The following is an archived discussion of a featured article nomination. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the article's talk page or in Wikipedia talk:Featured article candidates. No further edits should be made to this page.

The article was promoted by GrahamColm 17:19, 11 September 2012 [1].

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Deep Throat (The X-Files episode)[edit]

Deep Throat (The X-Files episode) (edit | talk | history | protect | delete | links | watch | logs | views)

• Featured article candidates/Deep Throat (The X-Files episode)/archive1

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Nominator(s): GRAPPLE X 00:11, 21 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

I am nominating this for featured article because, based on previous successful FACs, I believe it meets the criteria. I has undergone a thorough GA review from Belovedfreak, a peer review from TBrandley and a copyedit from Lfstevens. I should be quick to respond to anything that crops up, and welcome any comments. A word on the title—the additional disambiguator "episode" is because the article "Deep Throat (The X-Files)" is about the character. GRAPPLE X 00:11, 21 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Image review from Crisco 1492

• File:DeepThroatE.jpg is fine.
• File:MarkFelt.jpg needs a lot of clean-up. Link to the page which indicates it was a US gov employee's work, give a rough date. Source needs to be better outlined (not just a bare URL).
• File:Seth Green Comic-Con 2011.jpg is fine. — Crisco 1492 (talk) 00:23, 21 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

  Removed Felt's image as the source given only features a tiny version of the image, with no indication that it was even taken by a US government employee. A search of the FBI website turned up no replacements either. Have replaced it with File:Nellis AFB - USGS - 09 June 1994.jpg which is sourced to the United States Geological Survey. GRAPPLE X 00:54, 21 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

  New image is fine. — Crisco 1492 (talk) 01:50, 21 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Addressed comments from Crisco 1492 moved to talk

• Support on prose and images. Looks great. — Crisco 1492 (talk) 01:48, 21 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Addressed comments and source review from TBrandley move to talk

• Support. Wow; fantastic work on this. TBrandley 02:26, 21 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Comments - Not sure if these have been mentioned already because I would have to navigate to the talk page to find out. Very inconvenient.

• link to paranormal in the Lede perhaps?
• "...work on cases linked to the paranormal" probably "investigate" is more correct
• "Mulder is a believer in the paranormal," I think needs rephrasing as something along the lines of "Mulder is a believer in paranormal phenomena" as the word paranormal is an adjective
• debunk is too informal for professional standards of prose
• "Mulder continues and comes closer to the truth than ever before" --- the truth about what? The USAF conspiracy, or the truth about something else? The "than ever before" implies the latter, but it's not clear
• "only to have it snatched away from him again." -- is too informal. Things have to be tangible to be snatched, and truth isn't tangible
• change "the eponymous character" to "the eponymous character" to encourage readers to visit that article, rather than have them assume it links to the article "eponymous".
• "who would serve as Mulder's informant for the first season." -- why are you using would here? It messes with the tense. Why not simply "who serves as"? Remember to use present tense when writing about fiction (Wikipedia:WAF#Contextual presentation, WP:TENSE
• The final two sentences in the lede are very contradictory . Carter says the effects are good, later says they are the worst. Just strikes me as odd.
• Also, it should be [series'] not [series]
• In the Filming section, "It would later appear" has the same issue as previously raised
• "He and Duchovny then "just goofed off the whole time" while Duchovny, sweating from running in the sun during filming, was "very forward" with his body odor." seems a bit trivial. I don't think it's very encyclopedic to know that Duchovny has BO after sweating from running in the heat.
• "season 1" --> "first season" or "season one"
• "...after complaints from Fox ... Fox complained that..."-- too repetitive, but also shouldn't it be "Fox executives" or something? It's people who complain, not networks
• In Broadcast and Reception it gives the premiere dates for Fox in the US and BBC2 in the UK, then mentions how many people watched the initial broadcast. Is that figure a total of Fox and the BBC's viewers, only Fox's or only BBC's, a worldwide figure?
• You mention that the episode is available on some DVD anthology set, but there's nothing to say it was released on VHS and DVD season 1 boxsets, or whether it's at places like Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, etc for streaming. All of which is, I think, desired and encyclopedic info.
• The lede is supposed to be an overview of the entire article, but there is nothing about the episode's critical reception or viewership, and doesn't mention that it's an alien-themed episode.

