, hopefully, we won't be distracted by everything that's going on around us, most of which is really out of our control anyway.''
Next season, fans can expect fewer character- and relationship-building shows and more ``stand-alone'' hours that pit Mulder and Scully against the forces of the unexplained, Carter says.
Viewers can also plan on seeing more of the show's FBI informants - Walter Skinner (Mitch Pileggi), Mr. X (Steven Williams) and - could it possibly be? - the supposedly late Deep Throat (Jerry Hardin).
``All I can tell you is keep your eyes peeled,'' suggests a rather coy Carter - referring to Deep Throat, but without going so far as to explain whether he's talking about the second-season finale or ``X'' season three.
After his experiences bringing ``X'' to such vivid, creepy life, one can't help but wonder if Carter believes in UFOs, aliens, vampires, megaworms and the like, all of which have been ``File'' subjects.
``I'm still pretty much a skeptic,'' Carter says, laughing. ``I've had a lot of exposure to people who believe wholeheartedly in these things.
``That erodes my skepticism to an extent. But I've not seen anything or had anything happen to me personally that I'd consider a paranormal phenomenon.
``I guess I'm like Mulder in that I desperately want to believe. But I'm also like Scully in thinking, `Prove it to me.'''
Who knows? One day Carter might just prove it to himself.
|TREK SPECS| Starfleet believes a renegade Kirk possesses a Klingon weapon that will make him invincible in the plot of ``The Ashes of Eden,'' a new Pocket Books novel written by William Shatner and Judith & Garfield Reeves-Stevens.... ``The Compleat Four Seasons,'' Antonio Vivaldi's concerto, comes to aural life with Arnie Roth on violin and Patrick Stewart intoning accompanying sonnets written by Vivaldi. It's available now on compact disc and cassette from American Gramophone.
TREK TV FOR THE WEEK
``Voyager'': Neelix (Ethan Phillips) encounters Ma'bor Jetrel (James Sloyan), the Haakonian scientist who created the Metreon Cascade that wiped out virtually the entire Talaxian population, including Neelix's family. In ``Jetrel,'' Neelix is told the long-term effects of the Cascade will soon kill him.
``Deep Space Nine'': In ``Family Business,'' Quark (Armin Shimerman) and Rom (Max Grodenchik) return to their home planet of Feringinar after their mother breaks the Ferengi law forbidding females from making a profit. Former ``SCTV'' star Andrea Martin guest stars as Quark's mother, Ishka.
- New York Times Special Features
by CNB