directed four, Rod Hardy directed three, and Richard Compton directed two. Peter Markle, Terrence O'Hara, and Barry K. Thomas each directed one episode. Carter directed a single episode, while writer Spotnitz made his directorial debut. Cast Main cast Starring David Duchovny as Special Agent Fox Mulder Gillian Anderson as Special Agent Dana Scully Robert Patrick as Special Agent John Doggett a Although appearing in only 12 episodes, Duchovny is credited as "starring" in the opening credits for the episodes in which he appeared. b Does not appear in "The Gift", except in archived footage. Also starring Mitch Pileggi as Walter Skinner Annabeth Gish as Monica Reyes Nicholas Lea as Alex Krycek Recurring cast Guest cast Jeff Gulka as Gibson Praise Brian Thompson as Alien Bounty Hunter Episodes Episodes marked with a double dagger () are episodes in the series' Alien Mythology arc. Reception Ratings Reportedly, Patrick was cast due to the hopes that his featured role in Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) would attract a great 18- to 35-year-old male demographic to the show. Early on, Fox executives reported a 10 percent overall increase in the demographic, solely due to Patrick's casting. "Within", the season's first episode, earned a Nielsen household rating of 9.5, meaning that it was seen by 9.5% of the nation's estimated households. The episode was viewed by 15.87 million viewers, which marked an 11% decrease from the seventh season opener, "The Sixth Extinction." The highest-rated episode of the season was "This is Not Happening", which was viewed by 16.9 million viewers, making it the most-watched episode of the series, in terms of viewers, since "The Sixth Extinction". The season finale, "Existence", earned a Nielsen household rating of 8.4, meaning that it was seen by 8.4% of the nation's estimated households. The episode was watched by 14 million viewers, overall. The nine episodes of the season that did not feature Mulder averaged only 13 million viewers, whereas the twelve episodes that did feature Mulder averaged 13.93 million viewers, almost a difference of one million. The season averaged a total of 13.53 million viewers, down from the seventh season's 14.2 million. During 2000, companies were paying Fox $225,000 for every 30-second spot that would air between acts of The X-Files. Many Information technology (IT) companies were buying commercials during the show, largely due to the fact that "many ['coders IT geeks'] get their weekly fix of science fiction