That's all I have, but there may be more that I've missed. Matthewedwards (talk · contribs) 06:07, 21 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

• Thanks for your comments. I've seen to everything here except for noting any streaming services, as I'm wondering how to cite those. If I find the episode available on any of them, would using the service itself a primary source be alright? GRAPPLE X 17:43, 21 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

  Addendum; can find it listed on Hulu.com ([2]) but I can't search Netflix as a non-member. Like I say, is it grand to be citing a commercial service like that as a primary source for what they have on offer? GRAPPLE X 18:00, 4 September 2012 (UTC)[reply]

• Comment: That non-free image needs a stronger rationale for inclusion; it's pretty generic right now. TRLIJC19 (talk • contribs) 03:40, 26 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

  Have strengthened it based on the similar rationales for File:Squeeze.jpg and File:Manhunter-colours.jpg; let me know if this is sufficient. GRAPPLE X 10:44, 26 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

  • Support on images TRLIJC19 (talk • contribs) 19:04, 26 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

• Support on the basis of prose and images. Nice work! Lord Sjones23 (talk - contributions) 03:35, 1 September 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Comments

• The fact that it was positively received by critics is mentioned twice in the lead, first in the first paragraph and again in the last

  Removed the first mention. GRAPPLE X 03:31, 4 September 2012 (UTC)[reply]

• The only production material in the lead is about the special effects - isn't there more to be covered?

  I don't see why not; though I tend to under- or over-compensate. What do you think is important, and I'll bung it in? GRAPPLE X 03:31, 4 September 2012 (UTC)[reply]

  • Maybe something about the inspiration for the story: the military base concept. Guess there's not much from "filming" other than it was Vancouver. Glimmer721 ^talk 00:14, 6 September 2012 (UTC)[reply]

    • Added a bit about the setting and the inspiration for Deep Throat. How's it look? Paragraphs might need split, I think. GRAPPLE X 00:31, 6 September 2012 (UTC)[reply]

• "He claims that Mulder is under surveillance, which later proves to be true." When is "later"? Later in the episode or later in the show? (If I remember correctly it's "E.B.E.", though I can't remember if anything turned up in "Deep Throat" or not.)

  I'd need to watch it again to be sure; though off the top of my head there is a scene in "Deep Throat" when a car full of men stop Mulder and Scully on an empty road and take all their findings, check their IDs, etc, which I believe is what is intended here; there's also Mossinger keeping tabs on things too. GRAPPLE X 03:31, 4 September 2012 (UTC)[reply]

• "The agents subsequently meet local reporter Paul Mossinger, who refers them to the Flying Saucer Restaurant; there they discuss UFOs with the owner." Might be worth mentioning what the owner says about UFOs (that she's seen/heard them), otherwise it doesn't seem necessary to the plot.

  Added briefly, it seemed to flow well enough to tack it on at the end of that sentence. GRAPPLE X 03:31, 4 September 2012 (UTC)[reply]

• "Scully, who has been sleeping while Mulder keeps watch, is awakened..." Think it should be "who had been sleeping".

  Done. GRAPPLE X 03:31, 4 September 2012 (UTC)[reply]

• "Carter created the character to bridge the gap between Mulder and Scully and the shadowy conspirators working against them, "who works in some level of government that we have no idea exists". Change to bolded word. Also "works" reads funny to me; I assume the quote is referring to Deep Throat, but in the sentence it is referring to the "shadowy conspirators" and so it should be "[work]".

  Added "the", rephrased a bit. GRAPPLE X 03:31, 4 September 2012 (UTC)[reply]

• The K in "Key grip" doesn't need to be capitalized.

