Jump the Shark

Jump the Shark

Infobox Television episode | Title = Jump the Shark
Caption =
Series = The X-Files/The Lone Gunmen (TV Series)
Season = 9/1 (The Lone Gunmen)
Episode = 15/14 (The Lone Gunmen)
Airdate = April 21, 2002 (FOX)
Production = 9x15
Guests = Michael McKean as Morris Fletcher
Zuleikha Robinson as Yves Adele Harlow
Stephen Snedden as Jimmy Bond
Writer = Vince Gilligan
John Shiban
Frank Spotnitz
Director = Cliff Bole

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Prev = Scary Monsters
Next = William

"Jump the Shark" is the fifteenth episode of the ninth season of "The X-Files". It also serves as the fourteenth and final episode of the canceled television series "The Lone Gunmen". [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0751148/ IMDB entry] As a composite episode, it adopts the title sequences for both shows. The long-time supporting characters Melvin Frohike, John Fitzgerald Byers and Richard Langly, collectively known as The Lone Gunmen, meet their end in this episode.

Plot

When Morris Fletcher approaches FBI agents Reyes and Doggett with information related to the supersoldiers, they turn to the Lone Gunmen. He provides an alleged photo of the supersoldier, which the Lone Gunmen recognize as being Yves Adele Harlow, a fellow hacker who went missing a year ago. The Gunmen refuse to believe the evidence, especially when they find that Fletcher provided it, although the agents continue to pursue the trail.

Harlow murders a biology professor, cuts out an organ and disposes of it in a furnace. After the Gunmen capture her, she reveals that he had been experimenting with the immune system of sharks and had been grafting pieces of shark onto his body in order to become a living host to a biological weapon. His research had been funded by Yves' arms dealing father, who had commissioned Fletcher to find her and prevent her from stopping his biological terrorism plot. She further informs them that there is another host, whom she is trying to identify and locate before he can unleash his deadly payload.

Once Fletcher realizes that he's been used by Harlow's father, he teams with the Gunmen to help Harlow find the second bioterrorist. After a few false starts and chases, the Lone Gunmen corner the bioterrorist with only a few minutes before his virus is due to be released. They realize that they lack the time to destroy his virus-filled organ and pull a fire alarm, causing large emergency doors to seal shut, simultaneously containing the virus and entrapping them with it. Their sacrifice earns them a final resting place in Arlington National Cemetery, where Fletcher and the FBI agents pay their respects to them. [http://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/xfiles/episodeguide/nine/page15.shtml BBC's "X-Files" episode guide to "Jump the Shark"]

Trivia

*The episode title is a humorous reference to the phrase "jumping the shark", which is used to describe shows that have reached their peak and started to decline in quality.
*Despite being billed in the main titles Gillian Anderson (Scully) and Mitch Pileggi (Skinner) only appear briefly in the closing scene of this episode.

References


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  • Jump the shark — (zu deutsch: Über den Hai springen) ist ein Begriff aus den US Medien, der den Zeitpunkt beschreibt, an dem eine Fernsehserie ihren Höhepunkt überschritten hat und das Publikum langsam das Interesse an ihr verliert. Der Begriff wurde durch die… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • jump the shark — Said of a salient point in a television show or other activity at which the popularity thereof begins to wane: The Flintstones jumped the shark when a man from outer space came to visit them. The expression derives from an episode of the… …   The small dictionary of idiomes

  • jump the shark — v. In a television show, to include an over the top scene or plot twist that is indicative either of an irreversible decline in the show s quality or of a desperate bid to stem the show s declining ratings. Also: JTS. jump the shark adj. jumping… …   New words

  • jump the shark — the moment when a TV show begins to decline, is desperate for ratings or goes over the top; and, by extension, anything else such as relationships. Based on an episode of Happy Days when a character (Fonzie) literally tried to jump a shark on… …   Dictionary of ichthyology

  • jump\ the\ shark — The precise moment when you know a tv show, rock band, or actor has gone downhill. The Brady Bunch jumped the shark the day Cousin Oliver joined the cast …   Dictionary of american slang

  • jump\ the\ shark — The precise moment when you know a tv show, rock band, or actor has gone downhill. The Brady Bunch jumped the shark the day Cousin Oliver joined the cast …   Dictionary of american slang

  • jump the shark — verb To undergo a storyline development which is so exceptional that all content following is disappointing. <!: Happy Days jumped the shark when Fonzie jumped over a shark on waterskis. its not possible to use the origin of an idiom as an… …   Wiktionary

  • jump the shark — [ jəmp T͟Hə shärk] v. phr. informal pass the peak of creativity, excellence, or inspiration, as evidenced by a decline in quality or performance He s like The Simpson s. He s never jumped the shark Origin: with allusion to an episode in 1977 of… …   Useful english dictionary

  • jump the shark — include an excessive scene or a variation of the plot pointing out that the long running television show has been determined as declining …   English contemporary dictionary

  • jump the couch — v. To exhibit frenzied or aberrant behaviour that makes it appear as though one is completely out of control or even insane. jumping the couch pp. Example Citations: W. has jumped the couch. ... The former stateside National Guardsman who was… …   New words

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