This resulted in the decision to write, for the second year in a row, an episode focused on Assistant Director Walter Skinner (Mitch Pileggi). Howard Gordon, having written the previous Skinner-centric episode, "Avatar", joined Spotnitz and the two wrote the episode over a weekend while another Gordon-written episode, "Synchrony", was in production.
This sequence of events led to the decision to create an episode for the second year in a row that focused on Assistant Director Walter Skinner (Mitch Pileggi). Howard Gordon, who had written the previous Skinner-centric episode, "Avatar", collaborated with Spotnitz and together they wrote the episode over a weekend while another Gordon-written episode, "Synchrony", was being produced.