greater danger to itself. This theme is made manifest by the Syndicate and the human conspiracy with the aliens. Production Development The series' original title sequence, crafted in 1993 during the show's first season had remained unchanged for seven seasons. With the partial loss of Duchovny after the seventh-season finale, the decision was made to update the credits, which were first featured in the premiere episode of season eight, "Within". The opening sequence now included new images, updated FBI badge photos for Duchovny and Anderson, and the addition of Patrick to the main cast. Duchovny's badge features in the opening credits only when he appears in an episode. The opening contains images of Scully's pregnancy and, according to Frank Spotnitz, shows an "abstract" explanation for Mulder's absence in this season, with him falling into an eye. After the partial departure of Duchovny, Carter decided to focus almost solely on the character of Doggett during the first half of the season. This led to some unhappiness from the cast and critics, most notably Duchovny and Anderson. According to Tom Kessenich in his book Examinations, Anderson reportedly "wasn't thrilled" with the lack of attention her character was getting; instead, the writers were crafting episodes solely for Doggett because he was the show's new "voice". Duchovny, on the other hand, was unhappy because Mulder's abduction was never properly examined. Reportedly, Duchovny offered to write and direct an episode based around the concept of Mulder being trapped in the alien spaceship, as seen in the season opener "Within" and "Without". Carter, however, nixed the idea because "it was not about Doggett." Frank Spotnitz recalled that he and Chris Carter were enthusiastic about the storytelling opportunities offered by the changing line-up, saying: "Suddenly it was this new toolbox, these new characters, these new actors, these new dynamics to play, and the storytelling really changed in those last two seasons and was really exciting for us to get to, to explore you know, your characters and the kinds of stories we could tell with you that we’d never could have or would have told with, with just Mulder and Scully in the show." He compared the tone to The Twilight Zone. Casting The show's seventh season was a time of closure for The X-Files. Characters within the show were written out—including Cigarette Smoking Man (William B. Davis) and Mulder's mother (Rebecca Toolan)—and several plot threads were