Other producers included producer Joseph Patrick Finn, co-producer Paul Rabwin, and consulting producer Ken Horton, who joined the series with this season. Producing-directors for the show included Rob Bowman and Kim Manners, who directed the bulk of the episodes for the season. Manners directed eight episodes, while Bowman directed seven. Executive producer R. W. Goodwin again directed the season premiere and finale. James Charleston directed three episodes, while Tucker Gates, Michael Lange, Cliff Bole, and series writer James Wong each directed one episode. Cast Main cast Starring David Duchovny as Special Agent Fox Mulder Gillian Anderson as Special Agent Dana Scully a She does not appear in "Zero Sum". Also starring Mitch Pileggi as Assistant Director Walter Skinner William B. Davis as Cigarette Smoking Man Recurring cast Laurie Holden as Marita Covarrubias Brendan Beiser as Pendrell Tom Braidwood as Melvin Frohike Rebecca Toolan as Teena Mulder Morris Panych as Grey-Haired Man Guest cast Episodes Episodes marked with a double dagger () are episodes in the Mythology of The X-Files Alien story arc. Reception Ratings The fourth season of The X-Files debuted with "Herrenvolk" on October 4, 1996. This episode earned a Nielsen rating of 13.2, with a 23 share, meaning that roughly 13.2 percent of all television-equipped households, and 23 percent of households watching television, were tuned in to the episode. The episode was viewed by 21.11 million people, a marked increase from the third season's finale, "Talitha Cumi", which was viewed by 17.86 million viewers. "Herrenvolk" was, at the time, the highest-rated episode of The X-Files to air, as well as the first episode of the series to be watched by over 20 million viewers. As the season continued, however, ratings began to drop slightly, stabilizing around approximately less than 20 million viewers-per-episode. The season hit a high with its twelfth episode, "Leonard Betts", which had been chosen as the Fox lead-out program following Super Bowl XXXI. The episode was viewed by 29.1 million viewers, making it the highest-rated episode in the series' run. The season hit a low with the fifteenth and sixteenth episodes, "Kaddish" and "Unrequited", respectively, which were both viewed by 16.56 million viewers. The season finale, "Gethsemane", earned a Nielsen rating of 13.2, with a 19 share, and was viewed by 19.85 million viewers, marking a 5.9 percent drop in viewers when compared to the season premiere, but a 10 percent increase in viewers when