Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose

"Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose"
The X-Files episode
Clyde Bruckman dreams about his own body disintegrating. The scene used eight different stages, and mixed prosthetics and computer animation.
Episode no.	Season 3 Episode 4
Directed by	David Nutter
Written by	Darin Morgan
Production code	3X04[1]
Original air date	October 13, 1995 (1995-10-13)
Running time	45 minutes[2]
Guest appearances
Peter Boyle as Clyde Bruckman Stu Charno as the killer Jaap Broeker as The Stupendous Yappi[3]
Episode chronology
← Previous "D.P.O." Next → "The List"
The X-Files season 3
List of episodes

"Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose" is the fourth episode of the third season of the American science fiction television series The X-Files. Directed by David Nutter and written by Darin Morgan, the installment serves as a "Monster-of-the-Week" story, that is, a stand-alone plot unconnected to the overarching mythology of The X-Files. Originally aired by the Fox network on October 13, 1995, "Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose" received a Nielsen rating of 10.2 and was seen by 15.38 million viewers. The episode received critical acclaim, and several writers have named it among the best in the series. The episode won both an Emmy for Outstanding Writing in a Drama Series as well as an Emmy for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series.

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. While Mulder is a believer in phenomena conventionally classed as paranormal, the skeptical Scully has been assigned to debunk his work. As they work together over time, the two have developed mutual professional respect and a deep friendship. In this episode, Mulder and Scully investigate a series of murders of psychics and fortune tellers. The two are assisted by Clyde Bruckman (Peter Boyle), an enigmatic and reluctant individual who possesses the ability to foresee how people are going to die.

Morgan wished to write an episode of The X-Files wherein one of the characters commits suicide at the end. Although Morgan was initially afraid to add humor to his script, he created a compromise by making the episode as dark as possible. Several of the characters' names are references to silent film-era actors and screenwriters. Notably, the episode features a prediction by Bruckman—that Agent Scully will not die—that is later bookended by the sixth-season episode "Tithonus".