nurse from the episode, Rebecca Waite, was originally named after a friend of the writers called Rebecca White. However, this was changed because there was a real nurse from Chicago whose last name was White. Some viewers ended up believing that Waite's name as a reference to either Rebecca Nurse, an innocent woman prosecuted during the Salem witch trials, or the Rider–Waite tarot deck, the most popular tarot deck utilized in the world. The episode itself directly references Gerald Gardner, a wiccan known for publishing several books on witchcraft and founder of the Gardnerian Tradition. While the Mayhew sisters tried to depict occultism without offending anybody by not connecting Franklin or Waite to any known cult, many Wiccans sent angry letters and e-mails to Fox regarding the portrayal of their beliefs. Broadcast and reception "Sanguinarium" premiered on the Fox network on November 10, 1996. This episode earned a Nielsen rating of 11.1, with an 18 share, meaning that roughly 11.1 percent of all television-equipped households, and 18 percent of households watching television, were tuned in to the episode. "Sanguinarium" was seen by 18.85 million viewers on first broadcast. Gillian Anderson described "Sanguinarium" as "one of the most repulsive scripts I ever shot", explaining that she could not watch scenes such as the doctor stabbing a patient. David Duchovny stated that "I didn't understand the plot, but I liked the script", noting that Carter and his team improved a weak teleplay and that director Kim Manners "did an excellent job". Entertainment Weekly gave "Sanguinarium" a "B−", feeling that it was "redeemed" by the gore. However, they were "worried" by what they called the "fourth consecutive phoned-in performance by Duchovny and Anderson". Emily VanDerWerff of The A.V. Club was more negative, grading it a "D". She felt that the episode was "too much", and that the gore should have been suggested rather than shown directly. She also criticized the characterization of the characters (especially that of Scully), the "predictable" scares, the "ludicrously bad" dialogue, and a story that did not make much sense. Despite this, she did praise the "strong" guest acting. Sarah Stegall awarded "Sanguinarium" two stars out of five, criticizing its reliance on gore. Ultimately, she found the conclusion wanting, because the "good" magic seemed useless; she wrote, "Where's the logic in that?" Ultimately, Stegall thought the episode's biggest flaw was its lack of logical writing, and that it required