High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! "The Sixth Extinction" is the first episode of the seventh season of the science fiction television series The X-Files. It premiered on the Fox network on November 7, 1999 in the United States. The episode was written by Chris Carter, and directed by Kim Manners. "The Sixth Extinction" earned a Nielsen household rating of 10.6, being watched by 17.82 million people in its initial broadcast. The episode received mixed to positive reviews from critics.