episode earned a Nielsen household rating of 12 with a 21 share, meaning that roughly of all television-equipped households, and of households watching television, were tuned in to the episode. A total of viewers watched this episode during its original airing. Reviews "731" received mostly positive reviews from critics. Writing for The A.V. Club, reviewer Zack Handlen rated the episode an A, calling it "terrific". However, Handlen felt that the version of events told to Scully in this episode was perhaps a better explanation for the series' mythology than its eventual resolution, noting that it might have offered "a conclusion whose emotional impact would've lived up to the intensity of early mythology episodes" such as this. In a retrospective of the third season in Entertainment Weekly, "731" was rated a B. The review noted that the episode was "strangely tension-free", though it derided Scully's stubbornness to believe what the series had established as truth. Nick De Semlyen and James White of Empire named it the second "greatest" episode of the series, stating it is "arguably the greatest of The X-Files' many mythology episodes" and a "high-octane mix of action and intrigue, with the production values and pacing of a Hollywood blockbuster". Director Rob Bowman called the episode one of his all time favorites. Actor Steven Williams felt that his portrayal of X in this episode helped endear him more to the show's viewers. Awards Director of Photography John Bartley earned a nomination for Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography in a Regular Series by the American Society of Cinematographers for his work on this episode. Footnotes Bibliography External links "731" on The X-Files official website 1995 American television episodes The X-Files (season 3) episodes Trains in fiction Television episodes set in West Virginia