#daniel arkin

-INSPIRATION-

The idea for this semi-comedic story-the first X-Files written by first-year staff writer Daniel Arkin-came partly from a 1991 incident in which Arkin, then an instructor at New York University, moved into a co-op apartment in Manhattan's Greenwich Village.

"Our movers were late," says Arkin, "and we didn't start moving in until 4 P.M. Little did we know-not having read all three hundred pages of our CC and Rs-that we were going to be fined for moving in after 5 P.M. It cost us a thousand dollars." [...]

"My first idea actually dealt with some notorious person-an infamous character or an accused criminal-who moves into the planned community, to the horror of the residents, creating a sort of 'bogeyman,' a manifestation of all their worst fears. I think it was Chris who suggested we turn the bogeyman into a monster."

-MARRIED COUPLE-

[Daniel] Arkin adds, "The idea of 'marrying' Mulder and Scully seemed to arise spontaneously at one of our many meetings. Someone said: 'We've never put them undercover together. If we're ever going to do it, why don't we do it in this episode?'"

-COSTUMES-

Makeovers of a slightly different sort were carried out by costume designer Christine Peters, who modified Mulder's and Scully's usual wardrobe to help them blend into their undercover assignment as Yuppie clones.

"For David, Lacoste Izod alligator shirts, Dockers, Bass Weeguns," says Peters.

She adds, "Gillian was a little tougher, because she has a 'look' that she doesn't want to give up. She's very savvy that way. So we weren't going to see Gillian in jeans and a sweatshirt or Gillian in khakis and sneakers. So basically she wore the same kind of clothes she always wears just in lighter colors. It was khaki and tan Tahari; it was mint green Calvin Klein. Obviously, it worked for her. She fit into the scenes without looking ridiculous."

-THE MONSTER-

"Gumby on steroids."

"Mr. Butterworth."

"Fecal Fred."

"The S*** Monster."

All of the above are some of the nicknames X-Files staffers gave to the creature that emerges from the sewer in "Arcadia." Creating the creature, however, was a challenge.

"The problem," says assistant director Bruce Carter, "was that although the basic concept was good, no one could really envision what this strange beast-a psychologically manifested compilation of garbage-should look like. [...]"

Working under tremendous time pressure, special effects makeup supervisor John Vulich came up with a costume. "It was basically a foam rubber suit," says Vulich. "We poured urethane foam on it to give it a sort of bubbly appearance, then glued on some shredded rubber and coated it with gunk." During filming the costume was worn by Roger Morrissey, a very tall actor with whom Vulich had worked on numerous previous occasions.

During successive waves of cutting, reediting, darkening, and visual effects jiggering, less and less of the monster became visible so that it became more of an unseen menace than an actual monstrous presence.

-SCRUFFY-

To depict Cami Shroeder's dog Scruffy being ejected from the storm drain, the special effects department rigged up a small device to propel a rubber dog model through the air. No Chihuahuas were harmed in the making of this episode.

-NAME-

In ancient Greece, Arcadia was the name of a district famous for its rustic peace and simplicity. There are towns and cities by that name in twenty states of the Union.

-INTERESTING FACTOID-

As part of his work on this episode, researcher Lee Smith investigated the explosive properties of landfill: learned how to determine what garbage comes from a sewer (you look for a certain level of bacteria found in human feces); and obtained diagrams of sewer systems from cities and towns across the country. He hit a snag when he asked for one from New York City. "They laughed, they howled, they thought it was the funniest thing they ever heard," said Smith. "They said there was one guy-he was eighty-two years old-and he was the only person who even vaguely knew what was under the streets of New York. They were trying to get him to write it all down and draw diagrams before he died, because when he died, the knowledge died with him."

-DD'S STORY-

David Duchovny speaking (repeatedly) about the garbage monster here.

BONUS

Relevant breadcrumb trail--

2008: Q: Also from season five is “Bad Blood.”