  Not sure how I missed that one. GRAPPLE X 03:31, 4 September 2012 (UTC)[reply]

• "Pilot" is linked twice in the broadcast and reception section

  Removed; guess I missed it before as it's an easter egg link. GRAPPLE X 03:31, 4 September 2012 (UTC)[reply]

• "The episode was listed by Entertainment Weekly as number 37 on its list of "The 100 Greatest Television Moments" of the 1990s." If it's a list of greatest moments, then which moment from the episode was listed?

  There's mention of the introduction of the character; but also a quote from Dan Sackheim that seems to be about the episode as a whole. I'll mention the former though as it seems to be the main thrust of what they have to say. GRAPPLE X 03:31, 4 September 2012 (UTC)[reply]

• FN #14 is the only one without a published date

  I don't think I've changed any refs around here (correct me if I'm wrong, it's half four in the morning here); but ref 14 is an sfn pointing to the Kowalski-edited book; it has a publishing year like the other books. GRAPPLE X 03:31, 4 September 2012 (UTC)[reply]

  • What I meant was that all the book footnotes give the author and the date (like "Lowry 1995") while this one just gives the author. Glimmer721 ^talk 00:14, 6 September 2012 (UTC)[reply]

• FN #30 needs an author

  • • Ah yes, I see you what you mean now. Fixed. GRAPPLE X 00:31, 6 September 2012 (UTC)[reply]

  Indeed it does (mentioned in text so I really don't know how I forgot it). Added now. GRAPPLE X 03:31, 4 September 2012 (UTC)[reply]

That's all I can find, looks great. So that was how the voice-overs started. I think Carter grew a little too fond of them. Glimmer721 ^talk 01:14, 4 September 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for your comments. Let me know if I missed anything. Yep, old Carter definitely over-used them; not to spoil anything as I know you're still working through it but anything "deep" or Scully-centric tends to waffle like on Strom Thurmond. GRAPPLE X 03:31, 4 September 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Replies above. Glimmer721 ^talk 00:14, 6 September 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Likewise. Thanks. GRAPPLE X 00:31, 6 September 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Looks good. I now Support. Glimmer721 ^talk 17:11, 8 September 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Question: Is the mysterious informant ever actually identified or referred to as "Deep Throat" in this episode?—indopug (talk) 06:14, 4 September 2012 (UTC)[reply]

As far as I recall, it's "The Erlenmeyer Flask" before he's called it on-screen. GRAPPLE X 06:19, 4 September 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Could you mention this in the article? Something like "The episode introduced the Deep Throat character (although he wasn't called so on-screen until 'EF'), played by... ". I watched this episode a month ago and was completely puzzled by the article, "what? That guy had a name?".—indopug (talk) 12:25, 4 September 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Spent this afternoon trying to find a source for it, but none of the print or DVD sources mention this (when looking for both episodes in question, too). Not sure how else to present it reliably; how would you suggest going about it? To be honest if I can't find anything solid that spells it out plainly then I'm liable to omit it, as it's only a bit of an aside. The credits, episode title and official book (Lowry 1995) all apply the name from the outset, just not out of a character's mouth. GRAPPLE X 17:55, 4 September 2012 (UTC)[reply]

I feel that's a tad excessive. If he's credited in the credits and its common knowledge, it should be good to go.--Gen. Quon (Talk) 04:02, 5 September 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Okay, no worries.—indopug (talk) 05:20, 5 September 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Support on above improvements. It is really needed to literally use the phrase "worst effects we've ever done" three times though? Bruce Campbell (talk) 17:20, 8 September 2012 (UTC)[reply]

• Hmm. One's in the body, one in the lead and another in a caption. I've paraphrased the lead's mention of it; could probably outright remove it from there if you feel it would help. GRAPPLE X 02:36, 10 September 2012 (UTC)[reply]

The above discussion is preserved as an archive. Please do not modify it. No further edits should be made to this page.