The X Files 124 The Erlenmeyer Flask Facts, Trivia, Goofs & Description

 Dp Thoat tips Mulder to a critically important case involving a missing fugitive and the cloning of extraterrestrial viruses.

Trivia

• The lab on Pandora Street is a clear reference of the myth of Pandora's Box, where all humanity's evils were contained and then unleashed.
• The climax of each season for the first five years is directed by R.W. Goodwin.
• The Silence of the Lambs is credited with inspiring several of the themes used in season 1 of the X Files. In this episode, when Mulder & Scully are talking to Captain Lacerio, Mulder questions why there would be 3 different law enforcement agencies hunting a man who was originally stopped for a moving violation, to which Captain Lacerio responds, "I know it's not Silence of the Lambs, but it's what we do".
• The "purity control" sample Mulder finds in the lab and gives to Scully is actually in an Erlenmeyer flask (hence the title). However a flask for biological samples would have a screw-cap closure, not a ground-glass stopper (like the prop shown). The latter type of stopper can't protect biological samples from contamination by environmental bacteria.
• Ken Kramer, the doctor in the lab in this episode, is a reoccurring actor in the series, this being his first of three appearances.
• This episode takes place from May 8 to May 26, 1994.
• At 20mins 51secs, the film makers perform a Dolly Zoom in-camera effect on Mulder.

spoilers

• This is the last appearance of Dp Thoat alive. After this episode, he reappeared at separate occasions in flashbacks and dream sequences.
• When Jerry Hardin received his copy of the script, it included a note on the front from Chris Carter saying "No one really dies on The X-Files."
• The closing scenes are almost identical to the closing scenes of Pilot (1993). Scully is in bed and sees her digital clock turn from 11:21 to 11:22. Mulder calls and they talk. The scene cuts to The Cigarette Man, who places an object in the vast Pentagon vault. Both episodes end with the door of the vault slamming shut and the camera showing the sign on the door: "In Case Of Fire Or Emergency / Know Your Exits / PENTAGON / Evacuation Procedure."
• The Fox Network was very against the season ending with the closure of the X-Files department as they figured that audiences would think the show had been canceled.
• This is the first time in the series that an alien body is shown.
• Dp Thoat was k*lled on May 13, 1994. This was the same day that this episode originally aired.

Goofs

• After waking Scully up, Dr. Carpenter then goes on to explain the basics of genes and base pairs. As a medical doctor, Scully would already know about this, as it's basic high school biology.
• When Scully attempts to gain entrance to the holding facility where the alien body is being kept, she hears a security guard ask her for the "Project Password" through a speaker grate. If you look closely, embossed on the bottom of the grate it says, "Cold Water Only". Apparently this grate was appropriated from another source and wasn't a speaker grate at all.
• The police chase involves a Buick Century as the suspect's car. However, when Mulder asks the alleged owner (Dr. Berube) about his car, they mention that it is a Ciera (Oldsmobile), a different car altogether, though it was built on the same platform. What's more, the Buick that is shown is clearly from the late eighties (1988 at the latest) judging from the headlight style. Scully and Mulder determine that one of the two identical cars belong to a rental agency and it is extremely unlikely that a 6-year old (or more) car would have been kept in a rental agency's fleet.
• In the picture of the suspect's car captured from the video, the license plate is clearly visible prior to Mulder having it "enhanced", after seeing the replacement car in police custody. Mulder even comments that the plate "isn't visible" even though it's been clearly shown on the screen moments prior.
• In the early part of the police chase, we see the suspect's car crossing a railroad track; a CN (Canadian National) logo is clearly visible on the approaching locomotive. The chase supposedly takes place in Maryland and the CN's network, even in its American network, does not go close to Maryland.
• Dr Berube allowing two strangers (Mulder and Scully) into an animal research facility without protective gear (to minimize the risk of human-borne pathogens) is a major safety violation. However, the research company is later revealed to be involved in shady dealings, so this could be a deliberate character error on the producer's part.