 The episode was written by Sara Charno and directed by Mike Vejar.Before becoming a writer, Charno had been a doctor of Eastern medicine, and so her "esoteric knowledge that none of the rest of [the writers] had about all kinds of things" was put to use in this script, according to writer Frank Spotnitz.The episode was based largely on an idea that series creator Chris Carter had had about a "garage-door opener hanging".