Production
"Roland" was the first of two episodes of The X-Files written by Chris Ruppenthal. He would return to write the second season episode "3", which was heavily rewritten by series regulars Glen Morgan and James Wong. Željko Ivanek, who plays the episode's title character, was the first actor to read for the part. Series creator Chris Carter felt that Ivanek's audition "just blew away", deciding almost immediately to cast him. Garry Davey, who portrays scientist Dr. Keats, also appeared in several other episodes of the series, and was also at one time the artistic director of the William Davis Centre for Actors Study, working alongside William B. Davis, who plays the series' villain The Smoking Man. Art director Graeme Murrary spent time scouting universities and research facilities in Vancouver to aid in creating the right look for the episode's laboratory and wind tunnel sets.
"Roland" contains the series' first mention of Fox Mulder's father Bill, although the character would not actually make an appearance until the second season episode "Colony". In the original draft of the script for "Roland", however, Mulder's mention of his father was instead meant to be his sister, Samantha. The scene depicting the aftermath of the Dr. Keats' murder—with the scattered pieces of his shattered frozen body marked off with multiple chalk outlines—has been described as "truly inspired". Chris Carter noted that "any shock and horror was eliminated by the laugh you got when you saw those little pieces on the floor", also commenting that the actual murder takes place off-screen, and is only heard.
Read more about this topic: Roland (The X-Files)
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—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900)