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"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 (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) 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. The episode went through several drafts before being readied right before filming began. Several of the scenes featuring the Chinese freighter were created either through digital technology or through the combination of matte paintings and actual filmed footage. ==Plot== On a freighter in the South Pacific, two Chinese men inspect a crate with an animal inside. When the ship reaches port the authorities find the two men in the crate and the animal missing. After Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) receives word of the attack from the mysterious Karin Berquist (Melinda Culea), an expert on canine behavior, he and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) investigate the incident on the ship with the help of San Pedro officer Jeffrey Cahn (Thomas F. Duffy). Meanwhile, in Bellflower, California, a man hears his dog barking in the backyard and lets it in the house. He hears another dog in his backyard and chases it off. After returning to his house he finds his pet dead and is attacked by the mystery dog, who is seen to have glowing red eyes. Mulder and Scully arrive at the port and talk to the owner of the dog Dr. Ian Detweiler (Andrew Robinson), a cryptozoologist. Detweiler says the dog is a Wanshang Dhole, a species thought to be extinct. The two agents soon receive news of the other attack and, after investigating, Mulder believes the Dhole has near-human intelligence. Mulder and Scully visit Berquist, who tells them that the breed they are looking for is extinct. Meanwhile a dog catcher is chasing a stray through a warehouse when a man enters the building. He promptly transforms into the murderous dhole and attacks the catcher. Mulder and Scully soon arrive at the scene, followed by Berquist. She finds a paw print with five toes, one more than regular canines. Later that night, Detweiler arrives at a vet's office to get tranquilizers and leaves. The vet goes to the back and is attacked by the Dhole but he locks the room before it can cause any harm. The dog catchers arrive and open fire on the wrong dog. While the vet tries to operate on the hurt dog Scully enters the building and begins to hear screaming in the back room. She discovers that the vet has been attacked. After Scully leaves, the hurt animal transforms into the dhole, revealing that the dog can mimic any shape. Scully begins to question Berquist's motives, noting that she was the reason Mulder decided to look into this investigation. Mulder, however, begins to suspect Detweiler after learning that he had been at the vet's office; Mulder believes that he is the dhole and is tranquilizing himself in an attempt to stop murdering. Mulder asks Cahn to confront Detweiler, but Cahn is attacked and severely injured by the Dhole and placed in the hospital. Mulder then visits Berquist and says he thinks she has not been honest with him. Berquist reveals that she first suspected Detweiler when she saw him and that he will try to kill her. Mulder worriedly tells Scully, who remains skeptical. Later Berquist, while locking one of the outside kennels at her house, hears something in the woods. She goes upstairs and gets a tranquilizer gun, although when Detweiler, in the guise of a dhole, enters Berquist's bedroom and attacks her, she sets it aside and challenges the dhole. He attacks, causing them to both fall out the window behind her. Mulder and Scully arrive and find Detweiler's and Berquist's bodies, the former impaled on a fence spike. Back at the office, Mulder receives a package from Berquist; it is her "I Want to Believe" poster, a replacement for the one he lost in a fire and last seen hanging on her home office wall.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Alpha (The X-Files)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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