, and was first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC Two on . This episode earned a Nielsen rating of 10.1, with an 18 share, meaning that roughly 10.1 percent of all television-equipped households, and 18 percent of households watching television, were tuned in to the episode. It was viewed by 9.6 million households. In a retrospective of the second season in Entertainment Weekly, "Anasazi" was rated an A, being described as "mind-blowing if frustrating", with it being noted that the episode "made fans want to fast-forward through summer." Writing The A.V. Club, Zack Handlen rated the episode an A−, noting that the episode "has a lot of really strong moments" and praising Duchovny's acting. However, he felt that the episode marked the point at which the series' overarching mythology would begin to lose focus, explaining that "it's troubling that instead of answering any big issues here ... the show only gives us new directions". Chris Carter said of the episode, "I'm proud of the way it came together, what it did for the series, and the overwhelmingly positive response it has gotten. I'm very pleased beginning season three with where this episode put us—which is that it posed more questions than it answered." He later said in 2005 that the episode brought a lot of interest to the show due to the apparent death of agent Mulder. The episode, along with both other parts of the story arc, were listed concurrently as the second-best episode of the series by Den of Geek's Nina Sordi. Sordi noted that the plotline "laid the groundwork for the mythology arc for the rest of the series", adding that it "brought much more significance to what is to come". Some reviewers have critiqued the treatment of indigenous peoples and culture in the episode. While writing a largely positive review of the episode, Jess Camacho of Multiversity Comics argued that "Anasazi" is "awful when it comes to dealing with Native American people, specifically their very valid conflicts with the U.S. government. It has really fallen back on some stereotypes and doesn't do very well in handling things." Likewise, Eleanor Hersey, in an article published in the Journal of Popular Film & Television argues that "The X-Files is certainly guilty of romanticizing and stereotyping the Navajo" in the episode. Footnotes Bibliography External links "Anasazi" on TheXFiles.com 1995 American television episodes Television episodes written by Chris