Smoking Man (William B. Davis). Production "Wetwired" was written by Mat Beck, who served as the series's visual effects supervisor. Beck was inspired to pen the episode after hearing the debates concerning violence on television and its effect on viewers. Beck's initial concept was more complex and pulled from neurology texts, but as the script progressed, it was simplified. Actor Steven Williams had scheduling conflicts due to his work on the series L.A. Heat, resulting in the creation of the "Plain Clothed Man", who appeared in the episode as an emissary for X. Paul Rabwin provided narration for a television show that plays in the background. Dana Scully's motel room as well as The Lone Gunmen's office were constructed on sound stage. The episode had late-stage sound problems which resulted in post-production dragging into the day the episode was scheduled to be broadcast. Williams called his scene at the end of the episode with The Smoking Man one of his favorite scenes. Rob Bowman was happy with the final product and said, "I dug the script. I felt it was a good old-fashioned show, and people who didn't like 'Jose Chung's From Outer Space' would like 'Wetwired' because all the bad boys are back. A good clean steak-and-potatoes type of episode." Broadcast and reception "Wetwired" premiered on the Fox network in the United States on May 10, 1996. The episode earned a Nielsen rating of 9.7, with a 17 share, meaning that roughly 9.7 percent of all television-equipped households, and 17 percent of households watching television, were tuned in to the episode. The episode was watched by a total of 14.48 million viewers. The episode later aired on February 6, 1997, in the United Kingdom on BBC One. The episode received moderately positive reviews from television critics. Entertainment Weekly gave the episode a B, noting its similarity to "Blood" but thought that "Anderson gives good unhinged". Zack Handlen of The A.V. Club graded it a B+, also noting the similarity to "Blood" but he did "not entirely [mean it] as a criticism". Handlen was a "little disappointed" about the Monster-of-the-Week, as the concept was not fully explored. John Keegan from Critical Myth gave the episode a positive review and awarded it an 8 out of 10. He wrote, "Overall, this was [a] strong psychological episode [...] melded with the conspiracy in a logical and consistent way. Some plot devices are